Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
In front of the ancient tree of swordsmanship, Li Xun thrust his sword through the air. He formed countless afterimages as he moved, and more swords appeared in an instant until Wan Shouyi was enveloped in sword Qi.
Wan Shouyi activated his sword spirit, which shrieked as the sword will billowed out into the sky. He placed one finger upon his sword and drew the blade across it. Flesh blood flowed out of his finger and was absorbed into the sword.
“Warrior spirit.”
Wan Shouyi’s hair flew in the wind as the sword Qi within his sword spirit grew stronger. Countless sharp swords whistled through the sky, turning into a terrifying vortex of swords that cut through all the after images around him.
There were endless “cracking” sounds as the afterimages were destroyed one after another. The remaining images returned to Li Xun, and he appeared in the air above Wan Shouyi. He was holding a sword as well. He looked down and said quietly, “Eternal.”
As he said this, the sword will around Wan Shouyi materialized into actual divine swords. Each of these swords was shining with brilliant light.
The Divine Li Family’s Instant Swords and Eternal Swords were in perfect harmony.
A terrifying sword seal appeared on Li Xun’s brow. He gripped his sword with both hands, and an incomparably brilliant beam of divine sword light pierced through the air. If fell from the sky, making all the other swords resonate with it as it shot down towards Wan Shouyi. The sword had not even come into its full power yet, and just its sword will was enough to place a suffocating pressure on the space below it. The sword spirits in front of Wan Shouyi shrieked. He looked up into the sky, his hair dancing wildly in the wind.
Up there in the air, Li Xun looked like the descendant of a sword god.
This was the sword of the Divine Sword Li family. They had always considered themselves to be the best swordsmen in the Higher Heavens Realm. There was no one who could compare to them.
Woosh!
Terrible divine sword light blew all around Wan Shouyi. His blood flowed from his body into his sword. It was as if his internal aura was pouring into the sword. He grew weaker and weaker, but his mind was seeking the Path, and he was deep in thought. He had wanted to find an opportunity to prove his worthiness. Now the sword-shaped fruit was right in front of him. If he could not win this battle, how could he speak of proving his worthiness?
The sword spirits above him trembled violently. A series of destructive sword cut marks appeared, sweeping up into the sky and trying to destroy the sword prison that his opponent had set up.
The swords around Wan Shouyi all broke, cut in half by his sword spirits. Li Xun’s gaze grew sharp. He looked down at Wan Shouyi and said, “Your Fleeting Divine Sword Technique is incredible. Unfortunately, your swordsmanship level is not high enough.”
As he said this, divine radiance bloomed from him. His body transformed into a Divine Body of Swordsmanship. The terrifying sword will in the sky transformed into a single Falling Sky Sword. All of the sword will in the area flowed wildly into this sword. All of the other swords shrieked as they resonated with it. Even the swords that the other cultivators of the Li family were holding resonated.
The Falling Sky Sword was like a king among swords. All other swords were its subjects.
“A divine sword apocalypse,” said everyone as they looked up into the sky. The other cultivators that had resisted the Li family, Luoyue and the disciples of Taixuan Mountain, stared up at the sword. The top sword technique of the Divine Sword Li family was truly apocalyptic.
When the sword came out, all other techniques were destroyed, the air itself was split, and everything turned to dust.
At that moment, the clouds fled as the sword Qi crossed through the sky. It was as if the only thing in the world was that sword.
Its sword will grew stronger and stronger. Down below, Wan Shouyi could feel an immense amount of pressure. The flow of sword Qi around him was distorted by it, and his own swords were shattered. Sword cuts appeared in his robes, and blood began to pour out of them.
“Give up, Wan Shouyi,” Jun Mu called out to him. Wan Shouyi could not last long under this sword. If he continued to persist, he would very likely be destroyed.
The Divine Sword Li family was so strong, and they had their hearts set on the sword-shaped fruit. If anyone else wanted it, they would have to fight them for it.
Given Li Xun’s skill at swordsmanship, it would be difficult for anyone else to defeat the Divine Sword Li family.
And Wan Shouyi did not even need the sword-shaped fruit.
It was not worth this fight.
But Wan Shouyi still held his sword and did not give up. There was a fierce determination in his eyes. He could accept being defeated in battle, but to put down his sword and hang his head in submission was not something he could accept.
At that moment, there was the faint sound of music, which made a look of surprise come over the faces of everyone on the battlefield.
There were two figures floating there. One of them was wearing white robes, and he descended in front of Wan Shouyi. He was holding a guqin in his hands and playing a song. In a flash, countless notes erupted, full of harsh will. They seemed to be perfectly in accord with the mood on the battlefield.
Jun Mu frowned. It was Shen Jing.
What was he trying to do?
As the notes erupted, strange illusions appeared everywhere. The wind and the clouds surged, and sword will flowed into the sky. The notes seemed to flow into Wan Shouyi’s mind, from which they entered into his sword.
“Worldly Judgement!”
Li Zhiyin and Chen Yu, the disciples of Guqin Valley looked shocked. Strange illusions were appearing in the sky, and the Great Path was flowing backward. This was one of the Famous Songs: Worldly Judgement.
Flight of the Phoenix Pair was not the only one of the Six Famous Songs of String Palace that Ye Futian had learned. He had also learned Worldly Judgement as well.
Such skill…
Thinking of how he had once given pointers to Ye Futian, and told him to study hard in String Palace, Li Zhiyin felt embarrassed. Apparently, Shen Jing’s musical skill was far greater than she had thought. Even she was not as good as him.
He had learned two of the Six Famous Songs: Flight of the Phoenix Pair and Worldly Judgement.
