by Translator: BornToBe; Author: Ordinary Magician (平凡魔术师); Licensed From: 17k
No one would expect Long Chen to use such an odd move when all their power was focused on their weapons. His internal organs were displaced by the power, and he almost spat out blood.
“Despicable!”
Han Tianyu roared and Sword Qi shot out, filling the sky. Dozens of sword-images slashed down on Long Chen.
Long Chen was startled, as Han Tianyu’s Sword Qi was no illusion, but solid. With dozens of rays of Sword Qi slashing down on him, their power could easily superimpose.
“Parting Wind Slash!”
His blood-colored saber swept out, and a huge ray of Saber Qi cut apart the void, smashing into the Sword Qi.
BOOM!
Long Chen’s arm trembled and he involuntarily flew back a hundred meters.
“Clear Wind Sword Dance.”
Han Tianyu continued pressing forward, his sword suddenly becoming like the cool breeze blowing through willow trees, continuously stabbing at Long Chen.
His sword tip was like the tongue of a viper, coming from every angle, making it so no one was able to predict where his next attack would land.
“What terrifying sword arts!” exclaimed Yue Zifeng. This was his first time seeing such sword arts. They were so exquisite they were unblockable. They caused a person to feel such despair that they would have an urge to just close their eyes and wait for death.
Long Chen snorted. Ignoring Han Tianyu’s sword, his saber slashed towards his throat.
His saber was over three meters long, while Han Tianyu’s sword was only four feet. Even though Long Chen was attacking after him, his saber would still pierce through his throat before his sword pierced his body.
What surprised everyone was that Han Tianyu actually sneered with ridicule, and his sword didn’t stop. He allowed Long Chen’s saber to continue approaching his neck.
But with a muffled bang, sparks flew.
“What?!”
The thing blocking Long Chen’s saber was surprisingly Han Tianyu’s sheath.
Long Chen was startled. At this time, his sword tip was just about to reach him. Furthermore, there was a powerful spiritual qi condensed on top of it. If it pierced through his body, his insides would instantly explode.
But Han Tianyu was extremely crafty, and there was a bizarre absorptive strength on his sheath. It pulled Long Chen’s saber to it, making it so he couldn’t immediately retreat.
“Hmph.” Violet lightning suddenly appeared on Long Chen’s saber. Han Tianyu felt his whole body turn numb, and before he could react, Long Chen’s saber had already escaped from his absorption. At the same time, a powerful force pushed him away and allowed Long Chen to retreat.
Although Long Chen managed to react in time, Han Tianyu’s sword still pierced through his clothes, almost reaching his skin.
The spectators were unable to sense the profundities behind this exchange. They could only tell that Long Chen had just been a hair away from being killed by Han Tianyu. That caused Hua Biluo and the others to sweat nervously.
Sometimes on the battlefield, it wasn’t the one whose strength was greater that would be the victor. Sometimes the slightest bit of negligence might lead to great regret.
“How is it? How does it feel to walk along the path of death?” sneered Han Tianyu.
“Have you exhausted your limited abilities?” retorted Long Chen.
“Hmph, then let me see just how long you can keep up such a distasteful mouth.” Han Tianyu’s sword fluttered through the air, while the sheath in his left hand was like a hidden viper, ready to attack at any time, something impossible to defend against.
Long Chen repeatedly brandished his saber, releasing a sky full of saber-images to block Han Tianyu’s attacks. He sneered, “It seems you’ve scammed others so often that you ended up scamming even yourself. Your bogus mind reading skill might have managed to trick countless people, giving you the sweet taste of success, but it also made you walk down the wrong path.”
BOOM!
Forcing back Han Tianyu’s sword, Long Chen continued, “Genuine products are unable to be faked, and faked products are always never able to become genuine.
“You wasted all that effort to make up your fake mind reading skill, all to conceal the fact that you were a sword cultivator.
