Chapter 224
“I am not very good at talking.”
When Zhu Shiyao, like a timid little girl, said this sentence, Wang Lu was still laughing in his heart, thinking that, could it be that the next sentence is: If I offend someone, come and f*cking get me?
However, the next moment, Zhu Shiyao drew out the sword on her waist, and from the vacant at a loss look, an incomparably bone-chilling stare flashed out from her eyes.
“Therefore, I shall demonstrate it with a sword.”
As soon as her voice fell, the surrounding world changed its colors.
In Wang Lu’s eyes, the world turned into two colors of black and white. The distant scenery was shrouded in a blur of colored glaze cover, unable to be clearly seen. And within that colored glaze cover floated a trace of haze that even the almost within reach Liu Li seemed to lose her vitality, turning into an inanimate thing. In his surrounding, only Zhu Shiyao and her ancient sword were still glowing with color.
While holding the sword in her hand, Zhu Shiyao gradually merged with her sword into one. The sword glowed with an incomparably sharp light while everything around it seemed to dim down. Wang Lu felt that his breathing gradually become difficult, as if an invisible force had clamped down his heart.
And just as the Void Core in Wang Lu’s Jade Mansion was trying to expel this indescribable feeling of abnormality, the sharp sword light suddenly became ten times stronger.
Wang Lu subconsciously narrowed his eyes, and his eyes’ focus became doubly sharp, looking straight ahead at that strong sword light and seeing the true shape of the light… It was countless pieces of common rays of light, co-mingling together to flash out a sun-like blazing sword light. This kind of sword light was clearly… Stellar Sword Qi Secret Transmission from Stellar Peak!? And from the looks of it, that sword light was clearly directed at him!?
Wang Lu was inwardly surprised. He could not imagine that, unexpectedly, under the glare of public eye, Zhu Shiyao actually dared to make a killing move against her own people. The might of Stellar Sword Qi was enough to break a mountain and reverse the flow of a river. Now, this power was actually unreservedly aimed at him!
Wang Lu subconsciously conjured up his Sword of Mount Kun, barely managing to prop up his Non-Phase Sword Art, subsequently expanding his Three Feet Sword Defense, activating his unbreakable defense.
However, the next moment, Wang Lu suddenly felt cold as a piece of cold-star-like fragment had unknowingly fallen on his head.
What!? The Three Feet Sword Defense was broken!? In Wang Lu’s horror, he instinctively retreated a half step back.
Crash!
As if stepping on a piece of glass, Wang Lu clearly heard a crisp fragmentation sound, and then countless cracks appeared everywhere in his line of sight as the black and white world has collapsed.
It turned out, he was still in that colorful Four Divisions Peak. The clouds were still lazily floating, and the mountain breeze was still blowing with a hint of fresh fragrance, however, everywhere around him seemed to be extraordinarily quiet.
The initially noisy, full of cacophony sound from the hundreds of disciples has turned silent. When Wang Lu carefully observed, all people have actually maintained the retreating a step back gesture. Some even stumbled back on the ground. Some looked unbearably stiff and some broke into cold sweat… It seemed like the illusion that the Stellar Sword Qi had broken his skull just was not unique to him.
After forcefully suppressing the palpitation of his heart, Wang Lu was able to clearly see the principle behind this move of Zhu Shiyao.
This was Zhu Shiyao’s demonstration. She couldn’t talk, so her way to demonstrate was through her sword, which was the ancient sword that she got from the Southern Heaven Region. Perhaps the sword intent from that sword strike came from herself, or perhaps the illusion was amplified by the top grade spiritual treasure. Regardless, her sword strike couldn’t be directly withstood by hundreds of Spirit Sword Sect disciples, including Wang Lu himself. The cold invincible might of Spirit Sword Sect’s Big Sister was without a doubt!
This moment, there seemed to be thousands of thoughts running simultaneously in his head, yet he was still at a loss. Perhaps that sword strike was just an illusion, but the experience was so real. In his mind, even after a long time, it was still difficult for him to eliminate the scene where he was actually unable to withstand one sword strike attack from Zhu Shiyao’s Stellar Sword Qi. Wang Lu believed that if the real Zhu Shiyao had actually made her move, the result would not be any different than the illusion. The Non-Phase Sword Defense, as the world’s strongest defense, was actually unable to block that immeasurable Stellar Sword Qi.
