Chapter 115: Sword Dao of the Little Zhongshan

As the swords swung like waves, the two sword intents in the forest met fiercely, instantly erupting in a series of clanging sounds as the iron swords trembled.

This first sword strike had added weight, carrying an intent to suppress; upon contact, one could feel its momentum was heavy and powerful, wrapped in an aura that sought to forcefully press the opponent down.

However, in the brief moment of their encounter, the momentum of Ji You's sword, swinging like waves, also boiled to its peak.

Thus, before the heavy sword could strike his body, it was slapped down by the wildly overlapping sword waves after a sharp whistle.

This first sword strike, which had come with such fierce momentum, instantly dissipated into nothingness amidst the clanging, its Qi dissolving into the sea of forest.

Ji You's footing was steady as he continued to move forward, his white robes fluttering along with him.

At this moment, the bamboo forest did not quiet down; within the dark, emerald sea of forest, auras were still trembling, and subsequently, two more swords rose from the bamboo forest, attacking from the east and west sides.

These two swords were different from the previous one, arriving almost in an instant, fast as lightning.

Ji You wielded his sword, slashing away as he moved, spiritual energy surging beneath his feet; he passed directly through the forest to meet the swords, drawing out a sharp arc of sword light.

With two clangs, the iron sword slashed amidst a wild hum, and the two fast swords coming head-on were directly split apart.

Seeing this scene, Yan Ye nodded slightly behind him, thinking to himself that this Heavenly Tian Shuyuan disciple actually had some ability; being able to make the sword move with the heart, and being clean and decisive in the retraction and release, was already stronger than many others.

However, this was merely an appetizer; to say he was handling the heavy as if it were light was still too early.

Sure enough, a mysterious light suddenly flashed across Ji You's pupils, and before his eyes, three more mystical swords rose up, their condensed auras overflowing.

Compared to the previous three swords, the aura of these three was no longer on the same level, and killing intent began to splash forth along with them.

Amidst the humming, the emerald bamboo trembled lightly.

The sudden sound of wind sliced through all directions as the three swords circled and attacked, both fast and heavy, shattering the scattered flying leaves with a rustle.

Ji You instantly knitted his brows and met them with his sword; upon contact, the iron sword trembled and rang out with three clangs, and in an instant, three white marks appeared on the blade, pressing his wrist into a slight tremor.

"The first sword was heavy and powerful..."

"The next two swords were swift as the wind..."

"The final three swords are both fast and heavy..."

"Elder Qi's combo moves must surely have some side business..."

After pondering for a moment, Ji You raised his sword again, but this time he was no longer as vigilant as before, instead quickening his pace.

The onlookers here stared at his figure, and seeing him rush forward, they couldn't help but exchange glances.

The next instant, they felt the sound of swords trembling in their ears, and dozens of sword intents rose up head-on, the released aura even outlining shapes in the void.

Subsequently, the fierce wind whistled, and with a 'whoosh', the sword path fell in all directions.

At this moment, Ji You no longer cared about so-called sword moves, relying entirely on his heart's impulse; with a calm face, he charged into the sword waves, the sword light in his hand rolling wildly like overlapping waves.

The sword Qi here came fiercely and swiftly, completely different from the previous few swords.

The white-robed swordsman still met the swords head-on, then side-stepped and flicked his sword, galloping horizontally amidst this sword Qi, his sword style becoming increasingly fierce.

The crowd could only see someone dancing wildly with a sword amidst the dazzling sword intent; although there were crisp cutting sounds from all directions, everything was still slashed away under his sword.

Subsequently, the sword intent rose again, continuous and arriving in an instant.

Ji You's pace was no longer as composed as before, retreating and advancing by turns, but the iron sword in his hand became increasingly smooth and silky, gradually growing scalding hot amidst the constant slashing.

With a 'whoosh', a streak of sword Qi thrust out, its light like moving thunder, sweeping away the three swords in front of him.

Thus, the dozen or so sword Qi that had been darting through the bamboo forest were all slashed away.

At this moment, in the deepest part of the first forest, as the set sword Qi was slashed to pieces and dissipated into heaven and earth, a bright sword light rose into the air, causing everyone to hold their breath, their hearts trembling slightly.

Yan Ye also followed in at this time, standing on the outskirts of the sea of forest, squinting her eyes.

This was the marvelous work 【Little Zhongshan】 that Elder Qi had realized from the sword in his youth, set at the end of the first forest.

