Chapter 629: Orchid Cause, Cotton Fruit

The brilliant golden light illuminated the plaza, causing the onlookers to close their eyes one after another.

Only Lan Mingqian remained unaffected, staring straight into the deepest part of the radiance.

Within it, he saw a streak of azure sword light.

His lips curled upward, revealing a look of gratification.

First using one form of Dao energy just to close the distance, then following up with another.

Such a fighting style is simply extravagant!

But the effect was indeed unexpected.

Fortunately, Lan Ruoyun's response could also be called perfect.

An azure streak of sword light pierced through the infinite brightness, shooting straight into the sky!

Following it was a high-pitched crane cry.

This sound reached its climax in an instant, the sharp, explosive noise piercing straight into the heart; in a trance, it seemed as if a white crane had spread its wings to fly, piercing the clouds and the sun!

Dao energy—【Nine Heavens Crane Cry】!

This move is also a core technique of the 【Cloud Heaven Sword Canon】.

That Lan Ruoyun could use this move in the blink of an eye shows that she has truly mastered this sword canon.

The azure sword light enveloped Lan Ruoyun, and the infinite brightness did not pierce through her body.

The brightness of the mortal world cannot affect a crane in the lonely sky.

Not only that, but the crane cry that soared to the nine heavens penetrated into Li Fei's mind; in an instant, tens of thousands of variations turned everything in his consciousness into noise.

This was a strike that shattered mental defenses!

A green light flashed in Li Fei's eyes; the characteristic of the Primordial Vajra Energy is the integration of yin and yang, combining both offense and defense, so he could maintain the 【Vajra Dharma Image of Settling Calamity】 while simultaneously unleashing 【Infinite Brightness Fire】.

When the crane cry pierced through, the Vajra Dharma Image of Settling Calamity visualized in his mind looked like jade suffering a heavy blow, covered in cracks!

But this form of Dao energy was still blocked by Li Fei.

At the same time, Lan Ruoyun's sword thrust toward his throat.

Offense and defense shifted.

Li Fei flipped his wrist and swung his blade with one hand, striking the middle section of the sword.

Lan Ruoyun had been prepared; a surge of energy hidden within the sword body erupted, intending to shake away the incoming Ghost-Slaying Blade.

In the previous few exchanges of blade and sword, she had achieved this by relying on stronger energy and vastly superior technique.

However, with this strike, the Ghost-Slaying Blade slashed onto the sword body like a hot knife through butter, and a massive force beyond Lan Ruoyun's expectations knocked her longsword aside!

A look of surprise flashed in Lan Ruoyun's eyes.

This was a classic case of breaking skill with force, yet clearly her energy intensity and technique were both above Li Fei's, and the energy attached to the Ghost-Slaying Blade had already been successfully broken by her.

Where did this extra power come from?

A core-level extraordinary ability? How could it be this powerful?!

Lan Ruoyun's reaction was extremely fast; the moment her longsword was knocked aside, a new surge of energy flooded in to stabilize the sword body, and then she accelerated the forward thrust.

But what Lan Ruoyun did not expect was that Li Fei seemed to have anticipated her changing moves like this, and he actually took the initiative to ram into her with his left shoulder!

Swish—

The sword tip pierced through his clothes, pierced through his flesh, and stabbed into Li Fei's left shoulder!

But the next second, the flesh inside seemed to turn into unbreakable diamond, firmly clamping onto the tip of the sword.

All the power was like mud sinking into the sea; the sword, capable of piercing gold and splitting clouds, could not advance even a fraction of an inch!

Li Fei flicked his wrist, and the Ghost-Slaying Blade slashed forward toward Lan Ruoyun's head.

At the same time, a mass of black flames surged out from his left shoulder, burning along the longsword toward the hand Lan Ruoyun was using to hold it!

Offense and defense shifted once again.

From Li Fei suddenly using Dao energy, to Lan Ruoyun countering with Dao energy, and then to the current close-quarters combat, it had only been a mere two seconds.

Among the onlookers, only Lan Mingqian could see that the critical moment had arrived.

He saw the characteristics contained in the mass of black flames Li Fei had erupted; this was a very troublesome attack.

Lan Ruoyun also saw it.

At this moment, she either had to abandon her sword and retreat, or she would have to take Li Fei's blade head-on and also be hit by that mass of flames.

No matter which she chose, it seemed the outcome was already decided.

