Chapter 150

Those who know me, it must be the Spring and Autumn Annals;
Those who condemn me, it must be the Spring and Autumn Annals.

Wu Mazi heard this answer,
bent over,
cupped his fist in salute,
and said sincerely:
"Thank you, Your Highness."

Right and wrong, merits and demerits, await the judgment of the Spring and Autumn Annals.

This is great confidence, and at the same time, it is also great magnanimity.

Wu Mazi straightened up again,
and his aura began to lock onto the Prince of Jingnan.

The Prince of Jingnan wanted to enter the imperial city,
and he was the shadow of the imperial city.
If the Lord Yin's obstruction was merely a formality to be gone through, then for Wu Mazi, he was an important part of the ritual.

Because, this part of the ritual was more difficult to complete.

The Jingnan army knights began to line up, they were ready to annihilate experts.

To be precise,
strong individuals are not few in this world, but there are not many who can make an army stand ready.

When entering the city gate earlier, whether it was Cui Foshou, Chen Lianhua, or Ma Laowu, they could be considered experts, but under the cavalry charge, although they could cause some damage, they would inevitably perish themselves.

However, the treatment for a true third-rank martial artist is naturally different.

The physique of a third-rank martial artist is too strong, their qi and blood need to be worn down first.

Just as the Sword Saint initially used sword qi to wear down the Prince of Jingnan's qi and blood when they fought, and just as Sha Tuo Qieshi was worn down by the Northern Town cavalry outside the Marquis's mansion before being killed by Li Yuanhu.

This is a well-established law.

In this world, for every foot the Dao rises, the Demon rises ten, if you have towering city walls, I have a cloud ladder to reach the sky, and there is always a way to overcome and respond.

Wu Mazi smiled calmly,
moved his aura away from the Prince of Jingnan,
and instead began to face the Jingnan army cavalry who were ready to go.

He didn't expect to fight the Prince of Jingnan one-on-one,
earlier, Lord Yin's requirements were a bit trivial, but they were nothing more than a small favor for the Prince of Jingnan to do;
and Wu Mazi,
did not think that using cavalry to wear him down was any dishonorable means.

To put it bluntly,
it is their army pressing down on your capital, at the gate of your imperial city, the initiative naturally falls into their hands.

That's the situation,
so don't be coy and shout for fairness,
otherwise, their previous efforts in attacking cities and conquering territories would be meaningless?

The Jingnan army knights were ready, and their respective captains had come to the front of their formations, the hooves of the warhorses pawing at the bluestone steps on the ground.

Wu Mazi untied his apron, with no fancy attire;
as a shadow, there is no need for too many formal burdens.

Born in the shadow, growing up in the shadow, dying, also dying in the shadow;
so,
Wu Mazi is very grateful, Wu Mazi's master is also very grateful, and no one knows which previous shadow came up with the idea of selling wontons in the imperial city alley;
at least,
it allows them to breathe in the sunlight,
with the aroma of wontons,
making food for a large group of officials going to court early in the morning,
like feeding chickens.

However,
the Prince of Jingnan took a step forward, cutting off the aura.

Wu Mazi was a little surprised and delighted,
"Is Your Highness willing to exchange blows with me?"

Tian Wujing's aura, locked onto Wu Mazi, had made his attitude clear.

"Your Highness is truly a loving leader."

The Jingnan army knights did not clamor for battle,
because the Prince of Jingnan's military discipline was strict, and his will was the iron law in the Jingnan army.

Most importantly,
the Jingnan army soldiers revered their prince as a god, and they firmly believed that their prince was invincible.

Tian Wujing shook his head,
and said:
"It's just not necessary."

This is a supreme confidence.

Wu Mazi kindly reminded him;
"Does Your Highness know that there are things waiting for you inside this palace gate?"

"This Prince knows."

This is obvious.

"Your Highness should think carefully."

