others that concentrate solely on one aspect while neglecting the potential damage. Such techniques are imperfect, but sometimes people overlook these flaws for the sake of effectiveness!" said逍遙."Wha...Chapter 444 Dispute 2
This breath-holding technique not only enables one to hold their breath but also conceals one's aura, making it impossible for others to sense your presence even if you are right next to them. It’s undoubtedly a great way to hide, though the method is rather complicated and difficult to learn. People who aren’t in professions like killers usually don't bother learning this.
Most martial artists know simpler ways of concealing their aura which suffice for their needs; there's no need to learn such complex techniques.
To return to the matter at hand, when everyone thought that Free-and-Easy could not escape, a sharp metallic sound suddenly rang out. It was the sound of a weapon being drawn from its sheath.
Then, in an instant, people only saw a flash of cold light before them...
"Clang!"
"Clang!"
...
Weapons were dropped everywhere and they were all broken in half. Whose weapons were these Why are they all broken, where are the other halves
The answer was right there before everyone’s eyes. These half-cut weapons belonged to those soldiers; now holding the remaining halves of their own weapons, it meant that all of them had been cut into two pieces in an instant.
Who made these cuts was also very obvious, although people were a little hesitant to believe it.
"How can this be possible"
Everyone looked at the sword-wielding youth in the middle. Now they understood that he wasn't boasting or pretending but stating facts. This youth could cut through all these weapons in an instant, whether relying on his weapon's sharpness or not, such skill is worthy of being called a master swordsman and this is enough to substantiate what the young man had said earlier—that he was indeed a martial artist who wasn't weak.
"Kid, I underestimated you. Your swordsmanship is good, and your sword is also excellent," Li Xiuwei looked at Free-and-Easy and spoke sternly.
“Thank you for the compliment; I won’t be modest about it. This praise suits me well,” Free-and-Easy said with a smile as he held his sword at a forty-five-degree angle, looking very cool.
"Wow! Master looks so impressive! Who would've thought that master is truly skilled!" cried out Peony and the others from upstairs. They had retreated but only to the upper floor; it was safe up there and they could see everything happening downstairs clearly.
“Master, do your best; I’ll cheer for you!”
"Master, after this fight's over, I'll throw myself at your feet; I’ll be yours tonight..."
“Shut up! Master will only play with me. What's it to you”
“…”
The girls’ cheers from upstairs made the men downstairs feel a little uncomfortable. It was too blatant, these women really are shameless!
But Free-and-Easy didn't mind; he naturally accepted their cheers and even waved at them with a rather cocky demeanor.
"Kid, don’t get cocky. You merely relied on the sharpness of your sword. My Halberd is a prized military weapon made from the toughest materials; see if your sword dares to come near it," Li Xiuwei ordered someone to bring out his Halberd and then swung it around a few times, displaying its mightiness that made people wary.
In Li Xiuwei's opinion, Free-and-Easy’s sword skills were good but lacked power, mainly relying on the sharpness of his sword. If this advantage was nullified, Free-and-Easy's sword techniques would be greatly diminished.
Heavy weapons are always more suppressive against sharp ones; he believed that his Halberd could restrain Free-and-Easy’s sword and defeat him.
"All of you step back, I'll deal with this myself!"
Liu Xiuwei growled as he dragged out the Halberd and tore up the floorboards, charging towards Free-and-Easy like a typhoon, sweeping away those debris. It seemed that a dragon was following him forward toward Free-and-Easy.
"Ah..."
This powerful offensive caused all the girls upstairs to be alarmed, worrying for Free-and-Easy and hoping he could dodge this attack.
At this moment, they only hoped he would avoid it; though Li Xiuwei's attack was solo, it seemed far stronger than when those soldiers had attacked in groups earlier.
Seeing the small storm coming towards him, Free-and-Easy didn't dodge but instead made a sword strike. This strike appeared rather plain and casual, as if casually thrust out.
But just this casual thrust brought about an unbelievable outcome—it stopped that storm in its tracks, causing Li Xiuwei’s attack to suddenly stall. The scene became still at once.
Everyone saw Free-and-Easy's sword tip precisely meet the spearhead of his Halberd; two tiny points accurately clashed together.
"You…"
This was impossible, how could he have hit exactly where my attack is weakest This must be a coincidence, surely it’s just that!
