Chapter 436: Dai
There were two people.
One was a man who looked simple-minded and foolish. He was tall and fat with a large, protruding belly. He didn’t seem very old, and in his hand, he carried a massive warhammer.
The other was a young woman.
The young woman was not tall, with a petite and delicate figure. Her large eyes blinked constantly, giving her a playful yet somewhat cunning look. At her waist hung a rather elegant Treasure Sword.
However, facing this strange duo, Chu Qingyun was far more vigilant than he had been with the highway robbers he’d encountered before.
This was because the foolish-looking fatty was a Level Six Martial Spirit, and while the young woman also appeared to be a Level Six Martial Spirit, she gave Chu Qingyun a faint, yet distinct, sense of danger.
"I’m just a passerby, and I don’t have any money on me," Chu Qingyun said.
If possible, he wanted to avoid fighting them.
"No money?"
The young woman cupped her chin and sized Chu Qingyun up. "If you have no money, then leave the sword. Leave the two horses as well. And you can leave your clothes for me, too. Hehehe, you can enter Blood Abyss City with your bare ass."
After saying this, the young woman giggled.
The fatty beside her also scratched his head and chuckled foolishly.
"It seems you two are determined to fight."
Chu Qingyun dismounted and met their gaze. Not wanting to cause trouble didn’t mean he was afraid of it. If it really came to a fight, he wasn’t afraid of two Level Six Martial Spirits.
"A fight? Hehe, alright. If you can beat Dai, then I won’t rob you."
"Dai, go play with him."
The young woman giggled, speaking to the simpleton beside her. She was clearly very confident in him.
Dai scratched his head, dragged his warhammer forward a couple of steps, and said, "Big Bro, Big Sis told me to fight you. If I hurt you, don’t blame me, okay?"
He sounded so sincere and earnest that Chu Qingyun was left a bit speechless. He couldn’t tell if this guy was genuinely stupid or just pretending.
"Enough nonsense. Let’s do this."
Chu Qingyun drew the Earth Seal Sword, which was missing a third of its blade. He injected his Primordial Power, and a grayish-purple Sword Qi erupted from it.
"Dai, be careful. That’s Sword Qi, and it’s not ordinary," the young woman behind Dai reminded him, unable to stop herself from giving Chu Qingyun a second look.
Chu Qingyun was also a bit surprised.
’He hadn’t even activated his Thunder Light Power, yet the young woman had already discerned that his Sword Qi was no ordinary kind. To have such sharp perception, she must be quite formidable,’ he thought.
"Big Bro, I’m starting!"
Dai shouted in a dull tone, then gripped the hammer’s handle with both hands, raised his arms high, and smashed it down toward Chu Qingyun.
There was no Hammer Technique.
No Martial Soul or Soul Techniques.
His use of Primordial Power was also extremely crude.
Even his movements were riddled with openings.
From the looks of it, he was clearly the weakest kind of Level Six Martial Spirit.
Even a Level Six Martial Spirit from the Martial Soul Hall might be stronger, as they at least knew how to use Soul Techniques and wouldn’t have so many openings in a fight.
However, just as Dai’s warhammer swung down, Chu Qingyun’s expression suddenly changed.
He felt an invisible, yet immensely heavy and vast, momentum rising from the ground beneath his feet. The surrounding space seemed to freeze.
Chu Qingyun couldn’t move!
’What kind of power is this!?’
’He’s also a Level Six Martial Spirit, yet he can suppress me to the point where I can’t even budge?’
’Even a Level Nine Martial Spirit probably couldn’t do this!’
For a moment, Chu Qingyun was dazed.
But he quickly came to his senses. This momentum was rising from the ground; Dai wasn’t suppressing him by sheer force of power.
’Profound Celestial Divine Pattern!’
’Thunder Light Sword Qi!’
With a single thought, the Primordial Power in his meridians surged, instantly pouring into the Divine Pattern and the Earth Seal Sword.
An ice-blue light flared around his body. On the Earth Seal Sword, within the three-meter-long Sword Qi, the Thunder Light Power was also activated, glowing a faint, shimmering violet.
"Break!"
Chu Qingyun let out a low shout, gathering the power of the Fifth-Layer Profound Celestial Divine Pattern and slashing forcefully to his side.
Aided by the incredibly sharp Thunder Light Sword Qi, the slash seemed to tear an opening in the immobilizing momentum. In the nick of time, just as the warhammer fell, Chu Qingyun leaped away, dodging the attack and quickly putting distance between himself and Dai.
The seemingly unstoppable blow smashed violently into the ground.
However, it made no sound at all. The giant hammer landed as if it had no weight, not even leaving a mark on the ground.
Dai, holding his warhammer, scratched his head again. He turned to the young woman and said, "Big Sis, Big Bro dodged it."
"Not bad. Using a Secret Technique and that Sword Qi, you actually dodged Dai’s Lifting Heavy as Light. Dai, keep going," the young woman said.
"Okay-dokie."
Dai grinned again, this time dragging his warhammer as he leaped into the air and brought it smashing down on Chu Qingyun from above.
As the warhammer fell, that strange power once again rose from the ground.
Without hesitation, Chu Qingyun swung his sword and retreated swiftly.
At the same time, he unleashed his Iron Wire Ten-Star Vine Martial Soul. Ten vines shot out, and under a massive infusion of Primordial Power, they became as sharp and sturdy as spears. All ten stabbed rapidly toward Dai.
This time, Chu Qingyun saw it clearly.
Just as the ten vines were about to strike Dai, ripples of an earthen-yellow power emanated from around the warhammer.
That power gave off a feeling of stability and solidity, as heavy as the earth itself.
Upon contact with that power, all the vines instantly stiffened, then began to disintegrate from their tips.
The disintegration spread faster and faster, reaching the Martial Soul Illusion behind Chu Qingyun in the blink of an eye.
POP.
The towering Martial Soul Illusion behind Chu Qingyun instantly collapsed.
Just a portion of that radiating power had crushed all ten of his vines and even shattered his Tier Four Martial Soul!
Chu Qingyun no longer hesitated and retreated rapidly.
However, once he had retreated more than ten meters away from Dai, the oppressive feeling from that power gradually weakened and then disappeared.
’This power doesn’t feel like the power of a Soul Technique. It’s more like the power of the earth beneath my feet. Could it be...’
Seeing Dai’s two hammer strikes, Chu Qingyun was suddenly reminded of the sword strike he had executed on the Flying Ship’s battle stage—the one that had created a Sea of Thunder and Lightning.
The two seemed somewhat similar.
The only difference was that one had produced Thunder Power, while the other had produced Earth Power.
’Could this be the Realm after the Qi Realm!?’
A flash of insight struck Chu Qingyun’s mind as he suddenly considered this possibility.