Chapter 83: Crippled Arm

Sword Dynasty

Volume 1: Great Rebel

Chapter 83: Crippled Arm

Zhang Yi, who had not yet fought, anxiously watched the battle between Ding Ning and Su Qin. When he saw Su Qin channel all the vital energy in his body, his expression changed drastically.

His feet shifted slightly as he prepared to float towards them.

However, at this moment, Mo Chen, who had not moved all this time, took a deep breath and channeled the physical energy in his arm into the Snow Dandelion Sword.

Transparent patterns appeared in the air between him and Zhang Yi.

In the next moment, the Snow Dandelion Sword in his hand seemed to ignite into a perfect flame, emitting a divine light. His body seemed to be lifted by the sword's power. He flew straight and stabbed towards Zhang Yi.

Zhang Yi had a gentle personality, and his sword was extraordinarily soft like green jade, both extremely warm and extremely moist. But at this moment, when he sensed the killing intent in Mo Chen's sword strike, he was no longer as gentle as usual.

He let out a loud shout. Countless white sword energies suddenly emerged from the warm, jade-like body of the sword. The sword energy gathered at an incredible speed at the tip, which immediately transformed into a small white mountain. He swung his sword with all his might, utilizing the small mountain at the tip of his sword to slam it towards Mo Chen.

This was the White Goat Carrying the Mountain technique.

A technique from the White Goat Sword Manual, the most difficult to master, but also one of the most powerful sword forms.

A loud explosion rang out.

Mo Chen felt as if he had been struck by a real mountain. Strands of pure vital energy even invaded his energy sea along with the vibrations of the sword blade.

Blood flowed from his mouth. He immediately retreated a dozen steps.

Zhang Yi turned around, but showed no joy on his face.

Because at that moment, Su Qin had already struck with his sword.

As his wrist continued to move with great care, the purple longsword began to curve strangely, forming a hollow Twisting Dragon. The hollow part of the Twisting Dragon, like a scabbard, accurately captured Ding Ning's sword presence and swallowed Ding Ning’s remnant sword and almost half of his arm.

When Su Qin struck with his sword, Li Daoji, on the observation platform, subconsciously took a step forward, his hand falling to the hilt of the sword resting against his chest.

Almost all the disciples on the observation platform felt a strong chill surge through their hearts.

“Bastard!”

Di Qingmei's expression also changed drastically. In his rage, he nearly lost control of the green energy surging from his sleeve.

Initially he had no good intentions towards Ding Ning. However, Xue Wangxu's words not only made him delve deeper into his cultivation but also made him reflect on his own path. His perspective towards Ding Ning, Zhang Yi and the other disciples of the White Goat Cave underwent a fundamental change.

At that moment, Su Qin's sword move was extremely vicious. The blade curved, and every edge possessed immense destructive power. Now, his sword had already covered half of Ding Ning's arm. He wasn't just trying to pry Ding Ning's sword from his hand; if this blow had hit its target, the meridians and bones of half of Ding Ning's arm would have been completely shattered.

Su Qin had used all his vital energy to launch this attack. In terms of speed and power, Ding Ning could not compare. The sword presence was like a cage, enclosing Ding Ning's sword and half of his arm… even he could not think of a way to break this move.

“That Su Qin is so evil and cruel. This doesn't seem like a fight between fellow sect disciples!”

As Su Qin's sword move formed, Xie Changsheng began cursing angrily.

Xie Rou's body continued to tremble as a chill ran through her entire body. She was a woman who had always been stronger than most men, but at this moment, she felt a strong sense of powerlessness welling up in her heart.

A disdainful and mocking smile appeared at the corner of Gu Xichun's mouth. He could already see Ding Ning's arm bleeding, its bones and flesh scattered. In his opinion, Ding Ning had brought this on himself.

Su Qin's intentions were clear to everyone, yet no one could stop Su Qin's sword in time.

The spinning sword that covered Ding Ning’s remnant sword and half of his arm began to tighten rapidly, like a willow leaf rapidly losing its water and curling up. This curvature imparted a distinct rhythm to the various parts of the sword blade—as if numerous swords at varying speeds were attacking Ding Ning's arm, leaving him with no room to move in the confined space.

As a result, in this confined space, Ding Ning was unable to move his arm, making it impossible to use any subtle sword moves.

Even the peak level strength of Energy Refinement cultivation would not be enough to withstand the strength of Su Qin's Vital Energy Realm cultivation at that moment.

It seemed as if no one could change the outcome: Ding Ning would lose his sword and even his arm.

However, at that moment, there seemed to be something strange looming in the cold air.

As Su Qin stared indifferently at Ding Ning, he suddenly felt a strong sense of anxiety rise in his heart.

Because he saw that Ding Ning's expression remained perfectly calm and appeared extremely relaxed.

His hand gripped the hilt of his sword even tighter, his joints turning white from the exertion.

 

In truth, Ding Ning was even more relaxed than Su Qin had imagined.

Because what others saw as this dangerous and unbreakable sword attack, to Ding Ning it was nothing. Compared to the truly refined sword moves of the world, Su Qin's current sword strike was like child's play.

