Listening to the cheers of the onlookers around him, Li Mo froze in place. He had only said one line!
The atmosphere had been built up to this point, yet two moves seemed a bit underwhelming.
But whether to use a sword or a hammer was a dilemma, and it felt like there wasn’t much difference anyway.
Using a sword made his Qianlong Fourth status seem rather flimsy, prompting laughter all around.
When the hammer came out… well, the mere sight of it sent the crowd into fits of giggles without it having to be swung.
“Please, make your move! Why are you being all coy and acting like a little girl?”
Xie Xuan, clutching his sword, spat out the grass he had been chewing.
He observed that Li Mo didn’t seem like the type to bluster, so why was he hesitating?
“Li Mo.”
A clear voice rang in his ear. Li Mo looked up and met Ying Bing’s ethereal gaze, tinged with a hint of helplessness.
“Watch carefully for my sword later.”
“Um… huh?”
Li Mo blinked, half understanding.
“I’m curious to know how you suggest I won’t be able to take a single hit.”
At this moment, seeing Li Mo still stagnant, Xie Xuan’s curiosity pushed him to draw his sword.
Without even using his divine sense or true essence, pure sword light erupted from around him, as if he and the sword had fused into one.
The sword light surged, pure and dazzling, making it hard for anyone to keep their eyes open.
This strike split into seven paths, enveloping Li Mo entirely.
Li Mo squinted, his forty falling into his sleeves.
Xie Xuan’s sword was smooth and majestic, like a complete world belonging to swords, one that Dugu Nine Swords couldn’t break through.
Clang—
At that moment, a sword cry suddenly rang out in his ear. Tian Shuang had drawn her sword!
The pure sword seemed to burst into crystal clarity in the night sky, unexpectedly shattering the world of swords.
One-of-a-kind, unmatched.
Ethereal, out of this world.
Like a sudden white, flawless beam appearing in a pitch-black realm, so striking it was impossible to ignore.
Xie Xuan was momentarily entranced, as if witnessing the most beautiful existence in the world.
Heavenly Heart, akin to one’s own heart replaced by the heart of heaven.
After Ying Bing’s modifications, it had turned into a sword heart shining through.
In the next moment, sword light surged again.
Xie Xuan suddenly altered the sword’s momentum, the sword shadow obscured and elusive, leaving no trace behind.
“Can Cold Fairy actually compete with Xie Xuan solely based on sword skills?”
“Is her talent in swordsmanship not even more terrifying than Xie Xuan’s?”
“Exactly! She’s younger and at a lower realm by two notches, if all techniques were on display, she might even be a tad short, but purely in sword talent, she might just surpass him!”
“Qianlong Third, it’s well-deserved! I’m joining the Cold Fairy fan club!”
The attention of everyone in the arena swiftly shifted to Ying Bing as more and more spectators gathered around.
Yet while the laymen watched the excitement, the insiders recognized the underlying techniques.
“Wait a minute…”
Among the group from Hengyun Sword City, Elder Zeng narrowed his eyes, raising an eyebrow.
“What’s wrong?” Bai Jinghong snapped back to reality.
Elder Zeng replied in a puzzled tone, “She’s not merely competing with Xie Xuan. It’s more of a… suppression! Xie Xuan should have lost long ago.”
“!!”
The Hengyun Trio felt as if they had been struck by lightning.
They had endured rigorous training for the Qianlong Conference!
The gap was only growing larger, so much so that when faced with Qianlong Second, they were thrown into confusion, unable to tell how much they were holding back. Who could handle this?
She really was distressing.
Well, actually, that’s just a misconception.
The gap between them and Ying Bing had always been this vast; it’s just that Ying Bing hadn’t gone all out in front of them yet.
If it had been her in the previous life, at seventeen, she would not have been able to suppress Xie Xuan in terms of swordsmanship.
“But… why can she defeat Xie Xuan yet hold back?”
Bai Jinghong was puzzled.
“…”
Elder Zeng ignored him and looked over at Li Mo nearby, his face breaking into a scholar’s smile.
“??”
“Pure Jun Sword Realm… Yi Sword Technique…”
Little Li was watching seriously, just like when he observed Ying Bing demonstrating in Qiushui Pavilion.
“That straw hat guy’s Yi Sword Technique is not bad; one sword strike can calculate the next ten, but Ice Sister… seems to have calculated all of his techniques in one go.”
Jiang Chulong’s mouth fell open in surprise, her eyes blinking behind her glasses.
“But Ice Sister could have defeated him many times!”
“Many times…”
A flash of lightning struck Li Mo’s mind.
So, Ying Bing had seen through his intention to use sword techniques.
Deliberately allowing Xie Xuan to showcase all his sword moves, letting herself scrutinize those from beginning to end.
It felt like…
The big boss personally showing you how to beat the game.
“But even having seen Xie Xuan’s moves, being slightly familiar with Dugu Nine Swords is still not enough.”
Li Mo put away his forty swords.
Martial understanding, activate!
Not far away.
Xie Xuan was already drenched in sweat, having barely resisted the urge to unleash his divine sense multiple times.
He had mastered Yi Sword Technique long ago, but he felt like a tiny fly trapped in an invisible web, every move unable to escape.
Xie Xuan couldn’t help but recall how long ago, his master had warned him while teaching Yi Sword Technique, not to get complacent over his current achievements.
When Shi Sujun created the Yi Sword Technique, he was barely at the same age.
At this moment, that figure he had heard about countless times, dazzling all Nine Heavens and Ten Earths, he finally understood why his elders often spoke of failure.
“In terms of sword skills, I’m not as good as you.”
“But in pure Jun sword skills, I haven’t lost.”
Suddenly, Xie Xuan sheathed his sword, his gaze burning bright.
Ying Bing nodded slightly but didn’t say much, moving beside Li Mo to quietly ask,
“Childish Ghost, did you see it clearly?”
“Yeah, I saw it.”
Li Mo looked at her subtly smiling, incredibly beautiful face, internally arguing that he was NOT a childish ghost, then pulled out his Qi Xiao sword, his expression switching to the same ice-cold demeanor as Ying Bing.
Thanks to recent accumulations, plus dumping a hundred years of martial understanding into it.
Dugu Nine Swords had reached minor success.
He figured he could now casually ask, “What’s a sword hero?” and nobody would dare argue.
Seeing Li Mo’s smirk and nonchalant attitude, Wu Chushu felt a familiar shiver run down his spine.
It seemed he was about to show off in front of everyone!
“Please, go ahead and draw your sword!”
“Um… alright.”
Only now did Xie Xuan remember he was prepared to spar with Li Mo.
Then he inexplicably got beaten up by the Cold Fairy…
Where on earth can one argue this point?!
