Chapter 53: In The Presence Of Giants

Oom!

The hum of a sword echoed, and the skies brightened in the next second.

The luminous blade shot out of Jiang He’s brow, cutting through the wind with the presence of a dragon, shining and leaving the night sky in whiteness!

Splatter.

Fresh blood splashed out.

The snake’s tail was sliced through by the luminous blade.

Roar!

The Leopard Python bellowed shrilly with some degree of terror, dragging its serpentine body as it retreated into the valley.

Meanwhile, Jiang He’s body wobbled, his face a little pale and his head a little dazed—a sign of exhaustion in his spirit. A terrible ache extended through his head, and the luminous blade rapidly turned pale, shrunk, and returned inside.

“Damn it! My superpower may be awesome, but doesn’t it take a huge toll, too? I would probably have fainted directly from using too much of my spirit with that level of burst, and it could have killed me if it happened three times.”

Jiang He was a little frightened after the fact. It was too obvious that he would become weak after using his power, just as he did not fancy his chances if the snake had not run away and turned around to attack him instead.

Taking a look at the valley, Jiang He chose not to pursue it. He ate his half-eaten cucumber to revitalize his spirit, and after most of his dizziness had eased, he picked up the snake tail that had been sliced off and headed back.

“Cucumbers do replenish and improve spirit, but its effect on me as I am now… Let’s see if I can get the seeds of something that helps with that after my farm levels up!”

“And it seems that cultivation improves with spirit…”

“I’ll keep my power as a trump card until my spirit is strong enough to support its extensive usage. That said, it wouldn’t be difficult for me to cut down a rank-seven grandmaster if there are no surprises.”

Feeling better after having a cucumber, Jiang Fei felt out the weight of the snake tail over his shoulder.

“This half-notch of snake tail is up to four meters long and weighs around a thousand catties. Since the farm only needs fifty kilograms to level up, the rest can be used to make a tasty snake soup!”

For Jiang He, carrying that thousand-catties object was no different from carrying something that only weighed a few dozen catties. Still, it was bleeding away, not to mention it was thick and long, making it not easy to carry.

He glanced at his System Backpack and saw that there were less than twenty qi pellets left, as he had eated most of them over the last few days. And so, he took every remaining pellet out and stuffed the snake tail inside the backpack instead. Hurrying back while eating more qi pellets, he had finished them all by the time he got back.

“I’ll call up Mu Wanqiu to see if she has some higher-grade qi pellets… eh?”

After arriving at the previous mountaintop, Jiang He looked around and asked in surprise, “I was just away for a moment, and you all ended up like this?”

Duan Tianhe was sitting cross-legged, his aura weakened as a coldness swirled around him. Nearby, Pudgy Jiang had his face beaten swollen. All of his lackeys were also sitting around, more or less wounded.

That was when someone laughed out loud. “Delightful, that felt so delightful! We may have fought the dogs of the Sky Demon Cult many times, but it never felt this good!”

From a corner, the rather mild-mannered man with the all-seeing eye shouted in response, “What a shame we could not hold down the Tranquil Heavenly General. If we could kill even one of their seventy-two fiendish Heavenly Generals, it would be a major blow to the Sky Demon Cult!”

“What nonsense are you spouting?” barked Pudgy Jiang. “The Tranquil Heavenly General was so powerful and had a special True Qi. If I didn’t help, Old Duan might not have defeated him… Eh? Where have you been, Jiang He?”

He looked upset to see Jiang He. “If you had been here, we would have been able to hold down the Tranquil Heavenly General.”

“The Tranquil Heavenly General?” Jiang He frowned. “What’s going on?”

That was when Duan Tianhe opened his eyes. He breathed out extensively, spitting out chilly air as if he were a waterfall. When that breath reached a nearby charred wolf corpse, it immediately froze up into an ice cube.

“Are you alright, Old Duan?” Pudgy Jiang ran to him, appearing worried although his words were mocking, “You don’t cut it as a grandmaster, Old Duan. How could you not withstand the Tranquil Heavenly General’s True Qi of Frost when I can?”

“If I didn’t directly take that blow for you, do you think you’ll still be able to talk to me now?” retorted Duan Tianhe with a scowl.

Jiang He understood then.

After he had left, the Tranquil Heavenly General must have returned with his lackeys after his plan to ambush and kill Duan Tianhe failed. A fierce battle would certainly have ensued when the two groups ran into each other, with the dozen or so Sky Demon cultists who were accompanying the Tranquil Heavenly General being killed, and the Tranquil Heavenly General himself escaping, albeit terribly wounded.

“What a pity!” cursed Jiang He in slight regret. “I wouldn’t have run off if I knew that was going to happen. Still, I could maybe pick up your sloppy seconds and cut down that Tranquil Heavenly General.”

Duan Tianhe smiled despite his irritation, but since Jiang He had returned unscathed, he probably had not encountered the Leopard Python.

He then felt that he should teach the kid about grandmasters. With him always talking about killing every now and then, what if he got killed by overestimating his power and running off to bother a rank-seven Feral?

After a brief musing, Duan Tianhe spoke, “Jiang He, martial arts grandmasters are not easy opponents. In martial arts cultivation, rank one to three develops the body, while four to six develops qi. What about rank seven then?”

“Even if it looks like rank-six is a step away from rank-seven, it is actually as different as heaven and earth. Rank-seven martial artists understand the world, comprehending the power which you feel but cannot explain. Every move of theirs is capable of moving the world itself, and their True Qi is infinitely abundant and not something rank-sixes can match.”

Glancing at Pudgy Jiang, Duan Tianhe added, “Let’s put it this way. Chief Jiang here is a rank-six intermediate and is considered a top elite, albeit just a little behind Cheng Dongfeng. However, not even ten Chief Jiangs could match one rank-seven grandmaster.”

“What are you be talking about, Old Duan? Who are you belittling here?” barked an unhappy Pudgy Jiang.

Duan Tianhe simply ignored him.

Jiang He appeared thoughtful for a moment, before he said, “I get what you’re saying, Chief Duan… but I don’t think rank-sevens are as powerful as you say. Aren’t you exaggerating a little?”

“Exaggerating?” Pudgy Jiang laughed coolly before Duan Tianhe could speak. “Kid, Old Duan’s description may make me uncomfortable, but that is reality. Rank-six individuals are no match for even the weakest rank-seven grandmasters, so even if Cheng Dongfeng himself is considered the best rank-six individual of Xibei, he would not survive three hits from a rank-seven individual.”

Jiang He frowned. He knew that Pudgy Jiang had quite a mouth and did not want to entertain him, but why were that old man’s words always so annoying?

“What? Upset?” Pudgy Jiang shook his head when he saw Jiang He’s frown. “You’re just a rank-five advanced. Don’t keep thinking about challenging rank-sevens.”

“You’re too weak. Against someone like you, I just need a single punch,” said Jiang He.

Duan Tianhe immediately knew that things had gone wrong and was about to communicate to Jiang He with his Secret Acoustics, only to find Jiang He waving him off. At the same time, Jiang He’s eyes were fixed on Pudgy Jiang, and his smile looked as if…

He stood amongst titans!

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