The Return of Stars to the Jianghu

Chapter 54: A flurry of sword strikes reveals the secret behind it all.

"Are you alright, Military Advisor Shen?" Hu Hanhui asked, looking at Shen Lixi.

"It's nothing," Shen Lixi replied calmly.

"It's good that you're alright. Xu Guan used this kind of trick more than ten years ago. Back then, he hired a lot of sorcerers to pretend to be gods and ghosts, scaring the cowards of our Liao Kingdom to death and causing us to lose a large amount of territory. Now we will take it all back one by one." Hu Hanhui patted Luo Yifei on the shoulder.

The two then discussed the military formations and exchanged ideas on areas where magic could be used.

As it grew late, the two prepared to go back to rest.

Before leaving, Hu Hanhui asked Shen Lixi, "If you want to see your friends, I can send a team to take you there, but I'm afraid that's Xu Guan's scheme, waiting for you to walk into his trap. As for returning to Earth, I'm afraid you can only wait for the Shi family."

"No need, my friends will find me. There are other ways to get to another world besides the altar."

"What method?" Hu Hanhui rarely showed excitement.

"You mentioned before that the battle between the Sword Saint and the Sword Demon opened the Heavenly Gate, which was forcibly closed by the Sword Immortal. Now that the Sword Immortal is gone, could the battle between the Sword Immortal and the Sword Demon have also opened the Heavenly Gate?" Shen Lixi asked earnestly.

"The Sword Immortal is focused on preventing anyone from going to the Immortal Realm, so it's absolutely impossible for him to open the Heavenly Gate."

“It was impossible before, but what if people keep coming from the Immortal Realm? He probably won’t be able to sit still and will definitely go to the Immortal Realm to demand an explanation,” Shen Lixi said, revealing her already guessed suspicion.

"You mean the passage opened from the Immortal Realm, not from our Spirit Realm?" Hu Hanhui's previous excitement had vanished, replaced by a look of worry.

"Yes, the prophecy is getting closer to being fulfilled. That person wasn't sent by Xu Guan; he's at least from the Celestial Realm, or even possibly from the Divine Realm. The world is about to descend into chaos. Perhaps it's already too late."

……

Luo Yifei suddenly sat up in bed, as if he had figured something out. He walked straight to the door, pushed it open, and shouted loudly at Qi Yuan and Song Han, who were having a sword fight in the courtyard, "Song Han, let's have a match."

Upon hearing this, Qi Yuan and Song Han sheathed their swords.

Luo Yifei walked down the steps and into the courtyard.

Qi Yuan walked up the steps and stood next to Bi Li.

"Please," Song Han said, bowing with his hands clasped in greeting.

After saying "Please," Luo Yifei stabbed at Song Han at top speed.

This unexpected sword strike caught Song Han off guard, leaving him no time to dodge. He could only raise his sword to block it, and then swung it at Luo Yifei in the process.

However, Luo Yifei's speed far exceeded Song Han's expectations, and he actually dodged it.

Qi Yuan, standing on the steps, was startled. Even a single strike from that sword might not be enough to dodge it. Qi Yuan had fought Song Han many times and understood his moves. Even if he had anticipated Song Han's reaction just now, dodging that follow-through sword strike would have been difficult, let alone for Luo Yifei, who was fighting Song Han for the first time. This required not only agility but also the instinctive reaction of someone experienced in countless battles. But just now, it was clearly a conscious dodge.

In the brief moment that Qi Yuan was pondering, Luo Yifei had already exchanged three sparks with his opponent.

"In the world of martial arts, speed is the only way to break through defenses," Qi Yuan couldn't help but sigh. Simply being fast is what makes someone a martial arts prodigy. It's just a pity he started learning too late; if he had started from a young age, he might have had a chance to become a grandmaster.

Luo Yifei's sword had no particular sword techniques; its purpose was straightforward: to stab Song Han.

Song Han didn't want to hurt Luo Yifei, so he couldn't use his killer move and seemed a bit exhausted. For a moment, Luo Yifei actually gained the upper hand, and his clothes were cut in several places.

Luo Yifei's speed increased, and he slashed and thrust at Song Han like a madman.

After a moment, Song Han stopped dodging and began to concentrate his true energy into his sword, using offense as defense to block Luo Yifei's attacks. Song Han had originally intended to teach a junior a lesson, but he now understood that Luo Yifei wasn't there to learn swordsmanship at all, but simply to vent his emotions. However, while Luo Yifei's attacks were chaotic, they weren't without strategy. Song Han recognized several deadly moves from the Shu Mountain Sword Technique that Qi Yuan had practiced.

Qi Yuan watched from the sidelines, beginning to feel worried. Luo Yifei was using almost all of his killing moves. If they were to actually fight in the martial arts world and the opponent were to use the same killing moves, it would be a life-or-death battle.

After Song Han condensed his true energy into the sword, he forced Luo Yifei to dodge and retreat repeatedly, but he still did not give up his offensive speed.

Half an hour later, Song Han still felt somewhat tired. On one hand, he was afraid of hurting Luo Yifei and having to explain it to the sect leader, and on the other hand, he couldn't use his killing move because of Qi Yuan.

As dusk fell, the temple bell rang six times.

"Luo Yifei, Song Han is almost done. It's getting late, let's go eat," Qi Yuan said to the two of them.

However, Luo Yifei showed no sign of stopping and continued to attack Song Han.

Upon hearing Qi Yuan's words, Song Han, who was about to sheathe his sword, caught a glimpse of Luo Yifei's sword flying towards him out of the corner of his eye. Instantly, he gathered sword energy and slashed with his sword, splitting Luo Yifei's sword in two.

Several people were stunned for a moment.

Soon, Qi Yuan strode towards Luo Yifei.

Luo Yifei's clothes were torn by the sword energy, and a wound appeared on his abdomen, from which blood seeped out.

Qi Yuan looked at it and saw that the wound wasn't deep. He figured that applying some medicine would be enough, and it probably wouldn't even leave a scar.

A month and a half after arriving on the Floating Life Continent, Luo Yifei bled for the first time, felt pain, and confirmed that everything was real.

"The sect leader just returned from Mount Emei. Lin Hai instructed him to give you the Red-Clothed Sect's heirloom sword, and told you its name is Lieyang (Blazing Sun). It was supposed to be given to you tomorrow. I'll go find the little monk Huiming to get you some medicine. Never fight with others like this again, or you'll die without even knowing it," Song Han said to Luo Yifei.

"Do you know Shen Lixi's whereabouts?" Luo Yifei didn't answer the question directly, but instead asked his own deduction.

“We don’t know, but Mr. Ding does. Mr. Ding didn’t say it explicitly, but the sect leader guessed it and it was confirmed.”