And the woman's saber was still sweeping onward.
It was about to carve a bloody gash across Shang Huaitong.
But Zhang Junxue did not continue the downward cut. Instead, her long saber abruptly swung back.
By now, more than half the force of her saber had been dissipated, leaving it unable to inflict any noteworthy wound, but such a square, solid collision was precisely the best stepping-stone for Wave Stacking. In fact, she had not had a single such opportunity since the fight began. Every time, she had been forcing Wave Stacking into motion with the strength of her own sinews and bones.
Now, a perfectly formed circle of Wave Stacking appeared in the ring. The second layer came bearing wind and thunder, while Shang Huaitong had only just recovered his disordered stance.
The rhythm of the battle passed into the woman's hands.
In truth, Shang Huaitong should never have used that last move, much less followed his usual sequence of striking first, withdrawing second, and striking third. He knew perfectly well that the woman had seen this sword move before.
But at this point, it seemed impossible to reason with the man. The agitation in his eyes had become stifling in the extreme. Once he chose this method of achieving integration by unifying emotion and intent, this was a process he had to undergo.
As Gu Yunfu had said, "Even knowing the path, this is no easy threshold to cross." Shang Huaitong understood that only too well.
Thus, he had to bind his own intent, the intent of Hidden Growth, and the situation in the ring deeply together. Only if this repression was heavy enough and this desire fierce enough could its fulfillment smash through that threshold completely and integrate this Intent Sword!
And the trial this process imposed