Chapter 448: Chapter 447: Capturing Sky Great Sword Skill
Two sword forces, one strong and the other weak, are at play. It didn’t take long before Shi Xiaole’s swordplay thoroughly suppressed Shen Wumei’s, confining it within a radius of three feet, unable to advance a single inch.
Although they were both nearing the Heavenly Sword Realm, Shi Xiaole was on the brink of entering, while Shen Wumei had at best only set one foot in. In a head-to-head clash, the difference between them immediately appeared.
This unexpected reversal was like a thunderclap overhead that turned many heads, causing many to lose their bearings.
The angriest of all was Shen Wumei.
His prideful heart was now accompanied by flushed and purpled face. He had wanted to teach Shi Xiaole a lesson, but now, he was the one being suppressed. This face-slapping humiliation in front of everyone was even more unbearable than death.
"I’d like to see how much you really weigh."
With a flick of his two fingers, Shen Wumei’s sword on his back quickly burst out, leaving a straight remnant image in the air.
Clang!
The clash rang out even while the remnant image was still halfway through.
It was only by now that people could clearly see; Shen Wumei’s sword had already arrived in front of Shi Xiaole, its tip only an inch from his throat and was blocked by the Hidden Edge Sword.
With a cold hum, Shen Wumei’s fingers moved continuously, and his sword, from a distance of fifteen feet, either prodded or stabbed, lured or chopped, striking Shi Xiaole’s vital points time and time again.
To their astonishment, people realized that Shen Wumei had changed his sword technique seven or eight times in just over ten moves. Each time he did so casually, fluidly, and each variation had reached the realm of perfection.
What shocked people even more was Shi Xiaole.
Because he kept repeating a similar move, time after time, yet each time it blocked Shen Wumei’s attack perfectly.
"The techniques are not the same, but he has comprehended the common secrets of different sword techniques. His understanding is comprehensive - thousands of changes are no different from no change!"
The one-armed elder looked at Shi Xiaole, feeling his heart tremble.
He had wandered the Martial World for over two hundred years, witnessing the rise and fall of generations of prodigies, but none had ever shocked him as much as Shi Xiaole did.
There were others who were more gifted and powerful than Shi Xiaole. But Shi Xiaole’s unique style, calm and composed, yet striking like a thunderbolt in secret, set him apart from the rest and made him unforgettable.
Shen Wumei’s face was expressionless, his hands waved and the surface of his long sword immediately acquired a layer of yellow-brown luster. Waves of fluctuation emanated, giving people the smell of withered leaves.
"Hmm?"
As the swords clashed, Shi Xiaole clearly felt that the Vigorous Air seemed to be corroded by the opponent’s Sword Qi.
"Shen Wumei is a rare talent. Besides the most potent Quick and Slow True Intent, he also comprehended the Decaying True Intent, one of the first-class intents. It is said that his sword can wilt all flora and fauna within a radius of three feet."
Yang Feng muttered.
He had been in Xuanwu State for several years, and naturally knew a lot about some prodigies.
Though the Decaying True Intent was not a top-tier intent, it was more troublesome than some of the top-tier intents, especially if one’s vitality was not abundant enough, it could easily be affected and even harm one’s foundation.
"All things decay!"
Under Shen Wumei’s distant control, the long sword trembled continuously. With each tremble, a large piece of yellow-brown sword filament carrying the smell of decay fell towards Shi Xiaole, densely packed, too numerous to count.
The sword threads pierced through Shi Xiaole, but they were only afterimages.
Clang!
A sword suddenly appeared between Shen Wumei and his long sword. With a fierce stab, a burst of silver light disrupted Shen Wumei’s sword technique.
"Did it hit the Extreme Silk Thread?"
Shen Wumei was genuinely shocked.
The Extreme Silk Thread, native to the South Sea, is twice as fine as the Heavenly Silkworm Thread but even tougher. Most importantly, this substance can remain hidden in the void, making it difficult even for a master to see through.
With his swift movements, the Extreme Silk Thread was moving at every moment. Could someone actually see through and accurately hit it?
"Reverse Slaughter!"
Because of Shi Xiaole’s attack, the Extreme Silk Thread stretched into a triangle. Shen Wumei simply grabbed it with a big hand. The distant sword rushed back at twice the usual speed. The Sword Qi condensed into a beam of light and dyed the void a decaying yellow.
Without time to turn around, or even to perform any effective defensive action, Shi Xiaole raises his hand and swings his sword, making a series of movements in a flash.
Clang! Clang!
The long sword aiming at his back was hit hard, both top and bottom, strangely spinning in mid-air and stopping for a moment.
After doing all this, Shi Xiaole didn’t even look. With a slight movement of his right arm, in the face of everyone’s astonished expressions, he effortlessly connected his already broken sword momentum and turned it into a breeze-like sword thrust toward Shen Wumei.
"Returning Vitality Palm!"
In the nick of time, Shen Wumei smacks with his right palm, forming a circular shield of Vigorous Air in front of him. With a bang, the shield shattered, and Shen Wumei staggered back five steps.
"Gained the upper hand?"
The Silver Spear Marquis’s eyes were wide.
From playing defense to launching an offense, the unreasonable techniques Shi Xiaole had demonstrated already far exceeded the Marquis’s understanding.
He was almost certain that if he did not use first-class spear technique, he could not hold up for fifty moves against Shi Xiaole!
At this moment, the Silver Spear Marquis somewhat regretted his previous action. Why did he offend this unconventional guy for no reason?
"By your capabilities, you’re no match for an aerial duel with me." Seeing the sour expression on Shen Wumei’s face, Shi Xiaole spoke words that were impossible for everyone present to calm down.