That being said, Uncle Lan must have included Ye Futian in the quota on purpose so that he could support them with his guqin music, and make them stronger.
But they had thought it was just to let Fourth Miss save some face.
The guqin music seemed to accord with Wan Shouyi’s swordsmanship perfectly. Wan Shouyi seemed to feel the sword will around him getting stronger, and countless images of swordsmen floated in his mind.
His sword clattered as the sword light that was spilling out of his sword spirits made the will of the Great Path surge all around him.
“Why can I sense a bit of the Song of the Lost Divine? Could it be that the rumors are true? Worldly Judgement itself evolved from the Song of the Lost Divine?” said Li Zhiyin. She still remembered when she had heard her master playing the Song of the Lost Divine. It was imprinted on her memory.
“Not only that, but it seems to be perfectly matching the sword will.” She felt like she was in a dream. A look of shock also came into Luoyue’s pretty eyes. The guqin and the sword were in tandem and produced a certain resonance.
She remembered that her father had once said that Lord Taixuan had been able to rapidly advance to the next level because he obtained the Song of the Lost Divine. His understanding had increased, and he had integrated the song into his other abilities. For example, when he had integrated it into his swordsmanship, he had created the shocking sword matrix known as the Fleeting Divine Sword.
At that time, she had doubted that a song could really be so magical.
But now that she saw the guqin music and the swordsmanship working in tandem and resonating together, she realized that she had been wrong. The Great Path was connected to everything, and extremely powerful cultivation methods, even musical ones, could reach it.
Up in the sky, the thousands of swords moved as one, merging into a single sword. Li Xun seemed to have realized that something was wrong. He pointed at the sword and yelled, “Fall!”
When he said this, the sword fell from the sky, smashing everything beneath it. Sword marks appeared all around as everything was destroyed.
Wan Shouyi watched the sword fall. An incomparably brilliant sword light shone from his eyes. He moved his hand, and his sword shot out. The Fleeting Divine Sword cut out once again. At that moment, the sword arced across the sky like a rainbow. The sword that his opponent had sent against him could not withstand the current of sword will and began to move backward. The terrifying Fleeting Divine Sword raged between heaven and earth, destroying everything.
The two swords collided. Divine sword light bloomed, and everything around them was turned into dust that flew in all directions. The wave of Qi that this kicked up made everybody raise their hands to block it.
The guqin still played, the music growing wilder and wilder. The terrible Rhythmic Sorcery was powerful enough to change the very positions of the stars. Wan Shouyi himself seemed to be immersed within that will. His sword was in accord with the guqin music, and after the destruction caused by the first collision, he struck out again.
“This guqin music…” Everyone was watching Ye Futian. The music caused substantial changes to occur in Wan Shouyi’s sword.
One of the cultivators of the Divine Sword Li family was staring at Ye Futian. He waved his hand, and a line of divine swords appeared in the sky. They shot through the air as one, heading straight for Ye Futian.
Luoyue was standing in front of Ye Futian. She calmed her mind and could feel the guqin music working in tandem with her sword. She thrust it out, forming a terrible storm that destroyed all the swords rushing towards her.
At that moment, Wan Shouyi rose up. He waved his sword many times, making clouds flow around it like water as it cut through the air.
Crack! An ear-splitting noise rang out as Li Xun’s sword was shattered. His sleeves were torn by sword Qi, and scratches appeared on his arms. Blood stained his robe, and terrible sword will raged within his body.
He looked at Wan Shouyi, and then at Ye Futian up in the air. The guqin music had melded with the sword. Could it really have transformed so much?
Previously, Wan Shouyi had been no match for him at all.
Wan Shouyi did not continue his attack. He looked up at Li Xun. Li Xun looked back at him and said, “Lord Taixuan is truly impressive in that he has been able to simultaneously cultivate swordsmanship and music and meld them together perfectly. I have been defeated by you two, so the fruit is yours.”
On saying this, he left with the rest of the cultivators of the Divine Sword Li family. His defeat was different than Wan Shouyi’s. He had lost to two people working together, and so this was not a loss of face for the Divine Sword Li family. Before, he had been absolutely crushing Wan Shouyi.
As he watched Li Xun leave, Wan Shouyi felt conflicted. In reality, he had lost. But he never would have imagined that this music could be so marvelous, and work together with his swordsmanship so well.
He looked back at Ye Futian with a smile. He had already sensed that this Shen Jing was special, but he was still shocked.
“The fruit.” Little Phoenix flashed over towards the fruit but found a burst of invisible sword will blocking her way. It was the sword will that was emitting from the tree.
A figure appeared before Little Phoenix and looked at everyone. “There are five pieces of fruit. How will you divide them?”
There were 15 people there from Taixuan Mountain.
Little Phoenix looked at him. “Divide them? Those two were the ones who won this fruit. It should go to them.”
If they were going to be shared, then Wan Shouyi and Ye Futian would be the ones to share them.
Jun Mu raised his eyebrows. This fruit could be used to prove one’s worthiness. Even if it was not useful for you specifically, you could trade it with someone for their fruit. It was extremely precious.
And they had all fought for it. How could they give it up?
“Wan Shouyi and Shen Jing defeated Li Xun, but the rest of us blocked the other cultivators of the Divine Sword Li family. Otherwise, Wan Shouyi would have been defeated earlier. Wan Shouyi and Shen Jing should each get one piece, and we will guard the other three for the time being. We can divide them up when this is all over,” said Jun Mu. If Ye Futian had not reversed the situation, he would not have been able to get even a single piece of fruit!
