Chapter 1054: Chapter 1054
Prince Nalan sent a sword strike toward the Joyous Monk from five meters away, a sword aura rushing directly toward him.
The direction and force of this sword aura were precise, enveloping the Joyous Monk entirely, while blocking all his paths. Most importantly, this strike also kept Ye Qing out, able to surround the Joyous Monk without harming Ye Qing—truly a difficult feat.
This is the moment when people truly see what it means to be wise with age. Prince Nalan's fame over several decades is not undeserved, his strength formidable indeed. Just this one strike amazed everyone.
"Hahaha..." The Joyous Monk laughed loudly, pushing Ye Qing aside, exclaiming, "Well done, Buddha Master has been waiting for you!"
As he spoke, the Joyous Monk also raised the Seven-Star Ancient Sword, following with a strike. Like Prince Nalan, a sword aura rushed forward, colliding with Prince Nalan's aura in the air. The enormous impact shattered several tables and chairs nearby with terrifying power.
The crowd gasped in shock, and Prince Nalan's expression changed as if witnessing something incredible.
"How can this be?" Helian Tiehua was equally astonished, saying deeply, "How can you wield the Seven-Star Ancient Sword? The sword clearly recognized Ye Qing!"
You must know that famed instruments only acknowledge their bearers, enabling them to channel Inner Strength to produce such a sword aura. The Seven-Star Ancient Sword belonged to Ye Qing, recognizing only him, yet it emitted sword aura in the hands of the Joyous Monk, leaving everyone amazed. Even Prince Nalan and Helian Tiehua had never seen such a situation.
"Hmph, you really think Buddha Master practiced the Star-Absorbing Evil Skill?" The Joyous Monk boasted, "Buddha Master actually trained in the Bridal Dress Divine Skill, which not only absorbs others' Inner Strength but also preserves its characteristics. Traditionally, famed instruments recognize Inner Strength over individuals. Since the Seven-Star Ancient Sword recognizes this lad, absorbing his Inner Strength and maintaining its characteristics allows me to wield the sword."
Upon hearing this, everyone understood, and Helian Tiehua furrowed his brow, saying deeply, "Bitterly regretting year after year of golden stitchwork for others' bridal attire. Unexpectedly, such martial arts really exist."
Earlier, when the Joyous Monk battled Helian Tiehua, he hadn't revealed this skill. But now, facing a life-or-death battle with Prince Nalan, he revealed his trump card. Absorbing Ye Qing's Inner Strength to wield the Seven-Star Ancient Sword is terrifying. A famed instrument's full power is challenging to resist.
"To forge iron, one must be strong oneself, regardless of one's martial arts. Without personal capability, one can't create major developments!" Prince Nalan calmly carried his longsword, slowly approaching the Joyous Monk again.
At this point, Ye Qing had been pushed aside, and Liu Mubai had already pulled him away. However, Ye Qing's Inner Strength was absorbed, leaving him nearly powerless, struggling even to stand. Fortunately, his body contained the medicinal properties of the Ziyu Chenxiang Pill, allowing him to gradually recover his Inner Strength after some rest.
Here, no one at the scene paid attention to Ye Qing and Liu Mubai; everyone focused on the Joyous Monk and Prince Nalan.
Earlier, everyone thought the Joyous Monk was no match for Prince Nalan, but an unexpected turn of events made the fight thrilling.
Prince Nalan's attacks were steady, one sword strike after another, slowly closing in on the Joyous Monk. Yet, the Joyous Monk fought back, wielding the Seven-Star Ancient Sword, a top weapon among ancient swords, far superior to Prince Nalan's longsword. Despite his lack of Inner Strength, the Seven-Star Ancient Sword enhanced it, enabling him to contend with Prince Nalan. After exchanging dozens of moves, the two fought fiercely, evenly matched, thrilling the spectators.
Such a battle between peak masters is rare indeed, especially when both wield famed instruments, exciting and exhilarating.
Among the many spectators, only the Nalan Family members looked uneasy. The longer Prince Nalan engaged the Joyous Monk, the more worried they became. They initially thought Prince Nalan could easily defeat the Joyous Monk, but the extended fight raised concerns. Honestly, the longer Prince Nalan fought, the more worried they became. If Prince Nalan were to fall, the Nalan Family might face ruin.
However, the ongoing battle showed no clear outcome; the two fought hard, seemingly impossible to determine a winner quickly.
At the scene, one person's attention remained diverted, seemingly searching for something rather than focusing on the fighters. That person was none other than the cross-dressed monk who came with Ye Qing.
