91: One-Sword Man 3

Wang Meng was stunned, and before he could react, a black blade light flashed past.

Time seemed to stand still.

Wang Meng maintained his slashing posture, frozen in place.

Seconds later, a line of blood appeared at his neck, and his head slowly slid off, rolling to the edge of the arena.

The headless corpse crashed to the ground, blood gushing out like a fountain.

One strike.

Yet another single strike.

The entire Life and Death Stage was deathly silent; even the sound of breathing was almost inaudible.

Qin Jiuge sheathed his blade and turned to leave the stage, his movements fluid and natural, as if he had just done something trivial.

"The... the winner, Qin Jiuge!"

The referee's voice trembled slightly.

A massive uproar erupted below the stage!

"Another single strike!"

"How is this possible!"

"Wang Meng was a three-term veteran; they say his strength was close to the Peak of the First Heaven!"

"Is he really blind? The timing of that sidestep was too precise!"

"one-sword superman... that title really isn't wrong."

Various discussions rose and fell, but Qin Jiuge had already returned to his original spot and picked up his bamboo staff, as if nothing had happened.

On the high platform, the gaze of the Heavenly Lord of the First Heaven grew even deeper.

"Send someone to keep an eye on him."

He said to the guard behind him,

"If he can survive to the end... he might be a decent 'consumables'."

The competition continued, but everyone's attention had been captured by that blind swordsman.

In the following battles, whenever someone won quickly, people below the stage would whisper:

"But still not as fast as Qin Jiuge."

Unknowingly, the title of "one-sword superman" had been deeply etched into everyone's hearts.

In the eighty-ninth match, Zhao Gang took the stage.

His opponent was a master of the long spear, but Zhao Gang used only three moves to tear open the other's chest and rip out his heart.

He held the still-beating heart high and let out a beastly roar, his gaze intentionally or unintentionally sweeping toward Qin Jiuge below the stage.

Provocation, blatant provocation.

Qin Jiuge remained expressionless.

In the one hundred and twentieth match, Liu Sanniang took the stage.

Her opponent couldn't even get close before being cornered by three poisoned flying daggers, with a final blade slitting their throat.

The entire process was elegant and deadly; Liu Sanniang licked the blood off a flying dagger and blew a kiss toward Qin Jiuge.

Qin Jiuge remained indifferent.

The competition lasted from dawn until dusk, finally determining the last hundred survivors.

Originally nine hundred and eighty-seven people, now only a hundred remained—a mortality rate as high as ninety percent!

But this was only the beginning.

"The third round will take place tomorrow,"

The Heavenly Lord announced,

"A hundred down to ten; the rules are to be determined."

The survivors dragged their weary bodies away, every face filled with exhaustion and vigilance.

They knew that the truly cruel competition was only just beginning.

Qin Jiuge walked on the way back to the inn, followed by several figures—those who wanted to befriend or test him.

But he didn't stop, soon disappearing into the alleys and shaking off all his tails.

Back in his inn room, as soon as Qin Jiuge closed the door, he sensed something was wrong.

There were four people in the room.

Uninvited guests... in the four corners of the room, one person stood in each, blocking all exits.

They were all winners from today's arena battles, and they radiated intense Killing Intent.

"Qin Jiuge, our masters wish to see you."

The leader was a man as thin as a bamboo pole, his voice sharp and piercing.

"Masters?"

Qin Jiuge asked calmly.

"Lord Zhao Gang and Lady Liu Sanniang."

Another burly man with a face full of rough flesh added,

"They admire your strength and invite you to join the Alliance."

"As long as you nod, we can guarantee you'll survive to the end in tomorrow's match."

Qin Jiuge shook his head slightly:

"Not interested."

The faces of the four men darkened simultaneously.

"Don't refuse the easy way only to be forced by the hard way."

The bamboo-pole man sneered,

"Do you think you're invincible just because you can kill a few people with one strike?"

"The four of us here are all experts who have survived a hundred battles."

"Working together, even if you really have some skill, you will surely die."

"Giving you one last chance,"

The rough-faced man threatened,

"Either join us, or... die here tonight."

Qin Jiuge's hand moved to the hilt of his blade.

This movement made the four of them tense up at the same time.

They had all witnessed the horror of that single strike today.

Though they claimed not to be afraid, their hearts were filled with wariness when actually facing him.

"It seems you've chosen death."

A ruthless glint flashed in the bamboo-pole man's eyes,

"Do it!"

The four figures lunged forward, attacking from four directions simultaneously!

Blade, sword, fist, and claw blocked all of Qin Jiuge's evasion space; it was a carefully calculated combined attack!

Qin Jiuge moved.

His figure seemed to turn into a wisp of black smoke, drifting through the gaps in their attacks.

Then, four black blade lights lit up almost simultaneously, tracing trajectories of death in the dim room.

"Puff, puff, puff, puff!"

Four soft sounds, and the four men's movements froze at once.

The bamboo-pole man's throat was slashed open, the rough-faced man's heart was pierced, and the other two were each struck by a blade in the center of their foreheads.

They stared wide-eyed, looking at Qin Jiuge in disbelief.

This blind man had actually found the only flaw in their combined attack in an instant,

and had completed four precise kills at the same time!

"Im... poss... ible..."

The bamboo-pole man clutched his spurting throat and slowly collapsed.

The four fell almost simultaneously, and a heavy scent of blood filled the room.

Qin Jiuge sheathed his blade as if he had only swatted a few flies.

He walked to the window and pushed it open; the night wind blew in, slightly dispersing the smell of blood.

"It seems someone doesn't want me to survive the night."

He whispered.

Just as he finished speaking, the sound of dense footsteps suddenly erupted outside the inn.

