The Blood of Youth – CH 037

Chapter 37: Murderous Dread Sword

It was very quiet.

That was Lei Wujie’s first thought when he arrived at the fifteenth floor.

The fifteenth floor looked like a library with two huge bookshelves on both sides filled with all sorts of ancient books. In the middle of the room was a sandalwood stove, and a middle-aged man in gray robes sat upright on a wooden chair, silently reading a book. He didn’t seem to have noticed Lei Wujie’s arrival.

Shifu? Lei Wujie felt a jolt in his heart. This person’s demeanor, temperament, and appearance were very similar to Lei Hong, who had kept himself secluded in a corner courtyard of Lei Clan Fort. But there was one thing about him that was very different. And it was exactly this thing that made Lei Wujie realize why the once world-renowned Lei Yunhe would commit himself to this Tower of Ascension.

Because he only had one arm. His entire right arm had been severed by someone. At this moment, he was holding an ancient book in his left hand while the sleeve of his right arm was empty. He ignored Lei Wujie and flipped his book page by page.

Lei Wujie waited for a long time before he whispered tentatively, “Senior?”

“Oh? I’ve been hearing all the excitement downstairs, but someone is actually challenging my fifteenth floor.” Lei Yunhe seemed to come back to himself all of a sudden. He raised his head and glanced at Lei Wujie as his brows furrowed slightly. “Blazing Arts, Garuda Realm? Are you a disciple of the Lei Clan?”

“This one is Lei Wujie,” Lei Wujie greeted respectfully as he hurried to clasp his fists.

“How are you related to Lei Hong?” Lei Yunhe asked.

“He’s my master.” Lei Wujie nodded fervently.

Lei Yunhe closed the ancient book he was reading and placed it on the table. “Did Lei Hong send you to the Tower of Ascension? Does he know I’m here?”

“This junior…” Lei Wujie hesitated for a long time before he decided he had to say something that was probably disrespectful. “Didn’t come here because of Senior.”

Lei Yunhe was stunned for a moment, but he didn’t get angry. He smirked knowingly and said, “I understand. You’re here for that person. Yet, the way I remember it, Lei Hong once told me that he’ll never see that person again in this life.”

“Shifu said that he’s seriously ill now and only has about a year left to live. One day, he got drunk, and Shifu said that he wasn’t afraid of living or dying, but he only had one wish he couldn’t fulfill, and that was to see that person again. But, he can’t leave Lei Clan Fort, so this disciple can only do the hard work for him,” Lei Wujie said.

“Then, you should know that if you want to see that person, you have to do something.” Lei Yunhe reached for the sandalwood stove and lightly twirled a wisp of the incense smoke into his hand. He flicked the smoke lightly, and Lei Wujie ducked sideways. The handrail behind him was instantly blown to sawdust. “You have to defeat me.”

Summoning thunder at his fingertips! This was the strength of the person who once aimed for the seat of the clan leader of the Lei Clan!

“Forgive me for causing offense.” Lei Wujie did not show the slightest bit of fear, and he took a few steps forward before aiming a palm strike.

“Unseen Fists?” Lei Yunhe laughed suddenly, and with a light wave of his hand, the palm move that was supposed to possess infinite power was swept aside, and the palm’s power vanished completely. “Do you realise what a ridiculous thing you’re doing by using your Unseen Fists against me? The Lei Clan Unseen Fists was created by me!” Lei Yunhe waved his left hand lightly, and an explosion of power from his palm surged towards Lei Wujie, forcing him to retreat three steps. Lei Yunhe immediately pressed ahead and reached out his hand to grab Lei Wujie by his throat.

Lei Wujie flashed aside and threw another fist move.

“Good timing!” Although Lei Yunhe only had one hand, he was extremely nimble. He released his hand and immediately caught Lei Wujie’s fist. But just as he was caught, Lei Wujie’s fist disappeared.

“Oh?” Lei Yunhe frowned slightly.

