The cultivators who were there to watch the fight held their breaths. Many of them who had low cultivation bases could not even endure the sword qi that was ravaging the cloud mountain.
Lu Yu ascended to the mountaintop. Although he was blind, his heart was as bright as snow.
He might not be able to see Ning Fan's appearance but he could sense his unusually young age and the abnormally terrifying void sword light around him…
Faced with Ning Fan at this moment, even if Lu Yu displayed the Sword Light Body Transformation Technique, he still did not have the confidence to defeat Ning Fan.
He suddenly raised his hand and clawed at the sea of clouds above. The sea of clouds which stretched into several hundred thousand li* (500m per li) started to tremble and rumble as countless rifts formed.
Rays of golden light shone down from the cracks on the sea of clouds, condensing into a golden cloud sword in Lu Yu's hands.
That golden cloud sword was a magic sword. It did not have a sharp cutting edge but it had a mysterious effect of controlling the great momentum of heaven and earth.
Lu Yu suddenly lifted his hand and the golden sword swung with its tip pointing at Ning Fan. Immediately, the sea of clouds began to churn and roil!
"The clouds in heaven and earth are all my swords! The force of gentle clouds can suppress all directions!"
The great momentum of the countless cloud lights in the sky suddenly merged together, producing an overwhelming aura force which headed directly toward Ning Fan's head.
A large expanse of void space was crushed by the pressure of the falling force. An abnormally heavy pressure weighed down Ning Fan, making it difficult for him to breathe.
His eyes flashed with surprise. Lu Yu's sword technique was clearly a sword made of great momentum which was extremely similar to his Nine Steps, Sky Treader.
Although the clouds are soft, the softer the thing that was used to condense a sword, the stronger its sword intent and might.
Lu Yu continued on swinging his sword light and the power of the clouds around the sky intensified.
At first, the cloud force was only comparable to the aura force of a Void Pierce Stage expert.
However, as its power continued to increase, Ning Fan suddenly felt that what he was facing currently was not flowing clouds but an old monster at the First Heavenly Layer of the Void Fragmentation Realm!
Under such a massive pressure from the cloud force, Ning Fan felt like his body was as heavy as a huge mountain. His bones began to emit cracking sounds, making him nearly lose his balance and fall off from the clouds.
Lu Yu, on the other hand, was still wielding his sword light while the cloud force was still rising!
Perhaps Lu Yu could raise the cloud force to a level comparable to the aura force of an expert at the Second Heavenly Layer of the Void Fragmentation Realm in no time. Even a Void Pierce Stage expert would also be grievously injured with that level of power and fall down from the sky.
"A weak sword garners greater strength while a soft sword gathers toughness… Lu Yu's sword which was infused with cloud force certainly is exceptional. However, even an expert at the First Heavenly Layer of the Void Fragmentation Realm can't subdue me with just their aura force. Lu Yu is no exception!"
"When there is no momentum, no sword can be formed… The great momentum sword isn't unbreakable!"
Ning Fan's eyes shone with a more fearsome battle intent. His body seemed to have become an ancient sword that was floating high in the sky!
Under the heavy pressure of the cloud force, Ning Fan's body shone in brilliant sword light and he then suddenly took the first step forward!
This single step seemed to be stepping on the Heavenly Dao, producing ripples in heaven and earth which looked like waves!
Even though he was clearly stepping on the sky, it felt like he was stepping on the hearts of countless cultivators around him, instilling shock in them!
At this moment, Ning Fan looked like he had transcended heaven and earth and his presence exuded an aura force that cannot be ignored!
After he made that step, the cloud force in the surroundings was suddenly scattered, turning into a strong wind which dispersed everywhere up above the sea of clouds!
Lu Yu was flabbergasted. To his horror, Ning Fan was breaking his sword of cloud force little by little!
One has to know that the key of the sword of cloud force was about becoming one with the force of the cloud. After Lu Yu painstakingly cultivated this technique for one thousand years, he could usually defeat experts at the Void Pierce Stage with just a single strike of this technique!
Even common Absolute Void Stage experts would also find it difficult to break the force of Lu Yu's sword technique.
Ning Fan, however, managed to destroy the power of his soft cloud sword with just a single step!
Usually, the softer the sword, the stronger the power and intent of the sword!
Because the soft cloud sword was inherently soft and weak, the force it produced was frightening.
Ning Fan might not hold a sword in his hands but he wielded a sword in his heart. The force he produced from not having a sword was much stronger than the force of the soft cloud sword!
