Before long, the crowd at Sky Gazing Platform was in full swing.
Regarding Wu Yu, who had suddenly emerged, stirred things up, and then sunk down into imprisonment, the disciples of Sky Gazing Mountain were all infinitely curious. And among them, quite a few external disciples from other mountains were present as well.
Within the crowd, Qing Mang's longsword snaked out.
"Eat my steel!"
Body Refining Realm eighth tier. After going through Body Rebirth, Qing Mang was as though newly born. Her body had been trained to a whole new tier, and she could consume even more of the immortal sect's spiritual qi. Each move was like a communion with the path of immortals, elusive and difficult to place.
"30 Feet of Green Blood!"
The sword style changed in Qing Mang's hands. Her footwork was mystical, and indeed much better than before. That swordwork had to be at high-grade, or even supreme-grade level.
Whoosh!
With everyone watching, Qing Mang's Point actually shot out 30 feet of sword qi, which hung with killing intent like blood in the air. It reached Wu Yu in the blink of an eye.
"Wu Yu will lose!"
Many of the nearby disciples favored the younger Qing Mang.
Yu Huaishan watched the lithe movements of Qing Mang, and the lust in his eyes burned stronger than before. Such a girl was just so nubile.
Ting!
In that moment, life hung by a thread. Qing Mang's swordwork bore down like a hurricane. Just as it pierced towards Wu Yu's throat, it actually stopped. The longsword, imbued with green light, stopped a foot from Wu Yu's throat, unable to advance an inch.
"What's going on?" Everyone's eyes widened. The first thing they saw was Qing Mang mustering her strength to pull back her longsword. The second thing they saw was a startling sight: Wu Yu stretching out a hand. Just one hand – more accurately, it was two fingers – and pinching Qing Mang's fatal longsword. Those two fingers were like pillars of vajra fire. No matter how hard Qing Mang struggled, the longsword was locked.
Although Wu Yu was at the seventh tier of the Mortal Body Refining Realm, he had the Invincible Vajra Body, as well as 1,500 warhorses worth of strength. Although Qing Mang had already gone through rebirth, she only had 500 warhorses worth of strength. She was completely shut down by something three times her power. Wu Yu's godlike hardness had stopped her longsword as easily as lifting a finger.
"You, let go!" Qing Mang's mind blanked, and she resisted with all her might. Although she had hoped for Wu Yu to be stronger, she had also wished that she could best him. But this state of things….
At this time, Wu Yu obliged, releasing his fingers. Unfortunately, Qing Mang had used too much strength and was now sent stumbling backwards. Just as she was about to fall down on the floor, Wu Yu hurriedly lunged, reaching out a hand to steady her.
It was over.
Just the shadow-like speed which he had showed at the last moment was enough to confound all the Sky Gazing Mountain disciples present.
It was clear that Wu Yu was at ease. His casual manner showed that he could completely overwhelm Qing Mang's ability! If they could not even understand as much, they were not worthy of being Heavenly Sword Sect disciples.
Sky Gazing Mountain was silent. Everyone was frozen, and some a little embarrassed. They had thought that this would be an epic showdown, but it was over too quickly, without any spectacle.
"Qing Mang, how are you feeling?" Wu Yu was not showing off. He was just playing along with Qing Mang's demands. But at this time, Qing Mang finally came to her senses. She stared at Wu Yu as though she had an egg in her mouth. "I lost? Just like that? Did you pull some trick?"
"Of course not. It's crowded here. Let's go somewhere else to chat." Wu Yu surveyed the surroundings. Indeed, out of those on the whole Sky Gazing Mountain, there was probably only Qing Mang who still had words to say to him.
"Mm!" Qing Mang also did not like being stared at by so many.
At this time, she had understood much as well. Her heart was very content. In this year, she was carefully following Wu Yu's fate. And now it seemed like the ability that Wu Yu displayed was astonishing, and she felt that he might not be completely overwhelmed by Situ Minglang.
"Wait!"
At this moment, a deep voice sounded from the side. Wu Yu turned back to look. From the crowd of Sky Gazing Mountain disciples, a middle-aged man with unkempt beard and hair walked out. Because he had been drinking, his face was slightly ruddy, and he wore a long robe in careless fashion that had beer spills and mud on it. He looked extremely sloppy.
"What is the business of this senior brother?" Wu Yu knew that he had no good intentions. He was now an external disciple, so if there was trouble, he could not act like he did before; he would have to treat it as an exercise in patience.
This person was Yu Huaishan. He forced a wide smile. He looked at this young man with the bearing of a prince, bursting with youthful energy and gold light spilling from his eyes, and said, "Qing Mang is one of mine. You're taking her away, but did you seek my consent?"
Behind him, a bunch of external disciples of roughly the same age chimed in as well, "That's right, Wu Yu. You're fresh out of prison and want to take our little sister-in-law away?"
"You're taking advantage of us!"
"Hmm?" Wu Yu had never met a more shameless bunch. This Yu Huaishan had enough years on him to qualify as Qing Mang's grandfather, or even great-grandfather. He actually dared to say such things. His cheek was limitless.
