Chapter 179: Sword Intent
Thirty-six sword shadows swirled and howled, bearing the Untethered Vessel skyward. Clang!
The halberd and the flying sword clashed violently, and the shockwave exploded outward, surging in all directions.
The blade of the Untethered Vessel trembled lightly, and Li Yi was forced back several steps by the force.
Song Yan felt an inexplicable sense of relief in his heart.
Had he not consumed the Qilin blood before the final bout to strengthen his physical body, his meridians would surely have been unable to endure under this kind of confrontation.
Yet the most important thing was not this.
From the moment Li Yi had fully revealed that overwhelming presence until now.
He had always felt that something indescribable was slowly rising from the depths of his heart.
This was also the reason he had delayed unleashing his true Sword Dao spiritual energy.
This feeling was profoundly mystical, as though some emotion that had always been hidden within him was being slowly drawn out.
Upon the Untethered Vessel, the black and white spiritual light began to surge gently.
As if it had sensed something, it cried out in jubilation.
The two continued their fierce battle.
What surprised Li Yi was that the golden glimmer in Song Yan’s eyes had gradually faded.
“Has your spiritual energy run dry?”
Sensing Song Yan’s movements growing slower, Li Yi could not help but feel a twinge of regret.
What a delightful opponent he was, what a formidable sword sharpness he possessed.
What a pity that in terms of spiritual energy and cultivation realm, he was still far inferior.
This final duel would surely end here.
On the surrounding spectator stands, the disciples murmured among themselves.
“Senior Brother Song Yan is brilliantly talented, but he is only at the seventh level of Qi Refining.”
“Senior Brother Li Yi is truly terrifying—he is completely suppressing Senior Brother Song Yan.”
“Song Yan already shows signs of exhaustion. He will likely last no more than three or five moves before he is defeated.”
Yet on the arena, Song Yan at this moment was deaf to all sounds, his gaze fixed ahead, uttering not a word.
As though he were mute and deaf.
Sometimes, without employing ocular techniques, what one perceived was more authentic, clearer, and closer to nature.
And one’s feelings would also deepen.
His movements grew unconsciously slower.
As he absorbed Li Yi’s earth-shattering presence, he gradually entered a state where both self and other were forgotten.
At this moment, he had not activated the Void-Gazing Sword Eye.
Yet the world before his eyes had become entirely different. Sound had long since vanished, and Li Yi’s movements appeared to slow further.
Until the halberd froze completely in his vision, and Li Yi’s motions came to a standstill.
He slowly closed his eyes.
The heaven and earth beside his ears fell into silence.
Only the song of the sword remained.
Hummm…
A faint aura rose from his body, and the hum of the Untethered Vessel grew louder in rhythm with his heartbeat.
That aura, like a wildfire, surged forth with mounting ferocity.
In a single instant, Song Yan opened his cold, piercing eyes.
…
At this moment, on the edge of the platform atop Sword Trial Peak—a place overlooked by all—stood a pavilion.
Though its position was lofty, the view was exceptional. The entirety of the Dueling Arena was laid out before one’s eyes.
Without having spent ten years in the Eastern Abyss Sect, one would never find such a hidden “spectator’s seat.”
Here, two young men and one young woman sat at leisure, watching the battle in the arena and chatting animatedly.
The auras of the three were dense and unfathomable. They were all Foundation Establishment cultivators!
“Ah… that one called Song Yan is about to lose.”
The eldest of the three spoke to himself, his voice languid, making one feel that he was perpetually weary.
The female cultivator beside him asked with some puzzlement: “Senior Brother A Ming, did you not bet all your spirit stones on Li Yi?”
“I did.”
“Then if Li Yi wins, why do you sigh?”
Wang Renming raised an eyebrow: “Junior Sister Xixi, how is it that you have no sense of romance at all?”
“A youth defeating the strong against all odds, sweeping aside his peers—that is how the legends should go.”
“Then bet on Song Yan.”
“Would I do that just to spite my spirit stones?”
Wang Renming chuckled and turned to the silent male disciple beside him: “Zhenzong, did you bet on Song Yan?”
The thin, quiet disciple had his gaze lowered, watching the battle. Only when his senior brother called did he stir: “Ah, yes.”
