Chapter 296 The Storm of Sword Intent
Duels were not rare at the Sky Academy.
The death index that made people shudder with fear and the rules of obtaining credits, which were in sheer contrast with those in the outside world, all meant that Special Warfare Academies were utterly different from the average military academies outside.
Although the Sky Academy was not as bleak and cruel as the real Dark World, there was no morality such as kindness and gentleness.
Credits determined everything.
Only superiors possessed more credits.
So the strong dominated there.
In this cruel and somewhat naked compet.i.tion, a duel was often a matter of life and death.
As a result, death wasn’t rare at the Sky Academy.
The duel between Li Baitian and Gu Youlan meant a lot.
It meant that the most brutal and bizarre period before the final maneuver of the two academies had already begun.
It meant that the East Emperor Palace, one of the four forces of the young generation, was about to be severely tested.
It meant the reputation of Kunlun City and Mount Shu respectively…
And many others.
But in essence, it was a duel.
Both sides of the duel should first report their decisions to the teaching affair office. After the teaching affair office approved of the event, they could pick a time and place, and then started fighting.
It was that simple.
Though this duel attracted more spectators, it was still a duel.
No nonsense was needed in a duel.
Zhuang Huayang said, “Let’s start.”
His figure faded slowly on the high platform.
Almost at the same time, the sudden, crisp clang of the sword coming out of its sheath echoed across the platform.
Li Baitian pulled the blade out with his thumb.
The simple long sword trembled in his hand, and the sound of its edge rubbing against its scabbard went around everyone’s ears.
The blade was bright and sharp, but its light was incredibly ethereal.
The ethereal light brightened on the high platform, and the dimly discernible sword intent spread out in an instant.
Li Baitian stood amidst the infinite sword intent. It was as if he and the sword had become one.
Everyone was looking at the sword in Li Baitian’s hand.
In Mount Shu, it was the only famous sword that was on a par with Nirvana the sword.
It was called the Great Void.
In the past hundreds of years, there were only a few Great Void Sword Masters in Mount Shu, but the martial inheritance never ceased. Once a Great Void Sword Master appeared, he would surely enter the Invincible Realm.
No one dared to look down upon Li Baitian.
His presence was one of the main reasons why the East Emperor Palace was still one of the four forces of the young generation when Li Tianlan wasn’t there.
Li Tianlan stood in the crowd, quietly watching the duel that kicked off the prelude to the brutal compet.i.tion among the younger generation of Zhongzhou State.
Li Baitian didn’t change much over the three years. His major change was in temperament.
The giggly and unserious young man seemed to be fading away. He became much more composed. Now he stood there quietly, but he appeared as sharp as the sword.
His Sword Energy remained dormant, but the sword intent around him grew more and more ethereal.
Gu Youlan didn’t change much, either.
She seemed to be in better shape than she was three years ago. She was pet.i.te and still wore a silver mask. Moreover, her beautiful lips beneath the mask were more erotic. She stood opposite Li Baitian, but her tiny body carried with its great power that everyone could clearly perceive.
Li Tianlan calmly straightened up.
On the high platform, the Great Void Sword was going to be entirely out of its sheath.
“Please,” Li Baitian said calmly.
“Are you sure you want to fight me?”
Gu Youlan’s rosy lips curved, and there was something special in her smile.
Li Baitian didn’t say anything.
The blade of Great Void Sword lit up completely, and its tip jumped out of its sheath with a faint hum.
In a moment, glaring lightning burst forth around Li Baitian.
The whole platform was bathed in lightning.
Li Baitian had disappeared in the bright light.
Like a straight line, the infinite sword intent whistled and gathered together, heading straight for Gu Youlan.
The first move of the Great Void Sword.
Infinite Void!
Like falling snow, the fierce Sword Energy appeared beside Gu Youlan without warning, as if it had come to the secular world from the void. The surging sword intent kept swirling and enveloped Gu Youlan in an instant.
The shuttling Sword Energy stirred the wind.
Gu Youlan’s long hair flew dreamily. Enveloped in an immense amount of Sword Energy, her pet.i.te but s.e.xy body suddenly moved.
