Chapter 268: A Competition

"Su He, if you can defeat me, I will use the Hexi Qin family as a guarantee and let you take away... one person. How about it?" Qin Tianjiu looked at Su He provocatively, with a fighting spirit in his eyes.

As soon as these words were spoken, the whole audience was in an uproar, but no one said anything.

Qin Tianjiu's martial arts were well known. If someone stood up to refute him at this time, it would mean that they did not believe in the strength of the Hexi Qin family, which would undoubtedly be a self-defeating performance. Moreover, under such circumstances, how could the Han people boost others' ambitions and destroy their own prestige?

"Su wants to take them all away..."

"By letting you take one away, I am showing you respect. If you push your luck, you will end up with nothing." Qin Tianjiu shook his head and sneered, "Besides, you may not win!"

Su He looked hesitant, with a hint of consideration in his eyes. He first looked at Long Yu, Hu Zhen and others, and then looked at Liu Xunyi, who had a complicated expression. After hesitating for a long time, he slowly nodded and said, "In this case, Su can only ask the senior for a few tricks beyond his ability!"

"it is good!"

Qin Tianjiu agreed, put the dagger back into the sheath, and waved his hand to disperse the others, leaving only the two of them on the scene.

"Brother Su...be careful!"

Liu Xunyi knew that he should not cheer for Su He, but Su He had saved his life after all. If Liu Xunyi were to watch Su He die and remain indifferent, he would never do such a cruel thing.

"Thank you!"

Su He smiled calmly, then turned his gaze firmly on Qin Tianjiu. The smile on his face gradually faded, replaced by a cautious look as if facing a formidable enemy.

Although they had not fought, Su He had already smelled a hint of danger from Qin Tianjiu's aura.

Seeing Qin Tianjiu sheathing his sword, Su He's eyes could not help but flash with a sharp light. He knew that Qin Tianjiu wanted to compete with him in "speed" by starting with drawing the sword out of the sheath.

In a contest between such masters, if one is just a little bit faster, the result will be separation of yin and yang, life and death.

With this in mind, Su He slowly put his Blood Shadow Sword back into the sheath in public, then held the sword with both hands and bowed slightly to Qin Tianjiu to show his respect.

Seeing this, everyone couldn't help but look up to Su He even more.

In the field, Su He and Qin Tianjiu stood opposite each other, only ten steps away from each other. They looked at each other silently, like two sculptures, motionless and without saying a word.

Su He held the scabbard tightly with his left hand and pressed lightly on the handle with his right hand, ready to draw the knife at any time.

Qin Tianjiu tightly grasped the hilt of the knife with his right hand and inserted the dagger upside down under his armpit. His left hand hung casually at his side like a withered willow, and his fingers tapped his thigh lightly.

The entire martial arts arena was solemn and silent as death.

Everyone held their breath, staring at the two men with nervous and expectant eyes. Although they were extremely anxious, they had no choice but to be patient and wait for the upcoming battle.

One is the "lame swordsman" Qin Tianjiu, who is well-known in the world for his "fast sword" for decades.

One is Su He, the "fastest swordsman" who swept across Mobei. Needless to say, his swordsmanship is very proficient. The fact that he was able to single-handedly pacify the Huma Gang and capture 24 cities in Mobei in a row is enough to explain everything.

Both of them are considered the best swordsmen in the world, and their fight almost represents the ownership of "the fastest sword in the world".

At this moment, the sky was overcast and dark as night.

The thick dark clouds seemed unable to hold back the dew and mist any longer, and with a rumbling burst of thunder, heavy rain roared down, and the thunder and rainstorm that was ready to break out "crackled" and fell on the martial arts field.

The rain was falling heavily, and a thin mist was lingering between the sky and the earth.

The rain was pouring down, the wind was raging, it was like the sky was falling, the earth was collapsing, and the rivers were flowing. The heavy rain was like a curtain, blocking everyone's vision in an instant.

Su He and Qin Tianjiu, standing in the center of the rainstorm, remained as solid as a rock, standing still.

"Crack!"

A deafening thunderclap rose from the ground, and torrential rain rushed down, even more violently.

