Volume 5 Chapter 53 Night View on New Year's Eve - Shiny Edges (Part 3)
Jin Wangsun gifted the emperor Golden Crow Moon Eater as a betrothal gift when he first had an audience with the Emperor. When he gave the gift, he was unaware that Princess Hongzhuang was betrothed to the winner of the Imperial Martial Arts Tournament. His proposal was sudden; His Majesty, therefore, focused solely on dealing with the matter in urgent fashion. He accepted the blade, while overlooking how he received the gift Golden Crow Moon Eater. Thinking back on it now, he realised that since he didn't betroth his daughter to the man, he shouldn't have accepted the gift.
Judging from the look on the Emperor's face, Jin Wangsun knew his Golden Crow Moon Eater would be returned.
"Although Golden Crow Moon Eater is your subject's family heirloom, it is mere scrap compared to Her Highness. What a pity…" opined Jin Wangsun, wearing a sad charade. "Unfortunately, Wangsun is unfortunate. Wangsun needs to further refine Wangsun in order to marry Her Highness. As the marriage is not established, Golden Crow Moon Eater should still be considered your subject's property."
"Eh? You…"
The Emperor was rendered speechless. Indeed, Jin Wangsun labelled it a betrothal gift, not to mention that he said it before all the vassals in attendance at the court. While the Emperor was angry, he couldn't slip his way out. Hence, he ordered men to bring out Golden Crow Moon Eater from inner palace's the warehouse.
The iron case for Golden Crow Moon Eater was thick and heavy. As soon as it entered the hall, it sent chills down spines. Golden Crow Moon Eater's handle had a variety of metals added to it through a special tempering method, allowing it to be thick and heavy, yet sharp and possible to wield with a quick style.
Though Jin Wangsun's ploy was considered shameless by many upright figures, the majority of them could accept it. Being calculative was in Gold and Silver Sect's nature to begin with. It was, therefore, not surprising that they couldn't bear to part with the priceless Golden Crow Moon Eater.
Besides the Seven Dynasty-Founding Blades, which were seven amazing blades that appeared during the founding emperor's prime, there were seven other blades that possessed unique capabilities. Let us use Golden Crow Moon Eater as the topic of discussion: the blade's unique trait was its power and large size. It was a staple in empowering ancestors of Jin Clan's road to overcoming obstacles. It wasn't merely sharp and possible to be wielded swiftly.
Jin Wangsun opened the iron case. He slowly ran his hand along the handle, then the scabbard, then the edge of his family heirloom. As his hands ran along it, he sharpened his gaze and muttered under his breath, "With my clan's blade that can rule the world, I am without equal!"
When Jin Wangsun picked up the sabre, it seemed as if the blade shot countless blade qi shots into Ming Feizhen, turning him into a hedgehog.
"Brother Ming, you said that you only needed one weapon. Don't go regretting it."
Ming Feizhen stretched out his back and smiled, "Obviously I won't."
"Patriarch Jin will have two contestants and two blades. I have confirmed his eligibility. What about you Constable Ming?"
"Your subject is also fully prepared."
Tang Ye stood up and walked up behind Ming Feizhen after Ming Feizhen replied. Tang Ye stared at A Hu, who was also silent, with his hand placed on the ancient sword Heaven Shocker at his waist.
The Emperor nodded, "As you are all ready, Shining Edges shall now commence!!"
The moment "commence" exited the Emperor's mouth, A Hu ripped Tiger Fang out, looked up and howled as ferociously as a wild beast. The titan launched toward his target with the aggression of a cannonball. Like a fierce tiger's jaws going for its prey, Tiger Fang came swinging down from overhead. His violence was akin to dark clouds enveloping his two opponents.
At the same moment, Tang Ye sprang into action. The ancient sword, Heaven Shocker, made its appearance with the intensity of a cyclone, but was thrust upwards, instead, clashing with Tiger Fang multiple times. The sound of consecutive blows between the two blades resembled the sound of hundreds of glass shards falling onto a tray made from jade. The exchanges were so quick that that you'd think heavy rainfall fell into a basin.
The intense close exchange between the two was akin to running water pitted against rocks. Who won? Nobody knew.
Neither was able to get the jump on the other in the exchange. After splitting apart, the two zipped past one another. Taking just half a step, they suddenly twirled at the same time to swing back at each other! Like thunderclap, Tiger Fang challenged the icy sting of Heaven Shocker with its overbearing might. The second exchange put their life in the balance.
However…
"Wait. Wait!!" suddenly shouted Jin Wangsun, voice louder than the two's exchange.
The two engaged in combat halted upon hearing Jin Wangsun's voice. They almost failed to pull back in time amidst the combat. Both looked to Jin Wangsun with perplexed gazes. Actually, it wasn't just the two of them; everyone present looked his way.
All they saw and heard, though, was Jin Wangsun jumping up and down and loudly complaining, "Motherfucker! Fucking Ming Feizhen! What did you do?! Return me my sabre!"
