Abyss Express

Foreword:

The face is the mirror of the soul.

——Maxim Gorky

Belloberg's sword hilt fell into the spring. It did not sink, but floated on the water.

Xueming wanted to test the depth of the water by throwing stones to ask for directions, but this abnormal phenomenon made him confused, as if in the Elf Holy Land, the common sense of physics that "metal sinks when meeting water" no longer applies.

Now, Xueming must put aside some worries and all precautions.

Because this is Beloberg's trial, a duel, a spiritual contest, a head-on confrontation of courage and determination!

Is the crystal clear liquid in the spring eye mercury?

Just jump down like that? Jump inside?

Xueming didn't think much, just touched the water source with her fingers, and immediately felt the strong suction.

An earth-shaking gravity pulled him into the "Fountain of Wisdom"——

——If your memory is good enough, you should remember the geysers at Mimir Hot Spring Market. After hundreds of thousands of years of environmental evolution, they turned into lava. If you want to get a disaster beast that is extraordinary in nature and becomes a god, you have to face the pain of being tempered by fire.

These springs are Mimir's nerves, connecting the brain and limbs of the ancestor of the gods.

Just like the [Dreamland] created by fragrant dreams, there is also a strange spiritual world in these springs. This is the hometown of elves, the elves’ sanctuary in the spiritual world.

The world was completely turned upside down. Xueming plunged into the spring and immediately surfaced. It was pushed back to the surface by the strong current.

Before he had time to pick up Belloberg's sword hilt, he saw a blue heart hanging on the dome. Illuminating this strange village, the light source coming from the water is the light reaching the sky that Brother Lang and Xueming saw in the material plane.

The blue heart is still beating, and every time it pumps, it brings a strong spiritual energy tide. There are many small spiritual bodies like butterflies fluttering their wings. The moment they fly away from the heart, they are sucked in by the powerful spiritual energy. go back.

Xueming took a closer look and saw that those young and weak spirits were like vague human shapes, exactly what Belloberg described when he introduced himself, like a little goblin wearing a blue pointed hat.

But in the blink of an eye, a terrifying bloody eye opened on the surface of the heart. It stared at Jiang Xueming. The bloodshot eyes spread, and then dyed the whole heart red. The Heart of Light, which was originally a body of pure energy, seemed to have been cursed by corrupted flesh and blood, and pieces of flesh, muscles, and blood vessels sprouted out.

Xueming is waiting for the challenge——

——He thought to himself that this might be the Vita brand that poisoned Mimir.

The mountain giants are the children of Mimir. The mountain monsters will turn back into stone during hibernation. The giants seen in Niflheim should all be pure energy beings in their initial forms. Born in a variety of strange weather and geological activities.

The Vita Brand controlled them, parasitizing or symbiotically living in their bodies, transforming Mimir's rock body and giving it a physical body. When it came time to repay the human flesh business, Mimir was also in trouble and was about to be cursed to death by the Vita brand. He decided to default on the debt and no longer wanted to work for nothing for the earth mother, so he lay down and put away this curse of flesh and blood. Gave it to thousands of underground creatures.

After a while, this wonderful evolution came to an end, and a ball of black pus and blood dripped from the beating flesh and blood heart. This drop of blood and tears fell into the clear spring water, and Xueming was not allowed to take back Beloberg. The hilt of the sword tightly wrapped the psychic medium.

The blood eyes closed again and returned to their original appearance, turning into a deep blue heart again, pumping out bursts of light with the slow and heavy heartbeat.

The Sword of Belloberg lying on the surface of the spring began to expand, and was repeatedly transformed by this mass of flesh and blood seeds. In just a few seconds, the flesh sprouts were like saplings that grew wildly in the light, and legs grew on the surface of the smooth spring water. Legs and thighs grew out, a belly and trunk grew out, a rough stony skin grew out, a head and facial features grew out.

It was an indistinguishable flesh-and-blood clay statue with no specific outline. When it held Belloberg in its hands, it saw twisted flesh buds climbing up the sword frame and gradually turning into a complete blade.

"Come on, gunsmith." Belloberg spoke, and from the mouth of this flesh-and-blood clay statue, he issued an invitation to a duel.

Jiang Xueming gestured: "What do you mean, as long as I defeat you, you will follow me?"

Belloberg: "That's right."

Jiang Xueming put on a fighting stance: "Have you really reached the stage of rebellion?"

