"Old Ghost Zhao, could that brat be too scared to come? If that's really the case, I'll take the Mysterious Water Sword back."
On the raised platform at the Mystic Water Hall's largest training ground, Fu Lin looked up at the sun, now directly overhead, then glanced sideways at Zhao Fengxue beside him. His expression was mocking, though it carried a trace of regret.
Winning back the Mysterious Water Sword without a fight would be cause for celebration, but he would rather take the chance to kill that monstrous brat before he became a grave threat.
Unfortunately, the brat had chickened out and still hadn't dared to show up.
Though such behavior was contemptible, it had saved his life, and there was nothing Fu Lin could do about him.
He couldn't very well charge into Blood Wind Hall, drag the brat out and kill him, could he?
"The tower master isn't worried, so what are you in such a hurry for?"
Without so much as looking at Fu Lin, Zhao Fengxue shot back blandly.
Though he too wondered why Wang Hao had yet to appear, he didn't doubt that Wang Hao would stand his ground.
He hadn't spent long with the brat, but he had seen that Wang Hao was mature and steady in his actions and a man of his word. Since he had agreed, he would surely follow through, and he was certain to have some confidence in his chances.
As for why he hadn't come yet, perhaps something else had delayed him.
"Then I'll wait another hour!"
Fu Lin's expression turned cold and sarcastic. As he saw it, Zhao Fengxue was a dead duck whose beak was still stiff.
Still, he was quite satisfied with the lineup of spectators today. He had even gone out of his way to invite the tower master, for fear that the old fellow Zhao Fengxue would go back on his word and refuse to return the Mysterious Water Sword.
"You people!"
Seated in the place of honor on the platform, the Blood Robe Tower's master swept a helpless glance over the eight hall masters present. He was at his wits' end with these old fellows.
He had only just warned them some time ago, but it had backfired. Instead, these old fellows had joined hands to pick a fight with the brat, and now they had even arranged for him to break through a formation.
But they were acting according to the rules, so he couldn't say much.
The other elders looked awkward, but they too said little.
After all, strictly speaking, what they were doing was also a form of competition. They hadn't forced Wang Hao to agree; he had accepted everything of his own accord. Even if he died in the killing formation, there would be nothing to say about it.
"Thud! Thud! Thud..."
More than half an hour later, just as everyone was growing impatient, a series of heavy footsteps suddenly came from outside the training ground, like a wild bull stomping toward them.
Everyone turned toward the entrance. Before long, a burly figure slowly approached, his entire body concealed beneath a black robe.
He stood nine chi tall and was exceptionally large. In the Blood Robe Tower, only Wang Hao had such a build. For some reason, though, judging by the shape of the robe, Wang Hao seemed several sizes larger today than before.
"Hall master, tower master, I just went to have a meal. Sorry to have kept you waiting!"
From beneath the black robe, Wang Hao looked up at the platform and spoke apologetically.
He should have arrived much earlier, but unexpectedly, his cultivation had broken through last night to Peak Second-rate. His Golden Bell Shield had also improved considerably, and he had already touched the threshold of Peak Perfection.
In light of that, he had redesigned and reforged the object he had been preparing to finish, then gone to the dining hall for a huge meal, which was why he had arrived so late.
"Enough nonsense. Begin!"
Fu Lin, long since tired of waiting, barked the order. The four hundred yellow-rank killers who had been sitting cross-legged on the training ground rose and formed a battle formation facing Wang Hao. All their weapons came out of their sheaths, and they looked at him with killing intent.
"Riiip!"
Wang Hao wasted no words either. He seized the black robe covering him and tore it off.
A red-gold light burst out, revealing a pair of thick, heavy red-gold armguards before everyone's eyes. Each was a full two chi in diameter.
The entire pair shone red-gold, reflecting a dazzling light beneath the blazing sun.
These armguards were the final product of Wang Hao's three days of hard work, forged from ten-thousand-refined Red Gold.
Like iron and steel, gold could also be forged, and the results were extraordinarily powerful.
Gold itself underwent no change before being forged ten thousand times. Only then would it undergo a qualitative change and become a material known as Red Gold.
Once cooled, this material possessed tremendous toughness and memory. No matter what shape it was beaten into, it would automatically return to its original form.
It was also remarkably flexible and elastic. Blades below the level of Ten-Thousand-Refined True Steel could not damage it at all, and it could dissipate the force of incoming blows like rubber, making it the best material for defensive equipment.
Gold itself was soft and easier to forge than steel. Otherwise, with his current cultivation, he might not have been able to forge it to the ten-thousand-refined level.
Originally, he had wanted to make a complete suit of armor, with an exquisite design that covered the whole body, like those worn by the Gold Saints.
But last night, his Golden Bell Shield had finally broken through to the peak of Complete Integration, and his skin could now barely withstand blades of Hundred-Forged Refined Iron. Forging a full suit of armor no longer seemed particularly necessary.
It would also hinder his Golden Bell Shield cultivation, so he had changed the planned armor into a pair of heavy armguards.
Of course, though there were only two armguards, they were far from light. They had taken over ten thousand jin of gold to forge, and even though he had refined only its most essential portion, each weighed a thousand jin.
Each armguard weighed a thousand jin, making the pair two thousand jin in total.
It was only because his cultivation had broken through last night, bringing his strength to five thousand jin, that he could use such heavy armguards at all.
The pair of armguards Wang Hao revealed left not only the hundreds of Mystic Water Hall killers opposite him dumbfounded, but also the eight hall masters and the Blood Robe Tower's master on the platform. None of them understood what use they were.
