Chapter 440 Zhao Duan: You are shameless even though I gave you the chance.
Chapter 440 Zhao Duan: You are shameless even though I gave you the chance.
The place where we will meet the Qingshan lineage is a small martial arts training ground in the imperial city.
When Zhao Duan and other royal servants arrived, they saw that a lot of imperial guards had gathered around the square. It was unclear whether they were there to join in the fun or were dragged there to support the occasion.
From a distance, one could catch a glimpse of Eunuch Hai in his bright red dragon robe. The gray-haired old eunuch was calmly standing with his hands behind his back, talking to the three people beside him.
Seeing Zhao Duan and others coming, a smile appeared on her ruddy face: "You are here."
When he saw Mo Chou, who had followed along with him out of worry, he just nodded, and the latter bowed.
"Greetings, sir." Zhao Duan stood still and saluted without looking around.
Behind him, a group of eunuchs headed by Tang Jinzhong and Song Jinxi bowed their heads solemnly. At this moment, this group of eunuchs seemed to have suddenly transformed into cold-blooded killers.
It’s daunting.
"Your subordinate greets you, sir!"
Zhao Duan raised his eyebrows slightly, thinking, you guys have rehearsed this, right? So serious and solemn? As if facing a powerful enemy?
Yes, I have the buff bonus of "future emperor's husband". My status in the martial arts hall is similar to that of a member of the royal family. And there is only an empress above me, not even the old emperor, empress and other elders... I don't have much psychological pressure...
For these eunuchs who were regarded as "slaves", if they lost in the contest with Qingshan disciples, it would be a serious crime...
At the same time, the three people in the field also looked at them.
His eyes swept over the eunuchs, pausing briefly on the famous Tang Jinzhong, and then focused on Zhao Duan, who was out of place.
Chai Keqiao was still dressed like a woodcutter in the mountains. Seeing that the emperor of a country could not make him change into a more polite outfit, he smiled and said to him:
"Mr. Zhao, you should look at someone with new eyes after three days of absence. It's been several months since we last saw each other. Congratulations on your promotion again."
beside him.
Xiao Ran, who wore plain clothes and had short hair, had a pretty face and cold eyes. Her eyebrows were cold and her eyes were full of indifference.
Qiye, with his eyes covered with a black cloth, a black scabbard hanging from his waist, and clothes of the same color, also "looked" over with a cold temperament.
No... why is there a blind man? Mochou, you didn't say that... Zhao Duan was puzzled. According to the information, he matched the identities of the three people to their seats. His face was calm and he smiled:
"Brother Chai, you are too polite. I was in the capital and also heard that Brother Chai had entered the secular realm. Congratulations."
Judging from their conversation, the two seemed like friends. This scene was extremely strange in the eyes of the imperial guards near the martial arts arena.
During the Buddhist and Taoist competition last year, everyone in the capital's imperial guards knew about how Zhao Duan dispatched troops to suppress Chai Keqiao.
Eunuch Hai, with gray hair and wearing a bright red dragon robe, introduced the two parties in turn with a smile.
Immediately he said:
"Your Majesty said that according to tradition, when disciples from Qingshan come to the capital, they should stay in the imperial garden for half a month and discuss martial arts with the palace attendants. Since we are meeting for the first time today, it is not appropriate to use force. How about showing off what you have learned?"
"Since Master Hai has said so, I dare not refuse."
Chai Keqiao was unexpectedly respectful to the old priest, and turned to the blindfolded young man and said:
"Junior Brother Qiye is an expert in swordsmanship, and is considered top-notch in the Divine Chapter Realm. On Qingshan Mountain, he draws his sword three thousand times a day, day after day, and his sword energy is so sharp that Xiao Ran and I are not as good as him. So Qiye will use his sword to break the armor as a gift."
During the 600 years of the Yu State, both sides had already established a set of procedures for fighting and issuing declarations of war.
The other party had obviously agreed on this long ago.
"Break armor?" Zhao Duan raised his eyebrows.
Mo Chou was beside him, explaining in a low voice:
"This is also a tradition. When two sides first meet, it is not good to fight. It will hurt the relationship. They often show their strength by breaking armor."
Oh... maybe it's like showing off muscles?
Zhao Duan stood in the crowd with great interest. Considering Mochou's previous request, he deliberately took two steps back, ready to keep a low profile.
Get around this process.
