Chapter 176 Sword Intent

"By the way, I have a proposal. Since we are both swordsmen, how about we have a sword duel?" The sinister elf smiled, a strange light flashing in his narrow eyes. "I am a swordsman too, and I'm very much looking forward to sparring with a human swordsman."

"Despicable wretch, step down!" Before Alansa could even shout, the elves below were already yelling in furious indignation.

"Despicable? As long as you can win, what is despicable? Wasn't that last stunt despicable?" the sinister elf argued with a straight face.

"Congratulations, Queen Fira." The Elf Queen said indifferently to Fira.

"Thank you." Fira accepted it without a shred of modesty. A trace of suppressed anger flashed across the Elf Queen's face, only to vanish instantly.

"Very well, but my sword..." Ye Tian didn't want the Rainbow-Piercing Sword to taste blood; this guy wasn't worthy of it.

"That makes things difficult. Surely you aren't planning to find some toy sword to fight me with, are you?" The sinister elf sneered.

"Who says there isn't one here?" Suddenly, a deep, resonant voice rang out as a middle-aged elf stepped onto the platform.

"Oh, if it isn't Master Morrison." The sinister elf addressed the middle-aged elf respectfully. "Decades have passed, how have you been, Master?"

"Quite well, until I ran into you just now." Morrison replied bluntly.

"Oh, so it's you." Ye Tian recognized the newcomer as the weapons shop owner he had commissioned to forge a weapon using dark-iron.

"Is your human hand alright?" Morrison frowned.

"I can still manage." Ye Tian smiled. "Thanks for your concern."

"Master Morrison, did you actually forge a weapon for a human of your own accord?" The sinister elf cried out angrily.

"Victor, do I need your permission to decide who I forge weapons for?" Morrison asked indifferently.

"Master, I have begged you so many times and you refused! Why would you agree to make one for a human?" Victor's face twisted with anger as he demanded an answer.

"You are not suited for the sword." Morrison said calmly, then turned to Ye Tian. "This is a sword blank I forged. Originally, I intended to temper it in moonlight, but given what happened, just try it out and see if the weight suits you." With that, he handed a longsword, three fingers wide, over to Ye Tian.

"Whoa, so heavy!" Taken completely by surprise, Ye Tian almost dropped it.

"I added some extra materials." Morrison said unconcernedly. "Good luck." Having said that, he stepped down.

Victor watched Morrison leave, then shifted his gaze to Ye Tian. "Human, if you lose, this sword must be handed over to me! Otherwise, I'll kill you!"

"Is that so? Then I suppose I'll just have to try my best." Ye Tian reversed his grip and rested the sword behind him.

"Hmph!" Victor sneered. "Whatever conditions you propose, I will fulfill them."

Ye Tian smiled bitterly. "I don't have much stamina left, and my hands and legs are aching to death. How about we decide the victory with a single strike?"

"Fine!" Victor shouted loudly, then muttered softly to Ye Tian, "Human, I can't guarantee what kind of accidents might happen."

Ye Tian smiled as well and replied, "Same here."

Both parties stepped ten paces apart. Victor drew his longsword from its scabbard—a blade encrusted with gems. "This is my beloved sword, Bloody Turin. Today, it will let you witness what true swordsmanship is!"

"Oh, really? I'm quite looking forward to it." Ye Tian suddenly raised his head, his eyes locked onto Victor. "Do you know about the Night Elves? You are a very lucky fellow, because you are the first—oh, wait, the first elf I've decided to kill."

"Then you can try!" Victor gripped his longsword tightly and smiled evilly, murderous intent instantly filling the surrounding air.

"Let me tell you a secret as well. Actually, I've been really angry all along!" Ye Tian also wore an evil smile and slowly closed his eyes.

"Begin!" At the referee's command, Victor immediately reached out to draw his sword. Suddenly, the surrounding air seemed to freeze, and a boundless sense of terror surged into his heart.

Victor's hand stopped. Although his fingers had already touched the hilt, making even the slightest forward movement of his own accord had become utterly impossible.

