Chapter 668: Liuyiqing

In this world, there are generally five realms for cultivators.

Initial Perception, Perception, Freedom from Doubt, Dongxuan, and Knowing Destiny.

Liuyiqing is young, yet he has already reached the Dongxuan Upper Realm; he can indeed be described as a genius.

He has always been very proud, and he has every right to be. But since his elder brother Liu Bai said he is no match for Yu Liancheng, and that he might even be defeated with a mere wave of a sleeve, then he is certainly no match for Yu Liancheng.

Yet even when facing such a formidable enemy, his emotions did not fluctuate much.

Because the elder brother he respects most had also once told him: no matter what kind of enemy you face, the only thing you need to do is draw your sword from its scabbard and thrust it into the opponent's body.

So, Liuyiqing did exactly that.

He drew his sword and thrust it forward.

Unlike the sword-controlling techniques of other sects in the world, disciples of the Sword Pavilion always keep their swords in hand; they have no need to rely on Heaven and Earth Yuan Qi for manipulation, as they can directly condense the Heaven and Earth Yuan Qi around the sword.

When this strike was thrust out, it poured in the cultivation and attainments of Liuyiqing's entire life.

The air before the sword tip suddenly collapsed, as if the surrounding space were caving in layer by layer. The Heaven and Earth Yuan Qi in the vicinity was driven by this strike, rushing in like a tidal wave to infuse it, elevating the power of this strike to a new level—fast as wind and thunder, and like a volcano about to erupt. Once it struck the opponent, it would unleash an indescribable force.

A simple, straightforward strike, without the slightest bit of flair.

Yet even the Longqing Prince of the Judgment Division could only temporarily avoid its edge, risking injury to seek a final chance at survival and a counter-kill.

But just before this sword light could descend, Liuyiqing suddenly discovered that Yu Liancheng had vanished.

This was not a true disappearance; that black figure was still before him, and he could clearly see the opponent, yet he could not sense him, giving one the feeling of only the word "void."

Void means nothingness; it means non-existence.

Therefore, although he saw the opponent right before his eyes, Liuyiqing's sword could not help but falter.

It was precisely this falter that stained a strike that had been as startling as wind and thunder with a speck of dust—a speck of dust that should not have been there.

Yu Liancheng's gaze tightened; his gaze seemed to possess weight, especially when it landed on the point where the energy circulated on Liuyiqing's sword.

The power originally condensed on the sword suddenly erupted like a surging volcano, shattering the blade into pieces of Iron that scattered in all directions. Liuyiqing was also struck by the backlash; his face turned pale, a taste of blood welled up in his throat, and he stumbled backward before finally spitting out a mouthful of blood.

Liuyiqing had lost.

Perhaps even the Sword Saint Liu Bai would not have imagined that his own younger brother would lose so miserably and so easily.

Liu Bai glanced at the dejected Liuyiqing and sighed: "Actually, I intended for you to fight this person because your progress is too fast and you are too proud. But I was wrong; you are not too proud, but rather not proud enough. For a truly proud swordsman would not doubt his own sword or his own eyes."

Liuyiqing coughed blood incessantly, his face growing paler by the moment.

Although he was no match for Yu Liancheng, at the very least, they should have fought before deciding the outcome.

Yet now, to be defeated by a single glance from the opponent—this kind of humiliation was even harder to endure than the injuries on his body.

Yu Liancheng stood with his hands behind his back and smiled: "Young man, it is a good thing to lose once or twice occasionally."

"It is indeed a good thing," Liu Bai nodded. "At least he will not be impetuous in the future."

Yu Liancheng smiled: "It is also a good thing for you to lose once."

Liu Bai's expression grew increasingly solemn; his eyes looked toward Yu Liancheng, sharp as a sword, appearing to flicker with a peerless sword light that would never fade for ten thousand years.

"When I first attained Initial Perception, I saw the Huanghe; my Mind Power was the strongest in the world. Later, by the Dahe, I realized the Great River Sword Intent. My sword intent is like a river—a surging Dahe that washes away everything. Although I am only in the Five Realms, I am far superior to those above the Five Realms. If there is a threshold above the Five Realms, I shall cut it down; even the Boundless can be cut."

"I once fought with the world's number one Divine Talisman Master, Yan Se; I broke half his eyebrow, and he was also heavily wounded by me. In this world, apart from Fuzi, no one can make me bow my head."

As he spoke, Liu Bai extended his right hand from his wide sleeve and gripped the hilt of his sword; the ancient sword at his waist remained silent.

His palm was broad and thick, his fingers slender—best suited for holding a sword. He gripped the hilt tightly, without a trace of a gap, perfectly combined as if the hand and the hilt were one.

The ancient sword in its scabbard felt its master's fighting spirit and emitted a humming vibration, as if in joy.

