He Yongli frowned as he turned his attention towards the only Nascent Soul Grandmaster loose cultivator at the Heavenly Connection Gathering. He clasped his hands together and said. "Allow me to witness your techniques."
"Likewise," Longwei said, his tone light as if it was nothing.
He Yongli pointed his sword at Longwei. Although he disliked how Longwei interrupted his implicit challenge to Tianyi, He Yongli still didn't completely disregard Longwei. On average, Loose cultivators had a harder path with no strong backing and limited resources. But on the flip side, due to the harshness of the competition, they often had more combat experience and were more decisive than members of sects.
He Yongli and Longwei both brandished their weapons -a dull grey sword and a gleaming silver saber- at each other in a standoff. They appeared to be just standing there in a trance, but the battle of wills had already started.
San Jiuling's eyes flashed as he heard the sound of the clash of metal against metal; his eyes could barely make out the invisible, transient form of a saber and a sword scraping against each other.
"Congratulations to Brother He. Your brother isn't far from condensing his sword intent."
He Luoli didn't reply and didn't appear to be happy nor proud in any way. Instead, he frowned and zeroed in on Longwei.
Tianyi couldn't hear the noise of saber against sword, but he could gently touch upon that there was a clash of wills, and He Yongli was on the losing end.
He Yongli felt his body become cold as he continued to stand off against Longwei. There was a trace of shock in his eyes as if he couldn't believe he was already at a disadvantage before the clash even started.
It only naturally to be slightly on the weaker end in our clash of wills. He is a loose cultivator, after all, so he should have more life and death experience than me. He Yongli rationalized. Seeing as he would lose more and more of the initiative if he waited any longer, He Yongli struck.
The Monolith Sword Sect was named after the Monolith Sword Art. The creator was a Half-Immortal Emperor that founded the Monolith Sword Sect and was called the number one sword Immortal of his time. His sword became the most prized Immortal Artifact of the Monolith Sword Sect, and just like its name implied, it was a sword that towered over the lands and reached the heavens.
When He Yongli struck out, his sword appeared to be an obelisk, colossal and magnificent. Rather than a standard blade, it appeared to hundreds to thousands of times its actual size.
Monolith Sword Art Seventh Stance - Obelisk Sword
Longwei's eyes flashed with an indiscernible emotion before he placed his saber in front of his in a defensive position and dodged to the side. But even so, he was knocked back as He Yongli passed by despite their weapons not clashing. Longwei released a grunt as his saber bent slightly from the force before returning to the original shape, but otherwise, he was unharmed. But how could He Yongli let go of his initiative?
Deftly turning, He Yongli was upon Longwei once more. Each sword strike was dense and heavy as if an actual obelisk was smashing into Longwei. Furthermore, the range of He Yongli's attack was greater than just the surface of his sword. It was as if an obelisk had encapsulated his sword, increasing the range of his strikes.
However, in contrast, against his earlier performance, Longwei stably fended off He Yongli's sword strikes. With a flip of his wrist, his saber tilted and curved, the enormous force behind He Yongli's attacks were all deflected away with him only pushed back slightly each time.
It appeared that He Yongli had the advantage and that Longwei was at a disadvantage, but those with sharp eyes and mind could discern the truth. He Yongli was using true qi at a staggering rate, while Longwei was barely using any true qi at all. If He Yongli continued, he would lose his initiative after using up all his true qi, and Longwei would be able to quickly finish him.
He Yongli also knew this, but he had a feeling that if he relented, he would be even in a worse position. Right now, he had two choices: to continue his current style and wait for an opening or conserve his true qi and see what Longwei would do.
In the end, He Yongli chose to conserve his true qi and redistribute the balance. If he continued his current plan of attack, the chances of Longwei making mistake was far too low. He would rather gamble on it and enter a disadvantaged state and win later. Against his expectations, Longwei didn't immediately attack once He Yongli weaken his stance.
Longwei gave He Yongli and a small smile.
Before He Yongli could understand the meaning behind that smile, he instinctively raised his sword in a defensive position.
