Chapter 352: Lesson
Yu Nianzhen sighed and narrowed his eyes in annoyance.
"Fellow Daoist, could it be you don’t understand the current situation?" Jiang Yue asked angrily.
"Fellow Daoist only needs to accept the challenge. There is no need for any other words." The person continued.
His eyes were filled with contempt as he looked at Jiang Yue, and the silver-haired beauty was hard-pressed not to attack him.
"I will accept the challenge. The time will be one year from now." Yu Nianzhen said.
"One year? Is the Supreme Sword God unwilling to face me? Is he afraid he can’t win?" The person sneered, and several people laughed in derision.
"Who do you think you are? Why do we need to fear you?" Jiang Yue also sneered before he continued.
"We are about to go to war, and all fellow Daoists should understand that this is not the right time to fight amongst ourselves."
"I say it is exactly the right time. Don’t we need to make sure that the top forty-three are worthy of being in the council?"
"This fellow Daoist has a good point. We should make sure." Another cultivator weighted in.
"I also think so."
"We don’t have time for this."
"If one person wants to challenge, what’s to stop others from challenging? Won’t we waste too much time on this?"
"The enemy is already preparing. Why waste time on matters that can be settled later?"
In this way, the gathering fell into disorder.
Everyone had their opinion, and all thought their views were the most correct.
Seeing this, Yu Nianzhen sighed again.
"If the fellow Daoist insists, I will fight you now." He said, and a deep coldness entered his eyes.
For this kind of selfish person who didn’t care about the consequences of their actions, Yu Nianzhen had no mercy.
[Azhen...] Jiang Yue transmitted.
[Don’t worry. I will kill the chicken to scare the monkeys.]
With that, Yu Nianzhen flew to a clearing; about fifty metres from the crowd.
"Fellow Daoist Supreme Sword God is refreshing." The challenger said with a smile on his lips.
However, how he said the title left no doubt that he was not convinced.
"I am the eleventh-ranked Clear Breeze swordmaster." The person introduced himself, and Yu Nianzhen nodded before speaking.
"Supreme Sword God." He declared.
"I dare say that I have mastered the lightest and fastest sword in our Cangxing world." The cultivator said, and Yu Nianzhen sneered.
Although he was titled the Supreme Sword God, Yu Nianzhen did not think he was the best swordsman in the Cangxing world.
In the same way, he did not think his opponent had the fastest sword.
After all, they were only in the origin tempering realm.
No matter the depth of their sword intent, their cultivation realm affected the actualisation of their sword moves.
To say that he had the lightest and fastest sword, his opponent was either ignorant or did not take senior sword masters seriously.
Either way, Yu Nianzhen felt the person was a frog at the bottom of a well and needed to be taught a harsh lesson.
"Does the fellow Daoist not believe me?" The man questioned Yu Nianzhen.
"Everyone is in a hurry to prepare for the war. If the fellow Daoist is ready, we should start."
Hearing the evasion, the male cultivator frowned.
He felt that Yu Nianzhen did not take him seriously, and he clenched his fists in anger.
’I planned to be merciful, but you have successfully angered me. Wait for me to show you.’ He thought as a sword appeared in his hand.
The sword had a light blue blade that trembled slightly when the wind touched it. From this, it was clear that the sword was specially made for fast and sharp attacks.
On the other side, Yu Nianzhen also released Shanjiang.
Like before, he sealed nine points of the sword’s power, but the blade still shone with a dangerous lustre.
While the two were preparing for their fight, a light golden barrier appeared around them.
This barrier was the manifestation of heaven’s acknowledgement, and its presence made the challenge even more solemn.
Soon after, Yu Nianzhen felt something within his body, and his cultivation lowered from the peak of the ninth level to the late stage.
’Is this what happens during a duel?’ He wondered and quickly examined his body.
Fortunately, he didn’t find other changes, and he heaved a sigh of relief.
"I wonder what kind of fight we will see." Someone intoned excitedly.
