Volcanic Age

Seeing Qiu Feng struggling against Lu Dalang, it was clear that Qiu Feng wouldn't hold out for long.

Normally, Qiu Feng would glance at the Lotus Pavilion members while fighting. But since facing Lu Dalang, he hadn't looked over once, which indicated the urgency of the situation.

"I'm going to help Senior Uncle. I know what you'll say, but it's unnecessary, so don't intervene. This is a warning."

"Apprentice-brother. Are you crazy?" Zhang Hong looked at Zhou Xuchuan incredulously.

"I'm going."

Sometimes, taking action spoke more than words ever could.

"Ah!" cried a cultivator from the Martial Alliance.

Zhou Xuchuan darted past them before they could block him and approached the bandits.

"No!" Zhang Hong shouted, attempting to jump out.

However, the Martial Alliance cultivator stopped Zhang Hong from leaving, not making the same mistake again.

"Let me go! My apprentice-brother is…" Zhang Hong couldn't finish his sentence. His face was colored in disbelief and shock.

"What in the world is…" Zhuge Xiao also doubted his eyes. It wasn't just him. Everyone aside from Qiu Feng felt the same.

They saw Zhou Xuchuan elegantly wield his sword among the group of river bandits.

"Wh-what the heck?"

A river bandit with a relatively small build muttered confusedly. Something flashed before the head of the comrade next to him was rolling on the ground. He felt paralyzed.

"I have no time, so come at me all at once." Zhou Xuchuan squinted, his eyes fierce like those of a beast.

What kind of eyes are…

The small river bandit started trembling. The moment he saw Zhou Xuchuan's eyes, his body became unresponsive.

"You fool! Get that kid first!"

Another river bandit on the side lunged forward. It was the river bandit who was always scolded for not reading the mood. This time, however, that personality cost him his life.

Zhou Xuchuan lightly evaded the sword that was aimed at his head by taking half a step to the left, before driving his sword into the man's flank.

"Kuurgh!"

Accompanied by a deep stabbing sound, the sword pierced the lungs through his side. The man's consciousness faded away as his breathing suddenly stopped.

"I cannot watch your backs anymore, so bear this in mind, sirs. You must focus on defense, not offense."

Zhou Xuchuan pulled his sword out of the river bandit's chest and kicked him into the river.

Plum Rose Sword Technique!

Zhou Xuchuan began to execute a speed-focused sword art. Having reached full mastery, the attack carried tremendous force.

"Urgh!"

One of the river bandits jerked back, Zhou Xuchuan's sword barely missing his chin.

"Hm, I think there's a need to get used to this."

Zhou Xuchuan had rarely fought on a ship either. Normally, a horizontal slash should have taken the bandit's neck, but he missed. He readjusted his senses and stabbed the bandit in the chest.

"Ugh!"

As the sword precisely struck the Death Acupoint, the flow of internal qi became chaotic. The man's brain froze, and his muscles relaxed, causing him to pass out.

Zhou Xuchuan acted without hesitation, launching relentless attacks. It seemed his aim was to take as many lives as possible.

"You sneaky rat!"

When he tried to locate the source of the voice through the corner of his eyes, he spotted a river bandit with an ax charging at him from the left. Zhou Xuchuan kicked back the bandit he was facing before raising his sword to defend against the ax.

Sparks flew as their weapons clashed with a resounding clang.

"Raaah!"

The bandit struggled to push the ax forward, his face turning beet red with effort. However, despite all his efforts, he couldn't even advance an inch against Zhou Xuchuan's defense.

"Hah!"

With a shout, Zhou Xuchuan struck upward, embedding the double-bladed ax into the bandit's head.

"Urgh!"

The bandit fell down powerlessly after a curt scream.

"H-hieek!"

Nearly ten bandits had lost their lives in moments, leaving the others shocked and uneasy.

Five Ways Plum Blossom Sword Technique.

Zhou Xuchuan changed his sword art. Due to the rocking of the ship, a sword art focused on speed wasn't that effective. The Five Ways Plum Blossom Sword Technique was much better as it focused on stability and balance.

Although this changed the fierce atmosphere around him, he showed no mercy in his attacks. He displayed stability that could put an observer at ease and yet still severed the lives of one river bandit after another.

Ugh, Originally, I should be able to take them down with just a few moves, but my lacking cultivation makes it difficult. If I had known that I would display my full abilities like this, I would have trained a little more.

Zhou Xuchuan's current realm of cultivation was rather vague. He had achieved full mastery of the Plum Blossom Life Art a long time ago, and as for the Plum Blossom Six Cardinal Cultivation Art, he intentionally stopped on the tenth stage. He sensed a breakthrough if he were to reach full mastery.

If his overall prowess increased, he would undoubtedly draw the attention of the sect. After all, his aura would have undergone a noticeable change.

He didn't want to attract the attention of important people just yet, so he intentionally refrained from reaching full mastery and stopped cultivating.

For sword arts, it didn't matter. He could adjust his level at any time, so he had reached full mastery in all of them with his understanding that was on the level of the Harmony Realm.

His mastery of the sword was on the level of the Harmony Realm, while his cultivation itself was around Second-Class or barely First-Class if he stretched it, so it was difficult to define his prowess.

In any case, inadequate bodily cultivation meant that the body would be unable to display whatever perfect sword arts had been learned and quickly accumulated fatigue.

That was Zhou Xuchuan's current predicament. He was executing too many techniques far above what his body could handle, so he was about to be pushed over his limits.

Senior Uncle is one thing, but I can't delay any longer!

Zhou Xuchuan's movements quickened and changed once again. He dodged all attacks coming at him with minimal movements to conserve strength and immediately countered with fatal strikes.

