Facing an Ancient God for a Year

Fu Qian’s audacity to lay his hands on me is beyond comprehension.

The subconscious attempt to dodge proved futile as Jian Jingzheng felt an overwhelming force propel him through the air, crashing straight into a wall.

“Instructor Jian.”

Ruan Shuo cried out in shock, watching as Fu Qian staggered back repeatedly.

“Are you insane?”

Insane?

...Fu Qian stepped forward, a flash of crimson vanishing from his hand as swiftly as it appeared.

You’ll soon find out who’s insane.

Crack!

Facing the Tyrant’s Fist, Ruan Shuo exerted his full strength but still failed to dodge, getting grazed on the back of his hand.

Fu Qian did not hesitate to lash out with another whip.

“Do you… wish for death that badly?”

The next moment, Ruan Shuo’s body suddenly accelerated, avoiding the strike and slowly lifting his head, his tone completely altered.

His face no longer exhibited any trace of panic, replaced instead by a towering killing intent amidst madness.

“You see, it’s better to be honest.”

This time, Fu Qian did not pursue further.

“Talking like that a moment ago, it made you feel sick, didn’t it?”

“Yeah, honesty is the best policy.”

Ruan Shuo emitted a low, cold chuckle, a long sword appearing in his hand.

“For example… all of you are going to die today!”

Not only that, his body began to crack audibly as his limbs stretched out unnaturally.

Once the transformation was complete, every part of him seemed to become a blade, and at a glance, he resembled a bloodthirsty mantis.

“Interesting, the feeling of being an incarnation of pure slaughter.”

Fu Qian stood still, letting Ruan Shuo stretch out his body, observing and commenting simultaneously.

“Looking at this, did you throw away all those supplies in the warehouse?”

“Your true goal was to kill, wasn’t it? Taking those supplies was just to divert attention, correct?”

“Exactly! I live to serve the Sword Dao, why would I need that trash?”

Ruan Shuo gazed at the sword in his hand with an obsessive look.

“This is the true Sword Dao, and every act of slaughter fuels my growth.”

“You all are—”

“I see!”

Fu Qian pondered for a few seconds, then pointed to Jian Jingzheng standing by the wall.

The latter was staring blankly over here, with a life-questioning look on his face.

“As you wish, I won’t stop you.”

This was no idle talk, Fu Qian truly wanted to witness the process of Sword Intent’s growth.

Regrettably, Ruan Shuo was clearly not appreciative.

“Don’t worry, none of you will escape!”

After a bout of maniacal laughter, he still charged toward Fu Qian, sword in hand.

Ruan Shuo’s strikes were sharper than those seen in the video, each one as fast as lightning and filled with a destructive, murderous aura.

Just as he had said, killing was making him grow stronger.

What a pity, still, it was far from enough.

Fu Qian easily sidestepped an attack intended to disembowel him.

To him, such strikes were merely capable of causing injury.

Moreover, with his current vitality, even a couple of lethal strikes wouldn’t be much of an issue.

Undeterred by the miss, Ruan Shuo’s actions became even more frenzied.

Unlike Yuan Xin, his Sword Intent had no strange powers attached; it simply increased speed and power.

The mutations in his limbs allowed him to effortlessly perform all sorts of unthinkable movements and launch attacks from any angle.

Fu Qian didn’t rush to finish him off but instead opted for close-quarters combat.

With each flicker of crimson, his Tyrant’s Fist activated repeatedly, whipping Ruan Shuo over and over.

“Die, die, die, die!”

As the strikes accumulated from the Tyrant’s Fist, Ruan Shuo’s voice grew almost beastly.

“`

Yet even so, his attacks remained swift and methodical, adhering to the most efficient patterns of destruction.

It was as if the one controlling his body wasn’t him, but slaughter itself.

Schlack!

After Fu Qian dodged another frenzied slash, the moment they passed by each other, a gash suddenly opened under Ruan Shuo’s left rib.

A gaunt long claw flashed out like lightning, holding a pitch-black dagger and stabbing towards Fu Qian’s waist.

A third hand?

This sudden strike elicited a cry of alarm even from Jian Jingzheng standing nearby.

His strength was insufficient, and he had been injured; no matter how annoying it could be, if Fu Qian truly fell, his own survival would be extremely unlikely.

Unfortunately for them, Fu Qian had never treated Ruan Shuo as a normal human from the start. Although the attack was hidden, it was far from a finishing move.

However, Fu Qian did not dodge the sinister strike; instead, he let the dagger bury itself into his body.

Blood sprayed.

Fu Qian grunted and grabbed the gaunt long claw, then yanked it fiercely.

Ruan Shuo screamed as the claw was brutally torn off.

Without hesitation, Fu Qian exploited the wound left by the claw to unleash a Visceral Critical Strike.

His mission was to “Destroy the Legacy of the Sword Heart”.

If Ruan Shuo was truly the target, then eliminating him outright was the only logical course of action; capturing him alive was out of the question.

Killing someone on the grounds of the Swordsmanship Department and sustaining injuries made the act appear more natural.

Boom!

In a splatter of blood, Ruan Shuo’s chest cavity was nearly hollowed out by the blow.

Yet even with such a wound, Ruan Shuo did not fall.

He even attempted to behead Fu Qian with a backslash of his longsword.

Too bad for him, in the next moment his head was grasped by a hand.

Amidst the crisp sound of breaking bones, brain matter and blood splattered.

Ruan Shuo shuddered, and his body finally ceased moving, collapsing limply into a heap.

It seems that it’s not necessarily “you” who is growing.

Fu Qian shook his head and sighed.

He was now even more certain that there was something wrong with Sword Intent.

On one hand, still being able to move despite fatal injuries was beyond human capacity.

On the other, this individual, who had been struck by the Tyrant’s Fist no less than twenty times causing his consciousness to collapse, still managed precise attacks, and even a sneak attack using a third hand—this was definitely not normal.

Ruan Shuo had died long ago; what Fu Qian was facing at the end was probably another entity.

This coincidentally matched with the requirements of his mission.

Regrettably, after waiting half a minute, the prompt for completion of containment did not appear.

It was proven that this was not his target.

Ah, as expected!

Fu Qian shook his head and glanced at Jian Jingzheng, who was staring blankly at the bloody scene.

“The target has been eliminated, you can start writing the report now.”

“… I admit it.”

After a long silence, Jian Jingzheng swallowed hard, his voice hoarse.

“I misjudged this time, I didn’t expect Ruan Shuo to have already lost himself to madness.”

“Even though you noticed something was off, you should have communicated with me instead of acting rashly.”

“You should be grateful that your judgment was correct, or you would have faced serious trouble today.”

“Who said I had figured it out?”

Fu Qian looked at him in confusion.

“This guy’s disguise was quite good, I was just bluffing just now.”

“You didn’t notice?”

Jian Jingzheng was dumbfounded, then almost spurted out blood.

“You didn’t notice anything! You just attacked to scare off the snake! You directly attacked an Academy Instructor?”

“Yeah.”

Fu Qian didn’t even look at him.

“If you feel aggrieved, go cry to Li Weixuan and let him seek justice for you.”