When Liu Bai gripped the hilt, his entire being seemed to merge with the sword—man and sword as one. The two could no longer be distinguished, and only a vigorous sword intent erupted, shooting straight into the clouds.

Liuyiqing, who had finally stopped coughing blood, heard Liu Bai recounting his past honors and understood that his elder brother did not have much confidence in this battle; otherwise, he would not need to use words to try and shake the opponent's confidence.

And seeing his elder brother place his hand on the sword hilt, Liuyiqing's brow furrowed even tighter.

Because everyone in the world knows that the Sword Saint Liu Bai almost never strikes first.

Once he strikes, it proves that the opponent is about to be defeated.

And given Liu Bai's temperament, he usually only draws his sword to decide the outcome after witnessing the opponent's cultivation and attainments.

But now, he had gripped his sword at the very first moment.

Does this prove that if the opponent were to strike first, the Sword Saint Liu Bai would have no chance to strike at all?

"My sword is like the Dahe; I invite you to judge it."

Liu Bai had already drawn that rust-covered ancient sword; it seemed to have endured countless years, not even comparable to an ordinary sword.

Yu Liancheng thought for a moment, plucked a rose that was close at hand, and smiled slightly: "Please."

Liu Bai did not feel angry because Yu Liancheng used a flower as a sword; he simply walked to a position before Yu Liancheng, then raised the rusted sword and thrust it toward him.

There was no build-up of power.

A plain and ordinary strike.

But this was the sword of the Sword Saint Liu Bai; it was destined not to be ordinary.

The moment this strike was thrust out, the mottled rust vanished instantly, and the sword body suddenly brightened, brilliant and magnificent. It seemed that even the great sun hanging in the firmament dimmed at this moment, losing all its color. All the light in heaven and earth gathered on this sword, yet this light was not blinding; instead, it made people intoxicated.

Whoosh!

And under the reflection of this sword light, Yu Liancheng and Liuyiqing both saw a surging Dahe, a boundless torrent.

This Dahe originated in the Wilderness; it was originally a trickle that stubbornly broke through clusters of mountain peaks, flowed through primitive forests with fertile soil and abundant rain, and took in countless tributary streams, until no one knew when it transformed into a great river. Because it carried silt from the south, the river water was dyed a murky yellow, yet its momentum grew increasingly majestic.

At this moment, the Dahe surged, its angry waves lashing toward Yu Liancheng's face.

When Liu Bai first gained Perception, his Sea of Qi was a Dahe, and he had also realized the Great River Sword Intent by the Dahe.

Therefore, the moment he drew his sword, it was a surging Dahe. Anyone who stood in the path of the torrent would only be washed away by the ceaseless, rushing river until not even bones remained.

Many experts had already used their lives to prove the strength of the Sword Saint Liu Bai.

Yu Liancheng raised his eyebrows slightly; he had developed an interest in this strike.

The Dahe was unstoppable; even he felt it was slightly troublesome.

However, since it cannot be blocked, then there is no need to block it.

Yu Liancheng finally made a move.

The pale pink rose reached forward, a powerful surge of energy filling it.

Before this Great River could wash him away, he pointed forward, then traced a subtle semi-arc to the right.

His move was very ingenious; Liuyiqing could not understand the mystery within it at all.

Boom!

The next moment, the entire Rose Courtyard emitted a huge, roaring sound.

The wall on the right side of the pavilion seemed to have suffered a close-range attack from a typhoon, shattering with a bang. This momentum did not cease, actually blasting several adjacent rooms into pieces, and a continuous series of explosions followed. The original guests of the Rose Courtyard fled in a sorry state; among them were many cultivators, yet they also wore expressions of horror, their bodies trembling.

Such an earth-shattering sword strike—their meager cultivation was as weak as that of a three-year-old child.

Liu Bai's expression changed slightly, and the sword in his palm thrust out once more.

The firmament seemed to have been pierced with a hole, and murky yellow river water descended from the sky, falling like a waterfall.

The surging river water had no other aura, only vastness and turbulence, rushing toward Yu Liancheng's face once again.

This time, Yu Liancheng still reached out with the pale pink rose, slightly tracing a semi-arc, but this time the semi-arc was diverted to the left.

Consequently, amidst the "Boom" sounds, a violently wild hurricane seemed to blow on the left side of the pavilion as well, and there were countless screams.

Liuyiqing's brows furrowed even deeper.

He still did not understand.

Yu Liancheng glanced at Liuyiqing; he actually held a little favor for this young swordsman, and smiling, he said four words: "Blocking is not as good as diverting."

Liuyiqing seemed to understand yet not understand.

But Liu Bai had already understood.

His sword was the sword of the Great River, like a surging great river, unstoppable.

And this was just like managing river floods; blocking is not as good as diverting. Dredging the river and guiding it in other directions is naturally much easier than blocking it in front of the Great River.

Before the Great River could submerge this person, he had dug a channel in advance to lead his Great River Sword Intent away. Even if there was residual sword intent, there was very little left, and it was completely unable to shake the opponent's stance.

