The Samsara Jade

Chapter 33

The morning fog swirled violently around the stone arena. The hundreds of Outer Sect disciples held their breath. They watched in absolute terror. 

Wang’s sword was coming down. The heavy steel blade hummed with magical energy, slicing through the cold air. 

But suddenly, Wang changed his move. He wanted to show everyone how powerful he was. He wanted to make a perfect, bloody display. 

In the middle of his downward swing, Wang quickly twisted his wrist. He pulled his right foot back and gathered all his energy. He dropped the basic yellow Qi and activated the sect’s famous signature move: the Azure Wind Thrust. 

The blade instantly changed color. The yellow light vanished, replaced by a blinding, spinning bright blue light. The wind gathered tightly around the sharp point of the sword. It spun so fast it sounded like a screaming eagle. 

Wang pushed forward with all his strength. He aimed the blindingly fast Azure Wind Thrust directly at Li Chen’s throat. He wanted to punch a hole straight through Li Chen’s neck. 

"Die, you piece of trash!" Wang roared, his face twisted with pure hate and cruel joy. 

The blue sword moved faster than the blink of an eye. The crowd screamed. A few disciples closed their eyes, refusing to watch the brutal murder. 

But Li Chen did not dodge. He did not step back. He did not even blink his pitch-black eyes. 

He simply raised his bare left hand. 

He opened his hand, facing the palm toward the incoming point of the deadly, spinning sword. 

CLANG! 

The sound was absolutely deafening. It did not sound like a sword cutting into human flesh. It sounded like a massive iron hammer striking the side of a giant temple bell. 

A huge shockwave of blue wind exploded outward from the impact. The violent burst of air blew the thick morning fog completely away, leaving the registration area perfectly clear in the early sunlight. 

Everyone opened their eyes. The crowd gasped in pure, completely unbelievable shock. 

Wang stood frozen. His jaw dropped so far it looked like it might unhinge. His eyes bulged out of his head. He stared at his own hands, then he stared at the sword. 

The blindingly fast Azure Wind Thrust had stopped. It was completely dead in the air. 

Li Chen had caught it. 

The incredibly sharp point of the steel sword was pressed directly into the center of Li Chen’s bare left palm. But the blade did not pierce the skin. It did not cut the flesh. Not a single drop of red blood fell to the ground. 

Li Chen’s dull, greyish metallic skin had stopped the magical blade perfectly. The spinning blue wind Qi hissed and sparked against his hand, but it could not do anything. The Void-Iron Physique was completely uncut. It was impossible hardness. 

"What... what is this?" Wang whispered. His voice was shaking wildly. The cruel joy on his face melted away into absolute horror. 

He pushed with all his might. He gritted his teeth and pushed his arms forward. Veins popped out on his forehead. He tried to force the sword deeper, hoping to break Li Chen's skin. 

But Li Chen did not move a single inch. He stood as still and solid as a mountain. 

To Li Chen, Wang’s attack felt like a weak child playing with a wooden stick. For a whole month, Li Chen had fought giant Shadow Vipers, toxic centipedes, and massive rock-crushing beasts in the absolute darkness of the chasm. He had been bitten by fangs the size of swords. He had been hit by tails that could crush houses. 

Compared to the monsters of the Beast Chasm, Wang was nothing. He was slow. He was weak. He was a joke. 

Li Chen slowly closed his fingers, wrapping his hand tightly around the sharp, glowing blue steel of the blade. 

The blue light immediately flickered and died. 

"Is this all you have?" Li Chen asked softly. His voice was deep, cold, and completely empty of any mercy. "You hit like a falling leaf."

"Let go!" Wang screamed in a panic. He tried to pull his sword back. He pulled so hard his boots slipped on the stone floor. 

But Li Chen’s grip was like an iron vise. The sword was completely stuck. 

"Ten years ago, my family was murdered," Li Chen said, his voice carrying perfectly across the silent arena. "A month ago, you and Zhao Feng pressed my face into the mud. You took my last spirit stones. You laughed while my mother's jade was shattered."

Wang was sweating heavily now. His whole body was trembling. He looked into Li Chen’s pitch-black eyes and saw a bottomless ocean of death. He finally realized that this was not the same boy they had beaten up. This was a monster. 

"Please," Wang stammered, letting go of the sword handle with one hand. "Please, Li Chen... It was Zhao Feng’s idea! I was just following orders! Let me go!"

"In the chasm, I learned a very simple rule," Li Chen said, ignoring Wang's begging. "The strong eat, and the weak are eaten. You wanted to be strong, Wang. So, pay the price."

Li Chen twisted his left wrist. 

He did not use any magical Qi. He only used the pure, raw, brutal physical strength of his Void-Iron muscles. 

The high-quality steel sword groaned loudly. Then, it shattered. 

The thick metal blade broke into dozens of sharp pieces. The pieces exploded outward, falling to the grey stone floor with a series of loud, clattering sounds. 

Wang screamed and let go of the broken sword handle. He stumbled backward, completely defenseless. 

He turned around, ready to run for his life. 

But Li Chen was much faster. 

Li Chen stepped forward. His heavy black boot cracked the stone beneath him. He reached out with his right hand and grabbed Wang’s right arm, just above the elbow. 

Wang stopped moving instantly. The iron grip on his arm was so tight it felt like it was already crushing his bones to dust. 

"No! NO! Sun, help me!" Wang screamed, looking back over his shoulder at his friend. 

But Sun did not move. Sun stood ten feet away, shaking like a wet dog. His face was completely pale. He watched Li Chen shatter a steel sword with a bare hand. He was too terrified to even breathe, let alone fight. 

Li Chen did not look at Sun. He looked directly at Wang’s sweating face. 

"You used this arm to take my spirit stones," Li Chen whispered coldly.