Chapter Ninety-Two: A Win-Win Outcome

Before dawn could touch the ground, Bamboo Nameless darted forward with his fingers hooked like claws, tearing through the wind. His finger strength was tyrannical beyond belief. Ma Beifang spun aside behind a great tree, and several blasts of force swept past, carving deep grooves into the bark as though hacked by blade and axe.

Seeing the ferocity of the attack, Ma Beifang dared not be careless. He flicked out all ten fingers in rapid succession, sending several bursts of force straight at his foe. Bamboo Nameless barked, “Brat, you dare use that Blossom-Picking Finger technique against me?”

He performed over a dozen consecutive somersaults before evading the attack; when he landed, the hem of his robe already bore several torn holes. Enraged, Bamboo Nameless joined two fingers like a sword and thrust forward. Though it was only his hand, what burst forth was sword energy. Ma Beifang knew he could not match him in that art of the sword, so he simply clasped his hands together, forming them like a fist, and drove forward with all his might. The air at once filled with a deep, muffled howl.

Sword energy was sharp, but ultimately thin. A surge of force from Ma Beifang scattered it to nothing. Bamboo Nameless shouted, “If we are going to fight, then let us fight properly. Come, let us test our weapons!” With that, he drew his long sword, secretly channeling true force into it, and at once a pale, frost-white blade light rose from the tip.

Ma Beifang did not dare underestimate him. He knew that if he made a mistake, not only would his own life be forfeit, but Huang Shan would never escape the poison hand of death either. So he did not hold back. He drew his sword at once and struck first, unleashing the Snowfall Sword Style. With the move Plum Blossom in Hidden Fragrance, he brought the attack down over Bamboo Nameless's head.

Bamboo Nameless shook his head. “This Snowfall Sword Style of the Sky Mountain Sect was created in the sect's earliest days. Back then, your internal arts had not yet taken shape, so this sword style relied on endless variation to make up for insufficient inner power. Its strokes fall like snowflakes, drifting and shifting so that no one can see their path. Now your inner strength is probably no weaker than Yang Invincible's, so why are you still clinging to variation? You should know that too much emphasis on change will inevitably make your inner breath impure. When you meet a true expert, you will be restricted at every turn.”

As he spoke, his hands never stopped. His sword was indeed brutally simple, nothing but plain cleaves and thrusts, yet each carried a weight of ten thousand jin. Ma Beifang's many intricate techniques were completely suppressed and could not even be brought into play.

This move, Plum Blossom in Hidden Fragrance, originally had several variations. The first sword descended from above; if the opponent dodged, then after the strike missed, the blade would immediately sweep horizontally in reverse, cutting wherever the opponent retreated. If the opponent raised his sword to block, then the sticky force technique would be used to draw the enemy's blade diagonally downward, seizing the moment to thrust straight for the heart.

If the opponent also leapt upward, then the Thousand-Jin Drop technique would be used at once; once both feet touched the ground, the sword would be raised in an upward slash to sever the enemy's legs. The Snowfall Sword Style predicted the enemy's intent before he moved, accounting for every possible change. Though it was an introductory sword art in the Sky Mountain Sect, in the wider world it could still be considered a rare gem among sword techniques.

Regrettably, all those calculations and subtleties could not withstand Bamboo Nameless's thunderous strike. The moment his sword moved, the blade vibrated with a droning hum, clearly containing unimaginable force. Ma Beifang's sword merely met it once before being rebounded away. Had his inner strength not been nearly equal to Bamboo Nameless's, his sword would likely have already been knocked from his hand. After several exchanges, he had gained no advantage whatsoever.

Ma Beifang immediately changed tactics. His swordwork at once became archaic and grave, each movement bearing an ancient flavor. Every rise and fall, every transition and closure, followed the essential principle that sword and heart must be one, and heart and intent must be one with the sword. What seemed like simple strokes instantly turned the tide.

Both men fought with a single sword strike for a single sword strike, leaving no room for change. The tip of Ma Beifang's sword at once blossomed with a vigorous blade light, forcing Bamboo Nameless back two steps.

The dense bamboo and trees around them were nearly flattened by the sword force, and within the forest a clearing several dozen zhang wide had been cut out by the clashing energies.

Huang Shan watched from the tree above as sword light flashed everywhere below, scarcely daring to breathe, terrified that even the slightest sound might distract Ma Beifang. On Sky Mountain, when master and disciple sparred, sword energy would also appear, but it never carried even a trace of killing intent. It was far less cold and murderous than the sword energy raging here now.

Far more strangely, though they were clearly fighting with swords, the force they emitted included not only sword energy but also the power of palms, fists, and fingers, the very force used in hand-to-hand techniques.

Ma Beifang raised his sword from afar and thrust. In ordinary circumstances, sword energy would have given off a sharp whistling through the air, but this time what came out was instead a muffled gale, as though some terrifying palm strike were slicing through the void.

Bamboo Nameless sprang upward and dodged the blow, which struck the tree where Huang Shan was hiding. The great trunk shuddered violently, nearly ripped from the ground and toppled over, frightening Huang Shan into clutching it tightly.

Bamboo Nameless lightly tapped his long sword, and wave after wave of invisible force shot from the tip. Ma Beifang knew how deadly it was and instantly flew backward, yet the force followed close behind, smashing several deep pits into the ground.

Ma Beifang knew that his inner strength was slightly inferior to his opponent's. If they continued like this, he would eventually be drained to the last drop and could only await death with bound hands. Thinking this, he steeled himself, gave a thunderous shout, and shot forward with sword in arms, precisely the final strike of the Sky Mountain Sword Style, the Sword Immortal Star Arrow.