He raised his head to look at Ye Tian and suddenly realized that an eerie aura seemed to shroud Ye Tian's body—an aura like a razor-sharp blade, seemingly sketching patterns across his own neck.

"What's wrong with him?" Everyone around looked at the two of them in bewilderment. Sweat streamed down Victor's face as terror whispered to him that if he dared to draw his sword, death was certain. Yet if he didn't draw it, the suffocating oppression felt like it would burst his lungs!

The sweat on Victor's face multiplied, and the fear in his heart intensified. Why was he feeling this way? Could this fellow be using dark magic? But he was clearly a swordsman, and there wasn't the slightest fluctuation of magic power on him!

Draw the sword and certain death; don't draw it, and that intangible sense of doom would crush his heart. For the very first time, Victor felt regret—why had he chosen to duel someone whose background was completely unknown? At the same time, he felt a profound sense of self-pity for the first time in his life.

"Draw the sword! Draw the sword! Draw the sword!" Victor screamed inwardly, but his trembling fingers simply refused to touch the hilt. Furthermore, that feeling of death was growing more and more intense. No, he had to shatter this atmosphere! The human before him was merely battle trash; as long as he drew his sword, he would surely win!

"Ah!" Victor let out a roar, yanked his longsword from its scabbard, and charged toward Ye Tian.

Suddenly, Ye Tian opened his previously closed eyes, and a terror that pierced straight to the soul drilled into Victor's heart.

*Thud.* Victor's pace slowed, and he collapsed onto his knees right in front of Ye Tian, the longsword slipping from his grip and clattering to the ground.

"Victor! Victor!" Such a theatrical turn of events left everyone dumbfounded, entirely at a loss as to what had just happened.

"Interesting human! I like him!" Queen Fira licked her lips and said indifferently.

"Victor, are you alright?" Annoying as Victor might be, familial ties within the Night Elf race still prompted some elves to step forward and check on his condition.

"What happened to you?" Victor asked with a shudder.

"What happened?" one Night Elf asked. "Could he have used some sort of dark magic?"

"Idiot, if there were magic fluctuations, wouldn't you have felt them?" his companion whispered beside him, then said to Victor, "Forget it, let's head back." With that, they helped Victor up and prepared to leave.

"Gel! Gel, you were amazing!" Free of any worries, Alansa immediately bounded forward, joyfully hurling herself into Ye Tian's arms.

"Gel, why didn't you draw your sword?" Rorola and the others hurried over as well, because Ye Tian's body had begun to sway.

"Damn that Master! This sword couldn't be drawn at all! It made me use all my milk-fed strength and it still wouldn't budge, so I had no choice but to put on a show and bluff my way through!" Ye Tian said angrily.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I forgot to tell you that drawing this sword requires pressing a specific spot," the elf master said coolly from below.

"Pfft!" A mouthful of blood spewed three meters into the air as Victor's eyes rolled back and he fainted on the spot.

"The winner is the human!" The referee shouted joyfully. The Night Elves had suffered a massive blow; although it wasn't their own people who had defeated them, seeing their rivals humiliated still brought them a great deal of satisfaction.

"I am willing to offer this to the Elf Queen, for it rightfully belongs to you." Ye Tian said respectfully toward the platform.

"Flatterer!" Fira curled her lip and muttered under her breath.

The Elf Queen stood up and addressed Ye Tian, "Respected Lord Gel, on behalf of the entire elf race, I thank you. You are our forever friend!"

Instantly, the elves below burst into cheers. What day was today? The Tree of Wisdom had awakened, the Bow of the Elves had returned—could there be any event more joyous than this?

"Thank you, Your Majesty. Well, I'm feeling a bit unwell, so I'm going to go rest now, haha." Ye Tian finished speaking, coughed up another mouthful of blood, and splattered it all over Alansa.

"Gel! Gel!" Before Alansa could shout many more times, Ye Tian's body went limp and he collapsed straight to the ground, fast asleep.

Waking up from a comfortable sleep, Ye Tian found his bedside crammed with people.

"Wake up! Wake up!" Ye Tian shook Alansa, who was sprawled across his chest—no wonder he had felt so suffocated.