Wen Lanfeng vs. Bi Changchun (3)
With a "clink," the sword struck the side of its blade. In an instant, both man and sword vanished without a trace...
It was just a soft, crisp sound, lacking any earth-shattering power, not even a whisper of wind. Yet, it gave the impression that everything in that space, except for the two combatants, had frozen in time. Sound, light, and air currents seemed to have been solidified...
Furong's cultivation level was too low to see any clues, and she was already dumbfounded when Wen Lanfeng transformed into hundreds of forms. Ziyi opened her mouth, because according to her understanding, only one of these hundreds of Wen Lanfeng could be the real body, and the others were all illusions. But how could illusions take shape and launch a substantial attack?
Nong Zhu and the Ancestor Nanming understood that beneath this seemingly calm surface lay immense danger. They restrained all their immense power, concentrating every ounce of their strength into a single sword strike and finger gesture. Few in this world could withstand such a strike and finger.
He moved again! A sword came from the south, followed by another from the east, and then Wen Lanfeng launched a dense, rain-like attack from all directions...
One man, one sword, like a celestial being descending from the heavens, leaving behind a phantom image; abandoning all extravagance, pursuing only a simple, deadly strike. One man, one sword, one single strike, without any superfluous movements...
A single, deadly strike from one person with one sword is simple and unadorned. But hundreds of such strikes, combining hundreds of simple strikes, create the most magnificent visual spectacle...
Hundreds of Wen Lanfeng, hundreds of giant silver swords, intertwined with hundreds of silver lightning phantoms in the air to form a huge, dazzling, blooming silver lotus...
All the attacks, in essence, converged on the flower bud...
Bi Changchun was like the white lotus flower stem that suffered a fierce storm of attacks...
What a beautiful, blooming white lotus...
Furong was stunned; she had never imagined that cultivators could fight in such a way. Ziyi was stunned; it was too spectacular—this was the battle Number One Expert Under Heaven and number two experts. Wood Lady Mu was frightened, afraid that the Punishment Envoy wouldn't be able to withstand such an attack...
Nong Zhu and the Ancestor Nanming kept their eyes glued to the two combatants' every move.
Bi Changchun remained calm, hands behind his back, as immovable as a mountain, withstanding hundreds of attacks from above. Hundreds of arms also appeared on his shoulders, resembling a thousand-armed Guanyin, gracefully flicking her fingers...
"Clang, clang, clang..." First Company rapid, crisp sounds rang out, each one hitting its mark and thwarting the sharp edge of the 'Giant Silver' sword. With a flick of a finger, Wen Lanfeng's body and sword, which had been one, disintegrated.
In the blink of an eye, the silver lotus flower gradually vanished into the air. A magnificent opening, yet a sorrowful closing...
Nong Zhu and the Southern Ancestor breathed a sigh of relief. If Wen Lanfeng had used his Thousand Swords Combined technique on them, they probably wouldn't have been able to withstand even a hundred sword strikes, let alone a thousand, unless they had escaped.
It seems that only someone with such abnormally high cultivation as Bi Changchun could remain unmoved and deal with the situation with ease. Moreover, he didn't even need to draw his weapon; he simply flicked his finger and broke Wen Lanfeng's Thousand Swords Combined.
He pointed away from the sharp edge, lightly flicking the side of the sword tip. One or two flicks would be fine, but to do this even when hundreds or thousands of flicks erupted almost simultaneously—that level of skill alone is unmatched in the world.
Although the two breathed a sigh of relief, they knew that this was just the beginning of the warm-up, and the real fight was yet to come.
"Bi Changchun is indeed Bi Changchun. I never thought that my Thousand Swords Combined as One could not force you to move an inch." Wen Lanfeng's sigh echoed all around, but he could only hear his voice and not see his person.
"I don't have time to chat with you. If you don't make a move soon, I'm going to," Bi Changchun said calmly.
"Alright! Let's go! Let me experience the might of the Number One Expert Under Heaven once again." Only Wen Lanfeng's voice could be heard; no one else could be seen.
"Overestimating yourself." Bi Changchun sneered. His figure flickered and then disappeared.
The group on the island looked around but found nothing. Suddenly, First Company of rapid, loud "bangs" rang out from high above. They quickly looked up, and with the final "bang," Bi Changchun and Wen Lanfeng appeared simultaneously above.
The two had clearly clashed several times in a contest of speed, otherwise the loud noise wouldn't have occurred out of nowhere. They were moving so fast that those below couldn't even see them clearly.
"Ugh! Pfft!" A muffled groan rang out in the air. Wen Lanfeng's figure seemed to have been hit hard, falling like a meteor and rapidly plummeting towards the surface of Thousand Mile Lake.
Nong Zhu and Ancestor Nanming quickly exchanged surprised glances. They both realized that Wen Lanfeng was injured and wondered what Bi Changchun had done to him.
With a "whoosh," Bi Changchun's figure appeared intermittently from high above, not by teleportation, but by pure speed in pursuit of Wen Lanfeng.
Those whose cultivation has reached this level cannot inflict effective damage by striking their opponent from a great distance; what is needed is a direct, heavy blow.
Nong Zhu and the Ancestor Nanming were on tenterhooks. Although Bi Changchun had already injured Wen Lanfeng, his actions clearly showed that he did not want to let Wen Lanfeng go and was pursuing him.
