Chapter 476: The Union of Man and Sword
Yu Nianzhen took a deep breath and slowly exhaled.
With the exhale, his demeanour changed, and his aura converged.
Seeing this, Yu Shi frowned.
Although he didn’t take Yu Nianzhen seriously, his nature was cautious.
Rather than fail due to arrogance, he preferred to use his full strength to block the full-strength blow of the lower-level swordsman.
As such, Yu Shi mobilised his qi and meticulously strengthened his defence.
A moment later, his crystal defence thickened from one centimetre to five centimetres.
’This is my limit.’ He thought, but a small smile curled his lips.
’If he breaks through this defence, it will be my loss.’
However, Yu Shi didn’t really think he would lose.
On the other side, Yu Nianzhen held his wooden sword in front of his body.
Ordinarily, he usually used his right hand, but this time, both hands held the sword hilt with the blade tip pointing to the sky.
For the poets among the spectators, the upward-pointing blade was arrogant, as if aiming to defy the heavens.
However, for the sword cultivators, the stance was unsettling.
"This posture...." A swordsman muttered, and his brows creased in thought.
"What about it?" A neighbouring spectator asked.
"No, it can’t be." The swordsman said and shook his head in denial
After all, the fifth level of sword intent was not a state that could be easily achieved.
At Yu Nianzhen’s age, barely achieving the fourth level was the limit.
’It’s probably a kind of sword art.’ The swordsman convinced himself.
However, his body was tense.
Until he knew for sure, he couldn’t relax.
On the martial stage, Yu Nianzhen looked more solemn than ever before.
’I only have one chance.’ He thought.
Technically, the union of man and sword was an all-out attack.
It consumed a swordsman’s sword qi and sword intent while drawing out a sword’s maximum potential.
In return, when it was successfully deployed, it unleashed an unstoppable penetrative power.
However, if it failed, the sword cultivator would be left without a way to defend himself.
Because of this, the union of man and sword was a rarely used desperate attack.
’When I succeed, my swordsmanship will improve a little.’ Yu Nianzhen thought, and a determined light flashed in his eyes.
Soon after, his features began to blur, and his wooden sword changed from brown to silver.
A moment later, man and sword seemed to merge and became a silver light.
"This..." A spectator shouted in shock.
However, before the spectators could fully register the sudden change, the silver light flashed across the martial stage.
It covered tens of metres in the blink of an eye and soon arrived in front of the diamond jade crystal defence.
"Defend." Yu Shi shouted and frantically circulated his qi.
Unfortunately, his efforts were meaningless in front of the silver light.
In horror, Yu Shi and the spectators watched as the silver light cut through the defence and directly pierced his body.
Everything happened in less than a breath.
When it was over, no one could react, and the arena fell into a loud silence.
"Fellow Daoist Yu, it’s your loss." Yu Nianzhen suddenly broke the eery silence.
Although his voice was strained and his face was pale, his eyes shone brightly.
This proved that his union of man and sword had panned out as hoped.
"My loss?" Yu Shi was confused and couldn’t keep up with the changes.
However, his confusion was only for a moment.
When he came to, he saw a wooden sword sticking into his chest and blood pouring out of the new wound.
"I lost." He muttered, and his eyes widened in shock.
"Thank you for the duel, fellow Daoist Yu." Yu Nianzhen said and retreated a few metres.
Although he was still standing, his body was hollowed out.
His sword intent was exhausted, and his qi was overdrawn.
Most importantly, his wooden sword couldn’t withstand the force and snapped into two.
Fortunately, it broke after executing the attack.
Otherwise, Yu Nianzhen would have suffered an unbearable dumb loss.
’From now on, I will use my Shanjiang.’ He thought, and a small smile curled his lips.
For a swordsman, his natal sword was special.
Although it was not necessarily the most powerful, it was the most suitable.
As such, a sword cultivator could unleash more power when using his natal sword than when wielding other swords.
’Shanjiang is now a profound rank weapon but it rarely sees blood. It’s my failure, and I must correct it.’ He decided.
While Yu Nianzhen was immersed in his thoughts, the spectators exploded.
"It’s the union of man and sword." Someone shouted excitedly.
"Cangxing mountain master Yu is barely one thousand years old. How can he use the union of man and sword?" Another shouted.
"This fellow Daoist, what is the union of man and sword?" Someone asked.