The sword might from his sword technique, Nine Steps, Sky Treader, was a type of sword technique that produced sword force out of nothing!
"Of all the sword cultivators I've met in my life, there are only three individuals whom I admire. The first one is White-Robed Sword God. The second one is the third elder of the Zhou Clan. The third one is the sword cultivator who is also a rogue immortal whom I encountered by chance… This kid is the fourth!"
While Lu Yu was still in shock, Ning Fan had already made the second step, dispersing the sea of clouds within one thousand li* (500m per li)!
Then, the third step broke the clouds within ten thousand li* (500m per li)!
The fourth step destroyed the clouds within one hundred thousand li* (500m per li)!
On the fifth step, the sword force that Lu Yu had condensed with great effort was completely eradicated by Ning Fan!
Ning Fan did not stop as he continued to make the sixth, seventh, eighth, ninth steps.
The moment he took the ninth step, the sword force of his body rose to its peak.
With Ning Fan's current understanding of the great momentum and of truth and falsehood, the power of his technique, Nine Steps, Sky Treader, had become even more terrifying.
At this moment, Ning Fan's hands did not carry a sword. However, that was mainly the reason why his sword force could reach the highest peak that Void Refinement Realm cultivators could reach!
All of a sudden, something suddenly came to his mind, putting him in a trance… He felt that he could now control all low-grade flying swords that were below the Divine Transformation Realm… be it his enemies' flying swords or his own!
"All swords in heaven and earth, obey my command!" Sword light glistened in Ning Fan's eyes as he suddenly gave a command.
A massive sword force swept across several hundred thousand li* (500m per li) of the cloud mountain! In just an instant, all the cultivators who possessed flying swords around the area felt their swords tremble.
As Ning Fan willed it, the flying swords of one hundred thousand low-level cultivators flew out from their scabbards or sword cases or broke free from the storage pouches which were keeping them.
The flying swords of all cultivators there were overwhelmed by Ning Fan's sword force!
One hundred thousand flying swords soared into the sky, emanating dazzling sword light. That scene shook the entire Great Heaven Realm!
"Controlling one hundred thousand swords at once! White-Robed Marquis actually became one with his sword force which enabled him to subdue and command one hundred thousand swords!"
"Even for Void Fragmentation Realm sword experts, not all of them might be able to command such a great number of swords. Although White-Robed Marquis is far from being a Void Fragmentation Realm expert, he still managed to pull off such an incredible feat! This is literally unthinkable!"
A tingling sensation ran across Lu Yu's scalp.
He might be blind and could not see the magnificent scene of Ning Fan commanding innumerable swords in the sky, but he could feel the immense sword force from them.
His soft cloud sword force could not hold a candle to Ning Fan's sword force which he produced without using any swords!
Even his sword light incarnation would find it difficult to withstand Ning Fan's upcoming attack!
"Minor Void Sword!"
Ning Fan raised a finger and all one hundred thousand low-grade flying swords shattered, transforming into illusory black sword shadows.
He stole the Minor Void Sword Technique from Marquis You Gui on that day where he battled against him. However, he could not perfectly master the technique in the end.
However, when he commanded numerous swords at this moment, he felt like he had touched the one and only secret of this technique.
What is the Minor Void Sword? Commanding the void to be my swords and cut down one million cultivators!
"Fall!"
When he pointed his finger at Lu Yu, the one hundred thousand void sword shadows rained down upon him like a torrential downpour. The avalanche of swords made Lu Yu's expression change greatly.
His sword light incarnation might be able to block common attacks but the void sword light could even cut the void. Besides, with so many of them, even his incarnation would not be able to withstand all of them!
However, he could not back off from this attack. He must not show fear because he was a sword cultivator!
If he let his fear take over him, he would never be able to have the same obsession in the Dao of Swords for the rest of his life!
"I was born in the Rain World. At the age of ten, I entered a school of swords and began my cultivation journey in the Dao of Swords. At the age of one hundred, I destroyed my own eyes in order to cultivate a sword with a quiet heart. From then on, my heart was connected to swords… Now, nine thousand years have passed. Throughout my nine thousand years of cultivation, I've always been alone. I've lost too much and the only thing that I still have is the sword in my hands…"
"As long as the sword is here, I'll be here! If the sword loses, I'll die with it!"
Lu Yu's expression looked like he had gone crazy. He broke the cloud sword in his hand and performed a hand seal. The purple sandalwood sword box on his back gave out a whistling noise, shooting out a Peak Mortal Void Grade flying sword that was scarlet gold!
