Chapter 11: Decisive Battle in Wei - Part 4: Duel on the Snowy Peak (I)

Section Four: Duel on the Snowy Mountain (Part I)

Not long ago, Bu Jingxian had observed Wu Fei’s combat capability through his divine eye, and it was far inferior to this. Her internal energy cultivation method had originally provided no spirit enhancement at all, so he had never expected such an unimaginable and massive transformation to occur within such a short span of time. An internal energy level of this magnitude was surely something impossible to achieve relying solely on the stamina and internal energy talent, which led him to suspect that, much like Ling Luo, she possessed a rare divine-attachment talent.

Because of this, he dared not engage Wu Fei in direct combat, hoping only that a surprise attack of this nature would secure victory in a single blow.

He launched an unexpected assault from the tree. Despite Wu Fei’s swift reactions, as she retreated, their palms and fists collided directly.

Even in a bare-handed strike, Bu Jingxian’s physical combat damage output reached six thousand. He calculated that even if Wu Fei was well-versed in deflection techniques, relying on the Jian Yue Sect's art of force dispersion, she would ultimately sustain at least four thousand five hundred points of damage—more than enough to incapacitate her under a single blow. To his surprise, the moment their fists and palms met, the vast majority of his force was deflected away. It felt as though the small palm he had struck was a slippery loach, causing his power to scatter completely to the sides rather than concentrating.

This all-out punch of his inflicted a mere six hundred points of internal energy loss upon Wu Fei.

Wu Fei had hurriedly turned and met the strike with her palm, leaving her no time to execute any internal energy techniques to amplify her damage. Yet, the mere level of her native internal energy was sufficient to shock Bu Jingxian with five thousand points of damage. The instant he bore the impact, his talent and cultivation method boosted his physical stat to seven thousand four hundred, but his actual physical loss still amounted to one thousand two hundred and fifty.

Having initiated a surprise attack, his own damage was nevertheless twice that of Wu Fei!

*The Northern Martial Sect's force-deflection technique!* Bu Jingxian knew that only the internal energy of the Northern Martial Sect possessed such miraculous deflection efficacy; the Jian Yue Sect’s internal arts could never accomplish this!

However, since the initial strike failed to achieve its goal, Bu Jingxian had no time to ponder further. Figuring that Wu Fei would inevitably borrow the momentum to accelerate her retreat, he hurriedly kicked off the ground and surged forward with all his might. The tremendous force shattered a vast expanse of ice and snow, which swirled and drifted across the sky in his wake.

He swiftly drew his sword and pursued the retreating Wu Fei with rapid thrusts.

As the Seven-Star Longyuan was unsheathed, its melodic hum resonated through the desolate and silent mountain forest, its piercing, frigid glare quite intimidating.

This was one of the reasons why Bu Jingxian had not drawn his sword immediately after hastily climbing the tree. An internal energy master of Wu Fei's caliber possessed extraordinary hearing; even the sound of an ordinary longsword leaving its scabbard could be heard from afar, which would have instantly exposed his position and ruined any chance of an ambush. He could have used his sword during the surprise attack, but calculating that a single punch would defeat and force Wu Fei to retreat, drawing the sword would have meant certain death for her. Because he did not wish to take her life, he had chosen to attack bare-handed.

Never had he imagined that Wu Fei, a master of the Jian Yue Sect, would suddenly have mastered the profoundly esoteric techniques of the Northern Martial Sect, thus rendering his calculations futile. With the situation now unfavorable, he was forced to draw his sword in pursuit, yet he still intended that if he miraculously caught up to her, he would spare her life.

The frigid gleam of the Seven-Star Longyuan pierced through the scattering ice and snow, aiming straight for the chest of the retreating Wu Fei. Just as it was about to strike, Wu Fei drew the narrow sword concealed within her floral umbrella and channeled her force to parry and slash at the incoming Seven-Star Longyuan.

As the two blades intersected, Bu Jingxian suddenly spun his sword, causing their edges to collide directly.

Bu Jingxian had long anticipated that Wu Fei would have time to block, so he relied on the supreme sharpness of the divine weapon Seven-Star Longyuan to shatter Wu Fei's blade, leaving her powerless to retaliate and ensuring that his thrust would find its mark.

To his surprise, the moment the blades clashed, the echoing vibration traveled two miles away, and the Northern Martial Sect's deflection technique took effect, forcibly steering Bu Jingxian's sword off to the side.

With nothing gained, Bu Jingxian landed on both feet, while Wu Fei took the opportunity to retreat three zhang away and come to a halt.

