Chapter Seven: The Destiny of a Nation versus the Zenith of Human Might
Ding Xingfeng was silent for a moment, then suddenly burst into laughter.
“Ha ha ha… ha ha ha ha ha ha!”
His laughter grew louder and louder until it became uncontrollable, a hearty, belly-shaking guffaw.
He laughed for quite some time before finally catching his breath and stopping in shaky gasps.
After a pause, the Great Wei Martial Saint extended his hand and gave Gu Fangchen’s shoulder a heavy pat. He took a deep breath to steady himself, then, expressionless, gave a thumbs-up:
“Just for making me laugh, I’ll make sure to give you a real treat next.”
This unpredictable young man had finally made the eternally solitary Martial Saint realize—
That even when a person is utterly speechless, laughter can still burst forth…
Gu Fangchen staggered a step from the hard pat.
Ouch—
He grimaced, rubbing his shoulder, feeling it was probably bruised and close to dislocation.
He thought to himself, “You better make that treat worth it…”
Above their heads, the countdown had already passed half an hour.
Ding Xingfeng did not catch the pebble Gu Fangchen threw but instead picked one up himself from the ground. Tossing it up and down, he narrowed his eyes.
“How many skips?”
In his two centuries of life, he had never seen anything so absurd.
Gambling on skipping stones with a Martial Saint? How novel.
What did this kid think he was, the Martial Saint? Some roadside nickname?
Even if this kid insisted on a thousand skips, he would make him see what being a Martial Saint truly meant.
Martial prowess at its peak, and the ultimate way is called saintly.
It was the pinnacle of skill all martial cultivators dreamed of.
If one couldn’t even manage such a trivial feat, then the title of Martial Saint was worthless, better just hand it over to this kid!
Gu Fangchen smirked inwardly, knowing this old man’s temper all too well.
Though he was officially retired, he was tremendously proud and could not let go of even a shred of his reputation.
A little provocation would make him fly into a rage.
Of course, it couldn’t be too obvious; it had to make him unconsciously think, “How could I possibly fail?”
Otherwise, the old man would catch on immediately.
They had tested this many times, each attempt costing players’ lives!
Gu Fangchen glanced at the lake and casually said:
“Three.”
Ding Xingfeng turned his head.
“You sure?”
Gu Fangchen smiled and nodded:
“Exactly three. No more, no less.”
Ding Xingfeng exhaled sharply.
Fine, it seemed this kid was just looking for death, seeing he wouldn’t live much longer.
He twisted his arm and threw the stone forward without even watching.
“All right, you—”
Just as he spoke, a sudden ominous feeling rose in his heart, and he whipped his head around.
“Splash! Splash!… Crash!”
The stone skipped twice on the water’s surface. Anyone seeing its momentum would know that after the third skip, it would inevitably sink.
Yet, just as the stone was about to fall, a fish suddenly leapt from the lake, snapping at the stone.
Ding Xingfeng’s expression darkened, and he spat sharply at the fish.
The spit shot forth like an arrow at lightning speed, piercing the fish’s head instantly.
The fish turned into a corpse mid-air, stiffening, and fell back into the water.
But Ding Xingfeng’s spit did not lose force; it struck a precariously lodged branch caught between two stones.
“Crack!”
The branch snapped, causing the two larger stones to tumble down.
The waves stirred by those stones would surely knock the small pebble off course!
Ding Xingfeng’s pupils contracted; in that instant, his mindset subtly shifted.
This kid really was something uncanny!
Even if he smashed those stones to dust now, something else might arise to stir up waves again.
His expression hardened as he snorted coldly.
But so what?
A mere ripple or wave could be suppressed by force!
He stepped forward with his right foot, stamping lightly downwards.
Instantly, a rumbling echoed through the forest, even faintly felt within White Horse Temple.
Any martial master above fourth rank present would notice the entire mountain peak beneath White Horse Temple sank an inch to the lower right.
Meanwhile, the lake at the mountain’s base suddenly became eerily still under his foot.
Where moments before countless ripples had spread, now it was as if an invisible hand smoothed the surface flat.
The entire lake was mirror-smooth.
Not a single wave remained.
The two huge stones collided midair and sank without causing any ripples.
Gu Fangchen watched in astonishment.
No wonder he was a Martial Saint — truly formidable…
No matter how uncanny you are, I can break all with brute force. What can you do?
Ding Xingfeng watched the pebble smoothly touch the water’s surface, then placed his hands behind his back, calm as ever.
See, I said three skips, so…
The pebble touched the water, but it did not bounce again; it sank straight down.
“What?”
Ding Xingfeng was stunned, eyes wide.
Beside him, Gu Fangchen sighed regretfully:
“How come it’s two skips?”
Ding Xingfeng waved his hand sharply, retrieving the two stones that had fallen.
Where they had struck each other, one stone’s surface was broken, revealing its true nature beneath.
Pitch black, deep and mysterious as ink.
It was… a yin-yang magnet stone.
And the small stone Ding Xingfeng had thrown was firmly attracted and held by this magnet stone…
His expression at that moment was indescribable.
He silently held the pebble he had picked up and gently squeezed it.
It was the same pitch-black color inside.
This… was also a magnet stone!
Gu Fangchen seemed to realize the problem, raising an eyebrow as he smashed the stone in his hand hard onto the ground.
“Crack!”
It broke into two halves—just an ordinary, common stone.
In other words, if Ding Xingfeng had caught Gu Fangchen’s pebble just now, it wouldn’t have been pulled away.
But Ding Xingfeng had used the magnet stone he chose himself.
His own choice had led to this result.
All of this unfolded in the blink of an eye.
The mighty Martial Saint had exerted all his strength, yet still could not stop the stone’s altered trajectory.
Ding Xingfeng: “…”
He grimaced and slowly turned to look at Gu Fangchen, eyes wide as if seeing a ghost.
Gu Fangchen shrugged, blinking innocently.
“You laugh at me for not understanding Martial Saints; I laugh at you for not understanding national fate.”
Just kidding—the weight of a nation’s destiny, old Deng, can you really bear it?
Ding Xingfeng’s expression flickered uneasily as he ground the magnet stone in his hand to powder.
He could naturally change his mind.
Even if he turned hostile now and killed Gu Fangchen, no one would interfere.
After all, he was already known as a ruthless villain who had slain over ten thousand people.
But he had to admit, he was truly curious now—
Why was national fate tied to the heir of the Northern Town Lord?