Chapter 997: You Have A Sword, I Have A Sword – Let’s Battle!
Translator: Sparrow Translations Editor: Sparrow Translations
"Junior Wan!" All they could do was watch, as Wan Zhenglun passed into the void with a single strike of Tang Jun’s Fire Qilin Wicked Fist. Even his soul was consumed by the fearsome flames of the Nefarious Spectral Primordial Fire. Shan Xiang and the two others were devastated.
The chaotic hurricane in the void became even more violent and eventually swallowed Tang Jun as well. The light circle at the center of the hurricane shattered into pieces and dissipated into specs of flowing light.
However, this was all within the calculations of Tang Jun, Yang Tie and company. The sudden and explosive flare of the spiritual energies were incurred intentionally and personally. Their actions caused the chaotic hurricane that was just starting to quiet down to flare up once again – even though it was explosive and violent, it was also very temporary.
The chaotic Spiritual Energy Hurricane split open the void around everyone, and swept them all into the crack in space. Under the continuous flow of spiritual energy, everybody separated and disappeared without a trace.
At the far end of the horizon, three white clouds split open the void and arrived on scene. Their strength and mana seemed superior to that of Shan Xiang, but they were obstructed by the spinning hurricane and the various cracks in the void. All they could do was watch as Shan Xiang and company, along with the disciples from the Celestial Sect of Wonders, vanished into the cracks in the void.
However, due to the cracks in the void, the chaotic spiritual energies had a path for catharsis and thus caused minimal harm to everybody caught inside the hurricane. Tang Jun, Yang Tie and the others devised this plan from the moment Wan Zhenglun played his trick on them to resolve this perilous situation.
They took a risk to give Tang Jun enough time in order to dish out justice to Wan Zhenglun, who deserved his punishment.
In the void, Zhao Mingxiu managed to recall her two streaks of sword radiance to protect herself. However, the tumultuous flow of spiritual energy within the void continued to shake her around and when she regained her senses her surroundings had changed completely. She had no clue where she was.
"It’s Senior Chen and the others…" She thought back to the moment right before she was swept into the cracks in the void and identified the three clouds that had finally arrived. She shook her head, and heaved a heavy sigh.
However, she immediately recalled that Wan Zhenglun had just been executed by Tang Jun right before her eyes. She had mixed feeling – on the one hand, even though she felt that Wan Zhenglun had it coming, she was infuriated by the domineering and overbearing attitude of the disciples from the Celestial Sect of Wonders.
After all, Wan Zhenglun was from her own sect. Even though she did not approve of his actions and perhaps even despised them, she was unwilling to see her senior perish at the hands of others. From her perspective, she was naturally inclined to let her elders and masters settle this matter.
"Those three that just arrived are stronger than Shan Xiang. From the looks of it, even without the sudden chaotic hurricane, you guys will fight with one another anyway?" A lazy voice rang out in her ears from the side and gave her a slight shock.
She turned around sharply and saw a youth watching her quietly from far away. He was clad in a purple robe and had a sword casing strapped behind his back – it was Han Yang.
Han Yang wore a casual smile on his face as he said, "Aren’t you guys secretly blaming Wan Zhenglun as well? He made a move stupidly and brought every single one of you into the fray."
Zhao Mingxiu regained her orientation and stared back at Han Yang. "I may not agree with Senior Wan’s actions, and regardless of Senior Chen’s opinions and regardless of whether our sects will engage in a contest for the Crucible of the Divine Lands, I have no intention to antagonize you guys. In the end, you guys just helped me escape."
Han Yang chuckled and replied, "If you guys hadn’t provoked us, we would never had picked a fight with the disciples from the Great Void Sect. I had no interest in battling the four of you just now, but I did find your swordplay rather interesting – it seems like it isn’t devised purely from the Great Void Dual Polarity Mystic Sword Mantra?"
Zhao Mingxiu’s brows furrowed as she heard his words and her eyes narrowed into slits. "You look down on the mantras of the Great Void Sect?"
Han Yang raised an eyebrow at her remark and replied calmly, "That’s not it. I am not all-powerful like the Founder. As of today, besides my own sect and from my own perspective, the Great Void Sect is still a giant entity that is high and mighty and insurmountable. Powerful cultivators are produced and the mantras from the Great Void Sect are extremely mystical and profound as well."
"However, the issue is that: as I am compared to my Founder, like a light from a firefly before the radiance of the Sun and Moon, the four of you are the same in comparison to the immortal soul stage cultivators from your sect."
Zhao Mingxiu took a deep breath and started to cast a sword spell with her hands and the red and green streaks of sword radiance drifted in front of her body and pointed straight towards Han Yang.
"I am extremely grateful for what you did to save us before this. However, this is related to the reputation and the glory of my sect, and I have been nurtured and cared for by the elders from my sect for far too long – I cannot let this go."
Zhao Mingxiu lowered her voice and said. "I do not approve of Senior Wan’s actions. His execution by one of your sect members is not something I can interfere with either, and should be settled by our masters or by the other senior elders from our sects."
"I will repay this debt in the future, for saving my life. But now, I wish to challenge you to a duel!"
Her face was solemn and serious. She was faced with a second-generation disciple from the Celestial Sect of Wonders, and Han Yang’s reputation matched that of Tang Jun. Objectively, even if one of them was stronger than the other, the gap was very small.
After watching Tang Jun’s display of prowess, Zhao Mingxiu was certain that she was no match for Han Yang.
However, there was no way she could avoid this fight with Han Yang as this concerned the reputation of the Great Void Sect.
"The mantras and mana of the Celestial Sect of Wonders are not something that can be gauged by the usual standards of the Divine Lands. This applies to even adversaries from the Great Void Sect!"
