Chapter 71
Chapter 71
“The first thing I want is to recruit you!”
Zhou Ming extended a hand toward the Sword Saint and smiled. “What do you say? Interested in working for me?”
Sword Saint: “…”
Qianying: “…”
Everyone: “…”
He never spoke unless his words could shock a man dead!
Everyone was struck speechless by that one sentence and couldn’t recover for a long while.
He wanted to poach the Eastern Region emperor’s man?
How did he dare?
“Hahahaha…”
Lei Qianjue’s laughter broke the silence. “You’re about to die and can’t even protect yourself. Who gave you the courage to say something like that?”
The Sword Saint was an extraordinary expert. Why would he lower himself beneath Zhouyou Shijie and become his subordinate?
The suggestion was the greatest joke in the world!
Even Qianying and Xuanniao couldn’t understand why Zhouyou Shijie would offer an olive branch to a man he had just met, one who was an enemy rather than a friend.
No matter how they considered it, the Sword Saint had no reason to accept!
Clang!
Ye Zhibei abruptly rose. At some point, a drawn sword had appeared in his hand. Its tip pointed directly at Zhou Ming. The dense sword intent made his skin ache before it even touched him.
The atmosphere tightened like a drawn bowstring. A battle could erupt at any instant.
“I am giving you an opportunity to state your true purpose and save your life,” Ye Zhibei said coldly. “I suggest you treasure it instead of playing the fool and mocking me!”
No one could understand why Zhouyou Shijie, standing on the edge of death, still dared ask the Sword Saint to bow and serve him.
Not even Ye Zhibei himself.
“So my recruitment failed?” Zhou Ming withdrew his hand and asked calmly, showing no anger at all.
Everyone listening nearby was speechless again.
Did that even need to be asked?
Ye Zhibei’s face was expressionless. “Did you expect it to succeed?”
“I don’t consider it a failure yet!” Zhou Ming changed direction. “How about we make a wager?”
“On what?”
“I wager that sooner or later, you’ll become my right-hand man!”
“…Impossible. Absolutely impossible!”
Ye Zhibei rejected the notion at once. As he stared at the young man, he inexplicably felt that he couldn’t see through him.
Where did this confidence to recruit him come from?
Why would he abandon a perfectly good position among the Light Faction’s highest ranks to follow an underpowered man already at the end of his rope and struggle to conquer the world?
“There’s no need to reject it so quickly. This wager has no stakes and requires no rule to enforce it.” Zhou Ming shook his head, his gaze profound. “As for the second matter, it isn’t particularly important. It merely gives you a reason to let me leave.”
“You truly believe you can offer a reason that makes me release you?” Ye Zhibei laughed in anger.
He performed the dirty and exhausting work of the Eastern Region’s emperor, with informants spread across the world. Naturally, he knew Zhouyou Shijie’s history.
Winning a wager against the gods.
Rejecting the Demon Gods’ invitation.
Becoming the sole victor of the battle for Qingshui City.
Zhouyou Shijie’s record was dazzling!
No matter how Ye Zhibei considered it, the man should have been a brilliant young talent of unfathomable schemes and exceptional methods.
Yet meeting him today made that reputation seem undeserved.
From the moment Zhou Ming launched that inexplicable recruitment attempt, Ye Zhibei had completely lost any understanding of his objective.
“Do you think you can kill me?” Zhou Ming remained calm.
Ye Zhibei’s expression turned indifferent. He tightened his grip on the sword, and chilling sword intent spread around him like a storm.
The pressure silently poured forth like water through a collapsed dam.
Terrifying!
Lei Qianjue, blocking the doorway, didn’t even dare breathe.
They were both god-tier experts, but the Sword Saint’s strength surpassed Lei Qianjue’s by far more than a single level!
Ye Zhibei’s tone remained indifferent. “I want to see your trump card.”
“In that case… come on!”
Intense interest rose in Zhou Ming’s heart.
He truly wanted to know which of the two generations of Sword Saints was stronger.
“Come on, then!”
Ye Zhibei didn’t dare grow careless. His entire presence became razor-sharp, and his gaze locked firmly onto Zhou Ming. “Let’s see it!”
“…”
Time seemed to freeze.
Everyone was poised to strike in the instant before violence erupted. Every buff had already been applied, and boundless elemental power churned together, yet none of it could disturb the sword intent formed by the Sword Saint.
At the side, Xuanniao felt its heart hammering and hurried into the pet space for shelter. Qianying raised her guard.
Hiss!
Ye Zhibei suddenly swung his sword. Sword energy swept out like a rainbow piercing the sun, its razor edge rushing straight at Zhou Ming.
His movement was so fast that only two people present could react.
One was Qianying.
The other was…
Clang!
At the final instant, a huge figure in black descended from the sky. A massive black greatsword in hand, he landed between Ye Zhibei and Zhou Ming and blocked the otherwise certain strike.
BOOM!
The entire room nearly exploded into ruins. Fortunately, the Sword Saint’s subordinates helped cancel the remaining shockwave. Otherwise, the entire fourth-tier village might have been destroyed overnight.
[Abyssal Sword Demon ยท Cangxuan] (God-Tier Boss)
“!!!!!”
Ye Zhibei’s pupils contracted.
What terrifying concealment!
He hadn’t even noticed someone on the roof!
“Hiss!”
Everyone sucked in a cold breath.
The Second Demon God was willing to protect Zhouyou Shijie?!
After forcibly blocking the sword energy, Cangxuan’s body trembled from its power. Red light flashed through his eyes. “The current Sword Saint’s strength truly is formidable!”
Battle intent surged from Ye Zhibei. “Traitor! You still dare appear before me? You have disgraced the title of Sword Saint!”
He flew forward and thrust his sword.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
The two instantly began fighting. Two unimaginable domains of sword intent formed around them and collided without pause, producing a battle of extraordinary intensity.
Meanwhile, Qianying took advantage of the moment to shield Zhou Ming and charge outside.
“Stop them!” Ye Zhibei hurriedly ordered.
Hiss!
Cangxuan’s sword struck his chest and sent him flying. “You dare split your attention while dueling me? Are you afraid you won’t die quickly enough?”
“Let’s go!”
Qianying pulled Zhou Ming toward the outside.
“Trying to run?!”
Lightning wrapped around Lei Qianjue’s entire body. He swung his massive axe in a brutal chop. “Did you ask the axe in my hands?”
BOOM!!
Qianying blocked with her sword, then kicked him several thousand meters away. Towering dust surged into the sky, while his body carved a long, deep ravine across the ground.
The Sword Saint and Cangxuan were supreme experts of the two factions, famous throughout the world. Qianying couldn’t promise to defeat either one, but Lei Qianjue? Fighting three of his level at once wouldn’t be a problem.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
The Sword Saint’s subordinates charged, but their attacks couldn’t break the barrier around Zhou Ming in a short time.
Lei Qianjue failed to return after Qianying’s kick.
Without the Sword Saint’s powerful presence, Zhou Ming escaped safely.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
From far away, Zhou Ming watched explosion after explosion illuminate the night sky until it shone like day.
Standing beside him, Qianying finally asked what had puzzled her all along. “Why did you try to recruit the Sword Saint?”
…