Chapter 322: Dual Sword Combination, Broken
Translator: Sparrow Translations Editor: Sparrow Translations
The scene of Xiao Budian casually watching the show, in contrast to Tuntun fuming with rage, rendered everyone outside the Hidden Dragon Gorge speechless. All of them shot strange looks at Lin Feng and the others of the Celestial Sect of Wonders.
Zhu Yi, looking up at the sky, sighed. "A lifetime of honor, destroyed in a day!"
At this moment, even the upstanding Yue Hongyan lowered his unyielding head as he seemed to be engrossed in his feet.
Yang Qing's head was twisted to one side; he couldn't bear to watch the scene, being so ashamed that he wished for a hole to hide himself in.
Although Zhuge Fengling did not speak due to Lin Feng's presence, she continued to shake her head while communicating telepathically with her Gold-Digging Mouse. "I deceive and trick people, but even I couldn't hang my own partner out to dry under the gaze of hundreds, especially so blatantly and nonchalantly!"
Her Gold-Digging Mouse nodded fervently as well.
Only Lin Feng still appeared unperturbed as he gazes at the Hidden Dragon Gorge calmly, but he had a bitter smile within. "You little brat, even when backstabbing your teammate you be so high-key – you're a real talent, aren't you?"
The Vivant Joy Holy Man's look was fixated on Lin Feng as he let out a dry cough. "Lord Lin, it seems that your disciple has not yet recovered from his wounds and is incapable of participating in the match."
"If it is to be undertaken solely by…err, by your unofficial disciple…it's not a big deal in the event of a loss, but a win…it might be somewhat unfair to the Sun Moon Sword Sect's Li Dongtao and Yun Mei."
Lin Feng smiled faintly. "I agree with the Vivant Joy Holy Man's words. However, it is still early to make conclusions."
"Oh?" The Vivant Joy Holy Man's gaze flickered as it returned to the Hidden Dragon Gorge.
Just then, in the Hidden Dragon Gorge, Xiao Budian was picking his ear as he looked on Tuntun, whose curses reverberated below. He told her dissatisfiedly, "So noisy. You can't even settle this sort of minor problem. Useless."
Tuntun felt rivers of tears running down her face as she roared with rage. "You're certainly useful. You come and try…Ah!" As she sparred verbally with Xiao Budian, she let her guard down for a moment and was almost hit by one of Li Dongtao's stabs.
Xiao Budian's lips curled. "If I wasn't injured, who needs you?"
"Well, don't be injured then!" Tuntun was absolutely furious, to the point that she was on the verge of coughing up blood. Not only does she have to face the Dual Sword Combination of the Sun Moon Sword Sect disciples, but also spar verbally with Xiao Budian simultaneously; the frustration was definitely getting to her.
Li Dongtao and Yun Mei looked at each other, not knowing whether to laugh or cry. Yun Mei let out a moan. "With this sort of opponent…it's sort of embarrassing even if we win."
"Let's win first." Li Dongtao said gruffly.
Both of them ramped up the power as the attacks intensified, to the point that Tuntun did not even have the chance to speak anymore.
It was obvious now that Xiao Budian was merely watching from the sidelines; they obviously would not waste this chance. First take the opportunity to dispatch Tuntun, and it would be much easier to take care of Xiao Budian then.
But at precisely this moment, Xiao Budian suddenly moved.
The half a unfinished fruit was shoved briskly into his mouth; like a flash of lightning, he dashed down the slope, straight to Li Dongtao and Yun Mei.
"Little brother, too simple. We were expecting that." Yun Mei laughed.
She certainly did not back down; her Full Moon Holy Light Sword slashed right at Xiao Budian, precisely to force him to engage head-on to take advantage of his still-raw wounds.
Xiao Budian let out a sharp howl. "Tuntun!"
"Trying that again? I'm not going to fall for it anymore!" Tuntun shouted, irritated.
"Not engaging? I'm returning to my hilltop then." Xiao Budian chuckled impishly. "I'll settle the score with you later." Tuntun roared.
As she talked, Tuntun waved her hand. Grand Sun Primordial Flame flew out like thousands of golden needles, right at Yun Mei in a massive wave.
Yun Mei, though, did not even acknowledge them. She continued to engage Xiao Budian directly while at her side, Li Dongtao swung his blade, helping her block Tuntun's Grand Sun Primordial Flame.
Sun Radiance Sword Manual and Grand Sun Primordial Flame crashed into each other, like the collision of two fiery suns. Sparks flew as blinding light forced people to keep their eyes closed.
At this second, Xiao Budian's lips turned upwards subtly. As his Heaven-Shaking Thunderstorm was activated, he abruptly changed direction in mid-air like the fastest gust of wind. Xiao Budian's body marked a zig-zag trajectory as he withdrew away from Yun Mei and charged at Li Dongtao.
A shadow loomed over Yun Mei; she vaguely felt that something was not right, but that did not impede her movements even a bit. The power of Full Moon Holy Light Sword was pushed to the max, launching at Xiao Budian in the form of a ray of blinding white light. It appeared as if the Milky Way itself was cascading down through the Heavens.
Outside the Hidden Dragon Gorge, a smile suddenly surfaced on Lin Feng's lips as the Sun Radiance Swordmaster's eyebrows knitted into a slight frown.
The other Immortal Soul cultivators watching this scene, meanwhile, all looked to be deep in thought.