Anyway, with so many worshippers present, it’s not his turn to show off his muscles as a “mid-level divine figure”.
At this time, the nearby imperial guards brought in sets of half-body armor from the arsenal. These were all made of fine iron and could withstand arrows and swords.
The imperial guards even erected a long row of wooden stakes on the training ground and fixed the half-body armor on them, which immediately made them look a bit like dummies.
He counted silently and found that there were at least sixty or seventy dummies in this row. At first glance, dozens of armored dummies looked quite imposing.
"Come here." Zhao Duan waved to Song Jinxi and asked curiously:
"So many, are they all prepared for him?"
The eunuch who was serving the fawning servant smiled bitterly and said, "It looks like a monkey.
"Young Master, you are joking. These are all finely crafted armors from the army. They are not made of scrap copper or iron. Ordinary swords and knives cannot break them. Even if you are a top-level mortal warrior, with your Qi infused into your weapon, being able to break three armors in one breath is already the limit.
Even if it is a divine level, generally speaking, a lower-grade one can break six armors, a middle-grade one can break nine armors, and a higher-grade one can break thirteen armors, which is already a powerful opponent. These are displayed for use by multiple people on both sides.
But generally speaking, the world realm will not take action in the armor-breaking stage. When it comes to the world realm, it will only take dozens of armors to be broken... Uh, young master, you are bleeding from the nose again."
"..." Zhao Duan hurriedly looked for a handkerchief, but couldn't find one. Suddenly, Mo Chou handed him a handkerchief:
"Use mine."
Tsk, you've made it. You didn't poison the handkerchief, did you? Zhao Duan looked at the "female prime minister" unexpectedly, and took it carefully, which made Mo Chou roll her eyes in anger:
"Give it back to me if you don't need it. Your kindness is beyond appreciating."
Zhao Duan wiped his nose with a smile. A blindfolded young swordsman stepped out of the meeting hall and stood in front of a row of armor.
The surroundings suddenly became quiet, everyone held their breath, and the wind was no longer noisy.
Qiye held the black-sheathed sword horizontally in front of him and slowly pulled it out. When the sharp sword tip came out of the sheath, the blade drew a semi-arc in the air and stabbed forward in an ordinary manner.
This stab was not earth-shattering, it was even a little too ordinary, but Zhao Duan narrowed his eyes instantly.
I keenly noticed that a black line at the front of the sword tip tore through the air and hit the armor.
Do not!
That was not a black line, but the internal energy that was condensed and compressed to the extreme. The young man named Qiye did not have any fancy sword moves, only a stabbing blow.
However, he practiced it to the extreme of the Shenzhang realm, drawing the sword three thousand times a day. At first, the wooden sword he used had tiny holes on the front. When he stabbed, there would be wind sounds when wind passed through the holes. It took him three years to achieve silent sword draws, and this was just the beginning.
When the extremely condensed thin wire hit the armor, a dull sound of breaking armor was heard in the training ground.
"Bang", "bang", "bang", "bang"...
The sounds of armor breaking came in a series, and in almost the blink of an eye, Qiye sheathed his sword.
Immediately, twenty-three dummies in armor fell down like straw. A soldier hurried forward to check and exclaimed:
"My Lord, the armor is broken twenty-three times!"
twenty-three!
With just one sword, he pierced through twenty-three sets of fine iron armor! If it were on the battlefield, he could kill twenty-three elite iron pagodas with one sword!
There was a sound of inhalation in the spring day's martial arts arena, and the eyes of the imperial guards turned to the blindfolded young man with a changed look.
The eunuchs serving in the Wugong Hall changed color almost at the same time.
"Didn't you say that the Divine Chapter was of the thirteenth grade?"
Zhao Duan was also stunned and asked Song Jinxi in a low voice.
The latter's face lost its flattery and humility at some point, and he looked solemnly at Qiye, who was calm and composed in the field.
This eunuch, who seemed frivolous but was actually one of the best in terms of talent, cultivation, and martial arts, was facing a great enemy, his face heavy, "The limit."
"limit?"
"Twenty-three armors, this means that this person has almost not wasted all of his internal energy from the top-grade Divine Chapter, and has concentrated it all into this one sword... It's terrifying."
Song Jinxi murmured, and then his expression suddenly changed:
"Not good. He has achieved such a level that no one on our side can compare to him. We can't let the world realm take action, but who in the Godly Chapter realm can be so specialized?"
