Mastering the Sword

Fighting with one's life as the stake is not a method, but the goal! This is the core of Yu Ci's swordsmanship. Having practiced swordsmanship like this for years, if he could survive, how could he not unleash such integrated sword skills?

Daoist Yan did not understand this point, but he was truly in a sorry state. As the sword light arrived, the biting cold wind almost made him close his eyes.

"Get lost!"

With a roar, Daoist Yan, in his embarrassment, unleashed a killing move. He fiercely shook the Nine Yang Talisman Sword in his hand, and a spark shot out, rapidly expanding. Inside, firelight surged, its state reaching extreme instability.

Yu Ci did not hesitate upon seeing this and immediately retreated. After moving ten feet back, a blinding red light appeared, and a scorching torrent of fire swept over. The air suddenly expanded, and with a booming explosion, he was sent flying far away, crashing into a large tree before his momentum stopped. The surging fiery waves followed, and he disregarded his appearance, scrambling behind the tree and curling into a ball, barely managing to withstand the blast.

The battlefield forest, which had been about an acre in size, had already become a sea of flames, with thick smoke rising and heat waves assaulting the senses. This area was still expanding.

Daoist Yan's breathing was slightly disordered. As the mountain wind and heat waves blew, the hair tie on his head suddenly came undone, his hair falling loose, making him look quite disheveled. He stared at the half-charred large tree, his eyes blood red.

So close...

If he hadn't quickly unleashed a fire talisman to deflect the sword's momentum, the Seven Star Talisman Sword would likely have pierced his forehead. At that point, the Shrimp Whisker Grass, the Pure Yang Sword, everything would have been for naught. Even though he dodged it now, his hair tie was still broken, a profound humiliation. Daoist Yan was almost bursting with rage.

He came from an extraordinary background. Although his family had declined and could not restore the glory of his ancestors, he was, after all, a Spirit cultivator, a victor on the path to immortality. How could he allow a junior to force him into such a state?

Just then, from behind the large tree, Yu Ci poked his head out, meeting his gaze directly. Daoist Yan suddenly discovered that Yu Ci's dark pupils were also burning with a flame – not of hatred or fear, but of enjoyment, of seeking new stimulation, or perhaps the intoxication of being drunk, unable to extricate himself.

He shivered violently, feeling a chill run from the base of his spine to the top of his head, even suppressing half of his raging inner fire. A thought flashed through his mind:

A menace, he will surely be a menace in the future!

I'll finish him with that move!

Daoist Yan's killing intent boiled within him, but he did not advance. Instead, he made a strange movement.

With his hair loose, he held his sword across his chest, his eyes even half-closed. As he adjusted his breathing, the sword body was slowly laid flat.

Yu Ci was panting behind the tree. The recent exchange of swordplay had almost drained all his strength, his true qi nearly depleted, and his injuries were not light. However, his state was surprisingly good. Since he was thirteen, he had grown accustomed to dancing on the edge of life and death. Such experiences had not only failed to erode his courage but had made his spirit even more exhilarated.

Since entering the Bright Aperture Upper Stage, he hadn't encountered such a life-or-death situation in a long time. He even felt a sense of nostalgia. When it suddenly stopped, he felt unsatisfied, and a strange power surged, replenishing his depleted true qi, driving his heart to charge forward again and battle Daoist Yan for three hundred rounds.

Therefore, he poked his head out from behind the tree to look. Through the distorted heat waves, he happened to witness Daoist Yan closing his eyes and positioning his sword.

At this moment, the two were about thirty feet apart, which should have been a relatively safe distance. But as the blade pointed towards his head, for no reason, his heart suddenly pounded wildly, just like that moment before Daoist Yan swung his sword by the bonfire. This time, there was no sensory stimulation from smell; it was purely based on a vague intuition. He tilted his body in the direction of the lean and fell directly. Simultaneously, instinctively, he brought the Seven Star Talisman Sword across his chest.

Before he even hit the ground, his palm suddenly felt warm, as if the Seven Star Talisman Sword had blocked something. But immediately after, his chest ached, and he involuntarily spat out a mouthful of blood. Glancing with his peripheral vision, the spirit-infused talisman sword, which had just held its own against the Nine Yang Talisman Sword, snapped into two pieces. The flying sword tip exploded in the air with a bang, turning into a mass of faint red blood mist.

Only then did a long "hiss" sound enter his ears, like a red-hot brand being plunged into ice water, indistinguishable in temperature. The only thing discernible was the sharp aura emanating outwards, capable of piercing all obstacles, irresistible.

"What kind of technique is this? It seems like a catalyzed sword qi, but its power is more than ten times greater!"

With this confusion, Yu Ci fell to the ground. At this moment, the strong smell finally penetrated his senses – the smell of scorched air, and more so, the scent of death.

His normally proud sense of smell had reacted a full breath late. If not for his intuition, he would have been pierced by that invisible sword qi by now and died without question!

Yu Ci strained to look up. Daoist Yan's current state was very strange. Although he had succeeded in one blow, he still maintained the posture of holding his sword. The crimson sword body was not radiating light like before, appearing much more restrained, and the sword tip drooped slightly, still locked onto his head.

Yu Ci naturally wanted to dodge the point of the sword, but the internal shock had not subsided, and he was unable to move for a while. No matter how hard he tried, he could only shift his body a few inches. The Nine Yang Talisman Sword in the distance also adjusted its angle.

At this moment, he saw Daoist Yan's eyes. Those pair of large, bell-like eyes were devoid of any divine light, only his pupils dilated unconsciously, empty and dull, as if his soul had been lost. Yet, he clearly felt that Daoist Yan was still staring at him, as if projecting a beam of "light" onto him through some incomprehensible means.

This feeling was so clear that even in the midst of a raging inferno, the touch of that "light" was more scorching than the surrounding heat waves, like a red-hot iron needle piercing his bone marrow.

"I'm going to be killed by him!"

Intuition and reason said so at the same time. However, at this moment, Yu Ci's feeling was very strange. His chest felt like it had been doused with a ladle of boiling oil, burning with pain, but it was definitely not the taste of fear.

This burning pain served no other purpose than to force his eyes open, compelling him to find a way out of this sudden predicament.

Yu Ci stared at Daoist Yan. He was certain that this person was about to unleash the exact same killing move as before, but the interval between them was a bit too long, and his charging posture was full of flaws. If he still had the strength to charge forward now, he would have unhesitatingly rushed forward and chopped off the villain's dog head. But now, his recovery speed clearly couldn't keep up with the opponent's charging speed.

They were separated by thirty feet. In Yu Ci's hand, there was only a broken Seven Star Talisman Sword. Even if his arm were ten times longer, it wouldn't reach the enemy. But for that invisible sword qi, distance was not a problem at all.

This was a deadlock, but he wanted to live. Therefore, all problems boiled down to one sentence: kill him before Daoist Yan unleashes his sword qi!

It was a matter of life and death, which made everything simpler. What he was best at was making these kinds of choices!

He didn't know how he mustered the strength, but the broken Seven Star Talisman Sword flew out of his hand!

At this very moment, he saw the tip of the Nine Yang Talisman Sword's blade light up with almost dazzling brilliance.

Yu Ci didn't think about the consequences if the invisible sword qi struck, nor did he consider the destructive power of aimlessly throwing a broken sword. At this moment, all his thoughts were cut off. Only one inexplicable thought remained in his mind:

That Daoist in front, kill him!