The Void Refinement Realm was comparable to the Mortal Void Grade while the Void Fragmentation Realm was equivalent to the Immortal Void Grade…. This scarlet gold flying sword might be at the Mortal Void Grade, but it contained a trace of Immortal Void Grade power!
That Immortal Void Grade power was formed from Lu Yu's nine thousand years of persistence and stubborn belief!
This sword was called 'Obsessive Foolish Sword'. It carried Lu Yu's Dao of Swords which he had accumulated his entire life!
Lu Yu's innate talent in the Dao of Swords might be inferior to others, but his obsession in swords, on the other hand, was something that even people like Ning Fan and Yun Tianjue could not rival!
He raised his hand and pointed at the scarlet gold sword while rapidly changing his hand seals. Right afterward, the body of the sword glowed with brilliant sword light. The sword light then split into two and it continued to double countless times. When it transformed into one thousand rays of sword light, all of them transformed into one thousand enormous shadows of scarlet gold divine turtles which flew at the one hundred thousand void sword light, colliding against them!
*Bang* *Bang* *Bang*
The void sword light disintegrated one after another while the shadows of the scarlet gold divine turtles also vanished one by one at the same time!
When all divine turtles were destroyed, there were still a few void sword lights remaining. They turned into a sea of sword light which engulfed Lu Yu.
The whistling sword light was so intimidating that it made the spectators gasp for breath. On the peak of the sea of clouds, only Ning Fan and Lu Yu were the only ones still standing!
Ning Fan stood firmly like a monolith. With a wave of his hands, he dispersed all the broken sword light. With respect in his eyes, he stared at the sword shadows that were gradually disappearing in the sky.
Lu Yu did not take half a step backward despite being surrounded by the sword shadows. However, his body was severely wounded with blood trickling down from his seven orifices!
His final sword technique still lost to Ning Fan in the end!
At the very least, however, he did not lose to Ning Fan in terms of the Dao of Swords. He faced the sword shadows head-on and held on without backing off!
"*Cough* I've lost. But my sword didn't lose and will never lose!" Lu Yu's qi was feeble. He was coughing out blood continuously. Even so, his old face was still wearing a smile.
Being defeated by a powerful sword cultivator like Ning Fan made him happy.
Being able to hold on to his own Dao of Swords with no regrets made him even happier.
"You aren't weak. If I had not broken through to the Void Inquiry Stage, I might not have been able to defeat you." Ning Fan said truthfully. Even though his Dao was widely different from Lu Yu's Dao of Swords, he more or less respected people who were persistent in their Dao.
"Hehe. White-Robed Marquis' capabilities really are impressive. I concede defeat from the depths of my heart… I'll now bring you to the inner part of the cloud mountain to look at our rain stele."
Just as Lu Yu's voice fell, five voices which sounded as if they were peeved suddenly echoed from the sword box on his back.
"Little Yu Yu, you're really weak. All of our effort in guiding you in sword techniques all these years was a waste. How could you lose to him? You really brought shame to us! Humph! This elder sister is going to ignore you from now on!"
"Humph! This second elder sister is also not going to care about you anymore!"
"Humph! Humph! This third elder sister is going to ignore you!"
"Humph! Even this fourth elder sister is going to ignore you!"
"Humph… Humph… Humph…"
"Just ignore her. She always stutters. She's trying to say that she is also not going to care about you anymore!"
"From today onward, we don't want you anymore. We want to look for a new human pet. Humph! Goodbye forever!"
*Chi* *Chi* *Chi*
In the next instant, five sword rays of different colors flew out from Lu Yu's sword box. Their speed was too fast. No one managed to clearly see what they were.
Lu Yu smiled bitterly. Even though the little princesses had outstanding understanding of swords, their intelligence was akin to children. When they saw him lose to Ning Fan today, they were probably pretty upset.
A few thousand years ago, Lu Yu who had just attained the Void Glimpse Stage chanced upon these young girls from a historical place that once belonged to an ancient sword cultivator.
If it was not for their guidance all these years, he certainly would not be able to master the sword light incarnation.
However, they were quite difficult to deal with and they always given him a hard time.
Looking at the five sword rays that were leaving, Lu Yu was both happy and disappointed.
He was happy because there would be no one else to torture him anymore from now on.
He felt disappointed because he was somewhat reluctant to see them leave him after spending several thousand years with them.
In the next instant, the five sword rays suddenly changed their direction and turned toward Ning Fan.