Lan Ruoyun chose to abandon the sword and retreat.

Both the blade light and the flames were just a hair's breadth away from touching her body.

Just as she retreated, the longsword stuck in Li Fei's left shoulder suddenly trembled, as if it had turned into a vague and ethereal cloud, sliding out of Li Fei's left shoulder very smoothly and flying back into Lan Ruoyun's hand!

The Myriad Blood Bead could transfer the power that directly caused damage to Li Fei, but the energy changes Lan Ruoyun had left in the sword body before letting go were extremely soft and agile, and they did not cause him any damage.

Therefore, this sword successfully escaped.

In just a few seconds, Lan Ruoyun had already gained insight into Li Fei's "defense mechanism."

Core-level extraordinary ability—Clear Insight!

The wound on Li Fei's left shoulder closed immediately, stopping the blood.

Lan Ruoyun, having regained her grip on the sword, pressed forward again.

Her speed had suddenly become much faster, and she was extremely agile and versatile; streaks of phantoms circled around Li Fei, like a spirit crane dancing gracefully.

Streaks of sword light traced beautiful arcs, continuously slashing toward Li Fei.

The crowd watching around the plaza was mesmerized; even ordinary people who did not understand martial arts, even those who could not see the specific details of the exchange, were still attracted by this beautiful scene.

Li Fei relied on the massive force brought by 【Blood Rage】, combined with the Primordial Vajra Energy to break skill with force, slashing through the sword light time and time again.

But Lan Ruoyun was always able to deflect his blade with various exquisite means, or dodge the attacks with extremely agile footwork, and then calmly launch a counterattack, stabbing Li Fei's body time after time!

She, like a crane dancing in the lonely sky.

Her sword, like the drifting, uncertain clouds.

Every movement, every sword strike, contained an indescribable aesthetic and extremely exquisite energy changes.

Li Fei attacked while relying on the Primordial Star Armor plus "Tyrant Body" defense, but the Star Armor was shattered again and again.

The strongest Dao Foundation stage expert he had fought before was Gu Yuefeng of the Green Mountain Sword Sect.

The opponent was only a hair's breadth away from breaking through the realm, and the combat power displayed at that time was enough to make the candidate list for the overall Wind and Cloud Ranking, even approaching those powerhouses on the official list.

So when Li Fei killed Gu Yuefeng, Green-Faced Ghost directly ascended to ninth place on the overall Wind and Cloud Ranking.

Now, fighting against the higher-ranked Lan Ruoyun, he finally realized the true value of the overall Wind and Cloud Ranking.

Lan Ruoyun, originally ranked fourth and now ranked fifth, was a tier stronger than Gu Yuefeng!

Energy, extraordinary abilities, and even Dao energy—Gu Yuefeng was not lacking in any of these.

What truly created the gap between the two was sword technique.

Although the Green Mountain Sword Sect was also a major martial arts sect, its sword technique heritage was far inferior to the Lan family, one of the seven great families.

And Lan Ruoyun's sword technique realm was also above Gu Yuefeng's.

This resulted in two completely different tiers, despite both being at the peak of the Dao Foundation stage!

Li Fei had previously used force to break skill, able to fight Gu Yuefeng to a draw, and ultimately relied on his high health to slowly grind the opponent to death.

But now, the upper limit of 【Blood Rage】 was higher, and his energy was stronger than before, yet he could not suppress Lan Ruoyun.

After slashing through a streak of sword light once more, Li Fei's figure flashed and suddenly split into two.

A streak of sword light passed through the chest of one of the Li Feis, blasting a large hole in his chest.

But this clone did not dissipate because of this.

The next second, another clone appeared, and then a third.

These clones were not enough to pose a threat to Lan Ruoyun, but they could block the sword for Li Fei.

After incorporating enough Blood Fiend Qi, these clones were very tough and were very qualified meat shields.

Lan Ruoyun had to divert a portion of her energy to wipe out these clones, not letting their numbers accumulate.

But this also gave Li Fei a chance to counterattack.

He ignored the incoming sword light, intent only on "trading blows" with Lan Ruoyun!

Lan Ruoyun had to divert another portion of her energy to neutralize Li Fei's attacks.

After a dozen moves, she frowned, rarely feeling a bit irritable.

