“The swords that both of you forged are unique in their own ways, ruining either of them would be a great loss. In my humble opinion, why not end the competition with a draw?” The Grand Elder had to carefully consider the situation before he suggested the result.
He has his own reasons for the suggestion. Zhang Zhi’s forging skills and techniques were much better than Yin Wenbin but in terms of sword integrity, Zhang Zhi’s jade sword could never win.
If both sides took a step back and ended the competition with a draw, it would be the best outcome. After all, the Grand Elder had his attention on the low-tier immortal stone and he did not want it to end up in the hands of Heavenly Soldier Pavilion.
Of course, a Nascent Soul cultivator suggesting a draw was already a humble act. If neither of them respected him and his suggestion, they might end up offending the Grand Elder of Lingtai Sect.
Yin Wenbin thought about it for a while but he was not here to respect the Grand Elder in the first place. He said, “As a disciple of Heavenly Soldier Pavilion, we either win or lose, I will never accept a draw!”
He intentionally emphasized on the name of his sect. Even though he was just a puny Golden Core in Heavenly Soldier Pavilion, this competition was about respect and reputation. If the news of the competition ended with a draw spread, he would lose all respect and status in his own sect.
The Grand Elder was infuriated when Yin Wenbin decided to not show him any respect. He said with a furious tone, “Bringing Heavenly Soldier Pavilion to the table I see? Do you believe me when I say I can take your life with a single palm strike?”
“It’s easy for the Grand Elder, as a Nascent Soul expert, to kill someone like me.” Yin Wenbin put his hands behind his back and did not look scared at all.
“However, my sect usually takes good care of its disciples and if any one of us is treated unfairly or bullied, my sect will retaliate with full force. If Lingtai Sect is somehow caught in the conflict, I hereby apologize in advance.”
Yin Wenbin grinned sinisterly. As the disciple of a renown sect, he had what it takes to discourage a powerful and respectable Nascent Soul Patriarch.
“You!” The Grand Elder was furious, he ought to kill Yin Wenbin with a single palm strike but he had to consider the consequences. If Heavenly Soldier Pavilion retalited and treated the disciples of Lingtai Sect the same way, the consequences would be too heavy to bear even for the Grand Elder.
As someone with responsibility and reputation on his shoulder, the Grand Elder could not act according to his own will, unlike those individual cultivators.
It was then that Zhang Zhi stepped in. “Grand Elder, I don’t want to end with a draw either.”
It was understandable if Yin Wenbin did not want to end with a draw but even Zhang Zhi?
The Grand Elder got angrier. He had lowered himself and even put his reputation at risk to dissolve the conflict but Zhang Zhi ignored his effort and decided to jump into the face of danger, he could not even pull Zhang Zhi back in time.
“Whatever! I don’t want to be a part of this anymore!” Since the two of them decided to continue the competition, the Grand Elder was forced to accept it.
He consoled himself that if Zhang Zhi lost the low-tier immortal stone, he could simply ask Yin Wenbin for the exchange, maybe Yin Wenbin would be easier to negotiate with than the scrooge.
Of course, the Grand Elder was just grumbling to himself, he really wanted Zhang Zhi to win.
Intrigued, Yin Wenbin looked at Zhang Zhi and said, “I’ll admit that you are brave enough to continue the competition but I will win nonetheless!”
Then, as though he wanted to make himself clear, he took out another mid-tier flying sword from his pouch and used his newly forged high-tier flying sword to cut it.
The mid-tier flying sword was cut in two like a tofu and the cut was clean and smooth. The sharpness of the high-tier flying sword was self-explanatory.
The other cultivators gasped in shock. A high-tier flying sword cutting a mid-tier flying sword into two was not a surprising act, it was surprising because Yin Wenbin did not even use his spiritual power, all he used was the sword’s sharpness.
On top of that, Yin Wenbin did not even flinch when he cut the mid-tier flying sword in half. As expected of the rich and resourceful Heavenly Soldier Pavilion disciple.
The cultivators started to lose confidence and looked at Zhang Zhi with gazes full of pity.
