The newcomer was tall and wore a long white robe with a slender sword hanging at his waist. The sword was transparent and shimmered with light. He stood at the end of the mountain path, looking at the newly settled mountain town. His face was expressionless, but his eyes seemed to hold a sharpness honed over decades.
Olivier
When the news reached the stone house, Linley was sitting cross-legged, repeatedly pondering Doehring's words. After descending the mountain, he stood at a distance at the mountain gate, facing his old friend whom he hadn't seen for many years. After a while, Olivier finally spoke.
"I heard you're going to pick up the Eight-Winged Angel from the Radiant Church," he said casually.
"The news spread very quickly," Linley said.
"The whole continent knows." Olivier looked at him, her gaze scrutinizing him. "I thought that after your Dragonform, your strength had reached the Peak Saint Realm, and you should have toned down your brilliance and matured. Unexpectedly, you've managed to win a game that was destined to fail in the blink of an eye."
"If we don't enter the dueling arena, Baruch's reputation will be ruined first," Linley said. "This is a move I can't avoid."
"You can go in, but whether you'll survive is uncertain." Olivier didn't say anything more, instead walking to his side to climb the mountain together. "Come on, I didn't come here to stop you, I'm here to help you solve this problem."
Linley paused slightly. "Solve the situation?"
"I've seen your use of the wind and earth techniques before," Olivier said as she walked. "Wind is the blade, earth is the soil; offense and defense are distinct, each with its own function. But when fighting Eight-Winged Angel, an opponent who is Lowgod, using these two techniques separately is hardly worth watching."
Linley's heart skipped a beat, but he didn't say anything; he simply turned his ear to listen.
The two went up the mountain together and sat down outside the stone house. Delia brewed the tea and then quietly left. Olivier didn't drink the tea immediately, but instead gazed at the distant, continuous mountain range, as if she was carefully considering her words.
" Linley," Olivier said slowly, "You've used the wind as a sharp blade and the earth as a thick shield all this way. You've trained well, but have you ever wondered why the wind and the earth are separated?"
Linley was taken aback.
"The wind may be fast or slow, the earth may Pulsation, but both originate from the same heaven and earth," Olivier said. "You only see them as two weapons, one to cut and the other to block. But if they are one, then when you strike with your sword, you can both cleave through space and withstand immense force. Only such a sword is worthy of meeting Eight-Winged Angel."
Linley remained silent for a long time. He thought of Doehring's words, of the Eight-Winged Angel that had not yet appeared but was already looming over his head, and of how he had been leaping back and forth between the wind and the earth for the past few years, but had never thought of combining them.
"So how should these two be combined?" Linley asked.
Olivier did not answer directly. She stood up, took a longsword from her waist, and walked into the courtyard.
"What I practice is swordsmanship, the Ten Thousand Swords Become One." He said calmly, his back to Linley. "In my entire life, I have never met anyone as stubborn as you, nor have I ever met anyone as trustworthy as you. The Radiant Church wants you dead, but I will let you live—watch closely."
He had barely finished speaking when he flicked his wrist.
When that sword was thrust out, it didn't generate any momentum, nor did it have any sword energy, nor even a sound of wind. But in that instant, Linley felt as if the void in the courtyard had been gently touched by this sword. It wasn't cleaved open, but rather, like a reflection on the surface of water, a very thin light swept across it, creating a barely perceptible ripple.
"This is..." Linley's eyes narrowed slightly.
"The sword is integrated into the magic, not the other way around," Olivier said, turning around after sheathing her longsword. "This strike of mine wasn't made by the laws of nature; rather, I myself am that law. The wind and the earth are no longer objects you need to control; you are them. Every move you make is related to the wind and the earth."
Linley stood there, as if a ray of light had shone through the window paper he had always kept hidden. All along the way, he had always used the wind as a sharp knife and the earth as a thick shield, alternating between offense and defense, never retreating. But he had never thought that these two things should not be separated in the first place; they were originally part of the same "him," inseparable.
"So you mean merging the wind and the earth into one?" Linley whispered.
"Finally found this place." Olivier's eyes showed a rare expression of approval. "You are more outstanding than anyone I have ever met. Your understanding of the laws is very deep, so deep that even though you are only at the Initial Stage of the Saint Realm, you can still exert the strength of the Peak Saint Realm by relying on your sense of wind and earth. But you only train them as weapons, not knowing that they are actually a part of your body."
Linley didn't answer immediately. He stood up, drew his Purple Blood Soft Sword, and mimicked Olivier's earlier action, flicking his wrist to thrust the sword forward.
However, the sword still struck according to the laws of nature. The blade was very sharp, and the wind was carried away by the sword, but it did not truly merge into the earth.
Olivier shook her head and said, "There's no rush. You used to treat Wind and Earth as two weapons, practicing for a long time. It's difficult to combine them into one in an instant. But the day of the duel is not far away, and you don't have much time to waste. I'll show you where this door is; whether you can open it depends on your own comprehension in the next few days."
After saying that, he didn't bother her any longer, turned around and strode down the mountain to the guest house. Before leaving, he left a message: "I'll be waiting for you on the mountaintop before sunrise. If you can master the 'union' of that sword technique while I'm gone, then my trip won't have been in vain."
Linley stood in the middle of the courtyard, holding a sword, watching the white figure disappear into the night, motionless for a long time.
He raised his hand and twirled the dragon crystal between his fingers, then looked down at the Purple Blood Soft Sword that had been with him for many years. "The wind is the sword, the earth is the shield," he had told himself. But tonight, Olivier's sword strike made him suddenly realize that he had been wrong all along.
"Let the laws grow within my own body..." Linley muttered to himself, "Have I been led by the sword, or have I led the sword myself, all along my journey?"
The night wind swept through the mountaintop, carrying away the unspoken words into the moonlight. Olivier's white-robed figure gradually disappeared into the darkness, as if she had never been there at all.