“Pah, pah, pah!”
Ao Tian crawled out from under Huangmao’s feet and spat out a mouthful of dirt, clenching his small fists to cheer him on.
‘Keep it up, comrade. If you lose, we’ll only have twenty bottles of Divine Oil left in our pockets. Don’t blame Shiyu if her filial piety starts to sour then!’
Celestial Phenomena Peak was sparsely populated, but its cheering squad was a powerful sight.
The Shanhai Pavilion Merchant Guild had unfurled banners, simply waiting to welcome the Pavilion Master onto the stage.
The female disciples of the Clear Mist Peak lineage were even more enthusiastic, shouting in unison,
“Go, First Senior Brother-in-law!”
Their sweet voices were particularly eye-catching, making Lu’er’s face turn dark.
“Confound it! If the upper beam is crooked, the lower ones will be too. Your Majesty, look at them! What is this behavior?”
“It matters not. The King’s man should enjoy the love of 10,000 people.”
“Huh?”
Jing Tan’er waved her finger and began speaking nonsense again.
It was clear a certain Consort Princess was so embarrassed her toes were curling against her sword.
She glared fiercely at that group of female hooligans.
A long-haired youth had already been waiting in the sky for a long time.
He looked his opponent up and down, a discomforting smile on his face.
“I am Fang Heng. Greetings, East Pole Pavilion Master.”
Yun Liu returned the greeting with standard courtesy.
“Hello, hello. I hope Senior Brother will show some mercy later.”
“Mr. Yun, why didn’t you stay in Shanhai Pavilion to study alchemical arts? Why come to the Sect’s Great Competition to join the fun?
Did you not suffer enough last year?
If something happens to you, who could take responsibility?”
Fang Heng seemed respectful, but his words were needles hidden in silk.
Not everyone in the Sea of Clouds Five Peaks wanted Yun Liu to stay.
There were always some frogs at the bottom of a well who viewed all paths outside the Sword Sect as unorthodox and beneath them, treating them with disdain.
“I had no choice. Until my Junior Sister returns, I’m standing in as the Chief Disciple to keep up appearances. This is called seeing things through to the end.”
Fang Heng laughed.
“Can a sect of two people even claim to have a Chief? The Celestial Phenomena lineage shouldn’t even exist; it’s better to let it wither away. It was right for Ying Lian not to return. I thought you were a smart man who realized you weren’t suited for cultivation.”
“You’re in luck, classmate Fang. If Aunt Master heard that, even the Sect Master wouldn’t be able to protect you.”
Yun Liu gave him a thumbs-up, somewhat admiring the guy’s courage.
‘The brat’s got a big mouth. I didn’t notice this in the game. Was it because the original opponent was Junior Sister Ji from the same lineage?’
‘What an attitude!’
Fang Heng shrugged.
There were many among the First Peak disciples who felt the same way.
They were blindly superstitious about the glorious history established by the former Sect Leader, believing that in the Kyushu Sword Dao, only Falling Cloud reigned supreme, while the other four peaks were mere appendages that were entirely expendable.
“Just telling the truth. Don’t think holding a sword makes you a Sword Cultivator. Even if you reconstructed your Qi Sea, you’re still an outsider. There are differences even among the Inner Five Peaks; compared to the Sword Scripture of Zhuiyun, yours is as different as heaven and earth.”
These words immediately incited public indignation.
It wasn’t just directed at Celestial Phenomena Peak; the expressions of the other disciples turned sour as well.
No wonder they disliked the First Peak disciples.
Those people always carried a mysterious sense of superiority, as if only those from Falling Cloud Peak deserved to be called Sword Cultivators.
The hot-tempered Head Seat of Sunset Peak was absent, so the Mist-Hidden Peak First Seat glanced at the Grand Elder and voiced everyone’s thoughts.
“Is this how the Zhuyun lineage, as the first peak of Shenhua and a model for the Sea of Clouds, usually teaches its disciples?”
“Ahem. Young people are full of vigor. It’s just some trash talk before the match to liven up the atmosphere. Don’t take it to heart.”
The Grand Elder felt bitter inside.
‘Keep your personal opinions from drawing group aggro to the sect, okay? Who’s going to take responsibility if the Medicine Hut’s First Senior Brother-in-law gets angry and leaves?’
In the Cultivation World, strength always did the talking, but you couldn’t support a whole sect on fighters alone.
They weren’t bandits or highwaymen.
Yun Liu picked his ear and smiled mischievously.
“You like the Sword Scripture of Zhuiyun that much? Do you know its weakness?Since ancient times, the Sword Scripture of Celestial Phenomena has specialized in dealing with First Peak disciples. It hits the mark every time.”
The First Peak disciples felt suppressed.
