Chapter 722: Chapter 721: Defeating You with Swordplay
On the vast plain outside of the Sword King City, two people stood opposite each other, fifty feet apart.
Both dressed in green robes, Shen Canghai carried an aura of dignified severity. His face was handsome, his swordlike brows knitted in a frown. He held a black chain whip in his hand.
The chain whip consisted of thirteen sections, each six inches and six longs, hooked together. It shimmered under sunlight, revealing a hefty and overwhelming sheen.
Compared to the suffocating Shen Canghai, Shi Xiaole’s demeanour was undeniably more restrained. Despite being a swordsman, he didn’t exhibit a bit of sharpness. Instead, there was a sense of ’nothingness’ around him.
Not in a physical sense, but in a spiritual one.
It seemed as if he didn’t exist in this void, yet at the same time, he seemed to be everywhere. Anyone without sufficient willpower would go mad simply from trying to sense his aura.
"So strong!" Hua Yiyun muttered, hurrying to the scene with Yuan Yuying in tow.
As someone in the Dragon Gate Realm, he couldn’t understand the aura of the two. It didn’t prevent him from marveling at their might.
And it wasn’t just him. All the masters who had rushed over, except the Earth Immortals of the Divine Border Realm, retreated in fear. If they were too close, they would be driven to insanity by the combined aura of the two.
"Shen Canghai, Shi Xiaole, show me what you’ve got!" A figure landed on the hillside in the distance. It was Xu Zhongting, ranked twentieth on the list of Earth Immortals.
From the battle in the Tri-Pole Palace, Xu Zhongting held a deep impression of Shi Xiaole. If it were not for Shen Canghai’s intervention, the one challenging Shi Xiaole this time would have been him.
Nevertheless, he was more than happy to sit back and watch the fight, waiting to identify the strengths and weaknesses of the two. This would save him the risk of being defeated.
"Kirin, today I will break your Undefeated Golden Body!"
As he was contemplating, the two men in the arena began their fight.
Shen Canghai stomped on the ground, propelling himself forwards. With a swift yank of his right hand, the thirteen-section chain whip suddenly stretched taut, streaking towards Shi Xiaole like a black beam capable of piercing the heavens and earth.
Clang!
The longsword was unsheathed. Shi Xiaole’s sword tip accurately landed at the top of the chain whip.
Boom!
Crackling sounds followed the explosion, resembling the collision of two heavy walls, then the scratching of sharp objects. Sparks burst forth between the sword tip and the chain whip, leaving holes all over the ground within a hundred meters.
"Such dense vigorous air?" Shen Canghai exclaimed in surprise.
As someone from the third tier of the Divine Barrier Realm, he couldn’t push back Kirin with brute force. Although this strike was delivered casually, was Kirin not the same?
"My weapon is a little bit disadvantaged."
With an extraordinary mental power, Shi Xiaole determined instantly that his vigorous air surpassed Shen Canghai’s, but his opponent’s chain whip was not an ordinary weapon. It might have been a top-tier lower-grade Spiritual Weapon, its quality significantly surpassed the longsword.
Boom!
The suppressed sword intent abruptly erupted like a crashing tidal wave, piercing the clouds in the sky. Shi Xiaole dodged quickly, his longsword slashing swiftly without a trace of movement left behind.
Shen Canghai quickly counterattacked.
Among the sounds of metal clashing that made one’s teeth sore, the two exchanged places and created three different battlegrounds. Each battleground had hundreds of shadowy figures attacking each other.
From extreme calmness to intense action, Shi Xiaole’s transition was utterly natural, much like his sword technique, combining stillness with movement, hardness with softness.
At some point, the Wind Extreme Sword Technique was no longer confined to distinct techniques but was executed by Shi Xiaole in countless forms, as natural as flowing water.
First was the Gentle Breeze Passing the Court, silent as a whisper, transforming his sword qi into a gust of wind targeting Shen Canghai. Next was Heartless Wind and Rain, where his sword tip pointed fiercely, targeting the acupoints of his opponent’s body. That was followed by Wind Rolling and thunderclap, the strike carrying the momentum of the previous two attacks.
The fourth move was Wind Rises and Clouds Surge, where the invisible sword qi slammed down like a cage, compressing the space. As Shen Canghai’s movement was constrained, it transformed into the unseen and traceless Wind of Lingxi.
"Get lost!"
Shi Xiaole’s sudden transformation caught Shen Canghai off guard, quickly putting him on the defensive. With a sudden surge of energy, the chain whip in Shen Canghai’s hand moved like a black dragon emerging from sea, breaking through the heavy sword momentum.
Not retreating a single step, Shi Xiaole’s sword technique changed, a violent wind reversed, attacking the chain whip again and again, this was the Fierce Wind Hundred Turns. When his longsword switched from slashing to slicing halfway, the blade shrunk into a thread, turning into the Gale Blade.
The clanging sounds continued!
The chain whip was spinning so tightly around him, defending his front. Shen Canghai retreated rapidly, planning to counterattack just as Shi Xiaole’s assault arrived again.
All seven skills combined into one, Wind Kill.
Whoosh!
Couldn’t stop retreating, Shen Canghai had been dragged through the vast plain, leaving behind two channels, each five hundred meters long.
An audible gasp filled the air, eyes bulged in disbelief.
Everyone had expected a tiger-dragon-like fight. Little did they know that Shen Canghai was entirely suppressed by Kirin, just like Gu Wantong, who had once been toyed around by him.
"Give it all you’ve got, or you’re going to lose. You’ll lose so quickly that you won’t even believe it."
Without a follow-up attack, Shi Xiaole spoke lightly.
This was his style of fighting, favoring the utmost speed and efficiency, overwhelming the opponent instantly with equal strength.
