by <unknown>
From the deep purple smoke and the rusted sewers in the magical equipment graveyard, to the anxious nights in the training grounds when he was in high school, to Ding Lingdang's glittering teeth when he saw her for the first time, to the Devil Flood Dragon Island, the Grand Desolate War Institution, Boneyard, the Flying Star Sector, Spider Den, the Blood Demon Sector, homecoming to the Heaven's Origin Sector, Kunlun, and the dark nebula!
His whole life was dissected into tens of thousands of pictures, which were arranged like parallel webs.
His consciousness was falling from the top, crashing into the webs one after another, falling, falling, and falling into the eternal darkness where there was nothing!
Hiu!
An inexplicable sound echoed inside Li Yao's head. Even the mental devil did not realize what was going on. It merely raised its head with one of Ou Yezi's memory pieces in its mouth.
Yan Liren had attacked!
The fourth sword, which surpassed the three swords that were the Colossi's blades, cut Li Yao's throat just without any forewarning!
The shriek that was ringing inside Li Yao's brain, however, was not the wound of Yan Liren's sword.
It was the sound of Li Yao's life crazily fading away!
BAM!
The uncanny kaleidoscope broke apart all of a sudden. Li Yao's soul shuddered, and he returned to reality, only to discover that Yan Liren was still standing opposite him as casually and emotionless as before.
His two hands were still on the sides of his body dutifully. The fancy 'fourth sword' was still dangling from his waist dutifully. Judging from the distance between the sword and the waistband, it had not moved at all.
His eyes gazed past Yan Liren's shoulder, and Li Yao observed the clouds in the sky. From the changes of the clouds, he could tell that 0.1 seconds had passed at most!
But he seemed to have seen his entire life in a near-death state!
"Cough, cough. Cough, cough, cough, cough!"
Li Yao's pupils widened, and weird sounds resembling the sounds of rusted gears running rumbled from his throat. His hands were trembling violently, as he covered his own neck slowly.
It was like his neck, including the cervical artilleries, the spine, and the central nerves, had been chopped off by Yan Liren's fourth sword, and he had to support his head with his hands in case it fell off.
His hands were wet. Some liquids were leaking out nonstop.
They were not blood but cold sweat that was even thicker than blood.
His face as pale as that of a dead person, Li Yao slowly fell to one knee. He gagged for a long time with a dizzy head and almost threw up all of his guts.
"This is my fourth sword." Craning his big, fat head close, Yan Liren asked solemnly, "Is it beautiful? Do you have any suggestions?"
"You killed me!" Li Yao's voice was hoarse, miserable, and shocked. "You killed me once with your sword in my illusion! How was it possible? How can there be such a terrifying swordsman in the world?"
Everyone on the spot was shocked!
They only saw the two of them talking with each other on the peak, when 'Master Spiritual Vulture' suddenly covered his neck with a weird face and slowly fell to one knee.
It was not until Li Yao shouted 'you killed me' that everybody realized that Yan Liren had already performed an attack with his fourth sword!
"This is—"
Everybody was startled, confused, and appalled!
But Li Yao was more horrified than all of them combined!
Unlike the ancient Cultivators, he had experienced some pretty huge events in the modern Cultivation civilization. Not just guys like Xiao Xuance or Zhou Hengdao, he had even executed one of the members of the legendary Pangu Clan!
But he really had never seen such a frightening attack before!
He had never even thought that such a threateningly unpredictable and invisible attack could be grasped and launched under the ancient training system!
It was unstoppable!
It was unstoppable even if he were in his crystal suit!
It was unstoppable even if he were hiding on a crystal warship!
Even if he were wearing the Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit in the strongest form or piloting a Colossus… he was not confident that he could resist the attack!
For the first time in his life, Li Yao felt that in the world of Cultivators, there were perhaps certain things that were beyond calculation, measurement, or analysis!
Yan Liren's sword was definitely one of those things!