Great power burst forth from her body.
As Gu Youlan’s soft waist moved, the bright and sharp edge rose to the sky.
Having her figure enveloped in the sword intent, she swayed gently, looking enchanting, but her movements were unrhythmical. Only a myriad of messy and dense shadows of the blade appeared as she shook, squeezing the suddenly formed Sword Energy around her. One after another, the arcs rose high into the air where she had pa.s.sed. The rising blade and the Sword Energy intertwined. The lightning and the arcs diffused. The platform, whose interior was almost entirely stacked with alloy, shook violently.
Gu Youlan was still moving.
Her movements were unrhythmical.
She seemed to be showing up everywhere within a radius of a few meters at any time.
She moved very fast.
In a moment, innumerable shadows appeared in the narrow s.p.a.ce.
One by one, the lifelike shadows of Gu Youlan appeared on the high platform, changing into different positions the moment the shadows solidified.
The weapon in her hand was clearly visible to everyone.
It was an odd-shaped soft sword. With a single edge, it looked more like a thin knife.
Several different shadows held the knife, either thrusting forward or sweeping around.
Gu Youlan was still moving.
There were more and more shadows.
The fierce sword intent surged amongst the shadows.
Seven Unique Flowing Lights!
That was the most practical body technique amongst the unique skills of Kunlun City.
It was a first-cla.s.s skill, whether in a close a.s.sa.s.sination or a quick dodge.
And the complete name of Seven Unique Flowing Lights was Seven Unique Flowing Lights Formation.
One person could form the formation!
Gu Youlan was unable to maintain seven shadows in a moment to form the formation, but she was capable of maintaining five shadows at the same time.
The intertwining arcs and lightning completely disappeared.
The s.p.a.ce above the platform twisted without warning.
The instant that all the lightning fell, under the cover of the light, Li Baitian already appeared directly in front of Gu Youlan.
Gu Youlan’s body gave a sudden jolt.
In the twisted air, carrying sword intent, the five shadows by her side exploded at the same time.
The sword intent surged into the sky, and there were waves of blurred air on the platform.
Waves of air submerged li Baitian’s figure, and his blood splashed. But along with the blood came thousands of sword lights.
The sword lights kept circling in the waves of air, shooting out in sheets. The s.p.a.ce full of sword intent started to wave in reverse, and large vortexes appeared in the air. The fierce Great Void Sword Intent turned to be distinct from unreal. Li Baitian kept wielding his sword, and the rain-like sword lights fell on Gu Youlan mercilessly.
Gu Youlan went straight ahead.
The dazzling arcs had almost wholly submerged her body.
Countless long swords formed by arcs arranged neatly around her, with the tips pointing outward and the hilts downward.
The long swords formed by arcs formed a circle at her feet, like a wheel of swords.
The wheel kept dancing around her.
Countless arcs swept across the sky and collided violently with the surging Great Void Sword Intent.
Their collision produced sparks all over the sky.
The moment the two people’s sword intent perished, s.p.a.ce distorted more drastically.
The first wheel of swords at Gu Youlan’s feet was fully formed.
The long swords composed of arcs extended out horizontally and rotated like crazy.
The second wheel of swords began to converge.
This time, the wheel was arranged vertically, protecting almost the entire body of Gu Youlan.
The arcs kept shooting out from the sword intent, as if inexhaustible.
“The Great Void Sword Intent is so-so, but the swords of Kunlun are innumerable!”
In Gu Youlan’s cold voice, the third wheel slowly appeared.
The shadows of swords were already everywhere around Gu Youlan. They whirled and danced like flowers. Meantime, the sword intent surged like a flood.
The arcs collided with the vast Great Void Sword Intent, not yielding an inch.
The Eighth Supreme Sword Move!
Kunlun City’s Ten Skills of True Martial Arts symbolized the top-ranking unique skills in the Dark World. It may not be the most powerful in the Dark World. It was, however, the most comprehensive.
The Ten Skills of True Martial Arts, as its name suggested, had ten moves.
