Martial King's Retired Life

Zhuxing Wuchang suddenly removed his eyes from the battle and snickered. “Time’s up. I have to get going. Thanks for the fun.” He pulled out one sword from among the six locked up with the trio, pivoted and thrust his sword behind his neck. “Let’s rematch in the next life.”

The six swords glowed sky-blue and slashed simultaneously, dismantling the trio’s guard stances. Zhuxing Wuchang’s Enlightenment had a dismantling property, making it the mortal nemesis of any defence system. Trying to bait him in with defence would be akin to provoking the grim reaper.

Anyone familiar with Zhuxing Wuchang would recognise his smile in that moment as an indication of his favourite moment in the Central Plain. For him, a strong opponent was something to celebrate, but meeting an opponent he couldn’t defeat was even better.

“There are three levels to Divine Moon Cult’s ‘Lawless Twelve Stances’,” a man stated from within the blue light. “The first level establishes the foundation of ‘Universe’. Those who can learn the twelve stances in the diagrams can become first-rate adepts in the pugilistic world. In the second level, practitioners practice their own version of Twelve Stances. Zhuxing Wuchang’s ‘Sword Heaven Twelve Stances’, the child of the second level, and Ximen Chuideng’s ‘Fire Heaven Twelve Stances’ are two incomprehensible versions in their cult.”

Upon seeing the man glowing white, Leng Jingliu uttered, “… Shichuan.”

Shen Wuzheng turned to his disciple and scrubbed his head. “Get it now? When you’re up against his swordplay, unless you believe you can dominate your opponent with your swordplay, it’s best to stay calm and not adjust to their rhythm. You’ve achieved a good standard with your swordplay already.”

“I just took a defensive approach, though,” replied Leng Jingliu.

“That’s because the blue Enlightenment can’t be blocked.” Shen Wuzheng smiled with amusement. “You should’ve ran. Nobody would’ve made fun of you for running from it.”

Leng Jingliu pulled Shen Wuzheng’s hand off his head and grouched, “When you sent me in as an undercover six months ago, I agreed to wait here because you said you’d uproot them all in one fell swoop today. You think I’d have fought him if you arrived earlier?”

“I didn’t mean to be late. Sky Palace’s formation was more difficult to dismantle than I predicted.”

“Have you dismantled all of them?”

“Regrettably, there are still two I can’t do anything about. Anyhow, we have other priorities right now.” The corners of Shen Wuzheng’s lips returned to neutral as he cast his gaze over to Master Le and Master Ku. “Liu Shan Men’s Shen Wuzheng. It is an honour to meet you.”

While he still appeared friendly, whirls of tension were spinning inside Master Le. “Wow… We are honoured.”

“Are there not enough problems in Three Gorges martial arts community? What do you want?”

Master Le finally remembered to smile. “Constable Shen, that is a bad way of putting it. We are more than happy to share the business opportunities with you. We will not cause you any trouble.”

Master Ku tugged Master Le by the shoulder and, stifling his voice, informed, “It’s time to go.”

”Oh, I forgot I still had something to do. That shall be it for today, then. Let us catch up another day.” Master Le sped off with Master Ku following behind, nerves still fried to the point that he forgot to laugh.

The rest of League of Assassins’ members followed their two leaders, leaving orderly as expected of disciplined professionals.

Upon locking eyes with Shen Wuzheng, Zhuxing Wuchang remarked, “You’ve been staring at me for a long time, Young Master Wuzheng, hahaha.”

“Because you are worth my attention.” Switching to a cordial tone, Shen Wuzheng continued, “Divine Moon Cult’s three Great Guardians are capable of fighting an army. Adepts who could match you in the imperial court are far and few between. How would Divine Moon Cult react if The Ultimate Three were to be active in the Western Regions?”

“Good bloody point, damn. You are being too polite to your target for elimination, are you not?”

Shen Wuzheng jovially saluted Zhuxing Wuchang. “You have spilt very little blood in the Central Plain since your arrival. Elimination and whatnot are unnecessary. If you could cease your plans, that would be for the best.”

“We have yet to decide who the better fighter is, yet you want me to pack up? This is a battlefield!”

Shen Wuzheng just stood there with a smile on his lips.

“… In ten days from now, I’ll let you know where I am. We’ll bring our own spectators to settle the score, deal?”

Shen Wuzheng didn’t respond.

“Let’s invite an impartial judge, then. We’ll leave our fates up to the heavens. The imperial court and Divine Moon Cult can’t argue the results or take revenge, better?”

Shen Wuzheng turned the other way.

“Wait!” Zhuxing Wuchang bolted over to cut off Shen Wuzheng, even using his Divine Realm speed. “Fine, you set the terms. Don’t walk away. Let’s fight in the Western Regions, yes?”

“Sorry, this one has a job to attend to, so he cannot travel so far.”

“Shen Wuzheng! Let’s fight without judges, then. We’ll go until one of us can’t get up, okay?”

“My wife and children are waiting at home to have dinner with me.”

“What a tough nut to crack,” Zhuxing Wuchang muttered under his breath.

“Exactly.” Shen Wuzheng walked off, grumbling, “Man, I’m being overworked.”

“Hey! Hey! Don’t go. Let’s fight in private. No weapons, no risking our lives; just a simple spar. I’ll go back after, okay?”

Frowning, Shen Wuzheng rubbed his chin.

“Hey, man, I’ve been making compromise after compromise! Don’t push it! I’m a Great Guardian. Can’t you show some respect?”

“I’ll decide on the time and place. We’ll stop short. No Enlightenment. If you can accept those terms, you have yourself a match.”

“A man’s word is worth gold in weight!” Zhuxing Wuchang jubilantly headed off.

Shen Wuzheng smiled in preparation to speak to Bai Tianbin, only for the latter to palm his own face and complain, “How are we supposed to survive in the Central Plain when that’s all it took to shoo off a Great Guardian?”

“All the outsiders are gone. It’s time to turn our attention to them.” Shen Wuzheng shifted his line of sight to Miguo.

Wugou had his hands around his throat as though he was fighting off strangulation; even his face was beet-red. The invisible wall of qi around Miguo didn’t just barricade people outside but even imposed pressure on hostiles within.

Bai Tianbin stroked his beard. “Incredible. He must’ve originally been born a cockroach. How is he still alive?”

Hua Qing curled up at the same time his chest started glowing. He had lost control over the relic for a while now; it absorbed his internal energy and transferred a massive volume in against his will. Only now did he realise Miguo was able to control the relic, nevertheless.

Leng Jingliu: “… Shichuan, is this a formation you couldn’t dispel?”

“Indeed… The relic is absorbing all of Miguo Branch’s disciples’ energy through ‘Karma’. If I can’t break the formation, over a thousand people will die before my eyes in less than an hour from now.”

Glossary

Universe – If you’ve read xianxia/xuanhuan, you may have also seen it translated as “Cosmic Orbit” or something to that effect. It’s essentially the same thing – a term related to methods of qi circulation.

Shichuan – Another word for shifu/shizun.