"Chu Mu … Chu Mu … How dare you injure me … How dare you injure me … You're dead, you're definitely dead …" Blood dripped from Wang Lei's hands. His face twitched continuously due to the pain, and his eyes were red as if they were dripping blood. He wailed miserably, causing others to shudder.
"I'm not injuring you. I'm just severing the tendons in your hands. From now on, you'll never be able to practice the sword again."
The indifferent voice was like a bomb that exploded in deep water. It shocked all the onlookers. They all gasped and their expressions changed.
"Severing the tendons in my hands … severing the tendons in my hands … Hahahaha …" Wang Lei laughed loudly as if he had gone mad. His entire body twitched, and his hair was disheveled. Blood seemed to drip from the corners of his eyes. He was incomparably resentful. "Chu Mu … What you've done to me, I'll return it to you tenfold. Just you wait …"
Wang Lei turned around amidst his endless resentment and curses towards Chu Mu. He laughed loudly and slowly left as if he was sobbing. His back was so mournful, so chilling, and so terrifying.
"He actually severed the tendons in his hands. From now on, Wang Lei will probably be crippled."
"Yeah, once the tendons in your hands are severed, unless you have some sort of extraordinary treasure, there's no way to recover them. Being unable to recover means that you can't use your strength or practice the sword. For a swordsman, this is crueler than death. "
"How ruthless. He severed the tendons in Wang Lei's hands without hesitation."
"Bullshit. Every strike of Wang Lei's was meant to kill Chu Mu. If Chu Mu still let him go, then he'd be too stupid."
The onlookers discussed softly and whispered to each other.
"Although Wang Lei's cultivation is a level higher than mine, he doesn't have an overwhelming advantage. His attainments in the sword are too far away from mine. It's not something that can be made up for by a level higher. Therefore, he's no match for me at all. It looks like my current strength should be able to fight someone at the sixth level of the Sword Qi realm. " Looking at Wang Lei's miserable back and the blood that kept dripping, his expression was still indifferent. However, his thoughts were still spinning in his mind. "Right now, the one who's a real threat to me is Wang Lei's backer, Wang Feng, who's at the eighth level of the Sword Qi realm. With such a cultivation base, he could ignore my attainments in swordsmanship and crush me directly. Fortunately, Wang Feng has yet to return. I must do my best to raise my cultivation and strength before Wang Feng returns. Otherwise, it will be dangerous. "
"Take my sword!"
With a light shout, a cold light shot out. A beam of snow-white light shot out in a straight line. It was like an aurora shooting out from outer space. It was so sharp that one could feel a piercing pain on one's skin before it even got close.
He hurriedly drew his sword, drawing an arc of light as he slashed out.
Clang! Clang! Clang! Three consecutive ear-piercing sounds of metal colliding rang out, shaking the air and sending sparks flying. The shadows of the swords flickered and intertwined. The two figures' footsteps were either messy or erratic. They crossed each other and stopped. They pointed their swords at the ground and faced each other head-on. There were three obvious nicks on Chu Mu's steel sword.
"Green robe, inner disciple!" His eyes narrowed as he thought to himself, "Could he be Wang Feng? No, his sword didn't have any killing intent. It was purely probing. He didn't use any sword Qi. "
Xiao Qianfeng stared coldly at Chu Mu. There was a trace of fanaticism in his eyes. Others might not have been able to see the level of sword skill Chu Mu had displayed in his battle with Wang Lei, but Xiao Qianfeng was very clear about it. This level of sword skill attainment had already made him unable to restrain himself. He was itching to make a move and couldn't wait to attack.
However, Chu Mu was only at the fourth stage of the Sword Qi Realm. There was a difference of four stages between the two of them. The difference in strength was completely immeasurable.
In the tenth stage of the Sword Qi Realm, there was a huge gap between the third and fourth stage. The gap between the sixth and seventh stage was even bigger. The gap between the sixth and seventh stage was even more obvious. The gap between the eighth and seventh stage was even bigger than the gap between the seventh and sixth stage.
In the end, Xiao Qianfeng couldn't control himself and attacked.
However, he didn't use any sword Qi. He only attacked with his sword skills. He didn't have any intention of harming Chu Mu. It was very simple. His hands were itchy and he wanted to fight with Chu Mu.
In an instant, the swords of both sides quickly clashed three times. It was so fast that the surrounding people didn't even have time to react.
"What happened just now?" An outer court disciple rubbed his eyes with a puzzled expression.
"It seems like … someone fought with Chu Mu …"
"That's an azure gown …" An outer court disciple exclaimed, startling the other outer court disciples. They all reacted and turned pale with fright.
"Disciples below the fourth stage of the Sword Qi Realm wear grey cloth robes, fourth stage to sixth stage wear grey long robes, and only seventh stage to tenth stage can wear green long robes and white long robes. These are the symbols of inner sect disciples, male and female. He is an inner sect disciple! I wonder which courtyard he's from? "
Inner court disciples were at least at the seventh stage of the Sword Qi Realm. They enjoyed the important nurturing of the sword sect. All these things made the outer court disciples envious. Moreover, compared to the outer court disciples, inner court disciples were all high and mighty. They simply disdained to come to the outer court disciples' residential area.