CLANG!
He Yongli only felt his hands become numb as the brute strength behind Longwei's saber strike travel down his sword and into his hand. His eyes widen in surprise, but He Yongli no longer had time to think as he rushed to block Longwei's next strike.
The situation had changed a hundred and eighty degrees. Now it was Longwei pressuring He Yongli.
He Yongli was in an even worse state than when Longwei was on the defense. He didn't have Longwei's acute judgment to deflect the oncoming saber strikes, Longwei's flurry of attack, although seeming random, all were purposeful. Each strike flew towards the most significant hole in He Yongli's defense, and when that was blocked, another attack flew to the new opening in He Yongli's stance.
Longwei's successive attacks were like an inescapable net that was slowly enrapturing He Yongli. He Yongli couldn't escape Longwei's clutches in the end and was sent flying out.
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With a crash, He Yongli landed outside the arena. Although there were no cuts on his clothes or body, his clothes and hair were in disarray, making his current state pitiful to look at. If looks could kill, He Yongli's hateful gaze would have killed Longwei severalfold, but Longwei wasn't looking at him at all. He was looking towards Ji Muyang with a provocative smirk that exuded masculinity.
Ji Muyang "hmph'd" and looked away, but her eyes would shift back towards Longwei, causing his smile to deepen and express an understanding expression.
Tianyi took in He Yongli's increasingly grudge-filled gaze and shook his head. Cannon fodder, no wonder I can't recall him at all. But this Longwei should be someone more important. Maybe Lei Jingye's archnemesis, his greatest stepping stone?
"I have long heard of Sword Empress Xi's Heartless Sword Arts. May I have the honor of experiencing it?" Longwei said his challenge was even more direct than He Yongli.
"Prince Xi, Dong Chifan is horrible and overestimates himself, but I feel that this Longwei is abnormal and is hiding something." Jian Wuyan quietly whispered.
"..." The innocent Dong Chifan who got randomly attacked by Jian Wuyan.
"I know," Tianyi said. He stood up and jumped onto the arena. "Haha, not everyone can see my mother's Heartless Sword Arts. It'll depend on whether you can force me to use it or not."
Tianyi's words weren't polite at all, causing Longwei to lose his smile. "Daoist He said that he is the strongest sword cultivator here. Are you saying that you don't need to use the Heartless Sword Art to defeat him?"
Tianyi didn't say anything and only smiled. He clasped his hand and said, "Please," without paying attention to the ugly look on He Yongli's face.
"Then I won't be polite." Longwei sheathed his saber to Tianyi's surprise and leaped at Tianyi with his hands in a claw form. A gold dragon's hand overlapped with Longwei's hands as it struck towards Tianyi.
Tianyi's eyebrow's twitched once as he recognized it. Wasn't this the Dragon Emperor's claw technique that accompanied the Dragon Emperor Fist?
Tianyi also struck his hand outwards in retaliation. But in contrast, he didn't use his most proficient claw arts, but palm arts. It was still not at the point that Tianyi needed to bring that out yet. He originally wanted to reveal his claw arts at a suitable event and wow the world, but now, Tianyi felt as if it was better to have a trump card or two just in case.
Using the Heaven Suppressing Palm Arts that he had used during the Three Heavens Connection Meeting, Tianyi felt a sense of nostalgia as his palm clashed against Longwei's claws.
Longwei's claws seemed to be able to tear through anything, but Tianyi's palms seemed to be able to compress all things in the world. Tianyi's eyes widen when he felt Longwei's claws break through his suppression and directly clash against his palm.
Longwei slightly curled the corner of his lips, but it quickly disappeared as his fingers touched Tianyi's palm. His fingers didn't tear through Tianyi's palm like he envisioned and, instead, stopped as if he was a mortal who had punched iron. Tianyi's hand continued towards Longwei despite having its concept broken, and Longwei jumped back. He suffered the first loss, and a hint of seriousness appeared in his eyes.
