Legend Management Bureau Chapter 273

[ … words ]

“I was wondering who it was. It turns out to be the nameless burly man serving under the Yan Emperor,” Cangjie said slowly. “I just do not understand the meaning behind this attack of yours. Is the Yan Emperor declaring war on the Yellow Emperor’s faction?”

“Do not overthink it!” Xing Tian retorted. “I am no longer part of the Yan Emperor’s faction! Coming here alone today is purely to settle a personal grudge!”

“Oh?” Cangjie raised an eyebrow. “The Yellow Emperor has ruled for so long, yet this is the first time someone has charged into our camp entirely alone. I suppose I am witnessing history.”

“Cangjie, are you going to fight me or not?!” Xing Tian demanded impatiently.

“No,” Cangjie replied, shaking his head. “I do not like fighting. I only came out to see what was happening. There are plenty of people here who can fight you; they do not need me.”

“Hmph.” Xing Tian scoffed coldly. “You have not changed after all these years. You possess heaven-defying cultivation, yet you constantly refuse to use it. Are you still ‘inventing characters’?”

“Indeed. Today, not only am I ‘inventing characters’, but I am also recording the events unfolding before me. This way, no matter how many generations pass, our descendants will know what transpired.” After speaking, Cangjie pulled a smooth stone tablet from his robes. Focusing his energy, his finger became as sharp as a blade, and he carved a few pictographs onto the stone.

“Enough of your parlor tricks!” Xing Tian slowly advanced. “If you refuse to fight me, then step aside. I would hate to accidentally injure you!”

“One last question,” Cangjie said slowly. “How should I record you?”

“If I wish to properly document these events, everyone needs a fitting name.” A distinct smile graced Cangjie’s face. “Under my pen, the Yellow Emperor has already become the ‘Heavenly Emperor’. So who are you? Am I supposed to carve ‘Nameless’ onto this stone tablet?”

Xing Tian pondered for a brief moment before answering, “I only know that I hail from the Zhan Clan. I do not have a name.”

“If that is the case, why don’t I give you one?” Cangjie chuckled. “The Yellow Emperor is the Heavenly Emperor, and since you seek to kill the Heavenly Emperor, I bestow upon you the name ‘Xing Tian’, how does that sound?”

Xing Tian…

Xing Tian…

“Hahahaha!” Xing Tian threw his head back and laughed heartily. “Xing Tian! Excellent! I am Xing Tian! Today, I shall slaughter the emperor; today, I shall punish heaven itself!”

Cangjie joined in his laughter. “Good! Then go forth without worry! Regardless of whether you succeed or fail this time, future generations will remember that a burly man named Xing Tian charged into the Yellow Emperor’s camp all by himself!”

Du Yu muttered to himself, “Cangjie… Cangjie invents characters… He truly is a strange man.”

Shiranui Jinjiro said slowly, “We should say it is ‘fortunate’ that he is a strange man. If that scholar had decided to make a move here, even if Xing Tian managed to win, he would have been severely wounded…”

Xing Tian took three more steps forward when a massive object suddenly hurtled toward him through the air.

He thrust his right hand out and grabbed it, tightly gripping this hidden weapon as the sheer force pushed him back a step.

Turning his hand over to inspect it, he realized he was holding a crossbow bolt as thick as a grown man’s arm.

Xing Tian frowned slightly. If he guessed correctly, there was only one person in this world capable of drawing a five-hundred-kilogram crossbow.

“One of the Four Generals of the Yellow Emperor, Li Mu!”

A lean, short man slowly descended from the sky. He carried a terrifyingly massive crossbow on his shoulder, easily twice his own height.

“Nameless, have you truly thought this through?” the short man asked.

“Since I have already made my move, there is naturally no turning back,” Xing Tian declared coldly. “Where are the other three? You might as well come at me all at once.”

“There is no need.” The short man slowly rolled his shoulders, loosening his joints. “I have already spoken with them. They will only show themselves if one of us falls.”

“Li Mu, do you genuinely believe you can take me on?” Xing Tian asked.

Li Mu curled his lips and replied, “I am not certain, but I will fight regardless. During the years we fought side-by-side, I rejoiced many times over the fact that you were our ally rather than our enemy.”

“If you cling to that mindset, you will absolutely never defeat me,” Xing Tian said. “You have to overcome not just me, but your own fear.”

“You are entirely correct.” Li Mu offered a bitter smile. “As one of the Four Generals of the Yellow Emperor, if I cannot sever this fear, I will never truly be the strongest under heaven. Therefore, today, I will use every ounce of my strength to pierce you through. Even if my body perishes and my Dao vanishes, I will have no regrets.”

“Good!” Xing Tian laughed heartily. “Now those are words befitting a true warrior!”

“Nameless, I seek your guidance.”

Li Mu’s gaze turned frosty. He planted the giant crossbow on the ground, his thin arms exerting a tremendous force to draw the bowstring, loaded a bolt, and fired.

The incomparably enormous crossbow looked like a lightweight toy in his hands, creating a highly discordant visual.

Remaining perfectly calm, Xing Tian reached out and caught the incoming crossbow bolt once again. This time, fully prepared, he did not even take half a step backward.

He was just about to speak when he noticed three talismans affixed to the tip of the bolt.

Li Mu brought his hands together, silently reciting an incantation. “Karmic Fire!”

The moment the words left his lips, the talismans ignited, engulfing the bolt in a raging inferno.

