Chapter 422: Hard-Headed Style Sword-Controlling

"Who goes there?!" Suspended high within the vault of heaven, his form borne up by an unseen gale that whipped through his robes, the white-clad cultivator stood with hands clasped behind his back, his gaze absolute ice.

With a darkening countenance, Nangong Jiuwen finally turned his attention toward the direction where Fang Qi stood.

It was not that he had failed to notice Fang Qi before; rather, he simply had not deigned to spare a passing traveler any regard. In his view, since the boy had witnessed things he shouldn't have, it was a simple matter of disposing of him in passing—what meaning was there in paying heed to a dead man?

Simultaneously, the cultivators of the Li Family turned their eyes over in unison.

They beheld a young man garbed in a blue-and-white robe, its cut and patterns bearing a distinctly peculiar style.

Nor was it merely peculiar; the long robe had been fashioned with two pockets specifically set into it. Unlike the others who stood with hands clasped behind their backs, this fellow had both hands thrust deep into his pockets.

Looking further down, they saw that the youth seemed entirely devoid of weight, treading upon a broadsword of an equally bizarre shape. Painted upon the blade were four strange and mystical characters.

The entire man exuded an aura that was both singular and eccentric.

Yet eccentricities aside, absolutely no one believed that a youth such as this could possibly withstand Nangong Jiuwen’s sword-pellet.

"Just who is helping us?" The white-robed elder who had lost an arm asked in a low whisper, his weathered face twisted into a knot of confusion.

Nangong Jiuwen let out a mocking sneer and addressed the open sky: "I know not what sort of lowlife is playing tricks here, but do you dare step forth to meet me?"

Upon the grand screen, a deluge of bullet commentary had already erupted:

"Is this guy blind? How can he miss someone that big?"

"666, Boss Fang is getting completely ignored."

"Boss Fang: What’s the matter, you looking down on me or something?"

Seeing the commentary, Boss Fang’s face twitched. "How the hell did you guys steal all my lines?"

Nangong Jiuwen’s expression darkened slightly. He could feel absolutely no spiritual aura of anyone else in the vicinity, nor did anyone answer his call.

He looked once more at the flying sword beneath the youth’s feet and the bizarre spectacle he presented. "...Is it you playing these tricks? Which faction do you belong to? Do you know the consequences of interfering in the affairs of Nangong Jiuwen?"

"Which faction...?" Boss Fang pondered for a moment. "The Defying-Heaven Online Games Guild? That's close enough, I suppose. Yours truly is the Leader of the Defying-Heaven Online Games Guild."

Everyone in the Half-City currently watching the live broadcast: "..."

Song Qingfeng: "Boss, that’s your guild from the game... Who in the real world is going to know what that is?"

Su Tianji, munching on instant noodles, sent a comment: "Should I summon a squad of Warriors, Mages, and Taoists for you while we're at it?"

"They don't even play Legend of Mir, who would know your Defying-Heaven Online Games Guild..."

Mo Tianxing and the others exchanged glances, utterly speechless: "..."

Though Boss Fang’s guild could be considered a force within the reality of Half-City, its real-world presence was mostly incidental; the guild's primary energy remained focused within the game, otherwise how could it live up to the name "Online Games Guild"?

"You should have just said you're the Owner of the Origin Internet Cafe!" Liu Ningyun reminded him via a text comment.

Soon, a flood of replies followed on the screen: "...Wouldn't that have the same effect? Put that way, I still think Leader of the Defying-Heaven Online Games Guild sounds better... It has more presence..."

The commentary section had already dissolved into a fierce debate over Boss Fang's only two available titles to announce his pedigree.

Meanwhile, the cultivators of the Li Family stared at one another in mutual bewilderment.

They exchanged glances: "What online games guild?"

On the other side, Nangong Jiuwen burst into laughter upon hearing the name. "What online games guild?"

"Has this Nangong Jiuwen been in secluded cultivation for so long that any random cat or dog dares to jump out and prance before me? Just now, was it you who blocked my sword?" He rolled his wrists with great amusement and smiled. "How about this: you take ten more swords from me. If you don't die, I'll let you leave. What do you say?"

His demeanor was the very picture of a cat that had caught a mouse, playing with it out of a perverse sense of amusement.

Boss Fang looked left, then looked right: "..."

The companions in the commentary stream were likewise left dumbfounded.

"I am truly sorry for involving you, Excellency," the Li Family lady sighed softly. "Thank you for your assistance just now, but this man's strength is by no means simple. If Excellency finds an opportunity, you should flee quickly."

"Flee?" Boss Fang glanced up at Nangong Jiuwen, who stood with hands clasped in the sky, looking down upon them. Waving his hand, Fang Qi inquired, "How about you guys flee instead? That way, I can pretend my hand slipped and avoid killing them."