"Hmph! Playing tricks! Kill him!"
Fu Lin came to his senses, snorted coldly and ordered the battle to begin again.
Maintaining their killing formation, the hundreds of Mystic Water Hall killers slowly closed in on Wang Hao, intending to surround him.
Once they had him enclosed in the killing formation, even a Super-First-Rate expert would fall here.
But before they could reach him, Wang Hao charged at them first.
He drew the greatsword from his back and killed more than ten men at the front with a Sweep Away a Thousand Troops. Then, using Charge into Battle, he plunged into the encirclement and rampaged at will.
With the thousand-jin Red Gold armguard on his right arm, the momentum generated by his swings carried into his greatsword. He was truly unstoppable; not a single person could block him.
In a mass battle like this, Wang Hao could bring his Ten Stances of Bloody Battle into full play, and their power even increased somewhat.
Of course, in such a battle, it was inevitable that Wang Hao would be struck. But unless a Hundred-Forged Refined Iron weapon was aimed at a vital point, he paid it no attention.
The Golden Bell Shield, having reached the peak of Complete Integration, simply could not be pierced by weapons of that level.
He would have been wary of a First-Rate martial artist wielding a Hundred-Forged Refined Iron weapon, but these yellow-rank killers were only Second-rate. Even with such weapons, they couldn't hurt him.
At most, they left a dark-red mark, which quickly healed and faded under the influence of the Bloodline Power within him.
Only against weapons of Thousand-Forged Refined Steel did he use his Red Gold armguards to block. That was also the main reason he had forged them.
Wang Hao was truly a tiger among sheep. The formidable defense of his Golden Bell Shield, combined with the pair of Red Gold armguards, made him invincible on defense, while the momentum of the swinging armguards carried into his greatsword, making it unstoppable.
It was like an unmatched warrior mowing down enemies in Dynasty Warriors. The killers surrounding him suffered heavy casualties, and their morale nearly collapsed.
Had Fu Lin not stood outside the fight, holding them in check with his murderous intent, they might have fled the battlefield.
They were only killers, not soldiers. Faced with a fighting style that clearly belonged to a battlefield general, they could not adapt at all, and even their killing formation could scarcely inflict any effective damage.
Standing on the platform, Fu Lin's face grew exceedingly grim. Finally, he gritted his teeth and secretly signaled a trusted subordinate standing some distance away.
The subordinate understood and withdrew, evidently preparing to carry out some killing move.
The composure Wang Hao had shown last time had also put Fu Lin on guard. Though he had great confidence in the killers under his command, he had made a second set of preparations to ensure Wang Hao died here.
As Wang Hao rampaged among the killers, his True Spirit Sword Intent suddenly alerted him to a deadly threat. Without thinking, he raised both arms in front of him, using the massive Red Gold armguards to shield his torso and head.
At the same moment Wang Hao moved to defend himself, a gigantic arrow as thick as an adult's arm and over two zhang long suddenly shot from the edge of the training ground, aimed straight at him.
Driven by terrifying force, the sharp arrow tore through more than ten people before slamming into Wang Hao's armguards.
"Boom!"
The impact rang out like a great bronze bell. Wang Hao was sent flying backward, knocking countless people aside before crashing heavily into the tall wall behind him. He smashed that section of the wall down, and the falling bricks and stones buried him.
"A siege crossbow? Fu Lin, you old thief, how dare you use such a forbidden weapon!"
Zhao Fengxue, seated on the platform, froze for a moment. When he realized what had happened, he flew into a rage and drew both swords, looking ready to attack Fu Lin at once.
Fu Lin had gone far too far. Siege crossbows were used by armies to assault cities. Their arrowheads were cast from Hundred-Forged Refined Iron, and their force could reach a terrifying tens of thousands of jin.
They could bury their arrows in even a city wall built of stone, while a city gate could be pierced in a single shot.
Such a fearsome weapon had been used against a person today. Its killing power went without saying; even though Wang Hao practiced the top-tier body-hardening technique External Training Golden Bell Shield, he could not possibly withstand it.
Although siege crossbows had gradually fallen out of use with the rise of cannons in recent years, they were still strictly forbidden by the imperial court, to say nothing of using one in the capital.
"Who says I used a siege crossbow? Open your eyes and look. Is that a siege crossbow or not?"
As if he had anticipated this, Fu Lin offered no explanation. He simply pointed toward a spot at the edge of the training ground, the very place from which the arrow had been fired.
Zhao Fengxue turned to look. When he saw what was there, his face abruptly darkened. He grew even angrier, but there was nothing he could do.
Two large trees stood at the edge of the training ground, connected by a rope and several ingenious mechanisms. Between them stood a mechanical track whose direction could be controlled. Clearly, the giant bolt had been fired from this device.
Though its effect was little different from a siege crossbow's, Fu Lin had also insidiously made the arrowhead from Thousand-Forged Refined Steel, giving it even more terrifying killing power. Even a Grandmaster-level expert like Zhao Fengxue would have difficulty escaping death if struck.
But it truly was not a siege crossbow. At most, it counted as a mechanical trap. Even if the matter were taken to the emperor, no punishment could be imposed.
Thus, though he was furious, he could do nothing to Fu Lin.
"Old Ghost Zhao, nothing to say now, have you? Hurry up and return my Mysterious Water Sword!"
Fu Lin gave a smug, sinister chuckle, as though he had already won.
Even he would have difficulty escaping death if struck by an arrow like that, much less a junior like Wang Hao.
Wang Hao was indeed monstrous enough, but even he could not withstand that deadly weapon.