Chapter 15: 015: Four-star, no updates

“Mr. Qi, why aren't you giving me this ‘Self-Preservation’ incantation?”

Shen Tang nearly coughed up blood.

She had just memorized this incantation not long ago.

*Condense Qi into罡 (Gāng), protecting the entire body!*

In layman's terms, it was like equipping oneself with a shield.

It wouldn't have been a problem if Qi Shan had only shielded himself, but this fellow had actually quietly retreated behind her, leaving a defenseless eleven or twelve-year-old shut-in girl to face a murderous criminal intent on exterminating her entire clan!

It was truly outrageous!

Qi Shan said calmly, "I am of weak constitution and not skilled in combat."

Shen Tang: "..."

She suddenly remembered her own evaluation of Qi Shan after reading the incantation scrolls last night—*An LYB who uses offense as defense and camps in the bushes to steal kills*—now it seemed that evaluation was incomplete; she needed to add another point: this fellow was also incredibly adept at selling out his teammates.

"Even if you aren't skilled in combat, you are a young man who has undergone the capping ceremony!"

Hiding behind her?

Is this the behavior of a true man?

With that, she kicked toward the middle-aged man's chest.

Watching the man be sent flying half a zhang away before he could even react, Qi Shan remarked, "A young man who has undergone the capping ceremony couldn't kick someone that far."

Shen Tang: "..."

The middle-aged man fell to the ground clutching his chest, his face full of horror. He never imagined that a thin, small child like Shen Tang could possess such strength. Channeling his power, he slammed his hands against the ground, lunged upward, and roared, "If you don't value your lives, don't blame me for being ruthless!"

From somewhere, he pulled out a wood-chopping knife glowing with a red light.

He swung it down toward Shen Tang's head!

*Thud!*

The man's knife was bolstered by Martial Gall (Wǔdǎn), allowing it to cut through iron like clay. In a single clash, it split the knife in Shen Tang's hand into two pieces. Seeing this, he grew emboldened and used brute force to swing the knife horizontally, aiming for Shen Tang's neck, a smirk playing on his lips as if he could already see her head flying off.

Unexpectedly, she ducked and leaned back, evading the successive strikes of the red-glowing knife. Her footwork shifted with precision, every step taken with composure.

The middle-aged man had no refined techniques; he possessed nothing but brute strength and that iron-cutting, red-tinted wood-chopping knife.

He swung strike after strike.

If hit even once, one would either die or be maimed.

Looking at the cracks carved into the ground by the strikes, Shen Tang's expression tightened. Qi Shan spoke at the opportune moment: "A Second-Class Shangzao."

And a Shangzao who possessed nothing but brute strength at that.

Shen Tang seized the opportunity to close the distance, snapping her fingers to strike his wrist with concentrated force.

The middle-aged man cried out in pain, his knife forced from his hand. She seized the moment to deliver a vicious kick to three inches below his navel. This kick not only left the man's "eggs" shattered but also caused Qi Shan to instinctively gasp.

He covered his face with his sleeve, unable to watch.

No man could endure such pain.

The middle-aged man was no exception.

He screamed and doubled over, falling right into Shen Tang's trap; she grabbed his hair and pulled him down, slamming him into her rising knee.

*Thud!*

Qi Shan instinctively reached for his nose.

He felt the pain on the man's behalf.

At that moment, his peripheral vision caught a shadow flickering outside the paper window. Without hesitation, he recited—

"In wind and rain, we sail the same boat; in peril and ruin, we rescue together!"

The moment the word "Rescue" (Zhěng) fell, a streak of gray light broke through the window with an irresistible momentum, lunging toward Shen Tang's vital points. Simultaneously arriving with the gray light was the textual Qi (Gāngqì) that suddenly flared up around her body.

The two collided, and an airwave exploded with a loud *boom*.

Shen Tang had already evaded the strike. Looking at the spear tip embedded several inches into the ground, she looked up toward the window—there was another enemy in the shadows!

Qi Shan said, "An accomplice, likely a Third-Class Zanliao."

With his extensive experience, he could roughly judge the strength of the accomplice based solely on the force of that single spear thrust.

But his next sentence was—

"Young Master Shen should be able to handle it."

Shen Tang: "..."

As for the subtext of that sentence, he was clearly trying to play the role of a bystander.

Unlike the unrefined middle-aged man, this newcomer was clearly a trained martial artist. He leaped into the room, and with a pull of his palm, the long spear embedded in the ground flew into his hand.

