大唐双龙传 [Da Tang Shuang Long Zhuan] by Huang Yi

[shirak]

Thanks foxs. As we reach this stage in the story, I can fully understand why this novel is notoriously long. We still have SO MANY story arcs that are underdeveloped/not developed!

Anyway, considering the multitude of very powerful people that are finally appearing in the story, I believe that the boys and their friends are due for a power upgrade soon so that they can still handle a fight.

KZ - Either Song Que actually teaches him something, or he has a brief exchange of pointers with Song Que and figures out something new on his own.

XZL - SQX teaching him Yue Shan's skills, possibly including Huan Ri Da Fa. Huan Ri Da Fa seems to be something that ZYY and Zuo Youxian knew about, so it's probably something remarkable. Yue Shan might have lost badly to Song Que, but I suspect Yue Shan was top tier - close to ZYY power, making him probably slightly stronger than An Long.

Also, XZL seems to be gravitating towards Buddhist power. Maybe Jing Nian Chanyuan side or the 4 Holy Monks will teach him something - like Huang Yi's version of Thousand Hands Buddha kind of palm skill.

To maintain balance of power, it should also mean that BFH, HXB, YXY are also due a power upgrade. If YXY gets the Immortal Print Scroll, it'll be interesting to see how BFH and HXB get their power upgrade.

To digress, I don't believe BFH can take on Bi Xuan at this current moment. He'll probably need the power upgrade to do so.

[akolaw]

The young top gun are still way to go to compare to the grand masters.

As my rating go, the 3 grand masters are group one in 1st tier/AA, they are symbols and representatives of 3 nation, so there should be many more of group one not disclosed. the three grand master are da zhong shi, tier one is about zhong shi, see all four disciple of xie di create their own zhong (sect/branch) meaning ma at this level should come out from the shadow of the teacher and create their own stuff.

Hou get the assignment of creating his own ma at age 27, ( top girls get to AC at 16 to 17) while top boys may get there at 10 years later because girls are 10 years mature then boys. also confirm that these is a level of creating their own branch.

Wanwan is still top because she get to AC a few years already while the boys just broke to AC.

And the young generation have two level to move up to compare with Bi Xuan etc. but An Long should just be AB, see how they are not far from him. An is afraid of Shi Shi so Shi should be one of the AA/ 1st group in 1st tier.

[SkyWalker]

Thanks foxs. And you're right, Wanwan is indeed no. 1 for me.

[Jayariyin]

Thanks, foxs.

[wangxiaohu]

Thanks foxs.

[foxs]

Ysabel, Jaya, Xiaohu, you are welcome. Shirak, I never would have come up with that kind of analysis. Akolaw, I thought the boys have reached AP due to their miraculous encounters? (j/k; for those of you not familiar with American high school, AP stands for Advanced Placement). Sky, I knew it!

---

It was not a polite remark at all, but An Long was still grinning evilly, and said without much concern, “Didn’t Ol’ An say that I will be the spectator on the wall? However, remembering friendship with your esteemed master, I cannot help offering a bit of advice: Yang Xuyan plus Hou Xibai equal to more than half of Shi Zhixuan; even if your esteemed master personally came, she would not have much advantage. It would be better for Xian Zhinu [worthy/virtuous niece] to hand over the Print Scroll. This is called wise and virtuous woman won’t suffer the loss in front of her eyes; am I right?”

Wanwan smiled and said, “No wonder Shizun [revered master] often said that it is difficult for An Long to become a great man, and can only fit to become stinky-copper unscrupulous businessman. Now you, two opposing sides, are equally matched in term of strength. If I helped one side, the other side would only end up nursing a grievance. An Long, tonight you have fully used the ‘Lotus Ring at the Center of the Sky’ twice, and thus you have become a strong crossbow; this is the right time to kill you. Perhaps Zhinu [niece] might become harsh and unreasonable by throwing the Print Scroll away, and then going all-out to take care of you. That will also be the joy of life.”

Finally An Long’s countenance changed; he was unable to say anything.

