Chapter 320

– Hitting the Wrist
Nanke arrived in an area several dozen zhang away from the stone platform along the divine path. She looked towards the main entrance of the mausoleum, and her emotions changed slightly. Xu Yourong had her eyes closed and displayed a serene expression on her pale face, as if what was about to happen had nothing to do with her. This kind of attitude displayed her absolute confidence in someone. That someone was naturally Chen Changsheng, who stood at the edge of the stone platform.
Nanke looked at Chen Changsheng and was slightly confused. Even if he was Xu Yourong’s fiancé, why did it make her so confident? Chen Changsheng also looked at her. At the dawn of that day, on the side of the lake that was full of reeds, he and Nanke met face-to-face, before continuing their chase-down into the plains. Only after several dozens of days did he meet this terrifying demon girl once again.
Describing her as a teenager was incorrect. She did not seem to be a day past her early teens based on her youthful appearance. Her eyes were slightly far apart, and as for her forehead, it also seemed to be slightly wide. The indifference, or in other words lifelessness, in her eyes gave one a numbing feeling. It was exactly because the spirit of the peacock in the space between her eyebrows was overly powerful that allowed him to confirm that he did not originally make a mistake. This young girl was indeed ill. He thought about it but said nothing. After fleeing for so long in the grassland, he had long made it clear to himself that ‘cross-eyed’ was not a term that sounded nice. Also, at this moment, he was very nervous. The hand that grasped the sword hilt did not sweat, but his knuckles were rather white.
—Now that he already knew that Nanke was a Demon Princess and that she was said to be the one with the greatest bloodline talents out of all the daughters of the Demon Lord, what was even more terrifying was that she was the only disciple of the mysterious yet powerful military advisor of the demons. Before, when he was beside the lake, he could not even defeat Nanke’s two maids. Even if his sword technique had now seen great improvement, how could he be her opponent?
A true battle never had a plain start. This battle that was about to occur on the stone platform of the mausoleum would determine to whom the possession of the Mausoleum of Zhou went, as well as determine the final success or failure of the great plot of the demons. Naturally, it would not have any long-winded scripts or probing attacks. Without any delays, and also without any sign, the battle began with the wind that originated from the surroundings of the mausoleum.
The pair of moss-green wings spread open behind Nanke in the incoming wind. With a soft hum, the sound represented the extremely fast changes that occurred in the air and the air being shaken up. Her petite body immediately disappeared from where she was and reappeared before Chen Changsheng in the next moment. She extended her thin index finger and pierced it towards his forehead with a strand of terrifying Qi on the tip.
She arrived too quickly, and her actions were even quicker. As for Chen Changsheng, who had already long stored up energy and had already long raised the sword energy to the extreme… he was actually unable to strike in time. Her speed with her two wings was just too fast, so unimaginably fast that she roughly had a spot among the highest ranked in the entire continent. Other than people like Jin Yulu, who could follow up?
At this moment, any of Chen Changsheng’s reactions, such as drawing the sword, blocking with the sword, piercing, cutting, chopping or lifting, were already too late.
He was unable to follow Nanke’s speed and rhythm. If he attempted to do something, he would definitely be pierced in the forehead by the tip of her finger before he could.
Her finger was very tender and seemed very ordinary. However, the Qi that the finger carried with it was very terrifying. Anyone could imagine what the effects would be if they were struck by that finger.
As a result, he could only do nothing. He quickly retreated backwards, and then retreated into nothingness.
A soft hum came from Nanke’s fingertip. The terrifying power was concentrated, but it was not sent out. It did not come in contact with Chen Changsheng’s forehead and instead made the space at the edge of the stone platform almost seem to be ripped open.
Chen Changsheng suddenly disappeared before her very eyes. This caused her wooden expression to finally undergo some change.
This was a matter that was very hard to understand, but actually, it did not make her think too much, much less cause her to become alert. This was because she understood why but did not care at all.
Just when Chen Changsheng appeared in a certain area on the stone platform, she appeared almost at the same time and continued to pierce her finger towards his forehead. This instead caused Chen Changsheng to be surprised as to how the opponent was actually able to follow his footwork. It had to be known that this did not have any great connection with speed. He had used the most unfathomable Yeshi Step that was the fastest in close-range dodging.
He once again disappeared, and Nanke also disappeared with him. In the next moment, he appeared before the main entrance of the mausoleum and was closely followed by Nanke, who also appeared there. On the high platform in front of the mausoleum, there were no great gusts and only soft breezes. As the two disappeared and reappeared, they did not produce any sounds, which seemed extremely strange.
Chen Changsheng was not able to break away from her at all, and he was unable to break away from that thin finger that grew closer and closer to his forehead. He was unable to break away from the terrifying Qi and the feeling of impending death.
Wherever he trod, he left behind a mark of snow, attempting to avoid that finger. Only when he appeared again did he realise that he was already forced to the edge of the tall platform.
During the Grand Examination, when he was by the lake, the Yeshi Step that he once used countless times to turn the tide clearly held no significance to Nanke.
However, at least it helped him earn some time.
During the extremely silent, weird and forceful advance that occurred in this very short amount of time, he was still able to gain some distance in the end, providing him with an opportunity to strike.
Past the thin finger, his gaze landed on her forehead, and his expression was extremely concentrated.
With a swish, an extremely bright sword ray appeared at the edge of the tall platform, as if it had even illuminated the dusky sky.
It was still the Toppling Mountain Staff of the Orthodox Academy.
This was a staff technique—or should it be called a sword technique?—that he liked the most and was most familiar with. As a result, it was also his fastest.
However… it was still not as fast as Nanke. In other words, Nanke was too strong, so strong that she could very casually break through his strike.
To strike with the sword needed at least the movement of the wrist.
To bend the finger only needed the movement of fingers.
Nanke’s finger that pierced towards his forehead bent slightly, and the fingertip struck the body of his dagger with extreme precision.
With a clear clang, it was a like a newly-cast bell that had been struck by a black rock brought by a sparrow.
Chen Changsheng’s dagger was knocked away. A power that could be regarded as boundless and a load that he could not personally bear travelled from the body of the dagger into his shoulder.
If it was a normal sword, Nanke would have shattered it with her finger attack.
If it was a normal human at the upper level of the Ethereal Opening Realm, Nanke would have crippled their shoulder with the finger.
Fortunately, this dagger was not a normal sword, and Chen Changsheng’s body that had been bathed in dragon blood was even more perfect than a perfect Purification.
When Nanke’s fingertip continued to travel towards his forehead, the dagger in his hand flew back like a reed.
It was still the Toppling Mountain Staff of the Orthodox Academy. However, this time, it was not piercing but rather smashing.
The dagger in his hand… smashed towards Nanke’s wrist.
He did not attack Nanke’s forehead, because he had already confirmed that power was what determined speed, and his speed could not exceed Nanke’s.
He could only choose a method of attack that had the shortest range.
The action was very acute. It only needed the twist of a wrist and seemed very casual.
At this moment, the dagger was no longer a sword but instead a staff of discipline, or truthfully speaking, a whip of discipline.
What he used was furthermore not a sword technique, but rather the true Toppling Mountain Staff Technique.
He wanted to hit Nanke’s wrist, like a teacher disciplining a naughty student.
Smack.
He hit it.