Martial Cultivator

Chapter 533: Encountering an Old Friend in a Distant Land

One of life's three great joys: encountering an old friend in a distant land.

But a distant land was indeed a distant land, and this old friend barely counted as one. Still, Chen Chao could not bring himself to smile because this damn old friend wanted to kill him!

That tall woman stood quietly on the snow hill, gazing indifferently at Chen Chao, who had already gripped his saber hilt. Chen Chao helplessly looked up, their eyes finally meeting across the swirling snow.

"You managed to kill Yuan Ling. I underestimated you. How's your injury? How much blood did you vomit?"

Autumn said softly, her voice drifting through the wind and snow without much emotion, as if she were just a distant acquaintance making small talk.

Chen Chao grinned, "Who's Yuan Ling? I don't know him!"

Autumn smiled faintly. "To fight Yuan Ling head-on and ultimately kill him with a martial artist's physique, that's no small feat. Do you know that Yuan Ling ranked among the top three of the younger generation in the demon race? His physique was unparalleled in this era."

Chen Chao responded with an "Oh," still shaking his head in confusion. "Never met him. But if I did, I wouldn't mind sparring with him."

In response to Chen Chao's feigned ignorance, Autumn did not seem to mind. She slowly walked down from the snow hill and casually remarked, "Killing someone like Yuan Ling is something you could brag about for half your life. Don't you want that?"

Pressing his hand on his saber hilt, Chen Chao kept his qi circulating, ready to strike at any moment. Watching Autumn approach, he simply smiled, "I'm actually more interested in knowing if killing you would give me something to boast about for the rest of my life."

Autumn smiled indifferently. "If you can really kill me, it would certainly be something people would talk about for a long time. But do you have that ability?"

After taking a few more steps, she stopped, maintaining a certain distance from Chen Chao.

Chen Chao asked curiously, "You seem to have a high status. Are you really some royalty or princess?"

Autumn remained expressionless.

Chen Chao also fell silent for some time. Given that this so-called Yuan Ling was among the top three of the demon race, and since he had faced both Yuan Ling and Autumn herself, it was only natural for him to compare the two in his mind. Although it seemed that Autumn had not exerted her full strength during their fight back in Great Liang, she did not seem any weaker than Yuan Ling. Coupled with what she had just said, Chen Chao finally confirmed the identity of the woman standing before him.

The booklet given by the Lord Warden Commander did mention that the Demon Emperor had several princes who were all outstanding young geniuses. However, he should not have encountered any of them until now. But while the Demon Emperor had many sons, he only had one daughter.

The sole princess of the demon race.

It should be this one in front of him.

Chen Chao sighed. If that were true, then the fact that he could not even draw his saber during their previous encounter would not be so surprising.

To be honest, during this journey to the desolate north, Chen Chao both wanted to encounter Autumn again and did not want to encounter her.

This kind of thinking was contradictory.

But now, he definitely did not want to run into Autumn.

At this moment, he had not yet fully recovered from his serious injuries. Chen Chao did not feel that he could gain any advantage after running into this princess.

“You didn’t come all the way here just to kill me, did you?”

Chen Chao looked at Autumn. Though the thought seemed absurd, for some reason, he could not shake the feeling that this crazy woman was entirely capable of doing just that.

In this world, most women were ordinary, but there were special ones.

Autumn smiled, "You're not that stupid."

Chen Chao replied helplessly, "Is it really necessary? I just touched your chest. So petty."

Murderous intent began to rise in Autumn's eyes.

Chen Chao took a step back and probed, "How about I apologize, and you let me go?"

Autumn smiled again and said, "Alright, but tell me your name first."

Chen Chao frowned and said, "You figured out that I killed Yuan Ling, but you don't know my name yet?"

Autumn's face remained expressionless. "I prefer to hear it from you."

"Then you tell me your name first, and I'll tell you mine."

Chen Chao's fingers continued to tap on the hilt of his saber.

He had originally thought that she would not tell him her name, but after a moment of silence, Autumn spoke softly, "Remember, the one who will kill you is Autumn."

Chen Chao furrowed his brow and spat out two words, "Chen Chao."

Before his voice had even faded, Chen Chao had already instantly drawn Cloud Mud.

A flash of saber light suddenly erupted within the wind and snow, slashing directly toward Autumn.

Countless snowflakes shattered instantly before the strike.

However, just as abruptly as the strike began, it vanished, almost as if the slash had been forcibly interrupted midway.

Heaven and earth fell silent once more.

Chen Chao raised an eyebrow and said, "As expected, you're injured too."

Autumn's lips curved into a smile. "It's been quite some time since you killed Yuan Ling. Your injuries should have healed by now. You shouldn't be like this now, you're feigning weakness."

From the moment they encountered each other, both had sensed that the other was not at their peak. All the conversation up to this point had been a form of probing. But in the end, Chen Chao remained uncertain, leading to that sudden strike.

Now he was certain, this woman before him was injured, much like himself.

"You're one sick freak. Even with injuries this severe, you're still thinking about killing me."