Its tenth move, namely the Tenth Unique Domain, had the mightiest domain in the Dark World.
Even the pseudo domain of its ninth move—the Ninth Secluded Impa.s.se, was able to compete with the real ones of some ordinary Invincible Realm experts.
The Ninth Secluded Impa.s.se and the Tenth Unique Domain were the two unique skills that enabled Kunlun City to keep a foothold and deterrent others in the Dark World.
However, the first eight moves of the Ten Skills of True Martial Arts could not be underestimated, either.
Kunlun City’s unique skills mainly focused on swords instead of sword intent.
What they valued more was sword formation!
One person alone could form a formation that combined both offensive and defensive.
The Seven Unique Flowing Lights was, in fact, a formation!
The same was true for the Eighth Supreme Sword Move.
The other ones were formations as well.
A formation was connected to a domain.
It was on the bases of these sword formations that the experts in Kunlun City comprehended the Ninth Secluded Impa.s.se and the Tenth Unique Domain.
The attack power of sword formations may not be exceedingly terrible, but their defensive power couldn’t be neglected. There were moves in the Ten Skills of True Martial Arts that focused on the domain, pseudo domain, defensive sword formation, offensive sword formation, speed-seeking sword formation, and outbreak-pursuing sword formation.
Different from the w.a.n.g family of Beihai and the Li family, whose unique skills pursued the ultimate destruction and lethality, the all-embracing Ten Skills of True Martial Arts represented the wisdom crystallization of countless predecessors in Kunlun City over the past hundreds of years.
Therefore, compared with the w.a.n.g family of Beihai and the Li family, Kunlun City was more representative of Martial Arts.
The first two represented the sword only.
The two concepts were neck and neck.
In the eyes of Kunlun City, the advantages and disadvantages of the experts from the w.a.n.g family of Beihai and the Li family were equally distinct. Their Martial Arts focused on attack rather than defense. They were completely insane.
While in the eyes of the w.a.n.g family of Beihai and the Li family, Kunlun City’s Martial Arts had neither defects nor advantages. Their martial impartation seemed balanced and all-embracing, but none of them stood out. They were foolish.
No one but the people involved could evaluate the quality of these two Martial Arts concepts.
But there was no denying that, in the frontal battle of equal strength, few skills were able to forcibly break through the defensive sword formation of Kunlun City with their attack power.
At the very least, it was hard for the Great Void Sword Intent to do that.
There were five wheels of swords around Gu Youlan. At least a hundred sword shadows covered her whole body. Arcs kept shooting outward when the wheels were dancing. No matter how Li Baitian’s Great Void Sword Intent moved, it couldn’t break through Gu Youlan’s defense.
When the enemy was unable to break through her defense, it was the beginning of Gu Youlan’s counterattack.
Looking at Li Baitian, who was still struggling, Gu Youlan suddenly said calmly, “Withdraw from the East Emperor Palace. I spare your life.”
…
Her voice, undisguised, spread throughout the spot in a flash.
There was another flurry of discussion among the spectators.
“Are you qualified to say that to me?”
Li Baitian sneered, and his long sword quivered suddenly.
Infinite sword intent suddenly began to gather toward Li Baitian.
Strands of Sword Energy and beams of light began to whirl.
Li Baitian held the Great Void Sword tight.
He raised his sword to his eyebrows.
Suddenly, his aura began to soar!
It was not a breakthrough.
It was the integration of infinite scattered sword intent.
The second move of the Great Void Sword.
Unification Sword!
A sword was all it needed.
The sharp blade of the Great Void Sword shone brightly and dazzlingly.
Li Baitian was wreathed in sword lights. The integrated Sword Energy surged like crazy around him.
His face grew paler, but his eyes were determined.
Gu Youlan’s eyes focused. She held the soft sword with both hands and thrust it toward the sky suddenly!
“Whiz!”
The terribly powerful arcs seemed to split the s.p.a.ce completely.
The five sword wheels revolving around Gu Youlan were raised straight in an instant, pointing straight at the sky.
Shadow after shadow of the sword rushed into the sky almost at the same time.