The outer court disciples all held their breaths as they looked at Xiao Qianfeng with various expressions of admiration, envy, and reverence.
"You're Chu Mu." Xiao Qianfeng opened his mouth, his voice was still so cold. "I'm Xiao Qianfeng."
"Xiao Qianfeng?" Chu Mu had only joined the sect for a short time and had never heard of this name.
"Xiao Qianfeng?" Many outer court disciples revealed puzzled and thoughtful expressions. Suddenly, their bodies trembled as they came to a sudden realization. "Xiao Qianfeng, I know. He's our Azure Edge Sword Sect's genius sword maniac. He's eighteen years old and his cultivation is at the eighth stage of the Sword Qi Realm. It's said that when he was at the seventh stage of the Sword Qi Realm, he once defeated a senior brother at the eighth stage of the Sword Qi Realm."
"Chu Mu is doomed this time. Severing the tendons in Wang Lei's hand is equivalent to offending senior brother Wang Feng. When senior brother Wang Feng returns, he will definitely look for Chu Mu. At that time, it will be Chu Mu's doomsday. I didn't expect that before senior brother Wang Feng returned, Chu Mu would actually offend another inner court disciple. Moreover, it's senior brother Xiao Qianfeng, who is even more powerful than senior brother Wang Feng. "There was an indescribable sense of schadenfreude in their tone.
Although the discussion wasn't loud, Chu Mu still heard it. Only then did he realize the identity of the person in front of him. He couldn't help but be surprised. Being able to defeat an opponent at the eighth stage of the Sword Qi Realm at the seventh stage of the Sword Qi Realm meant that his sword skills were extraordinary. Moreover, from the three sword exchanges earlier, Chu Mu could also determine that this person's sword skills far surpassed Wang Lei's.
However, he didn't have any interactions with Xiao Qianfeng. Why would he look for him?
"Chu Mu, the Breeze Sword Art is in your hands. Let me take a look first," Xiao Qianfeng said very directly.
"Chu Mu actually chose to cultivate the Breeze Sword Art?"
"He already mastered the Soaring Cloud Sword Art? It seems that Chu Mu only entered the sect for less than a month. "
"Maybe he already cultivated the Soaring Cloud Sword Art before he entered the sect."
"That must be the case. That's why he was able to master the Soaring Cloud Sword Art in less than a month. However, he's really stupid to choose the Breeze Sword Art. What a waste of time."
The outer court disciples started to discuss one after another. Their words were filled with disdain. However, Zhao Tiemu and Wei Qian were incomparably shocked. As Chu Mu's roommates, they clearly knew that Chu Mu didn't cultivate the Soaring Cloud Sword Art before he entered the sect. Therefore, for a moment, they felt as if they were dreaming.
"Catch." After pondering for a moment, he took out a book and threw it to Xiao Qianfeng. Xiao Qianfeng caught it and flipped to the end. He vaguely felt that Xiao Qianfeng should be reading the Death of the Breeze.
"Could it be that he cultivated the Breeze Sword Art before? But he didn't manage to master it? "Chu Mu couldn't help but guess.
The outer court disciples' discussion gradually calmed down. They all looked at Xiao Qianfeng, not understanding what was going on.
"I heard that Senior Brother Xiao also cultivated the Breeze Sword Art before, but he didn't manage to master it. Could it be that he has the confidence to master it now?" An outer court disciple who was more well-informed said thoughtfully, "However, I heard that Senior Brother Xiao already cultivated an Intermediate Sword Art. Why is he still looking at the Breeze Sword Art? Could it be that there's some secret to the Breeze Sword Art? "
After a while, Xiao Qianfeng had already looked at the Death of the Breeze Sword Art several times. In addition to his previous memories, he quickly memorized the entire Death of the Breeze Sword Art. Soon after, he raised his head and looked at Chu Mu.
"Chu Mu, your Sword Art is extremely exquisite. I admire it. Let's make a bet." Xiao Qianfeng suddenly said as he closed the book. Without waiting for Chu Mu to speak, he continued, "Let's bet on who can master the Breeze Sword Art first. If you win, you'll have the right to contribute the entire Breeze Sword Art to the Sword Faction. If you lose, you'll only have to agree to one of my conditions. Do you dare?"
This was Xiao Qianfeng. He was usually cold and indifferent, but when it came to Sword Art, it was as if he was a completely different person. That was why he was called a madman.
His eyes were sharp and threatening, like the edge of a sword pressing down on Chu Mu. The outer court disciples all held their breaths. This moment belonged to Chu Mu.
"Okay." Without any hesitation, Chu Mu agreed. A light smile hung on the corner of Xiao Qianfeng's mouth. Soon after, throwing the Breeze Sword Art book, he took out a folded piece of white paper and flicked it towards Chu Mu. Xiao Qianfeng turned around and left in large strides, only leaving behind a sentence, "We'll see the results half a month later."
Catching the book and white paper, a smile flashed across Chu Mu's face as he looked at Xiao Qianfeng's departing figure. Soon after, he walked back to his wooden house.
As for Zhao Tiemu and Wei Qian, they looked at each other as they looked at Chu Mu's departing figure. Suddenly, they bitterly laughed. There was an indescribable feeling in their hearts.
This day was destined to be the day that Chu Mu's name would spread throughout the outer court.