Chapter 74: 71 Pure Yang (Second Update)

71 Pure Yang (Second Update)

The slender, white fish eye beads were pitch-black, swimming flexibly in the air as if leaving behind trails of white.

Fish... is it a whale?

Tang Zhao analyzed it constantly in his mind; if it were a whale, the Sword Intent might be "Whale Swallowing," which was very close to their previous guess.

However, calling this thin, long white fish a whale was a bit of a stretch, wasn't it?

White fish, black eye... and that familiar, slender, curved posture...

It couldn't be, could it?

A black-and-white diagram appeared in Tang Zhao's mind—the Taiji diagram!

Taiji diagram, yin-yang fish.

Are they playing for such high stakes?

What kind of sword would use half of a Taiji diagram's white fish as an illusion? A Taiji Sword?

No, he seemed to have said just now—Pure Yang?

Yin and Yang are divided in two; the white fish being Pure Yang is also plausible.

It's just too grand.

Daring to bear this name, even if the real Lihuo Sword came, it wouldn't compare, right? Does that white-haired person truly have such spirit to be able to wield this kind of sword?

Thinking of this, Tang Zhao looked down at the Dharma Artifact in his hand. The sword, which had faded from red to pure white, was humming; it was clearly extremely excited—it was so compatible with Tang Zhao that it unleashed such unprecedented power.

"Sorry, friend."

Although Tang Zhao felt a palpitation in his heart the first time he saw this Dharma Artifact and subconsciously longed to obtain it, he was still plunged into immense joy when he truly held it in his hands.

Before obtaining this sword, he didn't know how a sword and a Sword Guest chose each other, but once he had it, he understood. There was no need for deliberate selection; love at first sight was enough to hold hands.

The power of the Dharma Artifact flowed into him naturally, and his will penetrated into the Dharma Artifact as naturally as water flowing into a channel.

The two sides should have been like fish in water, first pouring out their hearts to each other, then communicating their intentions, and finally gradually entering a better state to achieve a match made in heaven.

Unfortunately, he had more pressing matters at the time.

Opportunity must not be lost; he took advantage of the white-haired person's lack of precaution and suddenly triggered the maximum power of the Dharma Artifact.

Sword Technique—Full Power Burst!

He knew this might not necessarily injure the Sword Guest, but if it could force the opponent to resist with all their might and release the object imprisoned within the sword, his goal would be achieved.

I wonder, did it succeed?

Regardless of whether it succeeded or not, he had no way to burst forth again. That last time had even exceeded the limit of the Dharma Artifact and his own limit; both sides needed to rest for a while.

What a pity, they hadn't even fought side-by-side yet. Being so simple and crude, I wonder if it will damage our relationship?

The white-haired person floated quietly surrounded by the white fish, his expression calm, without joy or anger, seemingly isolated from the world, staring at Tang Zhao, and said: "Oh, it's you."

Tang Zhao said: "Oh? You recognize me? We have never met, have we?"

The white-haired person said indifferently: "No need to have met; one look and I knew it was you. I had two goals for coming down the mountain this time; one has been achieved, and the other is also right before my eyes." He glanced at Pei Shoujing and said, "Originally I wanted to find you, but because I couldn't find you, I had to settle for the next best thing. I originally thought this substitute was not bad, but seeing you, I know that I was indeed meant to find you."

Tang Zhao said: "So, seeing me, you confirm that I am indeed worth one thousand taels of silver?"

The white-haired person said: "What is one thousand taels? You are not to be measured by worldly goods. At the very least, you are worth three lives. You stay, and the others can leave." As he spoke, the white fish left behind white phantoms in the air.

The choice he gave was exactly the same as the one he gave Pei Shoujing earlier; from beginning to end, he was extremely confident, as if he himself were the center of this world.

Tang Zhao tilted his head slightly and said: "Pei Jiangjun, what do you say?"

The silver light in Pei Shoujing's hand transformed into a large hammer again, and dots of silver light on his body bloomed like five-petaled plum blossoms in the wind, and he said: "Those who are good at fighting lead others and are not led by others. You and I joining forces are not at a disadvantage; how can we hand over such a favorable situation to others?"

Tang Zhao laughed and said: "Magnificent, Pei Jiangjun! At the time, I was wondering what kind of sword your plum blossom-related sword was; so it was an Eight-Sided Plum Blossom Bright Silver Hammer. It really suits you."

Pei Shoujing smiled slightly, just as happy as when he heard Tang Zhao's praise under the plum tree back then, and said: "The flames just now were very beautiful."

As the few were exchanging idle words, they suddenly became solemn together, and the white-haired person and Pei Shoujing shouted simultaneously: "Raise the Array—"

A white ring descended from the sky, turning into a high white wall from top to bottom, shrouding everyone within it.

At the same time, several plum blossoms bloomed under everyone's feet, the silver plum blossom petals divided into five-petaled brilliance, flowing continuously, sealing off all eight directions, with layers of separation around each person.

"Yang Feng—"

"Plum Blossom—"

"Great Array!"

Array against array!

The two confronted each other, setting up arrays with themselves as the Array Eye; the arrays were already truly locked in battle.

Although both were arrays, they were completely different. The Plum Blossom Array had countless plum blossom petals flowing underfoot, turning into small arrays to seal the eight directions, rolling to control the surroundings. The Yang Feng Array was the exact opposite; the white high wall transformed from the Yang fish rotated in circles, continuously shrinking toward the center, advancing bit by bit, unstoppable.

This confrontation between flexibility and overwhelming pressure was just like the giant hammer against the thin sword earlier, only the roles of force and skill were reversed; now the plum blossoms were the flexible side.

