Chapter 1405 (Raw 1396):
What fell was not the blazing sun or any star. Instead, it was a saber!
Everyone here used the saber. In the end, they were all startled by a saber at the same time. Before this tea party started, it dealt a big slap to these bladesmen.
"Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!"
What was more frightening was that the saber that landed shattered all the bladesmen's wills of the predecessor sculptures on the stone pillars.
In addition, after a moment, the one thousand stone pillars turned smooth, and night reversed. The spectacle of stars appearing like lamps also vanished.
Sunlight shone again as the sun reappeared, sending down a blazing light.
However, the hearts of these bladesmen did not feel any warmth. Their hearts were chilled, and cold sweat flowed continuously. Some bladesmen at the very edges even trembled, not daring to believe that there was such a strong saber strike in the world.
Inside the mountain manor, in a quiet study, Wu Xiaotian's heart trembled suddenly.
He put down the ancient record in his hand and looked at the boundless Starry Heavens. One kilometer…ten kilometers…one hundred kilometers…one million kilometers…ten million kilometers…finally, he saw it.
There was a black war chariot wildly rushing closer in the boundless resplendent Starry Heavens.
In the dark Starry Heavens, in the boundless and limitless universe, it appeared ordinary. However, in Wu Xiaotian's eyes, that was not a chariot or a person but a saber tearing through space.
That saber was not flying to this Heavenly Saber Mountain Manor or the thousands of bladesmen in the central plaza. Instead, it was flying towards him, the Saber Sovereign Wu Xiaotian!
"Crack!"
Wu Xiaotian could not suppress his excitement. The ancient record shattered in his hand, scattering all over the room.
The sunlight that shone through the window made the paper flying all over the place look like snow falling.
Wu Xiaotian's full head of black hair had turned snow-white at some point in time as if he had aged several hundred years.
He knew it. From the moment he saw that person, he was already no longer the Saber Sovereign. Although the other party's cultivation was not comparable, that person's accomplishments in the Saber Dao completely surpassed his.
Suddenly, the instant he looked back, he allowed his black hair to turn snow-white entirely. Hundreds of emotions flowed through him; he felt as though his reputation was undeserved like fleeting clouds.
The current-generation Saber Sovereign, Wu Xiaotian, was able to let it go, neither reluctant nor resentful.
"After not seeing you for five years, you indeed managed to go down another path. It was worth betting my life on you back then." Wu Xiaotian laughed and sat back down, not saying anymore.
Even if the Primes could not make out Xiao Chen's true identity after the disguise, as the Saber Sovereign, no matter how Xiao Chen disguised himself, Wu Xiaotian would be able to recognize him immediately.
When the Saber Sovereign recognized a person, it was not by the face or the saber but by the heart, that heart of a bladesman.
Wu Xiaotian was flexible, able to let go when needed. However, the many new-generation bladesmen on the stone pillars in the central plaza all possessed overwhelming pride. How could they be convinced by this?
"Brother Wen, what's going on? Whose saber is this?"
Seeing the saber flashing with light calm down, several people asked Wen Ziran about it.
Some of the bladesmen harbored suspicions. The small portion of them who had seen this saber before already recognized it. However, they did not dare to be certain of their speculation.
Wen Ziran had also seen this saber before. Furthermore, his impression of it was very deep. He managed to recognize it at a glance. First came shock; then, pleasant surprise followed. In the end, the Shadowless Saber Sovereign had not gone back on his promise.
However, looking at the expressions of the many bladesmen present, he felt bitter. This Shadowless Saber Sovereign went a little too far.
When facing the questions of the many bladesmen, Wen Ziran had to give them an answer. After a long silence, he said softly, "It's the Shadowless Saber Sovereign's saber."
"It is indeed him!"
"I guessed it. That is his Pride. I've seen it before."
"He is really putting on great airs. If he is not coming, then don't come. What does this mean? He is completely looking down on all of us!"
All the bladesmen on the stone pillars immediately erupted out in displeasure. Their unhappy tone was very clear.
However, this was normal. Any one of these people on the stone pillars would feel uncomfortable with this. This was not how one slapped another's face. The Shadowless Saber Sovereign even scattered the wills of the predecessors, slapping the faces of the ancestors as well.
In reality, this was a great misunderstanding. Xiao Chen was only trying to make his appointment on time.
It had been many years since he had focused all his saber intent on one saber. This was the only way he could think of to arrive on time.
The saber of a bladesman could represent a bladesman themself. No matter how one looked at it, using the saber to indicate attendance was reasonable.
Scattering the wills of the predecessor bladesmen was not intentional. If Xiao Chen did not focus all his saber intent on Pride, making it land from such an extreme distance would be impossible.
