Chapter 243

Pei Ye.

This was the second time Gu Gu Yunfu had heard this name.

When he first heard it, he was carrying the unconscious arrogance of someone from Mount Tianshan, deeply astonished by it, thinking this was a celestial being descending to a remote prefecture, and there was really nothing to be said about this martial arts competition.

But he soon learned that he was a youth born and raised locally, and every match after this competition made the man's expression become more solemn and focused, having long since put down his hidden pride as a "high disciple of Tianshan."

Now, "Pei Ye" was buried among Yang Yan, Li Li Piaoqing, Zhang Zhang Junxue, Zhang Zhang Zongyuan, and Shang Qijiao Shang Huaitong; his radiance had already dissipated, and he had to admit that this name was buried underneath.

He was only at the Fourth Life Realm; he was truly, earnestly, and unpredictably here to fight in this competition. Among these four, it was really hard to say which one he could definitely defeat.

Gu Gu Yunfu's gaze fell downward; regardless, this figure always attracted more of his attention. He had seen this name countless times, but had only seen this person once.

And beside him, an old man in slightly worn official robes with gray hair also straightened his back when this name was announced, leaning forward with some worry to look.

And the vast majority of people in the stands were still immersed in the aftertaste of that hazy realm just now. The quality it achieved after its own completion was fascinating, and the long-haired man in the black cloak was ethereal like a god, taking that divine sword move into his cloak when he left the stage, and no one saw what it truly looked like when it bloomed.

But everyone was imagining it.

It wasn't until the roll call for the next round rang out in the arena that people came back to their senses and looked over. The second round of the championship had already begun.

A group of children in the west were jumping and cheering excitedly, but in fact, the interest of most people in this round had been greatly diminished—the difference between one Sixth Life Realm and another Sixth Life Realm could indeed be worlds apart. With a young saber guest as stunningly talented as Yang Yan, he could defeat the head of a prefecture's Sixth Life Realm, but facing a sword that didn't belong to the "prefecture" at all, how could he perform another miracle across realms?

But there were still many who were obsessed with miracles.

Even though they were deeply shocked by the sword technique just now, they were still looking at the black-clad, saber-holding youth with hidden expectations.

After all, no matter how divine or strong that sword was, Shang Qijiao Shang Huaitong already stood there as an invincible person above everyone else, and would not bring any more surprises, but if Yang Yan could win the championship... that would be a thrilling and wonderful reversal, a subversion from the impossible to the possible!

As long as that miraculous saber technique could be effective before this realm.

People looked down; the black-clad, saber-holding youth was already standing on the arena. This figure was still silent and sharp, and people's confidence was bolstered by this temperament, and for a moment, many people cheered for him.

And opposite him, the youth in blue robes also walked onto the arena with his sword.

——

On the arena.

Yang Yan stood on the other side looking at Pei Ye, and seeing the youth bow to him with his sword, he also stood straight and solemnly returned the bow, then raised his head and slowly drew his saber.

Before going on stage, he went up and asked Pei Ye: "Which of us will fight the final match?"

Pei Ye had just stood up from the woman's side, his face still pale, but when he heard this, he turned his head and smiled at him: "What are you saying? Naturally, whoever wins will go fight."

"..."

"Fighting in a martial arts competition is a happy thing. Of course, one should fight as one should; how can one omit it just because one encounters one's own people?"

"..." It wasn't a question of omitting, Yang Yan was asking about Shang Qijiao Shang Huaitong in the final... since you have the ability to kill a Seventh Life Realm, if you are willing to reveal it, then naturally it should be you going up; if you don't want to use it in such a place, then I will work hard.

But Pei Ye didn't seem to have thought in that direction at all, smiling and patting his arm: "Let's go, let's see how formidable you are."

Yang Yan held the saber hilt and looked at him: "Then we'll be serious?"

"Serious, when have you not been serious?"

Yang Yan stared: "Pei Ye, I am much more formidable in a real fight than in sparring."

Pei Ye smiled: "Oh? Is that so? That's quite a coincidence."

At this moment, Pei Ye stood on the arena, also drew his sword, and waited for the tripod bell to ring.

He had indeed not deceived or hidden anything from Yang Yan, and this was indeed his true thought. It was pleasant to compete with people from all directions under the eyes of the public, and it was also quite interesting to meet a familiar friend on the arena.

And the Golden Autumn Martial Arts Competition was the first formal arena trial of his life. Putting down the things that could allow him to win without suspense, and earnestly, seriously fighting a match, weighing his own strength and level after stripping away those "miracles," was not only respect for this competition but also responsibility for his own cultivation.