Wu Mazi was reminding him, reminding the Prince of Jingnan, that there is a main course inside the palace gate, does he really want to be consumed here by himself?

Yes,
Wu Mazi had no determination to defeat the Prince of Jingnan,
because the Prince of Jingnan was someone who had defeated the Sword Saint.

As a martial artist, he naturally knew what it meant to defeat the Sword Saint of Jin with a martial artist's physique.

Moreover,
there are thousands of Jingnan army iron cavalry here, the Prince of Jingnan himself is in an invincible position.

But if Wu Mazi had to choose,
he would of course hope to exchange blows with the Prince of Jingnan,
not seeking to win and kill, which is unrealistic, but to be able to injure him, to consume him, for Wu Mazi, for the capital of Ying at this time, for Great Chu, it would be an absolutely worthwhile deal.

Most importantly,
a lifetime of being a shadow,
to be able to fight the Prince of Jingnan openly in the end,
the aroma of wontons he had smelled in the first half of his life would be worth it.

"Hiding and waiting for the opportunity does not suit this Prince's intentions, a general should become braver in battle."

Wu Mazi nodded,
and said:
"This one understands."

He wants to use himself as a whetstone to bring out his state in advance.

In the martial world, there are indeed cultivation methods that make one braver in battle, with martial artists being the most prominent, a martial artist's qi and blood will be consumed, but that kind of berserk fighting state can indeed invisibly raise the state of the physique and qi and blood to an extreme.

Wu Mazi spread out his right hand,
"Buzz!"
From the stove under the wonton stall, a dark broken knife fell into his hand.

"This knife, Wuya, was seized after the Chu Marquis beheaded a chieftain of the Shan Yue tribe, and I don't know how many generations it has been passed down in our shadow lineage. This knife becomes hot when heated, putting it in the stove is just right."

Tian Wujing raised his Kunwu,
without speaking.

Wu Mazi held up the broken knife,
kicked off the ground with one leg, and his whole person pounced towards Tian Wujing like an arrow leaving the bow.

When martial artists exchange blows, there is not much fancy stuff, at least, in the early stages.

Wuya slashed down,
Kunwu intercepted,
when the two knives collided, the surrounding bluestone bricks directly exploded and flew up.

Immediately afterwards,
Wu Mazi kept waving Wuya, slashing down one knife after another, Tian Wujing used Kunwu to block each knife.

The sword and saber energy of both sides was confined to an area, constantly colliding and dissolving.

The scene was indeed not exciting enough, but often this "unexciting" is the really exciting thing, on the contrary, those sword and saber energies flying and smashing everywhere, seem very lively, but in fact it is because both sides of the battle simply have no way to subtly control every force.

Wu Mazi's speed became faster and faster, slashing down with each knife, each knife accumulating the momentum of the previous knife, equivalent to layering them on top of each other.

This not only brings pressure to the opponent, but at the same time, he himself is also bearing the corresponding pressure, but, this is the physique of a martial artist, he can withstand it!

In comparison,
Tian Wujing's return blade has been maintaining the same rhythm, neither fast nor slow.

"Roar!"
Wu Mazi let out a low roar;
the blade accumulates momentum, and strikes in one blow!

Tian Wujing took a step back, then, Kunwu swept across.

"Bang!"

Wu Mazi flew out, landed, and his chest rose and fell.

Tian Wujing's leg that stepped back, his boot sank into the ground, and then slowly pulled it out, standing up straight again.

"Happy, satisfying!"
Wu Mazi laughed loudly.

Tian Wujing still had a calm expression.

The sound of bones cracking began to appear in Wu Mazi's body. After the previous round of confrontation, it was difficult to say who really had the advantage, but Wu Mazi had a feeling that he was the one who suffered.

It wasn't referring to damage, but his offensive seemed very fierce, but it was all guided down by Tian Wujing with the force of the ground.