Faced with this attack, Xiao Budian just chuckled as he discharged the Tiger Soul Golden Plate with a wave of his hand, releasing the Demon Tiger Soul and blocking Yun Mei's attack.
Yun Mei's face froze. She had planned to hit directly at Xiao Budian, forcing him to abandon attacking Li Dongtao; little did she know that Xiao Budian would suddenly release a Advanced Aurous Core stage Demon Tiger Soul, foiling her plan.
With this, Li Dongtao, in the middle of a fiery battle with Tuntun, instantly fell into a two-front dilemma.
Even more troubling for Li Dongtao and Yun Mei, Xiao Budian's intervention showed signs of isolating the two of them, making each fight on his own and unable to support each other.
Most of the spectators outside the Gorge were still perplexed, unable to figure out how Xiao Budian and Tuntun could reverse the situation with the snap of a finger.
Only a few had looks of realization on their faces.
"Fascinating!" Jiao Junchen exclaimed, clapping.
Shi Xingyun nodded. "Li Dongtao and Yun Mei's coordination is already well-versed. Transitions in the swordplay, links in the spells…all extremely intimate and synchronized."
"Still, it's a pity that humans are ultimately different. Even if they had great chemistry and specifically complemented each other, it is impossible to ensure that two people will always have the same thoughts. Differences in personality, especially, will cause them to make different judgments when faced with the same choice."
In the Sword of Radiance Sect Camp, Zhao Yan looked at Tao Yaoyao with bewilderment. "Big Senior, this is…"
As she stared at the Hidden Dragon Gorge, Tao Yaoyao answered absentmindedly. "Li Dongtao and Yun Mei – they will both actively support and reinforce each other, but differences of character will cause them to choose different methods to go about it."
"Li Dongtao has a stolid disposition; he favors playing things safe. So when Yun Mei is under attack and needs his support, Li Dongtao's choice would be to defend, blocking the blow passively for Yun Mei."
"As for Yun Mei, even though she's a woman, her personality is actually very proactive, and her fighting style inclines towards the radical and the bold. When Li Dongtao is under threat and requires her help, Yun Mei's choice would be to attack actively, to strike at the enemy's vulnerabilities, so as to force the enemy to abandon his target to protect himself."
Tao Yaoyao's gaze fell on Xiao Budian as a smile came across her lips. "That little brat – it seems that he hasn't actually been just watching the show and eating his fruits on that hill. He has been continuously observing the details in Li Dongtao and Yun Mei's fighting. He identified this point and exploited it effectively."
Zhao Yan frowned as he stared at the Hidden Dragon Gorge. "He dismantled the Sun Moon Sword Sect's Dual Sword Combination this easily?"
"It's completely different from myself and that little girl from the Celestial Sect of Wonders – us then was an actual one against two, with the other partner being pretty much redundant." Tao Yaoyao rolled her eyes. "But this little brat, and that little pureblood Taotie – either one of these two has the ability to challenge the Dual Swords of the Sun and the Moon on his own."
"If the two of them confront the Dual Swords of the Sun and the Moon together head-on, they have a reasonable chance of victory – it's just that it would be way more tedious and exhausting."
"Under these conditions, as long as Li Dongtao and Yun Mei exposed a single weakness, it would be ruthlessly exploited and expanded, until there is nothing more that can be done." Tao Yaoyao continued.
She retracted her gaze as she said uninterestedly. "No need to watch any further. With the disintegration of the Dual Sword Combination, the outcome is set. That little brat has obtained his victory in the most energy-efficient manner."
Tao Yaoyao's assessment was correct. After Li Dongtao and Yun Mei's Dual Sword Combination was destroyed, they were unable to fend off Xiao Budian and Tuntun. After struggling for a while, they were promptly defeated.
Xiao Budian successfully entered the top four, and Tuntun also qualified to enter the Ancient Huanghai World.
"Even like this that little brat squeaked through…Mu Senior has even already injured him to that extent…" Outside the Hidden Dragon Gorge, someone in the Heaven Lake Sect said sadly.
Mu Jihai's face was dark as a thundercloud.
In contrast, Song Qingyuan's expression was extremely calm. If you look closely, you could even see hints of relaxedness and satisfaction on his face.
"Although they won, but the majority of the threat was from that pureblood Taotie. Even though Shi Tianhao saw through the gaps in Li Dongtao and Yun Mei's combination, but in fact, in the actual battle, he was playing a support role."
Song Qingyuan smiled silently. "And even like that, he was forced to use a magic item. If I haven't remembered wrongly, when Celestial Sect of Wonders disciples battled before this, most of them were really proud. They only depended on their own Mana and Abhijna and only rarely used external help."
"This one really did reach his limits. Not necessary to worry about him."
On the other side, the Celestial Sect of Wonders party was naturally welcoming the triumphant return of the two. Zhu Yi looked as Xiao Budian, shaking his head. "You! If you want to observe their flaws, just observe. But you just had to make it so conspicuous."
"Nothing was compromised, it went pretty well." Xiao Budian laughed. "Shi Xingyun was pretty on point; if I had fought those two swordsmen alone, it would have been rather difficult. But when I had a helper as well, it's much easier."
He was laughing joyfully, but beside him, Tuntun has completely erupted. "You still dare to say?"
Her petite body was bouncing up and down in anger as she cursed, pointing right at Xiao Budian's nose. "Shi Tianhao, you bastard! Now that the quota for the Ancient Huanghai World has been secured, I'm going to settle that score with you. Do you really believe me, a Taotie, to be a wimp?"