Xing Tian stared coldly at Li Mu, allowing the flames to burn fiercely across his body. His tough, wheat-colored skin was like solid bedrock, completely unfazed by the heat.

“Is this the extent of your abilities?” Xing Tian asked in a low voice.

Gritting his teeth, Li Mu surged his magical power and roared, “Karmic Fire Sets the Plains Ablaze!”

The flames roaring on Xing Tian’s body flared with unprecedented ferocity. He was entirely swallowed by the fire, resembling a blazing sun.

“Hah!”

With a thunderous shout, Xing Tian unleashed a staggering shockwave of energy from his body, blowing the raging flames away in an instant.

Witnessing this scene, Li Mu’s eyes widened in shock.

However, he knew that if he did not press the attack immediately, he wouldn’t have even the slightest hope of victory.

With that thought, he pulled two more bolts from his back. Each was as thick as an arm and covered in talismans.

“Giant Crossbow Art! Twin Flowers!”

As soon as he shouted, both bolts launched simultaneously.

Xing Tian locked his focus onto the two projectiles, raising his hands to block them. Yet, just as the bolts were about to strike, they abruptly altered their trajectories, swerving to his left and right.

Startled, Xing Tian immediately scooped up his Battle Axe from the ground, remaining highly vigilant.

Li Mu rapidly formed a bizarre hand seal, chanting a rapid incantation. In a mere split second, his eyes snapped open and he roared:

“Burst! Earth Flying Flowers!”

In an instant, the two wide-flying bolts fractured into countless smaller splinters. They blotted out the sky in a dense swarm, resembling a myriad of petals dancing wildly in a gale.

Reaching their maximum spread, the splintered bolts pivoted in unison and accelerated right back toward Xing Tian.

“Burst! Flower Yet Not a Flower!”

In another blink of an eye, the swarm of splinters erupted with Karmic Fire. The sky filled with deadly projectiles and blazing flames, morphing into two colossal fire dragons. With bloody maws stretched wide and fiery fangs bared, they converged on Xing Tian from both sides.

Xing Tian let out a soft sigh, shockingly abandoning any attempt to dodge.

Weighing the Battle Axe in his hand for a brief moment, he hurled it straight at Li Mu.

“Axe Kill!”

Li Mu had never expected anyone to launch a counterattack while facing such an overwhelming assault. For a split second, he was caught entirely off guard.

With a deafening crash, the sky-covering rain of flaming splinters slammed into Xing Tian.

Simultaneously, Xing Tian’s Battle Axe crashed brutally into Li Mu.

Hiding a short distance away, Du Yu and the others were utterly stunned by the spectacle, collectively holding their breath.

As the smoke cleared, the group squinted to see the battlefield. The ground surrounding Xing Tian was densely packed with crossbow splinters.

Looking closer, dozens of burning bolts were lodged directly into his body. Yet, judging by his expression, he seemed to feel absolutely no pain.

Li Mu’s situation was far less optimistic. Due to his slow reaction, he had been forced to hoist his giant crossbow to block Xing Tian’s Battle Axe.

The massive crossbow was now completely shattered. Li Mu had expended every last drop of his strength to barely catch the heavy axe between his hands.

Blood trickled from the corner of his mouth; his vital energy had clearly been severely damaged.

“Li Mu,” Xing Tian spoke as he strode forward. “If we were purely matching physical strength, you might not necessarily lose to me. Yet you constantly choose to fire arrows from a distance. That disappoints me greatly.”

Xing Tian slowly yanked out the small splinters embedded in his flesh one by one. Blood sluggishly trickled from the puncture wounds.

“You don’t just fear me; you fear death.” Xing Tian sneered and waved his arm, calling the Battle Axe right back into his grasp. “In your current state, how exactly do you plan to win?”

Hearing Xing Tian’s words, Li Mu let out a few bitter chuckles and slowly replied, “Indeed. It has been a very long time since I experienced this feeling of hovering on the brink of death. You truly live up to your reputation as a pure martial artist.”

“I will give you one more chance. Let us decide the victor bare-handed.” Xing Tian tossed his Battle Axe aside and cracked his knuckles.

Seeing this, Li Mu also slowly cast the ruined remnants of his giant crossbow aside. The heavy weapon hit the earth with a resounding thud, its true weight unfathomable.

He took a deep breath. When he opened his eyes again, his imposing aura mirrored Xing Tian’s perfectly.

“As you wish!”

Li Mu shattered the ground beneath his feet and shot forward like a cannonball. His short, lean frame erupted with boundless power.

Xing Tian flashed a joyful grin. Driving power into his fists, he punched straight ahead.

The two men’s fists collided mid-air, shockingly erupting in a massive shower of sparks.

Despite Li Mu’s short stature, his raw physical strength was completely on par with Xing Tian’s.

The shockwave forced both fighters to stagger back a step. Recovering quickly, they adjusted their stances, raised their fists, and swung at each other once more.

Trading punches and palm strikes, the two completely abandoned the mystical advantages of immortal cultivators and engaged in brutal, close-quarters hand-to-hand combat.

The only difference between them was that Xing Tian took every single one of Li Mu’s punches head-on, never once attempting to dodge. Conversely, every one of Xing Tian’s strikes filled Li Mu with absolute terror, forcing him to dodge with all his might.

After exchanging dozens of blows, Xing Tian finally landed another punch squarely on Li Mu.

Bearing the force to split the heavens, the strike instantly ruptured Li Mu’s internal organs and sent him flying through the air.