“By doing this, you had great success. However, you were also affected. Thinking yourself clever, you used your sword as a weapon while using the sheath as a shield. Did you think doing this would allow you to possess both offense and defense? Absolutely laughable!”
“What nonsense. This is my self-created combination technique. Sword arts focus on offense, not defense, but by using my sheath as well, I can make up for the weakness of sword arts. Hmph, such a profound thing is something you couldn’t even comprehend.” Han Tianyu’s voice was full of disdain.
His words moved everyone. The majority of the people present used swords. His words had pointed out the weakness of the Sword Dao, causing countless people’s eyes to light up. It was as if they now saw a new path open before them. The sword sheath truly could make up for the weakness of the Sword Dao. They felt as if they had been awakened to a new world.
“Idiot, do you even understand why sword cultivators are claimed as the cultivators with the strongest attack power? It’s because they only care about offense! If you use offense to make up for your defense, using offense to break through all barriers, to advance without ever looking back, if you had such a powerful offense, what would you need defense for? Your technique is an absolute joke!” sneered Long Chen.
Now Long Chen’s words caused those people who had just seen a new pathway for themselves to once more become lost. It was precisely because sword cultivators were known as the strongest attackers that most people chose to use the sword as their weapon.
But although there were countless people who used the sword, only those who could comprehend the Sword Dao and then condense their own sword intent were able to be called sword cultivators. There were very few such people.
So, Long Chen and Han Tianyu’s words caused people to be bewildered. It seemed as if both of them were correct.
“You’re not a sword cultivator, so you don’t have the qualifications to spout rubbish here,” raged Han Tianyu. For an amateur to criticize his sword arts was unacceptable.
“All the Heavenly Daos return to the same point. All Laws are from the same source. At the peak of all Daos, everything is connected. Since you don’t believe it, then I’ll show you just what it means to use offense as defense.”
Long Chen switched to holding his saber with both hands, and with a sudden, thunderous shout, his saber became a blood-colored ray that slashed at Han Tianyu.
Chapter 442 Ten-Temper
The instant Long Chen began to wield his saber with both hands, his aura completely changed. He was now like some fearless killing god, filled with a valiant air, someone who would charge forward despite any obstructions.
A saber came slashing down. There was no technique, there was no fanciness. It was just a simple hack. But it had locked Han Tianyu down completely, making it so he could only take it head-on with his sword.
BOOM!
Han Tianyu was sent flying. It wasn’t that he wasn’t as strong, but that Long Chen’s saber had contained his full power, while he kept a portion of his power for his sheath.
“Again!”
Long Chen’s saber came slashing out again. What shocked people was that somehow this second slash seemed to contain some of the power of the first. Now this slash made space tremble intensely, as if it were unable to endure that terrifying power.
Han Tianyu was completely shocked. He had never seen such a move. It was clearly just a simple slash, but there was no way to easily block it. The only thing he could do was take it head-on.
Perhaps against an ordinary opponent, he could strike at their vitals, causing them to switch to defense. Such a method was practical but useless against Long Chen.
All of Long Chen’s attacks were full strength at
tacks. He wouldn’t be able to switch to defense with this kind of attack even if he wanted to. So if Han Tianyu did attack his vitals, all that would mean was that he would die with Long Chen. That was naturally not the result he wanted.
Han Tianyu took a deep breath. Crossing his sword and sheath in front of him, his power completely erupted to block Long Chen’s attack.
The instant Long Chen’s saber arrived, Han Tianyu almost coughed up blood, and he was knocked back again.
The entire crowd was silent. Long Chen’s two attacks had been the same. It was the exact same posture, the exact same angle, the exact same arc. It was incredibly simple, something even a child could clearly see.
But it was this kind of simple attack that Han Tianyu was unable to receive. He was blown back twice, dumbfounding everyone.
Just who was Han Tianyu? He was claimed as the supermonastery’s number one expert. Even in this place where the heroes of seven prefectures had gathered, he stood at the pinnacle.
“The third attack!”
