Chapter 486: Chapter 485: Finally Entering Heavenly Sword (Part 2)
Who could have thought that apart from Li Zifeng, Ai Wenqian’s Sword Realm was far ahead of her contemporaries, only a step away from the true Heavenly Sword.
"Damn it, her talent is no less than that wench from ten years ago."
A wave of shock and anger gripped the ship where the Xiahou Family resided.
The Ai Family and the Xiahou Family had a longstanding grudge.
Few people knew that ten years ago, Xiahou Jing committed rape and murder against Ai Wenhong’s aunt out of lustful desire and a drive to eliminate a potential threat to the Xiahou Family.
Unexpectedly, the Ai Family’s luck was so strong that after eliminating one threat, another talent just as powerful emerged.
"We must report this to the clan immediately. This woman must be eliminated."
A square-faced young man said with malicious determination.
"With the same Dragon Gate Realm Quadruple-level cultivation, a three-tenth top level of true meaning, and almost no difference in Sword Realm, this young lady can be considered as the strongest swordsman Li Zifeng has met in the past five years!"
Many of the discerning youngsters were restless, especially the swordsmen, whose hearts beat faster with a mixture of envy and jealousy.
A Li Zifeng, who was born with a sack of swords, was already enough to drive people crazy. Now there was Ai Wenqian, whose talents were chasing after him, which left others with how to live?
Keep in mind that even the Sun Sword Lord, who was hailed as the number one swordsman in Shuntian Capital in the past two hundred years, only stepped into the Heavenly Sword Realm at the age of thirty-nine.
Li Zifeng and Ai Wenqian were both twenty-seven years old. Given the current situation, they were very likely to enter the Heavenly Sword Realm within five years. Even if it took them ten years, they would still precede the Sun Sword Lord!
Of course, sometimes what seems like a hair’s breadth can end up taking ten or twenty years. We can’t say for sure. But from a statistical standpoint, both of them have a great chance to break the record of the Sun Sword Lord.
"God-given talent! Hahaha, this Linjiang Immortal Gathering can be called the highest standard in recent times."
Huangfu Duan from the Divine Strategy Academy was uncontrollably excited.
To witness the demeanor of future giants in their youth and record their deeds for posterity was an exhilarating thought.
"You are very good."
A little fluctuation finally appeared in Li Zifeng’s eyes, embroidered with surprise and joy.
He may appear infinitely glorious, but who can understand the loneliness of having no one among his fellow swordsmen who can fight him?
It was precisely because he had no opponents that Li Zifeng’s Sword Dao progressed slowly and hardly advanced. Otherwise, he suspected that he would have entered the Heavenly Sword Realm long ago, defeating everyone in Xuanwu State!
This woman in front of him might just be his ideal opportunity to break through.
Everyone was drawn to the duel on the Glazed Fairy Platform, nobody noticed that Shi Xiaole had closed his eyes.
The aftershock triggered by the duel between the two top swordsmen deeply touched him.
If the Heavenly Sword Realm is considered the endpoint, each person takes a different path. For example, Shi Xiaole embeds his psychic energy into the Sword Dao, aiming for resonance and unity between the mind and the sword.
Shi Xiaole didn’t know about Li Zifeng’s and Ai Wenqian’s Sword Dao epiphanies, but he was confident that by sensing the way they fought, he could deduce one or two things to emulate, relying on his psychic strength.
So he closed his eyes, fully alert to the smallest fluctuation.
Ren Mengzhen quietly glanced at Shi Xiaole before looking away.
Clang!
Clang! Clang! Clang!
The two in the field engaged again. If the previous rounds were needlepoints against speartips, then this moment was like comparing thunder with ground fire, with speed, power, and momentum far surpassing earlier times by several times.
Two streaks of sword light collided with an irresistible force, the sword Qi fluctuation caused by the collision slowly gathered, actually forming a whirlwind of sword Qi. The unrestrained whistling between these made the two hundred meter long and wide Glazed Fairy Platform sway slightly, unseen before.
"Autumn leaves fall."
With a slight shift of his left shoulder, Li Zifeng avoided Ai Wenqian’s middle cut, and with a sweep of his long sword, countless red glows fell from the sky, filling every inch of the Glazed Fairy Platform space.
Many people suddenly screamed out, covering their eyes. Just by looking at the red glow, their eyes felt a sharp pain, as if they were going blind.
"Every single strand of air has become sword Qi. Li Zifeng, Li Zifeng, the strength of your opponent brings out your potential. You are getting closer and closer to the breakthrough."
Yu Wen Cang sighed, then a fighting spirit appeared in his eagle eyes.
Only mediocrities fear the strength of their opponents. He liked the unknown, because without it, he couldn’t understand himself.
"Water light floats!"
Avoiding the unavoidable, Ai Wenqian’s body spun rapidly like a top, like a drill formed by a column of water, ruthlessly piercing into the sea of red glows.
With the bolster of the Sword Realm, the power of the Water Sky Sword Technique has been elevated to a whole new level.
Zh....
Amidst the earth-shaking explosion sound, two figures simultaneously retreated, were in mid-air again, and rushed towards each other with a swiftness exceeding their previous one, madly attacking.
Up next, the entire Immortal Gorge was overwhelmed by the sound of explosions. The sword Qi of the two was just formed a moment ago, and immediately it was torn apart by their own sword Qi, a cycle of creation and destruction.
Faster than the explosions were the two’s attacks. At almost every breath, a clear sword sound reverberated in the void. The sound wasn’t a single one, but due to the speed of the two, all the sounds heard in the ear turned into a single sound.
On the seemingly indestructible Glazed Fairy Platform, countless crisscrossing sword marks appeared at some unknown point, one inch deep and of varying lengths.