This sudden change set the entire plaza abuzz. No one expected that the tea party would take such a turn.
Feeling somewhat helpless, Wen Ziran raised his hand and silenced the clamor. Then, he said, "Please be quiet. The Shadowless Saber Sovereign has an invitation that I personally delivered to him. By sending his saber to represent him, he is not considered to have failed to deliver on his promise. So there is no need to continue arguing about this matter. If anyone is not convinced, they can simply go to the Dao discussion platform and knock over his saber."
The black stone pillar was the Dao discussion platform of this tea party session. Anyone who occupied that spot had to accept the challenges of others.
This was why no one had gone to occupy this black stone pillar.
"Shadowless Saber Sovereign, do you have any objections?" Wen Ziran asked as he looked at Pride, which was on the black stone pillar.
"Whoosh!"
Dust gathered on the black stone pillar and turned into an ordinary person. Then, he extended his hand and pulled out Pride as he said calmly, "No objections."
Xiao Chen, who was in the war chariot millions of kilometers away, burned most of his Magic Energy and managed to execute the Life Bestowal Spell.
However, such a scene stunned the others. How was there suddenly a clone?
"I ran into some matters along the way, and my true body is unable to make it on time. Hence, I could only send my saber to represent myself and use some small tricks to materialize half a clone to come and discuss the Dao. If I showed any disrespect, I apologize to everyone for that," the clone said as he held the saber and performed a cupped-fist salute in all directions.
Some scoffed, feeling that the Shadowless Saber Sovereign was a hypocrite. However, some nodded to themselves as well, thinking that this Shadowless Saber Sovereign was rather humble.
"You really are the Shadowless Saber Sovereign?" a person asked rather aggressively as he stood up from one of the innermost thirty-six stone pillars, a blazing intent to fight gleaming in his eyes.
"I'm definitely the one. The saber in my hand can prove it."
"Very well. In that case, I, Xu Zilan, will test you out today."
Right after Xu Zilan spoke, he did not hesitate to charge straight at the clone that Xiao Chen created with the Life Bestowal Spell.
Everyone immediately focused and stopped speaking, watching the fight seriously. Although Xu Zilan was not one of the new-generation ten great bladesmen, he was someone whose strength was close. For him to be able to get a spot in the innermost thirty-six stone pillars, he was already rather incredible.
The two figures started fighting quickly.
Figures flashed as they moved about, creating afterimages. Xu Zilan was famous for his fast attack speed. Xiao Chen noticed this and fought speed with speed.
He executed the Fish Dragon Art and moved about the narrow stone pillar, showing thousands of changes. After ten exchanges, the two figures parted.
Xu Zilan appeared pale, and a saber pressed against his neck, deterring further motion.
"I lost."
Although the two exchanged only ten moves, they had fought with speed. Ten moves were merely a breath of time. There were even some bladesmen who did not see how Xu Zilan lost.
Only true experts had clearly seen the situation. Xu Zilan's loss was extremely miserable. He lost all ten exchanges. With every move, a new wound appeared on his body. After ten moves, he could not even defend his vital spot.
In the future, Xu Zilan probably would no longer dare to pride himself on his quick attacks.
"You went easy on me. Your attacks are sufficiently fast, but you lack a Movement Technique. A Movement Technique need not be a peak one, but it needs to be suited to yourself. This is because everyone's bodies are different. At a low cultivation, there is no need to pay attention to it. However, when your cultivation reaches a certain height, you need to find a Movement Technique that suits you. If you really cannot find one, you can alter one or create one," Xiao Chen said with a cupped-fist salute.
Xu Zilan entered deep thought. It was like some questions that had been bugging him were resolved. After a while, he returned the cupped-fist salute and said, "Many thanks."
Immediately, the entire plaza turned even quieter. The onlookers felt like they were not on the same level as the Shadowless Saber Sovereign.
Although this person's aura clearly had not reached Sovereign Martial Emperor and his Emperor's Might did not show the same characteristics as a Sovereign Martial Emperor, there was this vague feeling that he was on a completely different level regarding the Saber Dao.
"Allow me!"
After a while of silence, the Ghostly Bladesman Zhao Feng stood up, having made a difficult decision.
"Count me, Xing Feng, in as well!"
Xing Feng, the one who used the topic of the Shadowless Saber Sovereign to censure and make things difficult for Wen Ziran, also stood up. However, the arrogance in his eyes had long withdrawn, turning into graveness.
Two of the new-generation ten great bladesmen were making a move at the same time. This seemed like a violation of the rules.
However, no one felt like there was anything wrong. For the one they were going to fight was the Shadowless Saber Sovereign.