In front of everyone’s appalled gazes, Long Chen’s third slash came down, the exact same as the last two. However, the only difference was this attack contained the power of the previous two, and the saber seemed to contain a volcanic power. The space around it was completely twisted.
BOOM!
Han Tianyu only managed to barely block it, and he shot out like a cannonball, plowing a mile long ditch in the ground.
For a moment, it was absolutely silent. Everyone was looking at Long Chen with shock, then looking at Han Tianyu in the distance who was leaning on his sword. None of them were able to say anything.
Long Chen rested his saber on his shoulder and icily looked at Han Tianyu, disdainfully saying, “You don’t need to pretend like that. Are you putting on a play? Or should I say, are you an actor? You’ve yet to use even half of your power; who are you putting on that act for?”
“What?!”
Guo Ran and the others were shocked. Han Tianyu was already so terrifying, but he had yet to use even half of his power?!
Hua Biluo was also completely shocked. If Han Tianyu had yet to use even half his power now, then when he had fought with her, didn’t that mean he hadn’t even used a third of his power?
“You really are an idiot through and through. First acting weak to give me some hope, then displaying your great power to make me feel despair? Han Tianyu, you really are too hypocritical,” sneered Long Chen.
“Hahahaha!” Han Tianyu suddenly laughed, shaking his head. “I really wouldn’t have thought you’d see that far. I’ve underestimated you.”
“There are many things you haven’t thought of. Did you ever think that you would die at my hands today?”
“Never. That’s because a person that can kill me, Han Tianyu, has not yet been born.” Han Tianyu brushed off some dust indifferently.
“It isn’t that they haven’t been born, but that you hadn’t encountered them yet. Now that you’ve run into me, you’re destined to die. That’s because you caused the death of my brothers, and I want your head as a sacrifice to their souls.”
“Does slandering others like this have any meaning? How many people here will believe you?” Han Tianyu shook his head disdainfully.
“That’s why I said you’re a hypocrite, the same as your sword arts. Although you managed to comprehend a bit of sword intent, you focused completely on your sword techniques, treating that sword in your hand as a tool, and not a belief, not as a companion. You are at best a dabbler sword cultivator.”
Long Chen’s words didn’t cause much of a reaction in other people, but Yue Zifeng’s body shook. Long Chen was telling him Han Tianyu’s greatest weak point.
As a sword cultivator, the sword was their life. As for Han Tianyu, his sword techniques might be exquisite, but his sword intent wasn’t strong enough and did not possess the cold killing will that it should. No matter how profound his sword techniques were, they were lacking any substance.
No matter what Dao it was, you had to focus on it single-mindedly. Han Tianyu had created his sword and sheath combination technique, using strengths to make up for weak points, possessing both offense and defense. On the surface, it looked extremely creative and effective, but in the end, it wasn’t the correct path. He had already deviated from the cultivation path he should have taken.
At this time, even the other sword cultivators were gradually understanding what Long Chen was saying, and they practically prostrated themselves in admiration for his sharp vision.
“Hmph, did you think just a few of your words could rattle my Dao-heart? You’re too childish,” sneered Han Tianyu.
“You’re the childish one. Didn’t you want me to die in my despair? Then I will let you die within endless remorse. Aren’t you very confident in your self-made sword arts? Then good! I will defeat you where you are most confident and let you know that the thing you are most prideful of is incredibly stupid and laughable!” After this final retort, Long Chen no longer wasted words. His saber once more slashed at Han Tianyu.
Han Tianyu had a ridiculing expression on. Closing his eyes, when he once more opened them, an explosive sound came from his body, and it was as if a dam had been broken, releasing a surging flood. A terrifying aura caused everyone’s expressions to change.
“Ten-temper realm!”
BOOM!
Han Tianyu’s sword slashed into Long Chen’s saber, and being caught off guard, Long Chen was blown back.
“Heavens, Han Tianyu has already tempered ten bones!”
