Chapter 187 - The Flowing of Time and Water
The sword gleam flew out like mercury and expanded as it was welcomed by the wind. It was not the eight-colored sword gleam of Taixu Divine Qi, but just pure and pale sword aura.
It dashed across the sky like a seagull reaching for the skyline, and its ever-changing track was untraceable.
Suddenly, the sword gleam rushed into the waves of Qi at the speed of lightning. It stopped the Qi at its track, and its sudden acceleration made it look like a thousand stars had pierced into the Taiyin Light.
The dots of light echoed each other and their Qi dynamic were connected. Thousand strands of light were formed, and they cut the Taiyin Light apart as they tried to exterminate it.
The Taiyin Light was broken into pieces. The pieces were falling down like the petals of plum blossoms. They were flying in the air flexibly and had rolled in a lot of Qi. They continued to crush towards Shen Lian.
Bai Suhuan seemed calm and had no sense of urgency at all. A hint of mockery flashed past in his eyes. It was as though he was telling Shen Lian that he was merely toying with him.
Shen Lian would not be easily frightened, and he would not allow for there to be ripples in his state of mind that was still as water. He was not about to let it affect his judgment. The Taiyin Light rushed towards Shen Lian. Under his telepathy, they were light countless running rivers that were joined together, and yet remained as independent ent.i.ties.
The sword gleam cut through the large pieces of Taiyin Light again and made them into smaller pieces. However, the pieces maintained their steady pace and continued forward.
Shen Lian had a flash of inspiration. He could either continue with his operation of sword aura to exterminate the Taiyin Light, or he could avoid the Light altogether. However, in spite of Bai Suhuan"s casualness, he knew that he was shrouded in his spiritual sense all the time. The moment he lost his footing, the attacks would come at him like a raging storm. He would then be forced to his limits and had no choice but to admit defeat.
Under the aid of Qi dynamic, riding on the trend was more important than having the upper hand momentarily.
Shen Lian ceased operating the sword aura. He also ceased his attacks at the Taiyin Light. He remained static and allowed for the Taiyin Light to roll towards him.
The Taixu Divine Qi within him was bustling, and the "Hua" Formula of the Interpromotion and Interrestraint: Sheng, Ke, Zhi, Hua; was utilized by him to its limits. A thin membrane of light shrouded all over him. As the Taiyin Light rushed over, the pieces of it were all melted into the light membrane. As the Taiyin Light disappeared bit by bit, the light membrane dimmed bit by bit too.
When the last bit of Taiyin Light disappeared completely, the light membrane disappeared along with it too.
However, Shen Lian"s move did not manage to completely dissolve away the Taiyin Light by force. He was merely exterminating the Taixu Divine Qi along with the Taiyin Light. The Taiyin Light was solid and was fuelled by the essence of Taiyin. It was at its most Yin and at its purest. The Hua Formula from Shen Lian"s Taixu Strategy could not convert it for his own use.
Bai Suhuan finally reacted to this turn of event. Bai Suhuan had attained the Way of Taiyin in his cultivation of the Code of the Bright Moon. When he attained the status of land immortal, he would have the Taiyin Body. As the Taiyin Light was one of the most impressive Dao techniques recorded in the Code of the Bright Moon, it would evolve into the "Knife of Time" after he had attained the Taiyin Body. It was also known as the "Ultimate Knife of Taiyin". With just one slash, the time would flow and the object would turn to ash.
His Taiyin Light was not at that stage yet, but with his cultivation now, he was at the state of "The Flowing of Time and Water". Just as how the water would continue flowing when it was slashed off by a knife, the Taiyin Light was just as the flowing of time and water and it was unbreakable and unstoppable. It triggered more and more Qi of heaven and earth. As it gained momentum, it became unstoppable, just as the flash flood that broke through all obstacles.
It did not fear Shen Lian"s sharp sword aura, and let itself be sliced by it.
