Chapter 404: Sword Domain |
Master, isn't he your good friend?
Chen Qing very much wanted to ask this question, but ultimately he didn't voice it.
Because he knew that Luo Zhixian had never been one who enjoyed joking.
"Fight your way up."
Chen Qing's thoughts raced. Perhaps between Luo Zhixian and that Xiao Jiuli, there was a friendship outsiders found difficult to understand.
Thinking of this, he curled his five fingers, firmly gripping the Jingzhe Spear's shaft, his gaze turning toward the towering Sword Pavilion that reached into the clouds.
Then he took one step forward.
The instant his foot touched the ground, an unexpected change occurred!
It felt as if he had stepped into an invisible quagmire. The air around him became incredibly viscous.
Even the operation of his blood qi furnace became sluggish.
"The Jiuli Sword Domain!" Luo Zhixian stood with his hands behind his back at the base of the stairs, his voice calmly transmitting, "The entire Sword Pavilion, and even this plaza, are enveloped by that old fellow Xiao Jiuli's sword domain. Within this domain, all True Origin, protective qi, and blood qi brute force are suppressed, difficult to release to harm enemies."
"What is tested is purely skill—the exquisiteness of sword techniques, blade techniques, spear techniques, the profound mysteries of technique variations, the depth of comprehending artistic conception."
Upon hearing this, Chen Qing immediately understood.
So that's how it was!
Just then, the door of the wooden house beside the first stone step opened on its own without wind.
A figure silently floated down before the stairs, blocking the path upward.
The newcomer was a man in his early thirties, with an ordinary face but an unusually focused expression, wearing blue cloth martial attire, a simple-styled longsword hanging at his waist.
"The Sword Pavilion's rule is that to meet the Sword Lord, one must pass the sword guardians' trials. I am Qingfeng, here to experience your superior techniques!"
Before his words finished, his right hand had already pressed on the sword hilt. With a clear "zheng" sound of sword song, the longsword left its sheath!
Qingfeng's feet slid, his body following the sword. The longsword transformed into a straight beam of clear light, directly stabbing at Chen Qing's center!
This sword thrust deeply embodied the sword technique principle of directly pointing to the heart. The sharp sound of its edge piercing the air demonstrated that his wrist strength, arm strength, and control over the sword body had all reached an extremely high standard.
Chen Qing stood firm as a boulder. The Jingzhe Spear in his hand shifted from stillness to motion. The spear shaft shook, tracing a simple half-arc.
"Ding—!"
The spear tip struck the center of the sword curtain, producing a crisp bell-like ring.
The next instant, Qingfeng was sent flying backward along with his sword, heavily crashing into the wooden house wall behind him.
His longsword went "crack," actually breaking in the middle!
The entire field fell silent.
Those sword guardians hidden in the wooden houses almost simultaneously held their breath.
One move!
Just one move, and the first gate's sword guardian Qingfeng had his sword broken and person injured!
Chen Qing continued forward, stepping onto the second stone step.
Luo Zhixian also stepped forward, following unhurriedly one step behind Chen Qing, as if merely strolling leisurely through a garden, appreciating his disciple's breakthrough.
The second wooden house door opened.
What emerged was a white-haired old man holding a wide-bladed heavy sword, his aura as heavy and imposing as a mountain.
"Excellent spear technique!"
The old man said in a deep voice, "This old one is Chongyue, requesting your guidance!"
Chen Qing remained silent, the Jingzhe Spear thrusting out again.
This thrust was completely different from the previous one.
The spear momentum was heavy as a collapsing mountain, carrying a domineering artistic conception that crushed everything, as if it weren't a spear but an entire mountain crashing down!
Chongyue shouted loudly, gripping his sword with both hands and chopping down heavily!
The sword wind howled, actually producing a sound like muffled thunder!
"Clang—!!!"
Spear and sword met, erupting with a deafening roar.
The heavy sword flew from his hands, spinning through the air before finally landing with a "clang" in the bluestone ground ten zhang away, the sword body embedded more than halfway.
Chongyue staggered back seven steps in succession before sitting down hard on the ground, his face pale, his eyes filled with shock.
Chen Qing withdrew his spear again, stepping onto the third stone step.
The third gate featured a purple-robed woman wielding a fast sword. Her sword light was like plum blossoms in a rainstorm, instantly thrusting forty-nine times in seven sets of seven, each sword aimed at vital points.
Chen Qing merely rotated his wrist slightly, the Jingzhe Spear tracing a perfectly round arc.
"Ding ding ding ding ding...!"
Forty-nine crisp sounds almost formed a continuous line.
All of the purple-robed woman's sword techniques were completely blocked. Then the spear shaft vibrated, transmitting a flexible and continuous force. The longsword in her hand involuntarily flew from her grasp, embedding itself into a nearby wooden pillar with a "pff," the sword hilt still trembling incessantly.