Of course, things are unpredictable, and not all plans can be without accidents. Sometimes he indeed had to give up his original plans for some more important things.

Sometimes he didn't need to.

Pei Ye lightly flicked his hand in the air, his expression very calm, and the tripod bell had already pierced into his ears.

Countless people with various thoughts were all staring down.

In the center of the martial arts field, two young boys had already been replaced.

Pei Ye lightly exhaled, raised his sword to point flatly at the youth opposite, and smiled: "It's coming."

He took a step, and a shadow like a blue swallow swept across the martial arts field with a bright light.

When he reached five feet in front of Yang Yan, the sword light tilted slowly.

【Breaking the Soil】

Yang Yan held his saber earnestly to face it; this was an opening move he was long familiar with. He had tried many methods to make some progress with this move, but none had succeeded.

Yang Yan had long decided to abandon Pei Ye's advice that "every move and every style" must be clear and understandable, and continue the fighting style he used in the previous match of seeking victory in thrilling gaps, but facing this move, he could only hold back for the time being and choose to face it squarely.

But Pei Ye smiled: "After fighting so many matches, who still needs to test you."

Yang Yan was startled, because a moment earlier, the sword light in front of him had suddenly swept into a winding stream of light.

【Supporting the Tree】

Yang Yan was also very familiar with this sword move, and was infinitely familiar with his own "surprise." He didn't care about Pei Ye's change of moves at all; he knew clearly—when fighting such a person, one must always grasp the initiative!

So in the first move of the opening, the battle suddenly entered a sharp and tragic degree. Yang Yan didn't care about this stabbing sword move at all, and slashed fiercely at Pei Ye—there was no exchange of moves, it was just attack against attack, life against life!

This was the rhythm Yang Yan was familiar with. Cheers had already sounded in the arena—the youth's straightforward and distinct fighting style was like a small sun on the arena, breaking through all twists and turns to win, giving people a refreshing and exhilarating pain.

Here Pei Ye had to retreat, because this was not a fight to the death with an enemy, and if this sword move were to land, the damage caused would seem less than that saber strike of Yang Yan's, which meant he had to accept this concession in this move; this was sparring.

Pei Ye immediately stopped his sword, smiling slightly, seemingly indifferent to how the first round of the exchange unfolded. His long sword suddenly folded into a sharp angle, and a flash of light struck Yang Yan's saber body.

【Stepping on Water to Pluck Scales】

Such a fast sword move, if it were to slash at a distant part of the body, Yang Yan would have time to react, but slashing at the saber body close at hand, Yang Yan indeed couldn't avoid it.

He didn't want to avoid it either. The power of this sword was quite limited; it should have been aimed at the neck, not the weapon.

But the moment the "ding" sound of the collision rang out, this sword move suddenly changed into 【Supporting the Tree】! The stream of light wound into a swift and cunning snake, and in the blink of an eye, it climbed up along the wrist!

Yang Yan's long saber retreated urgently, and the profound momentum swirled in the void. Pei Ye's long sword suddenly lost its strength. If it were in the past, Yang Yan would definitely have to think about whether this was a trap and how he should act, but now he had learned to leave everything to his body and intuition.

Since it was a gap, just don't let it go!

The saber momentum twisted toward Pei Ye, and the swallowed power suddenly sprayed out. Pei Ye received it with his sword horizontally, and the long sword didn't tremble in the slightest.

【Stepping on Water to Pluck Scales】 was extremely light and fast, and very little power was needed to support it, so the amount swallowed by the "Swallowing Sea" was not much, and the amount returned to Pei Ye was not much either.

Seeing this scene, Yang Yan's long saber had already slashed out again without the slightest pause. It was indeed a fierce attack without any pause, and then he immediately sank in his heart.

The phenomenon of "no trembling" was not the first time he had seen it; perhaps it had nothing to do with the size of the power.

But Pei Ye had already faced this saber strike of his head-on. When the saber and sword met, the momentum on the sword suddenly surged, and it rang clearly. Under the eyes of ten thousand people, the saber suddenly tilted, and the sword had already moved forward straight, piercing into Yang Yan's chest.

【Clear Ringing】

Daring to return power to the youth, he would definitely inject it into the pool of 【Spreading Wings】 without any omission.

Now that it had just reached the standard of being able to ring clearly, he used this move without the slightest hesitation.

And it was just at the right time, just at the right place.

The power required to support 【Stepping on Water to Pluck Scales】 was really small.

But just after adding a little bit, it was just enough to support a move of 【Clear Ringing】—he was clearly doing it on purpose!

