Tome of Troubled Times

Chapter 154: The Noble Buqi

If someone were to rank all the beauties in the world, the extremely beautiful woman approaching under the moonlight had a very high chance of being chosen as the most beautiful woman in the world. However, Maitreya, who was usually extremely lustful, held no romantic thoughts toward her. If anything, he felt straight up pissed.

Why the hell are you here?!

When one’s opponent was strong to a certain degree, what you cared about was no longer their appearance but rather your own life and death.

Maitreya had actually arrived quite some time before. It was just that he did not want to make an appearance too early on to avoid alerting the people of Gusu that the Maitreya Cult would be taking action in the region. He had been waiting until vicious qi surged from within the Tang residence, which was supposed to incite the people of Gusu to gang up on the Tang Clan. They would then come to sort out and take control of the situation, facilitating their rule over the region in the future.

Therefore, he had been lurking for so long, but unexpectedly, the plan of the Lu Clan had inexplicably gone awry just when they were on the verge of success!

What was even more infuriating was that the military, whose discipline had significantly deteriorated as of late and whose generals would all frequently lodge in brothels, had somehow been reorganized and dragged out by Tang Buqi. They stormed into the city and killed many followers of the Maitreya Cult after catching them off guard.

While the hastily assembled and chaotic army was not that powerful, the same went for the Maitreya Cult in Gusu!

Seeing that everything was about to fall into chaos, Maitreya made a decisive decision and immediately threw out the treasure of vicious qi that he had just obtained into the sword pond, which then pulled the vicious qi below upward. With that, their plan should have finally been back in motion.

But who could have expected that after all that, Tang Wanzhuang would actually arrive?!

Maitreya, who originally had the power to suppress everything and could easily solve any unforeseen events, suddenly encountered someone who could actually defeat him.

The capital was thousands of li away. This meant that Tang Wanzhuang must have sensed the crisis that Gusu was about to face as soon as she learned about the upheaval in Yangzhou several days ago. As soon as she realized what was about to happen, she must have rushed here without waiting for her subordinates since they would only serve to slow her down.

Just like in the Luo Family Village back then, she always managed to arrive at critical moments. If she had even so much as delayed her departure for another meal, she would have likely ended up coming here too late.

Maitreya could not help but feel a sense of exhaustion. With this woman who holds an important position in the imperial court here, things are much more troublesome. When Vermillion Bird went to kill Luo Zhenwu, she must have felt the same way back then. It’s just that back then, Luo Zhenwu ended up getting killed by some young man out of nowhere. However, it seems like that young man is now on Tang Wanzhuang’s side.

That young man seems to be in Gusu now...wait, could he have something to do with how things have ended up like this?

Even as these thoughts flashed through his mind, Maitreya did not stop. Seeing Tang Wanzhuang approaching him with her sword under the moonlight, he took the initiative to launch an attack!

Tang Wanzhuang’s illness had never been resolved. After traveling thousands of li to come here, there was no way she was in peak condition. Thus, he felt that launching a swift attack and not giving her a chance to catch her breath was his best shot at winning!

Spring water gently sprinkled, a faint fragrance fluttered down.

Buddhist light shone brightly, lotuses bloomed in the sky.

A confrontation between the third and the fifth on the Ranking of Earth began above the Tang residence. This was no longer a playful tentative confrontation like what had taken place above the Ancient Sword Lake; this was a battle of life and death!

Tang Wanzhang had fought two demonic cult powerhouses as of late: Vermillion Bird ranked fourth, Maitreya ranked fifth. From this, the reason Tang Wanzhuang was so eager to break through could easily be discerned. If she had not broken through quickly, she did not know if she would be able to handle these two powerhouses. Even then, there was still the Black Tortoise ranked second, along with a thief, who everyone dreaded, ranked first.

This was not even mentioning the Ranking of Heaven...

In any case, among the top five on the Ranking of Earth, four of them were wanted criminals. How difficult was it for the Demon Suppression Bureau to handle such matters?

Before Tang Wanzhuang broke through, she was already third on the Ranking of Earth. Now, forcibly breaking through had injured her lung meridian. No one knew for sure whether her current strength was higher or lower than before. That was why Vermillion Bird and Maitreya avoided confronting her if they could, fearing this injured young lady.

But at this moment, he could no longer simply wait and see, and a battle of life and death erupted between the two of them.

On the other hand, Tang Wanzhuang was also feeling extremely troubled at the moment. Regardless of whether she could defeat Maitreya or not, the outcome could not be determined easily. What should she do about the situation at the sword pond?

Maitreya could just sit back and watch as the vicious sword rose from the pond and slaughtered everyone present, but could she do the same?

Who could lend her a hand?

*

By the sword pond, the situation was slightly better than before.

Although there was indeed vicious qi rising from the pond at this moment, the people who had been instigated by the Lu Clan earlier were not as hostile toward the Tang Clan as they were earlier. Most people had seen with their own eyes that it was Maitreya who had triggered the vicious qi by throwing something into the pond. They couldn’t be sure whether this vicious qi belonged to the pond or to Maitreya.

But regardless of people’s current perceptions, which side they stood on, or whether or not they wanted to wait for the outcome of the battle between the two powerhouses on the Ranking of Earth, none of them were given the time to think about things and make a decision.

Because a few moments later, the vicious sword emerged from the pond.

People watched in horror as space twisted unnaturally, as if it was a desert mirage, then cracked like glass. The pond water was truly overflowing at this moment, and in the next instant, the beautiful sword pond disappeared.

In its place was a massive sword. Lu Shaoxiong, who had not managed to leave the pond earlier, was directly crushed by this sword. His screams were drowned out amidst the thunderous upheaval of the space, and no one could hear him as he was crushed into paste.