"Unworthy?"
Shen Wumei’s brow bones seemed to twitch a few times, the veins on the back of his hand protruding, "I will make you understand, the price of talking arrogantly."
This time he did not throw his sword out of his hand, he pushed off the ground with both feet, and while moving forward, he swung it four times.
In an instant, the void seemed like a cake, divided into even four pieces, each piece had dozens of sword shadows slashing towards Shi Xiaole at the same time, some far, some near, some fast, some slow.
Such disorderly swordsmanship made many watching masters feel utterly confused. Even though they knew the attack was not aimed at them, they still felt the urge to unsheath their swords to save themselves.
"Capturing Sky Great Sword Skill!"
Silver Spear Marquis felt a burden lifted from his heart.
The Capturing Sky Great Sword Skill was a powerful sword art of an excellent lower grade. If combined with one percent of Quick and Slow True Intent, at the same level, he could not block even one attack.
So what if Shi Xiaole is highly gifted? Without top-grade martial arts, he will eventually lose to Shen Wumei. Once he loses, it will not be as simple as just getting injured.
"Quick and Slow True Intent?"
Shi Xiaole suddenly closed his eyes.
His spiritual power was not omnipotent. At least when facing a supreme sword move, he couldn’t find its flaws in a short period.
Luckily, as Shi Xiaole got infinitely close to the Heavenly Sword Realm, he could blend his spiritual power into the void, making it part of the void. Although it was a brief process, it was enough.
Numerous ripples were transmitted, which were the fluctuations caused by the long sword moving through the void.
Clang ...
The Hidden Edge Sword came out to accurately block the incoming sword.
"Solidifying Void Strike!"
With the newly generated strength not yet used up and the old one still intact, Shen Wumei’s sword suddenly accelerated with a follow-up attack to Shi Xiaole along the blade of the Hidden Edge Sword.
Fast and slow are just relative concepts, everything depends on the person’s heart, flexible and changeable. You can predict the sword art, but how can you predict the innermost feelings of a person?
A starlight flashed, and Shi Xiaole evaded backwards with the Starry escape technique.
"I will no longer give you any chances. There is slow in slow!"
Shen Wumei’s sword seemed to exert some strange suction power, which slowed down the flow of time, only his sword remained unaffected, heading straight forward.
Some people shouted out, only because their sense of distance and spatial perception had been thrown into disarray by the fluctuations of the sword Qi, causing them to panic and retreat.
Even worse, because Shen Wumei’s Sword Realm was so high, leaving a mark in their hearts might cause permanent damage to their five senses.
If it was like this for bystanders, what kind of terrible impact would the main target of the sword technique, Shi Xiaole, be subjected to?
"So this is the power of a supreme sword technique? Brother Shi, you’re not worse than Shen Wumei. Perhaps the only difference is that you don’t have the same resources."
Yang Feng looked at the retreating Shi Xiaole, feeling sympathy for him.
"There is fast in fast!"
Shen Wumei let out a cold laugh before his attack even finished. He suddenly changed his strategy, it was like switching from a still world to a turbulent one without any transition. The drastic contrast was enough to drive many not so willful masters crazy.
A hurricane-like sword Qi sprang out, threatening to engulf him. In a dangerous situation, Shi Xiaole exerted his full strength and used the strongest move in the Thirteen Forms of the Gentle Breeze.
"Is it useful?"
The hurricane-like sword Qi passed close to Shen Wumei’s body. His sword was sometimes fast, sometimes slow, from near to far. Suddenly, it pierced directly into Shi Xiaole’s body, causing a splash of blood.
Boom!
The illusion shattered.
Shi Xiaole appeared behind Shen Wumei, and while handing out his sword, his pupils shot out two blades of the spirit.
"Pupil Skill?"
His expression changed. The sword was only inches away from Shen Wumei when he easily dodged it. Without forgetting to counterattack, Shi Xiaole couldn’t react in time and ended up getting his sleeve cut off.
"Indeed, a top grade sword technique. Unless there is a vast difference in power, it’s tough to win without a similar grade sword technique."
Shi Xiaole, after all, had not reached the Heavenly Sword Realm and he couldn’t sense his opponent’s sword technique at all times.
In fact, it was not that the eye knife was ineffective just now, but he misjudged the distance between them, and this gave Shen Wumei an opportunity.
"With this stroke, I defeat you, flowing time fades away!"
Without giving Shi Xiaole any chance to breathe, Shen Wumei’s spiritual power, intention, vigorous air, and True Intent, and even his whole comprehension of the Sword Realm, all melted into a sword stroke.
The void was like still water. With the entry of the long sword, it caused fluctuations that made people’s spirits confused and they couldn’t tell the difference between near and far. In people’s eyes, Shen Wumei’s movements were being repeated continuously, just like time passing, like water flowing away forever.
"Even if I have to attack across space, I can still disable you."
A voice that sounded like it was from a ruler resonated, Shen Wumei looked down condescendingly at Shi Xiaole, who was about to have his arm cut off.
Crown Sword Marquis and Yang Feng wanted to shout but it was already too late. All they could perceive was what had happened a moment ago.
"Hahaha, disable him, disable him!"
Silver Spear Marquis laughed wildly in his heart. It seemed as if he had already seen the scene where Shi Xiaole’s arm was cut off and he was severely screaming in pain.
This sword, which integrated all of Shen Wumei’s means, obscured everyone’s spirit world.
"Disable me? You can’t do it."
The chaotic world suddenly cleared, Shi Xiaole flew high, stabbing straight down with one sword.
