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Novel: [Night Without Borders]
Chapter 44: [Heart Stirrings]
Author: [Chen Dong]
Translator: [Shadow Knight AK]
Editor: [Shadow Knight AK]
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The old man charged forward with terrifying speed, his towering figure resembling a black tiger pouncing on its prey.
His cold, ruthless gaze would have made ordinary people's legs tremble.
Qin Ming gripped the long-handled Black Gold Hammer, moving with the agility of a leopard.
He first leaped forward with explosive force, then swiftly changed direction, avoiding a direct collision.
Instead, he swung the hammer from the side, aiming a powerful blow at his opponent.
The old man frowned.
The youth's speed rivaled his own.
Just as they were about to collide, Qin Ming had instantly shifted course, darting past him on the right and swinging the hammer in a sweeping arc.
Qin Ming felt a violent tremor through the metal handle.
The old man had actually struck the side of the Black Gold Hammer with his bare hand—which was a truly terrifying display of power.
This first strike had been a probing maneuver, meant to gauge the true strength of a Third Awakener's Heavenly Light.
The result only deepened his solemn expression.
The old man surged past, his body wreathed in white Heavenly Light. Cracks spiderwebbed across the ground beneath his feet, a testament to the immense force behind his charge.
He was deeply surprised.
Against any other lower-level Awakener, his Heavenly Light would have sent their weapon flying from their grasp.
After they passed each other, they had effectively switched positions.
The old man lowered his head to gaze at the Golden Rooster Knight's mangled face, now a gruesome mess beyond recognition.
When he looked up, his eyes were icy with malice.
Qin Ming sighed, having only wanted to tidy up the Golden Rooster Knight's remains to prevent his unusually gruesome death from being discovered too soon.
But the old man had barged in.
Qin Ming had originally planned to observe the Third Awakener three times, cautiously probing his capabilities.
Now, he was forced into a direct confrontation.
The two men moved silently, slowly closing the distance like two dangerous predators coiling to strike, ready to pounce at any moment.
"I'm from Chi Xia City," Qin Ming suddenly declared. "Aren't you afraid of retaliation for killing me?"
He was wearing the armor Cao Long and Mu Qing had given him, which was indeed quite deceptive. Of course, he didn't expect it to intimidate his opponent.
But it might give the old man a momentary pause, forcing him to consider the consequences.
After all, Chi Xia City was the region's center, and its powerful families were not to be trifled with.
Yet such a seasoned veteran would ultimately show no mercy.
As Qin Ming finished speaking, he suddenly launched his attack.
As expected, the old man only paused briefly, but that was enough for Qin Ming.
Seizing the opportunity, he launched a preemptive strike, his hammer crashing down.
The two were already in close proximity, and Qin Ming's sudden attack left the old man with no choice but to brace for the impact.
Evading the blow was no longer an option.
"Thud!"
A dull, resonant sound echoed through the cavern, the ground trembling slightly.
The old man wrapped one palm around the hammer, his other hand already extended.
This time, however, the force of Qin Ming's strike far exceeded his earlier probing attack.
Unleashing his full power, he struck with such ferocity that the white light surging from the old man's palm flickered violently, nearly collapsing.
The old man had intended to envelop the hammer like wrapping a dumpling and fling it aside, but his "dumpling skin" nearly tore apart.
He retreated rapidly, his palm throbbing with pain and numbness. The young man, who had yet to cultivate Heavenly Light, possessed absurdly overwhelming strength.
Having seized the initiative, Qin Ming showed no hesitation. Hammer blow after hammer blow rained down, his relentless attack resembling a novice trying to bludgeon a seasoned master to death.
Each strike erupted with the sound of thunder and wind, swift and brutal.
The old man was nearly coughing up blood as he dodged and retreated like a phantom, yet he couldn't shake off his pursuer.
Qin Ming matched his speed perfectly, never losing ground.
Qin Ming was inwardly shocked.
His opponent had blocked seven hammer blows, all with his bare hands—a truly monstrous feat.
In terms of raw strength, even as a Third Awakener, his opponent couldn't compare to Qin Ming. Yet, with the protection and enhancement of Heavenly Light, he could withstand the crushing weight of the Black Gold Hammer.
Qin Ming's desire burned fiercely—he yearned for Heavenly Light to awaken within his own body.
The old man's face flushed crimson from the overwhelming force. He alternated striking the hammer with his hands, but the strain was unbearable; both hands trembled violently.
Forgetting all dignity, he finally found a suitable patch of ground—clear of obstructing rocks—and dove sideways, rolling and tumbling like a slithering snake as he surged away.
Though his escape was undignified, he had finally broken free from Qin Ming's relentless rhythm.
He glanced down at his hands. Despite the nourishing protection of Heavenly Light, they were swollen and red, and he suspected his bones might be injured.
"Truly abnormal, even this couldn't shatter him?" Qin Ming's expression darkened as he closed the distance.
The old man's eyes flashed with cold fury.
He wanted to retort, "Who's the abnormal here? How can someone without Heavenly Light possess such monstrous strength?"
He had already drawn the long sword from his back, secretly vowing never to carry it there again.
