Ze Tian Ji (Way of Choices)
chapter-74

Why did Li Mountain Sword Sect want to challenge the Tradition Academy? Because they came all the way from the south to propose to Xu You Rong, but were stopped by Chen Chang Sheng. They had to think of a way to regain their pride as Gou Han Shi admitted. Only then could they leave the Zhou Royal Palace calmly, although sparsely.

With Tang Thirty Six’s schedule, whether the Tradition Academy won two times in a roll or lost two times consecutively, Chen Chang Sheng wouldn’t need to step into the arena, and therefore, Mountain Li’s Sword Sect couldn’t earn back their pride. Although Luo Luo thought this action was kind of……shameless, it was rather interesting. She showed her support through silence. However, Chen Chang Sheng actually really wanted to interact with Gou Han Shi who was rumored to have understood the entire Scrolls of the Way. Chen Chang Sheng wanted to say something to Tang Thirty Six, but he had already entered the arena.

Wind was blowing wildly outside and the palace was getting colder as the night drew on. Tang Thirty Six stood in the field and took out his sword while glancing around. His handsome figure supplemented with beautiful hair that was blowing in the wind attracted the female students of Mountain Virgin and Green Light who were standing on the stairs of the palace. No matter what they thought about Tang Thirty Six, they couldn’t have guessed that before he even arrived at the arena, Tang Thirty Six made some meaningless yet irritating gestures.

Tang Thirty Six saw Qi Jian’s thin figure from ten yards away and was stumped. He suddenly remembered something and glanced at Zhuang Huan Yu and sighed, “Look at this child. How small was he two years ago? And you were shameless enough to win.”

Obviously, Zhuang Huan Yu wasn’t going to reply to that. He laughed coldly, but it meant the same thing as the previous words Chen Chang Sheng said — and you think you can win against him.

The name, the Seven Rules of Heaven is well known throughout the world, but people who never met them could never have thought that even a small child like Qi Jian was in it. He saw Tang Thirty Six and bowed. The expression on his face showed his nervousness or even shyness.

Tang Thirty Six wrinkled his eyebrows slightly and asked, “How old are you?”

Qi Jian answered, “I will be fourteen years old in two months.”

Tang Thirty Six could never give up an opportunity to insult Zhuang Huan Yu like this. He glanced at his position and scoffed. Then he looked back at Qi Jian and asked, “Since you are so young…..is it fine to not fight?”

Qi Jian’s expression turned serious and replied like a small adult, “The Tradition Academy used the princess’s status to pressure us, used the marriage vow to pressure us and used the righteous cause to pressure us. My senior isn’t here to defend or debate for himself because he’s innocent. Therefore as the lower classman, I must help him regain his pride.

Tang Thirty Six’s expression became serious as well, “Wrong. The people who used parent’s words and faction’s promises to pressure us, are you guys. It’s also you guys who tried to use the righteous cause to pressure us. Everything that has happened was all started by your elders. We are simply defending ourselves. And your senior…..he tried to marry Chen Chang Sheng’s fiancee and Chen Chang Sheng should be sorry? Do not forget, the marriage vow is still there and the white crane is still here as well.”

Behind Chen Chang Sheng and Luo Luo, the white crane was resting on a bronze statue. Its whiteness contrasted against the night.

Qi Jian was silent and spoke no further. His small hand held his sword handle and slowly, he drew the weapon out of its sheath.

Just from this simple action, a powerful aura was released from his body.

The thin and small youngster gave off the pressure of a master.

The spectators suddenly became silent. Xu Shi Ji and others’ expressions changed. Even Mao Qiu Yu’s expression became more serious.

Prince Chen Liu praised, “The Seven Rules of Heaven sure aren’t an ordinary bunch.”

Tang Thirty Six’s expression became serious and he drew his sword from its sheath.

He was known for his talent even when he was young. He was prideful and cool. Even after he left Wen Shui, came to the capital and entered Heavenly Academy, he was still the same.

He knew Qi Jian would be the most powerful opponent he faced of his peers. He knew the techniques of Mountain Li’s Sword Sect would be more powerful than those of his family’s legacy. Perhaps he needed to study in Heavenly Academy for two more years to actually defeat the Seven Rules of Heaven.

But tonight, he still wanted to win.

He lowered his head and glanced at the floor. Wild grass was growing out of the crack beside his shoes.

He raised his head, stared towards Qi Jian and said, “Let’s begin.”

Qi Jian’s expression was serious, “Let’s go!”

Their voice echoed through the night in front of the silent palace. The wild grass that was growing in the crack was suddenly blown backward, as if it was tearing apart.

The wind started blowing violently and two shadows appeared and rushed toward the center of the field.

A loud crash!

Tang Thirty Six and Qi Jian met, the swords in their hands also clashed against each other. Sharp wind was swirling around their bodies and it lifted their shirts. It was as if a rain storm had approached and landed on the ivies outside of Palace Li!

Two swords encountered each other in the night. The starlight that was reflected from the two swords were flowing like a stream. For sure, they were no ordinary weapons.

“Sword of Wen Shui!”

Someone realized the identity of the sword in Tang Thirty Six’s hand. The sword that was as clear as a mirror that could reflect starlight was actually the legacy sword of the Family of Tang in Wen Shui – the Sword of Wen Shui!

Grandfather Tang gave the family’s legacy sword to Tang Thirty Six for him to use in the capital. This showed how much he loved his grandson and also proved how much hope he placed on Tang Thirty Six. Furthermore, it showed that he decided to appoint Tang Thirty Six as the head of the family in the future!

Some people were shocked by the Wen Shui Sword, and some were surprised by the sword in Qi Jian’s hand.