But Tianyi wasn't any better. He had felt that his palm techniques were deeper than most people. After all, he had infused his understanding of the Primordial Heavenly Scripture into his Heavenly Suppressing Palm Arts. But Longwei's mastery was superior to his and defeated his techniques. The only reason he won the first clash was because of his cultivation technique, brute strength, pure and simple.
Longwei took a stance with both his hands in the form of claws. If one looked closely, one could see the translucent golden dragons coiling around Longwei's two hands. When he struck once more, his hands held the majestic pressure of dragons and was even more fearsome than before.
Tianyi's eyes lit up as he saw it. He felt his understanding of the claw techniques deepen. But this wasn't the time to ponder as Tianyi also brought forth his palm again, the intent within also changed. The color of Tianyi's palm became dark like the void, and within, countless stars shimmered.
When the two clashed once more, Longwei felt as if something had greatly changed. It felt as if it wasn't Tianyi's hand that his fingers struck but rather a world eclipsing mountain.
The feeling of numbed hands that He Yongli felt, Longwei finally felt. Even worse, he felt as if the bones in his fingers were being dislocated. Before the pressure caused the bones in hands to crack, Longwei borrowed the force behind Tianyi's palm to retreat backward.
Right now, Longwei no longer had any disdain in his eyes as he seriously looked at Tianyi. Without a word, he drew his saber and brandished it at Tianyi.
Tianyi was inwardly disappointed that Longwei didn't display anymore claw techniques. Even if he had slight regrets towards this, Tianyi still raised his guard towards Longwei. Longwei was already this powerful without using his saber; Tianyi felt that his saber arts should be even more powerful. At the very least, Tianyi's judgment told him that Longwei should've been able to easily clashed head-on and even win against He Yongli using the claw arts he revealed earlier.
Tianyi moved into a stance with both of his arms crossed and his opened-faced palms facing forward and prepared to receive Longwei's attack.
Longwei didn't disappoint as his saber strikes were only more ruthless and seamless than his strikes towards He Yongli. But Tianyi calmly deflected and struck back. Tianyi, indeed, was at a disadvantage. His palm arts didn't contain the subtleties and nuances of Longwei's saber arts. Based on technique, he was at least a level lower. But so what?
Tianyi had a supreme cultivation method that brought him a supremely powerful body that would cause even Unity Realm Venerables to tear their hair out in frustration to deal with. Cultivation was also a strength. If Longwei shouted at the unfairness, Tianyi would tell him to create a cultivation technique too.
He had the ability to create such a cultivation technique, which was also part of his technique and strength. Go make your own if you thought it unfair.
Below the arena, He Yongli felt his pupils dilate as he took in Tianyi and Longwei's clash. He had challenged Tianyi only to be defeated by an interloper. But even if he had successfully challenged Tianyi, the outcome might even be worse. Longwei at least defeated him with a saber, but Tianyi might not even deign to draw his sword.
He suddenly wanted to laugh. The man he wanted to defeated for years to prove his worth didn't even view him as someone important. His brother even said that when asked, Tianyi only pretended to recall. But He Yongli was brought of his self-torment. He felt as if a saber was grinding against his heart, and he looked up to see a majestic saber strike from Longwei that eclipsed all of his previous saber strikes combined.
Tianyi had been stabling dealing with Longwei's flurry of attacks, but Longwei suddenly changed styles. He had forcefully pulled back his saber, and instead of causing a backlash, the blade was covered in a golden glow. Tianyi recognized that glow, although slightly different, he had seen Xi Longyi use it before to deal against Lei Jingye. This was the Dragon Emperor's saber art!
Longwei unleashed that brilliant saber strike. It was far faster than all his previous attacks and far stronger than all of them combined. Before Tianyi could even react, that saber strike had connected.
A diagonal strike from his exposed clavicle to his waist. The ground behind Tianyi, starting from his feet, had a great gash trailing all the way out of the arena, even the protective formation being unable to contain the strike. It had already surpassed the threshold of a Nascent Soul Grandmaster and touched the Unity Realm.