"Why?" His voice was hoarse, and every word that he said sounded like a steel saber churning his throat. "You Cultivation can't be much higher than mine. Why is your sword so fast?"
Yan Liren eyed Li Yao as if he would never understand. "You don't get it. You and I are not the same type of person. So, even if your level is higher than mine, you will still never wield your sword in such a way!"
"What?" Li Yao bellowed. "I don't know what you are saying!"
"You, Wang Xi, and Qi Zhongdao are the same, while I am someone entirely different from you," Yan Liren said. "You, Wang Xi, and Qi Zhongdao may have a high Cultivation, an immense reserve of spiritual energy, or a piece of extremely powerful magical equipment, but I see in your eyes much more than your sword.
"Other than the sword in your hand, you can count on a lot of other things. Wisdom, power, subordinates, or other cr*p.
"What you pursue can never be earned with a sword or a fight.
"This sword test field is not your battleground, at least not the entirety of it."
Li Yao was silent.
Yan Liren was right.
Wang Xi was a powerful eunuch who established the Ghost Character, an espionage and assassination agency, that caused great trouble in the world of Cultivators.
Qi Zhongdao did not become the well-acknowledged leader of all the Cultivators just because he was strong. He was obviously a man who was good at setting up rules and making other people follow his rules.
It was needless to mention Li Yao himself. He never considered himself to be a pure warrior. His weapons were certainly not his only reliance. There was still the support of three Sectors behind him!
Wang Xi, Qi Zhongdao, and Li Yao were not pure warriors. What they desired was not achievable on a tiny sword test field.
"You are insincere to your swords," Yan Liren said. "I'm not saying that you don't trust your swords. I'm saying that you cannot wager everything on your swords. There are many things on your path of Cultivation that you have to earn in other ways.
"But I'm different from you.
"I only have my sword. I only trust my sword. I'm certain that my sword is enough to resolve all the problems in the world. If it can't, the only reason will be that my sword is not fast and sharp enough!
"This is the difference between me and the three of you. The disparity does not mean that I'm superior to you, but it makes you unable to wield a sword like I do because, deep in your bones, you don't want to wield such a sword.
"A sword that deserves searching for with your entire being, you don't believe that such a sword exists."
Chapter 1400: Just a Swordsman! |
Yan Liren talked peacefully, yet it sounded like a rumbling thunder for Li Yao.
Shaking violently, he almost fell off from the peak. With an indescribable expression, he mumbled to himself, "In the past, I was ambushed by my senior brother Master Black Moon in the Southland of Sorcerers. I suffered seventy-two kinds of poisons when I fell into Poisonous Dragon Lake at a bottomless abyss. I thought that I was dead for sure!
"But it did not occur to me that the poisons in the lake would neutralize the poisons inside my body. As a result, I was reborn and granted a new life. I even had the fortune of experiencing the most incredible adventures!
"I trained myself in a remote residence for decades. I thought that my Cultivation had advanced to the peak. So, I finally broke out of seclusion and came to the central plateaus to meet the heroes of the Great Qian Dynast
y!
"I didn't expect that I would run into such an extraordinary person like you, Fellow Cultivator Yan, in my very first battle and witness such a marvelous move!
"I have lost the battle, and I have no excuses. Fellow Cultivator Yan, you deserved to be called 'unparalleled'!"
Li Yao clasped his fist and sincerely bowed to Yan Liren.
"You're wrong again. I am not unparalleled right now." Yan Liren shook his head. Like a pedant who did not know anything better, he had to point out the fallacy in other people's formalities. "A hundred years ago, Wu Suiyun, the greatest expert of the Great Qian Dynasty, and Meng Chixin, who was respected by the hundred and eight tribes on the Dark Cloud Prairies as the 'Wolf God', had the most breath-taking confrontation in the past thousand years on the sunless northern glaciers, only to both vanish. They have not been heard from since.
"Many people suspect that they fell to the bottom of the icy ocean and died with each other. Some also speculated that they broke the void and ascended to a higher level. But I believe that they are not gone and will be back again.
