Chapter 231

Chapter 231: Iron Kill Versus Cold Spirit Book (1)

This man possessed completely unremarkable features and dressed like an old pedant, yet the magical weapon book he held in his hands was enormous. Lou Yun was certain this person hadn’t been present during his last visit to the imperial palace; clearly, he was another member of the Han family. Moreover, judging simply by the size and imposing aura of the book mountain he had just thrown out, his strength undoubtedly far surpassed that of Han Rui.

The man swayed his head as he walked, stopping two meters in front of Tie Sha. After looking him up and down, he repeatedly shook his head and said, “Strange, very strange. I’ve never seen a child like you possess such astounding power before. By the way, why are your eyes closed? Are you blind?”

Tie Sha, who was never one for conversation, paid his questioning no heed. He merely tightened his grip on the huge sword in his hand and stood quietly in place.

Instead, Wen Hou chuckled and asked, “Hey, who are you? Care to tell us your name!”

The old pedant turned towards the sound of his voice, giving all three a glance before nodding. “I am Han Ling Shu, the guardian of this first barrier. Which of you is Lou Yun? I’m here to fight him!”

Lou Yun immediately stepped forward. At this moment, he still intended to take Tie Sha’s place. However, the usually silent Tie Sha suddenly raised his huge sword directly. The sword was roughly two meters long, so its tip now pointed directly at Han Ling Shu’s throat.

“Your opponent right now is me. If you want to face Lou Yun, you must first defeat me!”

In all the time Lou Yun had known Tie Sha, he had never heard him utter such a long sentence. Hearing it now made Lou Yun understand; just as Wen Hou had said, only one of them, Tie Sha or Han Ling Shu, would remain standing!

With that thought, Lou Yun abandoned his idea of stepping in and stated gravely, “I am Lou Yun. The person before you is my brother, Tie Sha. You heard what he said. If you wish to fight me, you must first defeat him. However, I regret to inform you that you won’t get the chance to fight me!”

After listening, Han Ling Shu was momentarily stunned before suddenly bursting into loud laughter. “Haha! I’ve been secluded in this valley for far too long. I really hadn’t imagined the young people of today could be this arrogant!”

His laughter ceased abruptly. Han Ling Shu lightly tapped the sword pointing at his throat with the book he was holding. “Tie Sha, right? I quite admire your courage. I’ll play around with you. But before we start, let me tell you something: the magical weapon of our Han family is the book. And in each generation of Han family members, only one person earns the right to be named with the characters ‘Ling Shu’ (Spirit Book). So, encountering me is truly your misfortune!”

Lou Yun hadn’t heard of this before, but Chang Xiang confirmed it: “Indeed. It’s not just the Han family; among the nine families, one outstanding individual in each generation is chosen and named after their family’s magical weapon. This person is essentially the next clan head, holding an extremely high position within the clan. So you can imagine, Han Ling Shu’s strength is absolutely not to be underestimated! Tie Sha is very likely not his match.”

Watching Tie Sha’s mountain-like figure standing steadfast at the valley entrance, a wave of inexplicable respect surged in Lou Yun’s heart. “No, I believe Tie Sha is stronger than him!”

Chang Xiang didn’t argue with Lou Yun about it, because deep down, he too very much hoped Tie Sha would prove stronger than Han Ling Shu!

At that moment, Tie Sha’s voice rang out again. “Have you finished talking? If you’re done, then let’s begin! I can’t wait to kill you!”

“Haha!” Han Ling Shu clearly took Tie Sha’s words as a joke. “We may begin!”

As soon as his words fell, Tie Sha’s huge sword, which Han Ling Shu had tapped downward slightly moments before, suddenly reversed course and swept upwards in a fierce slash!

Although Han Ling Shu had mentally prepared himself for the fight, Tie Sha’s completely unconventional sword strike still surprised him slightly. In that hurried moment, he couldn’t think of a good way to defend and could only leap backward to evade the strike. However, the wave of spiritual energy trailing from the giant sword’s tip sliced a tear in his clothing.

After delivering the one sword strike, Tie Sha immediately retracted his stance, exhaling a puff of air thick with utter disdain from his nostrils!

Han Ling Shu’s face flushed instantly red. Mere moments ago he had been grandiosely proclaiming his own prowess, yet in the very first exchange, the opponent had managed to cut his clothes! It was like receiving two stinging slaps across the face!

“Vile boy! Sneak attack!”

He tried to save face by throwing out this accusation. With it, he hurled his magical book at Tie Sha: “Double Book Prison!”

The flying book split with astonishing speed – one into two, two into four, four into eight, eight into sixteen – as it flew through the air. Then, end to end, they formed two chains that spiraled through the air intent on entangling Tie Sha.

Han Rui had once learned book mountain but failed to master book prison, and ultimately met his demise at Lou Yun’s hands. Later, when Lou Yun tried to flee, an Elder of the Han family employed the Single Book Prison. Just as it was about to snare Lou Yun, Leng Cangqiong had appeared out of nowhere and effortlessly shattered it.