Ten-temper! Most of the Favored had only tempered two bones, and that was already extremely luxurious. There were some Favored and core disciples who had only managed to temper one bone. Some didn’t even have the resources to temper a single bone.
Tempering ten bones not only required a huge amount of medicinal pills, but it also exhausted a great deal of cultivation time. Just how had Han Tianyu done this?
“This bastard has actually tempered ten bones! Even I only managed to temper eight bones.” Mo Nian was a bit indignant.
He had already cultivated with his full might. However, he had still been thrown off by his opponent.
However, thinking of the several treasures that now lay in his spatial ring, he didn’t feel that disappointed.
As for the Corrupt path, Yin Luo, Xue Wuya, and the others were also shocked. They had also only had time to temper eight bones. Han Tianyu truly was terrifying. He had to have used some secret technique, or this was absolutely impossible.
Even Huo Wufang was startled. Han Tianyu was stronger than he had imagined, but the stronger he was, the happier he became. He was already impatient to see the scene of Long Chen dying in complete despair.
He had always been brooding about the Phoenix Sparrow violet flame that Long Chen had ‘stolen’ from him. He was still unable to accept it.
Although his harvests were also not bad, and he had obtained the beast flame ranked fourth on the beast flame rankings, he had never let this matter go. His hatred of Long Chen ran extremely deep now.
“Senior apprentice-brother Tianyu, kill this fiend! Take vengeance for those dead innocents!”
“Senior apprentice-brother Han, what are you waiting for? You are the emissary of justice. Hurry up and kill this traitor of the Righteous path, returning the Righteous path to its clear and bright state!”
Seeing that Han Tianyu had released a ten-temper aura and definitely had the power to suppress Long Chen, his followers all began to cheer loudly. Many others also followed them.
However, there were clearly fewer people than before. Not everyone was so stupid. Although many fiendish images of Long Chen’s actions had spread with the first monastery’s ‘help’, people trusted their eyes more. The domineering pride Long Chen had revealed was clearly different from the scenes in those images.
Furthermore, Long Chen’s discussion on the essence of the Sword Dao had benefited many of them. Such an unfathomable person wouldn’t do something like tha
t. Although they didn’t know whether or not he was innocent, at the very least, there was a seed of doubt in their hearts, and they no longer all just went with the flow.
“Long Chen, I’ll give you a chance. Kill yourself. I didn’t want to have to kill you; if you hadn’t committed such sins, I’m sure we would have been friends,” sighed Han Tianyu.
Long Chen suddenly laughed, “Now I really am starting to admire you. Your skin really is amazing. Even at this time, you can still continue with this little play of yours. What perseverance.”
“I pity you since you are a generation’s genius, and I wanted to leave you with an intact corpse. But you refuse to appreciate my kindness, instead trying to humiliate me, tch! You really can’t be saved!” Han Tianyu looked at Long Chen with a complicated expression, one that seemed to feel sorrow about the will of the heavens and pity for the fate of man.
“Senior apprentice-brother Tianyu, you don’t need to feel grief over a fiend like him! If you’re kindhearted to him, you’ll only end up being hurt! Hurry and end this fiend’s life!” The person speaking at this time was Yin Wushuang. Her voice was sharp and contained a great deal of urgency. The thing she longed to see the most was Long Chen’s head falling to the ground.
“I really want to tear this woman apart.” Guo Ran clenched his teeth as he looked at the shouting Yin Wushuang.
The others were the same. This woman was the one who had caused all of this. She and Han Tianyu really were unforgivable.
Long Chen suddenly laughed, “Did you think that just this was enough to defeat me? You even want me to kill myself? Could it be that your memory is this lacking? I’ve already said that I will defeat you in the area you are most proud of, letting you know what remorse is. If you’re prepared, then I’m about to begin.”
BOOM!
An explosive sound rang out from within Long Chen’s body, and a berserk aura surged out that caused all of heaven and earth to tremble, causing everyone’s expressions to change.