Chapter 43, First Martial Fight

Translator: StarReader

 

On Li’s cargo ship, the pirates were engaged in battle. Several inner disciples of the Medicine King Group, along with the household retainers and sailors, witnessed this scene and were utterly dumbfounded. Their actions slowed as they all gazed at Su Chen on the bamboo raft, filled with disbelief.

 

This masked blue-clad laborer, unremarkable in appearance, had casually swept three pirates aside with a single bamboo pole. Could he be a senior brother from the Errand Hall of the Medicine King Group? While experts from the Errand Hall were rare, there were still a few among them.

 

“Brother from Errand Hall, come and save us!”

 

The inner disciples of the Medicine King Group broke out into expressions of wild excitement. It seemed this masked blue-clad laborer possessed considerable strength, likely capable of saving them.

 

“Hmm, this guy isn’t just any third-rate practitioner; he’s a top-tier one at that. No wonder he dared to meddle in this situation. Listen to how he swung that pole—far stronger than that Wang fellow.”

 

The pirate leader, Ding Shisan, felt a flicker of surprise in his heart. The battle on Li’s cargo ship was already critical. With three pirates down, he couldn’t spare any more men to confront Su Chen and had no choice but to intervene.

 

Su Chen, after dispatching the three pirates, maneuvered the bamboo raft straight toward the fast boat. Upon reaching its side, he leapt onto it with ease.

 

Ding Shisan, brandishing the Water-splitting Blade, stood arrogantly at the ship’s prow, overlooking Su Chen on the bamboo raft below.

 

[How dare this lowly errand boy actually come looking for trouble? Did he really think that defeating those three pirates’ lackeys gave him the audacity to challenge me, a second-rate martial arts adept?]

 

“Hey there, ignorant brat! You just had to butt in where you don’t belong. Today is the day you die. In your next life, remember to think twice before you act!”

 

Ding Shisan sneered and bellowed as he thrust True Qi into the Water-splitting Blade. A streak of shimmering blade light erupted from his hand, forming a blinding halo of steel that hurtled toward Su Chen.

 

Su Chen flicked his bamboo pole.

 

A shadowy figure emerged like a serpent, slicing through the air and piercing the heart of the radiant blade aura in an instant.

 

“Snap!”

 

Ding Shisan hadn’t even raised his Water-splitting Blade when he felt a sharp sting across his left cheek, followed by a searing pain that made his head swim and his vision blur. He stumbled back several steps.

 

Ding Shisan rubbed his swollen cheek; several broken teeth flowed out of his mouth, accompanied by a stream of blood. He felt unbelievably dizzy and confused.

 

[What kind of staff technique is this? It was demonic!]

 

Looking up, he saw the masked laborer standing several meters away, casually observing him from a distance. The blue-clad figure held a long bamboo pole in his hands and mocked him with a disdainful gaze.

 

Ding Shisan realized what was happening. The boy was taking advantage of his longer pole—nearly two or three yards in length—to bully Ding, who wielded a mere two-foot short blade.

 

“Hey, you! A wretched laborer dares act like some kind of staff master in front of me? Watch this—I’ll slice your pole into pieces right here and now. Then you’ll see what it’s like to lose your so-called ‘master’ status!”

 

Ding Shisan spat out, his anger boiling over. He swung his Water-splitting Blade fiercely at the pole, aiming to strike it in half with one clean cut.

 

With the razor-sharp edge of his blade, he was confident that the staff would be cut without a doubt.

 

Though his blade was swift, Su Chen’s bamboo pole, like an elusive, slippery serpent, defied his attempts to strike it—neither adhering nor yielding. Every movement of his blade met only air.

 

“Crack!”

 

Ding Shisan bore the brunt of three consecutive strikes from the bamboo pole, each blow resounding with a sharp crack that sent him reeling in pain. First, a strike to his abdomen left him gasping for breath, his face contorting as if he’d swallowed something bitter, threatening to bring up whatever little remained of his previous meal.

 

His anger surged; he lunged forward, but before he could take a step, another blow struck him down, forcing him to kneel in agony. Then, his arm, already burdened by the Water-splitting Blade, was struck once more, the pain shooting through his veins like hot metal, nearly wresting the blade from his grip.