Of course, with his true cultivation, he had only one way to deal with Su Qin's sword strike.

But as long as there was still one way, it was enough!

As Su Qin's sword rapidly tightened like a dried willow leaf, he channeled his physical energy into the seal inscriptions on the Last Flower Sword in his hand. At the same time, they flooded into the tiny cracks that stretched along the blade.

Numerous tiny white flowers flew forward from his inky green sword in his hand with a kind of unwavering, tragic beauty. Then they disappeared.

The blade of the inky green sword actually split open and spread.

The sword opened like a giant flower and transformed into countless sword threads that rapidly expanded and extended in the air.

Everyone on the observation platform stopped breathing.

Everyone, including Di Qingmei, was shocked, and some even seemed to lose their souls. They wondered how such a thing could happen.

Ding Ning's arm remained straight and did not move within the tightening purple sword. But the sword threads had already landed on Su Qin's fingers and palm, on Su Qin's wrist, and on Su Qin's arm.

Almost the entirety of Su Qin's purple sword was now only a fraction of a second away from Ding Ning's arm, but Ding Ning's expression remained calm, without the slightest change in his breathing.

He simply maintained his physical energy output and allowed the sword threads to randomly stab into Su Qin's flesh, cutting through his muscles before finally penetrating all the way to his bone.

At this moment, countless tiny, bloody flowers bloomed on Su Qin's sword-wielding hand!

His once-haughty expression had turned pale and twisted. He let out a ferocious howl and flew backwards like a large injured bird. The purple longsword was only a thread away from cutting off Ding Ning's arm, but because all his muscles had been severed, and even his bones were punctured full of holes, he was no longer able to muster any strength.

A loud crash was heard!

The curved purple sword spun uncontrollably in the air and collided with the numerous sword threads, creating tiny sparks.

To the surprise of everyone on the observation platform, the edges of this Perilla sword slashed through the seemingly thin sword threads but was unable to sever a single one.

After the sword threads dispersed and softened for a moment, they quickly became hard and straight again. They quickly gathered together, reforming into an inky green remnant sword.

Su Qin retreated with a scream. His rapid retreat caused the sword threads to scrape off even more flesh and bone fragments from his arm. His left hand was twisted, seemingly boneless. As he screamed, he shouted the question on many people's minds.

“What sword is this?”

Ding Ning's gaze was fixed on the inky green remnant sword in his hand. He remained silent and did not answer Su Qin's question. At this moment, he was not even thinking about Su Qin's hand. Because at this moment, his mind had already wandered to the many stories about this sword and its owner.

From the silent observation platform, Duanmu Lian's gaze fell on the inky green remnant sword. The image of the sword stretching out was still fresh in his memory. Eventually, the image of this sword overlapped with a famous sword from a time long gone.

“Only care about what is in front and not behind. Every strike as if it were the last. This is the Last Flower Sword. This is Yan Xinlan's Last Flower Sword of Ba Mountain!” he exclaimed in disbelief.

Some of the disciples on the observation platform had never heard of the sword, while others had. But because they had not experienced the era before Emperor Yuanwu ascended the throne and the era when many of the Qin Dynasty's most impressive cultivators disappeared, they were not impressed by the story of this sword.

However, the same could not be said for Di Qingmei and the many masters of the Green Vine Sword School.

This sword was a legend in itself. It represented the determination to break rather than bend… an attitude that was unreasonable in the eyes of many people.

They never imagined that Ding Ning's broken, inconspicuous sword was a remnant of that extraordinary sword and still possessed such power.

“Was Li Daoji able to see that Ding Ning already had such a profound understanding of the Wildfire Sword Manual back then?”

“Ding Ning had only just begun studying the Wildfire Sword Manual… had Ding Ning already understood the true meaning of the Wildfire Sword Manual back then?”

As he thought, shock spread across Di Qingmei's eyes.

As one of the rare, powerful cultivators in Changling, he clearly knew that the true meaning of the Wildfire Sword Manual was not that wildfire burns the plains, but that wildfire cannot burn completely; with the spring breeze blowing, the grass will grow again. Even after all the sword moves were exhausted, there would always be light at the end of the tunnel.

Ding Ning’s strike just now had relied on the abilities of the Last Flower Sword, but the sword essence of the Wildfire Sword Manual contained within it was enough to instill shock in every swordmaster.

Now he understood why Li Daoji, who had not left the White Goat Cave for a long time, would leave and search for this remnant sword for Ding Ning, even at the risk of a battle.

“This sword could spread like that…”

“You've been so confident all this time because you were hiding something like this?”

Pain and terror finally overwhelmed Su Qin's mind. He looked down at his bloodied, crippled left hand, beyond saving. He laughed heartily. “You crippled my hand!”

“You wanted to cripple my hand, so I crippled yours in return.” In response to his hysterical laughter, Ding Ning looked up and said gently, indifferently, and dismissively. “This was your choice.”

 

Notes:

This novel is not my work... I just translated it from a Chinese web novel written by Wu Zui

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