Chapter 333: One Hundred and Eight Sets of Blade Techniques
The mysterious figure in black was undoubtedly Su Ming.
He had never intended to let Zhang Chen take away the items he had his eyes on.
If this guy had normally won these items through bidding, Su Ming wouldn’t have gone this far.
The problem was that Zhang Chen deliberately did this to spite him—intentionally bidding against him and snatching away the items Su Ming wanted, all to retaliate for Su Ming not giving him face in front of Qin Qing, nearly making him lose his composure.
Over such a trivial matter of jealousy, Zhang Chen ultimately went out of his way to make things difficult for Su Ming. Even after Su Ming told him he had no interest in Qin Qing, the other party still persisted.
Since that was the case, Su Ming saw no reason to play by the rules with this guy.
Retaliation?
As if he didn’t know how.
So, Su Ming came.
Of course, Su Ming was well aware that openly attacking Zhang Chen like this could easily land him with serious charges if things went wrong.
Thus, before making his move, Su Ming first destroyed the surveillance cameras in the surrounding area. He also used an item obtained from his backpack to block the alchemy devices in the vicinity, rendering investigative and detection-type alchemy devices and tools ineffective for a short period.
For someone like Su Ming, who even possessed obstructive extraordinary items like Mist Waves, finding such a tool was simplicity itself.
Only after completing these preparations did Su Ming strike.
Understanding this, how could Zhang Chen not feel resentful?
He, Zhang Chen, a direct descendant of the Zhang Family, a young master from a Super Family—
With noble bloodline and esteemed status, when had he ever been targeted like this?
He had indeed experienced his share of scheming and deceit.
But encountering someone like Su Ming, who so blatantly came for revenge—even if Zhang Chen had faced similar situations before, he had never encountered anyone this audacious.
Not only did Su Ming attack him right on the main road, but he also directly slashed his car to pieces, took down his men, and then sarcastically asked Zhang Chen if he had any evidence to prove it all?
“King’s balls!”
Zhang Chen’s hands were clenched so tightly that veins bulged, his gaze at Su Ming filled with unprecedented hatred, as if he wanted to slice him into a thousand pieces.
Throughout his life, Zhang Chen had disliked many people, but someone who could make him despise this intensely in just a single day—Su Ming was absolutely the only one.
“I want you dead!”
Zhang Chen condensed all the hatred, rage, and venom in his heart into these simple words.
Only this could quell the fury in his heart.
“Boom!”
An astonishing aura erupted from Zhang Chen’s body, like a violent gust of wind sweeping across the scene.
“Oh?” Su Ming raised an eyebrow, murmuring, “Five-Star Peak, huh?”
That’s right—Zhang Chen was a Five-Star Peak-level Hunter.
As a direct descendant of a Super Family, Zhang Chen inherited the bloodline of a Nightmare Species. Even if this bloodline had diluted over generations, no longer as pure as the original and lacking the potential to directly reach Seven-Star, it still far surpassed ordinary bloodlines.
Among the most outstanding youths of the Zhang Family’s current generation, Zhang Chen might not be like Wang Di—whose back others could only gaze upon, directly appointed as the family’s next heir—but he was still one of the descendants qualified to compete for that position.Given this, Zhang Chen’s strength was actually not weak at all. Even though he hadn’t yet advanced to Six-Star, he had already reached the Peak of Five-Star, with only a single threshold separating him from Six-Star.
If nothing else, just from the Aura Su Ming was sensing at this moment, he could confirm that Zhang Chen’s strength was no less than Chi Qian’s, and even slightly stronger than Mo Leng, the former Family Head of the Mo Family in Longyao City.
In fact, the Ghoul Su Ming had hunted in the A-rank wonderland, the Chaotic Region, when it came to Aura and Qi, was only on par with Zhang Chen at this moment.
“Interesting.”
A hint of Battle Intent flickered in Su Ming’s eyes as he looked at Zhang Chen, and he gripped Fire Fangs tightly in his hand once more.
“Come on, Young Master of the Zhang Family.”
Su Ming beckoned to Zhang Chen with his finger.
“Let me see if the skin on your body is as thick as the skin on your face.”
The provocative gesture and contemptuous words finally pushed Zhang Chen past his limit.
“Boom!”
As a fierce gust of wind erupted, Zhang Chen shattered the ground beneath his feet and shot up like an arrow released from its bow, leaping high into the air.
Immediately, a refined weapon appeared in Zhang Chen’s hand.
It was actually a bow.
