68: Chapter 68 The Old Sword Saint Who Was Beaten to the Point of Questioning His Existence

Whether it was intentional or not, Sword Saint Lu Changsheng only heard a bizarrely awkward pronunciation, and immediately after, he felt a momentary lapse in his senses.

Little did he know, the world had frozen over in a deathly silence once again!!

Sword Saint Lu Changsheng maintained his kneeling posture, his longsword still held horizontally across his chest, when the corner of his eye caught Su Bai calmly retracting six empty-mag pistols back into his shield, only to pull out something even larger and more ridiculously lethal.

An ink-green metal tube.

And a sharp-edged, grey launcher frame.

An RPG!

A mortar!

Su Bai shouldered the RPG steadily, set up the mortar right at the alley entrance, and after a moment's thought, pulled a few grenades from his shield, used Mental Power to pull the pins, and hovered them into the gaps of the bluestone pavement right next to Sword Saint Lu Changsheng's feet.

Then he stepped back exactly ten paces.

End Time Stop.

BOOM——!!!!

The mortar shell arched down from the alley entrance with the whistling sound of death. Sword Saint Lu Changsheng felt a heat on his face, and when he focused his eyes, he was terrified out of his wits!

Missiles! Grenades!

Modern weaponry everywhere!

He was completely stunned, even feeling a momentary daze. What was going on? What the hell was happening? Why did so many attacks appear without him even blinking?

Damn it, just in case, he had specifically sealed his own strength, meaning even if he unleashed his full power, he could only muster Tier 2 magic. How was he supposed to survive this kind of situation?

Was he supposed to shamelessly break the seal?

Thoughts raced through his mind like lightning, but Sword Saint Lu Changsheng's movements were not slow. The Tier 2 aura on his body suddenly shifted; the seal had clearly been partially broken.

Immediately after, he frantically swung his sword, splitting the missile in two. Then, the RPG warhead, dragging a dazzling tail flame, flew straight at his chest. He dodged sideways in a sorry state, letting the warhead blast a massive, charred hole in the wall behind him!!

Then came the grenades! Three grenades detonated simultaneously!!!

A violent shockwave instantly surged from beneath his feet. Caught off guard, Sword Saint Lu Changsheng was sent flying like a ragdoll, his back slamming heavily into the alley wall, showering him with brick and stone debris. His faded grey swordsman robe was burned through with several smoking, charred holes!!

But he did not fall.

Sword Saint Lu Changsheng propped himself up with one hand and suddenly raised his head. In those grey-blue eyes, which had never wavered even when facing the Abyss Poison Dragon, there was now an overflowing, undisguised sense of shock and terror!!

"Where the hell... did you get these things from?!!!"

A mortar! An RPG! Grenades! The crossfire from twelve guns! These things had absolutely no magical fluctuations, meaning they weren't card creations at all. But how could a mere Tier 2 apprentice carry an entire arsenal on him?!

Furthermore, this kind of situation was something he had only occasionally encountered when he was Tier 9.

Time Stop!

That feeling of time pausing—he couldn't be wrong! It was either Time Stop or spatial movement. But regardless of which it was, it wasn't something a Tier 2 could master.

The key was that he hadn't even seen this kid use any magic cards!

What happened to him turning into a Magical Girl? Why didn't he see a Magical Girl transformation, but instead encountered such terrifying strength?

Did he... target the wrong person?

Damn!

Su Bai didn't answer; he hadn't even caught his breath.

He was calculating.

The reaction speed with which Sword Saint Lu Changsheng split the mortar shell just now was definitely not at a Tier 2 level. The coverage of that sword energy and the terrifying precision that shredded eleven bullets would be considered top-tier even at Tier 3.

He really had been hiding his strength!

Su Bai's lips curled slightly, his tone so calm it was infuriating: "Senior, that sword strike of yours just now... exceeded the Tier 2 limit."

Sword Saint Lu Changsheng's pupils shook violently!

Only then did he belatedly realize that in that life-or-death moment, he had instinctively unleashed a small portion of his Tier 3 power. After all, something like sword intent could not be hidden. When the body judged a threat to be fatal, muscle memory would automatically call upon an output matching the threat!