 

Ding Shisan lay battered and defeated, yet his mind reeled with alarm. The blue-clad lackey’s skill with the pole was extraordinary—seamless, adaptive, and precise. It seemed almost supernaturally attuned, mirroring the techniques of a first-rate expert.

 

Only, the bamboo pole lacked True Qi, making its power weaker. With his current cultivation level, he could endure it. If the bamboo pole had been infused with abundant True Qi, a single strike would have shattered his internal organs and caused him to bleed from every orifice, killing him instantly.

 

Ding Shisan was certain that this was an individual with extraordinary skill in staff techniques but low in cultivation, still at the late third-rate stage of the Lower Dantian.

 

[The punk is too cunning. He relies on his superior staff skills to strike from a distance. But I am a second-rate martial artist with mastery over True Qi.]

 

“Let me show you how powerful True Qi can be. With its protection, I’ll charge forward and see if you can touch me.”

 

Ding Shisan had been struck three or four times by the bamboo pole, each strike enraging him further until he was practically foaming at the mouth.

 

His sword techniques were far from impressive, but when combined with True Qi, their lethality increased dramatically. In terms of sophistication, they still fell short compared to Wang Fugui, a third-rate martial arts practitioner.

 

In their previous encounter, Ding Shisan’s aggressive and ruthless tactics—attacking vital points and engaging in dangerous exchanges—had unnerved the less experienced Wang Fugui, forcing him into a defensive posture. Then, leveraging his mastery of True Qi, Ding Shisan had managed to knock Wang Fugui’s sword out of his hand, leading to his defeat.

 

However, such tactics were ineffective against this blue-clad laborer.

 

The punk was far too cautious. He refused to engage in close combat and instead relied on his long bamboo pole and exceptional staff techniques to keep Ding Shisan at a distance, frustrating him endlessly.

 

His Water-splitting Blade swung either through the air or down onto the fast-ship’s deck, splintering wood and sending fragments flying, but not a single piece reached the blue-clad boy. The frustration was enough to make him want to spit blood from anger. No matter how fierce or desperate his blade techniques were, they couldn’t reach his target just three meters away. If this kept up, it would take no more than a dozen strikes for him to be beaten into pulp and unable to stand.

 

Ding Shisan turned his gaze toward the Li family cargo ship, his face pale with rage and fear.

 

On the Li family cargo ship, the pirates’ situation was looking dire. Of the original dozen pirates, three were already beaten by Su Chen into the river, where they floundered and swallowed bellyfuls of water—effectively out of the fight. Meanwhile, Wang Fugui had escaped back to the cargo ship after falling into the water, grabbed a sword, and joined the fray. This shift in numbers left fewer than eight pirates pressed into a corner at the ship’s bow.

 

It was only a matter of time before the pirates would be routed, forced to retreat into the river.

 

At that time, Wang Fugui and several inner disciples of the Medicine King Group, along with more than twenty servants and sailors, would attack together. Although Ding Shisan was a second-rate martial artist, he was only at an early cultivation and had only entered Middle Dantian for two or three years, so the amount of True Qi is extremely limited.

 

[No, I must finish this, kill this blue-clad laborer as soon as possible, and rush to support the others! If it is absolutely necessary, I’ll use my killer move. This boy looks young and must not have much experience. He will be fooled by the bluff!]

 

Ding Shisan’s eyes flashed with a cunning and sinister light, and his expression became crazy.

 

He was only an early second-rate adept, and the amount of True Qi was extremely limited. This limited True Qi could only be used for one purpose: either to infuse the blade to enhance the lethality or to protect the body. It was impossible to take into account both offense and defense at the same time.

 

“You bastard, prepare to die!”

 

Ding Shisan screamed fiercely, immediately retracted the True Qi that had been injected into the blade and used it to protect his whole body to resist the bamboo pole that Su Chen hit him with, and rushed towards Su Chen.

 

He chopped and chopped wildly with the saber in his hand, bursting out with the momentum of a fierce pirate who was indomitable and fighting to the death, intending to get close to Su Chen.