Lu Yu was stunned. Is it possible that they are trying to make Ning Fan their new human pet and torment him after witnessing his profound sword techniques?
"This!"
Ning Fan's eyes widened with surprise while looking at the five sword rays that whistled toward him.
Common people might not be able to clearly see the things inside the sword rays but Ning Fan managed to see them!
They were five small young girls that were as big as a thumb!
The five of them wore a coat and skirt that were of respective color: gold, green, blue, red and yellow. Each of them had clear and beautiful facial features. They looked like they were only eleven to twelve years old. A pair of thin wings that looked like those of a dragonfly adorned their backs. Their faces were filled with anger.
"These are… sword spirits! Moreover, they aren't sword spirits of ordinary flying swords. In fact, all of them, even the weakest among them, is an immortal sword's sword spirit!"
If a sword develops spirituality, they would become sword spirits.
The sword spirits of ordinary flying swords were the spirituality in the flying swords themselves. However, the sword spirits of some immortal swords could fly out of the flying swords and form their own bodies.
The five sword spirits menacingly bore down on Ning Fan. Before Ning Fan could ask Lu Yu about the origin of the five sword spirits, his instincts warned him of danger.
Among the five thumb-sized girls, the one in the gold clothing suddenly performed hand seals with her tiny hands. Then, a massive sword intent spread out from her tiny body!
"Humph! Little Yu Yu might have lost to you but we won't! We must teach you a lesson and show you what we've got! Void Cutting Sword Technique!"
*Chi Chi Chi*
Countless sword rays suddenly appeared around Ning Fan's body. In the next instant, the void was cut open, making the scene in front of his eyes change.
In just the blink of an eye, he vanished from the peak of the sea of clouds in the Great Heaven Realm and appeared in an independent heavenly dwelling space.
Even though that golden-robed girl had a tiny body, her capabilities were quite magnificent as she could actually display the Void Cutting Sword Technique…
That technique was similar to techniques which Void Fragmentation Realm experts would use to produce a heavenly dwelling space using their palms. Both of them were magic techniques to create a heavenly dwelling space. Generally, only Void Fragmentation Realm sword cultivators could master techniques of this kind…
However, that small girl in gold robes was able to display a Void Fragmentation Realm technique despite having no magic power at all…
After they successfully captured Ning Fan into the heavenly dwelling space, the five small girls put pleasant smiles on their faces. They then fluttered their thin wings and flew to five different directions to surround him.
"Humph! We've already surrounded you. There is no way you can escape! Because you defeated Little Yu Yu, we are extremely embarrassed. This elder sister wants to cut you three hundred times as punishment!"
"This second elder sister wants to cut you five hundred times!"
"This third elder sister wants to cut you seven hundred times!"
"This fourth elder sister wants to cut you nine hundred times!"
"This f…f…f…"
"Don't mind her stuttering. She is saying that she wants to cut you one thousand times!"
Ning Fan's eyes turned solemn. He could feel a strong sense of danger from the five tiny girls… as well as an uncanny familiar feeling…
The five girls were sword spirits of immortal swords. Even though they had no cultivation bases, the sword intent and sword techniques from any of them could still strike fear into an Absolute Void Stage expert…
If the five of them fight together, perhaps even an old monster at the First Heavenly Layer of the Void Fragmentation Realm would have to temporarily avoid confrontation.
Well, although the five girls are strong, it was still impossible for them to cut Ning Fan.
"What is your relationship with Lu Yu and the Great Heaven Palace?" Ning Fan asked with a faint smile.
"Humph! We have no relationship with Little Yu Yu at all. He was the pet that we picked up in the past. But now, we've abandoned him! As for the Great Heaven Palace… What is that? We've never heard of it!" The five young girls arrogantly said.
"You all have no relationship with Lu Yu and the Great Heaven Palace, huh… You haven't even heard of the Great Heaven Palace…"
A wider smile formed on Ning Fan's face.
In this case, no one should have any objections if I capture these five sword spirits, right?
Sword spirits are excellent things… By placing them in a flying sword, they can give the sword extra abilities. Besides, they can also help temper flying swords and normally increase their power.
Some sword spirits even have some of the sword techniques of their former owners… If the five of them are sword spirits of immortal swords, I wonder if I can obtain some high-grade sword techniques from them.
Moreover, they are quite strong. If I subdue them, they will be able to serve as an additional force for me.
"All of you are mine!"
Translated by Tommy, edited by Roel