Of course, Shen Canghai was not that weak. But the opponent’s probing was undoubtedly a foolish move. If it were a life-and-death battle, he wouldn’t even have a chance to unleash his real power.
With fluctuating color in his face, Shen Canghai trembled intensely. It was not fear but rage.
He didn’t expect that Kirin would be this strong. With everyone’s eyes on him, only by brutally stepping on his opponent could he wash away the humiliation he had just felt.
"I won’t give you another chance! Sentimental Seven Skills, Chain of Sentiment!"
Black hair wildly dancing, eyes sharp as blades, a layer of steel light coating the chain whip in Shen Canghai’s hand. It burst forth and contorted seven times in the air, like a stunning lightning bolt. Its target - Shi Xiaole’s chest.
With a flick of his wrist, Shi Xiaole’s sword sliced into the chain whip. Under the force, the chain whip suddenly rotated rapidly, ensnaring Shi Xiaole’s arm along with the long sword.
"Die! Chain execution!"
Cackling wildly, Shen Canghai forcefully pulled back on the chain whip.
But he underestimated Shi Xiaole. Before the chain whip could tighten, Shi Xiaole’s left hand had transformed into a sword finger, tapping three times, while his legs moved like the wind, boldly deploying the first move of the Divine Wind Movement—Heartless Wind and Rain.
Clang clang clang, each hit broke through the defense, instantly shattering the stance.
As the man and the sword moved like the wind, Shi Xiaole slashed diagonally with surprising speed.
"Damn!"
Shen Canghai quickly swung his whip to block, but was sent flying for the second time, his face turning slightly pale. It was then he realized how challenging Shi Xiaole was, and that a mere moment of negligence could lead to his defeat.
"He’s incredible!"
Yuan Yuying stared, her eyes shining brightly.
So this was Shi Xiaole? His opponent, Shen Canghai, who had arrived with great momentum and unmatched energy, was being suppressed to the point of only being able to fight back. Yet Shi Xiaole was so relaxed, his breathing rhythm hadn’t even changed.
Turning her head to look at Hua Yiyun, sure enough, the latter’s face was filled with fanaticism.
"Chain of Sentiment!"
As the name suggests, the Sentimental Seven Skills consist of seven moves, but Shen Canghai knew that these would not be enough to defeat Shi Xiaole; in order to compete against him, he needed to use his true abilities.
This move, Chain of Sentiment, was one of his major killer moves.
So-so-so...
Each iron ring on the chain whip seemed to rub against each other in a peculiar way. As Shen Canghai violently swung it, the distance between the iron rings was stretched to infinity. It was then that everyone saw that the whip was connected by a very fine silkworm thread.
"Kill!"
Covering a vast space in an instant, with a twist of martial arts, the chain whip transformed into countless strands, frantically swirling towards Shi Xiaole.
The killing power of this move had shockingly reached the high level of the Fourth Tier.
"Unite Heaven and Earth, Break Divine Land!"
Shi Xiaole’s body spun rapidly, turning into a sky-piercing cyclone. All the energy around surged into it, radiating a power capable of destroying heaven and earth.
Boom!
A terrifying blast echoed, with the two fighters standing at the center, the ground collapsed like quicksand, destroying everything around them for meters around. Everything vanished into thin air.
The people around were both stunned and frightened.
Fortunately, they had already retreated to a distance of five thousand meters. Had they been any closer, they would have been annihilated by that hit.
Two Divine Barrier Realm, second-tier and third-tier respectively, yet the destruction they caused was not inferior to the average level of Divine Border Realm four or even fifth-tier fighters.
"If they were to deploy their strongest moves, I could only parry them with a mere 50% confidence." Xu Zhongting took a deep breath after saying this.
After this battle, he was clearly aware that he might not be a match for either Shen Canghai or Shi Xiaole.
Shen Canghai appeared weak throughout, ostensibly not strong enough, but that was because his opponent was too powerful and had suppressed him in all aspects. If he had been the one facing Shi Xiaole, he might not have been able to gain any advantage, and his chances of victory would not exceed 50%.
"Shi Xiaole, your leg skills are impressive, able to force out my final killing move. However, once this move is deployed, even I have no control over it, so it’s better for you to admit defeat," Shen Canghai said grimly after the smoke cleared and the battlefield had sunk into a huge hollow several hundred meters long and deep.
Shen Canghai had been utterly defeated in both technique and power, but luckily he still had a final killing move left, and he still believed that victory would ultimately be his.
Hearing Shen Canghai’s words, the spectators gaped in disbelief. He still had a killing move left after all this?!
"Shi Xiaole has been leading the entire battle, but unfortunately, techniques are just icing on the cake. If he doesn’t have a killing move to counter it, he’s still going to lose."
"If that’s the case, it’s a shame."
"It’s not a pity, what they are comparing is ultimate strength after all."
The crowd suddenly fell silent, followed by buzzing discussions.
Hua Yiyun’s fists clenched as he watched the young idol standing in the field, his face expressionless and serene. He was so nervous that he could barely breathe.
A warm, slender hand held his, slightly wet with perspiration.
"Don’t worry, young hero Shi Xiaole will definitely win."
Yuan Yuying said with forced enthusiasm, her voice was faint and tense.
Everyone knew that Shi Xiaole’s strongest skill was his legwork. If he had mastered or discovered a new killing move within just a few months, it would seem utterly impossible.
Thus, for those who liked him, Shen Canghai’s firmly spoken words were enough to destroy their confidence.
In the hollow, Shi Xiaole showed no panic, no forced calm. Upon hearing the challenge, he simply said, "I am a swordsman. If I am to defeat you, it will naturally be with sword techniques, not legwork. Give it your all."
What?
Upon understanding Shi Xiaole’s meaning, everyone’s faces changed dramatically.