In this critical moment, he hadn't even had time to unsheathe it. His hands moved like windmills, striking out repeatedly to meet the Black Gold Hammer that relentlessly pounded toward his face.
With the sword in hand, the old man channeled Heavenly Light to clear the blood clots blocking his meridians, temporarily relieving the pain.
"Alas, my Heavenly Light Technique is not yet perfected," he said. "Otherwise, I wouldn't need a weapon!"
Every Third Awakener could manifest Heavenly Light, but mastering the elusive Heavenly Light Techniques remained exceedingly difficult.
Qin Ming knew that as one's cultivation realm advanced, mastering rare and specialized Heavenly Light Techniques could allow one to tear weapons apart like paper.
However, achieving such a level during the Third Awakening stage was clearly impossible, even with techniques like the Giant Spirit God Technique or Tathagata Technique.
Such feats required the support of a correspondingly higher cultivation realm.
Qin Ming gave him no time to recover his hands. Gripping the long-handled Black Gold Hammer and the short sword, he unleashed a relentless barrage of strikes—fifty-eight hammer blows and forty-two sword slashes—giving the old man no time to breathe.
The old man's fury erupted. When had he ever been so thoroughly overwhelmed in this region, especially by a mere young man?
His Heavenly Light blazed fiercely as he launched a desperate counterattack.
Soon, He was startled.
The young man opposite him had completely abandoned his earlier frenzied stance.
Though the Black Gold Hammer still swung with tremendous force, its movements had undergone a startling transformation. This was no longer hammer technique; it resembled swordsmanship.
As Qin Ming swung the massive hammer at high speed, his wrist trembled violently, as if vibrating a sword. The hammer hummed as it crashed down, leaving afterimages in its wake.
When it struck the old man's sword, it exerted a terrifying tearing force.
The elder's longsword nearly twisted out of his grip, his expression turning grave.
Qin Ming shifted again, the hammer striking like lightning bolts, one after another. The terrifying Black Gold luster crisscrossed the underground space, all due to his incredible speed.
The hammer's deadly trajectories formed a dense, interwoven pattern, resembling a storm of lightning erupting.
With a resounding crash, the old man was sent flying, slamming into the stone wall. His right hand trembled slightly; even with the Heavenly Light protecting him, he was beginning to struggle.
His eyes turned icy as he leaped from the wall, launching a fierce counterattack. This wave of retaliation genuinely strained Qin Ming.
The old man had gone berserk, wielding his longsword in one hand while using the other to clash directly against Qin Ming's hammer.
With a clang, sparks flew from Qin Ming's shoulder as the old man's left hand grazed his armor, tearing off four or five plates.
Qin Ming's pupils constricted, deeply wary of the Heavenly Light's power.
Qin Ming grew cautious, maintaining a safe distance from the old man to prevent him from closing in.
He swung his great hammer in a whirlwind, unleashing a barrage of dense hammer shadows that crashed forward relentlessly.
The old man was certain that without the Heavenly Light's enhancement, he would have been crushed by this kid long ago.
"What kind of monster is this?" he thought. "He's already this absurdly powerful before even manifesting the Heavenly Light."
Moments later, amidst the storm of hammer shadows, Qin Ming's great hammer roared like the sun breaking through the clouds.
From within the shadows, he unleashed his most devastating strike.
His speed was blinding.
The afterimages of the previous strikes still lingered like crackling lightning as the main hammer slammed down with earth-shattering force.
This time, the old man's longsword nearly flew from his grasp.
He channeled the Heavenly Light to withstand the blow, but the effort left him utterly exhausted.
Qin Ming followed up with nine consecutive hammer strikes of this magnitude.
The old man could endure no more.
The Heavenly Light around him dimmed, and he coughed up a mouthful of blood.
Seeing this, Qin Ming swung his hammer horizontally again, this time imbued with a chilling Sword Intent.
It flashed like lightning, threatening to tear through the night, causing the entire dark karst cave to rumble with the thunderous hammer strikes, sending dust and stones flying amidst a raging gale.
The collision between the great hammer and the long sword was deafening.
The old man could no longer grip his weapon; his arm spasmed, and the sword clattered to the ground as he coughed up a mouthful of blood.
Qin Ming continued to swing his hammer relentlessly, shattering the old man's protective Heavenly Light barrier!
With a sickening splatter, the old man's right hand instantly became a bloody mess.
Without the reinforcement of Heavenly Light, he could no longer withstand the hammer's crushing blows; his finger bones snapped.
In the next moment, blood froth filled the old man's mouth as a searing pain tore through his chest.
His entire ribcage had collapsed inward, and he was sent flying eight meters by the hammer's force.
"Third Awakeners are really tough to kill!" Qin Ming gasped, genuinely exhausted. The Heavenly Light was proving to be a formidable challenge.
The old man, not yet dead, spat out another mouthful of blood in fury. He couldn't believe what he was hearing—how could someone who hadn't even cultivated Heavenly Light presume to kill a Third Awakener?
Yet, a wave of humiliation and resentment washed over him. He had indeed been defeated by such a person and was now on the verge of death.