"Kill me!?" Nangong Jiuwen spoke as though he had just heard the greatest joke under heaven, an incredibly chilling intent to kill flashing in his eyes. "Do you have any idea that based on those words alone, whatever faction you belong to will be uprooted in the days to come? Even the chickens and dogs therein will be slaughtered down to the very last one!"

"Holy crap?! What kind of creature is this?!" The commentary stream had completely exploded.

"Are the cultivators of Lingzhou all this arrogant? Even the Three Grand Sacred Sects have never been this cocky!" The cultivators of Jiuhua City were utterly stupefied. Were all Lingzhou cultivators like this?

As for the cultivators of Half-City.

Black Demon had already slammed the table and leapt up: "Boss, crush him! Don't leave any face for us!"

Tang Yuan: "You motherfucker, if you have the guts, come to Half-City and see if this seat doesn't thrash you to death!"

"Boss, don't leave a single one alive!" A large portion of Half-City consisted of short-tempered cultivators, and by now, the pot had boiled over completely.

They were even more anxious than Boss Fang himself; had they been at the scene, they would likely have drawn their weapons and charged in by now.

"Do not think that because you blocked a single blow of mine, you are anything remarkable," Nangong Jiuwen said. "Just now was but a casual strike, executed without even employing a sword technique."

Nangong Jiuwen let out a cold laugh. The sword-pellet hovering in midair, following his spiritual energy, gradually elongated until it transformed into something resembling a strand of black sword-silk.

Like a swimming black dragon, it quickly turned into a streak of black light and vanished into thin air!

The sword arts of this sword-pellet were evidently far more eerie and unpredictable than Fang Qi’s Sword Controlling Technique. That streak of sword-pellet had transformed in the air into a spiritual sword as supple as a silk thread wrapped around a finger, moving at a high speed that was already difficult for the naked eye to discern!

"Now, allow me to show you the might of my Wentian Sword Palace's sword techniques."

As his voice fell, that streak of black light, barely perceptible to the naked eye, traced an exceptionally nimble trajectory and slashed toward Fang Qi’s flank!

"Flee quickly!" The woman in the white silk dress cried out in alarm.

"??? Flee? Is it even possible for me to flee on a live broadcast?" As he spoke, Boss Fang’s hand had already gripped a broadsword identical to the flying sword beneath his feet. The previously dull sword-light suddenly erupted into a magnificent radiance!

"As for the Sword Controlling Technique's sword forms... I also know a smattering of the basics." Even as he spoke, the sword radiance in his hand grew as brilliant as a scorching sun, causing even the blazing sun hanging high at the edge of the sky to lose its color on the spot!

With every increment of brilliance the sword radiance gained, the blade itself seemed to tremble with excitement. The chiming of the sword echoed endlessly. Just as the sword-pellet came slashing down, the entire world seemed to be enveloped and shrouded by a massive expanse of sword radiance. Its momentum was as tempestuous as a mountain, as surging as an ocean. Fang Qi’s entire aura shifted completely, resembling a deity out of ancient legends.

Amidst a piercing screech of swords, the sword-light cut through the void like heaven-rending thunder!

Crack!

Like a sudden clap of thunder, the sword-pellet and the flying sword clashed several times in midair!

"You court death!" The killing intent in Nangong Jiuwen’s eyes intensified. He had not expected this bizarre flying sword to actually be capable of blocking the sword-pellet. "To compete with my sword-pellet in speed of execution?!"

A jet-black sword-light had already bypassed Fang Qi’s flying sword, slashing silently right before Fang Qi’s face!

Yet Fang Qi remained entirely unmoved, acting as though he had seen nothing at all. The flying sword erupted with an even more terrifying velocity, sweeping forward like a crashing tide to strike directly at Nangong Jiuwen, without the slightest intention of pulling back to defend!

"Are you mad?!"

Fang Qi’s expression was entirely devoid of emotion.

With this strike, Nangong Jiuwen could pierce Fang Qi’s chest with a single sword, but Fang Qi’s sword would directly cleave his entire physical body into two halves. Fang Qi would have a chance at salvation, but he would have none.

Nangong Jiuwen suddenly let out a cry of alarm, twisting his body almost by reflex.

Immediately following, blood splattered across the long sky as an arm flew straight up into the air!

"This is..."

The audience watching the live broadcast opened their mouths wide, their faces frozen in stupor.

Boss Fang let out a soft sigh: "What a pity I don't have the Dragon Slaying Sword, but this particular sword technique can still be put to use. The secret to this sword technique lies entirely in having a hard head; you just harden your scalp and hack upward. The more stubborn and iron-headed you are, the more powerful it becomes."

What Fang Qi had deployed was precisely the sword technique that Wan Jianyi had imparted to Lin Jingyu.

Everyone fell into a dead, ringing silence.

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