Everyone's qi and blood naturally has a high and low, but when they reach this level, even the lowest is already a massive amount in the eyes of ordinary martial arts practitioners.

But even so, if his output was ten, then Tian Wujing would use five, definitely no more than six, to resolve his offensive.

It's satisfying,
but you can clearly perceive a kind of discomfort,
it's like you're spending money extravagantly and enjoying this unrestrainedness, but someone who is about the same wealthy as you is living frugally.

You can clearly see an ending, when you are penniless and holding a broken bowl ready to go out begging, the other party may not continue to eat delicacies, but at least they can eat meat with every meal.

He,
is calculating!

It's a pity that Zheng Boye is not here, so the Sword Saint who has been protecting Zheng Boye would naturally not be here.

Otherwise,
if the Sword Saint saw this scene, he would definitely laugh heartily.

A third-rank peak martial artist is able to enter their circle, so it is worth a smile.

Because, the Sword Saint was defeated by Tian Wujing's "calculation" back then.

When experts clash,
what is emphasized is that kind of magnificent spirit, the martial artist's physique sweeps across the wilderness, sword energy traverses the sky with one sword, and the world changes color under the magic.

This is the posture of a strong man!

But when Tian Wujing makes a move, it's like leading an army to fight, he is good at dissecting everything and calculating it, every bit of force, every bit of injury, he can calculate it very accurately.

In the small forest outside the capital of Jin,
the Sword Saint was weakening Tian Wujing's physique, and Tian Wujing was calculating how much damage he would use to exchange for the Sword Saint's sword energy, and finally, when the opportunity came, he turned the tables in one move.

Wu Mazi changed the way he held the knife,
in fact,
when two people exchange blows,
not considering external interference, some things are constant.

For example, right now,
the growth of a shadow is definitely not smooth sailing, the previous generation of shadows accepting disciples and training them would definitely not train a strong person like "Prince Fu" who is good-looking but useless.

But under the premise that the strength of both sides is not much different, at least on the surface, Wu Mazi clearly recognizes that he is not the Prince of Jingnan's opponent in terms of fighting experience and methods.

The Prince of Jingnan wants to enter the palace,
he cannot let the Prince of Jingnan enter the palace,
he cannot escape, cannot dodge, cannot avoid,
in this way, he can only exhaust himself here in the most stupid way.

Wu Mazi smiled,
he planned to change his approach,
that is, to exchange injuries.

In the end, the probability is that he will lose.

But this can give the Prince of Jingnan the greatest damage, in comparison, it is a worthwhile deal.

It's you who don't let your soldiers drown me,
then don't blame me.

Wuya trembled,
Wu Mazi's whole person attacked again,
this time,
he was completely fearless.

Tian Wujing retreated,
after Kunwu and Wuya collided more than ten times in an instant, because of Tian Wujing's retreat, the distance between the two sides was widened again.

Wu Mazi landed and licked his lips.

The Jingnan army knights began to clamp their legs around the horses' bodies, ready to charge over at any time.

"Your Highness, why don't you let this one experience the sharpness of the Great Yan iron cavalry?"

Tian Wujing didn't speak,
the next moment,
Tian Wujing took the initiative to rush towards Wu Mazi.

Wu Mazi's eyes showed an excited light, and the blade crossed and cut over.

"Boom!"

This collision between the two sides clearly carried a kind of all-out momentum. It was obviously the collision of the human knife and the knife-human and the human, but it was several times more powerful than the collision of the catapult's boulders in the air!

Kunwu and Wuya, once again stuck together, the masters of both sides were also very close.

The qi and blood between each other,
using the body, using the physique, using the blade, were frantically competing and comparing.

"Why did Your Highness retreat earlier?"

"Not cost-effective."

Tian Wujing's answer was very simple.

You want to exchange injuries with me,
but I just want to consume your qi and blood.

Defeating you is certain, so why not choose the one that costs less?

"Your Highness is really frank."

The two can still talk while fighting.