Belloberg used a flat sword stance, raised the sword to his shoulder, and kept his eyes and hands in line with the sword's edge.

"I have the memory of your battle with Bu Liuxing. Want to go to Shambhala? At least get through me first!"

As soon as he said this, Beloberg raised his sword and tried to get closer——

——Xue Ming immediately raised his hand and shouted stop.

"Wait a moment!"

Beloberg said proudly: "What? Do you regret it?"

Xueming: "I want to raise the bet, please call for a helper."

"Ah?" Beloberg opened his stone mouth wide: "Do you actually think that I am not enough for you? You are too arrogant!"

Xue Ming said sincerely: "I want to help Benny find a spirit, preferably one with a simple mind and a simple mind - her soul is cursed and a piece is missing. You call for a helper. If I win, I will take you away."

Saying this, Xueming immediately called Fragrant Fantasy.

The big steel cat stepped forward, one man and one spirit divided into two groups to put pressure on Belloberg.

"I really don't know how high the sky is." Beloberg pursed his lips and gestured to the blue heart in the sky.

The bloody eye appeared again, spitting out a second ball of blood tears, and transformed into a new flesh and blood clay statue - this time the goblins also looked at the warrior at the spring, very interested in this unfair competition.

"Let's fight!" Fenfang Huanmeng geared up and asked the main body: "Hey, which one are you dealing with?"

Jiang Xueming: "I'll deal with the one with the sword, and you go and beat the one with bare hands."

Fragrant Fantasy: "No problem!"

Belloberg took out his hand and patted the flesh and blood clay statue beside him, and shouted to Xueming: "This good brother is me too! It's all me! You want to deal with me armed with a weapon as a mortal?"

Jiang Xueming: "I'm not looking down on you, this is a kind of military strategy, and the process will be very fast."

"Art of War?" Beloberg asked doubtfully.

Jiang Xueming spoke frankly and finished all the tactics: "Fengfang Huanmeng's speed and power are far superior to mine. At first, I couldn't figure out your account data. Since you told me so openly - your power Based on my combat experience, you are my mirror clone, so letting me, an inferior horse with bare hands, deal with your sword-holding form is the best exchange plan."

"If SD can quickly defeat the enemy, then I and Hunwei will fight two against one, and you will have no chance of winning."

"Aren't you afraid of having your head cut off by me? It only takes a few seconds! Your best skills and tactics are" Beloberg hadn't finished speaking.

Jiang Xueming interrupted: "Let's try it. You have never been to Pankrasin Palace, so you don't know what I have experienced."

The sword spirit didn't know what happened after Jiang Xueming's visit to Shinto City. All it knew about its master was only at the moment when the blast ninja used strange spiritual energy to dissolve the blade. As for what happened next, including the Sun Castle team and the Alliance of Eternals, as well as the Autumn Harvest Operation in Shambhala, all of this came from Jiang Xueming's mouth.

It was beaten by the blast ninja until its heart was broken. As a stick, it has been disconnected from Xueming. Not to mention what level of perverted freaks lived in Pankrasin Palace, and what kind of terrible combat experience Jiang Xueming had absorbed from these old monsters who had been sleeping for decades.

Faced with his master's calm and indifferent attitude, Belloberg acted fierce and inwardly. He strode forward and used the edge of his sword to force Xueming to choose a position - Fragrant Fantasy's range was only sixteen meters, so it changed its mind and asked another clone to coordinate with it. Synchronous flanking attack, no longer one-on-one. From a gunsmith's perspective, no matter how powerful the spirit body is, as long as the main body can be eliminated, the soul power will be like a paper tiger and will dissipate immediately.

It took one step forward, and Xueming took one step back. At the same time, Fragrant Fantasy sprinted towards the clone at high speed, forcing Belloberg to make a choice.

The great sword brought divine light and emitted thousands of degrees of heat. The scorching blade struck and slashed repeatedly on the solid iron armor. Fragrance Huanmeng pursued the clone on the side, while Belloberg blocked it with his sword. It pretended to be a big jump attack, but was disturbed by Jiang Xueming's declaration of attack. It had Jiang Xueming's combat experience, but it didn't have such a calm mind.

The silent spring is like a clear lake. In the lonely world there is only the clear sound of the fierce clash of soldiers and iron.

Fragrant Fantasy was very surprised——

——When will the main body be able to fight with me?