This old fellow was dressed too frighteningly, so no one cared to look at him more. No one in the hall noticed his actions. Beside him, Ye Qing and Liu Mubai found him peculiar, Ye Qing couldn't help but whisper, "Master, what are you doing?"
The monk gestured for silence, quietly leaned toward Ye Qing's ear, whispering, "I'm looking for an escape route."
"An escape route?" Ye Qing asked surprisedly, "Why escape? You… you aren't facing opponents here again, are you?"
"Nonsense, where would I get so many enemies?" The monk gestured toward the fighters, saying, "Look, I think that monk can't hold on much longer, need to find him a way to escape."
"Ah?" Ye Qing was stunned for a moment, and looked at the Joyous Monk and Prince Nalan on the scene in surprise. The two were fighting fiercely. At this moment, it's really hard to say who will win or lose, so why would the monk say such a thing?
"Don't curse people, I think this monk is quite skilled!" Liu Mubai said softly, "Even if he's not the opponent of Prince Nalan, he can hold on for another hour or two, it's not a problem at all."
"You two know nothing." The monk whispered, "I'm telling you, he will surely lose within ten moves!"
Ye Qing and Liu Mubai looked at the monk at the same time. This old guy was so confident in what he said that it made them have to doubt whether he really saw something.
The two stared carefully at the Joyous Monk and Prince Nalan battling on site. Another two moves passed, but still, there was no high or low distinction; the fight was still very tight. According to this situation, let alone ten moves, even with one hundred moves, the Joyous Monk might not necessarily lose.
"I think you're just talking nonsense!" Ye Qing curled his lips and said, "If you can see it, wouldn't you be a Peak Master too?"
The monk patted Ye Qing on the back of his head and said, "Less talk, within ten moves, you'll know whether I'm right or not."
The monk was dressed in women's clothes, and the style was already very enchanting. Now he hit Ye Qing , making people can't help but suspect if this was flirting scoldingly; a lot of people's eyes on site were drawn. After all, the monk's style was really visually impacting, and everyone wanted to see who was so bold to get so close to him.
Even if Ye Qing was calm, his face was still red at this moment, following this monk made him feel so embarrassed.
Fortunately, the Joyous Monk suddenly let out a loud shout, attracting everyone's eyes back to him.
At this time, the Joyous Monk and Prince Nalan were already entangled together, their swords clashing, and the battle situation was very tense. The Joyous Monk suddenly shouted, and actually held the Seven-Star Ancient Sword with both hands, swung fiercely towards Prince Nalan with one sword.
"What move is it?" Ye Qing asked Liu Mubai next to him in a low voice.
Liu Mubai: "The eighth move!"
Ye Qing was instantly interested. The tenth move was coming soon, and it was time to verify whether the monk was bragging earlier.
Seeing the Joyous Monk slash down with a sword, Prince Nalan immediately raised the longsword in his hand to block. The two swords collided, and with a clanging sound, the longsword in Prince Nalan's hand was actually cut into two segments by the Seven-Star Ancient Sword, falling to the ground!
The scene was in an uproar. The longsword in Prince Nalan's hand was also a famed instrument, how could it be cut off ? With this, wouldn't Prince Nalan be defeated?
Ye Qing immediately glanced at the monk; he felt that the battle outcome was completely different from what the monk said. However, he still couldn't believe that Prince Nalan, with his astonishing strength, could be defeated by the Joyous Monk.
But the facts were , Prince Nalan's longsword was broken by the Joyous Monk's sword, and he immediately had no weapon. And the Joyous Monk was laughing wildly, slashing several times in succession towards Prince Nalan. Seeing that posture, it was simply trying to directly kill Prince Nalan.
At this time, Prince Nalan also decisively threw the broken sword in his hand directly to the ground, took a deep breath, and suddenly seemed like a specter, flashed in place. Without seeing how he moved, he actually went around from the front of the Joyous Monk to the back of the Joyous Monk directly.
All the swords of the Joyous Monk were slashed into the air, the most crucial point being, he didn't even know where Prince Nalan had gone. Prince Nalan was standing right behind him, but he was unaware, which shows the speed and agility of Prince Nalan.
In fact, even the spectators on the side did not see clearly Prince Nalan's movements just now, it was really too fast.
Ye Qing took a cold breath, at this moment he finally believed the monk's words. With such speed from Prince Nalan, where would the Joyous Monk still have a chance to fight?
Sure enough, Prince Nalan stood behind the Joyous Monk, and directly slapped the Joyous Monk on the back.
"Ah!" The Joyous Monk screamed in pain, rushing forward a step, almost falling to the ground.