"bass!"

At the moment when the thunder roared, Su He and Qin Tianjiu drew their swords almost at the same time.

In the dense rainstorm, two dazzling silver lights flashed in the air almost at the same time. Looking at Su He and Qin Tianjiu again, they had disappeared strangely without knowing when.

The next moment, there was a sudden burst of fighting sounds in the air that were more intense than the rainstorm. When everyone looked hurriedly in the direction of the sound, they saw only two gradually dissipating afterimages in the storm.

As for Su He and Qin Tianjiu, they had already launched a new round of attack dozens of meters away.

The heavy rain came down, and the strong wind rolled in.

In the heavy rain, two figures flashed and moved, appearing and disappearing, fighting hard and passionately.

"What a quick knife!"

Luo Tianjin stared at the two people fighting, sighing in disbelief.

"Master, who is faster, Qin Tianjiu or Su He?" Deng Changchuan asked curiously.

"Who do you think is faster?" Luo Tianjin asked instead of answering.

"Just as fast!" Deng Changchuan said with a wry smile, "I saw Qin Tianjiu draw his sword first, and when I turned my gaze to look at Su He, he had already approached."

Hearing this, Luo Tianjin smiled slightly, as if mumbling to himself, and nodded, saying: "Almost as fast..."

After that, under Deng Changchuan's suspicious gaze, Luo Tianjin said no more, but turned his attention back to this rare battle.

Abaolu frowned and watched the battle closely with complicated eyes. He whispered to Xunzhen, "Are there really two people in the world who are equally fast with their swords?" Xunzhen smiled mysteriously and shook his head, "They seem to be equally fast, but in fact... there is a very slight difference between the two."

"So which of them is faster?"

"The Blood Shadow Blade used by Su He is four feet long, five fingers wide at the top, and two and a half fingers wide at the bottom." Xunzhen did not directly answer Abaolu's question, but chuckled meaningfully and said, "Look at Qin Tianjiu's sword, which is only a little over a foot long, three fingers wide at the top, and two fingers wide at the bottom. Just now we saw them both draw their swords at the same time, who do you think is faster?"

"Su He!"

Abaolu suddenly realized something, and a look of horror flashed in his eyes. He hesitated and said, "I can't believe that Su He's knife is three points faster than Qin Tianjiu's."

"Not three points, almost one point." Xunzhen said jokingly, "Weapons require an inch longer, an inch stronger, an inch smaller, an inch more skillful. Su He's sword is fast, Qin Tianjiu's sword is more flexible, with one's strengths decreasing, the two are evenly matched, and we can't tell who is better."

"Who do you think will win this battle?" Luo Ningyu came closer and asked Xunzhen with curiosity in her eyes.

Xunzhen looked deeply at Luo Ningyu, whose tears were still wet, and suddenly changed the subject, asking inexplicably, "Miss Luo, when Liu Xunyi chased you out to save you last night, did you say anything to him?"

"This..." Luo Ningyu was slightly stunned, then asked, "Why did Miss Xunzhen ask this?"

"You know, just before you came, Liu Xunyi was in a dilemma and was nearly killed by four masters, Leng Yiyi, Qin Tianjiu, Sikong Zhu, and Tang Yu." Xunzhen explained, "And the reason why he was in a dilemma was because of you, Miss Luo."

"Me?" Luo Ningyu's face changed, and she turned to look at Liu Xunyi who was watching the battle intently in the distance, and a hint of guilt appeared in her eyes.

Under Xunzhen's eyes that seemed to be able to see through people's hearts, Luo Ningyu hesitated again and again, and finally said hesitantly: "To be honest, I told Xunyi last night not to delay the overall situation for my sake, and not to be fooled by the Mongols and let my father become a sinner of the Song Dynasty because of me..."

"No wonder!" Xunzhen nodded slowly, as if he understood what was going on. "No wonder Liu Xunyi ignored Palace Master Luo's orders and insisted on coming forward."

After that, Xunzhen handed Luo Ningyu a handkerchief and said with a smile: "But he still can't abandon you in the end, otherwise he wouldn't become the target of public criticism."