Zhang Zhi was not that stupid to cut a mid-tier flying sword just to show off, he did not even have a mid-tier flying sword available. He said, “Okay, okay, I get it. Stop with nonsense and get this over with, I’m closing shop.”
Yin Wenbin thought Zhang Zhi was afraid to show off, which fueled his contempt even further. He said, “Since Owner Zhang is closing, let’s begin.”
A little pause later, an evil thought popped up in Yin Wenbin’s mind and it was reflected in his eyes. “Owner Zhang, for the sake of fairness, we will hold our swords with our hands, no spiritual power is allowed. We will hit each other’s sword until either one of them breaks, the last one standing will be the victor, is that okay?”
The competition was unfair from the start because it was not about the sword’s tier but the integrity. Now, Yin Wenbin requested that both of them hold their swords using their own hands instead of controlling it with spiritual power, which further amplified the unfairness.
Zhang Zhi was just a puny Qi Refining cultivator and Yin Wenbin was a Golden Core. A Golden Core had better stamina, strength and sword techniques than a Qi Refining. With that, Yin Wenbin’s winning chance increased again.
The Grand Elder frowned and said, “You are bullying him!”
“Zhang Zhi, I’ll do it for you!”
As a Nascent Soul expert, the Grand Elder was stronger than Yin Wenbin in terms of strength and sword techniques.
Yin Wenbin wanted to use his own cultivation level to bully Zhang Zhi, the Grand Elder could not just sit back and do nothing.
However, Zhang Zhi shook his head. “Thank you for the offer but I want to cut his sword with my own hands!”
Yin Wenbin almost forgot about the Grand Elder and he was shocked when the Grand Elder offered to take Zhang Zhi’s place, but when Zhang Zhi said he wanted to do it himself, he sighed a breath of relief.
He said with a grin, “That’s right, you will only feel the satisfaction of victory if you win this competition yourself!”
The Grand Elder sighed at Zhang Zhi’s stubbornness, he did not want to interfere anymore.
Zhang Zhi and Yin Wenbin stood face to face against each other. Yin Wenbin said, “Oh, Owner Zhang, I wonder, have you named your flying sword?”
Before Zhang Zhi could say a word, Yin Wenbin said with a delightful smile. “I just came up with the perfect name for my sword. It’s called Slaughter Lingtai, how does it sound? Strong, am I right?”
The moment he revealed his sword’s name, it attracted the dissatisfied scolding from the other cultivators.
“Junior Yin, how dare you look down on Lingtai Sect?!”
“I can make this your last day on earth!”
Yin Wenbin feigned a surprised look and said, “Oh I forgot Lingtai Sect has the same name as the town. I’m sorry, but it’s just a sword’s name, it doesn’t represent the sect at all. I thought the cultivators from Lingtai Sect were a lot more gentlemanly than this.”
The Golden Core cultivators were furious. Just before they ganged up on Yin Wenbin, the Grand Elder stopped them. He then said with a serious look, “We cultivators of Lingtai Sect are gentlemen, but I will write a letter to Heavenly Soldier Pavilion and ask them why their disciple so rude, where’s the manners?”
The Grand Elder was strongly criticizing Yin Wenbin’s rudeness with his words but Yin Wenbin did not take him seriously.
In Yin Wenbin’s eyes, Lingtai Sect was just a third-tier little sect in a rural town, Heavenly Soldier Pavilion would never take it seriously.
It was then that Zhang Zhi said, “What a coincidence, I also named my sword.”
Yin Wenbin showed a ridiculing look and asked, “How does it sound compared to my Slaughter Lingtai?”
“I don’t think it’s as powerful as yours since I’m less educated, all I can think of are lousy words but it sounds quite okay I think,” Zhang Zhi said humbly.
“Haha! Owner Zhang, you really know your place well!” Yin Wenbin believed that a bumpkin like Zhang Zhi could never come up with a nice name but he found it amusing and it somehow piqued his interest.
He asked, “I wonder what’s the name of your sword?”
“I name my sword… F*cking Heavenly Soldier.” Zhang Zhi looked embarrassed when he revealed the name.