In the increasingly terrible Great Void Sword Energy, Gu Youlan struck down with her sword in both hands.
The blue shadows of the sword that rose into the sky immediately became a long, straight dragon. The sword, with its sharp edge, fell like a meteor.
Kunlun City’s strongest defensive sword formation could also become an offensive sword formation with terrifying destructive power.
Blood was gushing from the corners of Li Baitian’s mouth.
He held the sword in both hands as well. The moment the blade quivered, the sword thrust straight into the sky with glaring sword light.
The fierce Great Void Sword Intent erupted in a flash.
Above Li Baitian’s head appeared a ring composed entirely of Sword Energy.
The ring moved up and down. It kept expanding and directly became a beam of light.
The beam of light enveloped Li Baitian. The sword intent above him collided with the long dragon composed of the Eighth Supreme Sword Move, producing various gorgeous colors.
The sun was setting over the horizon.
…
Without the slightest pause, Gu Youlan’s soft sword abruptly flicked upward.
The blade kept trembling as it rose.
The sword trembled five times.
Five strands of sword intent with different weights converged on the soft sword.
The Extermination of Five Elements!
Again.
A sword formation.
It was a move with the strongest explosive force among the Ten Skills of True Martial Arts.
The five strands of sword intent whistled and gathered together.
The soft sword pa.s.sed over Gu Youlan’s head.
Suddenly, a howling and waning moon rose between Gu Youlan’s hands, amidst the sharp and dense blades!
The moonlike arc of light was bright and yet bleak.
The arc of light expanded and hit the beam of light that surrounded Li Baitian.
The sword intent shredded the s.p.a.ce.
In silence, the Sword Energy of the Unification Sword and the sword light of the Eighth Supreme Sword Move perished at the same time.
The beam of light around Li Baitian disappeared.
The cold moon chopped the sword intent around Li Baitian.
A great deal of blood gushed from Li Baitian’s body. His body was not broken, but it went straight up into the air with the sword momentum.
The roaring platform was suddenly silent.
Extremely silent.
Bathed in blood, Li Baitian’s figure in the air kept flashing out.
His figure grew dim and seemed to melt into nothingness suddenly.
Gu Youlan’s eyes became utterly solemn.
Beneath the mask, she frowned slightly.
Li Baitian had been seriously injured before the duel. Theoretically, he could not exert the most powerful combat strength.
But now…
Was he going to put up a desperate fight?
Li Baitian’s figure disappeared wholly.
Gu Youlan didn’t have time to move.
High above the sky, something faint blue suddenly lit up.
Like light, it rubbed against s.p.a.ce with extreme speed.
The last ray of the sun shone on Li Baitian.
He and his sword flickered in the light.
But his powerful killing intent instantly and completely locked Gu Youlan.
It moved forward, destroying everything in its path!
The third move of the Great Void Sword.
And also the last move.
Supreme Void!
It was the strongest sword move that totally combined perfect speed and destruction.
It was a sword move, but it contained thousands of movements too.
The light shone on Li Baitian, blocking his eyes.
There were bloodthirsty fury and determination in his eyes.
“Stop it!”
…
Around the high platform, whether it was the teachers’ area or the students’ area, countless exclamations of surprise rang out at the same time.
If this sword fell, Gu Youlan would not die, but it was hard to predict Li Baitian’s fate.
“Stop it!”
A shrill voice sounded abruptly.
A great deal of lightning appeared almost instantaneously on the platform.
Gu Yunxia, the director of the teaching at the Sky Academy, who was the nearest to the high platform, stood beside Gu Youlan immediately.
She looked quite anxious.
But there was coldness in her eyes.
Li Baitian fell from the sky.
Without hesitation, Gu Yunxia slammed her fist straight into the sky.
She did not stop Li Baitian.
It was as if she had forgotten it.
She chose to attack directly!
With all her strength!
Gu Youlan’s sword did not hesitate, either.
Attack!
Gu Yunxia.
Gu Youlan.
The two had not communicated, but they had joined forces.
Zhuang Huayang stood up directly, and everyone cursed them in rage.