Lu Yuanting stood there in shock, unable to summon even the grief of losing his son.

This sword was not only terrifyingly powerful but also surrounded by a chilling aura of vicious qi, captivating the hearts of those around.

It felt as though they were in some kind of bloody battlefield, with limbs strewn about, bloodthirsty beasts prowling, vultures circling overhead, the sky ruptured open, and the eyes of gods and demons glaring menacingly through the cracks. Just a single glance was enough to leave one’s heart trembling in fear!

Swish, swish, swish!

Countless streams of sword qi rained down, enveloping everyone, regardless of faction, within a baptism of blades.

This was the sentient vicious sword unleashed by the provocation of the old man of the Lu Clan. It had come to annihilate all living beings!

Screams rang out one after the other. In an instant, whether they were from the Tang Clan or part of the various troublemakers that had come, they were left either dead or wounded. Blood pooled around the Thousand People Rock, mixing with the pond water that had overflowed, turning Tiger Hill into a hellish landscape.

Even Lu Yuanting had not anticipated facing such a situation.

“Quickly, leave!” Tang Wanzhuang’s voice came from above. “No matter what side you are on, turn around and evacuate in an orderly manner! The Tang Clan will stay behind and keep the sword qi at bay. The sword qi isn’t as powerful as you think!”

For a moment, the air seemed to quiet down. Then someone shouted, and everyone panicked, scrambling to flee. Tang Wanzhuang’s instructions for an orderly evacuation were completely disregarded. Even the members of the Tang Clan, and even Tang Wangsheng himself, were no exception. Each of them cursed the others for not holding the rear, and each of them regretted not having been born with an extra pair of legs as they dashed away from the pond.

However, this was a mountain path, after all, so how wide could it really be?

Only half of the massive vicious sword had risen out from the ground, and the sword qi had not even been released for the second round, yet people were already pushing and shoving, trampling over each other, resulting in countless dead and injured.

No one knew whether more people had died from the earlier round of sword qi or from being trampled by others.

While Maitreya was fighting with Tang Wanzhuang, he laughed loudly, “First Seat Tang, you work so hard for these pieces of trash? And you want your self-righteous Tang Clan juniors to hold the rear? Pfft, hahahaha... Apart from you, there has not been anyone of any worth in the Tang Clan for a long time! In my opinion, it would be better for you to simply join my Realm of True Void and experience true bliss. Why waste your efforts on these useless people? I feel sorry for you just watching them.”

Tang Wanzhuang’s face remained as calm as water, offering no response to his taunts.

While Maitreya was laughing wildly, a flash of sword light streaked through the mountain. Someone flew over the trees and rushed straight toward the vicious sword. He stood alone with a sword in hand right before the vicious sword. “This is Tiger Hill Sword Pond, this is the mountain of the Tang Clan. Members of the Tang Clan shall hold the rear. Those who still think their surname is Tang, stand beside me!”

The crowd that was rushing down the mountain path paused for a moment and turned to look back.

Tang Buqi was standing before the vicious sword, looking particularly lonely.

Even though only half of the vicious sword had emerged, it was already taller than everyone here...

In his drunken state, Tang Buqi once admitted he was afraid of death. But now, even though everyone could see his trembling hand and shaking legs as he faced the terrifying vicious qi that could cause thousands of people to lose courage, he stood there as if rooted to the spot, a true pillar of the Tang Clan.

Many people looked at each other and suddenly rushed back toward him. “Young master!”

“Cousin!”

“Nephew!”

“Let me help you!”

Suddenly, a wall of people appeared in front of the vicious sword. Everyone stood with their swords ready, forming a solid defensive formation.

Swish, swish, swish!

The second round of sword qi descended like rain.

However, this time, people realized something: as long as they were not intimidated by the vicious qi and they formed a defensive formation to counter it, the scattered sword qi was not all that difficult to block after all.

As long as the sword qi was dispersed like this, it was even something that Zhao Changhe could withstand with his own flesh and bones. How powerful could it really be?

Ding, ding, ding, ding!

Sounds similar to pearls falling on a jade plate resounded. The members of the Tang Clan were actually managing to intercept all of the sword qi without a single person getting injured!

Maitreya’s expression changed, and Tang Wanzhuang finally revealed the first hint of a smile tonight. “Oh, did someone just say there’s no one else in my Tang Clan?”

“Hahaha!” Tang Buqi, leading the group, successfully intercepted the rain of sword qi. Despite his voice trembling earlier, he now sounded triumphant. “That’s it? That’s all you got?! Ancient evil sword, you should have come out earlier and let yourself be taken away long ago!”

Boom!

The sword finally broke out of the alternate space completely, announcing that the barrier of the dimensional fragment was now broken and the two dimensions were connected once again.

The massive sword turned around and pointed at Tang Buqi.

Tang Buqi: “...I was joking just now...”

Maitreya laughed and said, “It’s not all that incredible for them to be able to block the scattered sword qi... However, can these people handle this ferocious giant sword? It’s a pity that even those with a bit of backbone from the Tang Clan will all be lost after thi—”

Before he could finish saying the word “this,” Maitreya’s eyes suddenly bulged.

A man covered in blood, carrying a girl in his arms, emerged from the ground, coming out together with the sword hilt.

As soon as they landed, the man set the girl in his arms aside, took hold of the broad saber from his back, and fiercely swung it down at the vicious sword. “There’s someone who’s been excited to meet you this entire time. It’s been wanting to have a go at you. It’s perfect now that you’ve formed into a sword! Even if I can’t beat up the Sword Emperor, I don’t think you’re the Sword Emperor, are you?!”