Martial King's Retired Life

“He is…”

“Shang Bieshi’s sole successor,” answered Gongsun Chu.

Shang Bieshi might’ve liked playing teacher, but he rarely taught martial arts to anyone. The only one who Gongsun Chu considered a legitimate disciple of Shang Bieshi was Shitou.

Had Liaoliao not held back to preserve energy for his assassination task, Tianhu wouldn’t have dominated. Even now, it was a 50-50 situation. A Divine Realm adept’s involvement would tip the scale in one direction. To make matters worse, Ming Feizhen heard twenty-eight people emerge from the secret passage. In other words, there was still one more person hiding.

“A force like this…” Ming Feizhen locked his brows. “What is your goal?”

“To kill you.” Gongsun Chu formed a smile, sending chills down Ming Feizhen’s spine. “I’ve wanted to kill you since we were in the underground palace. You haven’t forgotten why, have you?”

A trail of sweat coursed down the side of Ming Feizhen’s face. “About that, haha, better another friend than another enemy, hahahaha.”

“Don’t worry. I do want to kill you, but there’s a procedure for killing someone, isn’t there?”

Ming Feizhen felt as though he just fell into a trap he set himself. Only now did it dawn on him that the conversation was following a script; the bet he suggested was foreseen. Gongsun Chu always preferred methods that gave the greatest return on the smallest investment, which he proved with his mirage tactic.

“Since I’m on your chopping board now, can’t you just finish me?”

Had Gongsun Chu finished Ming Feizhen the first time promptly, he could’ve saved himself plenty of trouble. They were in the same situation again.

Gongsun Chu and Ming Feizhen met eyes. There was a mixture of emotions in Gongsun Chu’s eyes, but it was hard to tell what they were. He lowered his head and muttered, “Ending your life isn’t enough. It doesn’t count as defeating you.”

“And killing His Majesty in front of me does?”

“Liaoliao will kill Li Yong. I don’t need to get involved.” Gongsun Chu peered into the ether. “Many things will come to an end tonight – if everything goes as planned…” He turned back to Ming Feizhen and added, “It would be regrettable if I don’t get to see you die before my body expires.”

Ming Feizhen didn’t bother prying further since he knew he wouldn’t get an answer. He also knew for certain that the outcome tonight would depend on the results of Tianhu’s fight.

***

Tianhu felt a sting on his face from the wind as he saw what was presumably a rock burst out from the green lotus. Following a loud “boom” produced from an iron weapon smashing into qi, he saw what resembled a golden dragon fill up his field of vision. The proof that it had nothing to do with Liaoliao was that his lotus’ power only increased as he continued his recital, inhibiting Tianhu from closing in.

Not only was the cudgel swung with an unexpected amount of force, but it was aimed at the weakest spot in Tianhu’s defence, too. When he absorbed the impact on his chest, he had a flashback of a warrior who left a deep impression on him.

Tianhu’s blood froze and then roiled. The force of the impact split the ground in multiple directions for several metres. Though Tianhu managed to eventually stop its travel with his hand, the residual force continued to hit similarly to crashing waves. Only when he tasted blood in his throat did he realise he had stained his lapels with his own blood. Finally, Tianhu realised his new opponent was the blank Divine Realm warrior he already defeated once.

Though Tianhu sprayed a mist of blood, he didn’t drop or lose his Enlightenment around him. At his level, settling his essence was a quick and easy job, but it was hard to say what the result would be if he took another shot.

Shitou continued to push out internal energy through his cudgel perpetually. In addition to the violent gales, his blue flames that enveloped him added a vicious heat element to the winds. Even though his eyes had a threatening glow in them, there was no life in them. His one loss to Tianhu didn’t make the fact that he was dangerous obsolete.

Tianhu collected black energy to his palm, then formed broadswords and swords out of it. No matter how tough it was defend, though, he reacted too late.

Shitou created a wheel of fire and wind with his circular cudgel movements, dispersing Tianhu’s black energy. Tianhu only needed a second to heal himself using his Stillvoid, but he was forced to disengage and reset as he couldn’t maintain his weapons.

Shitou’s cudgel that was imbued with blue flames had the potential to kill on impact, and there was a specialist at creating opportunities for them. Liaoliao connected the roots of his lotus and used them to tie up Tianhu’s feet. Freeing himself from the roots whilst defending against Shitou’s barrage was a luxury that Tianhu couldn’t afford.

