Breakthrough, Sparring

Qie Qiong instinctively raised his right hand, joined his fingers like a sword, and made a slash through the air toward the waterfall ahead.

There was no earth-shaking boom, only a dazzling golden sword light that crossed dozens of meters with pinpoint precision, splitting the surging curtain of water in two in an instant.

Before Qie Qiong had comprehended the Myriad Existences Realm of Metal, he could have cut it apart, but never as effortlessly as he had now.

The cut in the water curtain remained for a full three breaths before it began to slowly close, returning to its former state.

Qie Qiong slowly opened his eyes, faint golden light flowing in his pupils.

If an ordinary person had seen this, the sharpness gleaming in Qie Qiong's eyes might well have blinded them.

As he sensed his connection to the "metal element" between himself and Heaven and Earth, a feeling unlike any he had ever experienced welled up within him.

He, Qie Qiong, at the age of eleven and just three months after entering the Heaven and Man Unity Realm, had broken through once more and reached the Myriad Existences Realm!

All he wanted to say was that he had made it this far entirely on his own!

From now on, there were few in this mortal world who could make him feel threatened.

As he thought this, a mischievous smile crept onto his lips.

Early morning, training grounds.

Qie Yunzhou and Qie Qiong, dressed in blue and black training clothes respectively, slowly walked onto the training grounds.

After comprehending the Myriad Existences Realm of Metal yesterday, Qie Qiong had gone back to rest. But he was so excited, and had also thought of his plan, so he had asked Qie Yunzhou to come with him to the training grounds that morning.

"Father." Qie Qiong's voice carried a hint of eagerness. "Today, please give me some pointers."

"Hahaha, it seems Qiong'er has made great progress over these three months. Just the right time for me to see how far you've come." Qie Yunzhou laughed heartily and walked to the weapon rack beside the training grounds. With a casual sweep of his hand, a standard-issue long sword flew toward Qie Qiong.

Qie Qiong caught the long sword steadily, then lifted his chin slightly. "Father, you'd better not be too surprised in a moment."

The two stood facing each other. Without another word, their figures vanished from where they stood in the next instant.

"Clang—!"

The sound of their swords clashing rang through the quiet training grounds that morning.

There was no clash of Dou Qi, only the highest realm of martial skill—the sword master, the pinnacle of mortal technique!

On the training grounds, the two moved so fast that only afterimages remained.

Sword light wove and tangled between the blue and black figures.

Qie Qiong abruptly drew back, moving with his sword as its blade tore through the air.

The second level of the Flowing Light Sword, the Ten Thousand Swords Realm, unfolded at once, and streaks of sword light appeared from thin air.

A closer count would have revealed hundreds of black sword lights in an instant.

There were more than ten times as many as when he had just broken through.

The sword lights wove into a black thunder sword net that poured toward Qie Yunzhou.

Faced with such an assault, Qie Yunzhou remained composed.

The standard-issue long sword in his hand seemed to have been given a life of its own. With casual, sweeping movements, he sent countless blue sword lights flying.

It was none other than the highest realm of the Flowing Light Sword—Ten Thousand Shadows Return to Truth.

Though the move did not seem as powerful as when the two of them had joined forces to kill the Thunder Lizard, that was, of course, because this was only a spar.

"Clink, clink, clink—"

The thunder sword net and the blue sword lights Qie Yunzhou had casually sent out collided and canceled each other out.

Because Qie Qiong's black sword lights were enhanced by the Dou Qi of the "Black Thunder" Realm, the fourth chapter of Thunder's Five Transformation Technique, they were far stronger than Qie Yunzhou's blue sword lights, which had not incorporated the Wind of the Myriad Existences Realm.

Thus, each black sword light took several, or even ten, blue sword lights to cancel out.

This made up for the gap between Qie Qiong's Flowing Light Sword and his father's.

"Crack..."

The hard bluestone slabs split into countless fine cracks in the wake of their colliding sword lights.

At their level, a hundred exchanges took only a few breaths.

The two figures moved like streaks of light, and for a time, neither could gain the upper hand.

"Good!" Qie Yunzhou laughed aloud. "I never imagined Qiong'er would become this strong. You've already surpassed the level I was at before I comprehended the Myriad Existences Realm."

Before Qie Yunzhou had comprehended the Myriad Existences Realm, he had ranked fortieth on the Heavenly Rankings. That meant Qie Qiong could likely rank in the top forty, in his view.

"But..." He paused, a sharp glint entering his eyes. "Be careful. Your father is about to get serious."

As soon as he spoke, Heaven and Earth changed abruptly.

The wind that had been flowing freely across the training grounds along with their swords suddenly shifted.

The Wind of the Myriad Existences Realm!

Qie Yunzhou swung the ordinary standard-issue long sword in his hand forward.

Wherever its point aimed, the wind between Heaven and Earth seemed to have found its one and only Ruler.

It gathered over Qie Yunzhou's long sword, condensing into a blue longsword that shot toward Qie Qiong like lightning.

In the blink of an eye, it was right in front of Qie Qiong.

It was fast, carrying peerless sharpness that could pierce through anything. Wherever it passed, even the light seemed to be severed.

With only the Heaven and Man Unity Realm and "Black Thunder" Dou Qi, there was absolutely no way to withstand this strike, which had gathered the Wind of the Myriad Existences Realm.

The blue longsword was about to reach him.

A faint smile tugged at the corner of Qie Qiong's mouth.

"Father, forgive me!"

As he spoke, the aura around Qie Qiong shifted.

A razor-sharp aura burst out.

Vmmm—

The standard-issue long sword in his hand gave a clear, ringing hum.

It was no longer wrapped only in black Thunder Dou Qi. Pure golden light appeared along the blade, interweaving with the black Dou Qi.

The Myriad Existences Realm of Metal.

There were no flashy moves in Qie Qiong's hand. He simply thrust straight at the blue longsword formed from the Wind of the Myriad Existences Realm and Dou Qi.

In an instant, centered on the clashing sword tips, two powers with different attributes—both profound mysteries of the Myriad Existences Realm between Heaven and Earth—collided with a roar in that space.

Vmmm—

There was no earth-shaking boom, only a low hum.

A violent force erupted in a ring, mixed with sharp golden light and a storm of fragments of blue sword light and wind.

The hard bluestone slabs of the training grounds were lifted in layers, while the invisible shock wave swept over the tall trees beside the grounds, sending them swaying wildly.

The two figures were also hurled away by the force, landing at opposite ends of the training grounds.

Thud, thud—

When the energy in the grounds finally subsided, only a scene of utter devastation remained, along with the two figures facing each other. Their long swords had snapped in the violent clash.

Qie Yunzhou's hand, still gripping the broken sword, trembled slightly. His face was filled with disbelief, and his voice shook with excitement. "The Myriad... Existences Realm! Qiong'er! In three months, you actually comprehended the Metal of Myriad Existences!"

He had taken more than ten years to comprehend the Wind of the Myriad Existences Realm. That was already an exceptionally talented pace.

He had never even heard of an eleven-year-old reaching the Myriad Existences Realm in the history of the Azure Cloud Realm.

Though it would not be quite right to say he had never heard of it, since those were all primordial lifeforms, born of Heaven and Earth!