But this does not prevent the extremely fierce and anxious state of confrontation between the two sides now. Just looking at the ground under the two people's feet, which has been scraped off by the rotating qi and blood, one layer after another, you can feel the terror in this area.

Even if a person in full armor approached at this time, he would probably be crushed in an instant.

"Your Highness, this is my last battle, are we just going to fight like this?"

"Just like this."

"But fighting like this is not enjoyable, Your Highness!"

You and I are both dignified third-rank peak martial artists,
this battle,
is destined to be passed down by later generations,
not to say that it should be fought in a fancy way,
but at least,
it should also create a scene of flying sand and rocks.

But unexpectedly, it has become the most stupid image of a martial artist.

Wu Mazi really regretted it a bit, it would have been better to let himself kill to his heart's content in the Jingnan army's charge, and die happily.

At this time,
Wu Mazi noticed that the Prince of Jingnan had increased his strength again, and he immediately raised his qi and blood and carried it back with equal strength.

Between Kunwu and Wuya, it was as if silver snakes were colliding, and the ear-piercing explosion sound directly killed many caged birds in nearby bird-raising families.

Suddenly,
Wu Mazi first sheathed his knife, the knife sheathed, the man advanced, clenched his left fist, and smashed it down!

Tian Wujing retreated with his knife, dodging Wu Mazi's fist, but Kunwu still slashed down at Wu Mazi.

Under compulsion, Wu Mazi had to block it with Wuya again, and that punch could only be half-delivered.

Immediately afterwards,
Tian Wujing followed up again, and the two sides once again fell into the familiar state of blade-qi and blood confrontation.

Wu Mazi sheathed his knife again, and a leg swept out.

Tian Wujing still retreated with his knife, you can kick me, I will take half of your leg's power, but you can try, whether my Kunwu can directly kill you!

Wu Mazi wanted to exchange injuries, but exchanging injuries like this was simply a huge loss.

So, the second attempt to break away from contact failed again.

Both sides are true strongmen, and both sides are martial artists;
In fact, when they reach this level, it no longer makes sense to talk about moves, nor does it make sense to talk about cultivation techniques.

No matter how mysterious the cultivation technique is, it is just a matter of a punch, a kick, and a knife.

Those heavenly, earthly, and mysterious level cultivation techniques are all for Jianghu swindlers to fool young people who are new to the Jianghu and have some pocket money.

Even Zheng Boye, who has always had a deep foundation because of the Demon King, has never looked for any real "heavenly level" cultivation techniques in the hope of successfully challenging beyond his level.

Because Zheng Boye also understands that whether it is fighting in a military formation or one-on-one, if there is an absolute gap in strength, you don't need any extra movements at all, you can directly kill them in seconds, just like the Sword Saint did to those people who said "I didn't expect the dignified Sword Saint of Jin..."

When the gap in strength is not large, what is being compared is fighting experience and control over qi and blood, how much strength is in your punch, how much strength is in my kick, how many punches can you take from me, how many kicks can I endure from you.

Therefore, with the Demon King present and the Sword Saint living next door, Zheng Boye's daily practice is still the same: repeating the practice of the knife, tempering his muscles and bones, practicing archery with A Ming, and feeding moves with Liang Cheng.

Martial arts is a kind of steadfastness.

Wu Mazi knows this truth, but what he can't stand is Tian Wujing's excessive steadfastness!

So steadfast,
it's a bit bullying!

"Your Highness, if future Jianghu fights are all calculated like we are, what kind of excitement is there in this Jianghu?"

"You, are you considered a Jianghu person?"

Wu Mazi smiled and said: "Right, I'm not."

Immediately afterwards,
Wu Mazi made a third attempt to sheath his knife and pull away, the knife was sheathed, and the fist came out.

Tian Wujing was the same, the man retreated, and the knife advanced.

The two sides collided again without any new ideas.