As the churning ice and snow scattered and drifted down, both could clearly see each other.

"Fine sword!" Bu Jingxian felt completely helpless, a bitter taste lingering at the corners of his mouth as he could not help but praise Wu Fei's sharp blade. He had clearly seen it before, yet after a short time apart, not only had Wu Fei's internal energy cultivation transformed completely, but even her weapon had been replaced by a divine weapon capable of clashing directly with the Seven-Star Longyuan without suffering any damage.

Wu Fei stood quietly amidst the accumulated snow, holding her umbrella in one hand and her sword in the other. She said calmly, "I do not usually use this ancient divine weapon, Frost, but as I happened to be carrying it today, it saved my life. The Northern Lord's sword is also excellent; I wonder what it is called?"

"Seven-Star Longyuan."

"Had the Northern Lord used it when descending from the tree, I would already be dead."

"I only wished to wound and drive you away, not to kill you." Bu Jingxian sighed inwardly with resignation, pondering how to deal with Wu Fei's soaring dancing sword technique next. His wings could not be revealed just yet; the timing for letting others know about his wings concerned matters of great importance. Yet without using his wings, he truly lacked the confidence to shake off Wu Fei, which left him in a difficult dilemma.

"The Northern Lord must be regretting this by now, I presume?" Wu Fei's tone remained placid.

Bu Jingxian chuckled dryly and said, "This lord has never spoken of regret. Although your soaring dancing sword technique directly counters my martial arts, it is not certain that I cannot escape today. Rather than regretting the past, it is better to devise a way to solve the problem at hand. The maiden possesses astonishing natural talent; the fact that you could spare Li I-chien's life that day shows benevolence, and observing the tea and food at your shop reveals your noble character. Such a person is someone this lord cannot bear to lose, so how could I ever be willing to inflict a fatal blow?"

"If the Northern Lord were not the leader of the rebel army, not a mortal enemy threatening the life and death of the turbulent State of Wei, Wu Fei would genuinely be willing to let the Northern Lord go today. It is a pity that if the Northern Lord departs, the State of Wei will inevitably suffer countless deaths and injuries due to future turmoil. Even if I feel reluctant today, I cannot hold back; I must capture the Northern Lord alive and hand him over to the King of Wei for disposal, hoping to exchange the Northern Lord for the territory of Wei occupied by the rebel army."

With that, Wu Fei leveled her longsword, pointing it from afar at Bu Jingxian, who stood three zhang away.

During this brief conversation, the physical stamina Bu Jingxian had lost had fully recovered. He pondered the miraculous technique taught by the veteran Old General Jiang, thinking that if he wished to engage in a protracted battle with Wu Fei today, he had better master that peculiar art. Otherwise, once severely wounded head-on by Wu Fei's vital energy, a single blow would exhaust his stamina recovery, and his spirit would not hold out for long.

At present, his resistance to internal energy relied on mitigating the actual damage caused by internal energy through his strike-resistance stat; his talent and soul-determination combined to multiply his strike-resistance fourfold. However, Old General Jiang's technique involved using instantaneously boosted physical stamina to completely absorb the damage caused by internal energy. The difference between the two was as vast as heaven and earth.

*Take physical stamina as force, circulate it throughout the entire body, and at the instant of impact, summon illusory, enhanced stamina to expel it outward...* It sounded extremely simple, but putting it into practice left him completely clueless. Old General Jiang was not a martial cultivator; he spoke only from experience and the sensation of having achieved it, utterly unable to translate the technique into effective principles that went straight to the essence of its execution. This made it elusive, and without corresponding personal comprehension, it was utterly impossible to successfully employ it.

Bu Jingxian mused that today truly presented an opportunity to seek out a way to comprehend and grasp it. With Wu Fei's sword qi flowing endlessly, it was inevitable that he would frequently experience the taste of being wounded by internal force today.

"Be careful, Northern Lord—" As Wu Fei spoke, her feet shifted slightly, and her body leaped ten zhang high, floating directly above the ancient tree whose leaves had all fallen. Beneath the boundless white snow, she looked like a celestial being descending from the heavens.

The moment Bu Jingxian saw her leap, he turned and fled.

A moment prior, he had been gripping his sword with a concentrated and guarded gaze, and the next, he had turned and bolted in flight. This left Wu Fei alternating between laughter and tears, forcing her to abandon her plans to strike. High in the air, she waved her floral umbrella, soaring horizontally as she pursued the fleeing Northern Lord.