Her attainments in the way of the sword were extremely high, and she relied on her sword technique to elevate her combat power by a notch, thereby climbing the overall Wind and Cloud Ranking step by step and creating a gap with other peak Dao Foundation stage martial artists.

But now, the sword technique she was so proud of had failed to achieve the desired effect in front of Li Fei.

No matter how exquisite the move variations, no matter how subtle the energy control, no matter how clever the combat strategy.

Li Fei's response from beginning to end had only been one—ignore!

Not dismantling, not responding, and not dodging.

Letting the longsword stab him time and time again, Li Fei only sought to slash his blade onto Lan Ruoyun as well!

It was as if a chef had put their heart and soul into making a table of delicious dishes, then presented the dishes one by one, only for the evaluation in return to be just one thing—

Dung!

This feeling made Lan Ruoyun extremely uncomfortable; despite repeatedly breaking the opponent's protective energy, she could not cause any damage.

She had never fought such a frustrating duel!

At one moment, she swung her sword to take the initiative to meet Li Fei's blade.

The moment the blade and sword struck, the sharp, explosive sound rang out again.

It was as if a crane shadow had swept across the nine heavens, and the dazzling sword light illuminated the entire plaza!

Aloof, sharp, and striking straight at the heart.

The 【Nine Heavens Crane Cry】 reappears!

Li Fei had introspected the 【Fixed Calamity Vajra Aspect】 a step early, using Dao force to resist Dao force.

The next instant, Lan Ruoyun's long sword thrust toward his throat once again.

Everything seemed just like the previous exchange.

But just as Li Fei swung his blade to strike the middle of the long sword, the immense, surging power, carrying the peerlessly sharp Primordial Vajra Force, vanished into thin air in an instant!

The powerful force seemed to have slashed into a bottomless scar in the sky; this strike failed completely to shake Lan Ruoyun's sword blade.

No, it didn't fail to shake it—it enhanced this sword strike!

The long sword accelerated violently, its momentum increasing by a significant margin!

The blade Li Fei had swung seemed to be cooperating with Lan Ruoyun's sword to attack himself.

This was a strike that completely defied common sense; Li Fei's blade was a horizontal cut, and Lan Ruoyun's sword was a direct thrust. No matter how the force changed, it should have been impossible to instantly shift all of his power onto Lan Ruoyun's long sword and assist that sword in continuing its forward thrust!

This was a move that could no longer be explained by technique.

This was the Lan family's highest secret, and the strongest Dao force style in the "Cloud Heaven Sword Canon"—

【Lan Cause, Fluff Fruit】!

This was truly technique approaching the Dao!

The reason the Lan family's Grandmaster-realm ancestor evaluated Lan Ruoyun by saying, "Within the Dao Foundation realm, she has at least a ten percent chance of winning against anyone," was precisely because Lan Ruoyun had mastered this sword strike.

This was a sword strike capable of instantly reversing victory, defeat, and life and death!

Lan Ruoyun had been preparing this strike from the very beginning of the martial arts match; she could not yet use it with ease, so she needed to slowly "build up momentum."

Now, it was finally complete, and she unleashed this strike.

Although Li Fei had always taken her sword head-on before, he had never used his vital points to do so, so Lan Ruoyun judged that while Li Fei's defense was strong, it was not without weaknesses.

At this moment, this sword strike was her own power combined with Li Fei's power; with the two superimposed, and striking a weak point like the throat—

It was enough to decide the outcome!

Lan Mingqian, who was watching the battle, prepared to intervene and stop the sword.

It was only a martial arts sparring match, so he naturally could not allow his daughter to seriously injure Li Fei.

In fact, the reason Lan Ruoyun dared to use such a lethal move to strike Li Fei's vital point so recklessly was because a martial arts master was watching from the sidelines.

However, just as Lan Mingqian's divine ability was about to be unleashed, Li Fei made a move that neither father nor daughter had expected at all.

He actually took the initiative to crash into the sword light!

Lan Mingqian's expression changed drastically, and Lan Ruoyun was also shocked, thinking she was about to accidentally kill a Marquis!

But when the sword light pierced Li Fei's throat, it only broke through his protective force, then broke the skin, and was finally clamped by the flesh and blood inside, unable to advance even an inch further.

Facing the Lan family's strongest ultimate technique, and facing the sword skill Lan Ruoyun was most proud of, Li Fei's "evaluation" remained—

Still "dirt."

There is another update tonight, asking for monthly tickets.

(End of chapter)