I Can Copy the Talents of All Creatures

Chapter 245: Chapter 179: Nine Swords

Ye Shuping no longer dwelled on Tang Lihui achieving the rank of Martial Saint. It was just a casual remark, anyway. It was like having a smart, sensible son and not being able to resist nagging the good-for-nothing one a bit.

"The Void Wind Shadow Sword is nothing special. It’s considered an entry-level Swordsmanship for those comprehending intent, and it can be cultivated with either Qi Blood or Inner Qi. It tries to be compatible with too many things. Aside from a decent core concept, it’s quite weak in all other aspects. Only its Phantom Sword Intent is even remotely presentable.

But Sword Intent is all about power. What’s the point of being so flashy? In essence, this Swordsmanship is not very useful. It’s purely for show.

Yu Fei also practices this Swordsmanship, but when he was cultivating his Calamity Sword, he came to his own understanding of a new Illusory Sword Intent. It has no set moves, yet it is high-grade in its own right and is a superior version of the Phantom Sword Intent. That’s how he was able to create so many variations. Understand?"

Curiosity appeared on Tang Lihui’s face. "Illusory Sword Intent? What’s that?"

Ye Shuping answered, "From what I’ve seen so far, it can conceal his physical form and any items connected to his aura. The concealment effect is extremely potent, which is why his Phantom Sword Intent manifests in a different way. The two intents complement each other."

In fact, when Yu Fei had cultivated the Void Wind Shadow Sword to major completion two days ago, he discovered that his version of "One Body Becomes Four" and "Sword Turns to the Six Directions" was completely different from the descriptions in the Cultivation Technique.

Zhang Xunyi had once used this move against him during the Celestial Pride Positioning Competition. At the time, Zhang Xunyi had split into four figures, and his real body could be any one of them. Each phantom held six streams of Sword Qi, unleashing a torrential storm of attacks. For someone in the Inner Qi Realm, getting caught in that sword net was almost impossible to survive.

But Yu Fei was different. With the added boost from his Illusory Sword Intent, he could split into six phantoms. All of them inherited the self-concealing property of the Illusory Sword Intent and could be maintained for a long time. The only drawback was that for each additional phantom, his Qi Blood consumption doubled. This was enhanced by the spatial attribute within his Illusory Sword Intent, a manifestation of its ’real’ aspect.

He could freely switch his true body between any of the phantoms to unleash his full attack power. Combined with the concealment trait, this created a bizarre and unpredictable attack style.

Of course, the phantoms could also attack, but their power was too weak. They were only enhanced with Sharp Sword Intent. While they could trade blows with an opponent of the same rank, they were utterly fragile against someone like Li Jueyin. Therefore, he only used his phantoms as beacons to teleport his true body.

The phantoms’ range of activity was limited to a 15-meter radius around him, which wasn’t very far. Their true strength was only realized when they were concealed, allowing them to coordinate with his main body for elusive and unpredictable attacks.

The phantoms created by the traditional Void Wind Shadow Sword had a limited duration and moved rather stiffly. Their combat effectiveness was far inferior to his. This was why Zhang Xunyi felt it was similar but couldn’t bring himself to believe it was the same technique.

On the stage, meeting Li Jueyin’s curious gaze, Yu Fei smiled brightly. "Wanna know?"

"Of course!" A stubborn light shone in her eyes. She wanted to know exactly how she had lost. After her fight with the expert, she still had nearly half of her Inner Qi reserves. Even though she wasn’t in peak condition, considering the difference between Qi Blood and Inner Qi, her destructive power should have been far greater than Yu Fei’s.

Yu Fei nodded. "This is a move I developed after comprehending something new upon mastering the Void Wind Shadow Sword!"

"Void Wind Shadow Sword?" Li Jueyin picked up her longspear and walked off the stage in confusion. She had seen Zhang Xunyi’s Void Wind Shadow Sword, and it had no such effect.

Yu Fei flicked his longsword. "Who’s next? Expert, how about you?"

The man shook his head bitterly. "My Inner Qi is depleted for the day. I also used my trump card, and my meridians are slightly damaged. I’m not in any condition to fight again."

"I’ll take the challenge!"

Lin Zihao strode onto the stage, saber in hand. The young man was brimming with heroic spirit. He had ranked in the middle tier during the Celestial Pride Positioning Competition and had a certain pride of his own. Now, watching Yu Fei and the other two S+ ranks display their incredible strength one after another, he was itching for a fight.

The expert’s flying daggers were deadly, Li Jueyin’s greatspear was overwhelmingly domineering, and Yu Fei was bizarrely unpredictable. He didn’t want to be an invisible S-rank. Even though he wasn’t confident he could beat Yu Fei, he wanted to give it a try. Li Jueyin had forced out three of Yu Fei’s phantoms. He wondered how many he could force out, which would also show him the gap between himself and Li Jueyin.

His long saber left its sheath, glinting with a cold, sinister light. It was a straight-bladed saber, about 1.6 meters long in total, with a perfectly straight body and a snow-white edge.

He held it in a reverse grip—clearly another unconventional fighting style.

Yu Fei recalled what he knew about Lin Zihao. The guy had ranked 19th in the Celestial Pride Positioning Competition. He wasn’t weak, but the two of them hadn’t happened to cross paths back then.

He had one use of his copy ability saved up. He had already acquired three talents from Li Jueyin—two red and one silver. ’That girl’s talent is astounding.’

Yu Fei had originally planned to use this chance on the expert if he came back on stage. He hadn’t expected the expert to be so spent. Not only had he lost, but he was now off to the side chugging a recovery potion. ’Guess I’ll have to wait for next time...’

’In that case, I’ll just use it on Zhang Xunyi,’ he decided. ’He probably has some kind of sword-related talent. He’d be a great target to copy.’

With the referee’s signal to begin, Yu Fei launched himself forward, sword in hand, charging straight at Lin Zihao.

’Make the real seem illusory, and the illusory seem real!’

Seeing Lin Zihao still standing his ground warily, he understood the other’s thinking. He was worried about another Yu Fei suddenly appearing behind him, which kept him from focusing completely on the fight.

’But against you, I don’t need to do that!’

His longsword sliced through the air, its cold light glinting.

Thanks to the opportunity at the Profound Armor Celestial Gate, his comprehension of the basic Sword Intents of Sharpness and Fortification had increased dramatically. He now channeled both of them into his longsword. Instantly, his killing intent flared. Under the influence of the Fortification property, the blade took on a strange substantiality, making it highly resistant to damage.