Chen Chao said, gripping Cloud Mud as he exhaled a turbid breath.

Looking at his saber, Autumn asked calmly, "Did you change your saber, or was it reforged?"

Chen Chao smiled and did not speak.

Autumn said softly, "Indeed, I came specifically to kill you. On the way, someone named Yun Jianyue insisted on getting in my way, which delayed me a bit. If you manage to survive this, you can thank him for it."

Chen Chao remained silent. Gripping his saber, he started to charge forward.

Since the other party was already severely injured, with injuries similar to his own, it meant that this fight was winnable.

And if it was winnable, what was there to fear?

Autumn let out a cold laugh, drawing a snow sword from the wind and snow, and quickly met Chen Chao head-on.

This was destined to be a battle to the death, and at this moment, it finally began.

Two powerful energies clashed in an instant.

A fierce wind suddenly rose between heaven and earth, sweeping across the surroundings, with the two at the very center.

Chen Chao slashed down with his saber, the sharp blade cutting through the air, and the boundless saber qi at its tip burst forth, instantly tearing apart much of the demonic qi emanating from Autumn.

But at the same time, Autumn's snow sword had already been thrust out, aiming directly at Chen Chao's heart.

Before the snow sword could reach him, several waves of demonic qi had already surged toward Chen Chao.

Before Chen Chao's saber could fully descend, it was already entangled by countless strands of demonic qi, making it difficult to continue its downward arc. In contrast, Autumn's sword seemed to effortlessly pierce through the barrier in front of Chen Chao, aiming straight for his heart.

In this initial exchange of blows, both fighters had practically unleashed their full strength. Hence, the scene was so intense it was almost unbelievable.

Just as the sword tip reached Chen Chao's heart, his saber finally started to fall. However, at the last moment, as if by mutual understanding, both of them retracted their weapons, choosing not to exchange injury for injury right at the start.

But in the next instant, the snow around them suddenly exploded, blowing away endless wind and snow.

This was a result of their energies landing in the distance.

Before Chen Chao could catch his breath, Autumn had already thrown her snow sword. The sword flew with the speed of a flying sword, tracing a blinding white line through the air, as if it intended to slice this icy world apart.

Unexpectedly, Chen Chao sheathed his saber, all the muscles in his body tensing up. Then, like an arrow released from a bow, he charged directly at the incoming snow sword.

Autumn also did not expect Chen Chao to make this move and was momentarily stunned.

But the snow sword had already arrived in front of Chen Chao. At the last possible moment, Chen Chao narrowly avoided it. The snow sword grazed his clothing, leaving only a tear.

Then, Chen Chao already collided with Autumn.

Autumn extended a palm, pressing it against Chen Chao's head, but it could not stop the force of his charge. The two slammed into a snow mound together, with Chen Chao's expression serious as he aimed a punch at Autumn's chin.

Autumn responded by raising her knee, targeting Chen Chao's vulnerable area.

Chen Chao frowned slightly, pressing down with one hand to block the unreasonable strike from the woman before him.

At the same time, Autumn's palm struck his chest.

A surge of demonic qi emanated from her palm, spreading across Chen Chao's entire body.

Chen Chao's expression was ugly as his body trembled, but he quickly shook off the demonic qi that was like bone-festering maggots.

The surrounding snow had already buried both of them by this point.

However, the two clearly did not care, continuing their relentless struggle.

Autumn remained expressionless as she faced Chen Chao, with only one thought in mind: to kill him here.

Actually, in terms of talent, Chen Chao might not compare to Yun Jianyue, whom she had encountered earlier. In terms of techniques, this pure martial artist was also inferior to the daoist cultivators who mastered countless magic spells. Yet, for some reason, Autumn felt that while Yun Jianyue might become a significant threat to the demon race in the future, it was Chen Chao who had the potential to bring about the demon race's utter destruction.

Thus, she was determined to kill him before he could fully grow.

As for why she did not involve other young geniuses in surrounding and killing Chen Chao, or why she did not have a great demon suppress his cultivation to finish him off, Autumn had her own reasons.

She wanted to kill him with her own hands.

……

……

However, as the two of them crashed through several snow mounds, Autumn had to admit one thing: the young martial artist before her had grown significantly stronger since their last encounter.

Even though he was also injured right now, she could sense that the intensity of his internal qi far surpassed what it had been before.

In other words, if her previous self had met him as he was now, she might not be at an advantage.

Yet, as Chen Chao advanced, she did not stop either.

So, at this moment, Autumn still did not think that this young martial artist before her would survive her assault.

Perhaps irritated by Chen Chao's relentless, wave-like attacks, Autumn frowned and suddenly pushed him away with a palm strike.

Before Chen Chao could react, countless gusts of wind and snow had unknowingly gathered in the clouds above.

At this moment, all of it fell down, directly burying Chen Chao under it.

Although she knew this likely would not injure Chen Chao, the corners of Autumn's lips still curled up slightly.

It was as if that making the young martial artist before her appear more disheveled brought her some comfort.