Three Draw Their Blades

The scene remained silent for about two seconds before a collective breath escaped their throats: "Whoa!" It was neither loud nor long-drawn, just a gasp sighed from deep within. A single strike, a double kill. Han Qingyu suddenly recalled a question he had once asked Milla back during training at the Regiment 425 recruit base: Does Azure have anyone who can take on a Great Spike one-on-one? At the time, Milla had replied: Yes, legend has it that when the legion commander was young, he could take down a Great Spike all on his own. It turned out the legend was false... Now that the legion commander was no longer young, one strike, two Great Spikes—an instant kill. "Bang." "Bang." The two massive, heavy black-armored bodies crashed heavily to the ground. Next fell the column swords, followed by the Great Spikes' severed heads. Only then did the afterimage gliding not far away touch down, coalescing like converging streams of flowing light... The legion commander stood with his back turned, blood dripping from the blades in both hands. At a moment like this, someone probably... ought to have roared or cheered. Yet no one did. Aside from that initial gasp, the entire clearing was dead silent. Han Qingyu was no exception. Over the past year or so, he had progressed at an astonishing pace and amassed brilliant combat achievements, having even slain a top expert not long ago. Because of that, he had once believed he was already nearing the mountain's summit. Only now did he realize that the pinnacle of martial prowess in this world was still veiled within the clouds and mists. So high, so distant—so loftily remote that he couldn't see it clearly at all. *** Even with an instant kill, the self-destruction of the Great Spikes' bodies and their shuttle craft could not be prevented. A teeth-grating sound of disintegration rang out. Amidst the shower of flying shrapnel, Chen Buer turned and strolled leisurely over. The shards fell away the moment they drew near him. Meanwhile, the men who had ducked to shield themselves from the falling debris were still buzzing with excitement. "What's wrong, Qingzi?" Wen Jifei noticed Han Qingyu's pale face and asked worriedly. "Nothing," Han Qingyu snapped back to his senses, shaking his head with a slight smile. "Just stunned for a second." He wasn't telling the truth; in fact, at least in this moment, a fierce wave of defeat gnawed at his heart. Because he stood at a different level of strength, Han Qingyu's perceptions and thoughts about Chen Buer's instantaneous kill differed from everyone else present. Reflecting on his past battles, although there had been several brushes with death and several severe injuries, the truth was that Han Qingyu's journey had still been remarkably smooth... At the very least, he had never felt such total powerlessness. And now, seeing Chen Buer strike so casually reminded him of that Twilight slash executed at such immense cost, which in turn led his thoughts to just how formidable and terrifying a Red Shoulder truly was... For the first time, Han Qingyu's self-confidence and his increasingly steadfast belief that he would "surely survive" suffered a temporary blow. "What happened?" Lao Jian hadn't caught their conversation and had no idea what was going on, but he leaned in to show concern anyway, his face still flushed with immense excitement. "Nothing," Han Qingyu replied. He turned to Captain Lao and added, "I was just thinking: since the legion commander killed these two Great Spikes, does this mission count as an assisted operation? Do the spoils and combat merits still belong to us?" "..." Lao Jian froze. He thought to himself: *At a damn time like this, you actually have the mind to worry about that? Shouldn't you be having some profound revelation and setting an ambitious life goal or something?!* After a brief pause, Captain Lao said, "I hear the legion commander loves looting spoils the most." "Will he give them to us after he picks them up?" "How could that be possible?!" The legion commander would surely keep the spoils—only then would his joy be complete. But in that case, would the combat merit and rewards still go to the garrison squad? ...There really didn't seem to be an official precedent for this. Come to think of it, nobody had probably ever had the audacity and stinginess to quibble over such things with the legion commander, which was why the issue had always been overlooked. As Lao Jian was pondering this, he heard the legion commander call out with a chuckle not far away: "Get ready to pick up the metal blocks!" At the exact same moment, a murmur came beside his ear: "No way that's happening!" The shower of fragments was coming to an end. Han Qingyu shifted a few steps to the side. A dark, semi-molten metal block flew low through the air toward him. Han Qingyu raised a hand and caught it. "Quick hands and sharp eyes, you rascal... Here, thank you." At this moment, Chen Buer showed none of his earlier terrifying aura; beaming like an old imp, he strolled over with a grin, reaching out to take the metal block. "Uh, you're welcome... No, wait, it should be us from 1777 thanking you, Legion Commander." Han Qingyu showed not the slightest intention of handing the metal block over. Having never encountered such a situation in his life, Chen Buer looked at Han Qingyu, momentarily stunned... then caught on. Still, after slaying Great Spikes, not getting to pocket the metal block felt genuinely unbearable. With a smile, he waved his open palm, signaling again. At this point, everyone present understood what was happening. Finding the interaction delightfully endearing, low chuckles broke out all around. "Reporting to Legion Commander: the sector you are currently in falls under the garrison area of Squad 1777, Regiment 425, Ninth Army, Sole Witness Legion, Azure Huaxia Front. Therefore, this," Han Qingyu saluted, glancing at the metal block in his hand, then gestured toward the scattered dead iron fragments around them, "as well as those... all belong to us." Everyone was dumbfounded. Was this bastard actually being serious?! "Wait a minute..." Chen Buer stared blankly for two seconds before snapping his head up, his eyes turning earnest. "I killed these." "Yes, thank you, Legion Commander," Han Qingyu replied, maintaining his attention stance. "However, even if you hadn't come, our Squad 1777 could have successfully eliminated them on our own." Having said that, Han Qingyu slowly turned his face upward and to the right, fixing his gaze on a high tree branch to avoid the legion commander's eyes. He muttered an addition: "Besides, we didn't actively request assistance either." The situation froze into a tense deadlock. *He's insane!