Urban Martial Saint

All eyes were on Fu Qingping at the foot of the mountain. If Fu Qingping doesn’t choose a weapon, he would be at a considerable disadvantage in this duel. However, as Ye Qing mentioned, the Qingping Sword, which perfectly complements Fu Qingping’s sword moves, had been seized by the Wanyan Family. Even if Fu Qingping were to search for a weapon, how could he possibly find one suited to him?

Fu Qingping let out a gentle breath and slowly walked to a nearby withered tree, casually breaking off a piece of dead wood about a meter long and as thick as a finger. He extended his hand toward The Immortal Lord and said, ”Ready.”

His declaration left everyone in shock. What did he mean by ready? Ready in what sense? Could it be that Fu Qingping intended to use this piece of dead wood as his weapon against The Immortal Lord? Was he joking?

The Immortal Lord was also stunned. He looked at Fu Qingping in bewilderment and asked, ”Wh…what do you mean by ready?”

”I’ve chosen my weapon!” Fu Qingping replied while holding the piece of dead wood, ”Let’s continue!”

”This...this is the weapon you’ve chosen?” The Immortal Lord widened his eyes, astonished and furious, staring at the piece of dead wood in Fu Qingping’s hand. What kind of weapon was this? It seemed like an outright insult!

”Yes!” Fu Qingping responded.

”Fu Qingping, I can’t tell if you’re arrogant or insane. However, I’ll give you one more chance to choose again!” The Immortal Lord said sternly, ”If you fail to choose a suitable weapon again, don’t say I didn’t offer you the opportunity!”

The Immortal Lord believed that Fu Qingping’s choice of the dead wood was ridiculous, deliberately humiliating him. But it wouldn’t be appropriate to start a fight like this with Fu Qingping; even if he won, he’d lose face. Hence, he offered Fu Qingping a chance to choose another weapon. Of course, if Fu Qingping refused, it wasn’t his problem anymore. He had given Fu Qingping a chance; if Fu Qingping didn’t change and ended up losing, it would be nobody’s fault but his own arrogance.

”No need, this piece of dead wood will suffice!” Fu Qingping replied.

”What audacity!” The Immortal Lord took a deep breath and said sternly, ”Alright then, let me see what kind of power this piece of dead wood possesses!”

With a snap, The Immortal Lord shook his long whip, which suddenly seemed like a sentient long snake, coiling toward Fu Qingping’s neck. The whip was pitch black, except for a silver-white tip. The whip moved swiftly, and when it sliced through the air, the crowd saw only a black shadow enveloping Fu Qingping, with the silver-white tip standing out like a flash of cold light, rushing toward Fu Qingping.

The Immortal Lord chose the long whip to deal with Fu Qingping partly because it was his most suitable weapon and also because of the powerful Sword Qi earlier. The formidable Sword Qi had surprised him; he knew that it could definitely wound him. Therefore, he dared not approach Fu Qingping closely and planned to fight from a distance using the long whip. The whip would avoid the Sword Qi while gauging Fu Qingping’s true strength, at least finding out if he’s an equal match.

The long whip whizzed by, instantly reaching Fu Qingping. However, Fu Qingping remained calm and leisurely raised his piece of dead wood. The crowd saw him casually point the dead wood precisely at the rapidly approaching silver tip. This silver tip was the silver-white end of the whip, the strongest part of the whip’s power.

The crowd was shocked to see Fu Qingping use the dead wood to point at the silver tip. Although they were not on the mountain, they knew enough about weapons to understand how strong the power at the whip’s end was. Ideally, contending with the whip is best done close-quarters so that it can’t fully unleash its power. Alternatively, if you can’t get close, you should avoid touching the end of the whip because its power is too strong. But Fu Qingping, contrary to common practice, chose to use the piece of dead wood to point at the end of the whip.

Using the wood this way, how could he possibly succeed? Dead wood easily breaks, and facing such strong power, wouldn’t it break directly? And the most crucial thing is, even if the wood breaks, it won’t deplete the whip’s power, which could still coil around Fu Qingping’s neck and injure him. Could it be that in this duel, Fu Qingping would just lose so easily?

Everyone’s heart was almost in their throat. At this moment, the tension among the crowd reached its peak as they watched with wide eyes as the withered branch touched the end of the Long Whip. Yet, an astonishing scene unfolded: the withered branch did not get broken by the Long Whip; instead, the Long Whip was deflected back. As for Fu Qingping, he involuntarily took a step back, indicating that there was still some disparity in strength between him and The Immortal Lord.

Even so, everyone was stunned. The withered branch collided with the Long Whip, without a single bit of damage while the Long Whip was bounced back. What on earth was going on? How did Fu Qingping manage this strike?