However, his target was not Shen Tang; he feinted a move and charged straight at Qi Shan.

The newcomer was dressed in black, nine feet tall, with broad shoulders and a barrel chest. His muscles were hardened through training, and his mere presence exerted an immense pressure, making the previously spacious room feel cramped and suffocating.

Qi Shan wore an "I knew it" expression. Unhurried, he silently recited a single-character incantation. Textual light surged beneath his feet, and with a slight sway of his body, he retreated over a zhang. The man in black tried to pursue, but was intercepted by Shen Tang, who charged in wielding the "Cimother Sword," preventing his escape.

*Clang!*

Spear and sword clashed.

Qi Shan flashed to a relatively safe, open area and leisurely added a follow-up: "When danger is upon me, it is bestowed upon others; therefore—when I am in danger, others are in danger. If others wish to remain safe, they must lend a hand to resolve my predicament."

As the incantation fell, the textual light flared up beneath Shen Tang's feet instead.

Having heard the incantation, Shen Tang: "...???"

While blocking the enemy's torrential spear thrusts, she screamed in fury, "Qi Yuanliang! Act like a human being!"

Qi Shan was truly a scoundrel!

At first glance, that incantation seemed fine, but the translation was this: *If I am in danger, I will transfer that danger to someone else. If I am in danger, they are in danger; therefore, if that person wants to be safe, they are forced to help me resolve my danger.*

It was essentially a forced redistribution of peril.

"Young Master Shen, everything must be for the sake of the greater good," Qi Shan said, actually having the audacity to smile. "As the saying goes—'If the literary heart is not removed, the martial gall shall not perish.' This man is a trained fighter; he will understand this logic. I am frail; I entrust my life to Young Master Shen."

Shen Tang: "..."

Brother Qi Yuanliang, do you remember what you said last night: "Guess if this sword of mine is a decoration or a handy weapon"?

Has it only been one night and you've already adopted the persona of a frail scholar?

*Boom!*

The gray light from the sword's tip tore a large hole through the roof of the house.

This man's strength was extraordinarily great, at least much greater than that Third-Class Zanliao official. Shen Tang had to retreat several steps to dissipate the momentum. Looking at her slightly numb grip, her expression darkened.

"Qi Yuanliang, are you sure he is a Third-Class Zanniao?"

Qi Shan was about to say "Yes," but through the light of the unextinguished oil lamp, he saw the man's thick lips part slightly, silently murmuring something.

Immediately following, the man's aura shifted. In an instant, he unleashed hundreds of spear shadows, the spear shaft coiling around Shen Tang's long sword like a spiritual serpent.

Qi Shan carefully read his lip movements.

【The army has no constant form, just as water has no constant shape...】

This was...

Qi Shan understood instantly.

"Watch out, this fellow is a Fourth-Class Bugeng!"

Almost as soon as the words fell, a somewhat illusory black shadow appeared silently in Shen Tang's blind spot, forming a pincer attack with the man in black who was entangling her. As the spear wind rushed toward her, Shen Tang seemed to have eyes in the back of her head; she grabbed a hanging curtain and leaped vertically onto a broken beam, evading a spear thrust aimed straight for her heart.

"Holy crap, he can actually use [Clones]!"

Just as she stabilized herself, Qi Shan's voice reached her ear.

He said, "Starry Array!"

*Hum—*

Intersecting horizontal and vertical lines of text extended from beneath his feet, looking at first glance like a massive chessboard. As the chessboard appeared, the man in black's footsteps grew heavy and his knees trembled, as if a massive boulder were pressing on his shoulders and his legs were sinking into an invisible mire. He let out a roar, his martial aura erupting wildly, causing a piercing clash as the gray light collided with the textual light.

Watching this scene, Shen Tang didn't know how to help.

This was beyond her cognitive range.

Seeing her worry, Qi Shan said sternly, "Just focus on fighting. Leave the rest to me. Capture him alive!"

The threshold for Gongshi and Shangzao was extremely low, reachable by any martial artist; Third-Class Zanliao was the watershed. From the Fourth-Class Bugeng onward, one could begin to borrow the incantations of military strategy; in the army, such a person would at least be a Centurion.

If they were willing to join a powerful clan as retainers, they would have no worries about food or drink. Why would they turn to banditry, making a living through robbery and murder?

_(:з」∠)_ Gone again, sigh, why do I only get inspiration at times like this...

(End of Chapter)