This move was the last technique in the Sky Mountain Sword Style, intended to take the enemy down together when defeat was otherwise certain. Once used, the wielder already embraced death; all of his power would surge several times over in an instant and converge into one blow, making it immensely destructive.

At Ma Beifang's level, its power was especially overwhelming.

Bamboo Nameless suddenly became delighted at the sight and cried, “Excellent, come!” With that he too clasped his sword with both hands and flew forward in one body, using the very same self-destructive sword strike. It turned out that his own sect possessed a similar sword art. Its essential principle was to cast life and death aside, leaving no path of retreat: success or martyrdom.

In the past, the two had crossed swords in this very fashion twice before, trying to use sword energy to open blocked meridians. But each time this thunderous strike was about to unfold, Ma Beifang would suddenly lose heart, and Bamboo Nameless would have no choice but to withdraw his force lest he shock him to death.

Ma Beifang's hesitation was not cowardice or fear of death, but concern for Huang Shan. He feared that if he failed and was killed by the backlash, what would become of Huang Shan, all alone on this Emerald Bamboo Isle?

One must know that besides Bamboo Nameless, whose allegiance to good or evil was impossible to discern, there were also martial adepts, Eastern Islanders, and the men under Sha Tonghai. None of them were kindly souls.

Once they saw that Huang Shan had lost her protector, who could say what vile thoughts might arise in their minds? That was why he had not dared to die lightly. But this time was different. He truly poured out everything he had, leaving not the smallest reserve.

Because he knew that if he could not defeat Bamboo Nameless, then Bamboo Nameless might spare him for the sake of his usefulness, but he would certainly not spare Huang Shan. On this isolated island, if he set out to hunt her down, Huang Shan would have no road to heaven and no gate to earth, with nothing to do but close her eyes and await death.

So here he had to decide the matter in one stroke. Under his full-force assault, even if he could not defeat Bamboo Nameless and instead was shocked to death himself, at the very least he would leave Bamboo Nameless grievously injured. Then Huang Shan would stand a better chance of surviving.

Huang Shan watched in terror as the two of them collided like meteors from opposite horizons. In an instant, the force between them erupted in a white haze. With a deafening boom, the haze exploded apart, and earth and stone churned within the forest as grasses and branches flew in all directions.

Ma Beifang and Bamboo Nameless were flung away as though they were paper kites caught in a gale, crashing far off onto the ground. Even the long swords in their hands were shattered by the collision, metal fragments shooting out like hailstones. The place where they had just fought was now a vast crater.

The forest suddenly fell silent. As the dust dispersed, the cold moonlight poured down. Tears streaming like rain, Huang Shan leapt from the tree and ran toward Ma Beifang.

Ma Beifang lay on the ground, his face the color of gold leaf, his body motionless. Huang Shan did not even have time to cry; she immediately helped him sit up, then sat cross-legged behind him, pressed both palms to his back, and frantically urged her own pure vital energy into him.

The transfer of inner force was easiest when both energies were of the same origin and lineage. In the past, when they trained on Sky Mountain and were occasionally injured, disciples would often heal one another by sending inner breath through the body. Huang Shan was very practiced at this. Yet this time was different.

No matter how she pushed, her pure force simply could not enter, as though Ma Beifang's meridians were completely blocked. Her heart sank into dead ash. She sat there dazed, murmuring to herself, “Brother Beifang, could he already be gone...?” Then, refusing to give up, she pressed herself against his back again and desperately sent in more force. But how could any of it get through?

At last Huang Shan broke down completely. She gathered Ma Beifang into her arms and burst into loud sobs. Hatred welled up in her heart: hatred that her martial arts were too weak to help when Ma Beifang was fighting for his life; hatred that Ma Beifang had been consorting with such a cruel and vicious monster; and finally hatred that she herself had exposed this secret. If she had not forced herself to step forward, Bamboo Nameless would not have tried to kill her to silence her, and Ma Beifang would not have suffered this disaster. Perhaps even now they would still be holding one another in the little wooden hut among the bamboo, instead of being separated by life and death.

Just as she was weeping bitterly, a low voice came from behind her. “Stop crying.”

Huang Shan turned around and saw Bamboo Nameless. He had been blasted away just moments ago, and she had thought him dead too. Yet now he was somehow alive again.

Huang Shan showed no fear. Wiping away her tears, she said calmly, “Didn’t you want to kill me? Then do it. That will at least let us be together.”

As she spoke, she lowered her head and kissed Ma Beifang deeply on the face.

Bamboo Nameless gave a bitter smile. “I truly did mean to kill you just now, but there is no need anymore. Even if you had not leaked the news, I would still have to leave this place and return to the martial world. Sigh, what a pity for this young brother. His sword energy opened my meridians, only...” As he spoke, he came to Ma Beifang's side.

Bamboo Nameless reached out, took Ma Beifang's wrist, and checked his pulse. His face suddenly lit with joy. Laughing, he said, “Miss Huang Shan, congratulations. Your lover is not dead at all. He only exhausted himself and fainted from that desperate blow. Better still, his meridians have already been opened. From now on, he will never again need to drink blood. Henceforth, you need not regard him as a monster.”

At this, Huang Shan was both startled and overjoyed.

Bamboo Nameless said, “This boy may be unruly and unrestrained, but his will is exceedingly tenacious. He cares for you deeply; for your sake he would even risk his life. Do not fail him in the future.”

Huang Shan blushed bright red and lowered her head without a word.