Not only the onlookers were amazed, but The Immortal Lord was also bewildered. At the moment of collision between the Long Whip and the withered branch in Fu Qingping’s hand, he distinctly felt as if Fu Qingping was wielding a Famed Instrument Longsword, and his Long Whip couldn’t even budge it a bit. This sensation couldn’t possibly have been caused by naught but a withered branch. Just what was happening? Could it be that Fu Qingping’s power had reached such a level that even a withered branch could wield such force in his hand? How could this be? Hadn’t he yet to break through the limitations of the Acme?

In a moment of silence, The Immortal Lord suddenly struck again. The Long Whip twirled twice in the air, danced a flying circle, and aimed straight for Fu Qingping from afar. It looked like he intended to ensnare Fu Qingping with the Long Whip, and then bind him.

In this scenario, Fu Qingping finally took a step. He stepped back two steps, appearing to want to walk out of the range of this flying circle. However, The Immortal Lord was much faster; Fu Qingping couldn’t possibly escape. The Immortal Lord followed up with two steps forward and had already caught up. The flying circle fitting perfectly encircled Fu Qingping.

But just as he was about to tighten the Long Whip to bind Fu Qingping, a sudden change occurred. Within the range Fu Qingping had stepped into earlier, all the vegetation seemed to respond to some calling and suddenly stood upright. Though it was early spring, the summit of Mount Tai was too cold, so most of the vegetation was still in a wilted state. This wilted vegetation, originally lying on the ground, suddenly stood up, which was quite bizarre.

Seeing the abnormal movement of the vegetation, The Immortal Lord’s heart skipped a beat. Being the closest, he saw most clearly. As the wilted grass and plants stood up, they were akin to small swords, hilt-down and tip-up, seemingly surrounding Fu Qingping protectively. The Immortal Lord could even feel a sharp Sword Qi emanating from these withered plants!

Though he didn’t understand what was going on, The Immortal Lord, seasoned in countless battles, knew well that these wilted plants were anything but simple. Therefore, he didn’t directly recoil the Long Whip but instead, violently flicked his left hand, sending two daggers shining with cold gleam straight toward Fu Qingping.

This was one of The Immortal Lord’s signature moves—first use the Long Whip to trap someone, then hurt them with an hidden weapon. If the person inside tried to escape, he would immediately tighten the Long Whip to bind them so they couldn’t evade being hit by the hidden weapon. Many experts had died under this move—if not ten, then at least eight—demonstrating the terrifying nature of this technique.

Because he believed those wilted plants were certainly not simple, The Immortal Lord dared not waste time, wanting a swift resolution, thus resorting to this move. The momentum of the two daggers was enormous, cutting through the night sky, creating two giant Saber Glows, resembling Flood Dragons, curling toward Fu Qingping from left and right. The immense power they carried caused the rock below to crack, showcasing just how terrifying the force of these daggers was!

Facing such a formidable attack, Fu Qingping truly did not dare to confront it head-on. After all, he hadn’t yet surpassed the constraints of the Acme, and there was still a gap in strength compared to The Immortal Lord. Hence, seeing the daggers flying toward him, he immediately dodged aside. At this moment, The Immortal Lord also briskly pulled the Long Whip, intending to first ensnare Fu Qingping with it before anything else.

The Long Whip was forcefully drawn in, directly retracting toward the center where Fu Qingping was located. From the looks of it, Fu Qingping was surely unable to escape the binding of the Long Whip. However, surrounding Fu Qingping were upright plants, and as the Long Whip encountered the plants, something astonishing happened: the Long Whip was actually blocked by them. These plants, as though truly standing Longswords, intercepted the Long Whip externally, preventing it from retracting. Taking advantage of this opportunity, Fu Qingping leaped out from the center, evading the formidable paired daggers.

After the exchange, the people below the mountain finally witnessed a grandiose strike, quite similar to the scenarios they imagined. Hence, the crowd below almost exclaimed aloud, being completely awestruck by the momentum of The Immortal Lord’s strike.

Seeing his attack unsuccessful, The Immortal Lord’s expression turned sullen. He didn’t even look at Fu Qingping, instead he stared intently at the upright plants, utterly confused about what was going on with them. Why could these frail-looking plants obstruct his Long Whip? It was known that his Long Whip, when whipped like this, could even slice giant stones in two. How could these frail plants withstand his Long Whip?

”Fu Qingping, what kind of Martial Arts is this?” The Immortal Lord glared wide-eyed at Fu Qingping.

Fu Qingping gently stroked the withered branch in his hand and said loudly: ”Every Grass and Tree into a Soldier!”