At this time, he had recalled every moment of the confrontation that happened just now. Every moment was particularly clear: how he propped up the sword defense, how the Stellar Sword Qi broke that defense… all have been deeply printed in his mind.
Purely on the attack power alone, though Zhu Shiyao’s stellar sword qi was quite powerful, it was far less than the full power attack of Liu Li’s Brilliant Sword Heart—the destructive power of the latter’s twelve flying swords turning into one was against the heaven. However, the way Zhu Shiyao’s sword qi operated has a trace of abstruse elusiveness in it that even his flawless Non-Phase Sword Defense was penetrated by it. In the absence of the flaw, it directly stabbed into it, breaking his skull.
This was obviously impossible. However, rather than complaining about its impossibility, it was better to find the plausible explanation. Wang Lu wrinkled his brows, deeply thinking about the reason. Imperceptibly, the time had rapidly slipped away.
After an indeterminate amount of time later, Wang Lu was suddenly awakened, and when he saw his surrounding, the crowds have gradually dispersed. Zhu Shiyao herself has left without a trace. Only some cultivators who were still immersed in thought like him were left.
The noisy welcoming scene has finally come to an end. Though there were still unresolved doubts in his heart, Wang Lu knew that this was not the time to dwell on it. He patted the nearby Liu Li, ready to leave the scene with her.
However, he immediately heard a gentle hum from Liu Li as her body slanted forward on its way to fall. Wang Lu hurriedly held the girl back. When he saw her, the girl’s face was pale and blood flowed from the corner of her mouth. Unexpectedly, she had suffered an internal injury!
When Wang Lu recalled, just now, hundreds of disciples had taken a step back to withdraw from the sword strike illusion of Zhu Shiyao, and even he himself has taken a half step back. Some of the other people have even retreated more than ten steps… Only Liu Li alone did not retreat and instead fought the pressure and took a step forward.
It was indeed reality though. Unfortunately, for other people, it was just an illusion of the mind, but Liu Li, who took the wrong road, was hurt back by the magical power instead. Why bother … Wang Lu could not help but sigh, thinking that Liu Li was indeed Liu Li. He was also distressed that the young girl has been injured. He then no longer thought about the mystery of Stellar Sword Qi, but instead stuffed her with a valuable healing pill. Then, he brought Liu Li back to the Brilliant Peak to meet with his Fourth Uncle Zhou Ming.
Seeing the injured Liu Li, Zhou Ming didn’t blame Wang Lu. Instead, he sighed with a frown. “This child is really too eager to compete.”
Wang Lu was curious. “Where did this come from?”
Zhou Ming explained, “Do you understand the principle behind Yao’Er’s rushed sword intent?”
Wang Lu said, “Although I don’t know about the details, it should be a kind of illusion.”
Zhou Ming corrected him, “It’s the Stellar Diffraction Technique [1].”
“Does Stellar Diffraction Technique actually have this effect?” Wang Lu could not help but feel strange. “Could it be that the scene that I just saw was the deduction scene of the Stellar Diffraction Technique?”
Zhao Ming said, “Correct. The essence of Stellar Diffraction Technique is to completely understand the change in the cause and effect, and map out all sorts of future possibilities into the perception. Yao’Er, with her supreme sword intent, stimulated the Stellar Diffraction Technique, which in the end, mapped out the thoughts of everyone of you. Therefore, all of you thought that you were fighting with her.”
Wang Lu said while clicking his tongue in amazement, “I can’t even withstand one sword strike from her… Big Sister is indeed Big Sister, as soon as she went back to the mountain, she immediately demonstrated her authority to everyone.”
However, Zhou Ming actually smiled and said, “You misunderstood her. She has no such complicated thoughts. Senior Brother told her to show you guys the result of her experiential learning, and she simply acted based on that order. This kind of extreme diffraction sword is exactly what her harvest is from the Southern Heaven Region. Before this experiential learning trip, she was unable to do to such an extent. Moreover, don’t you feel that being dragged into her Diffraction Technique illusion and experiencing her Stellar Soul Sword gave your cultivation base a great benefit?”
