novelraw Chapter 173 - 119: Success Without Effort (Part 2)
Chapter 173 - 119: Success Without Effort (Part 2)
"What’s this?"
Gentle took the petal and brought it to her nose to sniff.
Chu Qing explained to her:
"Today, the person who injured Miss Tie is an assassin from the Mirror of Sin, a master on the Evil Extermination List, known in the Martial World as the ’Flower Beauty.’
"See if the scent of this person still lingers on it. If there is, help me remember this scent... So that we can find them when they appear next time."
Gentle put down the petal, frowned, and said:
"This scent..."
Before she could finish speaking, urgent footsteps suddenly came from outside the door.
Then a disciple from Luochun Manor reported at the door:
"Third Young Master, a formidable person has intruded into the manor. Second Master sent us to ask you to take charge!!"
Chu Qing immediately said to Gentle:
"You wait here and keep an eye on her.
"I’ll go check the situation."
"Alright."
Gentle nodded:
"Additionally, this petal has the scent of Ling Fei girl."
Chu Qing was about to walk out but stopped suddenly upon hearing this, turning sharply to look at Gentle:
"Who?"
"The courtesan from Celestial Fragrance Tower, the girl beside Hero Cao... Ling Fei."
Gentle said:
"I remember clearly; this is her scent."
...
...
After leaving the room, Chu Qing hurried to the courtyard where Wen Fusheng was located.
As he rushed, his mind was in turmoil.
Ling Fei?
Flower Beauty!?
Why would the Flower Beauty, one of the seventy-two assassins on the Evil Extermination List, be a courtesan at Celestial Fragrance Tower?
He vaguely recalled that the madam of Celestial Fragrance Tower mentioned.
Ling Fei hadn’t been at the tower for long before becoming a courtesan there.
Afterward, because Jiang Divine Saber and others from Divine Blade Hall were killed by Chu Qing, resulting in chaos in Divine Blade City, they wanted to quickly sell off this courtesan.
"So... she appeared at Celestial Fragrance Tower just before the fall of Divine Blade Hall.
"What exactly is her aim?
"She and Cao Qiupu grew up together... I learned this from Cao Qiupu himself.
"It shouldn’t be false.
"But what if Cao Qiupu’s identity is also questionable?
"Though according to Cao Qiupu, they have been separated for a long time.
"What happened during this time, no one knows...
"It’s hard to convict Cao Qiupu based on this; he might have been deceived by their childhood connection."
After these thoughts passed through his mind, Chu Qing made up his mind and instructed behind him:
"Go ask Hero Cao to meet me at the ’Observatory’; I have something to discuss with him."
One of the two Luochun Manor disciples following Chu Qing immediately flew off.
Meanwhile, the courtyard of Wen Fusheng was right ahead.
Chu Qing tapped his foot and landed on the courtyard wall.
Looking down, he saw two people dueling in the courtyard.
One was an elderly man with white hair, and the other was a frail middle-aged man.
Chu Qing’s eyes narrowed slightly, and his eyebrows raised a bit.
Only because the elderly man with white hair was dressed entirely in pink.
Similar to those from Longyang Mountain, only his clothes looked more exquisite, with more intricate patterns.
"... Jade Dragon Old Immortal of Longyang Mountain?
"It’s really true that what you’re searching for with all efforts comes to you without any effort."
However, Chu Qing didn’t recognize the middle-aged man engaging with him, but observing his Martial Arts, it primarily involved finger techniques.
Chu Qing had seen this finger technique before; at Celestial Dance City, Gentle used it to combat Mei Qianluo from the Divine Sand Gang.
At that time, Chu Qing found this set of finger techniques extremely fierce, entirely different from the Taiyi Sect’s Martial Arts.
Whether it’s the Taiyi Divine Palm or Taiyi Divine Fist of the Taiyi Sect, they focus on heaviness.
The essence of fists and palms mainly involve ’push, press, lift, and hold,’ emphasizing overpowering others with force and subtlety.
However, although Gentle is a woman, when she practiced Taiyi Sect’s Martial Arts, it was clearly the same kind of technique, yet the essence was entirely different.
Emphasizing ’lightness’ over ’heaviness,’ but the techniques converge by gathering scattered techniques toward the core, following the path of ’accumulating small steps to cover vast distances.’