"It’s the fifth level of sword intent."
"As expected, mountain master Yu has profound achievements in swordsmanship. Ordinary swordsmen can’t comprehend the fifth level of sword intent even if they spend their life trying."
"The mountain master looks exhausted." A female cultivator observed.
"From what I know, the union of man and sword draws out all of a sword’s potential and combines it with all of the swordsman’s qi and sword intent. It’s natural to be exhausted after using the move."
"Luckily for mountain master Yu, fellow Daoist Yu is seriously injured and can’t continue fighting. If fellow Daoist Yu could, mountain master Yu would be done for."
"Anyway, I won the bet."
"Did you bet on mountain master Yu’s win?"
As ordinary spectators discussed the duel, several special groups were equally excited and depressed.
One such group was the sword cultivators.
On one hand, they were eager to challenge Yu Nianzhen.
However, they were also self-aware.
Among the swordsmen in the Reincarnation world, only a handful had comprehended the fifth level of sword intent.
Considering Yu Nianzhen’s strength, only this handful had a chance of winning.
As for the rest, challenging Yu Nianzhen was generously delivering reincarnation stones and treasures.
However, such was the nature of sword cultivators!
Although they knew they couldn’t win, they were more eager to challenge.
Excluding the sword cultivators, another group that was conflicted in its perspective was the treasure-hunting cultivators.
In vulgar terms, treasure-hunting cultivators were bandits.
At ordinary times, they banded together, accosted lone cultivators, killed them, and robbed their treasures.
Hearing of their behaviour, it was tempting to believe that treasure-hunting cultivators were weaklings who could only huddle together to survive.
However, the reality was different.
Although some treasure-hunting cultivators were weak, most were extremely powerful.
When they heard about the challenge event, they recognised an opportunity.
For the past thirty or so years, the treasure-hunting cultivators were biding their time.
They planned to wait until Yu Nianzhen collected more reincarnation stones and treasures before they challenged him.
However, as the years passed, the different groups of treasure-hunting cultivators reacted differently.
Some gave up after realising they couldn’t defeat the Cangxing Mountain Master, while others were still holding on.
After the fight with Yu Shi, a few more gave up, but many more were still holding on.
Those who dropped out were depressed, but their opposites were excited.
After all, the more Yu Nianzhen won, the more treasures they would get when they defeated him.
"Senior brother, what treasure did Yu Shi gamble?" A treasure hunting cultivator asked.
Hearing the question, his fellows frowned, and everyone fell into thought.
A moment later, the so-called senior brother finally spoke.
"They didn’t say, but what does it matter?" The senior brother said with a malicious grin on his face.
"Senior brother is right. It doesn’t matter because everything will belong to us." Another treasure hunting cultivator said.
"It’s difficult to defeat him one on one. However, if our people successively challenge and wear him down, there will be a way to kill him." The senior brother said, and the group began to discuss an attack strategy.
At the same time, on the main martial stage, Yu Nianzhen dragged the injured Yu Shi to the edge of the stage.
Soon after, Yu Shi was helped down, and Yu Nianzhen sat cross-legged at the centre of the stage.
’The duel was difficult, but it was worth it.’ He thought and used his divine sense to examine the treasure he received from Yu Shi.
The treasure was a broken piece of sword blade.
Naturally, the piece was useless as a weapon.
However, its value lay in the sword patterns etched on it.
In ancient times, weapon refiners could etch patterns on refined weapons.
These weapon patterns not only enhanced the quality of a weapon but also emphasised its various characteristics.
For example, sharpness patterns enhanced a weapon’s sharpness, while heaviness patterns increased a weapon’s weight.
Unfortunately, the etching technique was lost over time, and patterned weapons could only be found in ancient ruins.
This time, Yu Nianzhen gained a lot.
Not only could he comprehend the sword patterns on the broken piece, but his sword spirit could also do the same.
After Yu Nianzhen comprehended the sword patterns, his understanding of the sword would deepen, his swordsmanship would improve, and his sword intent would receive further polish.
In the same way, after Shanjiang comprehended the sword patterns, it could etch the suitable ones on itself.
’When there is an opportunity, I will take XiaoYue to explore the Burial Province. If luck is on our side, we may find more pieces of patterned weapons.’ Yu Nianzhen thought and turned to look at the first small martial stage.
At this time, a male cultivator had just stepped onto Jiang Yue’s stage.