And the threat created by Su Bai, a mere Tier 2 apprentice, had actually forced his instincts as a Tier 9 Sword Saint to cross the boundary of Tier 2!!

"...You kid," Sword Saint Lu Changsheng stood up from the wall, his hands shaking as he flicked the still-smoking debris off his shoulder, "you really want to kill me."

"Senior, you're joking," Su Bai retracted the empty RPG launcher back into his shield, his movements smooth and fluid, "I use a Tier 2 configuration because you suppressed yourself to Tier 2. If you can't help but raise it to Tier 3—"

He paused, the silver grains of sand in the hourglass on the shield in his left hand still flowing slowly.

"My firepower here has room for upgrades, too."

Sword Saint Lu Changsheng fell into a deathly silence.

He stared intently at the diamond-shaped shield on Su Bai's left wrist. Every grain of silver sand in the hourglass at the center of the shield was falling at an extremely stable rate—round, regular, and unshakeable.

Damn it, he realized it!

These grains of sand were not decorations at all. Each grain was one second, an absolute, unstoppable, and incredibly domineering Law of Time. It was the absolute time that even he, a Tier 9 Sword Saint who once held the authority of the Sword Dao, coveted immensely!!

And how much sand had Su Bai just used? This Time Stop thing seemed to have no consumption? How much sand was left in the shield? He didn't know; he had absolutely no idea!

The desperate sense of oppression brought about by this bottomless information asymmetry was even more suffocating than the crossfire from those twelve guns. It meant this seemingly harmless Tier 2 apprentice could press the pause button on the entire world at any time, in any second!!

"...You said just now," Sword Saint Lu Changsheng's voice was terrifyingly hoarse, "your firepower still has room for upgrades?"

"Yes."

"Including what?"

"anti-ship missiles, though I can't use them for now."

Sword Saint Lu Changsheng had lived for eighty years and thought he had seen every weapon of slaughter in human history.

"Anti-ship... what the hell is that?!"

"Missiles," Su Bai's tone remained as flat as if he were reciting a menu, "the kind used to attack warships. One shot can sink a destroyer. They're ready-made in the shield, but unfortunately, I'm afraid of blowing the whole neighborhood flat..."

Sword Saint Lu Changsheng felt that the shock he had received tonight was ten thousand times greater than the past three years combined!!

anti-ship missiles?! In a shield?! And they're fucking ready-made?!!!

He slowly returned his longsword to its scabbard. His movements were extremely slow, not because of the composure of a peerless expert, but because his fingers were still trembling wildly from those two rounds of insane Time Stop firepower!!

In the deathly silence, only the faint, crackling sound of a distant magic lamp flickering remained in the alley.

Su Bai stepped forward and called out "Senior," and Sword Saint Lu Changsheng actually took a small step back subconsciously!

"Don't be nervous, I'm not fighting anymore," Su Bai took out his phone, opened the pre-order page, and turned the screen toward him. Kyubey's eerie smiling face was particularly striking in the night, "Tier 1 Kyubey Card, starting at three million. With an undying soul gem, infinite physical regeneration, and independent spellcasting. If you place an order now, you'll even get a free psychological evaluation. However, if you want a custom one, I also have exclusive custom services. In short, the price is favorable, as long as you can afford it."

Sword Saint Lu Changsheng stared fixedly at that pink button, his eyes flickering violently.

"...You're actually trying to sell to me?"

"Yes."

"After you used twelve guns, an RPG, a mortar, grenades, and two Time Stops to blast me into this ghost of a state?!"

"You need to buy it precisely because you can't beat me," Su Bai said with an incomparably sincere tone, "It's a necessity."

Sword Saint Lu Changsheng looked down at his tattered swordsman robe, which had been blasted with seven charred holes, and then looked up at Su Bai's earnest face. His lips trembled violently for a long time, wanting to say something tough, but every time he opened his mouth, the bump on the back of his head and the burning pain on his shoulder frantically reminded him—you didn't even force out this kid's second set of firepower. After the RPG, he said there was room for upgrades, and above the upgrade space were anti-ship missiles that could even sink a destroyer!!!

He wouldn't buy it!

A dignified Sword Saint like him would rather die than buy such shameful things!

"...I won't buy it!"

"Senior—"

"I absolutely won't buy it either!!"