The sword in the thin youngster’s hand was dark and dull. It seemed to possess no blade and was broader than ordinary swords. It seemed less of a sword, but more of an iron ruler – yes, this sword was the “Iron Rule!”

Iron Rule was the relic sword of the elder in Mountain Li’s Sect of Punishment.

The head of Mountain Li gave Qi Jian a relic sword to travel through the continent. This could only show how much hope he placed on this discipline of his!

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Tang’s legacy sword against the relic sword of Mountain Li. Who would be stronger?

That was what the spectators in front of the palace wanted to figure out.

At least until now, both of these swords seemed to sustain each other’s attack.

Tang Thirty Six and Qi Jian couldn’t hear the discussion of the spectating crowd. All of their concentration and mind was on their swords.

The two swords created a barrier and two oval surfaces appeared in the night sky. They covered up the two youngster’s body and crashed into each other.

The oval surface reflected the starlight from the dark night sky. Countless murderous powers were flowing inside the bright surface.

Millions of hidden power shot out from the back of the two youngsters.

The rocky field beneath them couldn’t handle such terrifying power. With cracking noises, dozens of holes appeared on the field and they spread outwards like a spider web.

Principal of Heavenly Academy, Mao Qiu Yu, raised his eyebrow slightly. He lifted his sleeve slightly and a pure yet powerful essence covered up the stone stairs in front of the palace.

He was a powerful xiuxingist and was titled “The Wind of Two Sleeves.” All of his power was hidden in his sleeves. No matter how intense the fight between Tang Thirty Six and Qi Jian was, it couldn’t affect the people spectating the fight on the stone stairs. But he didn’t care about the people on the field.

The crane gave a cry and it spread it wings and flew. It slashed through the night and landed on the roof of Wei Yang Palace.

Jin Yu Lu stood in front of Chen Chang Sheng and Luo Luo.

Xiao Song Gong held his sword handle and coughed.

Dozens of cracks appeared at the two sides but it suddenly stopped and couldn’t travel no further.

Looking at the scene in the field, the spectators were surprised and shocked.

One of them was a famous young xiuxingst. One of them was part of the well known Seven Rules of Heaven. Both of them are ranked on the Honor Roll of Green Cloud. Even if they were more powerful than peers of their age, that didn’t surprise people. What surprised people was the current situation.

Before the battle started, people thought although Family of Tang in Wei Shui was a grand family who lasted thousands of years, their legacy couldn’t be compared to Mountain Li. Simply regarding techniques and precision, Tang Thirty Six would lose to Qi Jian. However, since he was older and xiuxinged earlier, at least his amount of qi would be greater than Qi Jian’s amount of qi.

Who knew that after the first counter, Qi Jian didn’t show a trace of weakness in the competition for the number and pureness of qi!

Many people didn’t understand the reason.

Tang Thirty Six himself knew exactly the reason.

Even if he and Qi Jian had the same talent, the xiuxing technique of Mountain Li’s Sword Sect was stronger than that of the Family of Tang’s. After a long time of xiuxinging, even the slightest difference would become a great disparity.

And there was the most important point.

He was lazier than Qi Jian.

Although he pushed himself very hard for the Ivy Festival to challenge Zhuang Huan Yu and didn’t even visit Chen Chang Sheng because of this, it was only for a few months.

He was the only son of a great family. Just like Zhuang Huan Yu said, he was born with a golden spoon in his hand. He was loved by his grandfather and lived a happy life. Even if he xiuxinged a little harder, his grandmother would rebuke the entire family. His maids would think of ways for him to slack off……

On the other hand, the disciplines of Mountain Li’s Sword Sect were mostly from poor families, and Qi Jian was no different.* Even if Tang Thirty Six thought with his foot, he knew that Qi Jian xiuxinged much harder than him. Although his opponent wasn’t even fourteen years old yet, his time spent meditating was probably much longer than his time spent meditating.

Suddenly, a cry was heard in the night sky in front of the palace.

The nightly wind was disrupted and the reflection of the stars on the two oval surface was messed up.

If if it was a pool of water, it was as if someone threw a rock inside the pool.

Wen Shui Sword and Iron Rule were separated for the first time since its encounter.

Then they clashed against each other again.

In a single moment, the two swords struggled against each other for dozens of times.

That loud cry was the sound of two swords clashing. Because it was too fast and the noises too rapid, it seemed to not stop in between.

The clashing noise suddenly stopped, and so did the wind.

Two shadows separated from each other and stood on the ground. Just like before, dozens of yards apart.

Tang Thirty Six lowered his head and glanced at the floor.

Now the wind and sword was calm, the wild grass once again stood straight.

Except earlier that grass was beside his heels. Now it was in front of his shoes.

Tang Thirty Six raised his head and looked at Qi Jian who was on the other side. He noticed that thin youngster was still standing in the original position.

“You are good.”

He said, “I thought since I ate two more years of rice than you, even if I’m terrible, I should be on the same level as you. I never thought I would step back half a feet more.”

Qi Jian looked at him and asked seriously, “Are you going to surrender?”

Tang Thirty Six felt insulted, “Do you think I’m a boring person like that?”

Qi Jian was confused and asked, “Then why did you say something like that.”

Tang Thirty Six answered sincerely, “I’m just reminding myself……I cannot be lazy anymore in the future.”

Chen Chang Sheng was behind him, “It’s not right.”

Qi Jian said honestly, “Truly, it’s no good.”

“But it will be something of the future, I still need to win against you tonight.”

Tang Thirty Six’s shirt was floating slightly and his eyes brightened.

Qi Jian’s expression turned serious and he waited calmly.