Crack-
Boundless black clouds pressed overhead. Thunderbolts streaked through the sea of clouds, and countless writhing serpents of lightning spread through the towering tornadoes.
Darkness shrouded every direction, like a vision of the world's end.
In the heart of the desert, sand flew and stones hurtled through the air. Two figures seemed utterly oblivious to the dragon-like storm about to sweep over them, still fighting furiously amid the dust.
Clang, clang, clang-
The clash of swords sounded faintly through the haze. Razor-sharp streams of sword energy swept out of the dust, stirring up the surrounding sand. Yet the center of that haze seemed to be a vacuum, containing nothing but fierce, bone-chilling sword intent. Neither wind nor dust could enter.
In less than half an hour, the two had exchanged more blows than anyone could count.
Neither had mixed any other techniques into his swordplay. They used only the Thirteen Life-Taking Swords, simply launching moves and breaking them.
Both were already intimately familiar with all thirteen swords.
With the system's impartation, Yu Huatian had long since perfected the Thirteen Life-Taking Swords. His execution of the moves could truly be called the pinnacle of mastery.
Yan Shisan, meanwhile, had practiced the thirteen swords for nearly twenty years. Their moves and patterns were engraved in his heart, responding as readily as his own limbs. He had even developed another way of fighting based on them, each strike vicious and equally impossible to guard against.
That was why they remained evenly matched, unable to decide a victor even after so long.
Of course, this was also because Yu Huatian had used no other martial arts, nor had he suppressed Yan Shisan with his superior True Qi cultivation. They were competing purely with the thirteen swords.
Clang-
Another powerful, weighty sword strike was countered, and Yu Huatian's brows knitted tightly.
After hundreds of exchanges, he could already see how this battle would end.
The Thirteen Life-Taking Swords had a ceiling.
And both he and Yan Shisan had cultivated this sword art all the way to that ceiling.
Without using other martial arts or circulating his Sunflower True Energy to overpower Yan Shisan, he could not win.
But Yu Huatian's purpose in this battle was not to decide a victor. He wanted to use his fight with Yan Shisan to see whether he could comprehend the fourteenth variation of the Thirteen Life-Taking Swords.
Yu Huatian had considered it before: Yan Shisan was an assassin, and every move of the Thirteen Life-Taking Swords was a killing move. The Fourteenth Sword must therefore be created upon the foundation of the preceding thirteen, and should likewise be filled with murderous power.
Over these hundreds of exchanges with Yan Shisan, Yu Huatian had executed every move of the thirteen swords with transcendent mastery. He had also tried combining them, hoping to comprehend the killing move of the Fourteenth Sword.
Yet even now, he still had no insight.
Could my comprehension be lacking?
Or was my earlier conjecture wrong?
But if my conjecture was wrong, and the Fourteenth Sword wasn't a sword technique for killing, could it actually be one that granted life?
Hmm? Life! Life?!
Yu Huatian's heart jolted, and a flash of inspiration lit his mind.
Yes, life!
Why couldn't it be life?!
Although the thirteen swords were uncanny and ever-changing, their core was killing. They were moves meant to put people to death.
But what lay at the end of death?
Life!
Death, at its utmost extreme, transformed into life!
Although the core of swordsmanship was killing, it did not always have to be filled with slaughter and deathly stillness. It could also brim with vitality, following another path-letting people die unwittingly, without ever sensing murderous intent or the stillness of death...
At that moment, a thread seemed to appear in Yu Huatian's mind, linking all thirteen variations of the Thirteen Life-Taking Swords together.
At the same time, little figures appeared in his mind, each holding a longsword. They began practicing the thirteen moves of the Thirteen Life-Taking Swords on their own, from the First Sword to the thirteenth...
Finally, the thirteen figures seemed to merge into one, abruptly thrusting a sword forward through the air.
In that instant, it was as though ice and snow melted and all things awakened. Heaven and earth brimmed with life, and there was only one sword!
