Bai Shanshui looked at the white thin flying sword and said coolly to Li Yunrui, “He’s yours. ”
Li Yunrui frowned slightly but didn’t speak. He nodded slowly.
Bai Shanshui gave a proud smile. “No matter the time, follow me.”
Then she turned around.
In this instant, countless torches lit up in the sky as though the border of Changling facing them was burning.
In the sea of flames, a cultivator seemingly made out of metal walked out at a calm steady pace.
Bai Shanshui said with disdain, “Liang Lian, I was just thinking of finding you, you dare to come to me?”
Liang Lian’s expression was cold as his black boots steadily stepped on the ground. Black earth sprayed out under his feet and bloomed like black lotuses.
“The Qin are laughably proud.” Bai Shanshui looked at the unresponsive Liang Lian and said with greater scorn, “Even if it is pawn against pawn, general against general, you do not qualify. Where is Shen Xuan? How come he doesn’t dare to meet me?”
Liang Lian still did not respond. He walked forward with his steady pace and then calmly reached out with his right hand.
There was a great boom. A pure lifebond item presence filled everyone’s senses.
A black light stretched from his arm, flickering outwards and then turning into a straight black broadsword. One half of the sword was thickly colored like a black riverstone, while the other half rippled like thousands of waves.
He held the sword across his chest and said coldly, “Please.”
Then he attacked without any hesitation. An ocean of primal energies of the universe poured into his lifebond sword. A curving river and a dam seemed to appear around him.
The power given off by his body and lifebond sword increased, but the power was kept accumulating in the dam.
This sword was the strongest sword form he used when fighting Xue Wangxu, the Breaching Sword of the Cofferdam Sword Manual. This sword move’s essence was to accumulate power until it breached the dam and surged out.
Xue Wangxu had used the White Goat Hanging Horn to fend off this move, not letting the breach occur. Then, he had diverted the flood towards the two sides rather than letting it breach in his direction.
Facing this move, Bai Shanshui sneered and said, “You use a sword form like this against me. You probably forgot I am the master of Cloud Water Palace.”
She did not try to attack first and waited instead.
Liang Lian raised his eyebrows. The night clouds suddenly rolled in the sky as his sword move took form. A terrifying roar sounded in front of him. A wild and dominating power burst out of the dam and charged towards Bai Shanshui.
Just the backlash of the primal energies caused the torch flames to pull backwards with hisses.
The power and presence of this sword was almost perfect it was inhuman. Facing this sword, Bai Shanshui didn’t even attack.
Her right hand stroked through the air. Multiple glittering droplets formed by her fingertips and then turned into numerous glowing ribbons of water.
These flows of water appeared minuscule compared to the wild wave from the bursting dam. Yet when the two met, the domineering wave could not advance, and spun several dozen feet in front of her. An enormous and rapidly spinning whirlpool appeared in front of her like a pavilion.
Many of the Changling cultivators in the darkness were silent.
The light on Changling’s perimeter could not illuminate so far. Under the distant lights, the chief of the Divinity Bureau appeared dark and cold and his expression still held an indescribable depression.
Bureau Chief Chen started to speak. “In the past, no one could surpass the Wei Cloud Water Palace in manipulating water. At the present, no one can surpass Palace Master Bai.” He gazed at Li Yunrui and said in a low and clear voice, “But have you thought why General Liang, with his great experience, will use such a sword move in front of Palace Master Bai?”
Li Yunrui looked calmly at him and said, “I do not think. It has nothing to do with me.”
The moment he said the first word, two sword lights flashed in the night sky between him and Bureau Chief Chen. The two flying swords, trembling and giving off their own waves of energy, burst out of the created sparks.
If Li Yunrui had been distracted at all or his emotions changed the slightest, he might already be dead.
Bureau Chief Chen frowned deeply. He was certain this young person unknown to Changling was a rare worthy foe.
Bai Shanshui had easily resolved Liang Lian’s domineering blow with a caress of the hand, but she frowned. She put away her disdainful smile and said, “You cannot even defeat Xue Wangxu, how can you be so strong?”
Liang Lian looked at the spinning whirlpool. He showed no other expression other than coldness. “Why do I have to appear stronger than Xue Wangxu?”
His words were accompanied by numerous enormous explosions.
The first explosion came from under his feet like thunder. The durable black leather combat boots he wore exploded into pieces. The soft and wet soil of the reeds became stronger and firmer than Changling’s stone streets as his feet hammered with terrifying power.
Even though his feet were as hard as iron, as he used his power, blood sprayed into the air. Two deep red footprints appeared underneath him. His body seemed to teleport, and appeared right behind the spinning whirlpool.
He stabbed towards the whirlpool with the lifebond sword in his right hand. The second loud noise came from his sword hilt.
He hit his own sword hilt hard with his left fist. A terrifying force passed into the blade along the hilt.
The rippling seal scripts on one half of his lifebond sword seemed to be sent flying and charged out along the domineering sword essence.
The third loud explosion sounded without any rest. The tall whirlpool immediately collapsed.
The waves turned into numerous swords, compressing the air ahead and pressing towards Bai Shanshui like a mountain.
Bai Shanshui was facing swords all ahead of her. Millions of swords filled the air.
Terrifyingly, the seal script in these swords faded, and they all looked like black stone swords.
Thousands of water swords moved through the air, and the primal energies of the universes within them all gathered in Liang Lian’s sword.
Bai Shanshui attacked. Her deep green sword thrust forward.
The primal energies of the universe on the blade started to flow. Just a few feet in front of her, the thousands of water swords melted like snow back into glowing flows of water and then gathered into a wall.
A glowing wall appeared between her and Liang Lian.
Liang Lian’s expression did not change. He still silently continued to thrust his sword without changing his posture. The deep black sword tip collided with the glowing water. Another loud sound was heard. The wall of water split outwards. The black sword tip continued to advance and then encountered Bai Shanshui’s deep green sword tip.
When the two sword tips met, a dot of light burned like a small star forming.
Liang Lian’s breathing stopped. He gave a muffled grunt through his closed lips. His entire body turned black, and light flashed on his skin. His body stopped moving.
A wave of energy exploded around him, and the ground rippled outwards.
Bai Shanshui’s body flew backwards, wrapped in the wave of energy, and hit the ground hard. Then, like a white stone, she bounced into the air.
Cracking sound occurred behind her.
The reeds that had been swaying in the wind were torn apart by the sword energy spraying out of her, and the pieces danced in the wind.
The moment she bounced off the ground, Bai Shanshui gained control of her body. While she was still flying backwards, she maintained her standing posture.
Lines of blood seeped through her tightly pressed lips. Her face was pale, and her white robe was exceptionally white in the night. So when the blood fell onto her robes, they were especially eye catching.
Five pale white sword shadows danced wildly like wasps around Li Yunrui.
Five tears appeared on Li Yunrui’s robes.
Faint lines of blood seeped out through the tears.
“So you are this strong.” Bureau Chief Chen’s voice carried a strange dispiritedness as he spoke.
No one knew if his words were directed at Li Yunrui, who had managed to fend off this blow with minor wounds, or Liang Lian, who managed to send Bai Shanshui flying into the air.
Liang Lian held his sword and looked coldly at Bai Shanshui in the air.
Seeing his steel-like figure, all the soldiers behind him woke up from their great shock. They finally understood why their general had been so cold and unchanging after being defeated by Xue Wangxu. They finally understood why this general, never outstanding among his former colleagues, managed to survive in that great battle only a few survived.
He was willing to lose.
The same two sword moves displayed two different kinds of power.
General Liang was stronger than many people had imagined.
