Chapter 58

"Could it be that you're blaming me for not talking to you for two days?"

At the end of the twilight in the desert, Su Shiyān lightly entered the camp of Hǎo Qǐ and Zhāng Héng. She happened to see Hǎo Qǐ and Zhāng Héng roasting meat. Both were surprised to see Su Shiyān, and Hǎo Qǐ and Zhāng Héng quickly made room for her. Su Shiyān, without any hesitation, sat down on the ground, reached out to take a knife, and cut off a piece of meat. As she chewed, she asked this question.

"How could that be." Hǎo Qǐ handed a bottle of wine to Su Shiyān and cut off a piece of meat for himself, then said, "You have your reasons, no need to explain. I won't mind the silence of the past two days. I trust you, you know."

"You're talking nonsense again." Although Su Shiyān said this, she laughed. She took a small sip of the wine and then said, "I came to tell you that the journey ahead is going to be more difficult. From here on, we are entering the desert's interior, which is an illegal area. I hope you won't hold back when we encounter an attack."

"Ha ha ha, you make it sound so serious." Hǎo Qǐ laughed heartily but didn't explain. He raised the wine bottle to Su Shiyān, then drank it all in one gulp. Su Shiyān did the same. Only then did Hǎo Qǐ continue, "It's not just about this, right? If you have something to say, just say it. You don't need to beat around the bush with me."

Su Shiyān silently put down the wine bottle. She stared at Hǎo Qǐ for a while before saying, "Let's have a match. I want to see your combat skills, and also... test my own."

"…With swords?" Hǎo Qǐ looked at the long sword beside Su Shiyān.

"Yes, with swords."

In this world, due to the existence of internal energy, martial artists rarely use weapons. This issue also appeared in the martial arts novels of Hǎo Qǐ's previous life. In those novels, the earlier the era, the stronger the characters' combat skills and internal energy, and most of the experts fought bare-handed. The later the era, the weaker the internal energy, and the more experts used weapons.

In the martial arts forums of Hǎo Qǐ's previous life, there was a general speculation that as the era approached modern times, it became harder to cultivate internal energy, and even if one succeeded, its power was weaker. Therefore, martial arts experts had to start using weapons. In the era of strong internal energy, to make it easier to use and fight with internal energy, bare-handed combat was more powerful.

The same principle applied in this world. The internal energy in this world was of a higher level than what Hǎo Qǐ had read in those martial arts novels. Once one possessed internal energy, their combat power soared, almost like a human-shaped mecha. After Hǎo Qǐ obtained internal energy, among the internal energy realm experts he fought, only Wáng Diāo used a bow to ambush him initially. All the other internal energy realm enemies he encountered fought bare-handed. Among the martial artists he knew, only Su Shiyān used a sword, and only Zhāng Héng practiced bow skills. Otherwise, almost all of them fought bare-handed, which was determined by the strength of the internal energy realm in this world.

"Do you know?"

Hǎo Qǐ slowly stood up, saying as he did so, "While traveling, I've also been reading books from various countries. In the books, it's mentioned that when an opponent uses a weapon, there are usually two possibilities: one is that the opponent is very weak, and the other is that the opponent is very strong. To be honest, I've never fought an internal energy realm expert who uses a weapon. Another question... is your sword made of an extremely rare metal that can conduct internal energy?"

Su Shiyān smiled and said, "No, but this sword is a masterpiece by a famous craftsman. It can cut through iron like butter and shatter steel like dust. So... be careful."

Hǎo Qǐ laughed heartily and then bowed solemnly, saying, "Hǎo Qǐ, please."

Su Shiyān also bowed and said, "Su Shiyān, please."

The two smiled at each other, and then they vanished from Zhāng Héng's sight. In a flash, they were gone. Zhāng Héng quickly ran out of the camp and saw Hǎo Qǐ and Su Shiyān standing on a distant sand dune, about thirty meters apart, standing still without any movement.

This action not only drew Zhāng Héng out of the camp but also alarmed the Su family members in the distance. After a commotion, all the Su family members came out of their camps.