It possesses explosive power that exceeds the speed of sound. This is definitely not a speed and power that the mortal Jiang Xueming can resist. However, under Belloberg's hands, this big sword performed like a charm.

It obeyed Xueming's order to block the clone's route, and was defenseless against the sword coming from the side. However, Fenfang Huanmeng has this confidence. In the face of absolute power and speed, skills can be ignored. .

However, the results of these two rounds were unexpected. Although the hot sword was slow in SD's eyes, it was very accurate. Every time it thought it could break through the blockade, it would see this obstructive sword knocking, Stab at the crucial power-producing joint, the quality of the punch drops rapidly, and the high-speed punch that was originally unavoidable slows down! This smart and graceful diving maneuver turned into an embarrassing tortoise punch under Beloberg's modification!

Xueming had no intention of watching the battle. He had been adjusting his position——

——Belloberg is very smart. It knows the range limit of Fragrance Fantasy. It is precisely because of this that through the position selection and repeated pulling of the clone, this free-flying god can be trapped in this sixteen-meter range. inside. Once this terrifying spirit slows down, the explosive power of punches and kicks will suddenly decrease.

It has a way to intercept the fragrant dream with a sharp blade of light, but this does not last long. In this open area, they are like two chess players using puppets as chess pieces. Whoever can grasp the distance between the lightning and flint and win in terms of concentration and endurance will be the winner.

At a distance of 16 meters, Belloberg's sword was able to accelerate and slash with meteoric strides, cutting Jiang Xueming into two pieces in one breath. The gap between bare-handed and armed weapons was too great.

Once Fragrance Fantasy is rescued, it can also change its position with swords and use its clones to change angles to attack from a flank.

SD wanted to destroy the unarmed Beloberg only for a moment, without any room for error.

The four figures were constantly changing positions to fight, hiding their weaknesses while attacking the enemy's weak points. However, Belloberg became more and more tired, and after twelve rounds it fell behind.

There is no temptation, and every move is an all-out attack without reservation.

When it comes to using self-sacrifice stunts as equals, this is also Jiang Xueming's fighting style. He has never had any concept of fists and weapons. After returning from further studies at Pankrasin Palace, he became even more convinced of this, [Pankrassin·All The power] is the supreme technique and tactics.

The strong wind of the sword blew against his face, and the fanatical airflow made Belloberg involuntarily close his eyes several times - this was a sign of the end of his mental power.

However, as the attacked party, Xueming still had to be burned by the flames under the protection of the fragrant dream. The sword blade was too hot and the bright light was too intense——

——This makes Belloberg feel incredible.

Is this the power a gunsmith should have? Under the continuous high-speed battle, under the interference of such strong light and sound, he should have lost his vision and hearing earlier than me, but...

Not allowing it to think too much, Belloberg wanted to take another step into the flow state of fighting. But judging from the performance of the gunsmith, he moved his steps and raised his arms to parry, switched positions with SD to push the spirit body, and moved Belloberg's uncomfortable left hand. He avoided the sword edge while planning the next step. The whole process It's done in one go.

This man has never [woke up]. Once he is trapped in a life-or-death crisis, he no longer has any extra time to think. All that's left is how to crush the enemy and how to survive.

Belloberg felt that although this competition was not fair, defeating Fenfang Huanmeng was tantamount to wrestling with Aohen Mingde, and Fenfang Huanmeng's book data was far superior to it. Even if it drags on for a while, there is at least a 20% chance of winning. It can leave a few wounds on the gunsmith and make this arrogant man feel pain - this is enough, this is Beloberg's I hope he can take this opportunity to defeat his past self and become stronger.

In the thirty-third round, a short minute, a long minute.

Belloberg made a mistake in selecting his position. He mistook the clone's position by two steps. It was only two steps away, about sixty centimeters away.

This turned into a fatal mistake——

——It was thinking in its heart, when did this illusion appear?

Is it the gap period specially sent by the Fragrant Fantasy Dream Blade? It seemed to leave me a chance to take a breath and exert strength, but it was unable to complete the action of sheathing the sword and recharging the energy. I could only follow its wingspan and retreat to the side of the clone.

At that time, the gunsmith immediately adjusted the rhythm of attack and defense. He originally used a music rhythm of 160 beats per minute, which was what Teacher Victor had taught him, but later changed it to 180 beats. The eye movement frequency and stride length are completely different, like a tiger that has zeroed in on the prey's weak points and will never let go.