Yang Yan immediately realized his own clumsy imitation once again.

If it were him, even if he had passed the previous sudden exchange of saber strikes, he would definitely have saved this 【Clear Ringing】 as a winning trump card at this time.

Accumulating for three more moves, or even two moves, its power would be more than doubled. Why was he in such a hurry to use it after just a few light accumulations?

Of course, just before Pei Ye used it, he had indeed begun to realize it.

But how did he know he had realized it? Not early, not late, just at this move?

This was a strange sensitivity that Yang Yan couldn't reach, but this was not the time for him to reflect on himself. The two sides were already too close, and he definitely couldn't handle this sword move that suddenly entered the middle gate. He had to step on his feet, and the body technique called 【Crossing the Ice Lake】 exploded, suddenly retreating more than five feet, avoiding this thrilling sword move.

Pei Ye didn't pursue relentlessly, but flicked a sword flower and stood quietly in place.

The arena was quiet for a moment. On the stands, the conversation of tens of thousands of people also suddenly lowered a layer—in two breaths, the situation decided was something that caught countless people off guard.

What a beautiful sword, what a calm sword, what a strong sword.

You can think the youth is not strong, but such a sword, after four days, can really only be seen on this person in green robes.

No wonder there is a debate about whose sword attainments are better, this person or Master Shang.

And compared to the beauty of the sword moves, what surprised more people was actually Yang Yan's behavior of suddenly retreating in embarrassment.

Because everyone still remembers that when Yang Yan faced Zhang Zhang Zongyuan, he also supported three rounds before being forced to use this body technique.

But it is normal for Zhang Zhang Zongyuan to have such strong pressure. How can this Fourth Life Realm youth be able to do it?

Only a very few people with profound sword attainments and sharp eyes saw the answer.

Beauty, calmness, strength... none of these are the core of the youth's sword technique.

Just count and you will know—in three rounds, Yang Yan made two saber strikes, and Pei Ye made six sword strikes.

Spreading Wings, Breaking the Soil, Supporting the Tree, Stepping on Water to Pluck Scales, Supporting the Tree, Clear Ringing.

The two words that truly establish the threshold between the youth and other swordsmen are "coherence."

Using one move halfway, suddenly grasping one of the fitting force-exerting nodes, and then turning into the next move without any stagnation, and always being the fastest, always being the most suitable—he is not fighting you with separate moves, but using the whole set of swords as a weapon he can use as he pleases. Such control and sword sense are shocking to those who practice the sword.

How a sword can be learned, everyone's upper limit is the same; but how a sword can be used, everyone's upper limit is different.

The so-called "genius" is exactly this.

And besides "coherence," in these six sword moves, there are two words that are not easily discovered—"level."

【Spreading Wings】 to 【Clear Ringing】 is a long line, and the remaining four moves form a short line.

The short line is in the middle, the long line is at the end; the short line is in front, the long line is behind; the short line is above, the long line is below.

Some people see only the power of the sword, but not its wonder and beauty; some can feel its amazing beauty, but don't know why it is beautiful. And this is exactly the inner logic of Pei Ye calmly putting Yang Yan in a difficult position between six moves in two breaths.

Gu Gu Yunfu had already couldn't help but clap his hands, overturning everything he had just thought in his heart, leaning on the railing and muttering: "Pei Ye..."

Beside him, Li Li Weiru, who had been studying the Cicada Department these days, frowned tightly, lightly tapping the table: "How did this 【Clear Ringing】 suddenly come out?"

And on the side of the arena, Shang Qijiao Shang Huaitong leaned on his cloak, raised his eyebrows heavily, and couldn't help but grasp the hilt of his new sword.

On the arena, Yang Yan walked closer slowly again.

Pei Ye smiled: "I haven't used this fighting style on you before."

Yang Yan shook his head vigilantly and stood his saber again.

"Of course, because now I want to win against you." Pei Ye smiled, "Let me give you a reminder, the move to win against you later will still be those few moves just now."

He tilted the long sword in his hand: "Come on."

One of the big lessons Yang Yan learned was that one shouldn't listen to this person when fighting, but he naturally wanted the initiative to attack. The moment Pei Ye's voice fell, he rushed up, and his long saber slashed fiercely.

Instantly entered a fierce exchange.

This time, Yang Yan gave up the fighting style based on "Swallowing Sea."

When facing Zhang Zhang Zongyuan, Yang Yan found it difficult to dodge or defend against every staff strike, so he could only use "Swallowing Sea" to receive it, but Pei Ye's power did not exceed his own, nor was he so fast that he couldn't react. He could fight move for move.

