Chapter 69: Thriving Withering

Sword Dynasty

Volume 1: Great Rebel

Chapter 69: Thriving Withering

“This kind of test is a bit childish. But since we are all childish disciples, this kind of trial and competition s very suitable for us. However, He Zhaoxi is not childish at all.”

A few weak rumbling sounds came from Xie Changsheng’s stomach, though it was due to hunger. However, he chose to talk with his friend rather than go to the mountain path to get food.

His words were ridiculous and boring. Nevertheless, Xu Heshan could understand his current mood. The performance of Ding Ning and He Zhaoxi had given Xie Changsheng much food for thought.

“It seems we need to work harder. Otherwise, we will be left far behind by people like He Zhaoxi and Gu Xichun.” Xu Heshan nodded and lowered his voice to a whisper. “Nangong Caishu and Ding Ning are in danger.”

Xie Changsheng took a deep breath. “Although I know the odds are slim, I still hope the two of them can win,” he said seriously.

Under their worried gazes, Nangong Caishu and Ding Ning had already walked towards He Zhaoxi's side.

 

Nangong Caishu moved amidst the thin mist.

Compared to most people in the valley, she seemed to have had good luck so far. Aside from encountering vine traps twice, she had not encountered any disciples of the White Goat Cave or the Green Vine Sword School. She had not been attacked by any armored lizards either. But this meant she could not rest today. She had to find enough food, and she even had to fight with another disciple once.

Suddenly, she stopped walking.

Because at this moment, a low rumbling sound drifted through the wind.

The formations in the sword trial valley had caused chaos to the utmost degree in the primal energies of the universe, so much so that they had disturbed all other vibrations. Therefore, ordinary vibrations in the air and ground could no longer be felt.

However, at this very moment, she could clearly hear that deep sound. This could only mean one thing—the source of this loud noise was within close proximity to her.

“He Zhaoxi!” She thought for a moment and almost instinctively called out this name.

Suddenly, there was a sudden change in the wind. Waves of blue mist were blown apart by the wind. A somewhat wild-looking figure emerged from the mist beside her, accompanied by the rustling of fallen leaves.

“As I expected, it’s you.”

Nangong Caishu’s demeanor turned cold. Her right hand slowly touched the hilt of the scaly metal sword she carried on her back.

The wild figure suddenly stopped in his tracks. A wave of wind spread outward, and he stood still.

At this moment, He Zhaoxi’s chest was completely exposed, fine sweat oozing from his slightly reddish skin before evaporating due to body heat. His stomach was still making gurgling sounds. His eyes burned with fighting intent as he stared at Nangong Caishu. “Actually, I didn’t want to meet you,” he said sincerely.

“Only because you think I have a chance of making the top three, not because you think you can’t defeat me.” Nangong Caishu’s eyes began to burn with fighting intent. She slowly drew the scaly metal sword on her back and held it horizontally in front of her. “I don't like your way of thinking. Even if you want to surrender to me now, since we've met here, I think you should fight me. After all, I’ve wanted to fight you for a long time, and I wanted to see just how far apart our strengths were. But before my breakthrough some time ago, I was a realm behind you. I was afraid of being completely defeated and not feeling anything.”

He Zhaoxi held the yellow longsword crossed in front of his body and said, “I am in good condition, and I have a higher cultivation, therefore I will yield to you to perform three moves.”

“It's up to you. It's your decision.”

Nangong Caishu began pacing. A strong wind formed at her feet, blowing away the dead leaves and dust on the ground, revealing the hard, yellow earth beneath. She began attacking in a straight line, just as she had when she encountered Prince Li Ling’s subordinate Chen Moli.

However, since she was now in the Vital Energy Realm, the current scene was very different from the past. Vital energy, as if it were water, flowed rapidly from her fingertips and into the scaly metal sword in her hand. The fish scales on this black, heavy sword shone and churned with a sticky silver light. It seemed as if the sword was filled with liquid silver and was about to leak out of its seal. But something seemed to be holding it back.

The scaly metal sword itself seemed unable to withstand this force. The sword body, which had been slightly bent due to the battle, began to straighten and then vibrated violently, emitting rays of silver light. In an instant, in Nangong Caishu's hand, the thick black sword seemed to transform into a large silver fish.

Splash!

The large silver fish swayed violently. When it reached its peak, it finally broke free from her grasp, sounding as if it were jumping back into the water. All the silver light escaped and flew forward.

In the air, a fish-shaped silver sword beam appeared, advancing toward He Zhaoxi, who was about fifty feet away. However, the black metal sword remained firmly in Nangong Caishu's grasp.

