Chapter One Hundred and Nine: Facing Death Without Fear

I used to be the kind of spirited youth who pored over the Skybound Finger Technique every single day.

“Come on, let’s keep walking.”

I took up the hand of Luan Teng, who had been practicing, and led him toward the distance.

Who could have imagined that such a poor, penniless boy would one day become a reclusive master among men? But that was a story for later.

The two of us walked and talked, and there was an odd feeling that we had met too late.

Unfortunately, I could only remain on Celestial Sun Mountain for a single month, perhaps not even that long, so I would likely have few chances to see him again.

We moved through the forest side by side. Now and then we would encounter a beast, but as long as it did not attack us, we could not be bothered to deal with it.

Then I heard the tangled clash of weapons echoing from higher up the mountain. Instinct told me that many disciples must have run into trouble.

After a quick glance to identify the direction, I hurried uphill, and Luan Teng followed close behind.

I had never intended to go farther up anyway. The instructor’s task was only for us to survive a day on the mountain, and though I had not gone looking for trouble, I had not gone out of my way to invite it either.

But now that fellow disciples were in danger, I had no reason not to help.

I ran swiftly. Even as the forest grew denser the higher I climbed, I still used nimble footwork to leap several yards at a time.

Before long, Luan Teng and I burst out of the dark forest, and the sight before us startled me.

The terrain here was similar to the lower slopes, yet there were far more beasts—dozens of them at a glance.

So the reason there had been so few beasts below was that they had all run up here.

And now, there were also more than a dozen students here. I looked carefully, and nearly all of them were the weaker ones. The only truly strong one was Zhang Shun.

I had thought Zhang Shun would simply flee on his own, but he had chosen instead to protect his classmates. That earned my admiration.

Not only Zhang Shun, but the teacher as well—the two of them stood before dozens of beasts without showing the slightest fear.

Yet none of those beasts were easy prey, and with so many of them, the two quickly fell into a disadvantage.

“Can you fight?” I asked Luan Teng quietly.

“Of course I can!”

Perhaps because I was standing beside him, he now had plenty of courage.

I nodded, then drew Snowblade in an instant and charged at the vile beasts.

At the same time, I unleashed a burst of Thunderbolt Art, sending all the beasts before the teacher and Zhang Shun flying.

At last I planted myself firmly beside Zhang Shun.

Looking at the dozens of monkey-like beasts, I gave the teacher and Zhang Shun a wry smile.

“Teacher, if we’re here to train, did we really need to choose such a dangerous place?”

The teacher smiled faintly.

“Enough talk. Fight.”

As he spoke, he changed weapons. His was a long spear, strangely reminiscent of the one wielded by the man who had ambushed me that day.

But this spear looked even more imposing, with a far greater presence.

I poured more spiritual energy into Snowblade. In an instant, the temperature plunged so low that even my breath turned white.

The other three beside me had no choice but to protect their bodies with spiritual energy as well.

“Come!”

With a roar, I charged out first. Snowblade, stirred by my fighting spirit, burst into brilliant light.

The three behind me followed at once, all of them swinging their weapons.

I drove Snowblade into the ground, using the force to vault high into the air, and crashed straight down into the beast horde.

Seeing me deliver myself to them, the beasts showed no courtesy either, snapping their jaws as they lunged.

As I fought, I kept an eye on Luan Teng nearby. He was on the outer edge, facing three or four beasts alone, his blade flashing furiously. I would not call him astonishingly strong, but self-preservation was certainly not a problem.

Then there was Zhang Shun. He had now switched to a sharper longsword and was darting through the beast pack with repeated feints and turns, like a butterfly weaving through flowers.

The teacher’s spear was no weaker. Relying on its reach, he kept the beasts at a distance and struck with lethal precision whenever an opening appeared.

The four of us each displayed our own skills and barely managed to hold off dozens of beasts.

But I could still hold on; Luan Teng, however, soon began to falter and was reduced to taking blows.

I quickly moved toward him and, gathering strength, released another Thunderbolt Art, temporarily easing the crisis in front of him.

“Go to the teacher’s side!” I shouted.

Luan Teng understood immediately and began fighting his way toward the teacher.

The teacher was the strongest among us and could protect Luan Teng; otherwise Luan Teng would have been torn apart.

I continued swinging Snowblade, releasing a Thunderbolt Art every so often, and for the moment I could still hold the line.

Just as the crisis around Luan Teng eased, Zhang Shun started to fail as well.

He was only one rank above Luan Teng and quickly exhausted himself.

Just as it looked as though he was about to be shredded, a talisman suddenly flew out of his pocket and knocked back the beasts before him.

I had nearly forgotten that the teacher had given each of us a protective talisman. Zhang Shun relied on his and narrowly escaped disaster.

I tossed my own protective talisman to Zhang Shun and shouted to him,

“Can you still get up?”

A few seconds later, I heard Zhang Shun shout back,

“Yeah! Thanks!”

Giving him the talisman was a helpless choice on my part, because I did not want to be the only one to die. I wanted everyone to live.

Thinking of that, the fighting spirit within me grew even fiercer, and with a single slash I hacked down the four beasts in front of me.

With one hand I summoned the Eight Trigrams Array, and with the other I gripped Snowblade, panting heavily.

But I did not have much time to rest. Only a few seconds later, the beasts surged at me again.

I raised the Eight Trigrams Array in my hand and fought while defending.

By now, half the beasts had been wiped out, but there were still many left. Not only was I growing exhausted, Zhang Shun had already used up his other talisman and retreated on his own.

Luan Teng was still all right beside the teacher, but the teacher was tired too; I could see beads of sweat as large as beans running down his face.

With a few quick steps I leaped to the teacher’s side and said, “Teacher, take the disciples and head down the mountain first. I’ll hold them here.”

The teacher glanced at me, still swinging his long spear, and said, “You go. I’ll handle this.”

Seeing that he refused to leave, I had no choice but to use force.

I yanked him backward, and he was instantly pulled out of the battlefield, while I was surrounded by the beasts.

“Teacher, take everyone and go first. I have my own way!”

A few seconds later, the teacher’s and Luan Teng’s voices came from outside.

“Be careful!”

I drew in a deep breath and charged straight into the beast horde. It looked like I was throwing my life away, but this was the most effective way to hold them all at bay.

The spiritual energy within me was running low, but I only needed to hold out for about ten minutes, and the teacher would be able to lead all the disciples down the mountain.

With the resolve of one prepared to die, I found myself laughing aloud.

Wounds of all sizes kept appearing on my body, yet I still forced myself to maintain the final line of defense.

When I saw the timing was about right, I gathered every ounce of strength and leaped upward, successfully landing at the very front of all the beasts.

I steadied my mind, rapidly formed a hand sign with one hand, and silently recited the inner formula.

Just as the beasts were about to charge, I pointed ahead and screamed with all the fury in my chest:

“Five Thunder Art!”