And then, this sixty centimeter distance made it impossible for me to catch up with the fragrant dream. In just one minute, I was defeated?

Beloberg watched helplessly as another flesh-and-blood clay statue was swept off its head by SD. It could not catch up with this ferocious and swift spirit, and could no longer catch up. The wild talk it originally told turned into a joke.

At this moment, as long as Fengfang Huanmeng and Jiang Xueming circle around on both sides, no matter how powerful Belloberg is, if it is given a body of steel and iron bones, it will not have any chance to make a comeback. Its sight is only 270 degrees. , there is no way to fight back against powerful enemies attacking from both front and rear.

"Come! It's not over yet!" Jiang Xueming waved his hand, recalling the fragrant dream, and united his soul and body again: "Belloberg, my duel with you is not over yet."

Belloberg dropped his sword and jumped in anger.

"Aren't you afraid that I will kill you!? Using this weak body of flesh and blood to challenge the elves? This sword can hurt your spirit body, but it will not kill you."

"Come on!" Jiang Xueming nodded: "Didn't you say that the person you want to protect the most is me? Why are you so stubborn? We learn from each other, and I also want to try my own abilities. If I can defeat the sword-holding state You - maybe I will become stronger. If you can beat me, it means you have become stronger, which is a good thing."

They say the face is the mirror of the soul. Belloberg, who has no facial features, doesn’t even know what his soul looks like. This is related to the racial attributes of elves. They started out as energy bodies without personality, and grew up with one master after another, absorbing many strange things. Experience and skills have made us what we are today.

Belloberg picked up the sword again and looked at this bloody magical weapon. Looking at the "innocent", stubborn and lovely owner, it was a little confused.

It can experience sweet dreams from the spiritual world shaped by fragrant dreams.

Starting from Mimir's geyser, there are countless branches. In the shallow streams, it saw countless reflections.

"I want to talk."

"I want to keep talking"

"Don't turn me into a sword, okay?"

Jiang Xueming: "Then let's make an appointment. I will send you back next spring."

Belloberg's eyes widened: "Really?"

At this moment, its stone face cracked, and the first thing to shatter were its eyes.

Jiang Xueming: "Really."

Belloberg's nose and ears were also split, with bright lights coming out of them.

"Make me a mouth, make me something that can speak."

At this moment, the flesh and blood clay statue turned into dry rock and soil, turning into fly ash in the air, leaving only a shining old sword hilt. A crystal clear garnet emerged from another flesh and blood statue.

The blue heart in the sky returned to its original state, and after watching the entire performance, the little fairies began to fly again following the beating of the heart.

Jiang Xueming didn't say anything. He still couldn't figure out what Belloberg was thinking——

——He picked up the hilt of the sword, and fierce flames burst out from the sword grid. He was finally convinced that the sword spirit had returned to him, and Belloberg's voice could no longer be heard.

Before Xueming could react, he was stirred into the spring again by a strong suction force.

The world turned upside down again, and he returned to the elven sanctuary on the material plane. Surrounded by old and dilapidated wooden houses and stone hearts, these stone hearts are like psychic amplifiers that can allow some of the elves' spirits to live in them.

Xueming was soaked all over, and he felt like he was going to turn into a piece of frozen meat. Belloberg immediately spit out a beam of brilliant white flame, which flashed so hard that he couldn't open his eyes. He relied on this beam of light to dry his clothes. He hid in the largest tree house and rested, preparing to rest for about ten minutes and wait for the inner clothes to be completely dry before setting off on the road.

While resting, he saw a mural in the tree house, which seemed to be left by ancient sages.

It was a knight wearing an iron can, holding a sword in the stone, showing the special status to which he was destined. On the side, a mage in a robe covered with cold-proof fur raised his staff high, blessing the excited and angry king with a halo.

Why is this king said to be excited and angry?

Because the Sword in the Stone has not been drawn out at all, there is still a heart-shaped stone hanging on the blade. Obviously in this version of the Arthurian legend - Arthur gained the approval of the elves by his own strength.

With English annotations and illustrated illustrations

Merlin: "This one has elves and magic."

Arthur raised his sword and asked: "What magic?"

Merlin: "Stone magic."

It seems that the personalities of these elves are quite different, and they are somewhat inexplicably rebellious.

Xueming held it in for a long time before finally spitting out two words.

"Fine."