“His surname is Song. People named Song are surely remarkable. So I believe he will win.”
Song Zhenzong spoke thus.
“…” “…”
At that very moment, the situation on the Dueling Arena took an unexpected turn.
Li Yi had ceased his offensive and was gazing at his opponent.
At this moment, a majestic aura rose gradually from Song Yan’s body. In the span of a few breaths, it rivaled Li Yi’s own battle intent.
On the elders’ dais, Daoist Lijun nodded slightly.
“Not too foolish.”
What was this?
Song Yan did not understand, and the Sword Planting Art made no mention of it.
But he did not reject this feeling. On the contrary, he was exhilarated.
Much like the Untethered Vessel that hovered beside him.
He bent his sword finger and thrust out a single strike.
Ordinary, carrying no spiritual energy whatsoever.
Yet in Li Yi’s eyes, this thrust seemed to carry a terrifying momentum as though heaven and earth were overturning.
The black and white spiritual light upon the Untethered Vessel surged like dark clouds churning ink, like raindrops scattering in a storm.
An ordinary flying sword was easy enough to block or resist.
But when mountains and seas collapsed and surged forth in that overwhelming momentum, a person was truly insignificant.
Li Yi did not dodge. He held the halberd horizontally before his chest.
Clang…
The sword intent slammed forward and sent him hurtling back several zhang.
Li Yi landed at the edge of the Dueling Arena, stomping hard to halt his retreat.
He looked down at the robes torn open across his chest by sword qi and burst into laughter: “Ha ha ha ha…”
He cried out in his heart.
This is the opponent I have been seeking!
He knew that from this moment forward, Song Yan had officially risen to stand at the same height as himself.
In truth, the battle had only just begun.
And it would end swiftly.
Both fighters raised their momentum to its peak.
A black-red arc of light struck with lethal speed. Song Yan bent his sword finger, and the thirty-six sword shadows slashed ceaselessly, leaving multiple sword marks across Li Yi’s body.
Li Yi was perplexed.
These sword marks were extremely condensed yet restrained, hovering and dancing outside his protective spiritual energy.
And even when he channeled his spiritual energy, he could not dispel them.
But he was not one to deliberate carefully over an opponent’s techniques.
The halberd slashed downward, and the Untethered Vessel shot forth once more.
This time, Li Yi did not meet the blow head-on. Instead, he took a sliding step and evaded the flying sword’s attack.
At the same time, his black-red spiritual energy surged frantically.
Almost in the instant the flying sword grazed past his ear, he thrust the halberd forward.
“Phoenix Through Flowers!”
Boom!
The halberd’s edge could be blocked, but the violent spiritual energy erupting from it shattered Song Yan’s protective spiritual garment in an instant.
In this moment, he stood on the brink of peril.
But Song Yan did not panic. Instead, he pointed from afar.
The flying sword reversed its course, flashing like lightning as it slashed swiftly around Li Yi’s body.
At the same time, the accumulated sword marks detonated in unison, equally destroying Li Yi’s protective spiritual energy.
Their gazes met across the distance, and it seemed they both saw in the other’s eyes the will to fight to the death.
Black-red lightning flickered in Li Yi’s palm, and his momentum abruptly contracted.
Song Yan swept his sword finger, and the thirty-six white sword shadows, wreathed in roaring wind and thunder, swept in like a tempest.
A halberd thrust forth, and the black-red lightning blazed fiercely. The phantom of the halberd’s edge surged forward, irresistible!
“Break Loulan!”
“Cloud Sword!”
Black spiritual energy. Red lightning.
White sword shadows. Golden wind and thunder.
They erupted simultaneously across the entire Dueling Arena, their brilliance and sharpness blinding to behold!
Boom!
Not until the wind ceased and the clouds stilled did the Dueling Arena return to calm, and the scene within became visible to all.
Song Yan at this moment swayed unsteadily, his Daoist robes in tatters. Only by leaning on the Untethered Vessel could he avoid collapsing to the ground.
Li Yi, though he stood leaning on his halberd, was also spent. His black combat garments lay in shreds, and across his bare chest crisscrossed several sword marks that still bled.
It appeared that Li Yi had won.