Shifting their gaze to Ming Feizhen, they saw Ming Feizhen playing around with Golden Crow Moon Eater as if it was an antique.
"This is the blade that could rule the world? I didn't know how sharp it was before I saw it. Hehehe, I bet slicing pork shoulders with this would be…" said Ming Feizhen, before gulping his saliva. There was no hiding the gluttonous look on his face as he wrapped up his last word.
"Slice a pig's ass!" raged Jin Wangsun. After dropping vulgar bombs, he demanded, "Give it back! What sort of honourable man steals the weapon of another?!"
When the Emperor announced the commencement of the contest, A Hu and Tang Ye went off to their own corner. At the same time, Jin Wangsun planned to challenge the monster that Night Fortress' master was to prove his splendid skills developed over the years… while having a limitation on his skills. Unexpectedly, his beautiful dream he wanted to realise lasted less than the time it took to take a breath, as Ming Feizhen utilised techniques such as Dragon Capture Art and Moon Weaving Palms to easily snatch Golden Crow Moon Eater before Jin Wangsun could hold his blade properly.
Besides Jin Wangsun and A Hu, who were enjoying themselves, everyone else was dumbfounded. Needless to say, nobody was more dumbstruck than Jin Wangsun. Nobody ever expected the man to immediately snatch his opponent's weapon in a weapon contest!!
Impressed, the Emperor smacked his thigh and flipped a thumb, "Genius! Why didn't I think of that?! That must have been taught to you by Hero Shenzhou, right?!"
Princess Hongzhuang wore her admiration on her face, "That is a genius idea from Hero Shenzhou."
Jingan, on the other hand, saw through the deceit. Irate, she wanted to say, "What does Hero Shenzhou have to do with it? I'll bet anything it was another one of Fuma's underhanded tactics. Who does that? Snatching his opponent's weapon in Shining Edges, you'd expect him to come up with such a dirty tactic."
The witty old prime minister stroked his beard and applauded him, "Shameless, shameless. He certainly possesses my remarkable character from my early days!!"
Jin Wangsun pointed at Ming Feizhen with his finger. The royal family members' ridiculing gazes made it impossible for Jin Wangsun to brush it off. He quickly moulded energy and used Cloud Push Technique. He belted, "Are you not going to give back my Golden Crow Moon Eater?!"
However, Ming Feizhen thundered, "Insolence! His Majesty said bare-handed attacks were not permitted, yet you would knowingly break the rules?!"
Jin Wangsun had to force himself to pull back his internal energy when he had nearly fully executed his technique. Enraged, his face turned red. His rage almost induced an internal injury.
"Your Majesty, is this allowed?!"
"Uh… well…" The Emperor scratched the back of his head. "I don't see why not. He hasn't broken any rule."
"But he is using your subject's weapon!!"
"But he snatched it from you."
"Yet your subject cannot hit him?!"
"If you break the rules, you will lose the round. That's the rule of Shining Edges. There is no room for compassion in law."
A Hu tried to go and assit, but Tang Ye stopped him on every occasion, leaving Ming Feizhen and Jin Wangsun to shoot glares at each other.
Despite having Golden Crow Moon Eater in hand, Ming Feizhen didn't strike. Instead, he tossed the thick and heavy blade up into the air as if it was a fan and allowed it to rotate as it came back down. Jin Wangsun was so infuriated with Ming Feizhen's attitude, but all he could do was snatch it back.
"Give it back!" thundered Jin Wangsun.
Jin Wangsun reached out, but Ming Feizhen used unique footwork to evade. Jin Wangsun continued to pressure Ming Feizhen, but unfortunately, couldn't get his hands on him. The more panicked Jin Wangsun was, the more and more erratic the execution of his techniques became. He used techniques from every style in his books. Soon enough, it was barely discernable.
In order to hide his skills from the Emperor and not counterattack, Ming Feizhen dodged left and right, thereby preventing Jin Wangsun from catching him. He deliberately left an opening on his back. Jin Wangsun wobbled as he went to grab Ming Feizhen, who then rotated and shifted away. Jin Wangsun, who was dizzy by that point, was supposed to catch the air. Nevertheless, due to excessive output, he crashed into the flower vase Ming Feizhen was next to a moment ago, thereby inciting laughter from the audience.
"Don't be so hasty to return 'home', Brother Dagang," jeered Ming Feizhen, with a casual smirk on his face. "You've got plenty of time to stroke yourself after the contest ends."
Notes:
*"Don't be so hasty to return 'home', Brother Dagang." - Let's break this down.
Dagang = Big Vat
Jin Wangsun became notorious for his supposed fondness of lying in vats.
Combine the fact that Ming Feizhen used his "big vat" nickname on purpose and Jin Wangsun crashing into a flower vase, what does his home refer to? Hint: He's been in something similar before.
