Chapter 379: As If We’re the Only Ones with Allies

SPLASH!

The man who had been struck by the sword failed to draw up a single breath. His vision went black on the spot, just like the martial artist Lu Ping’an had knocked unconscious earlier. He fainted immediately, then plunged into the river between the two ships.

Of the remaining four men, Lin Jiahe’s 《Bajiquan Great Spear》 blocked two of them;

one was intercepted by Chen Libin;

and one was tied down by Bai Yuhui.

All three went all out, not daring to slack off in the slightest.

But when the four men on the other side saw one of their companions fall into the water in the very first exchange, they immediately realized something was wrong. They had run into a hard target, and their fighting spirit was already shaken.

Wangchuan did not disappoint them. Stepping onto the cabin roof, he violently activated 《Cloud Ladder》 and forced his way into Lin Jiahe’s battlefield. Sparks flew around him with a flurry of clangs.

The two opponents struck at the same time, yet neither of them managed to see where Wangchuan’s sword had come from. They only realized they had been hit when they were already stumbling backward and crashing onto the opposing ship in pain.

Both of their arms trembled slightly.

In that direct clash just now, their techniques had been crushed, their speed had been crushed, their strength had been crushed, and even their internal force had been crushed.

That sensation of being utterly overwhelmed head-on made them decisively throw out their Advancement Tokens and abandon the competition.

Seeing that the tide had turned, the remaining two men retreated at once and gave up the fight.

Now that Wangchuan’s side had enough Advancement Tokens, he distributed one to each person and looked elsewhere across the stage.

On a stage with fewer than a hundred people, about half still remained...

The rest who still had ambitions were all locked in pairwise combat, fighting fiercely.

Lu Ping’an’s team had already assumed the posture of spectators.

The two sides exchanged greetings from a distance, and, just as expected, all of them advanced without incident.

Wan Xiwen’s eyes lit up with delight.

Among the third-rank martial artists, several disciples of the Caobang had actually made it into the top eighty.

Not bad!

“Lu Ping’an.”

“So you came too?”

At that moment, that Young Master Xue from the capital actually walked over to Lu Ping’an’s side and said with a light laugh,

“How come there wasn’t the slightest word of it when you came to Sanhe Commandery? I thought you were still hiding in that old house of yours in Qinghe Commandery, lying low to avoid the Beggar Sect.”

Young Master Lu replied mildly,

“Young Master Xue’s news is somewhat behind the times. The two fifth-rank martial artists who attacked my Lu Family are already dead.”

His tone was light, but it was still easy to hear that the relationship between the two was far from good.

Standing in the crowd, Wangchuan quietly observed them.

“Looks like some third-rank people from the Beggar Sect joined this competition too. What a narrow road for enemies to meet! If the two of you run into each other later, you’ll definitely have to fight it out... The question is, who should I help?”

Young Master Xue’s words carried both gloating amusement and a hint of threat.

Wangchuan naturally knew whom he was referring to.

It was the Beggar Sect’s “One-Eyed Dragon,” Qin Kainian, the man who had gained some fame through his 《Poison Sand Palm》. He was the one who had once openly challenged Zhao Jinshan, Lin Cunxin, and Old Seven, defeated two of them in succession, and was finally beaten by Old Seven.

There were also three third-rank martial artists standing beside Qin Kainian, each of them far from weak. They had fought their way into the top eighty together and were now staring coldly in this direction.

Lu Ping’an glanced over there and said,

“If the Beggar Sect wants to settle its grudge with my Lu Family, they are welcome at any time. Just like you, Young Master Xue—whenever you want to challenge me, any time and any place is fine. After all, you’re nothing more than one of my defeated opponents.”

“You—”

Young Master Xue nearly broke on the spot.

At that moment, Old Seven loudly announced for all the advancing third-rank martial artists to enter the field and begin the final elimination round.

Eighty men would compete for forty Advancement Tokens.

Young Master Xue coldly turned away and walked toward Qin Kainian of the Beggar Sect.

Judging by the look of it, he was preparing to ally with the Beggar Sect and eliminate Lu Ping’an in this round.

Wangchuan rubbed his nose.

This Young Master Xue clearly did have some background and ability.

But...

On Caobang turf, cooperating with the Beggar Sect to target an honored guest of the Caobang...

that was more or less the same as not taking the Caobang seriously at all.

A sharp glint flashed through Wangchuan’s eyes.

Everyone entered the field one after another.