"Sword Without Arrows!" Wen Lanfeng shouted as he plummeted downwards, forcefully halting his powerful momentum and stopping abruptly in mid-air. The lake surface, only tens of meters away from him, was compressed by the strong winds generated by his descent, creating a huge, arc-shaped eddy.
As the deep eddy in the lake surface surged, Wen Lanfeng, who had been paused, also sprang up, roaring into the sky. The sword in his hand conjured a giant sword aura more than twenty meters long, stirring up chaotic and enormous sword shadows, like scattered transparent spikes shooting into the air, frantically stabbing towards the pursuing Bi Changchun.
The two powerful figures clashed fiercely, confronting each other head-on. However, Bi Changchun seemed to have fallen into a pile of crystal-clear, sharp blades, and the fight quickly escalated into a fierce battle.
This was the last thing the women in Ziyi saw. Then, the figures of the two peerless experts blurred again; with the three women's cultivation levels, they could no longer make out their forms, only the chaotic and terrifying Heaven-Reaching Sword Qi sweeping wildly everywhere. The sounds of "bang bang" echoed incessantly...
Nong Zhu and the Ancestor Nanming narrowed their eyes to almost slits, their sharp eyes fixed on the two combatants.
They knew that Bi Changchun didn't want to destroy his territory, so he deliberately suppressed his destructive aura. Wen Lanfeng wasn't there to cause trouble either, and to avoid appearing weak, he also suppressed the remaining destructive power.
Otherwise, given the frenzied nature of their fight, the residual force would have been earth-shattering; the terrifying shockwave alone could have completely destroyed Shuntian Island. They wouldn't be able to stand on the island and watch the spectacle as if nothing had happened.
"Tsk tsk! Wen Lanfeng's cultivation has indeed made a leap forward. In the past, it would have been impossible for him to fight against Lao Bi so fiercely. How magnificent!" Nong Zhu exclaimed. Ancestor Nanming glanced at him, knowing that he had seen the battle a hundred years ago, and then turned his gaze back to the two fighting.
The more Wen Lanfeng fought, the stronger his fighting spirit became. In the battle a hundred years ago, he suffered a humiliating defeat, barely able to retaliate, and was beaten half to death. He had never had the opportunity to fight so thoroughly with a master like Bi Changchun.
With the 'Giant Silver' in hand, the sword moved as he pleased, his entire being becoming one with it, achieving the true unity of man and sword he had always dreamed of. The sword was him, and he was the sword. With man and sword in perfect harmony, he was invincible. He fought desperately against the Number One Expert Under Heaven, his fighting spirit and heroic will soaring to the heavens!
Wen Lanfeng was secretly amazed. To be able to fight against a master like Bi Changchun was an immense blessing, directly unleashing his potential. The shackles between man and sword were broken in an instant, and the sword in his hand unleashed infinite possibilities at will.
"I refuse to believe I can't force your sword out!" Wen Lanfeng's fighting spirit soared, and he unleashed his power once more, trapping Bi Changchun within a net of sword energy... The figures of the two clashing became increasingly blurred, even the massive sword energy flickered in and out of sight. The two moved erratically, sometimes up, sometimes down, sometimes left, sometimes right. Loud explosions echoed continuously.
"Hiss!" The Ancestor Nanming's teeth ached from watching, and his eyes were almost blurry. He exhaled a cold breath, rubbed his face with both hands, and said excitedly, "This trip was worthwhile, truly worthwhile! This Wen Lanfeng is indeed remarkable, to be able to fight Bi Changchun to such an extent!"
Nong Zhu rubbed her blurry eyes and said suspiciously, "I feel like something's not right." She then turned around and asked, "Nanming, if I remember correctly, the 'giant silver' in Wen Lanfeng's hand should be a mid-grade spiritual treasure. Do you think a mid-grade spiritual treasure sword can trap Bi Changchun?"
He and Bi Changchun were good friends, and he knew that Bi Changchun once possessed a mid-grade spiritual treasure sword, but it collapsed due to his overwhelming cultivation. In other words, a mid-grade spiritual treasure simply couldn't withstand Bi Changchun's power, so how could he possibly be trapped by a mid-grade spiritual treasure sword now?
Upon hearing this, the Ancestor Nanming was slightly taken aback. He had just heard Bi Changchun mention this matter before, and now that he thought about it, something did seem amiss. He pondered for a moment and said, "Perhaps Wen Lanfeng's cultivation is more profound, allowing him to unleash the power of the 'Giant Silver' sword even more effectively?"
Nong Zhu shook her head slightly, feeling that this explanation was still somewhat unreliable. From the moment the two exchanged blows, it was clear that Wen Lanfeng was no match for Bi Changchun, and the difference was far from small. To think that sword energy alone could trap an opponent with such a disparity was laughable. Nong Zhu rubbed her chin and muttered, "What is Old Bi doing? Is he deliberately holding back?"
It wasn't that he was holding back; rather, Bi Changchun was increasingly delighted as the fight progressed and didn't want to defeat Wen Lanfeng so quickly. He had fought countless battles in the Cultivation World and had seen all kinds of opponents. However, just now, he suddenly realized that Wen Lanfeng seemed to have grasped something, and his swordplay, which he was barely managing to withstand, suddenly became completely unrestrained.
This guy actually broke through another barrier during the fierce battle! And he immediately integrated and applied it flawlessly! Bi Changchun was secretly amazed. This guy was truly a rare genius; no wonder his cultivation had advanced so rapidly in just a hundred years of secluded cultivation. What a pity! If he hadn't been so infatuated, his future achievements would have been limitless...
.