* At this moment, with the exception of Wu Xu and Wen Jifei, the rest of Squad 1777 were caught between laughter and tears, shrinking back into their ditch... "Haha, what should we do? Should we run for it?" "Let's run. If someone's gotta die, let it just be Qingzi." "That rascal..." *But Qingzi isn't wrong,* Wu Xu thought to himself. *Could this rascal be trying to sound out the legion commander's temperament?* Wen Jifei pondered. *After all, this is his first time dealing with Chen Buer, and opportunities like this might be rare in the future—meanwhile, the threat of the Alphonse family continues to hang overhead.* "Hahaha, fair point," Chen Buer chuckled, though he wasn't genuinely conceding. He argued, "Still, I can't have done the chopping for nothing... right? How about this: all combat personnel of 1777, step forward." The squad members stepped out, looks of bewilderment on their faces. "Thanks for these," Chen Buer said with a smile, tossing the two heavy swords in his hands back to Wu Xu and He Tangtang. Once the two sheathed the swords behind their shoulders, without turning around, Chen Buer extended his right hand backward. His aide routinely offered a standard-issue Azure combat saber. Chen Buer shook his head. The old staff officer stepped forward, unhooked a combat saber shaped identically to the Red-Slaying Saber depicted on the Legion Saber Insignia, and handed it to him. Chen Buer took the saber into his grip. His gaze swept over them, and he said, "Let's settle this with a contest... Over the next five minutes, if three people among all of you can draw their blades from their scabbards, the metal blocks will be yours as a reward." With that, *clang-hummm...* The silver-gray long saber swung forward from behind and halted in midair. The blade did not descend. And yet—*boom!* In wuxia terms, this might be called locking onto their vital aura or the like, but it wasn't. At this moment, a source energy surge spilled invisibly outward, spreading and submerging everything like seawater, churning with tempestuous waves. "Draw your blades," Chen Buer said. "..." No one answered. Every member of Squad 1777 held a hand to their shoulder, gripping their hilt, yet... not a single blade could leave its scabbard. *Chhh... clack.* Han Qingyu pulled his blade. The edge had barely cleared the latch by less than two inches before it was forced back down. The invisible surge grew even more colossal. Han Qingyu was not going all out; he hadn't used a metal block to stimulate an outpouring of vitalized source energy, nor had he engaged the bone source's fourth turbine... His current strength was less than half of what he could achieve at peak eruption. Yet Chen Buer was far from exerting his full pressure either. At this tier of combat power, unleashing full force inevitably came at a cost. If even Han Qingyu understood this, how could Chen Buer fail to? In his eyes, even if Han Qingyu's slaying of Tian Hetai had involved trickery, the boy had undoubtedly touched upon certain deeper realms. Thus, this was a test where both sides understood the unspoken boundaries, stopping well short of extremes. A deadlock ensued. The pressure of the legion commander's source energy surge was evidently not applied evenly; otherwise, people would have been spitting blood all over the clearing by now. Each person could only feel their allocated share. In practice, they felt like tiny pools of water beside a mighty, roaring river, striving desperately to pour out their own streams... Yet the great river's churning tide left not a single crack. The instant the slightest resistance or movement stirred, it was immediately sensed, and a crashing wave immediately slammed down to suppress it. Draw the blade! Try again. Draw the blade! The pressure Han Qingyu faced was likely the greatest of all. He couldn't resort to using a metal block, but even under these conditions, he had to draw his blade! The defeat he had felt earlier was still vivid; rather than dissipating, it was solidifying into stone. Draw the blade! Draw the blade! Again! Stacking waves with the three-dimensional apparatus, stacking waves with liquid source energy... *Boom!* A soundless crash of a breached dam echoed within his body. *Clang-hummm...* Han Qingyu's combat saber cleared his shoulder, pointing downward at an angle in one hand. His entire body immediately felt relieved of the crushing weight. Chen Buer glanced at him, looking somewhat annoyed on the surface, but his eyes shone with delight and approval. Then—*clang-hummm...* The legion commander was momentarily taken aback and looked over at Wu Xu. Wu Xu already held his heavy sword in hand. "Delightful, good lads! But fortunately, this old man said three... Wait, no!" In an instant, an even fiercer wave of source energy crashed straight toward Shen Yixiu. *Clack!* Shen Yixiu's long saber, which had been on the verge of clearing its scabbard, was shoved back behind her shoulder. She was a step too late, but that didn't mean Rusty Sister's current source energy surge was weaker than Wu Xu's. In truth, she might even be slightly stronger; her entire body had received more thorough nourishment from source energy than Wu Xu's... The catch was that right at the very beginning, she had already startled and pleasantly surprised Chen Buer. As a result, the intensity with which she had been targeted and pressured was higher than Wu Xu's from the start... to say nothing of now. Right now, she was the decisive link that would determine victory or defeat. Feeling the crushing pressure mount around her body, Shen Yixiu gave it everything she had, trying again and again with all her might. *Am I really this much worse than Qingzi and Wu Xu?!* The girl was so anxious she was on the verge of tears... Gritting her teeth with a stifled grunt, she exerted her power in frustration. *Chhh... clack!* The combat saber emerged halfway past her shoulder before once again being mercilessly forced back behind it. *Sorry, child. Grandpa Chen will explain to you later and tell you that you actually scared Grandpa Chen...* *But as things stand, two have already drawn their weapons. Grandpa Chen is a dignified legion commander, after all; I've got to win this final point no matter what, don't you think? This is just right.* *Besides...* *Clang!* A sudden ring of a blade broke Chen Buer's train of thought. In a far corner of the back row, a standard-issue Azure combat saber had slipped free of its sheath alongside the metallic chime. Legion Commander Chen turned his head to look. ...and deflated. "Motherfucker, I forgot about this damn thing."