"This, this..."
Everyone sucked in a cool breath in disbelief.
The Linjiang Immortal Gathering had been held for many times, and as per records, this was the first time that someone had damaged the Glazed Fairy Platform in a duel. Could it be that the two’s attack power has already matched, or even surpassed, an ordinary high-ranking Dragon Gate Realm martial artist?
What a joke!
"Write this down, write it down quickly!"
Huangfu Duan had already stood up, hand on the deck rail, shouting incessantly at the people from Divine Strategy Academy around him.
Other famous figures in the Martial World also lost their composure, their expressions varied.
The ripple sounds traveled very far away. Even the people in the fifty Watcher Towers could hear them clearly.
"Granddad, is that lady the person you said who can defeat the three top geniuses?"
In a Watcher Tower, a little girl was looking at the blind old man holding the erhu.
"You’ll know when you see it."
The blind old man laughed.
"Well done, you are the first among your peers who can withstand my two hundred moves in my eleven years of martial arts career."
Standing upright, Li Zifeng’s back was straight, his sword momentum grew stronger and stronger, without end, as if it could pierce straight through to the horizon.
Around him, Sword Qi condensed into red maple leaves hanging in the void, making him seem like an arrogant loner in a maple forest, supremely powerful.
Ai Wenqian was not lonely, because her heart contained emotions.
Sword feelings, family feelings, and love that has not yet bloomed.
The water-colored ripples reflected indistinct shadows moving around her, overlapping each other, like the world within the water, insulating her from the erosion of the red maple Sword Qi.
"These two are truly the swordsmen I’ve only seen once in my life, all their potentials and strength surpass other peers by countless times."
The Crown Sword Marquis paused his beard-stroking hand, his elegant face showing a nearly admiring expression.
His seniority was indeed greater than Li Zifeng and Ai Wenqian, but as the saying goes, the one who achieves is the master, both in strength or in realm, the two younger ones outshone him by far.
Looking at Shi Xiaole, who had opened his eyes, the Crown Sword Marquis smiled bitterly to himself.
Even someone as outstanding as Xiaole paled in comparison to the two. Truly, there are heavens beyond heavens and people beyond people.
"Compared to those two, I might as well go back home and farm."
Watching the distant flickering, dazzling sword momentum, Yang Feng shook his head. If it were him on stage, he probably wouldn’t be able to handle a single move from either of them.
"I heard that Li Zifeng loves maple leaves, often putting them in his drinks. His understanding of the Sword Realm probably includes putting trust in an object, using maple leaves as a medium to connect with the universe."
"And Ai Wenqian’s understanding of the Sword Realm is likely to go to the extreme with feelings and the sword, using internal emotions to drive the progress of the Sword Realm. Because only by becoming stronger, you can protect those that you like and care about."
While others were marveling at the strength of the two swordsman, Shi Xiaole discerned their interpretations of the Sword Realm from their combined vibrations.
"Trusting in things, going to extremes with emotions, in reality, are all ways of entrusting feelings. My understanding of the Sword Realm, however, does not rely on external objects but focuses on myself."
Shi Xiaole slightly raised his head, looking up at the clear blue sky.
Different paths leading to the same goal, the process of comprehending the Heavenly Sword Realm does not necessarily have a superior or inferior method, but there are individual differences. These differences often have connections with an individual’s experiences, and even personality traits.
He didn’t know if it was due to the fusion of two souls, but Shi Xiaole’s state of mind was unspoiled and vacant that it even scared him a little.
It was as if he was a robot, there was no panic, he could always make the most accurate judgement in any situation and had ample execution power.
Yet bizarrely, he wasn’t absolutely heartless.
"Heavenly Sword, if it connects everything, then how can I find the connection between myself and the universe from within me?"
The question came back to the starting point.
At this moment, on the Glazed Fairy Platform, two formidable swordsmen launched their all-conquering strokes simultaneously.
"Falling Maple!"
Li Zifeng’s killing move was very simple by name, but by no means was its sword theory simple. Under his command, countless maple leaves fell gently to the ground, outlining another world amidst the tumultuous collision.
From this sword stroke, people felt a desolate and sad loss that could make heaven and earth lose their color. Time couldn’t be reversed, and what blossomed would eventually wither. It turned out that the falling maple was not just about the falling leaves but also the lives of living beings.
"Heaven in the Water!"
"Water and Sky Reflecting Light" was not the strongest tactic of the Water Sky Sword Technique, this one was. Ai Wenqian turned into a gentle sword radiance like rippling water, her figure disappeared, and yet seemed omnipresent.
There was no earth-shattering roar, no blinding light but just the immense danger hidden in the silence.
Clang!
For a moment, the maple leaves stirred by the wind left irregular sword marks three inches deep on the platform. The sword markings of water-like color had plowed a trench dozens of feet long in the platform.
Everyone’s train of thought froze.
Among the arbitrarily permeating waves of residual sword Qi from two forces, Shi Xiaole saw faces with different expressions. They stood in the universe and were perfectly in harmony with Linjiang, showcasing an incredibly harmonious picture with their movements and stillness.
"It seems I fell into a misunderstanding, I myself am part of the universe, why should I search for a further entry point, ignoring the one that’s right in front of me?"
As if his mind had been cleansed, Shi Xiaole achieved enlightenment.
In the dark corners of his mind, a thin layer was broken through. His hair, gaze, even every move he made, they all became sharp like a sword, even the void around him was affected, as if countless swords were crisscrossing at every moment.
Everything is a Sword, the universe is a Sword.
On this day, Shi Xiaole successfully advanced to the Heavenly Sword Realm.