The woman stood frozen in place. After a long while, she bowed, "Thank you for showing mercy."
"You're too kind!"
Chen Qing returned the courtesy and stepped onto the fourth stone step.
The woman silently stepped aside, pulling out her sword and watching him ascend.
What followed saw Chen Qing advancing step by step. His spear moved like a dragon, yet also like flowing clouds and water.
With each level ascended, the sword guardians' techniques each had their own characteristics.
However, facing different sword technique styles, Chen Qing always displayed the most effective response.
His foundation was terrifyingly solid, his grasp of timing was alarmingly precise, and even rarer was that calmness and adaptability when facing enemies, as if born for battle.
Luo Zhixian constantly followed behind, his expression bland, yet his gaze always resting on Chen Qing, observing the changes in each of his spear thrusts, each adjustment in his footwork.
Occasionally, a trace of light would flash in his eyes, seeming like approval, yet also like contemplation.
Chen Qing advanced upward all the way, his momentum unstoppable.
Between flashing spear shadows, sword guardians were either defeated or retreated. No one could block his steps for even a moment.
In the blink of an eye, the master and disciple had already traversed over thirty stone steps.
The higher they went, the purer and sharper the sword guardians' techniques became, their understanding of the sword Dao increasingly profound.
But Chen Qing's spear seemed to grow stronger when facing strength. His spear techniques instead became more condensed, more freely wielded.
He was no longer merely satisfied with defeating opponents, but began intentionally using these exchanges to comprehend the exquisite aspects of his opponents' sword techniques and integrate them into his own understanding of the spear Dao.
[Heaven Rewards Diligence, Success Guaranteed]
[Dragon Roar Army-Breaking Spear: Perfection (12912/20000)]
"The progress on the panel is quite rapid. Could this really be due to this sword domain?"
Chen Qing felt his comprehension of the seventh spear technique advancing rapidly, even his understanding of 'domains' becoming increasingly profound.
This experience was like his cultivation surging in the sect's blessed land back in the day, except what was being nurtured now wasn't True Origin but spear techniques.
There was even such an unexpected benefit?
It seemed this was also part of his master's deeper intention.
Until the forty-ninth level.
This level's sword guardian was a young man who appeared only twenty-seven or twenty-eight, with sharp eyes.
The young man stood before the stairs, his blue robe gently moving, sword intent flowing warmly around him like a mountain stream, concealed but not released.
"I am 'Flowing Spring' Liu Qingzhou, here to experience your spear technique."
As his words fell, he didn't rush to attack but instead gestured with his right hand as the longsword at his waist left its sheath.
The sword tip drooped slightly, as if water droplets were condensing and about to fall.
Chen Qing's gaze focused slightly.
This person's sword hadn't moved yet his intent led the way—this was the external manifestation of flowing water sword intent.
Being able to cultivate sword intent meant he was already considered a sword Dao expert, far beyond those previous sword guardians.
"Please." Chen Qing held his spear horizontally before him, the spear tip angled toward the ground.
The next instant, Liu Qingzhou moved.
His steps slid lightly, his form like a stream flowing over stones, without any trace of worldly fire. Yet the Qinghong Sword in his hand suddenly burst forth with surging sword light!
That sword light wasn't a single ray but transformed into dozens of pale green streams of light, like branching creeks, surging toward Chen Qing from different angles.
Each stream of light was nimble and transforming, its trajectory unpredictable, faintly carrying a water-like entwining force, as if to trap Chen Qing within a net of sword light.
Chen Qing didn't retreat but advanced, the Jingzhe Spear thrusting forward.
This spear thrust appeared simple, yet the spear tip trembled nine times with extreme subtlety in the instant it was thrust out.
"Ding ding ding ding...!"
Dense collision sounds like rain beating plantain leaves suddenly exploded!
With each tremor of the spear tip, it precisely struck one ray of sword light.
Pale green sword light and dark golden spear radiance interwove and scattered, carving countless fine marks on the stone steps.
Liu Qingzhou's eyes sharpened as his sword momentum suddenly changed.
His wrist rotated lightly, the Qinghong Sword tracing a perfectly round arc in the air. The sword light that had just been scattered didn't completely dissipate but instead seemed pulled by an invisible force, gathering at the sword tip and transforming into a condensed, solid-looking green water ribbon!
"Flowing Waters Converge to River!"
Liu Qingzhou shouted lowly as his sword tip flicked upward.
That green water ribbon rose with the sword, winding through the air like a living thing, then like a reversed waterfall, carrying heavy, dense water momentum, it descended to cover Chen Qing from above!
This sword had brought the 'firmness within softness, continuous and unending' aspect of flowing water sword intent to its extreme.