The moment Lu Ping’an had just taken his position, Young Master Xue joined up with Qin Kainian and the others from the Beggar Sect, coming up on either side of Lu Ping’an and pinning his team in the middle.

Wangchuan silently led his own group over to Qin Kainian’s side and took up position next to him. On the surface, he had become Qin Kainian’s neighbor, but in reality, he and Lu Ping’an had sandwiched Qin Kainian between them.

Naturally, Qin Kainian recognized Wangchuan!

His expression instantly darkened, his face turning livid and ugly. The blind eye he had lost throbbed and twitched, while his single remaining eye locked onto Wangchuan with murderous intensity. He had clearly already designated the Deputy Hall Master of Sanhe Commandery as his number one enemy.

The host, Old Seven, stood atop the mast of a nearby stage.

When he saw Wangchuan standing there with sword in hand, locking onto Qin Kainian, he assumed Wangchuan meant to personally help him dispose of this old enemy. A trace of both gratification and worry flashed through his eyes.

But Old Seven quickly collected himself and shouted in a ringing voice:

“Light the incense!”

Whoosh! Whoosh!

Whoosh! Whoosh!

As the forty Advancement Tokens shot onto the stage,

Wangchuan and Qin Kainian moved almost at the same instant.

Neither of them even glanced at the Advancement Tokens...

With one tap of his foot, Wangchuan shot onto the neighboring ship like a cannonball.

“You’re courting death!”

Qin Kainian counterattacked in fury.

The two men from the Beggar Sect were both Branch Master-level experts and naturally had never placed Wangchuan in their eyes.

But Bai Yuhui, Lin Jiahe, and Chen Libin had already pounced forward at the same time.

Four against three!

Clang-clang!

Relying on the advantage of his internal cultivation realm, Wangchuan paired it with 《Water-Moon Sword Art》 and spread out a sheet of watery ripples. Amid the shattering peals of sword-rings, he drove his internal force forward in a long, unstoppable surge, smashing apart one man’s saber curtain.

The latter let out a muffled grunt and staggered back, terror on his face.

Before he even had time to open his mouth in warning,

Wangchuan had already driven straight in.

《Swift Sword Art》.

The Thousand-Forged Longsword drilled through the gap in the man’s hasty defense like a bolt of lightning and tore one of his arms apart.

Blood sprayed like rain.

The arm holding the weapon was severed cleanly at the elbow.

“AHHH!!!”

The scream was shrill and miserable.

The wounded man’s face turned deathly pale. Clutching the wound, he rolled across the deck in agony.

“You little bastard! You’re asking to die!!!”

Qin Kainian flew into a rage. Circulating 《Poison Sand Palm》, he suddenly lunged in, one palm blasting Lin Jiahe aside, another slamming Bai Yuhui flying, while he himself swooped toward Wangchuan like an eagle.

“Poison Sand Palm?”

A trace of mockery curled at the corner of Wangchuan’s lips.

《Poison Sand Palm》 might work on others, but against him...

he knew the move patterns of 《Poison Sand Palm》 like the back of his hand.

Tilting his head to evade the palm wind, he advanced instead of retreating, going against all expectation. With a rising strike from below, 《Poison Sand Palm》 landed squarely beneath Qin Kainian’s jaw under the latter’s shocked and terrified gaze.

Smack!

The sound of bone shattering rang straight through Qin Kainian’s skull.

The poison force slammed into his body.

Qin Kainian flew into the air like a sandbag and crashed weakly into the opposite ship’s cabin.

The last remaining Beggar Sect expert saw the situation turn bad and tried to flee, only to be forcefully intercepted by Chen Libin.

Wangchuan’s eyes were icy cold.

Against other third-rank martial artists in the tournament, he might have shown some restraint.

But against people from the Beggar Sect...

if he could cripple one, then one more crippled enemy was a good thing.

《Swift Sword Art》.

Precise and savage, it chased up from behind, stabbed into the man’s lower back, and was yanked out hard.

The man gave a muffled grunt, spun, and fell over, a pool of blood quickly gathering beneath him.

All the judges had taken notice and frowned slightly.

Although the martial tournament operated under the rule that life and death were each left to fate, very few people truly went for killing blows.

Yet with just three attacks, Wangchuan had severed one arm, shattered another man’s jawbone, and left the last one with injuries serious enough that he would probably need at least three years to recover. Whether he could even regain the strength of a third-rank martial artist was doubtful.

Ruthless enough.