And Tang Zhao, the moment the two raised their arrays, used flowing fire to form a pair of wings and took off instantly.

Just now, when the few were chatting, Tang Zhao noticed they were all stalling for time, brewing a major move; he also wanted to join in, but unfortunately, he had no major move to brew; he had already released his biggest move.

Fortunately, he also wanted to stall for time.

He immediately used fire to create wings for himself; this wasn't any Sword Technique. After mastering the Dharma Artifact, the flames produced by the Dharma Artifact could be controlled by him, changing shapes at will; a pair of wings was nothing.

However, wings didn't necessarily mean he could fly. Fortunately, he had received teachings from Chen Zong and understood the principle of "brute force lifting bricks," so he flapped his wings vigorously to generate hot air, which naturally lifted him up.

Or perhaps that wasn't the principle, but he flew up anyway.

Suspended in mid-air, he temporarily escaped the strangulation line of the two arrays and exerted his full power to operate the Dharma Artifact, controlling higher-temperature and more powerful flames.

The whiter the flame color, the higher the temperature; he had discovered this long ago. Now he felt that the pure white flame still had room for improvement.

Pure white fireballs floated around him, without any shape, just burning quietly. Tang Zhao gradually entered a state of emptiness, mobilizing all his Mental Power to manage the flames in the air.

Gradually, his mind was no longer completely empty, but entered the state of the Divine Bird Li Huo Art; his mind immersed, he saw the flames burning, and within the flames, a golden feather...

For many days, all he had seen was a single golden feather, but the moment he held the Lihuo Sword to visualize, the flames seemed to burn particularly intensely, and the divine bird in the raging flames danced continuously, revealing a golden wing.

In reality, in the center of the pure white fireball, golden shadows appeared, seemingly the shadow of the Vermilion Bird from the Vermilion Bird fire that had just erupted, but the color appeared even more glorious and brilliant...

At this moment, the Plum Blossom Array and the Yang Feng Zhen were still locked in a death struggle; the Plum Blossom Array was magnificent and ever-changing, yet it could never shake that sturdy high wall. When the silver light struck the white wall, it instantly lost its agility and settled onto the ground, forming silver plum blossom patterns, as if pressed from three dimensions into two by the white light.

The white wall compressed, the silver light was continuously compacted, and gradually, the death struggle ceased to be a struggle, becoming instead a siege of the plum blossoms by the white fish.

Suddenly, the white light flared brilliantly!

The radiance of the white fish had originally been extremely pure, but not dazzling; now, the light that ignited was not only brilliant, but even more scorching!

Countless rays of white light flew from the air in all directions, like countless small suns, every one of them striking the high wall without exception.

The force of the white light was not great, but upon striking the white wall, it immediately ignited, as if the white wall manifested by the white fish were made of wood and vine, capable of burning.

Wherever the flames reached, there was nothing that could not be burned!

In a moment, the white wall collapsed in several places, suddenly shook violently, and finally rose from the ground, transforming into a white fish that lunged fiercely toward the white-haired person's sword, still carrying several patches of flame on its body.

The white-haired person tilted the sword in his hand, and the white fish retracted into the sword. In an instant, the sword body trailed wisps of firelight, appearing as if it too were about to burn, but immediately, strands of fine white silk circulated over the sword, instantly suppressing all signs of it.

At the same time, Pei Shoujing recalled the Plum Blossom Array, and the countless silver lights extinguished. However, those silver plum blossom patterns that had been pressed by the white wall and imprinted onto the ground were not retrieved by her; they still flickered quietly on the ground.

They had been sealed into the ground.

The space within the sword was limited and could not seal so much power, but by using the earth as a base, it could be forcibly sealed all the same.

She would likely lose the power represented by this portion of silver light forever; the hammer head of the Eight-Sided Plum Blossom Bright Silver Hammer had even dimmed somewhat.

The white-haired person raised his eyes to look; before him were still several white flame clusters. At a glance, they were pure white, yet within them were faint golden shadows. They flew about like little birds, not at all methodical like an array, yet equally dangerous. Wherever they went, they brought a scorching heat, and they would burn violently upon touching any object.

The flame clusters seemed to be wandering, but they were slowly approaching him with a certain rhythm.

Pei Shoujing said in a low voice, "Alley fighting?"

The white-haired person remained calm throughout, saying indifferently, "Trifling skills—" He slashed with his sword blade, and several swimming fish shot out, striking the light orbs one by one, instantly igniting, then extinguishing in a flash.

No, they were not extinguished; those light orbs were still burning, but they were now wrapped in white bodies.

The white fish had swallowed the flames, and the light and fire still burned hazily through their bodies, as if dyeing the fish bodies with hazy embroidered patterns.

The high temperature capable of incinerating everything was swallowed into the bellies of the white fish, leaving them completely unaffected.

Then, all the white fish rushed madly toward Tang Zhao, submerging him in an instant!

Just at this moment, Pei Shoujing shifted her feet, and the silver hammer in her hand instantly transformed from a hammer into a bow. Drawing the bow like a moon, a streak of silver light exploded toward the white-haired person!

As if the white-haired person had anticipated this, a large white fish emerged from the sword, opened its mouth, swallowed the silver light, and then spat it back out, shooting it just as urgently toward Pei Shoujing!

He swung his sword again, his left hand forming a seal, and a new Sword Art was already primed and ready—

Suddenly, a streak of blood-red light erupted from beneath the ground, exploding like fireworks!

Countless blood blades submerged the white-haired person, and among them was his own blood!

71 Pure Yang (Second Update)