However, Shen Lian managed to see through the core of Taiyin Light with just a few moments. With Taixu Strategy, he had undone the Taixu Light by force. There was no room for transformations anymore. Even though he had done so at the expense of the huge amount of mana, but he managed to undo the Taixu Light.
This was when Bai Suhuan finally took Shen Lian seriously and saw him as an equal. After hundreds of years of cultivation, besides his longevity, he took great pride in his great supernatural powers.
The reason why he remained a loner was because he had no interest in the mediocre men.
He refused to take in disciples as he did not want to waste his time and effort on teaching someone. He wanted to focus on his own cultivation progress. With his character, he would not have cared about Shen Lian"s succession as the new chief. There was a reason behind this.
However, he forgot about his initial goal. All he wanted now was to have a good fight with Shen Lian.
Once engaged in battle, Shen Lian had no time for other thoughts. He could not care less about what Bai Suhuan was up to. A sword manifested in his hand. Yellow light swirled in it, and the sword gleam was gone in a flash.
The intense move seemed so casual and carefree when it was performed by him.
It was as though a bird had flown over under the moonlight, and it was not known where it came from and where did it go.
"Shen Lian, how brave of you," Bai Suhuan exclaimed. Shen Lian"s move with the sword was better than a lot of people in the world, and he showed the grace of a Daoist.
Amongst the younger disciples in Qing Xuan, other than Chen Jianmei, there was still Shen Lian.
Bai Suhuan was faced with the sword gleam sent by Shen Lian. However, he did not put up a defense. Instead, he had taken an offensive move. With a flip in the air and a shrug of his shoulder, a wild air current rolled towards the sword gleam.
With his move, the mana within vibrated at high speed and escaped urgently. It was not just Shen Lian"s sword gleam, but even a mountain could be broken into pieces.
It was known as "The Collapse of Mountain"; with just a slight contact, even the mountain could be collapsed.
A normal cultivator would not be able to use such a great skill, and he had his solid physical body of a Daoist to thank for. The high-speed vibration of the mana within one"s body would send most common cultivators bursting into b.l.o.o.d.y mist without any solid traces being left behind.
Upon seeing it, Shen Lian was not only not in fear, but the sword gleam was sent forward again. With a few turns and twists, it slid under the tip of the current and gave it a gentle flick towards the ground. Booming sounds followed, and green light appeared on the ground. That was the activation of the Dao restriction of the sect.
The cultivators outside of the Qing Xuan Hall felt the gentle vibrations from the ground.
This showed how scary Bai Suhuan"s "The Collapse of Mountain" was.
Shen Lian could overcome the wild air current with just a light flick, which was akin to dancing on the tip of the blade.
This was the first time Bai Suhuan saw The Collapse of Mountain being undone by such a smart and precise method. Shen Lian could not have known what he was good at and started planning for the countermeasures early on.
He could only say that Shen Lian was exceptionally talented and the Taixu Strategy was amazing; otherwise, there was no other explanation.
Actually, Shen Lian did not fear this form of condensed mana attack at all. This was so as the "Zhi" Formula in the "Interpromotion and Interrestraint" of Taixu Strategy was the perfect means to overcome the changes in Qi dynamic.
The Collapse of Mountain involved highly dense mana and it was doubtlessly powerful. However, the changes in its Qi dynamic were straightforward, and hence it was easy for Shen Lian to figure his way around it. His move of flicking the wild current seemed dangerous, and yet it was merely going along with the current. It was just the same as directing the endless raging water elsewhere through building ca.n.a.ls after studying the geography of the area.
Bai Suhuan did not understand this and his shoulders were shaking. Countless strong Qi that seemed like long spears came attacking at Shen Lian from different angles and different tracks.
Within moments, it was as though Shen Lian was placed amidst treacherous rivers and was at the mercy of Bai Suhuan.
However, Shen Lian was calm and confident. He could always direct the strong air current away. However, he triggered the Dao restriction for a couple of times now; the sword gleam in the sky was moving around like a snake or dragon, and the green light on the ground raged on like waves.