Unaware of Zhou Xuchuan's struggle, the river bandits continued to cry out in agony under his relentless assault.

*

Observation soldiers of the Nine Water Gangs stood watch on top of the cliffs overlooking the Yangtze River. They couldn't hide their shock as they saw what was happening down below.

"What is that?"

At first, they did not understand the purpose of their mission, which was to monitor and report any incidents to the higher-ups.

But who was down there? It was one of the Hundred Experts Under Heaven, Watertop Spearman Lu Dalang, who was nearly the strongest in the Yangtze River.

Even if the other river bandits were mere Third-Class cultivators, they weren't at a disadvantage since they were fighting on a ship. Everything was in their favor and they did not doubt their victory. They leisurely drank wine and chatted.

However, not long after the battle began, there was an unexpected turn of events.

"Isn't he supposed to be all bite and no bark?"

They were briefed on their targets before they attacked. The titles only known within the sect were told as well.

Zhou Xuchuan was a brat from the Lotus Pavilion who was nothing aside from his internal qi. Their assessment was that there was no need to attack him directly and that he would be easily defeated with a feint.

"But that's not true at all!"

Their intel was wrong. They didn't know whether Zhou Xuchuan had hidden himself until now, or if the info they had was wrong. The boy with the title "All Bite No Bark" was an unbelievably powerful freak.

Despite the disadvantage of having to fight on the ship's deck, he moved among the river bandits and massacred them. There was no retreat either; he only proceeded forward. And whenever he did, river bandits twice his size bled out and fell into the river one after another.

Looking at a young boy mercilessly swinging his sword on his first trip into the world was frightening.

"Don't we need to report this to the lord?"

The Nine Water Gangs was an alliance of nine organizations. Naturally, there were nine lords, with Lu Dalang being one of them.

"No, we shouldn't. He's fighting the Fourteenth Sword Hero right now. Although it looks like the lord has the upper hand, he might be injured if he starts getting concerned with other things. Both you and I know what will happen then, right?"

Lu Dalang's personality was rather cruel. Many river bandits had lost their lives at his command.

"A-and also, there's no way the lord will lose, is there?"

"Right. He's none other than the Watertop Spearman. There's no way he would lose while fighting on a river. Even if they all fall, the lord will still win in the end."

The observation soldiers gulped and looked down below.

*

C-c-clang-!

Sword and spear clashed multiple times in the air, their strikes raging like storms, shattering the very air around them.

What's happening?

Lu Dalang had glanced over Qiu Feng's shoulders. He could see his subordinates screaming and falling off the ship. Sending something was amiss, he realized the source of the disturbance. It was All Bite No Bark, Zhou Xuchuan.

"Haa! Where do you think you're looking?"

There was no way Qiu Feng, an Absolute Realm expert, would miss that opportunity. He thought that he had found an opening and struck with his sword.

Whizz-!

The tip of his sword gleamed as it charged forward with frightening speed.

"Hmph! That won't work!"

Lu Dalang raised his spear diagonally. The shaft of the spear accurately blocked Qiu Feng's sword.

"It was your mistake to look down on the cultivators of the Martial Alliance!" Qiu Feng shouted confidently.

Unlike Lu Dalang, who was a bit relaxed, Qiu Feng was completely focused on the battle. He was completely unaware of what was happening behind him. He only thought that the cultivators from the Martial Alliance were faring much better than he had thought after seeing that Lu Dalang left an opening.

"Tsk!" Lu Dalang clicked his tongue.

He might have the advantage in this fight, but he couldn't let his guard down in front of the Fourteenth Sword Hero. His name wasn't renowned in the martial world without reason. If he was mediocre, he would have finished this battle a long time ago. The fact that he was still fighting showed how incredible Qiu Feng was.

Oh no.

Qiu Feng frowned. Although Lu Dalang was feeling somewhat bothered, for Qiu Feng, the situation was completely dire.

Being on top of water, a ship would sway. Being influenced by that rocking affected the execution of his sword art.

"I have heard that the Fourteen Forms of the Plum Blossom Sword is incredible, but that only applies when you're on land."

"Nonsense!"

"Didn't your sword shake a little just now?" Lu Dalang smiled slyly.

Originally, that should have been a straight piercing attack. However, there was a minute shaking. It wasn't on purpose; it was because he was on a ship.

"Compared to that, my Stable Water Spear Art is powerful and doesn't shake. Kehehe."

The Stable Water Spear Art originated from the military. Not only that, it was restricted to ordinary soldiers, and only the skilled were allowed to learn it. This meant that the level of the spear art was quite high as well.

The spear attacks being executed on top of the water were agile, ferocious, accurate and flawless. The shaking of the ship wasn't a problem at all. In fact, the spear art allowed the cultivator to move like they were one with the water.

"I have now learned how great the sword of the Mount Hua sect is, so let's settle this fight. You were good enough to be a great story to be shared in drinking sessions, Fourteenth Sword Hero."

Creak.

Lu Dalang's grip tightened on his spear, veins bulging, muscles tense.

When the air around Lu Dalang changed, Qiu Feng became nervous as well. He waited for the next attack with unwavering concentration.

This is bad.

Qiu Feng knew Lu Dalang had been probing him. If he attacked at full power, Qiu Feng wouldn't last long.

Right as they were about to clash again…

"Arrgh!"

…A river bandit flew above Qiu Feng's head. That bandit went straight toward Lu Dalang.

"Whoa!"

Lu Dalang swung his spear vertically in surprise. The bandit's body was severed in half like firewood being chopped in two.

"What the hell is…"

Lu Dalang looked behind Qiu Feng's shoulders again, only to find Zhou Xuchuan standing there.

"Hi, Lu Dalang. Nice to meet you. I'm now going to kill you."