Wanwan cast her glance once again toward Xu Ziling, who was perching on high. Raising her sleeve to cover her mouth, she laughed tenderly and said, “Hey you, why are you standing up there eating the northwest wind? Why did your great beauty ignore you?”

Two sides, four men, you look at me, I look at you, but all were at a loss against her. Even though she was trapped in a difficult situation, this remarkably beautiful direct disciple of Yin Gui Pai was still able to exploit the tangled and complicated relationship among them, and still had full control of the situation in her hands.

Yang Xuyan’s eyes shone with deep and cold murderous aura; his hand gripping the sword hilt, he said, “In the end, you just want to carry the scroll and run away. Gentlemen, we might as well have a competition, let’s see who can wrestle the Print Scroll back from her fragrant gauzed sleeve; what do you think?”

This remark was tantamount to asking Xu Ziling and Hou Xibai’s opinion, whether all four of them ought to momentarily lay down the hostility between them to first eliminate Wanwan, and then relying of their strength to decide to whom the Print Scroll should belong to.

Xu Ziling hesitated in his heart.

Although he and Wanwan were archenemies with irreconcilable enmity, but to join hands with An Long, Yang Xuyan, these demonic people, to deal with her, would be less than glorious. However, for lack of better option, presently this was the only way. If not, if she managed to escape, nobody would be able to hold her down.

Among An Long and the others, not one was not a martial art master with enough power to contend against Wanwan one-on-one. Although nobody stated his position yet, but everybody’s spirit and mind were tightly locked onto Wanwan. As soon as she made a slightly different move, they might suddenly attack, because when martial art masters were standing in opposition to each other they would react to subtle changes of qi and intention. Therefore, this moment Wanwan was just like a ferocious beast trapped in a dead-end alley. Unless she was able to withstand the joint offensive of four men working together, she would never dare to act blindly without thinking.

Hou Xibai revealed a hint of bitter smile; casting a glance toward Xu Ziling, he sighed and said, “Ziling Xiong, what do you think? This seems to be the only way. Although what Hou Xibai hates the most is ruthlessly destroying the flower, I can’t think of any other feasible way.”

Xu Ziling’s tiger-eyes shone with sharp light; fixing his gaze on Wanwan, he said indifferently, “Right now I don’t know where Miss Shi is hiding. Supposing after we did a blood soaked and hard-fought struggle, we found that what’s written in the sheepskin scroll is only something like Thousand Character Classic [6^th century poem used as a traditional reading primer] that the children learn, will it be worthwhile?”

Wanwan sighed softly and said, “Xu Ziling is the only true hero in here. Let me ask gentlemen, is it all right for Xiao Nuzi [little/young girl] to open the sheepskin scroll first and take a look? After confirming its authenticity, we will decide what to do next.”

“Hey, hey,” An Long laughed, “True hero is just another appellation that is more pleasant to hear than an idiot. I dare to guarantee with my head that this is the ‘Immortal Print Scroll’ that Shi Dage left behind at the secluded forest of the small valley. As for the reason behind it, please forgive Ol’ An since it is not convenient for me to disclose it.”

Wanwan’s pretty eyebrows lightly furrowed, she asked in surprise, “Your guarantee does not worth half a penny. It seems to me that your target is not the Print Scroll, but my life. This is indeed very strange, what benefit would it bring to Tian Lian Zong?”

The topic changed, everybody’s attention turned from the issue of joining hands to besiege Wanwan to whether the Print Scroll was real or fake.

‘Swish!’

Hou Xibai suddenly flashed his folding fan and lightly fanned himself. He smiled and said, “Since Long Shu has decided to watch with folded arms, and Princess Rou has hidden far away, Miss Wan may examine the scroll in peace, let Zaixia take the responsibility of protecting the flower. Ziling Xiong, what do you think?”

Xu Ziling calmly replied, “If An Long Laoshi [teacher] and Princess Rou do not make any move, Xiaodi will not make any move either.”

