Chapter 294: Chapter 293: Reflection Wall (Seeking Monthly Tickets)
Tidal Waves Sword Marquis had a reputation that preceded him, every year countless swordsmen came to the Tide Listening Garden with the hopes of meeting him, but always left disappointed. As such, over time, the Tide Listening Garden became a unique spot among the swordsmen community.
It was regarded as a holy site in their hearts, yet it remained cold and deserted.
Within the Tide Listening Garden, apart from the Tidal Waves Sword Marquis and his daughter Lan Xiaodie, and disciple Tao Xingyu, there were only three loyal servants. The most commonly heard sound was the tides crashing against the cliffs outside.
Today, a stranger visited this place.
"Young Master, the master is inside waiting for you."
A servant courteously gestured, without stepping into the courtyard gate.
"Thank you."
Shi Xiaole’s expression was steady, but his heart was not calm.
From the casual gestures of the servant, he could sense that this person was a profound swordsman, especially those eyes, their occasional glances revealing an edgy sharpness unique to swordsmen.
If even the servants were so formidable, just how powerful would the Tidal Waves Sword Marquis himself be?
After walking through the archway, Shi Xiaole finally met this renowned powerhouse in the Great Cold swordsmanship world.
With his back turned, dressed in blue robes, standing upright like a sword, he turned around upon hearing the approaching footsteps, revealing a gaunt and rugged face.
At that moment, Shi Xiaole had an illusion as if the man’s eyebrows, facial hair, everything was as sharp as a sword, as if countless swords were flying towards him.
"So strong!"
If it weren’t for Shi Xiaole’s exceptional mental strength which far surpassed ordinary people, he would’ve been terrified by this gaze. The man’s level of cultivation was unfathomably deep.
The renowned Carefree Master from Qingxue State, revered as an eighth-layer practitioner of the Spiritual-Passage Realm, paled in comparison to the Tidal Waves Sword Marquis.
"There are two kinds of people who I do not accept here."
The voice of Blue Tidal, carried the cold aloofness and edge of a sword, stripped of all false courtesy, he got straight to the point. In fact, had it not been for Lady Bizan’s earlier letter pleading on his behalf, he wouldn’t even have agreed to meet Shi Xiaole.
"Which two kinds?"
Shi Xiaole was involuntarily drawn in.
"First are outsiders. However, Lady Bizan once saved my life, and since you were sent by her, out of gratitude and reason, I owe it to her to hear you out."
But then his tone switched abruptly, "But the rules of the Tide Listening Garden are unbreakable, I neither accept outsiders nor mediocrity. If you fail to impress me, I will still send you away, regardless of who recommends you."
Shi Xiaole nodded in assent, "Of course, may I ask sir how my talent will be evaluated?"
"Follow me."
After glancing at Shi Xiaole, Tidal Waves Sword Marquis strode towards the archway on the other side.
He had already read the information provided by Lady Bizan. On paper, Shi Xiaole seemed to surpass his disciple Tao Xingyu, but so what?
There were many things that couldn’t be discerned from mere data.
His perspective on swordsmanship differed from most swordsmen. To him, the rank of one’s swordsmanship was certainly important, but it was far from the only measure of a sword master’s talent.
Take for instance, his own daughter Lan Xiaodie. She had reached the Sword Heart early on, but when it came to real combat prowess, she was far inferior to his disciple Tao Xingyu. Without a change in her mental state, her talent would gradually wane over time.
Soon, they arrived at the back mountain of the Tide Listening Garden.
Shi Xiaole’s eyes fell onto the mountain rock face ahead, where stood a smooth stone tablet, ten zhang high and three zhang wide. It seemed like a giant mirror, the sky and clouds reflecting upon it, forming all kinds of strange patterns.
"Master, father."
Tao Xingyu and Lan Xiaodie approached, the former glanced at Shi Xiaole then quickly averted his gaze while the latter kept sizing up the stranger. She wondered why her father would bring a stranger to such a restricted area.
"I said, I do not accept mediocrity. If you can withstand the onslaught from the Reflection Wall for the time it takes an incense stick to burn, I’ll let you stay in the Tide Listening Garden."
Blue Tidal spoke to Shi Xiaole, then turned to Lan Xiaodie and said, "Xiaodie, go behind the Reflection Wall and perform the Clear Shadow Sword Technique."
"Huh?"
Lan Xiaodie’s mouth fell open.
The Reflection Wall was quite peculiar, once a person started performing sword dance behind it, the wall would radiate a corresponding illusory Sword Qi. The strangest thing was, the illusory Sword Qi was much stronger than the person performing the sword dance.
The Clear Shadow Sword Technique was the second-level attack of the Reflection Wall. Even with Lan Xiaodie’s talent, it took her months to sustain it for the time an incense stick burned.
Having this in mind, Lan Xiaodie couldn’t help but look at Shi Xiaole with pity.
He was presumably recommended by a good friend of her father, who didn’t feel right turning him away outright, so he decided to give him a difficult task to discourage him.
Not daring to go against her father’s wishes, Lan Xiaodie moved swiftly to stand behind the Reflection Wall.
Following Tao Xingyu’s instructions, Shi Xiaole walked to the designated circle three zhang in front, exactly three zhang from the Reflection Wall.
"Junior sister, you can start now."
After glancing at Blue Tidal, Tao Xingyu called out.
With a swoosh,
In an instant, the clouds in the sky were dispersed, a dancing sword silhouette emerged from the Reflection Wall, and eighteen large Sword Qis shot out, coming at Shi Xiaole like meteor shower, at a vertiginous speed.
"What a marvellous Array System."
Shi Xiaole was secretly stunned.