Before the water ribbon arrived, Chen Qing already felt the air around him become viscous and heavy, as if truly placed in deep water, his movements sluggish.
"Sword intent taking form... somewhat interesting."
Chen Qing silently praised in his heart, yet the Jingzhe Spear in his hand suddenly erupted with brilliant golden radiance!
He thrust straight with one spear, meeting that green water ribbon without any flourish!
"Boom—!"
Spear tip and water ribbon collided fiercely!
There was no sharp clang of metal on metal, only a muffled boom like a boulder falling into water.
The part of the water ribbon struck by the spear tip violently shook, ripples spreading madly, yet it didn't collapse. Instead, like real flowing water, it entwined upward, attempting to bind both the Jingzhe Spear and Chen Qing's arm together!
Liu Qingzhou's lips revealed a trace of a smile.
His flowing water sword intent was best at using softness to overcome hardness, using entwining to break direct assaults.
Once bound by the water ribbon, no matter how great one's brute force, it would be dissolved layer by layer until strength was exhausted and defeat came.
However, Chen Qing's expression remained calm.
Just as the water ribbon was about to entwine the spear shaft, the five fingers of his right hand gripping the spear suddenly tightened!
"Break!"
With a low shout, the Jingzhe Spear suddenly rotated!
The spear shaft churned like a raging dragon. A point of cold light at the spear tip exploded, transforming into countless fine, sharp spear qi, rolling backward against the entwining water ribbon!
"Shh shh shh shh—!"
The green water ribbon, with the spear tip as its center, rapidly disintegrated and scattered!
Liu Qingzhou's expression changed dramatically. He only felt the recoil force transmitted through the sword body erupt like a mountain flood, overwhelmingly difficult to resist.
He grunted, retreating backward with both person and sword. His toes tapped the stone steps seven times in succession before barely dissipating the force and stabilizing his form.
The Qinghong Sword in his hand trembled incessantly, the flowing water radiance on the sword body dimmed by more than half.
Chen Qing withdrew his spear and stood, the spear tip angled toward the ground, his breathing as steady as before.
"I yield."
Liu Qingzhou lowered his head to look at his own arm, then gazed at Chen Qing's Jingzhe Spear that remained steady as a boulder. After a moment of silence, he sheathed his sword and stepped aside to clear the path.
"Your spear technique is brilliant... Liu is completely convinced."
He paused, then added, "The sword guardians above all have their own unique sword intents."
Chen Qing cupped his fists, "Thank you for the guidance."
With that said, he stepped onto the fiftieth stone step.
Liu Qingzhou stood in place, watching Chen Qing's back ascend, murmuring in a low voice, "Breaking my sword intent with merely basic spear techniques... just how profound is this person's spear Dao foundation?"
At the base of the stone steps, at the plaza's edge.
Dozens of sword cultivators who had come upon hearing the news had already gathered.
Everyone looked up at that figure ascending along the steps and the gray-robed old man following behind like strolling through a garden. Discussion rose like a tide.
"The forty-ninth level's 'Flowing Spring Sword' Liu Qingzhou... actually lost too!"
"From the first level to the forty-ninth, this person hasn't repeated a single move. Each spear thrust is perfectly appropriate. This spear technique control is simply terrifying!"
"Did you all notice? He hasn't used any spear intent divine abilities so far, relying entirely on basic spear techniques and adaptability to defeat enemies!"
"Nonsense, within the Sword Lord's sword domain, True Origin and blood qi are both suppressed. He's doing this to conserve strength in the most efficient way, saving power for the higher-level sword guardians!"
"Even so, breaking through forty-nine gates within one incense stick's time... this speed is too terrifying!"
"What level do you think he can reach?"
"At the current momentum, at least sixty or seventy levels shouldn't be a problem!"
"Sixty or seventy levels? I'm not so sure. Above the sixtieth level, the sword guardians are all ruthless characters. There are even several who left their names in the jianghu as famous sword Dao masters, absolutely not comparable to those before."
At the Sword Pavilion's peak, above the sea of clouds.
Within the pavilion, the dome was inlaid with hundreds of luminous pearls, arranged in the pattern of celestial stars.
At the center, on a green jade meditation cushion, sat a middle-aged man.
He sat upright on the green jade cushion, wearing an immaculate plain white robe, the robe's hem spread like clouds, draping to the ground.
The years hadn't left many traces of vicissitudes on his face, but instead had precipitated a kind of tranquility that had washed away all worldly concerns.
Most eye-catching were his eyes.
Wherever his gaze fell, invisible sword qi seemed to flow, yet without revealing sharpness, leaving only a clear, empty purity.
He simply sat quietly like that, perfectly integrated with the surrounding star chart.