Wanwan shook her head and said, “Unless you, Ziling, give me your personal guarantee that you are going to protect Wanwan, I cannot possibly take this risk.”

Letting out a long laugh, Yang Xuyan said, “Why speak so much nonsense, wouldn’t it be better if Zaixia is asking to experience Yin Gui Pai’s Tianmo’s secret art? As for whether the three gentlemen want to take part, please do as you wish.”

While speaking, a burst of dense, severe, and icy-cold sword qi burst forth like tidal wave out of his body. Although he has not move the slightest bit, he has actually strived for the initiative. As soon as Wanwan, in her momentum to withstand it, showed a bit of leeway, he would immediately brandish his sword to attack.

He has gone all-out, yet Wanwan must focus all her attention to guard against An Long and Hou Xibai, two men, which, to Wanwan, was greatly disadvantageous.

“Hold on!” Hou Xibai shouted.

Everybody was taken aback, because if Yang Xuyan staked everything against Wanwan, it ought to give him a hundred benefits without a single harm.

Hou Xibai turned to An Long and said, “This matter is of great importance. Why aren’t Long Shu unwilling to explain clearly the reason you believe firmly that the sheepskin scroll inside Miss Wan’s sleeve really contain the ‘Immortal Print Method’?”

An Long’s eyes flashed with strange light; he spoke slowly, “If I confirm that this scroll is not a fake article, does Xianzhi [virtuous nephew] intend to make your move together with Yan Zhi [nephew]?”

Hou Xibai calmly replied, “Indeed there is this possibility. Of course, it depends on how much truth there is in Long Shu’s words.”

An Long let out a burst of long, shaking-the-hall, laugh and said, “This kind of sheepskin is definitely not an ordinary sheepskin; I tanned and manufactured it with my own hands, hence the color and luster are unusual, it will always look new even after a long time. I made it based on Shi Dage’s order; I, An Long, dare to swear by the incantation of Tian Lian Zong’s various ancestors that if I made even half a word of lies, let me never be reincarnated forever.”

Letting out a burst of tender laugh, Wanwan continued, “Now, even nujia is a bit convinced that this scroll thingy is the real article. Would you be interested in hearing my proposal of two ways to resolve the stalemate before your eyes?”

This remark was of wonderfully highest level and outstanding; even Hou Xibai, who was eager to give it a try – had to rein his horse and pulled the bridle back, and postponed his move.

Lian Rou’s voice came from the exit, “Please excuse Lian Rou from being drawn into the struggle within the demonic schools; nujia is taking my leave. If there is anything in the future, you must never count it on nujia’s account.”

The sound of the rustling sleeve went away in an instant.

Listening to this, Xu Ziling’s head swelled up, he still could not figure out her relationship with An Long and the others.

But this woman was as cunning as a fox; no one should take what she said too lightly. However, it was also possible that it was because she did not want to be Yin Gui Pai’s enemy, hence she shrank back as the time for battle approached.

Wanwan cheerfully said, “This is called ‘a wise man looks after his own hide’; in the end, she is smarter than you, An Long.”

Displeased, An Long said, “Didn’t you say that you have two ways to resolve the current stalemate?”

Wanwan raised up her demonic power to tightly suppress Yang Xuyan’s suffocating sword qi coming from about a zhang away. Calm and composed, she spoke softly, “The first solution is Wanwan turn the sheepskin scroll inside my sleeve into powder. This is called ‘once the main problem is solved, all troubles are solved’. Nobody has any reason to fight anymore.”

Yang Xuyan’s sword qi was immediately reduced by half.

If the sheepskin scroll was destroyed, the biggest loser was certainly not Wanwan, but one of either Hou Xibai or Yang Xuyan.

At most Wanwan only lost the opportunity to understand the Immortal Print method, while the two would lose the possibility to advance to become another Shi Zhixuan.

An Long sneered coldly and said, “If you were willing to do so, you would have destroyed the Print Scroll early on; there is no need to mention it only now.”

