Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Back at the Sword Trial on Green Mountain years ago, Gu Han had tried to hold Jing Jiu’s Sword of the Universe with the Locking the Autumn, but he didn’t succeed.
Why did this female disciple of Qingrong Peak know how to use the Locking the Autumn?
Countless gazes fell on Mei Li, but she said calmly, “This is the sword net style of our Qingrong Peak.”
That was true. Many people discovered that the sword wills emerging from Ping Yongjia’s fingers were very thin and feeble, resembling the invisible sword strings. They were formed in a very complicated manner, just like a net.
No matter whether it was Fang Xingwai’s flying sword or a curvedly traveling plum branch, or something else, they would be unable to fly away once they were trapped like those insects in net.
As the crowd was discussing all this, Fang Xingwai had a sticky feeling sent back from his flying sword, as if he was in a marsh; he felt strongly ill at ease and realized that he had to take the control of his sword back as quickly as possible.
He didn’t have enough time getting angry at this Young Sister who had pretended to be pitiful; he summoned his sword source abruptly in an effort to reclaim his flying sword. In the meantime, he squeezed the middle and index fingers on his right hand together to give a sword instruction, and he was ready to employ the most formidable move in the Seven-Plum Sword style.
It was at the moment that Ping Yongjia discovered that he had actually caught the flying sword of his opponent. As he was feeling pleased, he suddenly felt a powerful energy coming out from the flying sword; and the flying sword began to quiver violently, exuding a hint of lethal intent.
He was taken aback at first, but soon he felt overjoyed rather than worried, as he thought that he was quite familiar with this move.
Back when he was on Shenmo Peak, he didn’t have a sword to practice with, so he always felt bored. His Big Brother Yuan Qü didn’t have a true sword either. And yet, Yuan Qü didn’t have any sympathy for him, instead always mocking him by practicing the Seven-Plum Sword style in front of him in an attempt to irritate him. Even if he hadn’t seen this sword move over a hundred times, he had seen it at least dozens of times.
However, how should he deal with this lethal sword move then?
As Ping Yongjia was thinking of all this, his hands had already moved reflexively.
His fingers flexed at a high speed amid the thin fog. The seemingly chaotic move was actually rather consequential; in fact, he had employed more than ten moves of the Endless Sword style.
Pah!!! Pah!!! Pah!!! Pah!!!
Amid the frequent clattering sounds, the flying sword that desperately attempted to escape from Ping Yongjia’s control was hit by him many times in a row.
It was like a dragonfly in the rainstorm; every time it tried to fly up, it was hit by a large drop of rainwater, unable to escape in the least.
In the end, it had collapsed helplessly; its translucent wings and light body disassembled in the midst of the downpour in the sky, turning into tiny pieces…
The flying sword was in fact broken into dozens of pieces, heading toward the bottom of the stone post, as if it were the iron sheet cut into pieces by a pliers.
Fang Xingwai’s sword pill was backfired after his flying sword was destroyed. He spat out a mouthful of fresh blood; then he fell backwards off the stone post.
A flash of sword light caught him.
Yet, nobody bothered taking care of those broken pieces of the flying sword as they dropped to the ground, making crisp “pah” sounds.
Everybody was stunned, and so was Mei Li. She lifted her head to look at that thin figure on the stone post, a contented expression showing on her face. But she wondered how he knew how to use the Endless Sword style of Qingrong Peak even though it should be taken for granted that he could defeat Fang Xingwai.
Those female disciples of Qingrong Peak were all stunned as well. They all asked her who this person was; but Mei Li said nothing.
It occurred to some people that this scene seemed familiar; then they remembered that Jing Jiu had used his hands to break Guo Nanshan’s sword many years ago.
Though Guo Nanshan was much more powerful than Fang Xingwai back then, the blood nevertheless came out from Jing Jiu’s hands. On the contrary, this female disciple of Qingrong Peak showed a casual and calm countenance.
Some people glanced at Guo Nanshan reflexively.
Looking at the disciple of Qingrong Peak with a conical hat, Guo Nanshan felt it odd. In his Cultivation state Guo Nanshan could, like those masters, tell that this disciple of Qingrong Peak had employed the authentic Endless Sword style and that he had learned it well, with a high command of the style. Nobody could reach such a level of sword work without spending decades practicing it diligently.
Was this person a personal disciple taken on by Senior Master Nan Wang in secret?
“This Young Sister, please come down,” said Guo Nanshan softly.
Ping Yongjia was still enthralled in his first win of a sword fight, feeling baffled as well as thrilled. He looked at his hands bewilderedly, wondering how powerful the sword magic of his Senior Master was.
He was thinking of Zhao Layue rather than Nan Wang at the moment.
Back when they ate the hotpot, he happened to hear the discussion between Zhao Layue and Zhuo Rusui about the magic of the sword wills entering the body; as a result, he had slept on the Sword Peak for so many years…
Ping Yongjia suddenly had an incredible courage and confidence; he pointed at Jian Ruyun at the foot of the stone post and said, “No, I want to challenge him!”
A commotion occurred around the surroundings of the Sword Forest. It was not because he had the courage to challenge Jian Ruyun, one of the most powerful swordsmen on Liangwang Peak, but because his voice evidently sounded like a man!
When did Qingrong Peak have a male disciple?
An elder of Xilai Peak yelled sternly, “Take off your conical hat; identify yourself!”
Ping Yongjia didn’t mind doing so. He took off the conical hat, exposing his face.