"Right now, I am still not unparalleled. After I kill Wu Suiyun and Meng Chixin, I probably will be."
"What?" Li Yao found it impossible to keep up with the Sword Maniac. He lost his calmness and shouted, "Wu Suiyun and Meng Chixin were the last two Divinity Transformation Stage Cultivators in the Ancient Sages Sector. Strong as you might be, you are at the peak of the Nascent Soul Stage at best, but you are insane enough to challenge Divinity Transformation Stage Cultivators?"
Yan Liren smiled and said, "The so-called Nascent Soul Stage and Divinity Transformation Stage are just a classification for you Cultivators. For me, they are meaningless."
"Us Cultivators?" Li Yao's pupils constricted violently. "Are you not a Cultivator? What are you?"
"It doesn't matter whether I'm a Cultivator or not. The Building Foundation Stage, the Core Formation Stage, the Nascent Soul Stage, and the Divinity Transformation Stage are just a boring game played by boring people."
Touching the hilt of the sword on his waist as if it were his lover's foot, Yan Liren could not have been more lighthearted. "I am not a Cultivator; I'm just a swordsman."
When his words spread to everyone's ears, all the Cultivators, including the sword Cultivators under the Purple Pole Sword Sect, were confused and aghast!
"Swordsman…" Li Yao took a deep breath. He touched his neck again subconsciously, as if there was indeed a wound there, before he bowed to Yan Liren again. "Thank you for your performance, Fellow Cultivator Yan. Your enlightenment has cleared the mist in my heart and allowed me to see a new path. I think that it is possible that my Cultivation can be further improved!"
"There's no need to thank me. It is also because your soul is strong enough." Yan Liren stared at Li Yao. "I seem to have underestimated you. Your soul is indeed quite weird. It is very tensile and slippery. Despite the brutal slash of my sword just now, it is already recuperating and showing signs that it will be stronger than before!
"If it were a random Nascent Soul Stage Cultivator, even if I did not actually wield my sword but merely attacked with my will, part of their soul would have been damaged. Their Cultivation would've plummeted, and they would be living in fear all day!
"Huh. You were baiting me into attack you just now on purpose, weren't you?"
Yan Liren was dazed for a moment. His eyes were suddenly a hundred times sharper when he looked at Li Yao!
"You knew that your soul was special and were fearless of my mental attack. Also, you were certain that the Purple Pole Sword Sect badly needs you as a visiting elder. So, I definitely would not kill you for real!
"With that in mind, you intentionally attracted me to attack you. So, while you wouldn't be killed by me for real, you would be able to witness my best attack!
"For those at the level of you and me, in a fierce fight, if such an attack where my full spirit and will were concentrated did not kill you, it would definitely make you grow stronger than before!
"Moreover, you have familiarized yourself with the patterns of my attack. Thus, if we really engage in a life-and-death battle, you will be able to make preparations in advance, which will significantly increase your chances of winning!"
Li Yao's face went somewhat rigid.
He did not expect the Sword Maniac to have such a keen mind, to the extent that the guy saw through his whole plan so quickly.
Yes. Li Yao was not a lunatic who was crazy about nothing but fighting. Why would he risk his life just to appreciate Yan Liren's strongest sword?
He had indeed taken it into consideration that the Purple Pole Sword Sect was in dire need of a strong visiting elder now that it was at a disadvantage.
Since Yan Liren did not kill Qi Zhongdao, who was apparently on the hostile side, it was even less likely that the guy would kill him.
It was exactly because he knew that the match would not be life-threatening that Li Yao dared to jump out.
Otherwise, with Li Yao's personality, if it was really a life-and-death battle, he would have long run away from a man as tough Yan Liren and concocted other sordid and shameless tricks to deal with him!
However, there were two points that Yan Liren failed to guess.
Other than broadening his horizons and improving his level with the help of Yan Liren's performance, Li Yao was also meaning to show his own expertise during the fight with Yan Liren.