Zhao Duan was stunned: "You can't beat him?"
Song Jinxi shook his head:
"Fighting is another matter. I am not afraid of him, but if we only compete in armor-breaking, I am not as good as him."
Mo Chou beside him understood everything:
"You mean to say that he has exerted the power of the Divine Chapter Realm to its fullest extent, and no one in the same realm can surpass him?"
"It's coming with great force." Zhao Duan sighed.
At this time, amid the commotion, only Eunuch Hai still had his eyelids drooping, showing no joy or sadness. It seemed that in the eyes of this legendary priest, the competition between the younger generations was nothing more than a fight.
Chai Keqiao said with a smile:
"My junior brother doesn't have many skills, but his swordsmanship is pretty good. It's your turn to teach him."
He looked at the group of priests, and in an instant, the discussions disappeared, and no one from the group of priests stood up.
The strongest Tang Jinzhong was unable to take action due to his cultivation being at a higher realm, while Song Jinxi admitted that he was inferior to him, and the other priests also had no confidence.
Qiye, with his eyes covered by a black cloth and his arms folded, slowly showed a sarcastic smile on his face. In the silence, he suddenly turned his head and "looked" at Zhao Duan who was hiding in the crowd:
"Won't Zhao Shaobao stand up?"
Eyes focused on him one after another. Zhao Duan, who was chatting with Mochou behind him, guessed that Qingshan and his gang might be deliberately targeting this link. He was stunned for a moment and smiled.
"Can you see me?"
The cool young man holding a sword said indifferently:
"I may be blind in my eyes, but my heart is not. I have heard that Zhao Shaobao once defeated Tianhai of Shenlong Temple in the Buddhist and Taoist competition and was praised as a genius. This time I came down the mountain to ask for advice in person, so..."
He pointed to the row of armor:
"How about asking Zhao Shaobao for advice?"
After a pause, he raised the corners of his mouth and said:
"I think with Zhao Shaobao's swordsmanship, he only needs to summon the Tai'a Sword to split a mountain, not to mention a few dozen jia. Or does Zhao Shaobao look down on my Qingshan lineage and refuse to teach me?"
provocative!
At this moment, even a three-year-old child could hear the strong provocation and sarcasm in Qiye's words.
The Tai'a Sword is certainly powerful, but if Zhao Du'an really summons Tai'a just to break the armor, he would be losing face.
The other party's words seemed to be flattering and polite, but in fact they were clearly mocking his pursuit of fame and reputation.
Eunuch Hai glanced at him and said nothing, like an impartial referee.
However, on the palace side, both the imperial guards and the ministers had changed their expressions!
Mo Chou's face turned pale and her heart sank. The bad situation she had expected happened.
This unruly swordsman, who was a close friend of the young monk Tianhai, took advantage of this opportunity to attack Zhao Duan in public.
Moreover, the other party was smart enough not to break the "rules" in order to embarrass Zhao Duan in public and make him lose face.
"you……"
Mo Chou looked at Mr. Zhao beside her, but saw that he looked calm and indifferent, as if he was not annoyed at all. He waved his hand in a warm tone and said with a smile:
"Your Excellency is too kind. I won by luck. If we were to compete in terms of cultivation, I would not be as good as you. Now I am not as good as you, so I will not embarrass myself."
Admit it? Back off?
Mo Chou was stunned for a moment, her eyes filled with surprise.
Not only him, but also Tang Jinzhong, Song Jinxi and other worshippers were greatly surprised.
In almost everyone's perception, "King Zhao" is not a good-tempered person. Not to mention that he will take revenge for any slight, he will immediately slap anyone in the face even if they are a royal relative and dare not give him face.
When he was still less powerful, he dared to attack important figures repeatedly, let alone now?
But this time, facing the provocation of this Qingshan genius, he actually backed down?
No one thought that Zhao Duan was a coward, so they found it very strange. Only Mo Chou suddenly realized that it must be the effect of what she had just said.
Zhao Duan promised her that he would give in and try not to give Qingshan's people an excuse to cause trouble. He did it because he had promised.
"You are..." Thinking of this, Mo Chou's eyes suddenly became a little ashamed, as if it was the first day she really met him.
The blindfolded young man was also stunned, surprised by his reaction, and frowned:
"What does Zhao Shaobao mean by this?"
Zhao Duan laughed and said, "It's just the literal meaning."