“A bow?”
Su Ming was slightly taken aback, his expression one of surprise.
This was the first time he had seen a bow-type refined weapon, and also the first time he had seen a Hunter using a long-range method.
Was Zhang Chen not a close-combat Hunter, but a long-range archer instead?
Just as Su Ming realized this, Zhang Chen had already begun to draw his bow and nock an arrow.
Zhang Chen pulled the bowstring to its full draw, bending the bow into an exaggerated arc.
“Hum!”
A faint humming sound immediately emerged as a pitch-black arrow slowly took shape on the drawn bowstring.
Su Ming’s extraordinary Spirit Sense told him that the arrow was formed from magical power.
The bow in Zhang Chen’s hand had the effect of condensing a Hunter’s magical power into an arrow to be fired, leaving Su Ming wide-eyed with amazement.
With that, Zhang Chen released his grip, firing the condensed magical arrow.
“Bang!”
The moment the magical arrow was shot, it exploded, transforming into countless tiny arrows that rained down on Su Ming like a torrential downpour.
Su Ming didn’t wait idly. His figure swayed, turning into a gust of wind as he swiftly retreated.
“Boom boom boom boom boom—!”
The torrential rain of arrows instantly struck the ground, exploding upon contact like shelling rounds, riddling the ground with holes and shattering it piece by piece.
“This power…”
Su Ming, who had retreated swiftly, narrowed his eyes slightly.
The power of Zhang Chen’s arrow was actually no less than that of a high-ranking Intermediate Spirit Art, faintly possessing the unique characteristic of wide-area firepower coverage typical of Spirit Arts.
“Surprised?” Zhang Chen sneered repeatedly from mid-air, shouting loudly, “This is the bow favored by a former Seven-Star Professional of the Zhang Family, personally crafted by a highly respected Alchemist! Although it’s only of fine quality and hasn’t made it onto the weapon rankings, its practical effectiveness far surpasses its performance. It’s one of the few refined weapons in this world that allows a Hunter to perform wide-range long-range attacks like a Sorcerer!”
“Die by this bow and go to Hell to repent!”
Roaring, Zhang Chen fired another magical arrow.
“Bang!”Mana arrows exploded mid-air, transforming into countless tiny projectiles that rained down upon the earth in an endless bombardment.
“Boom boom boom boom boom—!”
Instantly, explosions erupted across the ground, swirling dust and flying debris ravaging the land.
Su Ming’s figure darted swiftly amidst the countless tiny arrows, evading back and forth—sometimes streaking like a beam of light, sometimes whirling like a gust of wind—avoiding both the incoming arrows and the explosions assaulting the earth.
“Don’t think you can escape!”
Zhang Chen continuously released arrows from mid-air, condensing mana into projectiles that exploded and transformed into countless artillery-like barrages, persistently bombarding the ground.
Such rapid wide-area bombardment and uninterrupted fire coverage would be difficult even for an Upper-Rank Sorcerer to achieve.
Under this kind of fire coverage, no one could ultimately avoid being hit.
Including Su Ming.
“Boom!”
Amidst what felt like the umpteenth explosion, the mana arrow rain finally caught up with Su Ming, completely enveloping him.
Realizing he couldn’t evade this wave of arrows, Su Ming abruptly halted his movement and without hesitation swung his Fire Saber, weaving a crimson web of blade light around himself.
“Boom boom boom boom boom—!”
Explosions erupted around Su Ming, obscuring his figure from view.
The mana arrows were sliced down by Su Ming’s whirling blade light before they could reach him, detonating around him without touching his body.
In the past, Su Ming couldn’t have accomplished such a feat.
Even after learning the Demon Blade Art at the Demon Hunter Academy, this art focused solely on offense and explosive power, completely abandoning defense—making such exquisite parrying of enemy attacks absolutely impossible.
Only after obtaining the Ancient Blade Art Legacy could Su Ming perform such maneuvers, with each move far more refined than before.
Of course, to Zhang Chen’s eyes, this was merely desperate struggle.
“Let’s see how long you can keep defending!”
Zhang Chen accelerated his firing rate, releasing wave after wave of arrow rain.
The consequence was his internal mana rapidly depleting, being squandered at a visible pace.
But the results were remarkably impressive.
If the previous arrow rain was like pouring rain, now it became a torrential downpour, a thunderstorm, a tempest impossible to withstand.
“Boom boom boom boom boom—!”