All along he has been fanning the flame to stir up trouble. And now no one doubted that he harbored evil intentions of destroying Wanwan.

Wanwan cast him a glace with disdain. Her jade countenance suddenly calmed down, returning to her usual nearly pure, faultless calm and unhurried expression. But once again the air all around her was suddenly infused with a terrifying feeling as if it might sink any moment. Although there was no wind, the white clothes on her body suddenly fluttered, her jet-black long hair was flying and dancing in the air as if it was blown by a gale. The scene was weird to the extreme.

Everybody was shivering in alarm; they were all amassing their energy, yet no one dared to make the first move.

Xu Ziling shouted coldly, “And what is the second solution?”

Wanwan’s face showed a hint of surreptitious smile that appeared to be there, but then appeared to be not there, as she spoke calmly, “The second solution is to give the Print Scroll to you.”

While speaking the last sentence, her gauzed sleeve rose up, the sheepskin scroll shot out of the sleeve, fast as lightning it flew toward Xu Ziling, who was standing on a Luohan’s head.

‘Qiang!’

[LuDongBin]

Thks foxs.

[Ysabelkid]

Thanks foxs

[wangxiaohu]

Intensity intensifies!
Thanks foxs...

[CFT]

She's devious!

[SkyWalker]

This is soooo exciting! I love Wanwan! Cool, calm, and collected under pressure. Hope she lasts until the end. Thanks for another update foxs!!

[Jayariyin]

Thanks, foxs.

[foxs]

DongBin, Ysabel, Xiaohu, Jaya, you are welcome. CFT, you mean SkyWalker? Sky, unlike Gu Long, Huang Yi did not kill his characters easily. I am guessing that Wanwan will stay until the end.

---

Book 24 Chapter 10 – The Victor[1]

Yang Xuyan, Hou Xibai and An Long all had a terrifying feeling of tripping forward.

Based on their skill, naturally they could not possibly trip and fall down for real because Wanwan was scaring them using the ‘Tianmo Jing Chang’ [demonic powerful field]; but they had to apply their power to resist it, to withdraw backward.

Both Yang Xuyan and An Long were shrewd men; they had already thought about all kinds of method Wanwan might use to break the stalemate, including the possibility of she giving the Print Scroll to one of them, and thereby executing the ‘shifting the misfortune to the Eastern Wu’ stratagem. Wanwan then would turn from becoming the target of a multitude of arrows to gaining control over the overall situation from the side.

Now it had become clear that Yang Xuyan and An Long were on one side, while Xu Ziling and Hou Xibai were on the other side. Although in term of power An Long and Yang Xuyan were one line ahead, but because previously An Long had fully used the Tianxin Lianhuan and wasted a lot of energy, the strength between them has more or less balanced out.

Under this kind of circumstances, Wanwan could help either side to defeat the others rapidly. Therefore, just now An Long and Yang Xuyan secretly agreed to – by all means – attack and kill Wanwan first, before dealing with Xu and Hou, two men. Who would have thought that Wanwan’s intelligence far surpassed their expectation, that surprisingly she was able to see through their conspiracy, and in this critical juncture launched the Tianmo Da Fa will all her strength, to form a ‘vacuum’ force field that could absorb and borrow any true qi, so that even if they wanted to attack, there was simply no opening they could exploit.

It was more formidable that any method of using the true qi to protect one’s body. Only Xu Ziling saw it as it should be by rights, simply because he had already suffered many times under Wanwan’s Tianmo Da Fa.

‘Qiang!’

While pulling himself backward, Yang Xuyan drew the Phantom Sword; instantly its cold rays radiated all around. Abandoning Wanwan, he attacked Xu Ziling, turning the sword rays into a soaring long rainbow, turning the usually-hard-to-fathom-between-the-true-and-the-false phantom sword move into a thousand-catties-thunderbolt, jolting-the-mountain-shaking-the-peak powerful strike, using the-sword-is-the-man, the-man-is-the-sword stance to take the formidable opponent standing on top of the Luohan statue.