Qin Jiuge's Divine Sense swept out, discovering at least thirty people surrounding the inn, led by Zhao Gang and Liu Sanniang themselves.

"Qin Jiuge!"

Zhao Gang's roar came,

"I'm giving you one last chance. Come out and surrender, or tonight I'll make sure not even your bones remain!"

Qin Jiuge lightly leaped out of the window, landing in the small alley behind the inn.

Both ends of the alley were already blocked; Zhao Gang and Liu Sanniang, leading over thirty Martial Artists, had him surrounded in the middle.

"Where are the four men I sent?"

Liu Sanniang asked coldly.

"Dead."

Qin Jiuge replied simply.

Zhao Gang's face darkened:

"Good, very good. I was going to give you a chance, but since you're looking for death, don't blame us."

Liu Sanniang, however, let out a charming laugh:

"Qin Jiuge, I'm really starting to like you more and more."

"So young, so strong, and so cold... what a pity you don't know how to adapt."

Qin Jiuge didn't speak, only slowly drawing his blade.

Under the moonlight, the originally rusty and broken blade now shimmered with a dim black light, as if it could swallow all light.

"All together, kill him!"

Zhao Gang roared.

More than thirty Martial Artists attacked at once! The flashes of blades and swords lit up the entire alley, and Killing Intent soared to the heavens!

Qin Jiuge moved.

His figure turned into a bolt of black lightning, weaving through the crowd.

Every flicker was accompanied by a black blade light and a scream.

His blade technique had no flourishes, only the most basic cleaves, slashes, stabs, and sweeps, but every strike precisely hit the enemy's vital points.

Throats, hearts, foreheads, temples... wherever the blade light passed, lives were harvested like weeds.

Zhao Gang and Liu Sanniang's expressions changed drastically; they finally realized they had severely underestimated this blind man.

"Retreat!"

Liu Sanniang shrieked, while simultaneously throwing three poisoned flying daggers to block Qin Jiuge's pursuit path.

But Qin Jiuge just lightly swung his blade, and the three daggers were knocked to the ground.

His figure didn't stop, continuing to harvest lives.

In less than the time it takes for half an incense stick to burn, more than half of the thirty-plus people had fallen.

"Monster... he's a monster!"

A surviving Martial Artist broke down and turned to flee.

But after only two steps, a blade light pierced his heart from behind.

In the alley, only Qin Jiuge, Zhao Gang, and Liu Sanniang remained standing.

More than thirty corpses lay scattered about, blood flowing like a river.

"Now, it's your turn."

Qin Jiuge said calmly.

Zhao Gang and Liu Sanniang looked at each other, both seeing the fear in the other's eyes.

They knew they had struck a steel plate tonight.

"Split up and run!"

Liu Sanniang made a split-second decision and sped toward one end of the alley.

Zhao Gang charged toward the other end.

A cold light flashed in Qin Jiuge's eyes as his figure blurred, first chasing after Zhao Gang.

Zhao Gang heard the wind behind him and knew he couldn't escape. He roared and turned around, his steel claws tearing through the air toward Qin Jiuge's face!

"Blood Claw Heart-Rip!"

This was Zhao Gang's ultimate move, which had torn apart the chests of countless enemies.

Qin Jiuge didn't retreat but advanced, a blade light flashing past.

Zhao Gang's steel claws stopped in mid-air, and his whole body froze.

A red dot appeared on his forehead, and blood slowly seeped out.

"So... fast..."

He managed two words before crashing to the ground.

Qin Jiuge didn't even spare him a glance, turning to chase after Liu Sanniang.

Liu Sanniang had already escaped the alley and was about to leap onto a roof when a black blade light struck from behind.

She hurriedly dodged to the side, but her left shoulder was still slashed, leaving a wound deep enough to see bone.

"Ah!"

Liu Sanniang screamed and fell to the ground.

Qin Jiuge walked slowly to her, the tip of his blade pointing at her throat.

"Don't... don't kill me!"

Liu Sanniang pleaded,

"I'll do anything for you!"

"I know many secrets—about the competition, about the Heavenly Lord, about the upper Heavens... I can tell you everything!"

Qin Jiuge's blade stopped in mid-air.

Seeing this, Liu Sanniang thought there was hope and said hurriedly:

"I also know a secret about the truth of Ascension! It's not Ascension at all, it's..."

Her words came to an abrupt halt.

Qin Jiuge's blade had pierced her heart.

"I know."

Liu Sanniang's eyes widened, and she died with her eyes open.

She didn't understand how this blind man from the bottom could know a secret that only a few people were aware of.

Qin Jiuge flicked the blood off his blade and sheathed it.

The night wind blew, carrying the heavy scent of blood.

Footsteps came from afar; it was the City Guard attracted by the sounds of battle.

Qin Jiuge's figure flashed and disappeared into the night.

When he returned to his inn room, the four corpses were still lying there.

Qin Jiuge thought for a moment and threw the four corpses out the window, landing right in front of the arriving City Guard.

"This..."

The City Guard captain looked at the corpses on the ground, his expression changing drastically,

"It's Zhao Gang and Liu Sanniang's men!"

"And over in that alley, more than thirty corpses!"

A guard ran over to report,

"Including Zhao Gang and Liu Sanniang themselves!"

The City Guard captain sucked in a breath of cold air:

"Who did this? Could it be a clash between the major factions?"

"I don't know, but it must have been the work of a master. Everyone was killed with a single strike!"

The City Guard captain fell silent.

He looked at the dark street, a chill rising in his heart.

Tomorrow was the match to go from a hundred down to ten, yet such a massacre had occurred tonight... the First Heaven was about to change.