Tianhu roared as he gathered black energy to the edges of his hands, consolidating them so that the energy couldn’t be dispersed or absorbed. When he rammed his hands into Shitou’s cudgel’s tip, splintered stones and concrete went everywhere, but neither of them lost his balance.

Notwithstanding how busy he was, Tianhu could sense the presence of one of Six Blades’ assassins whom he’d sensed before – Silver Crow! Silver Crow didn’t remain hidden because he didn’t see an opportunity, but the fact that he was lurking still acted as a threat Tianhu needed to be aware of at all times. After all, it only took one slash to end the fight.

It finally clicked for Tianhu. Shitou and Silver Crow was a team that he fought once already when he first tried to kill Gongsun Chu in the bamboo forest. The difference was, swapping Gongsun Chu for Liaoliao increased the difficult drastically. Nevertheless, why did Gongsun Chu have Silver Crow on standby? It was as if he expected to be ambushed. Of course, there was no chance he foresaw the ambush, but he was ready to test Tianhu and chose to go ahead with the test when Tianhu unexpectedly showed up. After that scuffle, Tianhu was no longer a mysterious puzzle to Gongsun Chu. Gongsun Chu wasn’t present because he had fulfilled his role in combating Tianhu. On top of this realisation, Tianhu also came to understand that the person who was meant to lead Silver Crow and Shitou was Liaoliao all along since Shitou was considerably harder to deal with this time.

Shitou, Silver Crow and Gongsun Chu were all better at offence than defence, so their sole tactic under Gongsun Chu’s leadership was to trade blow for blow. The other two couldn’t assist in a battle between Divine Realm adepts. Since Liaoliao assumed a defence-only role, Shitou was able to go all out without reserve, maximising their teamwork. More importantly, Liaoliao still had the ability to give Tianhu a run for his money. Thus, Silver Crow became the vital ingredient to the mixture as he was the best candidate to jump in when an opportunity was presented. The strategy was truly Gongsun-Chu-esque.

Tianhu never expected the combination to be thought out, and he certainly didn’t think Liaoliao would be the catalyst to allow his Shitou to attack faster. On one hand, he had to use his black energy to prevent the green lotus’ illusion from forming and swallowing. On the other hand, he had to fight off the flaming cudgel. Regardless of which task it was, they both required extreme control and finesse. Moreover, he had to do it all without opening himself up to Silver Crow. His foes couldn’t comprehend why little by little, the corners of Tianhu’s lips curved upwards. To Tianhu, more pressure equalled more joy.

It wasn’t everyday that one had the opportunity to fight two Divine Realm adepts simultaneously while barely being able to wield his Enlightenment. While he was disappointed Liaoliao’s fourth step wasn’t intended to finish him, he was satisfied as the risk of death each time he collided with Shitou thrilled him. As the vision of his death gradually took form in his mind, he mumbled, “Divine Realm? So what?”

Despite Shitou erasing the black energy in his hands, Tianhu continued, “Two Divine Realm adepts? So what?”

The green lotus’s petals glowed brighter and enlarged.

“I don’t believe in gods and demons. I don’t pray at temples. I don’t care for nature’s opinion. I don’t fear death.”

Shitou and Liaoliao didn’t like where it was going. It was pure intuition, not a special ability that Divine Realm granted.

“I’ve taken down generals tucked behind an army of a thousand, taken a treasured spear thousands of miles away, forged a sword over ten years, trained for twenty years… to become unstoppable.” Every time Tianhu’s palms crashed into Shitou’s cudgel, a trace of his black energy was left behind, and they now suddenly formed a straight line. “Who cares about Divine Realm? I crush Divine Realm!”

In one thrust, the green lotus’ form distorted, and Shitou flew off as black snowflakes fell.

Utilising his essence alone to produce his spear that nearly blew the lotus and Shitou away whilst fighting them off was as close to committing suicide as Tianhu could’ve gotten. If he failed to kill them, then he was doomed, but nobody expected him to be such a risk taker or understand why he would take the risk.

Before the black spear pierced Shitou, Liaoliao saw the latter holding his head and wailing in his mind.

Shitou hadn’t forgot the misery of trying to save his mentor, only to implicate his mentor. Every time he swung his cudgel henceforth, it was painful for him, as well. Perhaps the real reason he couldn’t wake up was the pain, not the seal cast on him.

