Superhumans of the Dome City
Chapter 153 - 153 51 Fierce Battle Memories Intentional or Unintentional

153: Chapter 51: Fierce Battle, Memories, Intentional or Unintentional 153: Chapter 51: Fierce Battle, Memories, Intentional or Unintentional “What are you going to do?”

The expressionless girl asked.

“Um, I plan to awaken the Dragon Species in this city.

To have many dragons appear here.”

The man pushed An Yushi’s body to the side.

“A lot of people will die.”

To this, the man replied cheerfully.

“If you don’t want to see it, come and stop me.”

The conversation had ended.

She knew the true nature of this man.

Qin Ming would not change his mind due to anyone’s persuasion.

Rather, he didn’t care about others’ opinions.

“I want to see your progress.”

Once again, he took the initiative to invite.

He didn’t force his opponents to start a fight; that was his habit.

He would issue an invitation to an opponent he was interested in, and if rejected, he wouldn’t force them.

He’d find another way to make others fight him.

Like now, making a small detour to reach his goal in the way he cherished.

There was only one way to stop him.

Force.

Violence.

Ruthless measures.

To fulfill his own desires in another way—!

“!”

The blade piercing through the high air emitted a sharp sound that was hard to describe.

The two were about seven meters apart.

Qin Qianbai swung his sword sideways.

He aimed not at a distant human body but at the vacant air.

A threatening, deceptive empty slash…?

“Um.”

Ming Guest had a smile in his eyes; he had seen the girl’s movement and admired her creativity.

As the long blade sliced through the air, the solid blade tip softened for a moment.

A droplet of water flew off with the slash, breaking away from the Ming Blade and flying toward the man’s head like a snake!

Qin Secret Skill Flash Snake.

“Not bad.”

The man in blue held the long sword with only his right hand.

He raised his free left hand, pinching gently with two fingers.

The ink-colored droplet lay on his fingertips as comfortably as if catching a falling petal.

All in the span of a moment, not quite half a second.

The droplet flew out, Ming Guest caught it, and at the same time…

Only the afterimage remained at the girl’s original position, her true form having moved to within two meters in front of Ming Guest at that moment!

“——!”

The Ming Blade held inverted, blade pointing downward.

Ming Guest’s attention focused above his head, Qin Qianbai took the opportunity to attack below!

Her black hair danced in the air, and the long sword swept towards Ming Guest’s ankles like lightning, using the surge to accelerate, wielding the blade with the force of thunder.

Originally a move to swiftly decapitate, now she used it in an unconventional manner!

Qin Secret Skill Swift Slash.

“A beautiful opening move.”

In that instant, even she couldn’t see the man’s motion clearly.

A flash of cold light.

The dull yellow faded, leaving only a bright long sword.

The sword reversed, tapping the tip of the Ming Blade.

With a light sound of clinking, the slash was blocked by the long sword.

Within less than one second, the two had exchanged two rounds of blows.

Ming Guest seemed to have no intention of pursuing, merely swaying the blade lightly, and Qin Qianbai pulled back her sword, retreating several meters!

No disappointment was apparent on Ming Guest’s face, instead, his smile broadened.

A smooth slit appeared beside his foot; the front of the train they stood on trembled slightly.

Then…

The cut spread, turning into a smooth section.

Starting from this cut that had suddenly appeared, a third of the train’s front slid off from the main body and fell from the sky!

This was the result of Ming Guest’s earlier sway.

Had the girl not retreated from combat, it would have been her body split in two at that moment!

“…Phew.”

Qin Qianbai breathed heavily for a moment, feeling tense even now.

Ming Guest lightly stepped on the train’s nose, the severed train body autonomously glued back onto the train.

Ten large hands grew on the train’s front, tossing the ten Manifestation Mages who had fallen previously back into the rear cart.

His smile now held less of an elder’s care and more of a martial artist’s curiosity and excitement.

—The consideration for his junior ended here.

Qin Qianbai had passed the gentle test.

The real duel began at this moment.

The long sword lit up again with a dull yellow color.

“Ming Blade, Ming Guest.”

“Imperial Capital Qin’s, Qin Qianbai.”

Both stepped forward, swinging their blades.

At the moment the blades met, childhood memories involuntarily flashed through their minds.

·

That was 12 years ago.

Qin Qianbai had just turned seven.

In the eyes of the girl at the time, the world was simple and bright.

During half of the day, she used to study at a private school with familiar playmates.

The teachers were strict, but they did not assign too much homework.

As a descendant of the Qin family, she had more important matters to tend to…

Martial Arts.

She endured physical training and honed her skills.

The rest of her time was spent doing just that.

Her grandfather had named her Qianbai not only because she lacked the wood element according to the Five Elements, but also to express the wish that, despite being like fragile grass, she would be as strong as a poplar tree.

Qianbai thought to herself that strength equated to power, and her grandfather’s choice of her name likely meant that being powerful would suffice even if she was a girl.

So, she spent more time practicing martial arts, and the adults all praised her saying that she was very sensible.

Interestingly enough, she initially started learning to make her elders happy, but as she practiced, she found martial arts intriguing.

After seeing the elders demonstrate a technique once, she would mimic it a few times and understand how it was done.

Power generation, stepping, posture—she learned these much faster than the literature taught by teachers.

She felt she was smarter than the other children in her household because they all learned very slowly.

Gradually, the number of elders who came to teach her increased.

Some were uncles and aunts she only saw during festivals, and others were much older elders she had never met even at those gatherings.

After a while, her grandfather, who was always smiling and chatting with everyone, personally came to teach her martial arts.