This kid certainly had a big mouth.
It wasn’t for nothing that the Falling Cloud Chief had taken the top spot in the Yanding Sword Contest in recent years.
Hearing this, the Grand Elder fell into thought because Yun Liu was telling the truth.
Before the Sect Leader Senior Brother studied the Sword Canons of all five peaks, he had never beaten Aunt Master once.
He wondered where the boy had learned this.
Fang Heng’s expression changed.
His goal was not just to win, but to crush Yun Liu’s spirit.
An Elixir Cultivator should stay behind the scenes and focus on support, but this kid was very good at hiding behind women.
First it was Steward You, then Senior Sister Qin, then the Vermilion Saint Princess.
He was becoming increasingly arrogant, relying on their influence.
“What arrogance! The last person who disrespected my First Peak had his Sword Heart fail. He lost all hope of ever Breaking through for the rest of his life!”
“The last person who lectured me ended up with broken bones and was kicked out of the Inner Sect.”
At that moment, on Sighing Peak, an Outer Sect disciple who had been expelled from the First Peak watched with a venomous gaze, wishing Fang Heng would hurry up and deal with Yun Liu.
Fang Heng released his Qi Sea.
His Earth Foundation Establishment spirit breath climbed to its peak, and his spirit sword erupted with sharp energy.
He lowered his voice and said,
“Don’t lump me in with that waste Fang Ting. If this is a fair duel, even the Shanhai Pavilion Steward won’t be able to pursue it if I accidentally injure the Pavilion Master, right?”
“If this is a fair duel, even the Grand Elder won’t be able to pursue it if I accidentally injure a First Peak disciple, right?”
Yun Liu chuckled to himself after speaking.
‘He who lies with dogs rises with fleas. How am I starting to sound more and more like a repeater?’
“Come! I want to see how those juggling tricks of yours can withstand the might of Falling Cloud!”
Fang Heng shouted.
He moved like thunder, golden spiritual energy wrapping around his green longsword.
His Cloud-Slicing Style was sharp and exposed.
Yun Liu shook his head.
The Bone Jade Flying Sword was already out of its sheath, hovering high above his head while flickering with an eerie light.
“You’ve already lost. You just haven’t realized it yet.”
Fang Heng’s strike hit nothing.
His heart chilled as his surroundings suddenly darkened, as if he had been plunged into a pitch-black night.
The white-robed youth before him vanished.
His Divine Sense vision was a void.
He was alone, his golden spiritual light flickering like a candle in the wind.
‘Moon in the Well.’
A whisper drifted from the darkness.
Only the voice was heard; no person was seen.
“Come out!”
Fang Heng formed a Sword Formula with both hands.
It wasn’t his first time encountering an illusory array.
His Azure-Lifting Stance Sword Qi surged, and his flying sword spiraled through the air, attempting to tear the night apart.
To the others, the scene was even more bizarre.
Yun Liu was clearly standing right there, motionless, but Fang Heng was like a headless fly.
He swung his sword wildly, looking around in confusion and confronting the air as if he were blind.
“What is he doing?”
Bai Yu and Zhuang Heng looked at their Senior Sister and asked quietly.
The female dance practitioner smiled.
“A hidden spear is easy to dodge, but a mind-sword is hard to defend against. Mr. Yun’s sharpest sword is his Divine Sense.”
The white-robed youth coughed lightly.
With a flick of his finger, he drew two horizontal lines and two vertical lines, forming the character for “well.”
His flying sword marked the ground like a cage.
One strike: dark clouds obscured the sun.
Another strike: the full moon descended.
Moonlight poured through the clouds like intersecting Sword Qi.
No matter how Fang Heng dodged, it remained above his head.
Strands of Sword Qi burned his meridians, somehow bypassing his spiritual energy barrier.
“Illusion sword without an edge. What a fine Celestial Phenomena Chief. Who says Aunt Master doesn’t know how to teach a disciple?”
The little old man at the Mountain Gate glanced over, then lowered his head to continue sweeping.
He wore a faint, knowing smile.
The Mist-Hidden Peak First Seat nodded in approval.
“Both are at Foundation Establishment, but Fang Heng knows nothing of the Sword Way. Yun Liu’s Sword Intent is superior.”
The Grand Elder, however, was more concerned about something else.
Was he seeing things?
Yun Liu’s Qi Sea was unstable and his spiritual foundation was shaky, but that fierce Sword Qi was clearly at the peak of Foundation Establishment!
He had thought Shiyu and Xun Ran reaching the Foundation Establishment middle stage in just one year was terrifying enough.
Who knew the Celestial Phenomena Chief and the Clear Mist Chief were even more exaggerated?
Yun Liu was only at the peak of Qi Refinement last year!