“I’m here.” A voice suddenly sounded in his ears. Lei Yunhe whipped his head around and saw Lei Wujie coming straight at him with another fist move. The fist was above board and very straightforward. It was indeed one of the few moves that almost everyone in the martial world was familiar with—the Grand Arhat Fists! But there was another mystery within the fist technique. Most people wouldn’t have noticed it, but Lei Yunhe was shocked.

Because right after he used the Grand Arhat Fists, the next move was incredibly brilliant. It was a move that could convert one fist into a thousand. That was Lei Wujie’s real ultimate move, Demon Subjugation Fists.

“That was not the Lei Clan’s martial arts!” Lei Yunhe yelled angrily and reached out his left hand. The smoke from the sandalwood stove transformed into five wisps and dropped into his hand. He swung his hand furiously and aimed the attack at Lei Wujie’s fist.

A loud noise crashed.

Lei Wujie’s sleeves were blown to shreds, and the fist power from his hand was instantly defeated. The Garuda phantom behind him wavered on the brink of rupturing.

“Did you think that just because you’ve attained the Garuda Realm of your Blazing Arts, that gives you the right to challenge the fifteenth floor? You’ve underestimated Snow Moon City, underestimated the Tower of Ascension, and you’ve definitely underestimated me.” Lei Yunhe’s voice was cold as he continued, “Blazing Arts, Unseen Fists, and that fist technique just now that you stole from god knows where. Whatever ultimate moves you have, you better use them all as soon as possible.”

Lei Wujie smiled bitterly and finally picked up the long package that had followed him all the way here but he had never opened. “I do indeed have one last option. Even though Shifu said that I must not open it until I meet that person, it looks like I don’t have a choice now.”

“Such a long explosive? It couldn’t be the Qilin Flaming Fang?” Lei Yunhe was taken aback. “Are you trying to blow up the entire Tower of Ascension?”

Lei Wujie shook his head and slowly opened the package, finally revealing its contents.

It was actually a flaming red long sword. The blade was covered with flame patterns, and the sword’s pommel was carved in the shape of a fire-breathing dragon.

A member of the magnificent Lei Clan Fort from Jiangnan Thunderbolt Hall actually pulled out a sword! In the early years of the Lei Clan, their ancestors performed a ritual of offering that sealed the blade and hung up the sword. Members of the Lei Clan were not allowed to use swords or sabers. Instead, they specialized in explosives, fist techniques, and finger techniques. All these years, there had only been one exception. When this person walked out of the Lei Clan to explore the martial world, he was captivated by a sword, so he violated the ancestral decree and forged a sword of his own. But at the time, nobody in the Lei Clan dared to object. Part of the reason was because that sword was forged using gunpowder, and whenever it was wielded, it often emitted a thunderous explosive cry. If you looked at it carefully, it did not violate the ancestral decree. However, the main reason was because this sword was simply too powerful. Back then, Lei Hong wielded this sword and swept across the entire martial world, practically aiming for the position of a sword immortal!

This sword had a terrifying name.

“Murderous Dread sword,” Lei Yunhe stated the name of the sword slowly, as if he was calling out the name of an old friend.

“That’s right, the Murderous Dread sword,” Lei Wujie echoed loudly and swung his sword. The two rows of bookshelves were instantly blown to pieces, while the Garuda phantom that was wavering behind him now surged in tandem.

All the people at the bottom of the tower saw a flash of red light shining out from inside the tower!

“Red clothes, red sword, excellent! A most excellent youth!” Lei Yunhe shouted in a loud and clear voice. He stepped forward, raised two fingers, and easily caught the blade of the Murderous Dread sword.

“I once used a single finger to break Cangshan! I once used two fingers to break Qian Kun!”

“Thunderclap Fingers!” Lei Wujie called out the name of the finger technique that was once very famous under Heaven.

Standing at the bottom of the tower, several people looked up at the spectacle and then exchanged glances with each other.