Moreover, Yan Liren was one of the best experts of the Ancient Sages Sector. Only by fighting the guy in person would Li Yao be able to measure the limits of the experts in this Sector so that he would have material for his observation report later!
Li Yao had calculated everything except that Yan Liren would be so strong that he did not have any chance to show off at all. It was getting awkward now.
With a light cough, Li Yao said, "Fellow Cultivator Yan, do excuse me."
Naturally, he did not want to leave a bad impression on such a great swordsman. Such a talent was definitely worth recruiting for the federation. The guy should be brought back to the federation even if Li Yao had to kidnap him!
"That's alright," Yan Liren said casually. "This is your methodology. This is your path. Now that you have chosen such a path, you are free to set up traps and deceive me. However, it also means that you will never defeat me with your sword in a sword test field!"
His words raised yet another round of surging tides inside Li Yao's head. He felt that his belief was almost shaking.
That was not right. He had to get out of the guy's pace and set the conversation back on course!
"Fellow Cultivator Yan, I am not a man who doesn't know gratitude," Li Yao said solemnly. "Your performance and your words are indeed great enlightenment for me and should be worth ten years of hard training! Your performance alone is enough for me to work as a visiting elder of the Purple Pole Sword Sect willingly for one year!"
Li Yao had been reluctant to work as a visiting elder for even half a year in the beginning. He had been planning to meet the other experts of the 'Three Saints and Four Rapscallions'. How could he have the time to work there?
However, after witnessing Yan Liren's attack, he changed his mind.
The guy's combat ability was too high. Also, he did not seem to have any moral standard and would not hesitate to kill anyone, be they righteous or evil. It would be good if he could be persuaded to stand on the federation's side and taught with the 'Constitution of Cultivators' and the 'Regulations on Lethal Weapon Control'. The consequences would certainly be dire if the Imperium recruited the guy someday!
Li Yao could not allow such a thing to happen!
Maybe, if he spent some more time in the Purple Pole Sword Sect and seduced, no, attracted the guy, it would be possible for him to turn the guy into the first 'overseas mercenary' of the Star Glory Federation!
Besides, the super experts had their own circles, too. After the battle, Yan Liren should be acknowledged as the top expert of the Three Saints of the Great
Qian Dynasty. Did Li Yao need to worry that he would not run into the rest of the 'Three Saints and the Four Rapscallions' if he followed the guy?
Emotionlessly, Yan Liren gave no approval or disapproval. "As I said, it doesn't matter to me at all if you are a visiting elder. If you want to thank me, just train yourself hard while you work here!
"With the understanding you gained from my performance and the immense resources of the Purple Pole Sword Sect, you should be able to make enough progress in one year and advance into someone whom I must kill at all costs even if I have to betray the Purple Pole Sword Sect!
"That will be your best gratitude!"
After saying that, Yan Liren turned around and left without looking at Li Yao anymore, as if Li Yao did not deserve any more of his time.
"Wait!"
Yan Liren was apparently the star of the show. How could Li Yao allow that? He shrieked and tried to stop the guy.
Yan Liren paused for a moment, but he continued walking forward without looking back.
Li Yao gnashed his teeth, thinking to himself, You are forcing me to play my ultimate move now, boy.
"Fellow Cultivator Yan," he said coldly, "I do have one last question. Is your fourth sword 50.04 centimeters long, 21.32 centimeters wide in the thickest part, weighing 11.73 kilograms, with a barycenter 28.17 centimeters below the tip of the sword, made of materials including 'Purple Martial Copper' and 'Cold Mountain Steel', the ratio of the two main materials being five to four, and the rest being other miscellaneous materials?"
Yan Liren was about to disappear below the peak when he was suddenly stopped by Li Yao's words.
After a cracking sound, the rock below his foot was crumbling.
Although the rocks were already vulnerable enough because of Yan Liren and Qi Zhongdao's collision just now, the fact that they were crumbling suggested that Yan Liren was unable to control his dispersing spiritual energy.
It was needless to say how shocked he was!