The frequency of explosions around Su Ming intensified, the blast winds forcing him to retreat repeatedly, leaving deep craters with each step as if struck by lightning.
“Just die already!Zhang Chen couldn’t wait to see Su Ming’s corpse, increasing the arrow rain’s intensity until the entire space filled with explosions and pouring barrages—dense, omnipresent, and utterly shocking.
The blade light from Su Ming’s saber gradually couldn’t keep up with the arrows’ assault speed, allowing numerous projectiles to penetrate his woven defense and target his body.
Fortunately, Su Ming possessed exceptional Spirit Sense, and his speed was no longer the weakness it once was, enabling him to evade with ease. Otherwise, these tiny arrows would have blasted him into a bloody mess, leaving him severely wounded.At this moment, Su Ming appeared quite disheveled.
However, had Zhang Chen been able to see the face beneath Su Ming’s hood, to witness the expression of Su Ming wearing the Sky Illusion Mask, he would have discovered that Su Ming wasn’t panicked in the slightest—instead, he was exceptionally calm.
He had even closed his eyes, no longer relying on his physical sight to track the arrows’ assault, but instead using his extraordinary Spirit Sense to capture the trajectory of every single arrow.
The dense rain of arrows materialized clearly in Su Ming’s mind—the position, speed, and direction of each arrow were all under his complete control.
Then, Su Ming recalled the contents he had seen in the Ancient Blade Art Inheritance Book.
“In this world, there are many techniques for wielding the saber.”
“Some are exquisite, some crude, some flamboyant, some ancient and unadorned—truly, there is every kind imaginable.”
“But despite all variations, they never stray from their essence. No matter what kind of saber technique it is, there is always an underlying principle and pattern to follow.”
“My Family excels in saber use, having produced thirteen great masters of Blade Art. Each was a Seven-Star Hunter who dominated the world, spending their entire lives using the saber and comprehending its Dao, ultimately combining all the supreme principles of Blade Art to create this Legacy.”
“Later generations who obtain my Family’s Legacy can learn a total of one hundred and eight sets of Blade Art from this Inheritance Book.”
“Among these one hundred and eight sets, some focus on defense, some on offense, some on explosive power, and some on speed—again, there is every kind imaginable.”
“If one can master all one hundred and eight sets of Blade Art, then no matter what kind of enemy they face or what disadvantage they are at, they will be able to find a countermeasure.”
This was the general outline of the Ancient Blade Art Legacy that Su Ming had obtained.
The Legacy contained a full one hundred and eight sets of Blade Art, each more exquisite and powerful than the Demon Blade Art, just as described in the Inheritance Book—a comprehensive Blade Art Legacy encompassing the ultimate principles of saber use in the world.
Anyone who obtained this Legacy and mastered the one hundred and eight sets of Blade Art would be able to employ appropriate methods in any situation.
Though Su Ming hadn’t practiced the Ancient Blade Art for long, relying on his outstanding Spirit Sense, he had managed to memorize all one hundred and eight sets of Blade Art from the Inheritance Book through rote learning.
Afterward, Su Ming had indeed learned these one hundred and eight sets of Blade Art.
At the very least, he could now execute all one hundred and eight sets of Blade Art.
Even if he couldn’t be considered proficient, let alone masterful, compared to before, Su Ming’s Blade Art had undoubtedly become far more advanced.
Now, Su Ming continuously simulated the one hundred and eight sets of Blade Art in his mind, finally identifying one that could perfectly handle the current battle situation.
“————”
Su Ming abruptly opened his eyes, a sharp gleam flashing within them.
“Clang!”
A saber hum resonated as Fire Fang, radiating a blazing aura like burning flames, trembled lightly and swept out in a slash.
This slash was like a gentle breeze caressing willow leaves—the saber blade quivered lightly, stirring up swirls of Qi that, under Su Ming’s guidance, swept outward in all directions.
“Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom——!”
The arrow rain descending from the sky, upon contacting the sweeping Qi vortices, detonated one after another as if ignited, causing the arrows to transform into bursts of fiery light mid-air before they could land, illuminating the entire night.Su Ming merely swung his Saber once, causing all the arrows shrouding the sky and earth to detonate prematurely.
Among the tens of thousands of arrows, not a single one touched Su Ming.
“What!?”
Mid-air, Zhang Chen widened his eyes.
He couldn’t believe what he was seeing.
Yet this was the undeniable truth.
“Clang!”
The next instant, a flash of Saber light erupted from the ground, shooting toward him suspended in mid-air.
(End of Chapter)