Not to mention that "Swallowing Sea" is a strange saber technique that swallows and spits out power, but in front of the youth's 【Spreading Wings】, if he wasn't careful, he would suffer instead.

So he simply didn't bind his hands and feet anymore, and just fought with slashes, blocks, stabs, and picks against slashes, blocks, stabs, and picks, only using the Swallowing Sea saber at the necessary moments when the opportunity was excellent.

So the scene suddenly became very good to watch.

Both of them were fast saber and sword users, Yang Yan's saber path was sensitive like a demon, and Pei Ye's sword technique was exquisite like a god. At this time, fighting fast with fast and danger with danger, for a time, the arena was filled with saber light and sword shadows like snow, and the sound of breaking silver and cracking pearls was endless, and the black clothes and blue robes were drowned in the flashing and changing light and shadow.

The cheers on the stands became louder and louder. After feeling the heavy and profound mystery for a long time, such a real saber and sword fight was also exceptionally good to watch. And as time went on, many people were surprised to find—in such a simple and fierce hard and dangerous fight, this place where Yang Yan relied on to win against Zhang Zhang Zongyuan, this Pei Ye was not at all inferior!

Even more than that, obviously better!

Although the power was slightly inferior, the youth's sword always had exquisite designs that were continuous, Yang Yan was originally attacking first and advancing continuously, but after ten breaths, he took a step back; after twenty breaths, his pace never moved forward again.

After thirty breaths, anyone could see his struggle.

This was really contrary to everyone's impression. Yang Yan! The second place in this tournament, the only person who might be able to fight Shang Qijiao Shang Huaitong, actually couldn't beat Pei Ye?!

The atmosphere in the arena became tense again. Everyone was focused, only feeling that these top eight and top four were really wonderful, and everyone was constantly overturning.

But on the arena, although Yang Yan's expression was tense, there was no sign of panic. There was even some expectation in the depths of his eyes as he looked at Pei Ye.

In fact, he was flushed now, and he was having a great time fighting.

It was indeed as Pei Ye said, such a match, if it were really discussed and given to the other party, it would be a pity.

Yang Yan had never seen such an all-out display of sword technique on Pei Ye before in his sparring off-stage. In fact, he had never known that he could hold out against such a continuous sword for so long!

Compared to facing Zhang Zhang Zongyuan, he had definitely risen another level.

And this time, he felt that he was really going to win against Pei Ye.

It was not imitation, nor was it complacency, but he had understood the "Whale" chapter, and Pei Ye didn't know it yet.

"You know it but he doesn't, this is the trump card that makes the enemy most helpless." These were the words Pei Ye himself said.

Pei Ye only knew that he could occasionally use this saber strike, and how many times before, as long as he used this saber strike, Pei Ye would be defeated.

Without exception.

But this was definitely not something that could be used by just using it directly at the start of the arena. "Swallowing Sea" is a move that requires the enemy to attack first, so he could swallow it. He, Yang Yan, couldn't just slash over and directly swallow the person to the ground.

The "Salamander" chapter can only swallow "power." Power is the final release of a move. It doesn't matter if it's a punch or a staff, as long as it's sent towards me, I can swallow it.

The "Whale" chapter is much more profound. It is used to swallow "momentum." Momentum is the formation of a move, not just the final power released, nor just on the weapon, but the whole body, inside and out, all the places that mobilize and support the force are the momentum of this move. As long as it is in this move, the "Whale" can swallow it all.

Then the premise is that the other party must attack first.

And this move is stronger, and the more all-out it is, the greater the impact the Whale chapter will have on the person. Before, Zhang Zhang Zongyuan's "Tiger Leaving the Cage" was a first-class all-out move, with all his sinews and Qi in it, and it was swallowed by the long whale in one bite. The new force had not yet been replenished, so he was exhausted and waiting to be slaughtered.

Facing Pei Ye this time, it was still the same.

After losing to him three or four times, Pei Ye actually saw through his essence—"It seems that the tighter I force you, the easier it is for you to use this move."

So later, he didn't design step-by-step pressure anymore, but suddenly attacked when the situation didn't seem to have reached the end, trying to win in one move.

So since then, Yang Yan hadn't used the Whale chapter even once.

This time, naturally, he didn't have to think about it—even if he hadn't discovered the clues, Yang Yan was very sure that in the previous exchanges, Pei Ye had already secretly spread his wings and held the Clear Ringing in his hand.

This 【Clear Ringing】 must be strong enough, otherwise how could he defeat him before the situation had completely collapsed?

Then the stronger it is, the more Pei Ye will fall into a desperate situation when it is swallowed.

