The elders laughed as Hao Ren stood defiant before them holding his sword. They thought this young man was joking with them, reaching out to hold the stars that lay beyond the reach of even them, the stronger experts of the cultivation world.
Old Mao was a dainty old man, with a dragon beard that reached his chest, and at the mont, he was scrutinizing Hao Ren with great interest. The young man had hidden his Halo, because the system had told him earlier, after becoming a saint, he didn't need to reveal it to anyone. The Halo will turn into a tattoo and rge with his skin. As the practitioner advanced on the path of sainthood, the comprehension would be etched in the Halo on its own.
Old Mao took out a wooden stick, Hao Ren could sense that the staff was just a sheath, inside rested a blade that has been sharpened through countless battles. The old n around him were sword practitioners, and Hao Ren could sense the fierce nature of their blades. The young man took a deep breath and as he exhaled, he tilted his head to the side.
A sharp whistle was heard, the old man had launched an attack at him. Hao Ren said calmly, "Since all the seniors ca here to see what is so different about a Sword Saint, then I would show my paltry tricks."
Although his words of choice were humble, but his tone was calm and unbothered. This caused the experts to frown a little. They watched Hao Ren hold his sword a little tighter, and then a whistle similar to the attack launched by Old Mao was heard. They all looked toward the old man, and found that a few strands of his white hair were flying in the void.
The old man managed to avoid the attack, but he still lost a few strands. He frowned and wanted to say sothing when he sensed a trace of warmth on his cheek. He raised his hand to touch his cheek and then his languid eyes opened wide. He was shocked as there was a very shallow cut on his cheek and a drop of blood seeped through it.
He wasn't the only one, but the entire group of people, about twenty old n and won were shocked. Hao Ren said, "I apologize, I haven't yet managed to grasp the complete extent of my tricks, and thus overshot this move by a little."
His speech was a clear testimony of the fact that he was holding back. Although it sounded like a slap across the faces of the old n, but they didn't co so far in the world of cultivation by relying on a thin skin.
One of the elders said, "If you can take three moves, I will agree to your position as the sword saint."
Hao Ren smiled faintly and replied, "Senior, do you place yourself above the Heaven's Decree? Did I ask you to acknowledge my status? Why does people in this world think that everyone is running after fa? Also, if you are not a saint as well, then your words naturally don't hold any significant sway on my status anyhow."
His tone was calm but his words were very haughty. The elder who spoke was enraged and said, "Youngster, the heavens declared that you are a Saint Seedling. However, many plants give in to the strong winds."
That said the old man took out his sword and was about to attack Hao Ren when suddenly he sensed that his sword was shivering. Hao Ren looked at the man and said, "You don't seem to understand the situation here, Senior. I call you Senior to maintain the decorum of the cultivation traditions. However, you are reaching a bit too far by trying to stomp over my dignity. Since you are so eager to prove your skills, fine, I will welco you."
The young man looked around and said, "Please do not think that I am arrogant, I just believe in the principle of tit-for-tat."
He took back the pressure he exerted on the old man's sword and the person attacked. Hao Ren didn't even raise his blade, he directly stored Chaos sword back inside the sheath, and used his bare hand to counter the incoming attack. He could sense that despite the perfection of the attack it still had a chink, and that was spotted by Hao Ren.
He held his palm up like it was a blade and said, "Chop."
He made a horizontal chop and a sword intent wave hit the incoming attack. The void rippled and the attack was dissolved. Then Hao Ren raised his palm blade from the ground to the sky. The gesture seed simple but it caused the earlier attack to change its trajectory and head towards the old man. Hao Ren said, "If you can dissolve this in two attacks, I will consider you equal to ."
The older people were shocked, and soon they turned to look at the person who invited trouble for himself, and saw him attacking two of his best attacks. However, after the second attack, the sword energy unleashed by Hao Ren was still moving through the void and directly ca into contact with the old man.
The old man was sweating already because this attack was intended to kill him, with no other option, he took a step to the side, and the point of impact changed from his torso to his left arm. The attack chopped the hand below his left elbow cleanly.
The old man groaned and almost scread when Hao Ren waved his hand and the sword intent inside the body was removed. The people saw the young man holding the chopped arm as he said, "I am a bit confused, why would you go to the lengths of defying the heavenly mandate?"
The old man grit his teeth and Hao Ren said, "I would have returned the arm and given you a pill to heal it as well, but since you still wish to co up with a retort to defy that you have lost."
A golden fla erupted from Hao Ren's palm and the arm of the Dao World expert was reduced into nothing but ashes. The old man was humiliated and Hao Ren said, "My na is Hao Ren and I would wait for your retaliation. However, as a sword practitioner yourself, I am hoping you would be like the sword itself, straight and resolute. If you used any deceitful ans to co after . I will co back to you and I will kill more than you at that ti."
The people could sense that Hao Ren wasn't lying, there was a grave sense of sincerity in his words. They all understood that this young man wasn't simple or weak, but rather, soone who climbed this high with his skills and guts as his backing.
Many old people exchanged glances and then they nodded to each other. They were conversing with each other using the spiritual thods, and agreed to the ceasefire for the mont. They wanted to know how Hao Ren beca the saint, however, they were not a match against him. With twenty people, Hao Ren still manage to attack against one of them, this could be either that he was a fool, or he had a strong backing. Since they could not sense anything in the surroundings which confird the suspicion that the guardian was stronger than them. They also couldn't neglect the possibility of multiple guardians. So, they nodded, greeted Hao Ren, left their contacts and identities to him before they vanished.
Hao Ren was standing in the void with his sword in his hand. Although he has scared the people away, he was sure that this incident will not stop here. He would have to move away from the city. He sighed, and after waiting for another ten minutes, when none of the old people snuck up on him. He dashed away from the place.
Inside the city, Yin was walking around anxiously in the courtyard, Ye Jian, Ye Yue and Hao i were drinking tea and assessing Alka and the two boys taken in by Hao Ren. The three generals were there as well, but they were just watching everything from the side.
Suddenly, the young man appeared in the center of the courtyard and looking at Yin, he sighed and said, "Kiddo, it is ti you go back and accompanied your Ma for a bit. I am travelling light from now on."
Yin wanted to say sothing but she held back and nodded, because if it was a confrontation, she would beco a burden. He then looked at Ye Yue and said, "Yue, bring these three children to the northern part of the Spirit Siphon Continent through your contacts. They are the residents there."
Alka was surprised and asked, "Teacher, will you not teach us anymore?"
Hao Ren just raised his right hand and imparted the knowledge they needed to train themselves. He said, "Follow this knowledge and you will grow stronger than those around you. Okay?"
Hao i asked, "What is going on here?"
Hao Ren shrugged and said, "What else? One old bag of bones was trying to pretend before , I chopped off his hand and challenged him to co at . Now I have to move so that that old man burns in agony to find ."
The people who knew him shook their heads, and the three generals looked at him and Yuntao Hachi stepped forward as she said, "Grandmaster Hao, one day, on the path of sword, I will go toe-to-toe with you."
Hao Ren chuckled and said, "I will wait for that day to co soon, General Yuntao."
User Comments
0 comments from readers