Now, Han Ling Shu, flushed with rage and humiliation, opened with the Double Book Prison, clearly wanting to finish Tie Sha off as swiftly as possible.

Though his eyes were closed, the sensory abilities Tie Sha had honed over many years of blindness far surpassed those of ordinary people. Feeling the rapid surge of spiritual energy in the air, he abruptly raised his huge sword high and brought it crashing straight down in front of him!

Lou Yun had witnessed the ferocity of this straightforward slash before. The first time he saw Tie Sha fight, it was with this simple, direct, technique-devoid attack that had cleaved an enemy and his weapon clean in half.

Now, despite two book chains spiraling through the air, the power behind Tie Sha’s descending blade was overwhelming. As the sword fell, the air around it seemed to freeze. It struck the two chains cleanly and easily bisected them into four segments.

Once again, the second clash ended with Han Ling Shu’s defeat!

Han Ling Shu was now simultaneously shocked and furious. Fortunately, the magical weapon book he had thrown was forged purely from externally condensed energy. Had it been his actual personal weapon, he would likely have been severed himself just now!

After a stunned pause, Han Ling Shu scrambled backward, retreating three or four zhang in haste. His hands moved as if performing a magic trick, rapidly flinging out one open magical weapon book after another from his grasp. In the blink of an eye, a dense and numerous sea of books floated menacingly before him!

Seeing this, Lou Yun was reminded of Han Rui. Previously, Han Rui had ejected nine books in one breath, a speed that had stunned Lou Yun at the time. Yet compared to Han Ling Shu now, Han Rui’s ability and speed in manifesting books seemed utterly insignificant. This once again proved that Han Ling Shu was indeed worthy of being Han family’s chosen elite.

“You think you’re tough? Try this, boy: Nine Fold Book Prison!”

Following Han Ling Shu’s enraged roar, the mass of books surged toward Tie Sha. Simultaneously, the books continued to split at blinding speed. In an instant, most of the sky was filled with books. This time, they weren’t merely linking end-to-end to form chains; they were assembling in various bizarre configurations.

By the time they drew near Tie Sha, the formation was complete – shockingly morphing into a square, cage-like structure complete with barred walls.

Tie Sha raised his huge sword once more and brought it down with devastating force.

The sword struck squarely on one of the cage’s horizontal bars, producing a sharp “clang!” Immediately, a tremendous recoil surged up Tie Sha’s arm, forcing his sword involuntarily upwards.

“Hmph! This is the Nine Fold Book Prison. Do you really think your sword can cut through it now?” Han Ling Shu scoffed coldly.

Seizing the moment when Tie Sha’s sword was lifted, the entirely book-formed cage slammed down over him from above with crushing force!

“Bang! Snap! Crack!” Crisp sounds rang out one after another. Looking closely, the cage had descended over Tie Sha and slammed heavily onto the ground. Amazingly, the books forming the base drove themselves forcefully into the earth, anchoring deep.

Thus, a prison was truly formed. For Tie Sha, it was a cage cutting him off from sky and earth. His huge sword, thrusting upward through a gap in the ceiling bars, became lodged, pinning the blade overhead. His entire body was thoroughly immobilized within the cage, utterly robbed of any capacity to fight or strike!

Seeing Tie Sha finally successfully imprisoned, Han Ling Shu couldn’t contain a triumphant burst of wild laughter. “So, boy, still think you’re strong? Got the strength to chop through my Nine Fold Book Prison now? Have a go!”

Unfazed, Tie Sha followed the suggestion. He raised his sword again and slashed down with brutal force, trying to sever the bars trapping his blade. Yet, all it elicited was more sharp “clang!” sounds. The entire prison structure remained utterly unaffected.

“Alright! I’ve toyed with you long enough! Prepare to die!”

As he spoke, Han Ling Shu’s hands began weaving complex seals at blinding speed. Recognizing the gestures from his remarkable memory, Lou Yun realized the Han family member was preparing to unleash the Book Mountain technique!

Now that Tie Sha was imprisoned and immobile within the Book Prison, the crushing power of a Book Mountain descending upon him would leave him no chance to resist, no path to survival!

Once again, Lou Yun desperately wanted to rush out and save Tie Sha. But once again, Wen Hou’s hand clamped firmly on his arm. Lou Yun turned and saw Wen Hou’s face, still bearing its slight smile. Wen Hou said, “Don’t be so hasty. Tie Sha hasn’t fallen yet!”

In those short moments, Han Ling Shu completed his seals. He roared, “Kun-level mid-grade weapon technique, Nine Layers of Book Mountains!”

Simultaneously, everyone present felt an overwhelming, suffocating surge of spiritual energy suddenly materialize all around them!

Lou Yun, Shui Lingluo, and Xiao Tong’s group hidden in the shadows were still processing the source of this terrifying energy when Han Ling Shu, standing opposite Tie Sha inside the cage, suddenly exclaimed in surprise, “Huh? Your eyes… they’re open! Turns out… you’re not blind after all!”