This moment Xu Ziling had just caught the Print Scroll. Seeing Yang Xuyan’s all-out sword strike, he groaned inwardly, realizing that this time Wanwan was cruel beyond human comprehension, because when catching the scroll, his mind would immediately be distracted, hence it would be difficult to maintain its optimum state. If he was either killed or seriously injured by Yang Xuyan’s sword, it would be an extreme injustice.

He was a great expert in martial art study. In just one glance he knew that Yang Xuyan’s sword strike this time truly revealed his strength, unlike his namesake as the number one assassin in the world. In a snap of the fingers, the power of the entire body was unleashed in its finest detail, a sword strike that – as soon it was executed – was earth shattering. Before the sword arrived, the murderous aura had already enveloped him completely. Even if he evaded it, he could only delay the moment of death. The opponent’s sword strike made him feel like he fell into the mud, his feet went deep into difficult situation; from this, Yang Xuyan’s formidability could be clearly seen.

If Yang Xuyan’s Phantom Sword before was like a fine carving or delicate cut [on gems] of a small pattern of an insect head, the swordplay this moment was like large river Chang Jiang [Yangtze]; it flowed out swiftly with a thousand li might, joyous like stirring cursive [calligraphy] so that others could not grasp where the brush would move next.

In his quick wit, Xu Ziling tossed the Print Scroll in his hand toward Yang Xuyan; soaring in the air, while roaring in laughter, he said, “How about if I give it to you instead?” Simultaneously he transferred his strength to his feet, while crying inwardly, ‘Sorry for the offense’, the Luohan statue under his feet disintegrated into cun-sized fragments, so that his entire body sank down to the ground.

This moment Hou Xibai was rushing over as well. Seeing Xu Ziling throwing the Print Scroll away, he called out loudly, “Good throw!” Folding his fan, his handsome eyes radiated powerful beam all around, he rapidly cut across toward Yang Xuyan, who, afraid of damaging the Print Scroll, had his hands and feet flustered.

The moment Yang Xuyan drew his sword, An Long also retreated backward to break away out of the Tianmo Power’s range, and his retreating speed was even higher and more urgent than Hou and Yang, two men’s, because he felt that Wanwan’s concentrated force was aimed at him alone. On top of that, Wanwan previously threatened and warned him by saying that if he did not show fear, that meant he was bluffing. Even if he were at his peak condition, he did not have the confidence of defeating Wanwan, much less after fighting two hard battles one after another.

A white shadow flashed.

Wanwan’s floating ribbon flew into the air, producing a sharp noise like a ghost wailing or a god calling, piercing through An Long’s eardrums.

If just now An Long could be considered shocked, right now it could be said that his soul flew away and scattered. He was a senior veteran of the demonic schools; naturally he knew what it was.

Naturally floating ribbons could not wail or call; the whistling noise came from the floating ribbon slicing the air and in a bizarre way it vibrated the air around it into sonic wave. It became Tianmo noise simply because his own heart and guts had been scared and his mind was under control of the fear, which caused the demon to grow from his heart. His natural disposition was ‘everything for self and selfish profit’, so he only knew how to harm others for his own personal benefit. This moment, he no longer cared, nor was he interested in – Yang Xuyan’s life or death. Ferociously raising a mouthful of true qi, he summoned back his shaken will to fight simultaneously, while swiftly backing off. Taking advantage of his weight, which surpassed others, his own momentum made him flying backward even faster; leaning left and tumbling right, ‘Bang! Bang!’ one by one the Luohan statues were knocked over and shattered, meeting with calamity.

All along, Wanwan’s floating ribbon was no more than a cun and a few fen away from brushing his fatty flesh.

Wanwan suddenly stood still charmingly, her eyes moved toward Yang Xuyan, three men. Although she did not look completely satisfied, her heart was cheerful.

Among the four men, the one giving her the most headache was An Long. His Tianxin Lian Huan was truly a pinnacle among the demonic schools’ skills. When launched at full strength, even her Tianmo Da Fa could not do much against him.