Wu Yu surveyed his surroundings and got the picture. He thought to himself, "This person must be one of the elder disciples on Sky Gazing Mountain. Elder disciples have more status, and it's normal for them to push their weight around."
It was not everyone that played along with Yu Huaishan. Those like Zhao Danlong were furious upon hearing Yu Huaishan's words.
Of course, the most angry of all was Qing Mang. In front of such a detested crowd of people, she had been humiliated. She was so angry that her eyes were turning red. She lifted the longsword in hand and immediately rushed forwards.
"Yu Huaishan, I will shred your mouth today!"
The angrier she was, the more they thought it funny. The whole crowd began to snigger.
"He's taunting Qing Mang. But actually, he wants to test my mettle." Wu Yu was clear on this. He had always acted in a direct fashion. In this case, he wasted no words and held back Qing Mang, who was just about to attack. In an instant, he was past her, his Demon Banishing Blade wreathed in golden flames. Wu Yu moved 100 feet in a bound, the sword cleaving towards Yu Huaishan's head with 1,500 warhorses of power. It was so explosive that even the ground of Sky Gazing Platform began to tremble!
"Wow!"
Wu Yu's attack was decisive and direct. It was indeed unexpected.
While Yu Huaishan was still laughing, he had not expected Wu Yu to dare to attack this way. In a hurry, he pulled his own blade for a block!
"They're actually fighting!"
"Yu Huaishan practices the Easy Drunkard's Sword, which is a high-grade martial art. He also is at the ninth tier of the Body Refining Realm. Wu Yu cannot possibly have jumped from the fifth tier to the ninth tier in a year's time!"
In the instant Wu Yu attacked, many were thinking thus in their hearts.
That line of thinking disappeared in a flash!
In that instant, all they saw was a streak of golden light flash past, and then a huge sound followed!
Yu Huaishan had blocked with his sword, but, unbelievably, Wu Yu's force was too overwhelming. When the Demon Banishing Blade connected with Yu Huaishan's sword, it immediately cleaved it into two, and the broken sword had flown away with violent strength. It cut a long blood wound on Yu Huaishan's mouth and almost brained him!
"Argh!"
Yu Huaishan was dying from the pain. He was on his knees. Just as Qing Mang had said, Wu Yu had shred his mouth!
Pa!
Wu Yu's foot stomped him onto the ground. The Demon Banishing Blade in his hand was pointed at his throat, but it did not cleave through. He just wanted Yu Huaishan to taste death.
"Qing Mang is my friend, and she's still a child. If you speak more nonsense, it'll be your skull that breaks next time."
Each word stung Yu Huaishan, making his heart tremble.
"Right, right…" Today would be Yu Huaishan's downfall.
And all the other brothers and companions behind naturally did not dare to step up. Even Yu Huaishan, who was at the ninth tier of the Body Refining Realm, could not even receive one attack. If they went up, they would be courting death.
Perhaps it was at this time that they understood how Wu Yu had killed five disciples in succession back then on Heaven's Lament.
Besides, the Sect Leader had personally made an appearance to protect him!
Right now, the way they saw it, even the way that Wu Yu walked seemed intimidating. It shut them right up, afraid that they would end up in an even worse state than Yu Huaishan.
"Let's go."
Leading a surprised Qing Mang, Wu Yu walked off Sky Gazing Platform in front of all the disciples. He reached his own Disciple Residence for the second time. Back then, he should have stayed here for a while, but who would have known that he would be sealed for a year.
"I found 10 servants for your place. In this year, they helped you clean it really well," Qing Mang said.
Now that a big problem was out of the way, she was in a good mood.
"Thank you, Qing Mang."
"No worries. You helped me out today as well. We're even." She was still pretty principled...
"What tier are you at now…."
On the way back, Qing Mang was pursuing this question. She was just too curious.
At the same time, she was also worried. Because on this issue, Wu Yu's real opponent was even more terrifying than Yu Huaishan.
In a flash, it was evening. Wu Yu escorted Qing Mang back and gazed at the beautiful night view in these fairy mountains. He knew that today's events would definitely have reached Situ Minglang's ears.
"The Sect Leader will know of my progress as well."
Wu Yu was not afraid of Situ Minglang. To him now, all challenges were appealing and to be looked forward to. He was already imagining the moment when he defeated Situ Minglang.
At that time, he would really raise waves throughout the entire Heavenly Sword Sect!
"At that time, I can finally become the fifth disciple of the Sect Leader!"
That was the thing that Wu Yu wanted the most.
Not just because the Sect Leader was very strong and could give him many resources.
More that he was his savior. Without him, there would be no Wu Yu. Besides, he had saved his life twice. Just in terms of debt owed, he was already like a parent.
The news of his release had spread through the Heavenly Sword Sect like wildfire.
But Wu Yu did not care, nor was he afraid. In the night, he rode his Immortal Crane, flying over the Bipo Mountain Range until he reached Yanli Mountain. He stopped in front of Sun Wudao's grave.
"Uncle Sun, it's been a year. I'm back to accompany you."
...