During the second clash on Legion Square, Han Qingyu was once again injured and knocked back, while Ye Jian remained unharmed.
All that had happened was a weapon breaking... but the weapons snapped on the spot were the twin blades of Snow Lotus's Ye Jian. The resilience of dead iron weapons had always exceeded common human sense; even an Azure standard battleblade, chipped down until only the bare frame remained in combat, could still be used. In the hands of an expert channeling source energy, they were virtually indestructible.
A difference lay here: due to the movement mechanics of source energy, which operated like ocean tides and surges, ordinary warriors found it impossible to keep their dead iron blades infused with source energy continuously. Experts, however, could achieve this through the sheer density of their source energy and mastery over its flow. It could be sustained without interruption, though variations between peaks and lulls in intensity remained unavoidable.
Therefore, that blue-light column sword was vital, and the person who had pulled this off was just as vital. Landing this strike and cleaving the blades was far more difficult than anyone could imagine.
When such a feat was accomplished by an Azure newcomer... it was utterly exhilarating. The surge of morale it brought reduced the stifling humiliation of having their All-Army Conference crashed by a traitor to an absolute minimum.
"Still, this guy is absurdly strong."
This was Han Qingyu's first time facing an opponent of this caliber, and he had exerted every ounce of his strength. Yet in that exchange just now, Ye Jian hadn't drawn upon life source energy or any other trump cards; it had been nothing more than a plain, straightforward clash of blades.
Even so, the power behind that strike had still reached the super level.
Perhaps this was what it meant to stand atop the peak of this world.
*Sure, you stayed on your feet... but your blades are gone.* Han Qingyu thought, a grin breaking through his agonizing pain.
In this world of source energy martial prowess, where only dead iron could conduct source energy, the importance of a weapon was simply immense.
In that instant:
The people who had fallen to the ground were scrambling up and scattering in all directions.
The man blasted through the air had blood leaking from the corner of his mouth, yet he suddenly broke into a smile midair.
Ye Jian looked up, their eyes meeting. With an annoyed glare, he mouthed, *You've offended me.*
Han Qingyu's grin widened into a bright smile. *My honor.*
Then he hit the ground.
The blue-light column sword plunged into the earth, plowing open a deep trench more than ten meters long before barely bringing him to a stop.
Han Qingyu kept his head lowered, body stiff, blood from his hands running ceaselessly down the starlight column sword.
"Kill him!"
Furious battle cries erupted all around.
On the field, the veteran soldiers with the strongest abilities and sharpest reactions had already cut in between Ye Jian and the crowd at the first instant. But another group—younger, more enraged and impulsive—chose to lunge straight for Ye Jian.
That was Snow Lotus's Ye Jian! He was the very figure countless young warriors of the Huaxia Front daydreamed about striking down to achieve instant legendary status.
Seeing him disarmed, how could they possibly resist the urge to kick him while he was down and take his life?!
"Don't go!"
"Stop!"
"Form a battle array first!"
*Don't even dream of killing him! It'd be enough if we can just trap him for a moment...* Such were the desperate thoughts of the top veterans, but there was no time to voice them. Their shouts were urgent and furious.
Yet it was already too late.
At least two hundred people on the field had already closed in on Ye Jian.
A dense cacophony of sonic booms and whistling blades gathered together, sweeping toward Ye Jian like a thundercloud.
Ye Jian stood where he was, casually tossing aside the two bare hilts in his hands. He turned slightly, calmly assessing the charging formation before him.
"Huaxia really shouldn't keep tucking away and hiding what supers can do. People need to know just how vast the heavens and earth really are," he muttered to himself. Stepping forward, a trace of hesitation flickered in his eyes as he said, "You lot... leave your blades behind."
As the words left his mouth, Ye Jian took another step forward.
*Boom!* As that step landed, an almost tangible, majestic surge of source energy erupted around his body and detonated outward.
This was one of the strongest human bodies in existence. Without a weapon, against ordinary warriors, his body itself was a super weapon.
The ground shook violently. The concrete surface was ripped clean off, and the dark soil and rock underneath were churned up by the raging shockwave, shooting into the sky.
At the very front of the charge, twenty to thirty warriors were instantly blasted into the air along with the flying debris... losing control of their bodies, their source energy faltering.
Amid the chaotic field of view, Ye Jian vaulted into the air. He did not kill, but snatched an Azure battleblade with his right hand while kicking the disarmed warrior away.
Then, his figure cut sideways through midair. Wherever his blade swept, one Azure battleblade after another flew from their owners' grips...
"Fuck, what the hell is that?!" Wen Jifei stood in the distance, staring dumbfoundedly as the bastard finally flipped around in midair.
His right hand still held that single blade.
Under Ye Jian's left arm, however, were clamped at least twenty Azure battleblades in a single bundle, tucked against his ribs much like carrying a watermelon under one arm.
The sight was...
"Like a man terrified of being poor." Wen Jifei thought about how he had calmly courted death in front of such a monster not once, but twice... He felt a bit impressed with himself, and a bit thrilled.
"You guys just won't do," Ye Jian chuckled, drifting backward in midair of his own accord.
To those words, after everything that had just unfolded... no one all around could muster a response.
"Then what about me?"
A calm, aged voice echoed from high above.
Everyone on the square looked up and turned to see.
*Boom!* A solid concrete brick wall along the third-floor covered walkway was kicked apart.
Amid the swirling debris, a figure shot down from above.
It was no graceful glide like light-footwork martial arts in movies or television; it was like an artillery shell, hurtling diagonally downward straight toward Ye Jian.
At the same time, Legion Commander Chen Buer appeared on the walkway, looking on.
The one taking action was not Chen Buer, but an old monk.
Azure Huaxia, General Jiang Longchi.
This gaunt little old monk, whom many had seen just moments ago appearing somewhat senile, had now transformed completely into an entirely different person.
So—a clash of supers?! And a battle between supers standing at the very pinnacle, no less!
Roars of exhilaration rang across the square.
*Crap.* The moment the old monk appeared, Ye Jian felt a wave of gloom in his heart.
The old monk's whereabouts were intelligence that Snow Lotus could never accurately pin down.
Because even Master Longchi himself probably had trouble keeping track of where he was.
Ye Jian had considered the possibility that he might be here... and here he truly was.
Ye Jian was not afraid of Chen Buer. Chen Buer could indeed kill him, but the margin of strength between them dictated that if Chen Buer went all out to do so, his own life would soon reach its end.
Therefore, a showdown between the two would either be a measured exchange or a mutual destruction in disguise.
And Chen Buer could not afford to die.
Azure needed their God of War standing tall. The Huaxia Front needed him there. Humanity needed its trump card...
Chapter 295