Although these Sword Qis were said to be illusory, they felt incredibly real. Each wave of the attack clearly carried the force of a ninth-layer spiritual cultivator. Without the aid of an escape route outside the three-zhang circle, holding up against the onslaught was a major test of a swordsman’s skill.
If a ninefold Xuan Qi master was here, Shi Xiaole certainly wouldn’t stand a chance, but luckily, these Sword Qi lacked self-awareness or variability, they merely possessed immense power.
As his heart willed it, Shi Xiaole swiftly thrust his sword, pointing at a weak part of the Sword Qi. With a sideways slash, the three Sword Qi were all shattered, and he quickly moved to a safe location.
From behind the Reflection Wall, one could see the scene ahead. Seeing Shi Xiaole successfully block the first attack, Lan Xiaodie didn’t look surprised.
Joking aside, if he couldn’t even block the first attack, that would be too pitiful. No matter how friendly her father’s friend was, he wouldn’t just send some random person over.
Of course, to Lan Xiaodie, a random person in the Martial World would actually be considered a top-notch swordsman with significant talent.
"Clear Shadow Dance in the Sky."
The sword move changed, and Lan Xiaodie used the second move of the Clear Shadow Sword Technique.
This time, a full twenty-eight Sword Qi attacked, forming a perfect closed circle. Once trapped inside it, unless one could truly spot the flaw, it would be impossible to take advantage of any gaps.
Shi Xiaole was as relaxed as ever, still making a sweeping motion with his longsword.
This action made Tao Xingyu secretly frown. Was Shi Xiaole being too overconfident? Even his Junior Sister was left embarrassed and disheveled on her first try.
The subsequent scene, however, greatly surprised Tao Xingyu.
Shi Xiaole’s sword stroke seemed to cut through the twenty-eight Sword Qi like hot knife through butter. The Sword Qi seemed to flock towards his sword, neatly cut into two halves.
Of course, the Sword Qi wouldn’t just flock towards his sword, so there could only be one explanation: the opponent could immediately spot the flaws in the sword technique.
Tao Xingyu’s eyes sparkled bright.
"Never thought he’d have some skills."
Excitement appeared on Lan Xiaodie’s delicate face as she smoothly executed the Clear Shadow Sword Technique.
The clusters of Sword Qi remained powerful, but their speed and quantity rose a notch. Furthermore, they attacked unpredictably from tricky angles and without rest, leaving the opponent unable to predict their next form.
At this point, Shi Xiaole had to admire the Tidal Waves Sword Marquis.
As a swordsman, in addition to one’s own talent, the most important qualities were observation, reflex, and focus.
Strong observation allowed easy identification of the opponent’s flaws. Reflexes were the perfect complement to strong observation. Otherwise, there was no point in spotting the flaws but being unable to react promptly.
Focus, however, was the prerequisite for everything. People with poor focus often let external interference affect their spirits, leading to their potential not being fully utilized.
The Reflection Wall conspicuously elevated the test on these three qualities to a level that would amaze ordinary people. If these qualities were found slightly lacking, one would invariably end up in a mess.
Sadly, whether it was observation, reflex, or focus, Shi Xiaole was abnormally strong in all. Therefore, such a test was meaningless to him.
His arm exerted force, and Shi Xiaole decided to advance rather than retreat. Eighteen Sword Qi circled around his sword’s body, forming a vortex of Sword Qi. The ethereal Sword Qi punctured it but couldn’t even create a spark before vanishing.
The next moment, he changed his sword move, creating ten more Sword Qi to meet the attack of the Reflection Wall.
"Clear Shadow Sword Technique?!"
Tao Xingyu was stunned, almost blurted out.
What Shi Xiaole was displaying at the moment was not the Clear Shadow Sword Technique as the moves were different. But the essence was clearly that of the Clear Shadow Sword Technique.
In theory, the Clear Shadow Sword Technique was personally created by the master and wouldn’t have been leaked to the Martial World. Could it be that this youngster imitated the essence just by observing the shadow on the Reflection Wall?
Impossible!
Tao Xingyu couldn’t help but look at his master standing aside.
In his usual cold demeanor, Blue Tidal seemed unperturbed. However, if one looked closely, a rare hint of surprise could be noted in his eyes.
"Clear Shadow Dance of the Sky!"
Lan Xiaodie shouted sweetly. She, who had been somewhat holding back until now, truly exerted her full power this time.
All along, she has been proud of her talent. However, the first time she faced the Clear Shadow Sword Technique on the Reflection Wall, she barely lasted thirty moves.
Compared to Shi Xiaole, who was as steady as Mount Tai and seemed to have mastery of his sword, the difference was stark. How could she accept it?
A locust-like Sword Qi came straight at her, but it didn’t cause any change in Shi Xiaole’s expression. His wrist vibrated, and his Qingfeng Sword also sent out numerous Sword Qi, which went straight into the gaps of the opposing Sword Qi.
His astounding power of observation and control left even Tao Xingyu in awe.
One quarter of an hour.
Two quarters of an hour.
"I’m done playing."
Moving out from behind the Reflection Wall, Lan Xiaodie’s pretty face was slightly red. She glared at Shi Xiaole as if he was a monster, asking, "How old are you this year?"
Taken aback, Shi Xiaole felt that there was no need to hide anything and replied, "I’ll be nineteen soon."
So, he’s only eighteen this year?
Lan Xiaodie felt a blow. She was just nineteen this year. If Shi Xiaole were older, she could console herself somewhat. But now, how could she compete?
Tao Xingyu on the side took a deep breath.
He didn’t know if it was an illusion, but he felt as if he was seeing a shadow of the four Grand Sword Marquises in Shi Xiaole.
"These are my observations. Take it and have a look."
Breaking the silence, a book landed steadily in Shi Xiaole’s hands. Blue Tidal removed his gaze from Shi Xiaole and turned to leave.