In fact, the Su family members were not as arrogant or dismissive of Hǎo Qǐ as Zhāng Héng thought. Hǎo Qǐ was an internal energy realm expert, and any internal energy realm expert was a pride of heaven. It was impossible for them to look down on an internal energy realm expert. Even an internal qi realm expert would never treat an internal energy realm expert like an ant. This was the basic understanding among martial artists. Just as humans would view insects and animals as ants, but would never belittle themselves, the same applied to internal energy realm experts. If you looked down on an internal energy realm expert, you would be looking down on yourself.

The coldness towards Hǎo Qǐ and Zhāng Héng was partly due to Su Shiyān, and it was indeed as Zhāng Héng said, the hostility towards Su Shiyān's obvious favoritism towards Hǎo Qǐ. This was not about gentlemen and beauties, but more about the concern that their internal energy realm family member might be taken away. This was the first reason.

The second reason was the sense of superiority in terms of strength and family background. Yes, Hǎo Qǐ was an internal energy realm expert, and the Su family members were well aware of Hǎo Qǐ's combat information in the Blue Shadow Republic. After all, the Su family had long known about Hǎo Qǐ and Su Shiyān's acquaintance. However, no matter how they thought about it, a new internal energy realm expert, no matter how strong, couldn't be that strong. Moreover, this generation of the Su family had eleven internal energy realm experts. Although each was slightly weaker than the average internal energy realm expert, the quantity had led to a qualitative change, giving all the Su family members a sense of superiority. No other family in the entire Blue Sea region could match a family with eleven internal energy realm experts.

Because of these two reasons, the Su family members had been cold towards Hǎo Qǐ and Zhāng Héng throughout the journey. One reason was their concern that Su Shiyān might be taken away, which, though ridiculous, was reasonable for a noble family. The other reason was that they didn't believe Hǎo Qǐ could be that strong or help their journey in any significant way. At most, he was just there to boost morale, so they treated him indifferently.

Of course, they didn't know what had happened in the Hundred Herbs Kingdom. After all, they had gathered and set out immediately upon receiving the news of the ruins, and the information about Hǎo Qǐ's battle in the underground of the Hundred Herbs Kingdom was still being processed...

Hǎo Qǐ and Su Shiyān stood facing each other. Hǎo Qǐ stood relaxed, while Su Shiyān stood slightly sideways, facing Hǎo Qǐ with one hand a few inches away from the hilt of her sword. Neither moved, just staring at each other.

"...Well, let's see what the young master in the third miss's heart is capable of."

In the Su family camp, the two most senior members, Su Shiyān's two uncles, looked at each other. One of them spoke, taking out a gold coin from his pocket, the official currency of the desert nation of Sabexi. He placed the gold coin on his thumb and gently flicked it towards Su Shiyān and Hǎo Qǐ. The gold coin traveled a great distance with precision, force, and accuracy, as if calculated, shimmering in the last light of the twilight, slowly falling to the ground between Su Shiyān and Hǎo Qǐ...

In an instant, a green light rippled, though only a point, it seemed to fill the sky with a vibrant green. As Su Shiyān's sword left the scabbard, the light spread, but upon closer inspection, there was no trace of green, only a flash of light like thunder, which, despite the dimming sky, illuminated, no, pierced the eyes of everyone present.

In a moment, Hǎo Qǐ took a quick step back, while Su Shiyān stood firm, her posture and sword remaining unchanged, as if the previous scene was just an illusion.

Hǎo Qǐ touched his chest. There was a small hole in his shirt at the heart position, about the size of a copper coin, but his skin was unharmed, only the fabric was torn.

"Good sword, good sword..."

The two "good swords" had different meanings. Hǎo Qǐ said it twice, touching his chest. "Your sword skills... are at the peak, even a bit beyond. Impressive, truly impressive. Are we the same age?"

Su Shiyān smiled, but her body and hand didn't move a millimeter. "Yes, I'm twenty this year, a few months older than you. Be careful, the next time I won't stop at a touch. Also, if you don't show your true skills, my family members might start to act up."

"Would that be difficult for you? Ha ha ha..."

Hǎo Qǐ laughed heartily, looking at Su Shiyān's calm gaze. He stopped laughing and bowed again. "Then, be careful. Unfortunately, I just reached the fifth level of the Heavenly Net Palm... Forget it, let's not talk about that. So..."

"Be careful!"

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