Facing Zhan Wushuang as he came at him with killing intent that blotted out the sky, Su Xiuyi parted his lips. "Endure for a moment, and the wind will die and the waves will calm. Take a step back, and the sea will widen and the sky will open."
At the same instant, a Will Character appeared before Su Xiuyi: "Endure."
"Wh... what?"
"Th... this...?"
At that instant, a trace of terror appeared in Zhan Wushuang's eyes. His eyes widened as he stared in horror at Su Xiuyi, who had not moved an inch. He had been on the verge of breaking through to the Cloud Soaring Realm, but when Su Xiuyi spoke, the character "Endure" took effect, and Zhan Wushuang was actually affected. His Qi instantly subsided, and seven parts of the killing intent behind that incomparably violent saber strike vanished, along with seven parts of its power. What remained of the attack could not possibly hurt Su Xiuyi.
"A scholar should calm his mind and Qi, and cultivate his character!" Su Xiuyi spoke again, and another Will Character appeared the next moment: "Silence."
The instant the "Silence" Will Character appeared, Zhan Wushuang froze. His killing intent vanished without a trace, and the next moment his eyes turned blood-red.
"How is this possible...?" At the same time, Zhan Wushuang let out a terrified roar. His black saber had descended in front of Su Xiuyi, but under the influence of the "Silence" Will Character, it had actually stopped.
He could not move a muscle, as though he had been imprisoned in the void. In Zhan Wushuang's eyes, Su Xiuyi was no longer a man at all, but a devil, a terrifying devil.
"Shatter!"
Su Xiuyi's expression still betrayed neither joy nor anger. As the word fell, he slowly raised his hand and tapped Zhan Wushuang's black saber with one finger.
Bang!
Su Xiuyi's casual tap landed, and the next moment, a terrifying, earth-shaking force erupted. The indestructible black saber in Zhan Wushuang's hand, painstakingly forged from black iron, exploded into fragments that filled the sky.
Zhan Wushuang was scared out of his wits. He immediately let go of the black saber, but the terrifying force still struck him, nearly causing his body to explode.
The terrifying force slammed him into the ground, leaving a huge crater. Inside it, blood trickled from the corner of Zhan Wushuang's mouth, and his eyes were filled with terror.
Su Xiuyi looked down at Zhan Wushuang like a deity.
Only after Zhan Wushuang had been knocked away from Su Xiuyi did the strange power vanish, and the power within him erupted. He finally seized the opportunity to step into the Cloud Soaring Realm, and his strength underwent an earth-shaking transformation. Seeing that Su Xiuyi had not stopped him, Zhan Wushuang's eyes filled with a trace of mockery.
"Die!"
"I've finally reached the Cloudbreach Realm, I..."
Boom!
Just as Zhan Wushuang was about to roar and threaten Su Xiuyi, Su Xiuyi vanished before his eyes. When he appeared again, he was already in front of Zhan Wushuang, throwing a punch at him. The punch looked utterly unremarkable, but when it landed, the protective Gang Qi around Zhan Wushuang burst apart, along with the robes covering his upper body.
In an instant, Zhan Wushuang felt a terrifying force erupt inside him.
He watched helplessly as his chest caved in. Zhan Wushuang knew better than anyone how strong his body was.
"You..."
"Impossible, absolutely impossible!"
Zhan Wushuang's eyes widened as his body flew backward, his gaze fixed on Su Xiuyi in horror.
He crashed into a boulder, which shattered into pieces.
"Wah!"
A mouthful of blood sprayed from Zhan Wushuang's lips.
He had only just felt the Qi of the Cloud Soaring Realm, but Zhan Wushuang had never imagined that his strength would be so pitiful before Su Xiuyi.
Zhan Wushuang could no longer muster the slightest will to fight.
Su Xiuyi looked at Zhan Wushuang, who had collapsed on the ground, a trace of surprise appearing at the corners of his mouth.
"Sorry, I thought you were strong, so I used a little force," came a voice from beneath Su Xiuyi's golden mask.
"You..."
Hearing Su Xiuyi's words, Zhan Wushuang spat out another mouthful of blood. He felt as though all his strength had left him.
At that moment, Zhan Wushuang's eyes were filled with terror. He had never been so terrified of someone at the same realm before. Facing Su Xiuyi, he felt as though he were facing an existence at the Mountain and Sea Realm.
Although Zhan Wushuang's willpower could not penetrate Su Xiuyi's golden mask, he could sense his bone age and tell that Su Xiuyi was no older than him.
Breathing heavily, Zhan Wushuang found it hard to believe that such a person existed in this world.
"Y-you... who exactly are you?" Zhan Wushuang clenched his fists and demanded in a low roar.
Though Zhan Wushuang was furious, he knew he had lost, and lost miserably.
He had never imagined that, after sweeping through the Great Zhou Kingdom's Skysoar geniuses without a single defeat and withdrawing after achieving his goal, he would suffer such a crushing defeat at the hands of a scholar even younger than himself.
Even now, he did not know his opponent's name.
That punch had been no more than a casual blow, yet Zhan Wushuang had felt as though he were facing the fist of the god of death.
But despite Zhan Wushuang's roars, Su Xiuyi's expression remained utterly calm.
"Sever your own arms within three breaths, or this place will be your hiding place." Looking at the growling Zhan Wushuang, Su Xiuyi issued his final ultimatum.
"You...!"
Zhan Wushuang gritted his teeth. Never in his life had he imagined that he would face such a terrifying young man, whose tone was forceful and overbearing, brooking neither argument nor resistance.
Zhan Wushuang thought himself arrogant, but his opponent was countless times more arrogant, utterly disregarding him.
"One!"
"Two!"
Su Xiuyi spoke with a faint chill on his face.
Sensing a trace of killing intent rising from Su Xiuyi, Zhan Wushuang's eyes hardened with resolve.
"Here!"
Under the pressure of Su Xiuyi's Qi, Zhan Wushuang could hold out no longer. The force within him surged, and both his arms shattered.
Cold sweat poured down his forehead, but he did not make a sound.
To save his own life, he was utterly ruthless with himself.
"Get lost!"
Seeing that Zhan Wushuang had severed his own arms, Su Xiuyi withdrew his terrifying killing intent, turned, and stepped through the air.
After Su Xiuyi left, Zhan Wushuang finally let out a low wail of agony. He immediately soared into the air and fled into the distance, as though afraid Su Xiuyi would change his mind and come back to kill him.
Su Xiuyi did not spare Zhan Wushuang another glance from beginning to end. He turned into a stream of water and returned silently to the Myriad Text Academy, as though none of it had ever happened.
(End of chapter)