"Again!"
Lieutenant Li retracted his halberd and immediately swept it across, a move that maximized the advantages of heavy weaponry with its simplicity.
"Break!"
This kind of move was child's play for Xianyao to counter. Of course, this was only true if he could indeed break through; if someone else used such a move, the outcome might be different.
What is he going to break
Naturally, it would be this halberd. Xianyao directly slashed at it with his sword...
Hmph, do you think my halberd is made of wood It's forged from the finest steel; even if your blade is sharp, it can't sever mine unless it’s a divine weapon, but that doesn’t seem to be the case.
Lieutenant Li, with disdain, continued his sweep, convinced he would see Xianyao's sword shattered by his halberd. Even if it didn't break entirely, it would at least become dull and unusable.
But the result surprised him; his own halberd broke, its tip severed, leaving only the shaft...
This is impossible! How could this sword be so powerful Could it be a divine weapon
No, that's not right!
Lieutenant Li saw Xianyao’s sword. Though it had cut through his halberd, the sword was also damaged—its edge dulled with a large缺口，並且劍身也有點彎曲。
"You... you actually don't cherish your own sword..." Lieutenant Li couldn’t comprehend such behavior; he'd never heard of someone treating their weapon this way. People usually value their tools and wouldn’t recklessly clash them together even if they knew it might damage the blade.
"What's there to cherish I can easily forge another one," Xianyao said nonchalantly. His swords were all his creations; if destroyed, he could simply make another and possibly a better one.
Moreover, given the current state of the sword, it was entirely repairable. There was no reason to value it excessively.
To top it off, Xianyao had several other swords...
"I’ll take this halberd as compensation for destroying my sword," Xianyao said with a smile while picking up the broken halberd.
“But what about my destroyed halberd How will you compensate me” Lieutenant Li was furious, not expecting such shamelessness from Xianyao.
"You initiated the attack, which was your mistake. Also, damaging my floor—this too must be compensated for! Let me calculate..." Xianyao prepared to tally up his losses while Lieutenant Li couldn’t hold back and made a move.
Even without its tip, the shaft could still serve as a staff!
But as he approached Xianyao, he suddenly paused; he felt a chill at his throat—a sword’s cold edge.
"Don't test my patience. I will kill," Xianyao said calmly, and the broken sword was now at Lieutenant Li's throat—no one saw how it got there.
“You dare to kill me I am an officer of this city’s guard!” Lieutenant Li spoke harshly.
"Do you know what a private citizen can do if someone breaks into their home As the owner, they are entitled to kill anyone who does so. Killing an officer like you is no big deal," Xianyao said coolly, raising his sword slightly.
“Ah, ah! Don’t move; let’s retreat. This isn't our concern.” Lieutenant Li immediately withdrew, recognizing the situation and leaving everyone a bit stunned.
Xianyao thought such an officer would be stubborn but found him quite shrewd—he fled when he saw things weren’t going his way.
Who was joking Someone who doesn't value a precious sword can hardly be ordinary, not to mention his skill with it. Even though the sword technique looked like supreme swordsmanship, anyone reaching this level couldn’t be ordinary either—why cause trouble for trivial acquaintances
In any case, he only lost some weapons, which could later be claimed as training damage and replaced. Losing his halberd was unfortunate but manageable.
“Mr. Wang, you now owe me 60 thousand taels!” Xianyao looked at the dazed Mr. Wang.
"What Didn’t it just say over five thousand" Mr. Wang was puzzled and asked dumbly.
"That door, this floor, my sword—everything must be compensated," Xianyao said while pointing at the damaged items.
Those weren’t caused by me... And your sword, didn't you already take Lieutenant Li's halberd as compensation
Mindless, I won't argue. I need to find reinforcements now.
When Mr. Wang realized the situation, he immediately fled. He still had hope for the Brocade Red Courtyard and would continue recruiting help; who should he call this time This young man seemed strong; ordinary people wouldn’t be a match for him, so he needed to find an expert.
Xianyao didn't stop Mr. Wang's escape, thinking that Mr. Wang was done for the night and wouldn’t cause more trouble. Keeping him around would just spoil everyone’s mood.k about this. Don’t mention her name anywhere; otherwise, I might not be able to protect you," Wu Wenyuan said. "The name Crescent Fox doesn’t represent a single person but something beyond your curre...