Liu Bai took a deep breath.

Such miraculous means, I fear that in the world today, only existences like the Abbey Dean and Fuzi could achieve it.

He was not discouraged; instead, he became even more excited, and the sword in his hand struck out horizontally again. A sharp sound of breaking through the air rang out, and streaks of sword light erupted with a bang, filling the void.

Rumble!

The next moment, a huge echo of a torrent rushing resounded between heaven and earth, as if rivers were pouring down from the sky, turning into a monstrous flood, as if to turn this human world into a marshland.

In this instant, Liu Bai thrust out eighty-one swords.

Eighty-one swords meant eighty-one great rivers.

Each great river could sweep away countless lives, and when eighty-one great rivers converged into one, it possessed an even more terrifying power to pull up mountains and topple cities, destroying heaven and extinguishing earth.

"Gulp," Liuyiqing could not help but swallow a mouthful of saliva. Even though he stood behind Liu Bai, he actually had the feeling of being in the middle of a surging river, as if he could be crushed into a pile of dust at any moment, leaving no corpse behind.

Liu Bai's complexion was slightly pale, but his eyes still flickered like cold light.

He really wanted to see if Yu Liancheng could divert these eighty-one rivers.

And even if he could divert most of the Great River Sword Intent, as long as there was a little bit remaining, its power would definitely not be inferior to the previous two strikes.

The fact was, Yu Liancheng could.

He could divert this sword intent.

What he practiced was not Mind Power, but martial arts.

His application of force, moves, and True Qi had reached the peak.

What's more, he had also learned many martial arts similar to "Moving Flowers and Grafting Jade" that borrow strength to strike back.

However, this time Yu Liancheng did not use a soft rose, because a rose would be hard to withstand eighty-one Great River Sword Intents.

He put down the rose and reached out a hand—a hand as slender as jade, a hand full of magic.

The moment the five fingers of this hand spread open, it was as if a dam thousands of feet high rose from the ground; no matter how the river water surged, it could not break through the dam. As the palm lifted upward, the Great River Sword Intent also rose along with it. Then with a turn and a flick, the Great River Sword Intent actually turned and flicked along with it.

Yu Liancheng, in a way that was marvelous under heaven, caused these eighty-one surging and rushing Great River Sword Intents to all strike back at Liu Bai.

Although Liu Bai had thought that Yu Liancheng might be able to resolve these eighty-one Great River Sword Intents, he absolutely did not expect that the opponent could make the Great River Sword Intent backfire on its master.

Rarely, a trace of panic appeared in Liu Bai; he was a human after all, and he had seven emotions and six desires after all.

Immediately, the panic disappeared, leaving only endless solemnity and murderous intent.

The next moment, he struck with his sword.

The endless Great River Sword Intent surged forth.

Using Great River Sword Intent against Great River Sword Intent.

The entire pavilion constantly emitted huge roaring sounds, as if countless rivers were colliding together.

The Heaven and Earth Yuan Qi also became extremely chaotic, venting in all directions along with the tyrannical force, sweeping across like a wild hurricane.

When it finally quieted down, the pavilion, which already had two walls pierced through, finally collapsed, with smoke and dust flying.

The ground was shattered, as if it had been bombarded by thousands of bombs.

When the smoke and dust cleared, one could see Liu Bai still standing.

He stood on the broken ground, his clothes stained with blood, his whole body trembling slightly, as if he might fall at any moment.

But his spine remained straight, as if he were a Divine Sword that would rather break than bend.

"Big Brother, Big Brother, how are you..." Liuyiqing hurriedly walked up, and in his panic, he even forgot that he was hiding his identity.

Liu Bai waved his hand weakly, his eyes, already showing signs of fatigue, looking at Yu Liancheng: "You... are very strong, but I want to see your sword even more."

Yu Liancheng smiled slightly, merely pointing his fingers like a sword and tracing upward.

Liuyiqing did not understand.

Liu Bai looked up at the sky, his expression dazed, revealing a sense of disbelief.

Liuyiqing looked toward the sky; above the firmament, a long, narrow sword mark had appeared at some unknown time, the white clouds of the vault of heaven seemed to have been sliced open, the sword mark spanning across it, unable to dissipate for a long time.

Liu Bai said hoarsely, "You, you are not a person of the Demon Sect."

Yu Liancheng laughed, "Oh?"

Liu Bai said, "If the Demon Sect had an expert like you, it would be another Academy."

Yu Liancheng chuckled, "If taking Heaven and Earth Yuan Qi into the body is entering the demonic path, and is the Demon Sect, then I am indeed a person of the Demon Sect."

Liu Bai was silent for a long while: "What sword technique is that?"

Yu Liancheng chuckled, "Do you want to learn? I'll teach you."

PS: Two updates, eight thousand words, seeking monthly votes.