Tang Jun’s words still rang loud in her ears, and this brought great humiliation to Zhao Mingxiu. What made her heart bleed even more was the fact that the battle that just transpired only served to prove his statement right.
His words seemed to rip open the last cover that the Great Void Sect had covering them. "In the same level of mastery, you guys are no match for us."
This distressed Zhao Mingxiu, who had been plying the craft with the Great Void Sect ever since she was a little kid.
In other times, she would have been able to swallow this down, return to the mountain and continue cultivating and seek her own retribution against the disciples of the Celestial Sect of Wonders in the future. However, she developed a very strong opinion about what just happened with Wan Zhenglun. She wanted to prove that the disciples of the Great Void Sect had the standard and the confidence to face off against their opponents.
Even though she knew her chances of victory were incredibly thin, she had the courage and the pride.
The emotions dissipated from her eyes and only concentration remained. The sword radiance before her seemed to sharpen as well and she clasped her hands together as a greeting towards Han Yang. "Zhao Mingxiu of the Great Void Sect – let’s battle."
Han Yang looked Zhao Mingxiu up and down with a rather surprised look and the smile on his face faded away. His eyes grew sharp and replied, "We didn’t expect any reciprocation when we gave you guys a helping hand. You don’t have to concern yourself about that."
He was still standing there with a casual posture. His sword was still sheathed, but his voice grew serious. "Han Yang of the Celestial Sect of Wonders – I accept your challenge."
Zhao Mingxiu drew up the swords in her hands as the two streaks of sword radiance, one green and one red, split open the void and slashed towards Han Yang!
Both these swords were nascent soul stage magic items, and both complemented each other!
These items that originated from the Yin Yang Mantra of the Void and the Great Void Dual Polarity Mystic Sword Mantra had always complemented each other. One was Yin by nature and the other Yang, and these two swords fired off at the same time and split open the void.
Zhao Mingxiu was only in the Aurous Core Advanced Stage. However, the Great Void Sect had bestowed these two swords upon her and this was enough to show the emphasis that the inner circle of her sect placed on her.
It was also evident from her display of profound and intricate swordplay that she had understood the essence of the Great Void Dual Polarity Mystic Sword Mantra to the highest possible level. The two streaks of sword radiance were tailed by a black stream of energy and another white one as both seemed independent yet catalyzed each other at the same time. Sword mind and sword energy enveloped the void and permeated everything.
Zhao Mingxiu’s Red Sky Sword and her Green Void Sword were one of the more powerful Nascent Soul Stage magic items that belonged to the Great Void Sect. Combined with her swordplay, their powers were greatly enhanced.
The two sword radiances glimmered and darted around with unpredictable movement. They appeared at a location far away from Han Yang but disappeared immediately after, and showed themselves right behind him in the next moment.
Han Yang nodded his head faintly and said, "Indeed, you’re stronger than that Yang fella and the Wan fella. Even Shan Xiang can’t be too careful when battling you."
Zhao Mingxiu spoke gently, "You have a sword, I have a sword – let’s battle!"
Han Yang’s expression was calm and kept his sword sheathed. However, he grew a lot more intense. "My sword is called the Sword of Fatality, Xiongchong, and is a Nascent Soul Stage magic item. It is the most powerful when unleashed, in its truest and realest state."
"I have another Sascent Soul Stage sword, but it was damaged before our venture into the Starry Sea and is still undergoing repairs. I wasn’t able to bring it into the Starry Sea, so I may have to embarrass you a little, but please don’t take it to heart. I have no intention of humiliating you – on the contrary, even though I think you can’t beat me, you have gained my respect."
With that, a flash of red light appeared on the tips of the fingers on his left hand as he pointed them towards the Zhao Mingxiu’s sword radiances. In the next moment, uncountable streaks of red light and black-colored sword Qi surged out from his fingertips and blanketed the sky.
This was the first stance of Han Yang’s very own Destructive Sword Mantra, the Destructive Sword Heavenly Net.
This net intertwined with the void as it surged across, and wherever the flickering red and green light rays appeared, they clashed violently with the black-colored sword Qi and crackled.
Zhao Mingxiu made a gesture with her hands and directed her sword radiances. The Great Void Dual Polarity Mystic Sword Mantra did not only possess unpredictable transformations, it also possessed a ferocious aggression. The combined assault of the two swords forcefully pierced through Han Yang’s net of sword Qi.
The comparatively softer and malleable Green Void Sword entangled itself into Han Yang’s net of sword Qi, and worked together with the relatively direct and tougher Red Sky Sword to break open the net and pierced straight towards Han Yang.
Zhao Mingxiu felt her heart skip a beat as there was not a single trace of happiness on her face. "It’s a trick!"
The moment the Red Sky Sword broke through the trappings of the net, it paused momentarily and before it could gather speed, Han Yang reached out with his right hand!
Zhao Mingxiu’s reaction wasn’t slow either, and immediately attempted to retract the Red Sky Sword. However, it was far too late as Han Yang rotated his right hand and gripped onto the hilt of the Red Sky Sword!
What just happened petrified Zhao Mingxiu. Tiny but voluminous amounts of black-colored glyphs and runes flooded from Han Yang’s right hand like a flowing river, and everything poured onto the surface of the Red Sky Sword. They crept upwards and eventually covered the entire sword – from the bottom of the hilt to the tip of the blade.
The Red Sky Sword trembled violently and rung as if it possessed emotions and was infuriated. However, there was nothing it could do to stop what was happening and could only watch as the runes and glyphs that resembled tiny black ants crawled all over the body of the sword.
In the next moment, the black glyphs connected into a single entity and solidified abruptly. The Red Sky Sword, which was radiating with fiery light and had an edge like autumn water, was completely transformed into a long sword that was black from top to bottom.