This was precisely that person who could suppress a city with one person's name, making sword cultivators throughout the world yearn for him—the Jiuli Sword Lord, Xiao Jiuli.
At this moment, he quietly gazed at a three-foot blue blade floating before him.
The sword had no sheath, floating quietly in the air.
The sword body wasn't ordinary iron but clear as crystal throughout. Yet within it were contained pale golden fine veins that flowed bright and dim like breathing living things. Where the radiance shimmered, it was like undulating waves beneath the moon over a vast sea.
This sword merely floated horizontally, yet the surrounding space already couldn't withstand its sharpness.
Light refracted around it, the scene slightly distorting, and wisps of black traces appeared and disappeared at the sword edge.
This was precisely one of the thirteen Heaven-Connecting Spirit Treasures renowned in the current world, famous throughout the eight wildernesses—a sword body of the Vast Sea Floating Light Sword.
To Xiao Jiuli's lower left and right, two slightly smaller meditation cushions were placed.
On the left cushion sat a man about thirty years old, with a cold, stern face, wearing black martial attire, a black-sheathed longsword at his waist.
His spine was held perfectly straight, his entire person like a sharp sword sheathed, all sharpness concealed, yet making people dare not underestimate him.
This person was named Ling Han, Xiao Jiuli's eldest disciple. Among Yan Kingdom's younger generation of sword cultivators, he could rank in the top three.
On the right cushion was a woman of twenty-seven or twenty-eight, wearing a water-blue long dress, her black hair styled in a flowing cloud bun, her appearance fresh and beautiful.
Her name was Su Cheng, also Xiao Jiuli's disciple. Her talent was extremely high. Her cultivation was slightly inferior to Ling Han's, but she was also a famous sword cultivator.
At this moment, Su Cheng's gaze drifted toward the pavilion's external entrance direction, appearing somewhat absent-minded.
Ling Han, meanwhile, observed his eyes through his nose and his heart through his nose, sitting quietly to regulate his breathing.
Suddenly, footsteps came from the pavilion entrance.
An old man walked in, bowing in salute, "Sword Lord, someone is breaking through the pavilion."
Xiao Jiuli's gaze didn't move, looking at the Vast Sea Floating Light Sword's blade before him, not speaking.
Ling Han instead spoke up to ask, "Who is it?"
"A spear-wielding young man, followed by a gray-robed old man. That young man's spear technique is extremely high. He's breaking through very quickly—in less than one incense stick's time, he's already reached the fiftieth level." The gray-clothed old man respectfully reported.
"Oh?"
Su Cheng turned her head, "Less than one incense stick to reach the fiftieth level? Who is this person?"
The gray-clothed old man shook his head, "An unfamiliar face. However, observing his spear work—steady and experienced, with a foundation so solid it's terrifying, it doesn't seem like the skill a young person should have."
Ling Han said in a deep voice, "Master, should this disciple go take a look?"
"No need."
Xiao Jiuli looked toward the pavilion entrance, slowly saying, "It's Luo Zhixian."
With his current realm, with a slight movement of his thoughts, all movements inside and outside the Sword Pavilion were within his grasp.
"Luo Zhixian?" Su Cheng blinked, "That spear Dao Grandmaster from the Tianbao Upper Sect? What is he doing breaking through the Sword Pavilion?"
Ling Han also frowned slightly, "If Senior Luo wished to see Master, why would he need to break through the pavilion? Presenting a name card, Master would naturally meet him."
Xiao Jiuli shook his head, "He brought his disciple."
How could he not know Luo Zhixian's purpose?
"Disciple?"
Su Cheng understood, "Could it be that Chen Qing who's had such a loud reputation recently? The one who defeated Zhou Xiang in the Eight Dao lands and then defeated Ji Yunliang within the Tianbao Upper Sect?"
"It's him."
Xiao Jiuli's gaze was profound, "Luo Zhixian's standards are remarkably high. Back then, even Nan Zhuoran couldn't catch his eye, yet now he's taken this Chen Qing as a disciple... I'm quite curious about his disciple."
As his words just fell, ripples arose again at the pavilion entrance.
Another sword attendant guarding the pavilion quickly entered, "Sword Lord! That person has already broken through to the seventieth level!"
"What?!" Su Cheng couldn't help but cry out softly, "How long has it been? From the fiftieth to the seventieth level... twenty gate barriers, he used less than half an incense stick's time?"
Ling Han's expression also grew solemn, "The sword guardian at the seventieth level is 'Mountain Breaking' Cheng Hanshan. He's already cultivated two sword intents, his sword momentum as heavy as a mountain. For this person to break through so quickly is truly remarkable..."
Xiao Jiuli, however, wasn't the least bit surprised, his expression quite calm.
"Luo Zhixian's disciple... if he couldn't even reach the seventieth level, that would be what's strange."