"One is the first place on the Cangxing list, and the other is the eleventh. Both are swordsmen and their cultivation has been equalised. It should take a while to decide a winner."
"I don’t think so. The difference between rank one and rank eleven is not small."
"That is true, but their cultivation is now equal. They are competing solely on swordsmanship."
"If you say it like that..."
Unfortunately, the spectators thought too much!
Yu Nianzhen’s swordsmanship had undergone a qualitative leap after he enlightened in the tower of time.
At his level, the Clear Breeze Swordmaster was not a worthy opponent.
Under ordinary circumstances, Yu Nianzhen would save the opponent some face.
However, the Clear Breeze swordmaster was rude, and Yu Nianzhen couldn’t be bothered about his face.
Other than that, Yu Nianzhen wanted to let others fear him.
When they feared him, they would think two or three times before challenging him.
With such thoughts in mind, Yu Nianzhen took a deep breath.
A moment later, he swung his sword diagonally, and a silver light flew from the tip of his blade.
The light was faster than a falling meteor, and when the opponent saw it, he sneered.
However, he wasn’t complacent.
Without hesitation, he countered with his fastest Clear Breeze sword, wanting to extinguish the silver sword light.
Unfortunately, nothing went as expected.
As soon as he sent out his Clear Breeze sword move, he felt a heart-wrenching pain on his shoulder.
With a frown on his lips, he lowered his head and saw a bone-deep hole in his shoulder.
"What?" He muttered as his frown deepened.
He couldn’t understand what happened, but he was not the only one.
"What did I just see?" Someone muttered, but the others were just as confused.
"The Clear Breeze sword master obviously blocked the silver sword light. Why was he still injured?"
"If you ask me, who can I ask?"
"Is the Supreme Sword God an illusion master?"
"I think the Clear Breeze sword master had already been injured when he made his move. What he saw and blocked was an afterimage."
"What are you talking about? How can that happen?"
"We are all in the origin tempering realm. A sword we can’t keep track of is too terrifying."
As everyone discussed, they couldn’t help but look at Yu Nianzhen in horror.
It was expected that seniors with higher cultivation levels were faster than them.
However, it was too much to accept that someone in the same cultivation level could make such a terrifying attack.
After all, no one wanted to believe they could be killed without having a chance to defend themselves.
"You..., what did you do?" The Clear Breeze sword master asked.
He had always pursued speed when cultivating swords and had thought his moves had reached the epitome.
However, he found he was too naïve.
Just now, the move made by the Supreme Sword God had exceeded normal cognition.
At first, he felt the sword light was fast, but he could still react to it.
Unfortunately, that was just a delusion.
What he reacted to was an afterimage, and he never got a chance to see the real sword attack.
’It’s too horrifying.’ He thought and subconsciously stepped back.
"Is the fellow Daoist convinced?" Yu Nianzhen asked with a cold look in his eyes.
If the Clear Breeze Sword master dared to be unconvinced, Yu Nianzhen didn’t mind giving him a harsher lesson.
Fortunately, the Clear Breeze sword master wasn’t mindlessly stubborn.
After a moment of reluctance, he admitted the loss and sighed in frustration.
’My understanding of the dao of speed is still too superficial.’ He thought as the golden light barrier dissipated.
"Fellow Daoists, let’s agree that all other challenges can wait until after we deal with the Death Flower Ascension Front." Bei Chengling took the chance to say.
"The enemy is better organised; we cannot afford to waste time." The Clear Breeze sword master said.
When the others heard that, they almost vomited blood in anger.
If things proceeded as planned, the council would already be discussing a strategy.
However, the person who disrupted the plan was now the first to push for haste.
’Let’s ignore him and focus on the matters at hand.’ Bei Chengling thought angrily and began to vet the proposed council members.
After all of them were cleared, the council members retreated into Meng Zihua’s portable space.
The room they entered was a large hall, similar to the main room in the ancient palace.
It had a long table, and fifty chairs were arranged around it.
When everyone took their seat, the meeting started.