This time, even Chai Keqiao and Xiao Ran cast surprised looks at him.
The blindfolded young man frowned even more deeply:
"Is Zhao Shaobao surrendering without a fight? Or is he admitting that he is just trying to gain fame?"
Zhao Duan smiled and said, "Even if I am afraid, haha, I am also afraid of losing face."
Such a good temper? Has King Zhao changed his personality?
The surrounding imperial guards looked at each other in bewilderment, and some even suspected that the Zhao Duan in front of them was a fake.
When did Zhao Shaobao, who killed people without blinking an eye, become so easy to talk to?
The blindfolded young man was speechless for a moment, as if he had punched the air.
Chai Keqiao narrowed his eyes, then suddenly smiled to smooth things over:
"Since Master Zhao is unwilling to take action, Junior Brother Qiye does not need to force him any further."
He turned to look at Hai Chunlin who was standing aside, calm and oblivious to the atmosphere.
"Master Hai, if you are not good at breaking armor, forget it today."
When he first entered the capital alone, he could challenge other cities with impunity.
But this time he came with the team, shouldering the responsibility, ready to quit while the going is good.
The old eunuch in the dragon robe nodded slightly and said:
"That's the case, that's fine."
The nearby imperial guards received the signal and came up quite aggrievedly, preparing to take off their armor.
It was undoubtedly a humiliation that an unknown disciple of Qingshan took action and forced no one in the huge palace to dare to fight back.
"Wait a minute..."
Song Jinxi gritted his teeth and prepared to step out. He had no confidence of winning, but if no one accepted the challenge, once His Majesty knew about it, the entire Wugong Hall would be punished.
However, as soon as he took a step, he was held down by Zhao Duan. Song Jinxi turned his head in surprise and saw Zhao Duan shaking his head:
"Forget it. They are well prepared. If Your Majesty wants to punish me, I will plead for mercy."
The young eunuch was stunned and took a step back.
Zhao Duan called the other worshippers and walked back together.
"In such a huge palace, is there not a single man? Ha, they are indeed a group of hermaphrodites with deformed bodies."
Seeing that the group of worshippers really retreated, suddenly, the blindfolded swordsman's cheek twitched and he laughed loudly.
Chai Keqiao frowned and scolded, "Qi Ye!"
He felt that this junior fellow was a little ignorant of the overall situation.
Xiao Ran responded with an expression of watching the fun.
All the worshippers stopped at the same time, their expressions changing again and again, as if their hearts were pierced by a thorn.
Zhao Duan also stopped and the warm smile on his face gradually faded.
Seeing that it was effective, the masked youth turned a deaf ear to Chai Keqiao's attempts to stop him and sneered:
"Oh, I was wrong. There is another eunuch who is intact, but he looks no different."
Mo Chou quickly reached out, grabbed the corner of Zhao Duan's clothes, and whispered:
"He is deliberately provoking you..."
Zhao Duan nodded: "I know. Let's go."
The masked young man said loudly:
"Zhao Shaobao, a coward like you don't deserve such a great reputation in the martial arts world. If you still care about your face, you should publicly return the winner of the Buddhist-Taoist competition to Tianhai..."
Zhao Duan stopped again. He had walked to the other end of the row of armored dummies. Next to him was a bewildered imperial guard.
Without looking back, he wiped the blood from his nose with his hand and suddenly said:
"Eunuch Hai, I can't help it anymore."
Hai Chunlin smiled slightly: "Why should I endure it any longer?"
Zhao Duan smiled brightly, his face red from his nosebleed. He suddenly turned around in full view of everyone, stepped to the side of a guard, and in the latter's surprised gaze, he reached out and pulled out the sword from the man's waist.
"Qiang!"
Zhao Duan drew his sword and chopped with his hand, his ferocious face stained with blood, like a Shura demon.
After swallowing countless rare treasures for a month, the powerful internal force that almost burst his dantian shattered the blade in an instant, and a magnificent and dazzling sword light lit up on the martial arts field.
"Damn it, you're shameless, aren't you?! I don't need a sword, I only have a knife, which can break armor!"
boom--
A thunderous sound rang in everyone's ears, and under the devastating sword energy, a whole row of fine iron armor was shattered into pieces!
The sword energy swept across the training ground, and the faces of those who were cut felt burning pain.
Zhao Duan's sword pierced fifty-six armors! !
-
Correct typos first and then correct them
(End of this chapter)