Could it be that I am the cruel villain?
Chapter 233 - 160: One Sword

Chapter 233: Chapter 160: One Sword

Clang!

The sound was dull and not crisp, as grating as fingernails scraping across a blackboard.

He remembered his senior sister once taught him that such a collision sound is largely due to incorrect force application and angle.

If the force and angle were perfect, the sound of the weapons colliding should be clear and loud, like a spoon striking a porcelain bowl, crisp and pleasant to the ears.

Dodging left and right, although her body was slender and small, her movement technique was fairly good, knowing to emphasize strengths and avoid weaknesses, but her counterattacks lacked strength and could not pose any real threat.

The other person, however, moved savagely, swinging a large blade that whistled through the air. It somewhat reminded him of his first encounter with Wang Qi—though the blade technique had a method to it, it was not diverse, fitting the type reliant on brute strength.

Relying on physical stamina and quality for a deadly strike, without a strategy for gradual advancement in a stalemate, just blindly attacking.

The large blade chopped down directly at Miss Lin, she gritted her teeth, relying on the agility of her young girl’s frame, executed a suspended sword flip to roll back using the longsword to stabilize her center of gravity and forcefully flicked it!

"Good swordsmanship!"

He couldn’t help but praise.

Remaining calm and counterattacking under completely inferior cultivation and physical condition, yet his expression quickly took on a tinge of regret.

Because the opponent was unharmed, only slicing open the outer garment to reveal the metallic shine of the soft armor beneath.

"Such a pity, the disparity in physique is too great, if only this girl had a more normal physique, she might have already gutted her opponent."

"It shouldn’t be, why is her physique so deficient? Even before I underwent Body Refining, I was stronger than her."

"It’s as if she never underwent Body Refining and forcibly cultivated, with chaotic and unstable Spiritual Energy, with a physique that’s concerning. Yet with her techniques and swordsmanship..."

He was baffled.

Furrowing his brows, differences in cultivation within the Qi Refinement Realm shouldn’t bring about such a significant disparity in combat.

Previously, whether it was Su Yi or Lu Luo from the brothel teaching him, they had always mentioned that Qi Refinement was a process for cultivators to familiarize with the flow of Spiritual Energy, to control it, and to accumulate reserves.

At this stage, skill and technique were more important.

After all, even with slight differences in physique during Qi Refinement, it was something that could be compensated with skills.

But Lin Jiangxian in front of him was somewhat strange.

"Sloppy swordsmanship, chaotic moves, awkward use of force, but this swordsmanship undoubtedly comes from a prestigious sect or family."

"And her cultivation technique as well, with Spiritual Energy continuously flowing in cycles, a long and enduring breath, even though her physique is worse than someone yet to undergo Body Refining, she still forcibly sustains such a long run without showing signs of exhaustion."

"This definitely isn’t something a Loose Cultivator or self-taught cultivator could master."

Numerous doubts and speculations flickered through his mind but all were denied by him one by one as he refocused his attention on the two people still in combat.

The opponents exchanged moves, but Lin Jiangxian was always teetering on the edge of sword slashes and bloodshed, a slight misstep would result in a swift slicing end, thus they had no chance to care for the fight happening far from them.

Even less knowing that someone had knocked everyone down within two minutes...wait.

Glancing towards the depths of the forest, the Paper Spirit was still wildly swinging at another person, facing the weapon without dodging, emphasizing pure brute strength.

And delivered a fierce slap!

"Guess I need to handle this myself."

Noticing the Paper Spirit starting to weaken, Jiang Feng glanced at the spot where he had previously flung the dagger, only to discover that the cultivator who had been pierced in the abdomen had vanished at some unknown point.

And another, whose wrist had been broken, similarly silent, had sneaked away while Jiang Feng was observing the battle; they were not desperate fugitives, just a confrontation was enough to defeat them, there was simply no chance of victory.

After all, it was only a temporary team-up, he cursed under his breath and vanished from sight. Despite seeming severely injured, they were after all cultivators, neither their recovery abilities nor physique were comparable to ordinary people.

In the forest, the Bear Spirit was still making an impressive show; speaking of which, this was a good item he had gotten from Wu Fangsheng.

Facing opponents of higher realms always carried great risk, but correspondingly, the combat experience and trophies obtained in exchange for risking one’s life were extremely substantial.

Fun fact.

Right now, Jiang Feng had three Qiankun Bags.

The first one he got during a rainy night when someone used the Soul Summoning Bell to lure him out from his home for an assassination; relying on the intensive training imparted by Liu Xianzi, as a mere mortal he had harshly killed a few Qi Refinement cultivators.

From them, he confiscated Magic Treasures such as the Soul Summoning Banner and Soul Bell, which was why he could now control these spirits at will.

The second came from Wu Fangsheng, inside the Qiankun Bag were numerous Paper Spirits and talisman papers, although it lacked any high-quality Magic Treasures, the flying sword it contained was considered a fine piece, sadly it was shattered by a creature during the battle with Wu Mingsheng.

The third one... came from the Sect Leader of the Fan Yin Sect, Wu Mingsheng.

Originally, this Qiankun Bag was confiscated by Yu Ying, Jiang Feng actually had no objections to this, he didn’t even mention it, after all she came a long way to help clean up his mess, ethically, he shouldn’t inquire further.