To most of the Green Mountain disciples, this was an unfamiliar face, but some people were deeply impressed with this face.
Li Wuzhi glanced at Mei Li and found that she remained silent, knowing that she knew that person was Ping Yongjia; he let out a little smile.
Some people had seen Ping Yongjia on the top of Tianguang Peak, so they couldn’t help but feel stunned and speechless.
The elder of Xilai Peak yelled darkly, “You’re so brazen as to pretend to be the disciple of Qingrong Peak!”
“I’ve never said that I am a disciple of Qingrong Peak,” returned Ping Yongjai indignantly.
Seeing Mei Li still remain silent, Li Wuzhi let out a broader smile, asking, “Who are you then?”
“I’m Ping Yongjia, a disciple of Shenmo Peak.”
His gaze swept across the masters of the peaks and the Green Mountain disciples and then landed on Jian Ruyun’s face, as he added, “My Master is Jing Jiu.”
…
…
Hearing what Ping Yongjia said, it became soundless around the Stone Forest; it was deathly quiet.
Many Green Mountain disciples remembered that there seemed to be an insignificant disciple on Shenmo Peak; but he hadn’t gone to Cloudy Town and instead stayed behind on Green Mountain all this time.
Before the elder of Xilai Peak could say anything, Elder Shi Mingxuan’s gloomy voice broke out, “On Green Mountain, nobody is allowed to mention the name of that sword devil! And you’re unqualified to participate in the Sword Trial!”
Shi Mingxuan was Jian Ruyun’s Master. Even though he believed that Jian Ruyun was definitely stronger than Ping Yongjia, who had entered Green Mountain not long ago, Ping Yongjia was kind of odd and nevertheless the personal disciple of Jing Jiu. which is why he intended to do his best to stop this sword fight.
Ping Yongjia didn’t pay any attention to this person; instead, he stared right into Jian Ruyun’s eyes.
As a matter of fact, many people were aware that this sword fight was unavoidable after Ping Yongjia mentioned that his Master was Jing Jiu.
Jian Ruyun maintained the same countenance as he called out his flying sword and stepped on it. He arrived in the sky a few moments later; his clothes tousled in the wind like a large bird.
“Even though you’ve learned the Endless Sword style of Qingrong Peak, you’re still not my match; it’s because you can’t even see my sword.”
Jian Ruyun said this expressionlessly while looking at Ping Yongjia, as if he were a dead man.
Yunxing Peak used the Old Bird Sword style, the essence of which was the interface of clouds and figure as if an old bird flew in the sky. The sword work of such style was considerably flexible, having the strength of the mysterious Daoist methods as well as the intent of the Escape Method of Heaven and Earth of the Center Sect.
If Ping Yongjia couldn’t even find the trace of his flying sword, how would he trap his opponent’s sword like what he had done to Fang Xingwai’s?
Jian Ruyun waved his sleeve gently.
A sword came out flying from inside of his sleeve.
His movement looked casual, but the flying sword arrived in front of Ping Yongjia in an instant. It was much faster than Fang Xingwai’s.
“Too fast!”
As Ping Yongjia came up with this idea, Jian Ruyun’s flying sword hadn’t even come out from his sleeve yet.
To put it more accurately, Ping Yongjia had thought of the notion that his opponent’s sword was too fast as soon as Jian Ruyun twitched his shoulder once.
He didn’t have enough confidence to trap such a fast flying sword. As such, he only had two choices: to block it with a flying sword or to evade it.
Because he didn’t have a sword, he only had one choice.
However, the flying sword of his opponent was very fast, so how could he dodge it in time?
As Ping Yongjia was thinking of this issue, his body had already responded ahead of time. His right foot stomped heavily on the top of the stone post.
Crack!!!
A cleft appeared on the top of the stone post, the stone crumbs falling off with a rumbling sound. Making use of the powerful rebound from the stone post, Ping Yongjia shot up into the sky, disappearing without a trace instantly.
Nobody noticed that dozens of faint sword lights came out from his sleeves, collar, bottom of his shoes and his hair before he vanished.
Jian Ruyun thought he was using the escape method of sword; he was astounded a little at first. “You’re asking for your demise,” he said icily while arching his brows.
No matter how remarkable the escape method of sword was, he couldn’t possibly elude the eyes of the old bird; more importantly, there was no way that he could travel faster than the real flying sword.
Jian Ruyun curled up his sleeve slightly, and his flying sword came back from the sky. He stepped on the flying sword, heading toward the sky in pursuit of his opponent. The sword light suddenly brightened.
A layer of thin fog enshrouded the Stone Forest, but it couldn’t obstruct the sword light. A barrage of surprised cries broke out among the Green Mountain disciples.
This was not simply riding on a sword, but actually driving the sword.
Only those who had mastered the essence of the sword work could make the full use of the power of the Old Bird Sword style by driving the sword.
Nobody expected Jian Ruyun to improve his sword Cultivation to such a height after remaining reticent for several years.
The Old Bird Sword style emphasized retreating after each strike and striking fatally once the sword was called out. Judging from the strength Jian Ruyun had demonstrated so far, Ping Yongjia was likely to be injured severely, or even to be killed that day.
Many people had held this thought. Guo Nanshan was very worried; he intended to speak out to stop this sword fight. But he found that neither Elder Chi Yan of Shangde Peak nor Elder Shi Mingxuan spoke. Actually, they didn’t even move an inch while staring at the sky behind the clouds, their expressions exceedingly grave.
