Volume One: The Novice Returns to Secular Life Chapter Thirty-Eight: Phoenix Dancing in the Sky
“Damn… that stinks… What the hell is Xiao Yan doing?”
“Who knows? I’ve heard Xiao Yan is a total lunatic… Best to stay away from him…”
“But wait… look at that… what is that?”
…
The next second, everyone’s eyes widened in shock.
They watched as Xiao Yan thrust his excrement-scooping stick deep into the dung bucket, then spoke slowly, “Lin Dong, do you still remember the name of that ultimate move I once told you about?”
Lin Dong frowned, thinking back. The conversation from before resurfaced in his mind.
…
Back then, Xiao Yan had wielded a ladle in a wild, chaotic dance…
“Master…”
“What is it?”
“The… the dung… it’s all flying onto me…”
“Oh, just a little.”
“…”
“Don’t sweat the small stuff. Anyway, I’ve got a self-created move—it’s called Phoenix Soaring in the Heavens! Want to see it?”
“No!”
“It’s really amazing!”
“No!”
…
Snapping back to the present, Lin Dong nodded. “Phoenix Soaring in the Heavens?”
“Mm.” Xiao Yan nodded as well, then raised his excrement scoop and pointed it at Chen Budiao, continuing, “I’ll only use it once. When you practice, remember—don’t let a single drop fall, or I’ll beat you to death.”
“Oh…” Lin Dong nodded.
…
“Holy crap, look—Xiao Yan poked that lump of dung and it’s on fire!”
“Damn… this is terrifying… What is he trying to do?”
“Holy—”
Everyone present was dumbfounded, as if their brains had stopped working.
…
Across from them, Chen Budiao stared at his own burning sword, then at the flaming dung opposite him.
He was utterly bewildered, half convinced he was still dreaming…
He’d never seen a duel like this before—in the martial world, weren’t battles always fierce and elegant, swords flashing and bodies flying?
How did it become a fight with dung? On fire, no less?
…
“Excrement-Scooping Sword Technique: Phoenix Soaring in the Heavens, Lin Dong, watch closely!” Xiao Yan turned his head to look at Lin Dong and spoke slowly.
“Hmph… Is he really getting into it? Does he think this is some circus trick…” Chen Budiao snorted coldly and lunged forward with his sword.
The long blade danced through the air, distorting the very space around it, making the onlookers gasp in awe.
Chen Budiao’s eyes were icy and devoid of emotion as he stared at Xiao Yan.
---
In his eyes, Xiao Yan was just a weakling with only five levels of inner strength, yet somehow his bizarre martial arts made him a match for someone at level fifteen…
But to Chen Budiao, killing someone at level fifteen was as trivial as squashing an ant.
Xiao Yan’s martial arts were strange, but it was a pity—Xiao Yan was about to die. Otherwise, he’d force the technique out of him.
Thinking of this, Chen Budiao shook his head and sighed. He was being too serious—why bother going all out against a weakling?
Just walk up, ask where he learned his skills, then kill him with a single stroke—wouldn’t that be much easier?
…
But once a sword move is released, there’s no taking it back.
Flames surged forth, the sword technique barreling straight at Xiao Yan.
The sword energy was overwhelming—even those watching felt as if their skin was being scorched.
Chen Budiao was very satisfied with the power of this move. He was certain that even a master with twenty layers of inner strength would be reduced to ash.
But the next moment, as he took a clear look at Xiao Yan, he froze.
The other was mirroring his moves exactly?
Same inner strength, same footwork…
Except the long sword was replaced by a strange stick-like object, with a strip of dung on top…
How was that possible?
“Hmph, so you really did steal the ‘Chen Clan Sword Technique’?” Chen Budiao snorted and sped up, intent on obliterating Xiao Yan.
“Heh… mine’s far better than yours…” Xiao Yan shook his head, smiling in response.
“Wait… isn’t that the Chen Clan Sword Technique: Burning Life?”
Though Xiao Yan denied it, Chen Buqun on the sidelines compared Xiao Yan’s movements to Chen Budiao’s, certain it was the ‘Burning Life’ move from their family’s sword art…
This was unbelievable…
That sword move—even a genius like him, practicing thousands of times a day, still couldn’t master it.
Yet now, Xiao Yan used it with ease?
How could anyone accept that?
“Heh… truly a genius… What a pity… his inner strength is just too weak…” Even Chen Budiao had to admire Xiao Yan’s talent. He himself had only mastered this move at twenty-nine, after a month of seclusion and harsh training under his father’s guidance.
Chen Budiao’s sword was already before Xiao Yan, exuding the oppressive aura of twenty layers of inner strength.
Xiao Yan’s own weak aura began to show…
One layer…
Two layers…
Five layers…
“Master…” Lin Dong watched the two auras. He could clearly feel that Xiao Yan’s inner strength was far too lacking.
“Heh… you should feel honored to die by my sword.”
“Die!” Chen Budiao narrowed his eyes, focusing on Xiao Yan, the corners of his mouth curling into a smile.
He relished the thrill before a kill—a sense of complete dominance over life and death.
At that instant, as his sword tip was about to pierce Xiao Yan, a sudden premonition of danger struck him…
---
“No!”
Suddenly, his eyes widened, Xiao Yan’s image reflected in his pupils.
In that moment, Xiao Yan’s form shifted, becoming strangely agile…
Was his inner strength changing?
Six layers?
Seven layers?
“So, he was hiding his strength all along?” Chen Budiao frowned, then smirked. “But with power like that, it makes no real difference…”
Yet Elder Huiming’s eyes were wide with disbelief. He knew that just a dozen days ago, Xiao Yan had only five layers of inner strength—this rate of improvement was absurd…
Most crucially—the Eighteen Arhats Formation!
The two-layer boost Chen Budiao thought trivial could actually multiply power eighteenfold through the array…
The increase in strength was unimaginable…
Of course, inner strength levels aren’t simple arithmetic, but Elder Huiming made a quick estimate based on his experience—and scared himself.
If Xiao Yan had seven layers, combined with the Eighteen Arhats Formation, he could easily unleash power equivalent to twenty layers…
This…
Realizing this, Elder Huiming was thoroughly stunned.
…
Meanwhile, Chen Budiao wanted to rub his eyes, because Xiao Yan seemed to have split into eighteen identical figures.
“This is a formation!” Chen Budiao suddenly shouted in realization.
Clang!
His long sword was parried, the hilt vibrating with a loud, relentless hum.
Chen Budiao thought his vision was failing—so many weapons flashed before him: towers, sticks, forks…
Clearly, his opponent had only an excrement scoop, so why did it feel like an array of eighteen weapons?
How could he possibly fall here?
Chen Budiao roared inwardly, his flaming sword blocking Xiao Yan’s relentless storm of attacks.
But!
He’d overlooked a crucial detail: Xiao Yan’s weapon wasn’t just the excrement scoop—it was also the dung!
With every clash, the nameless, foul substance splattered like a swarm of locusts, clinging to Chen Budiao—it was a sight too ghastly to behold.
Intolerable!
Chen Budiao’s fury reached its peak, his inner energy surging to the twenty-fifth level!
The ultimate essence of the Chen Clan Sword Technique!
The Ashen Sword!
A devastating move that instantly boosts the wielder’s inner strength by a quarter—some even call it the Sword of Despair, burning away one’s very life to unleash it.
The burning blade turned black, carrying an unstoppable force straight for Xiao Yan’s vital point.
There was no way to dodge this supreme killing move!
Die, weakling!