And let Pei Ye show a look of astonishment, and then be helplessly held by his saber against his neck.

Hehe.

So at this moment, the situation was becoming unfavorable, and the expectation in Yang Yan's eyes gradually increased. He knew that it was coming soon—

Sure enough, it came!

In front of him, Pei Ye suddenly changed his move.

The saber and sword were about to collide. Yang Yan almost saw the sword suddenly ring clearly and knock away his long sword. He twisted his wrist, and the "Whale" had already been accumulated.

But that sword came out, but it was not 【Clear Ringing】.

【Supporting the Tree】

It was 【Supporting the Tree】 again.

In the previous exchanges, Pei Ye had also used it several times.

What was strange about this move? Yang Yan had seen this move dozens of times, and didn't think there was anything special about it. It just suddenly climbed along the sword, collided with the opponent's weapon according to his needs, and of course, it was also a very exquisite sword move, but in front of him Yang Yan...

And then suddenly it wasn't.

It was the same sudden, smooth, and flowing movement. The sword that climbed onto his long saber suddenly rang clearly!

【Clear Ringing】!

【Supporting the Tree】 first climbed close, and 【Clear Ringing】 then won the victory.

What a fast and strong move!

The power accumulated by the youth in every gap during the thirty-breath exchange was now released in a ringing sound that pierced the blue sky.

But.

How could Yang Yan be too late?

He had long been waiting for this sword. 【Supporting the Tree】 was naturally to get close, to make the long saber unable to turn, but that was just unable to unfold the saber momentum with "Salamander."

The "Whale" chapter, placing the saber inside Zhang Zhang Zongyuan's body, could swallow momentum without moving, so where was the need to turn?

【Supporting the Tree】 was simply a clever move that turned into a clumsy one—the sword body was right next to the saber.

Yang Yan twisted his wrist, and the saber body knocked on it.

And then this sword suddenly flew off from Pei Ye's hand.

Yang Yan was suddenly shocked, thinking that his sect's ancient saber had been defeated by such a ridiculous trick!

But obviously not.

Throwing the sword out had no use, because the moment the contact occurred, the whole sword, together with the "momentum" in the body of the sword-wielder, was swallowed up.

The sword would not carry any power either.

Sure enough, Pei Ye in front of him, even if he decisively let go at that moment, could not escape this Swallowing Sea saber.

The Whale of the Void swam over from afar, opened its mouth slowly, and then turned and disappeared into the void.

But everything had been swallowed.

Pei Ye stood stiffly in front of him. This weakness would not last too long. Yang Yan immediately held the saber against his neck, and a smile was already on his lips.

Then he suddenly noticed that he didn't hear the sound of the sword falling to the ground.

The sound of cutting wind suddenly appeared behind him. He turned his head abruptly, but only saw a flash of light.

Under the eyes of five thousand people, Pei Ye made a sword move without retreat, and then let go of his hand gracefully in front of Yang Yan's saber. This time everyone felt that miraculous saber strike—the Clear Ringing, which was extremely strong in performance, was instantly swallowed, and a moment of stillness and silence even seemed to appear between the two.

Then, outside this stillness and silence, the sword that had been let go drew a beautiful and graceful arc on half of the arena.

Curved like the moon, and bright like the moon, it was as if a beautiful crescent moon had been drawn on the arena paved with white stones.

And at the end of this crescent moon, the sword suddenly stretched into a straight line, sweeping over Yang Yan's head.

Countless people in the audience jumped up in exclamation.

Set a grand ambition on Sunday, and write 19,000 words in two and a half days.

Originally, I planned to finish this plot together to make everyone happy, and I also wanted to handle it well without being affected, and then update it in one breath. The author would be comfortable, and everyone would be happy.

But I didn't finish it in two days, and then everyone was already looking forward to updating 20,000 words on Monday night, so I had to update it together.

It's a pity that my expectations were not met. Everyone should be looking forward to it, and I didn't give everyone the refreshing points.

I wrote a lot of words, but it felt like this holiday was for nothing.

Life is not satisfactory in eight or nine out of ten cases.

Actually, I think these chapters are okay, the only pity is that there is no ending, it's better to update normally, sigh.

It's mainly the upper limit of my own writing ability, and there are classes in the morning and afternoon on Monday, and it would be better if I had time.

Finally, the teacher gave a relatively heavy task this week, which is due on Friday, plus many courses will have tasks at the end of the term, so I will announce the not-so-wonderful updates in December again.

There will be no update on Tuesday noon.

————————

By the way, I still owe 28 updates!

(End of chapter)