From the scattered, power is gathered, and once there is an opportunity, the truly overwhelming ’heaviness’ would suddenly erupt.
Hence, in duels, it often seemed more light than heavy, and the true mastery wouldn’t be visible until the very end.
But this set of finger techniques was ’as fast as lightning’ and ’as sharp as a sword.’
Like an archer shooting stars, the terrifying power unleashed inadvertently could instill fear in anyone.
And now, the finger technique demonstrated by this middle-aged man was far more fierce and overpowering than the one Gentle exhibited.
The two figures weaved through the courtyard, each wielding deadly punches, palms, and fingers, filling the courtyard with surging energy. Either the wall got pierced with holes, or a footprint embedded in the ground; occasionally, the erupting force made the windows rattle loudly, its momentum was formidable.
Chu Qing’s gaze only lingered on the two for a moment before landing on Wen Kaiyuan in the corner of the courtyard.
With another step, he was already beside Wen Kaiyuan.
"Third Young Master!"
Seeing Chu Qing’s arrival, Wen Kaiyuan hurriedly clasped his hands in respect.
Chu Qing waved his hand:
"Is that Third Master Wen?"
"That’s my younger brother, Wen Pingce."
Wen Kaiyuan quickly replied:
"The intruder is the Jade Dragon Old Immortal. This old scoundrel, knowing my older brother is severely injured, sneaked here intending to force my brother to hand over the Celestial Secret Order.
"Fortunately, Si Ye discovered him in time and managed to stop him... However, Si Ye was no match for him and was defeated within a few moves.
"This delay was just enough for him to encounter my younger brother.
"They’ve already exchanged dozens of rounds.
"I don’t know if my younger brother can defeat this old scoundrel..."
Chu Qing nodded slightly, only to see the two figures fight their way from the ground to the rooftop, circled a few times, and then landed back on the ground.
Jade Dragon Old Immortal’s toes hit the ground first, with Wen Pingce diving down from above.
At that moment, myriad stars seemed to unfold behind Wen Pingce.
Yet, in an instant, they vanished into his body, traveling through his meridians into his finger, where a fierce glow appeared, as if gathering countless stars.
It was unmistakably Luochun Manor’s Secret Technique, [Nine Heavens Star Finger]!
But Jade Dragon Old Immortal spun in his steps, spreading his hands before him, one palm facing inward, the other outward.
A force bizarre to the extreme suddenly arose around him.
With a simple twist, the finger force, as piercing as a sword, just missed him by a hair, hitting a nearby wall.
The surging finger force not only created a hole in the wall but continued forward, piercing through three more courtyard walls, leaving a basin-sized hole in the final wall.
Such power was undeniably formidable!
Wen Pingce’s face changed, realizing the peril.
This finger, charged with power, was intended to take down the old scoundrel as he had his back turned.
But who could’ve predicted this seemingly certain hit would miss?
Moreover, what kind of Martial Arts did this old scoundrel employ?
Why was it unseen before?
Amidst the tumbling thoughts, Jade Dragon Old Immortal burst into laughter, gathering himself into a point, his aura bursting like a dragon emerging from the deep.
With a buzzing sound, the air around him seemed to emit a muffled thump.
Jade Dragon Old Immortal turned his hand into a dragon claw, seizing with mighty gang wind at Wen Pingce.
"Not good!!"
Sensing the danger, Wen Kaiyuan’s face altered dramatically.
Yet, just as the claw was about to strike Wen Pingce’s chest and abdomen, the smile on Jade Dragon Old Immortal’s face vanished, turning flustered, or rather panic-stricken, he transformed the claw into a grip, seizing Wen Pingce’s chest and tossing him away.
"Wen Fusheng!?"
After throwing the person, Jade Dragon Old Immortal roared angrily:
"Were you pretending to be injured to lure me into a trap?"
Before Wen Kaiyuan could understand what had happened, Chu Qing had already stepped down, tapping Wen Pingce’s shoulder as he flew by. With a quick circulation of the Mingyu Scripture, his body spun three times mid-air, dissipating the throwing force into nothingness.
Letting Wen Pingce naturally land, Chu Qing’s gaze crossed over him, locking onto Jade Dragon Old Immortal:
"What joke is the old fossil making?
"Manor Master Wen is in his room recuperating. If he were truly unscathed, do you really think you’d still be here prancing around?"