Chapter 175: Only the weak use blades and swords; to rely on the sharpness of a blade to strike back

"My master is Li Changsheng; you should recognize him," Li Hanyi said, enunciating every word.

The young Daoist in the green robe assumed a look of sudden realization:

"So, it is a high disciple of Li Xiansheng."

He paused, casting a glance at the exquisite and beautiful sword in Li Hanyi's hand:

"The sword in your hand is clearly a rare and sharp weapon at a glance. If you were to strike with it, it wouldn't take more than a few breaths before you would be kneeling on the ground."

The Qi around Li Hanyi's body surged, and she said coldly:

"Are you saying I can only strike one blow before being beaten by you until I'm kneeling and unable to rise?"

"Quite the opposite; you would have to kneel on the ground, continuously pouring your internal energy into me, begging me not to die."

This single sentence from the young green-robed Daoist instantly dissipated Li Hanyi's cold, surging Qi. She remained silent for a long time before saying:

"Master was right after all; he said you, this stinking Daoist, are crafty and strange, and that one must strike first before talking. Otherwise, one would be sold by you and still be helping you count the money."

"Li Xiansheng would absolutely never say such things about this poor Daoist; he and I are friends across generations," the young green-robed Daoist said with great solemnity:

"It must be your senior brother, Baili Dongjun, bad-mouthing this poor Daoist behind my back."

Li Hanyi said coldly:

"On the contrary, he feels it is best to stay as far away from you, this wicked Daoist, as possible. Only when he has full confidence that he won't be tricked by you can he meet you."

"I came to Wangcheng Mountain today just to see for myself why their expressions always turn so strange whenever they mention you."

The young green-robed Daoist assumed a contemplative look:

"Perhaps it is because I can divine and calculate. For instance, four years ago, Li Xiansheng suddenly visited Wangcheng Mountain, wanting to find this poor Daoist for a divination. As luck would have it, I was not on the mountain. He stayed on the mountain for seven days, and after failing to wait for my return, he left with a look of disappointment."

"As a result, he secretly stayed at the foot of the mountain for ten days. Afterward, unable to hold back, he ran up the mountain, chopped down this peach tree beside me, and then left in a huff."

He sighed lightly:

"This time, he hid near Wangcheng Mountain for three whole months; it truly makes me admire him."

"I don't know if it was because he got angrier the longer he waited, but he suddenly appeared at the summit of Wangcheng Mountain and, with a wave of his hand, overturned the Qiankun Hall."

"Didn't you say you don't descend the mountain for ten years?" Li Hanyi asked suspiciously.

"Who said that?" The young green-robed Daoist's eyebrows twitched slightly.

"More than four years ago, when your junior brother Wang Yixing was traveling the Jianghu, that was exactly what he told the outside world."

"So, it was Wang Yixing who said it; what does that have to do with this poor Daoist?"

Li Hanyi was left speechless, her tone involuntarily laced with a trace of helplessness:

"It seems you don't just like to trick outsiders; you don't even spare your own junior brother."

The young green-robed Daoist said with a serious face:

"This poor Daoist has no senior brother, but I do have a junior brother named Wang Yixing. Therefore, the rumors in the Jianghu are mostly false information spread by word of mouth."

"I am beginning to understand why my master and Senior Brother Baili are always at a loss for words whenever they discuss you," Li Hanyi said, her tone strange, as if she were beginning to understand deeply.

The young green-robed Daoist laughed:

"In the Jianghu, they say that to succeed in sword practice, there are only three methods: challenging swordsmen, honing in desperate situations, and receiving moves from experts."

"Not far from this courtyard of mine, there is a great expert, the likes of which Wangcheng Mountain has never seen since ancient times. He has practiced his sword technique to a miraculous level. If you go to him to ask for a sword duel, you will gain a great deal."

"You even like to trick your own younger brother," Li Hanyi said, seemingly amused to the point of anger:

"I heard you are a natural Free and Unfettered Heavenly Realm expert. Even without practicing martial arts, you have the strength of a half-step Free and Unfettered Heavenly Realm. I happen to have reached the late stage of the Free and Unfettered Earth Realm."

As she said this, she drew her sword, the surging sword momentum vibrating, actually drawing the peach blossoms in the courtyard to surround her. As she swung her sword to strike, the blade bloomed with a brilliant moonlight.

"Moonlight and Flowers!"

The young green-robed Daoist unhurriedly extended two fingers, clamping onto the blade's edge, and said calmly:

"Only the weak use blades and swords; to rely on the sharpness of a blade to strike back and win against the strong with the weak."

Having said that, lightning flickered at his fingertips, causing the long sword in Li Hanyi's hand to vibrate, as if it were wailing and trembling.

"Listen to Rain!"

The young green-robed Daoist nodded:

"So this sword is called Listen to Rain. It must have been forged by the Sword Heart Tomb; it is a sword with a sword soul. No wonder it has such spirit that it actually feels fear."

He tapped the blade lightly, and the Listen to Rain sword was suddenly flicked away. It fled Wangcheng Mountain with such speed, while Li Hanyi was shaken back seven or eight steps, and the mask on her face was shattered.

"Graceful and elegant, cold and detached; it is worthy of being called a fairy-like appearance that makes one pity it," the young green-robed Daoist said with a hint of regret:

"It's just that your martial arts don't match your beauty. Using a weapon that only knows how to desert is one thing, but your sword technique is also very flashy."

"Do you know that when you use this sword technique, you make yourself look very dull?"