Shang Bieshi was more of a handful than Liaoliao expected him to be, but he gained a new pawn from the struggle. Ever since the war twenty years ago, Liaoliao continued to have Shitou train his body and skills in the illusion so that he’d have a Divine Realm puppet at his beck and call. The moment he saw Tianhu pull out his big techniques, Liaoliao knew it was time for him to release the seal on Shitou so that the latter could employ his full potential, which would grant him twenty-four hours of normal functioning and maximum strength.

“Great Sage.”

Shitou’s cudgel suddenly vanished and then re-emerged against Tianhu’s spear. The lotus’ petals fell, and the two fighters replaced them. One was crouched down, while the other doused in blue flames was in dominant form.

“You are Tianhu?” Shitou asked of his foe akin to a corpse on the ground. “Didn’t you want to see my skill? Why aren’t you getting up?”

Shitou was still under Liaoliao’s control to an extent and hadn’t caught up on everything yet, but his instincts as a warrior prompted him to pose the questions.

“Kill him,” commanded Liaoliao, taking a fifth step that regrew his lotus from Tianhu’s body. Subsequently, he took a sixth step. “It’s time we go kill His Majesty.”

***

Ming Feizhen exhaled heavily. “You went through all that to wake him?”

“Not entirely.”

Gongsun Chu’s choice of words and tone made it clear that, though everything thus far was part of Liaoliao’s plans, Gongsun Chu still had the ability to seize the upper hand. For one, Fiends’ Genesis would be revived if Shitou didn’t perish tonight.

“Aren’t you going to write your will?” questioned Gongsun Chu, cutting off Ming Feizhen’s train of thought.

“What’s the rush? They’re still going, aren’t they? I don’t remember Confucianism’s Great Sage Gongsun Chu being dishonourable.”

Gongsun Chu shook his head.

“What makes you think so?”

“Tianhu is indeed a notch superior, and God of Battle’s Nine Diagrams is a supreme discipline in this era. Howbeit, he is pushing his envelope too far and depending on it far too much. His last attacked exceeded his life essence volume. Without even considering his strength, he most likely shaved off his lifespan, yet he was unable to defeat Shitou. What chance does he have of winning?”

“He’s not dead yet. That’s his strongest ace.”

“Too late. Besides you, I can also hear them.”

Predicting the appearance of The Ultimate Three was possible. The military mobilisation and panic in the capital served the primary purpose of distracting the majority. Although Ye Yun was cognisant of the fact, he didn’t think they’d be willing to go as far as directly attacking the imperial city. Gongsun Chu and Liaoliao focused all their firepower in the imperial city. In the scenario that Tianhu did stop Liaoliao and Shitou, there was still Silver Crow and Gongsun Chu himself. By the same accord, even if the guards in the imperial city could stop Liaoliao, there was no guarantee they could stop Gongsun Chu’s sneak attack, not to mention he might’ve had a plethora of more tricks in his back. If Tianhu came over, then Ming Feizhen would be history.

“Damn, you really worked your brain to kill me.”

“This world needs to be restored to its rightful state,” emotionally declared Gongsun Chu. “There’s never been anything more important than that to me. You and Li Yong are insignificant pebbles. Write your will. Wait for Tianhu. You can die after Li Yong’s head has been collected.”

When Gongsun Chu stood up and turned his back, he heard, “I’m raising the stacks,” so he turned back around.

“I’m still gambling. Sit back down.”

It was the first time Gongsun Chu saw Ming Feizhen’s equanimity and confidence that he shouldn’t have had as the restrained prey.

“What capital do you have left to bet?”

Ming Feizhen smiled. “Would you believe me if I told you that it still won’t be easy to kill me in my current state? Even if you ignore my grandmaster’s existence, you’re not killing me any time soon.”

Gongsun Chu couldn’t argue that, not when he knew about the catastrophic power dormant within Ming Feizhen. If they had to fight the creature, then the night’s plan would have to be scrapped. That was one reason, and maybe the principal reason, that Gongsun Chu hadn’t killed Ming Feizhen.

“If you win, I’ll commit suicide after I write my will. I’ll save you the trouble. I’m betting Tianhu will win.”

“… Fine.” Gongsun Chu picked up his sword, then turned his back again. “I’ll go fetch Tianhu’s head myself right now. Then, I’ll come back to watch you take your own life.”