However, although this 【Little Zhongshan】 was a sword of slaughter, because there was only sword intent and sword Qi in the sword forest, and it was not truly coming out with a sword, its power was discounted.

Yan Ye felt that since this Heavenly Tian Shuyuan disciple was in the Realm of Profound Understanding, taking on 【Little Zhongshan】 should not be much of a problem.

Hum—

Just as Yan Ye was pondering, the sea of forest in front of her began to tremble incessantly, seemingly resonating with this streak of sword Qi.

A powerful aura stirred up wind and waves, boiling along with it, and killing intent also constantly overflowed, like thunderous power.

The crowd squinted their eyes and saw Ji You overlapping his sword and going forward, the aura around his body surging incessantly, his sword intent rising to meet the sky in an instant.

And that 【Little Zhongshan】 also slashed down directly head-on, without the slightest pause.

Clang!

As the sword Qi touched, a repulsive force was instantly born, like waves pouring backward, heavy as ten thousand jun.

The crowd stared intently and discovered that Ji You, who had attempted to hard-shake 【Little Zhongshan】, was directly shaken back several steps, the iron sword in his hand trembling incessantly.

Before the crowd could react, the sword Qi condensed again, and Ji You also held his sword and went forward without stopping, changing the sword style he had used previously, and again met the re-condensed 【Little Zhongshan】 with an expressionless face.

Heavy, sharp, extreme speed, wild, fierce.

The final sword of this first forest was unpredictable, making those onlookers feel their hearts tremble.

One mountain, two mountains, three mountains... six mountains, seven mountains, eight mountains.

Beneath the sword Qi, Ji You slashed incessantly, his face unchanging, but his sword style kept changing wildly.

They had arrived here at the Si hour; from the first sword of the first forest to meeting 【Little Zhongshan】, Ji You had actually only spent a few moments.

But from the falling of the first mountain to condensing, then meeting the sword, and repeatedly meeting it up to the eighth Little Zhongshan, this process had consumed an hour.

During this period, Ji You had changed his sword eight times, yet had never been able to suppress Elder Qi's sword Qi.

In this emerald sea of forest, Yan Ye was somewhat puzzled, then her brows furrowed deeper and deeper, and finally, she couldn't help but shake her head.

And Ding Yao, hidden not far away, had movements almost synchronized with hers, while Zhuo Wanqiu beside her had her brows deeply furrowed.

Was 【Little Zhongshan】, which a Realm of Profound Understanding could pass through in a few times, so difficult for him?

At the time of the sun's decline, at the first quarter of the Wei hour, the fifteenth 【Little Zhongshan】.

Ji You retreated a step, held his breath and focused, and began to channel all his spiritual energy into his sword, charging forward head-on with a circular cut around his body.

Amidst the wild wind of the two swords clashing, suddenly, that white-robed figure melted away at extreme speed like ice and snow amidst the swords.

After the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, the sea of forest became completely silent, as if the crazy sword humming from just a moment ago was already gone.

The bamboo leaves dancing wildly here began to fall slowly, and the dust also settled, with Ji You's figure no longer in the forest.

Seeing this scene, Zhuo Wanqiu exhaled lightly and turned to look at Ding Yao, only to find that Ding Yao seemed to have completely lost interest in watching Ji You break through the sword forest.

"Passed?"

"This first sword forest is not strong; even outer sect disciples can come and break a few swords. It is not strange that he, in the Realm of Profound Understanding, could pass."

Yan Ye looked at the direction where Ji You had disappeared and spoke, then whispered 'sixteen times', unable to help but smile bitterly.

Just as she had said just now, 【Little Zhongshan】, which only had sword intent and sword Qi, although a technique of slaughter, was not truly coming out with a sword, so it was not actually very strong.

Disciples in the Realm of Profound Understanding in the mountain passing the first forest, the worst only took eight times to pass.

This Ji You was something else; he broke through sixteen times, and even a few times he was almost slashed on his body.

At this time, a disciple of the Mountain Sea Pavilion cupped his hands slightly and looked at Yan Ye: "Elder Yan, which level do you think this Ji You of the Heavenly Tian Shuyuan can reach?"

"The second level and the first level are completely different things. Judging by his aptitude in passing the first level just now, the second level should be somewhat strenuous for him."

"The second level..."

"Not bad, and the Questioning Dao ends in three days, and the Heavenly Tian Shuyuan disciples will have to leave. He probably won't have time to slowly get used to the sword intent of the second level. If he is a bit slow, I am afraid he won't even see Elder Qi's Willow Liu Liu Se Xin."