But Wu Mazi turned his knife at this time, wanting to pull the distance again in a short time.

It's just that this time, he threw his fist first, and then sheathed the knife, which was the opposite of before.

Tian Wujing held the knife in his right hand, the blade against it, and at the same time, he clenched his left fist and slammed it against the opponent's fist.

But Wu Mazi laughed loudly at this time:
"Let Your Highness know, why my wontons are not as delicious as my master's, I have a fist that can open the second rank!"

The third rank peak is a threshold.

Above the threshold are the first and second ranks that are unseen in the Jianghu but have already been divided.

Those so-called strongmen like Seventh Uncle, who cultivate one sword for a lifetime, can forcibly open a second-rank sword with the cultivation of a seventh-rank swordsman.

Those third-rank peak strongmen can naturally more easily look at that legendary second-rank realm.

This is Wu Mazi,
preparing a killer move!

He knows what Tian Wujing wants to do,
He also knows that Tian Wujing knows what he wants to do,
There are actually no secrets between the two sides.

Unless,
at a certain moment, I can have the power to break this balance!

He didn't even dare to throw this punch in advance, he was worried that it would still fail to achieve the effect after this punch, so the previous few forced detachments were just to make a foreshadowing, to foreshadow this punch!

Tian Wujing's fist failed to stop this extremely fast punch. In an instant, Wu Mazi's fist directly smashed towards Tian Wujing's head.

"Your Highness, did you, calculate this punch!"

Tian Wujing did not answer,
but in an instant,
his body suddenly moved forward a foot.

This strange scene made Wu Mazi's eyes widen in an instant, this is the aura of the second rank!

Because of this forced shift in distance, Wu Mazi's punch can be said to have grazed Tian Wujing's face, but the Kunwu held by Tian Wujing, because its master moved forward, also suddenly shortened the distance with Wu Mazi.

The blade,
flashed.

"Puff!"

Everything,
seemed to freeze at this time.

Even the previous manic and terrifying qi and blood strangulation fell into silence.

The autumn wind blew,
blowing up the layers of thick bluestone ash on the ground, spinning in the air in small circles.

A bitter smile appeared on Wu Mazi's face,
and said:
"I should have thought of it a long time ago, my fist can enter the second rank, your knife should also be able to."

Tian Wujing opened his mouth and said:
"No, I can enter the second rank as a whole person."

"........." Wu Mazi.

He thought he had calculated everything, but in the end, it all fell into the other party's calculations.

This feeling is very much like fighting against the sky, no matter how you fight, you can't escape his palm.

So,
this taste,
is very bitter.

Wu Mazi now understands that Tian Wujing didn't want to exchange injuries with him, it was true, but he didn't even want to compete with each other to consume qi and blood.

He was just waiting for himself to make a move, and then he would dismantle the move.

Wu Mazi knew how much it cost to open the second rank, so this prince didn't even want to open the second rank for a moment longer.

He wanted to end the duel between two third-rank peak martial artists in an extremely straightforward way, in a way that he thought was the most cost-effective.

"How can there be people like Your Highness in this world..."

A person,
martial arts, can suppress the Jianghu;
military achievements, can suppress all countries;

Wu Mazi smiled miserably:
"So...you deserve to be envied by the heavens."

"Plop!"

Wu Mazi's head shook,
detached from the body,
and rolled to the ground.

Tian Wujing sheathed his knife,
bent over,
and picked up Wuya.

The single-handed treasured knife of the Shadow lineage of Great Chu...Wuya.

Able to exchange hundreds of blows with his Kunwu without any damage, it can be called an equal divine weapon.

Tian Wujing looked at this broken knife,
and suddenly "coughed" once,
then,
slowly said:
"Better than that barbarian knife."

——————
Thank you to classmate Xi Yang丿灬 and classmate 灬Xiao Yan灬 for becoming the 150th and 151st alliance leaders of *The Descent of Magic*!