“You saw and heard it too, right?” Xiao Se frowned and turned his head to ask Sikong Qianluo.

Sikong Qianluo returned a cold snort before she turned away and ignored him.

It was the scholar who cleared his throat to alleviate some of the awkwardness. He nodded and said, “Xiao-xiong, you didn’t hear wrongly nor see wrongly. Indeed, there was a huge explosion coming from the fifteenth floor just now, and there is now a red light shining from there.”

“That guy is already on the fifteenth floor? Doesn’t that mean Tang-shixiong was defeated? How’s that possible!” Sikong Qianluo’s brows furrowed into a tight frown.

“Why? Does being defeated cause Miss Sikong to lose face? If it wasn’t for Miss Sikong running out of the city to have fun, I wouldn’t have had to guard the Tower of Ascension.” A sudden voice sounded, calm and serious, and everyone turned to look. Tang Lian was all dressed in black and sitting on the eaves of the roof next to them. He raised his head to look up.

“Tang Lian,” Xiao Se said slowly.

“Xiao Se.” Tang Lian lowered his head to look at this old acquaintance whom he once shared a life-and-death experience with.

“You’ve met before?” Sikong Qianluo’s eyes widened in surprise.

“I did tell you that if he met Tang Lian on the fourteenth floor, it wasn’t a bad thing where we’re concerned.” Xiao Se shrugged.

Sikong Qianluo had a quick thought and concluded angrily, “I get it. Shixiong, you went easy on him!”

Tang Lian nodded, completely unperturbed. “That’s right, I went easy on him. But I’m regretting it now.”

“Regretting it?” Xiao Se leaped up and stood beside Tang Lian. “Why?”

Tang Lian moved to a higher position, a worried look in his eyes. “I’m wondering if I might have made a mistake. If I fought him properly on the fourteenth floor, Lei Wujie would only lose. But now, he may actually die.”

“You’re absolutely right. Everyone thinks that the tower guardian elder is the weakest amongst the elders of Snow Moon City, but the truth is, if he went all out for real and summoned divine thunder from the Ninth Heaven, then I’m afraid even the Tower of Ascension is going to be destroyed.” Another familiar voice sounded in his ears, and Xiao Se turned his head to look. A man in a black robe, similar to Tang Lian’s, was standing behind him, his hand holding a dark golden spear.

“Spear Immortal, Sikong Changfeng.” Xiao Se was well and truly stunned.

“Sikong Changfeng is just Sikong Changfeng. Don’t always add ‘immortal this’ and ‘immortal that,'” Sikong Changfeng groused impatiently. “You don’t have to act so surprised either. Just because I’m old doesn’t mean I can’t join in the fun and watch the show.”

“Father?” Sikong Qianluo called out from below, her voice full of doubts.

“My good daughter, wasn’t it your turn to guard the tower today? So, where did you run off to play?” Sikong Changfeng smiled widely without any sign of reproach on his face.

Sikong Qianluo blushed. “How would I know someone would be able to challenge up to such a high floor?”

“As they say, there’s always a higher mountain; there’s always someone better. Don’t you agree, little Daoist priests from Qingcheng Mountain?” Sikong Changfeng called out loudly, still smiling widely as he turned his gaze to the scholar and page boy who were in the midst of attempting to sneak away.

Busted, the scholar turned around in embarrassment, a frozen smile on his face. “This junior, Li Fansong from Qingcheng Mountain, greets Third City Master.”

The page boy followed hurriedly, “Fei Xuan from Qingcheng Mountain greets Third City Master.”

“You’re already here, so why are you still hiding? Would I eat you up or something? I know you’re not here because of me. I’ll enjoy my show, and you guys look for the person you want to meet. We each do our own thing.” Sikong Changfeng snorted coldly. “The person you want to meet is actually already here. It all depends on whether that boy upstairs can get past Lei Yunhe.”