If fighting one on one, she might be able to wait until his momentum exhausted his strength depleted to strike back. But under current circumstances, she might fall into critical situation where it was difficult for her to get out. Therefore, she had used up all kinds of trick and psychological tactics and was finally successful in planting the seed of doubt that he would certainly be defeated, which then led him to be frightened. She was also trying to make An Long believe that she might abandon the Print Scroll and take his life instead, while the fact was that she still wanted to obtain the Print Scroll. This moment, with An Long being ‘scared back’, she felt that victory was within her grasp.

She was so sure that by giving the scalding-the-hand, heating-up-the-mountain Print Scroll to Xu Ziling, she would lure Yang Xuyan to try to snatch the Scroll with all his strength. Naturally the most ideal situation would be if he were able to inflict heavy damage to Xu Ziling. At that time Hou Xibai would join the fray, and then he would fight a desperate battle with Yang Xuyan until you die, I live.

At this time she could take advantage of the one-in-a-thousand-year golden opportunity of An Long running away in difficult situation to execute her scheme; not only to single-handedly obtain the Print Scroll, but perhaps she could even strike the four men one by one, eliminating these bunch of formidable opponents. Who would have thought that Xu Ziling unexpectedly passed on the Print Scroll to others, and thus forcing her to change the plan?

With a tender shout Wanwan moved forward at lightning speed. Her floating ribbon shot out, starting later but arriving sooner, it accurately threatened the major acupoint on Hou Xibai’s back.

On the other side, Yang Xuyan plainly saw that the Print Scroll was flying straight toward his sword, but he did not dare to receive it, because in front of him was Xu Ziling, staying close to the ground to attack, while on his left was Hou Xibai, coming from the air to kill him. Under these two major martial art masters’ pincer attack, if he withdrew the sword momentum and stretched out his hand to fetch the scroll, he would only end up dying violently on the spot.

Although Xu Ziling seemed to be tossing the scroll casually, the fact was that he was using an extremely crafty trick; he imbued the Print Scroll full of his true energy, which was a lot stronger than Yang Xuyan’s sword momentum.

With no other choice, Yang Xuyan ferociously clenched his teeth; the sword turned at will, it changed direction from attacking upward to pouncing downward, without changing the original style – to stab Xu Ziling, letting the Print Scroll whizzed past overhead. His only wish right now was that Hou Xibai would chase after the Print Scroll and ignore him.

Hou Xibai was able to see very clearly the two men’s intense, no-one-wants-to-yield battle; inwardly he was greatly shocked, because as the Print Scroll was filled with Xu Ziling’s power, any object it would fall onto would be smashed up into pulp. Yang Xuyan deliberately avoiding the scroll was to force Hou Xibai to care more about the Print Scroll remaining intact, and thus would be too busy to join Xu Ziling in pincer attack against him. While he was groaning inwardly, a qi power attacked his back.

Hou Xibai sighed inwardly. Without even looking, he swung the Fan of Beauty backhandedly to block the brushing away floating ribbon. Borrowing the reaction force of the collision, he changed direction from the battlefield between Yang and Xu, two men, to the Print Scroll shooting toward the western wall.

---

[1] Chapter title, The Victor – orig. to whom the deer falls, usually refers to who seizes the empire. See Jin Yong’s Deer and Cauldron, translated by yours truly, for more info on this idiom.

[wangxiaohu]

What an intense battle!! cannot wait for the next part.

Thanks foxs for the great translation, as always.

[LuDongBin]

Thks foxs.

[Ysabelkid]

Thanks foxs

[HPC7595]

Thanks foxs

[Jayariyin]

Thanks, foxs.

[SkyWalker]

Thanks foxs. Where is SQX? I think she will reappear last minute and take back the scroll.

[wangxiaohu]

Thanks foxs. Where is SQX? I think she will reappear last minute and take back the scroll.

I don't think so...
From the fact that she knew An Long and YXY's plot, I think that the scroll is fake.