"What……"

"On one side is Lord Luo, and on the other side is Miss Luo." Xunzhen said to himself, "You two, father and daughter, almost forced Liu Xunyi to death."

After saying this, without waiting for Luo Ningyu to ask again, Xunzhen suddenly turned around and walked away.

Luo Ningyu looked at Xunzhen's back with a complicated expression, and she felt mixed emotions. She then looked at the wounded Liu Xunyi, whose fair and delicate face was already unclear as to which was rain and which was tears.

In the field, Su He and Qin Tianjiu had fought for 170 rounds, but they were still each with their own strengths and it was difficult to determine the winner.

The Blood Shadow Knife is as fast as lightning and as powerful as a pack of wolves. The short knife is as agile as a dragon and as fierce as a tiger.

The two swords shone against each other in the storm, shining with cold light and murderous aura, rising and falling, far and near.

The sound of the swords clashing was as fierce and loud as firecrackers, and it continued endlessly.

If an ordinary person were to be subjected to such a fierce attack, even if he did not make any mistakes, his arms would be so tired that he would feel numb and unable to control himself.

Everyone was dazzled by the sight, overwhelmed, and even their eyes were sore from watching. But Su He and Qin Tianjiu seemed to be tireless, fighting to a stalemate, and becoming more and more courageous and fierce, with their swords coming out faster and faster, and with more and more force.

Everyone watched the battle, and the more they watched, the more shocked and impressed they were. At the same time, they all couldn't help but sigh deeply that the reason why Su He and Qin Tianjiu had achieved such success today was indeed not in vain, and they were not comparable to ordinary people.

Liu Xunyi was immersed in it and couldn't extricate himself.

He asked himself, if Qin Ku had not given him advice in advance when he fought with Qin Tianjiu in Shaolin, he would not have been his opponent. Watching the fierce battle between Su He and Qin Tianjiu again today, he was more certain that he was no match for them.

"If we keep fighting endlessly like this, won't there be no result until dark?" Teng Qiner muttered while rubbing her eyes.

"No!" Teng Sanshi shook his head solemnly, "The winner will be decided within a hundred rounds!"

"what?"

As soon as Teng Sanshi said this, there was an immediate exclamation from the people around him.

"Chief, who among them will have the last laugh?" Teng Qiner hurried forward and asked impatiently.

Teng Sanshi ignored Teng Qin'er's curiosity, but slowly cast a heavy and complicated gaze towards Qin Ming who was standing beside him. Qin Ming frowned and looked gloomy. Unconsciously, his eyes were filled with anxiety.

"Everyone, stop it!"

Just when everyone's attention was focused on the battle between Su He and Qin Tianjiu, an extremely untimely shout suddenly sounded from behind the crowd.

Su He and Qin Tianjiu were startled at the same time, and then their swords met, separated as soon as they touched, and they each flew back, landing on the left and right sides of the martial arts field.

"what happened?"

Jin Fuyu, who was still not satisfied, could not help but raise his eyebrows, and then looked out of the martial arts field with suspicion. At this moment, he followed the sound and looked out, along with thousands of fellow martial artists in the martial arts field who did not know what was going on.

"Get out of here! Get out of here, everyone!"

Accompanied by a burst of cursing and noisy complaints, hundreds of Mongolian soldiers wearing armor and holding steel knives pushed aside the disciples of the six major sects and rushed into the martial arts field in a hurry.

"Who are you?" Qin Da's eyes flashed coldly. He stepped forward quickly and asked angrily, "How dare you break into the Qin Mansion without permission? Are you tired of living?"

"Open your dog eyes and see clearly! General Xijing has arrived, why don't you kneel down and kowtow immediately!"

Before he finished speaking, a burly man in a straw raincoat and a bamboo hat came forward from behind a group of Mongolian soldiers, striding towards them in the pouring rain, walking on the water against the wind.

However! The appearance of this person made Shen Dongshan, who was standing in the corner watching the excitement, inadvertently raise a faint and strange smile at the corner of his mouth.

……

(End of this chapter)