Her playmates all said she was impressive, and the elders genuinely liked her.

Not only did the uncles and aunts teach her martial arts, they also talked to her about other things and listened to her talk about her daily routine.

Among the family mentors, she had the best relationship with Uncle Ming, who belonged to her parents’ generation.

The elders said she was a prodigy, and they said Uncle Ming was a prodigy too, even her grandfather said so.

However, she observed Uncle Ming and could hardly see anything prodigious about him: he often squatted down with children asking them about TVs and computers; he spoke very simply, as if he were the same age; he seldom practiced at home, always venturing out alone only to come back with a lot of food; sometimes he stood in the yard looking at the sky, seemingly lost in thought…

It was only during martial arts training that Uncle Ming’s brilliance became apparent: the techniques he taught were as difficult as those taught by her grandfather, and took a while to learn.

Since it took a long time to learn the techniques, she spent more time with Uncle Ming than with other elders, their relationship naturally grew stronger.

Every so often, Uncle Ming would secretly take her out to the bustling areas of the capital.

When they went out, he was always followed by a few classmates: a man in black who looked smug and was lukewarm towards everyone; a stout, short young man who was out of breath after walking a few steps; and a tall-capped scholar who was amusing to talk to.

The group often argued among themselves about the Dragon Disaster, schools, national affairs, historical legends…

They could quarrel about anything, speaking in terms they didn’t understand, but would soon make amends.

Uncle Ming rarely took part in the arguments, first because he wasn’t good at verbal disputes, often cut off by his classmates after a few words, unable to retort, and second, because he was uninterested in many topics.

As soon as they started discussing the world situation, the current emperor, the Impermanence Law Enforcers, etc., he would frown, cover his ears, and run off with her to buy snacks and enjoy the scene.

Uncle Ming said if they thought too much, they’d live a tiring life, and she agreed wholeheartedly.

Uncle Ming said the most important thing in life was being happy, and she couldn’t agree more.

She thought these people were a bit odd, but since everyone treated her well, she didn’t care too much.

Besides, even though they argued daily, Uncle Ming still chose to go out with them each time, showing that he enjoyed their company.

Perhaps that’s just how friendships are at an older age?

The peaceful days passed by, and she spent every day with a smile, seldom feeling unhappy.

Qianbai had thought these days would continue endlessly.

Until the last day of winter that year.

That morning, Uncle Ming stood alone in the yard.

As she approached and greeted him, she stood beside the green-clad man.

Uncle Ming said he had many things he wanted to do, yet although doing those things made him happy, others might not be happy.

She suggested that he discuss it with grandfather.

Uncle Ming mentioned that he was learning the Dragon Slaying Skill, in which he was more skilled than grandfather.

What made him hesitate was whether he should carry it through completely.

Grandfather always said to leave some leeway in one’s actions, and she thought this saying made a lot of sense.

So she advised him, saying being thorough in all things could easily offend others and might also harm oneself.

Even if doing things one enjoyed, it was still better to leave some leeway.

Uncle Ming thought for a long time and concluded that leaving leeway could keep the heart intact, but being thorough could cause one to lose the heart.

The final decision still depended on the individual.

After saying this, Uncle Ming left, and she thought perhaps Uncle Ming had been reading profound texts recently and hadn’t thought deeply about them.

That evening, she was awoken from sleep by a faint commotion outside.

She thought everyone was hiding something from her and organizing some secret activity, so she excitedly slipped out the door, but what she saw was not the lively scene she had imagined, but people lying in pools of blood.

Blood, so much blood, had dyed the snow in the courtyard red.

Parents, uncles, and the elders who had always treated her kindly, everyone was lying in the blood-stained snow.

There was a line of red footprints on the ground.

She followed them, not knowing what she was thinking, only remembering that her mind was blank at the time, wanting to see who had done such a thing.

Along the way, she saw more family members, their lives hanging in the balance.

She walked to the back mountain and saw her grandfather’s silhouette.

Her grandfather was confronting a man.

She had never seen such a serious expression on her grandfather’s face.

The man was dressed in blue, holding a pair of blades, and covered in blood.

He stood in the bamboo forest on the snowy night, raising his hand to greet her.

“You’ve come, Qin Qianbai.”

“I’ve always wanted to have a serious fight with everyone.”

The man smiled satisfyingly, regrettably.

“I’m delighted, I saw many moves.

But none as good as the ones I use; everyone is too weak.”

“A family that bases its standing on martial arts must become stronger.”

“How about you, Qin Qianbai?”

“I think you might be stronger than them.”

The man in blue approached step by step, smiling as he used to when he took her out to play.

“—Want to fight?”

·

Clang!

The handle of the ink blade knocked against the Ming blade, using offense as defense, dodging the Ming Guest’s slash…

It should have been so, but the movement of her hands slowed for a moment.

The dull blade came slashing, about to sever both the ink blade and the girl’s neck, but it stopped quietly.

“You were distracted.”

“Yeah, I was thinking about my childhood.”

There’s no shame in admitting it openly.

Encountering this man again after more than a decade, it would be strange not to feel anything.

By comparison, his constant composure, even from the perspective of a martial artist, seemed extremely abnormal.

If his soul were like that of an ordinary person, he probably couldn’t have done what he did back then.

Ming Guest muttered, troubled.

“Do you hold a grudge against me?”

The expressionless girl shook her head.

“I just feel, you are an exceptionally nasty adult.”

Ming Guest’s brows relaxed, and he smiled.

“Being happy is still the most important thing in life.”