But shortly after that battle, Yu Ying had taken out this Qiankun Bag and tossed it to him.

Although he often easily quarreled with his thrift sister, upon reflection, aside from Yu Ying’s bad temper, overbearing personality, sarcasm, and vengefulness.

Her other aspects were all merits.

Such as... her figure?

In any case, Yu Ying was quite generous to herself. Besides the Cultivation Techniques passed down from the ancestors of the Fan Yin Sect that were taken, nothing else in the Qiankun Bag was touched.

Now he also understood why Yu Ying had a whole study room full of treasures.

As he was thinking, the Paper Spirit in the distance, slowly weakened by the dispersing Spiritual Energy, appeared to be on the verge of defeat under the relentless fight against the Cultivator at the Foundation Establishment Stage.

After all, it was just a soul, and it was already quite satisfying for him to have held on against a proper Foundation Establishment opponent for so long.

He glanced at the young girl who was constantly dodging and defending not far away, then looked around and calmly closed his eyes.

Capturing the faint scent in the air.

Half an hour ago, he could still feel a pair of eyes following him from behind. It was then that these four people suddenly rushed out from a corner and made their move, causing that gaze to shift in this direction.

But right after he knocked down two of them, the gaze watching him chose to leave, as there seemed to be no suspense in the eyes of the other.

Seeing the great sword swinging towards the staggering girl again, without any hesitation, his legs pushed off leaving a footprint on the tree trunk.

"What’s going on! Didn’t those three deal with that kid?"

Realizing the sudden appearance of the man beside him, this Qi Refinement Stage nine-layer Cultivator then remembered Jiang Feng, whom he had been too focused on fighting to notice that his comrades had already fallen silent.

His mind didn’t even have time to think further, reacting instinctively with a kick.

His right leg went numb.

The kick he raised hadn’t even been executed before Jiang Feng stepped on his calf and countered on the spot, pressing right on the Zhongdu acupoint.

He raised his hand to chop, but his right hand holding the sword couldn’t bring it down, as the young man’s firm and strong thumb pressed down like a steel nail directly into the Quchi acupoint on his arm.

This alone caused his right arm to lose feeling immediately!

Bang—

His body flew sideways for over ten meters until it crashed into a tree, breaking who knows how many bones, but his physique was still not bad; after rolling on the ground in pain, he still grittily limped away to escape.

Jiang Feng did not stop these people from fleeing, as these men definitely did not possess the Token.

Looking at the Foundation Establishment Stage Cultivator in the distance who was beginning to suppress the Paper Spirit, the young man felt a bit itching to join in; it had been almost forty days since he last practiced his swordsmanship... no, that’s wrong, he practiced every day, but it had been forty days since he last took a beating.

"Huff~ Huff~ Thanks, Brother Jiang, did you, did you take care of all of them?"

Her expression was a bit surprised, but more delighted.

To be honest, when she noticed that they were being attacked by four people, she was very nervous. If she hadn’t seen Jiang Feng’s expression remain unchanged, she probably would have run away.

She truly did not expect this brother, who looked only two or three years older, to possess such prowess, especially when he easily took down a high-level Qi Refinement Stage nine-layer expert in two moves, which left her wide-eyed.

"Miss Lin, watch closely."

"Huh?"

The girl was still panting heavily in front of him, but Jiang Feng just dropped that comment, emotionless, then turned his attention to the man who had just pushed back the Paper Spirit.

Cold Blade gently pulled out from his back.

Clang—

The sword blade and the scabbard emitted a clear and pleasant ringing sound, which made Lin Jiangxian, who was exhausted, instantly focus all her attention; in the moment the young man drew his sword, she seemed to hear the treasure sword shouting out in joy.

Lowering his center of gravity, he stepped out like shooting an arrow, the aura emanating from him created an illusion, as if not a person was standing in front of her, but a bow.

A bow with its bowstring pulled taut, poised to shoot.

Staring blankly at Jiang Feng, who assumed this stance without any obstruction, allowed the girl to see clearly every move and power-exerting technique.

Then he pushed off with both legs.

"So fast!"

Under the cover of the night, the young man moved fast like a deep mountain ghost, appearing and disappearing without a trace,

Despite concentratedly keeping her focus on Jiang Feng, she could only catch a blurry shadow moving forward at a speed entirely beyond her understanding.

Crackle!

One sword pierced through the canopy, shattering its Golden Treasure.

Without even a chance to scream, consciousness was lost on the spot, blood pouring from the right chest, the longsword was withdrawn and followed by a swift kick, the waist Token was simply taken by the longsword.

"He, is he really... in the Foundation Establishment Stage?"

Watching the blood dance in the night, Lin Jiangxian just stood there dumbfounded, eyes wide open, the young man’s actions still vivid in her mind, she felt as if she grasped something in that instant.

But that feeling was mystical and hard to grasp, fleeting, which undoubtedly frustrated her, with the scene flashing over and over in her mind.

"Miss Lin, don’t just stand there, let’s go."

"Huh?"

The girl was jolted awake, then subconsciously asked, "Aren’t we resting here tonight?"

"..."