“I’m sorry that I have to use a vulgar word, it’s embarrassing…”
F*cking Heavenly Soldier? A vulgar word?
“Nice one! What a nice F*cking Heavenly Soldier! It’s the best vulgar word there is!”
The other cultivators cheered and applauded Zhang Zhi for slapping Yin Wenbin’s face with his naming skills.
The Grand Elder stroked his beard with a satisfied look, as if he was a scholar enjoying a profound poem with deep meaning.
Yin Wenbin reacted bitterly. He named his sword Slaughter Lingtai because he wanted to mock Lingtai Sect.
On the other hand. Zhang Zhi went with the more literal route by naming his sword F*cking Heavenly Soldier. Yin Wenbin was from and represented Heavenly Soldier Pavilion.
“Disrespectful!” Yin Wenbin was furious.
“Ah, I’m sorry, I did not notice Heavenly Pavilion also shares the same name with my sword. I’m so sorry, but this is just a name for the sword, I suppose the disciple from Heavenly Soldier Pavilion is also a gentleman right?”
Zhang Zhi feigned a surprised look, he practically threw Yin Wenbin’s words back at his face and it attracted the cheers and applause from the cultivators again.
“Owner Zhang is not just good with forging, he also has a vicious mouth.”
“Hahaha, no one can take advantage of the scrooge of Lingtai Town!”
Yin Wenbin reacted furiously, his chest started to suffocate due to the anger. He said with gnashing teeth, “You and your sly words, I’ll find out whether your sword is as sharp as your mouth!”
“Engarde! Owner Zhang!” Yin Wenbin raised his sword at Zhang Zhi.
He did not care whether Zhang Zhi was prepared or not, he swung his sword down with full force. Even though he did not use his spiritual power, the strength of a Golden Core cultivator was scary enough.
Yin Wenbin’s sword shrouded Zhang Zhi’s head. He swung his sword with full force because he wanted to cut Zhang Zhi’s sword in half and kill Zhang Zhi along the way.
“Zhang Zhi! Move!” The Grand Elder noticed the ill intention and voiced his reminder, he even tried to step in and protect Zhang Zhi.
However, Zhang Zhi did not dodge or budge, he raised his sword up for a block.
Yin Wenbin looked delighted. Even though the Grand Elder tried to stop him, the Grand Elder would be too late. As for Zhang Zhi’s blocking stance, Yin Wenbin did not even take it seriously.
“F*cking Heavenly Soldier? Nonsense! Slaughter Lingtai is the truth here!”
As expected, Yin Wenbin’s sword went through Zhang Zhi’s sword without the slightest resistance, he wanted to press his sword further and cut Zhang Zhi in half but he then realized the weight of his sword got a lot lighter.
He was stunned when he found out that he only had half of his sword in his hand.
Not only Yin Wenbin, even the Grand Elder failed to react to the situation.
When the two swords clashed, the Grand Elder thought Zhang Zhi would be cut in half with his sword but it seemed like it was Yin Wenbin’s sword that was cut in half.
The reason why Yin Wenbin did not feel any resistance was because Zhang Zhi’s sword was too sharp.
“Jade Iron? How can it be this sharp?” As an experienced forger, Yin Wenbin knew what had just happened. Zhang Zhi’s sword was able to cut his own, not because of the integrity, but the sharpness.
Yin Wenbin’s sword was not only tough, it was also sharp yet it did not leave a single cut on Zhang Zhi before it broke in half. There should not be such a sharp sword in the world, or rather, there should not be someone who could forge such a sharp sword in the world!
Before Yin Wenbin could react, Zhang Zhi swung his sword up. “My turn.”
Zhang Zhi was never a merciful person, especially towards people like Yin Wenbin who tried to kill him.
Yin Wenbin was shocked. He faltered and wanted to block with his broken sword.
Clank! His broken sword broke again without the slightest resistance, followed by several of his fingers falling to the ground.
Yin Wenbin covered his bloody right hand and screamed in pain.
Zhang Zhi stood straight with his sword and smiled brightly. “Just like the sword’s name, it f*cks Heavenly Soldier!”