Yet this sword bore no murderous intent, nor did any sword intent rage around it. All Yu Huatian could sense was vitality filling heaven and earth.
Boom!
At the same moment, terrifying sword momentum erupted from Yu Huatian, powerful enough to almost shake heaven and earth.
The blue-black longsword in Yan Shisan's hand had barely drawn close before that immense sword momentum knocked it away. Even he was hurled backward. Shock and uncertainty filled his face as he stared at Yu Huatian, who stood holding his sword amid the dust, eyes closed in concentration, as though asleep.
Could he really have comprehended the Fourteenth Sword...?
Yan Shisan's heart jolted, and he fixed his gaze on Yu Huatian.
Rumble-
The wind howled furiously, tearing sand and earth from the ground all around them. Black clouds gathered, and the tornadoes raging with lightning drew ever closer, making it difficult for any of the men to remain standing.
At that very moment, Yu Huatian abruptly opened his eyes. His robes billowed without wind, and vast, boundless sword momentum enveloped the area.
Now he saw the pitch-black sky and the Desert Black Sandstorm blotting out the heavens and the sun. He also saw Yan Shisan opposite him, tense and expectant, and Ma Jinliang and Ding Xiu standing beyond the dust, their faces grave with worry.
Finally, Yu Huatian raised his sword and thrust it toward the sky!
Boom-
Spring thunder seemed to flash across the heavens as all things awakened. Unimaginably terrifying sword energy swept across the vast sky, enveloping the sea of clouds.
In an instant, the earth shook and the heavens trembled!
Even the surrounding gale seemed to shudder without end. Countless grains of sand rose into the air and followed that dazzling sword radiance into the sea of clouds.
At that instant, Yan Shisan, along with Ma Jinliang and Ding Xiu in the distance, could no longer make out anything in the sky. That brilliant, dazzling sword light obscured all of heaven and earth.
Suddenly, thunder cracked again!
Amid the deafening roar, heaven and earth changed color. Before the horrified eyes of Yan Shisan and the others, the nearest tornado abruptly exploded, forcibly torn apart by that sword light, sending sand and dust flying in every direction.
The terrifying black sandstorm, powerful enough to sweep up countless people and even uproot an entire house, was simply annihilated by a single streak of sword light!
Ma Jinliang and Ding Xiu gaped in disbelief. Yan Shisan, too, stood rooted to the spot, his face filled with shock.
In that instant, he had sensed the aura of the Thirteen Life-Taking Swords. Yet this sword was not any one of their thirteen moves.
Then there was only one possibility-
Coming to his senses, Yan Shisan abruptly turned and stared fiercely at the figure in silver-white robes opposite him. Excitement filled his face. "This... this is the Fourteenth Sword?!"
Yu Huatian withdrew his gaze, glanced at him, and said coolly, "If you want to know, follow me."
With that, he lightly pushed off with his toes and leaped into the air, landing beside Ma Jinliang and Ding Xiu. Grabbing one man in each hand, he sped away into the distance.
Although he had destroyed the nearest tornado with the Fourteenth Sword, it had consumed more than half his True Qi. At most, he could unleash one more strike.
But there was far more than one of those terrifying, massive tornadoes in the distance. Staying would leave him with nine chances of death and only one of survival.
Such power from heaven, earth, and nature was utterly beyond human strength to withstand!
Yan Shisan stood where he was, watching Yu Huatian and the other two depart. Then he glanced at the black sandstorm gathering again behind him and sweeping toward him, his face torn with indecision.
But when he recalled that brilliant, dazzling sword energy, he could not bear to perish here. In Yu Huatian's final strike, he had glimpsed another level of the sword's path-and it was a level he had a chance of reaching.
He had to learn it!
Gritting his teeth, Yan Shisan tapped his chest twice and circulated his energy to stabilize his injuries. Then he sprang into motion, pursuing the direction in which Yu Huatian and the other two had vanished.
I'm a little stuck on the writing, so I'll post this chapter first. There'll be another chapter at eight.
(End of chapter)
Before you continue