“Hehe, it’s alright,” Wang Lu laughed and vaguely answered. Indeed, after Zhu Shiyao’s one sword strike broke through his sword defense, in his shock, Wang Lu was vaguely made aware that there were a lot of details in his Non-Phase Sword Art that seemed to be improved. If it had not been for that sword strike, he might not have found it.
“Yao’Er is the Big Sister of Spirit Sword Sect disciples, so she has the obligation to give advice on Immortal Cultivation to her peers. However, since she is not good with words, she used the language of the sword, which not only displayed her cultivation base, but could also reveal the harvest to her peers. With this, she solved multiple problems with one move,” Zhou Ming said, and then somewhat helplessly looked at the still curled up resting on the bed Liu Li. “Unfortunately, this child Liu Li just can’t let it go.”
Zhou Ming then sighed. “You have been getting along with her for the longest time, so you should know that, though this child is naive and innocent, she is not without her own ideas; she’s not just wasting her time for nothing. She is very devout in the way of the sword. She is very persistent in the Immortal Cultivation through the way of the sword. These years, you have been fighting with her for more than a thousand times, so you ought to deeply experience this.”
Wang Lu was silent.
What his Uncle Zhou Ming said was true, no matter how bubbly and stupid Liu Li was in her daily life, once she held her sword, it was as if she turned into another person. Her devotion to the way of the sword was even higher than himself. These years, in their more than a thousand fights, Liu Li lost more than she won. However, Wang Lu could always see from her clear eyes the desire to win.
And just now, in the face of Zhu Shiyao’s Stellar Sword Qi, it was the same desire to win that led Liu Li to suffer injury. It was obvious that though she would always reply that her cultivation base was not as good as Zhu Shiyao whenever asked about it, but deep down, she has yet to give up. If there were to be an opportunity, she would always strive for victory. Unfortunately, ultimately, she failed to achieve that.
Looking at the curled up into a ball Liu Li, her eyebrows that seemed to slightly frown, seemingly still unwilling to give up even in her unconscious state, Wang Lu’s heart could not help but soften; he sighed and then gently touched her cheek.
“Why still want to fight even knowing that one is inferior?”
However, thinking that he was also defeated by that sword strike, it looked like he didn’t have the qualification to ridicule other people.
After a while, Wang Lu got up and took his leave. However, just as he passed through the door, a strange wave came from the courtyard, and the surrounding air has become a bit cold.
Then, a bit helplessly delicate whisper rang out.
“F-F-F-Fourth Uncle, I was instructed by Master, to vi-visit Junior Sister Liu Li.”
The voice was filled with stammers and jerky noises, as if she was struggling to recite unfamiliar lines. A moment later, the Big Sister of Spirit Sword Sect who rarely greeted other people walked straight into the courtyard. Holding a basket of fruit, she was about to directly meet Wang Lu as he went out of the door.
Wang Lu immediately stopped his steps and considered how to greet this Big Sister. However, he saw the other side did not even slow a bit as she directly went into the room. From the beginning, she didn’t even look at Wang Lu, completely turning a blind eye towards him!
” Oh boy, Big Sister of Spirit Sword Sect indeed has a lot of airs !”
Wang Lu’s ego was bruised, and several sarcastic words have already gathered on the tip of his tongue. However, then he thought that, as the losing side, even if he sent out his sarcastic words, what would be the use of it? Therefore, he swallowed them all back into his throat.
Hah, not long ago, wasn’t he sighing that he didn’t have a short-term goal after his emotion-stirring experience on the Grand Cloud Mountain? Wouldn’t that mean now the goal has already presented itself? Big Sister of Spirit Sword Sect… this title was awesome, even more domineering than the title of Lead Representative.
Just you wait, sooner or later, I will sign a contract with the immortal beast, and become the Big Sister of Spirit Sword Sect!
Hey, wait a minute! Something’s wrong…?
…
[1] (Previously Big Stars Diffraction Technique)