Gu Yunxia rushed to the high platform. With her strength, she could have blocked the sword move without hurting Li Baitian.
Everyone thought she would do so.
No one expected her to take the initiative to attack.
She meant to kill Li Baitian!
And the way she adopted was hideous.
However, Gu Yunxia didn’t think so. As long as she killed Li Baitian, the East Emperor Palace would be ruined utterly. She could well afford the gossip about her.
She looked at Li Baitian, who was getting closer and closer, her eyes fierce and menacing.
After dealing a stroke, she dealt another, lest Li Baitian wouldn’t die!
“d.a.m.n!”
There was a torrent of abuse under the platform.
The faint blue lightning and sword intent moved upward.
Li Baitian’s face was calm.
He cast a glance at Gu Youlan and Gu Yunxia below and gave a self-mocking laugh. He was about to put up a desperate fight, but his body suddenly stiffened.
s.p.a.ce seemed to change abruptly for a moment.
All the sword intent that Li Baitian shot out were forcibly suppressed back.
An invisible force directly swept away Li Baitian’s Great Void Sword.
The Great Void Sword quivered.
In an instant, a strand of chilling Sword Energy suddenly appeared in every corner of the s.p.a.ce.
Li Baitian looked stunned.
He was powerless to fight any more.
But at this time, the Great Void Sword Intent permeated the s.p.a.ce!
Although the sword intent was somewhat specious, it was, after all, the Great Void Sword Intent.
Layer upon layer, the Great Void Sword Intent fell from the sky.
Both Gu Yunxia’s lightning and Gu Youlan’s Sword Energy shattered utterly in a moment due to the Great Void Sword Intent.
The last ray of the sun fell on the platform.
…
In everyone’s sight, a bridge suddenly appeared in the middle of the watching area and on the platform.
The air in the transparent s.p.a.ce was twisting into swords.
One after another, the long swords converged and spread for hundreds of meters, forming a transparent bridge built by long swords.
Under the sun, the bridge was shining with colorful lights, just like a rainbow.
A man in white appeared in front of Li Baitian.
He stood over the rainbow, holding the Great Void Sword, and chopped his sword casually toward the high platform below.
The Great Void Sword Intent tore everything apart.
The rainbow of long swords collapsed in a flash.
Tens of thousands of sword lights kept hovering in the upper air and then fell on Gu Youlan and Gu Yunxia like crazy!
Like blowing snow, rainstorms, and shooting stars!
Dense shadows of swords occupied everyone’s vision.
They were ethereal but real.
The seemingly unreal Great Void Sword Intent, again.
Gu Yunxia and Gu Youlan tried their best to block the shadows of swords falling from the sky.
The shadows of swords dropped like mad, and a storm composed entirely of sword intent directly formed on the high platform!
The storm roared and crashed into the platform.
The sword intent rippled out and then flew back.
Made of alloy, the platform several meters high kept collapsing in the sword intent, and a great deal of alloy was torn into nothingness by the sword intent.
Gu Youlan and Gu Yunxia were covered in blood.
The storm around the two did not stop but became more and more fierce.
Most of the people saw such fierce Great Void Sword Intent for the first time.
Night fell.
The storm of Great Void Sword Intent lit up.
In the storm of sword intent, the shadow of a huge sword fell hard amidst the roaring Sword Energy.
“Boom!”
The alloy platform crumbled entirely in a flash.
The shadow of the great sword fell to the ground. A wave of air that spread hundreds of meters away appeared out of thin air, sweeping away a large number of nearby onlookers.
Covered in blood, Gu Youlan and Gu Yunxia huddled together and twitched, unable to get up.
The sword intent faded away.
Dressed in white, Li Tianlan landed slowly on the high platform, which was already in ruins.
He carried Li Baitian on his back.
In front of him were the nearly unconscious Gu Youlan and Gu Yunxia.
“A helper in a fair duel? Is it a duel or murder?”
Li Tianlan looked at the two women in front of him.
There was a kind of softness in his eyes that made everyone’s blood freeze. “Kunlun City’s face has been lost by you.”