"Enough, didn't you say you don't know martial arts?"

Li Hanyi said with slight anger:

"What martial art was that just now?"

"Since you know this poor Daoist has one foot in the Free and Unfettered Heavenly Realm, you should understand that I can utilize the power of heaven and earth. Just now, I was merely relying on the power of the five elements of heaven and earth to dissolve all things in the world."

The young green-robed Daoist said airily:

"If you must consider it a martial art, you might as well call it the 'Five Thunders Transformation Hand.' It can not only turn so-called divine weapons into ashes but also dissolve internal energy."

"What a natural Daoist body with an immortal's fate; you really hid deep enough. Since you dare to look down on the swordsmen and blade-wielders of the world like this, you must possess some world-shaking divine abilities."

Li Hanyi said with an expressionless face:

"And you said my sword technique was flashy and vulnerable; it seems you possess a peerless sword technique yourself."

"Fine, three months from now, I will come to you again to ask for a sword duel!"

As she finished speaking, she leaped up, and after a few aerial jumps, she disappeared.

Winter passed and spring came; in the blink of an eye, two or three months had passed.

On this day, Li Hanyi arrived as promised. The courtyard, which was usually like spring all year round, saw clouds and mist rapidly descend and condense into ice due to her arrival.

"Worthy of being a disciple of Li Xiansheng; in such a short time, you have not only entered the Free and Unfettered Heavenly Realm but also obtained one of the ten famous swords."

The young green-robed Daoist raised his eyelids:

"Iron Horse Ice River, the coldest sword in the world, sealed at the peak of Changbaishan, once wielded by a peerless Kunlun Sword Immortal; it is the third-ranked famous sword in the sword manual."

"I have come again today to ask for a sword duel; you shouldn't let me down," Li Hanyi said with a cold expression.

"Do I look like someone who has a sword?" The young green-robed Daoist spread his hands.

Li Hanyi's mouth curled slightly:

"Since you view blades and swords as things held by the weak, you must be able to display world-shaking, peerless sword techniques without needing any sword weapon."

"If you ask me for a sword duel and I agree, it counts as helping you hone your sword Dao. This poor Daoist never does business at a loss," the young green-robed Daoist smiled:

"I have a little tune; if you lose the sword duel, you must sing it to this poor Daoist with feeling."

Li Hanyi frowned slightly:

"I am not skilled in music."

"This poor Daoist does not know sword techniques," Zhuang Buran said slowly.

Li Hanyi remained silent, but heard the young green-robed Daoist say:

"To have so little confidence in yourself? If you win, you won't have to sing the little tune. If you lose, it doesn't matter; it's just a tune that is the complete opposite of your temperament."

"Letting you temporarily turn your usual cold detachment into something cute and charming, consider it an apology for the late destruction of the flowers."

"Have you forgotten that the previous sword strike destroyed all the peach blossoms in this poor Daoist's courtyard?"

"Hearing you say that, I want to bet on this round even less," Li Hanyi gritted her teeth.

"Oh, is that so?" Zhuang Buran smiled and said:

"Then you can draw your sword immediately and see if you can force me to make a move."

"You are indeed just as Senior Brother Baili said, full of wicked humor," Li Hanyi said coldly:

"In this sword duel, if you compete with me normally and I lose, I will sing your so-called little tune. If I win, shouldn't you also pay something?"

"I'm already competing with you in a sword duel; doesn't that count?" the young green-robed Daoist asked back.

"If you lose, I want you to fight me ten more times," Li Hanyi's eyes flashed with cold light.

"If this poor Daoist loses, you still want to ask for a sword duel? Could it be that you just want to vent and beat me up?" The young green-robed Daoist looked suspicious.

"Do you dare to agree?" Li Hanyi said noncommittally.

"I feel like this poor Daoist is at a loss; you must also serve as a cook for ten days."

"Thirty times!"

"This poor Daoist wants you to use your feet to hold chopsticks to eat for these ten days!"

"Bind your own hands and feet and fight me fifty times!"

"This poor Daoist wants you to walk without taking steps, only hopping for these ten days!"

Li Hanyi suddenly drew her sword, and a cold, tyrannical sword momentum soared into the sky, pressing down on the young green-robed Daoist like an iron horse trampling across a wasteland.

"Zhao Haizhen, you really don't act like a human!"

In an instant, all the peach blossoms on Wangcheng Mountain were sucked in by Li Hanyi's sword. As thousands of peach blossoms mixed with an unparalleled sword momentum fell toward the young green-robed Daoist, she drew infinite frost energy into the sword body and struck out with a stunning sword blow.

Immediately, the young green-robed Daoist stood up. As his Qi surged, an inexplicable sword Qi rolled in the courtyard, surging like a tide, instantly filling the space of the courtyard.

In an instant, the sky full of peach blossoms and frost sword Qi were shredded. Li Hanyi was imprisoned in place, feeling unable to counterattack or defend.

Zhuang Buran flashed and appeared in front of Li Hanyi, pointing his fingers as a sword, tapping her forehead. As the mask turned into powder, he flicked her forehead, immediately raising a large bump.

In a moment, the sword Qi space collapsed. Li Hanyi endured the pain and touched the raised bump, not expecting that after a light touch, she would almost cry from the pain.

"What sword technique is this?"

"Heaven-Extinguishing and Earth-Destroying Sword Twenty-Three!" Zhuang Buran saw the bump on Li Hanyi's forehead and said happily:

"Only those with prominent horns are worthy of the appearance of a Sword Immortal."

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 176 =====