Qin Ming stepped forward, ready to deliver the final blow.
"I'll give you a flat meat-pie face too," he said.
"I... You bastard!" the old man coughed up blood, cursing weakly.
He was utterly unwilling to die at the hands of a mere youth.
"The people of Golden Rooster Ridge are so crude, always resorting to insults," Qin Ming shook his head.
With a swing of his hammer, he crushed the old man's face, the skull collapsing inward.
He began searching the corpse and arranging the remains.
"If those mutated beasts charge in later, they should take care of these two bodies for me."
Qin Ming moved through the vast underground karst cave, his brow furrowed.
He had discovered at least three other old men in the other tunnels, likely all Third Awakeners.
"This is going to be tricky!" He didn't want to take unnecessary risks.
"Hmm?" He spotted another familiar face—the Golden Rooster Knight who had once berated them and whipped an old man, leaving a deep, bloody gash across his cheek.
"Boy, where did all the villagers go?"
"..."
"Come here, I'm asking you a question!"
Qin Ming unleashed a devastating "Great Qin Flying Hammer" strike, silencing the area with a thunderous boom.
He dragged the man's corpse into the darkness.
The underground karst cave was riddled with spiderweb-like passages.
A group of mutated creatures stormed in through one of these routes, plunging the area into chaos.
Qin Ming retreated deeper into the cave, reaching a region where Heavenly Light filtered through.
For now, he abandoned his hunt for the Golden Rooster Ridge and Three-Eyed Sect members, focusing instead on searching for Mysterious Resources.
He ventured further and further, covering a vast distance.
Wisps of luminous mist drifted through the cave, preventing the underground world from being completely pitch-black.
"Could my luck finally be turning around?"
Qin Ming sensed a faint energy fluctuation in an area bathed in particularly intense Heavenly Light.
Moments later, he crushed a fist-sized rock, revealing a shimmering blue gemstone within—apparently another type of jade iron, about half the size of a walnut.
"It can only be made into one arrowhead," Qin Ming mused, still pleased with the find.
Even a small amount of this precious material was a valuable reward.
"Heh, talk about hitting the jackpot twice in a row!" Two figures emerged from another passage, their eyes gleaming with delight as they spotted the jade iron in Qin Ming's hand.
Qin Ming immediately recognized them as people from Chi Xia City.
He hadn't realized he'd wandered so far and encountered another group.
"Huh, you're Qin Ming?" one of the young men said, his expression shifting strangely.
Qin Ming studied him carefully.
He remembered this young man—he had been among the spectators during his battles with Nie Rui and Shen Jiayun.
"Oh, so this is the young hunter you mentioned, the one with astonishing marksmanship who defeated Nie Rui and Shen Jiayun?" another man, middle-aged and clad in crimson armor, spoke up with a faint smile.
"Qin Ming, is it? Come over and let's talk."
Qin Ming remained rooted to the spot.
Previously, he had held a favorable impression of Chi Xia City's nobles, from Cao Long, Mu Qing, and Wei Zhirou to Nie Rui and Shen Jiayun.
He had found them all to be decent people.
But now, he sensed malice radiating from the two nobles before him, likely coveting the blue jade iron in his possession.
Clearly, not everyone was virtuous.
Or perhaps some smiles and elegance were merely facades for public display.
In this desolate underground world, those masks of pretense could be torn away.
Qin Ming remembered the young noble from their encounter after his victory over the Twin Stars.
The noble had been quite friendly, exchanging a few warm words with him before parting.
"Qin Ming, come over here and lend us a hand," the young noble said, his voice now devoid of the previous warmth and his expression utterly flat.
"Third Awakener?" Qin Ming ignored him, turning his attention to the middle-aged man in his thirties.
As the man lightly clenched his fist, Heavenly Light materialized around it.
"Indeed," the middle-aged man replied. "You should show proper respect to someone like me. In this dark underground world, all the boasts others have made about you mean nothing."
Qin Ming remained silent, walking toward them.
The two men showed no concern about him escaping.
After all, during his fight with Nie Rui and Shen Jiayun, Qin Ming's strength had been measured at nearly 700 catties—remarkable for a youth who had undergone only one Awakening.
Qin Ming tried to approach them, but the middle-aged man's glance stopped him.
He followed them to a vast, open area.
"That's..." Qin Ming was stunned.
Ahead, the Heavenly Light mist swirled intensely, its density almost suffocating.
Within this radiant haze stood a three-colored flower, its vibrant petals on the verge of full bloom.
The middle-aged man smiled.
"Little Brother Qin, since you seem largely unaffected by the Heavenly Light, would you do us a favor? Once this tricolor flower fully matures, could you pluck it from the Heavenly Light for us?"
"What's it for?" Qin Ming asked.
"It's incredibly valuable," the man replied. "It can help people cultivate Heavenly Light Technique. After the Third Awakening, who wouldn't want to learn more types of Heavenly Light Techniques? But even mastering just one is incredibly difficult. This flower is extraordinary!"
"It's truly tempting!" Qin Ming exclaimed in awe.
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END OF CHAPTER
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