Willow Liu Liu Se Xin, like Little Zhongshan, was a guarding sword, which was also the final sword of the second level.

Previously, when they were fooling around in the small courtyard of Profound Jianfeng, Yan Shuyi had said that Ji You should be able to walk into the third level.

This conclusion was partly because she had a filter for Ji You, and partly because she hadn't considered that Ji You couldn't stay in Spirit Sword Mountain for long.

Women are just like this; when staying with someone comfortable, they always forget the time.

But just as Elder Yan said, the second level was originally the limit of the Realm of Profound Understanding.

After Elder Qi set up the sword forest half a month ago, the dozens of disciples in the Realm of Profound Understanding of Spirit Sword Mountain had already been breaking through it, but until now, those who could walk to the third level were few and far between.

Now with a time limit added, Ji You was naturally hopeless for the third level.

Just as the words fell, a sound of breaking through the air suddenly rang out in the sword forest, instantly attracting their attention.

And as this sound constantly approached, the crowd saw a figure flying back rapidly from the depths, finally falling directly to the ground, kicking up a wave of dirt, and incidentally breaking three emerald bamboos.

Yan Ye and the others stared intently, the corners of their mouths twitching, discovering that this person was exactly Ji You who had just crossed 【Little Zhongshan】 and entered the second forest.

Elder Qi's sword forest setting was still somewhat reasonable; when a disciple broke through 【Little Zhongshan】, if it wasn't that the disciple wanted to actively test the sword, then the sword Qi of the first forest would no longer actively rise.

So Ji You retreating back at this moment did not trigger that streak of sword Qi again.

However, his falling back to the first level, although it didn't trigger sword Qi, triggered a piece of whispering.

From the posture of flying back to the action of landing, everyone could see that he had been slashed out.

And being able to slash someone out from the second level, this sword must be the first sword of the second forest.

There were already people here who believed Yan Ye's words to be true; this second forest, compared to the first forest, was truly completely different.

But apart from those who cared more about the sword forest, more people were discussing Ji You's current disheveled state.

"Didn't even withstand the first sword? This is somewhat..."

"Elder Yan Ye said, the sword of the second forest is extremely strong."

"But even if it is strong, that is still the first sword. It seems this so-called 'natural Spirit Sword Mountain disciple' is truly somewhat exaggerated."

"After the ruins incident happened, some people said that his one person seven swords was just taking advantage of a loophole. Among true sword experts, who would use so many swords?"

Yan Ye listened to the discussion in her ears, then shook her head and put away her sword, leaving this sword forest.

As a managing Elder, her appearing here was naturally not to break through the sword forest.

It was just because the tea party and the Questioning Dao matter had led to more people coming up the mountain recently, and there were many who were interested in the sword forest, so she had been ordered by Heavenly Jianfeng to guard it for half a day, so as not to cause any trouble.

Just now when Ji You came, she had already decided to leave, but because she heard that the world was saying this person was a "natural Spirit Sword Mountain disciple", she decided to stay and take a look.

But seeing this, she also felt that this was somewhat exaggerated, so she lost all interest.

And after Yan Ye left, Ji You rested on the ground for a long time and then re-entered the second forest.

In the second forest, there were also disciples of the Questioning Dao Sect and the Mountain Sea Pavilion, all in the Realm of Profound Understanding, but the most numerous were still the Spirit Sword Mountain disciples.

Because the sword Qi and sword intent here were more than a star and a half higher than the first forest, they were all trapped within it.

At this moment, everyone in the forest looked at Ji You.

Ji Bandit was already familiar with this kind of gaze in the Heavenly Tian Shuyuan, and he didn't feel too uncomfortable, so he held his sword and planned to walk forward.

However, just at this moment, a sound of footsteps suddenly rang out in the deep, emerald part of the second bamboo forest.

A woman wearing a gold-colored embroidered spirit skirt came slowly from within, her legs slender, her willow waist delicate, her whole body's sword intent not yet dissipated, but the iron sword in her hand had already been returned to its scabbard.

"Look, Profound Jianfeng's direct disciple, Yan Shujing."

"So it was her."

"It is said that she has already broken through to before the last sword of the third level."

"Isn't she going to fight He Lingxiu of the Heavenly Tian Shuyuan? Why is she still breaking through the sword forest at this time?"

"Perhaps she didn't take the Heavenly Tian Shuyuan people seriously at all..."

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 116 =====