“Secret Fish Sword Form?” He Zhaoxi exclaimed softly, as if surprised that Nangong Caishu hadn't used the City Connection Sword Art that had been passed down in her family. He swung his sword as though he was casually swinging it through the air in front of him.

His yellow sword drew an arc in the air. Bright yet transparent sword energy lit up at the tip of the sword. This sword energy shot straight towards Nangong Caishu at an astonishing speed.

At this moment, he counterattacked instead of defending. His attack was faster than Nangong Caishu's. His attack slashed through the air, and in just a flash, it was less than two feet from Nangong Caishu's eyes!

At that moment, the large silver fish leaping through the air was still ten feet away from He Zhaoxi!

Facing a counterattack immediately after attacking with full force, especially when Nangong Caishu was still moving forward, made this counterattack extremely difficult for her to parry.

Nangong Caishu’s pupils fiercely contracted. Fortunately, she still had her sword.

When this bright yet transparent sword light was just an inch away from her forehead, a green sword light finally shot out from her left hand. The vine-like sword lights managed to block in front of the transparent sword light.

As if the popping sound was a signal, Nangong Caishu instinctively closed her eyes and stopped herself from moving forward. The shreds of sword energy and the wind blew her hair back, leaving several bloody bruises on her face.

Boom!

At that moment, Nangong Caishu sensed the large silver fish being knocked back by a turbid yellow wave. A section of the yellow sword came out of the turbid wave and slashed towards her.

He Zhaoxi had initially said he would yield to the first three moves. Now, the two of them were engaged in a fierce battle. Clearly, He Zhaoxi had no intention of yielding to her.

But Nangong Caishu knew this was not because He Zhaoxi was deceiving her. On the contrary, He Zhaoxi understood her intentions well, and this was a sign of his respect for her.

At this moment, Nangong Caishu could not dodge, so she crossed her swords in front of her. Vital energy flowed into her swords. A ball of yellow light and a ball of silver and green light intersected in the air.

Thunder once again echoed in the valley. The ball-like wave once again spread outward, blowing away the surrounding vines and the leaves on the tree branches.

He Zhaoxi's charging body suddenly stopped. A discordant cracking sound came from beneath his shoes, and his cloth shoes shattered into tiny fragments.

In front of him, Nangong Caishu's body was thrown back in a horrific manner. She created a hole in the vines and bushes behind her before falling heavily to the ground. Nangong Caishu left several bloodstains on the ground in front of her. However, her blood-stained hands still gripped her swords tightly.

Even though scarlet drops of blood leaked out through his robes, wetting the ground, she did not make a sound and struggled to stand up.

He Zhaoxi wore a solemn expression. He did not say much, simply holding his sword horizontally and saying, “Please!”

Nangong Caishu began attacking again. She created a straight path through the thin mist. Her blood-stained sword hilt once again emitted a dazzling light. She attacked with both swords.

The vital energy flowing into the sword seal gathered some of the primal energies of the universe and flew out. A bunch of vines formed in front of her.

Silver light flickered between the vines. This time, there was not a large silver fish attacking, but countless scales-like silver lights.

Using two sword forms simultaneously was more difficult than using one. This was why the Green Vine Sword School rarely had anyone who wielded dual swords like Nangong Caishu.

But even in the face of Nangong Caishu's oppressive attack, He Zhaoxi only attacked once. He tilted his sword, turned it horizontally, and swung it forward.

This appeared to be a brute force method. Although the power of this attack, it seemed, was not enough to block all the sword light that Nangong Caishu released.

So most of the people watching from the observation platform were confused.

However, at that very moment, a strange transformation occurred in He Zhaoxi's body. The skin on the left side of his body instantly turned a dry yellow, while the right side of his body was filled with vitality.

It was as if a large tree withered on one side in an instant, while the other side absorbed that vitality and rapidly grew strong…

Boom!

A powerful force surged from his right arm and surged into the yellow longsword in his hand. Rays of light radiated through the yellow sword, and his power detonated.

Nangong Caishu nearly stopped breathing. She could not draw her sword back in time. An even louder explosion greeted her.

Her feet lifted off the ground again. A powerful shockwave traveled through her sword hilt and into her arm. Her sleeve tore apart, and shreds flew from her hand like butterflies.

The powerful force instantly sent her flying, sending her crashing back even further.

Xie Changsheng and the others on the observation platform were shocked. Many stood speechless, their mouths agape in disbelief.

Was this the power of the Thriving Withering Art of Green Vine Sword School?

 

Ding Ning was eating his cooked meat.

When the first muffled explosion reached his ears, he stopped and listened intently. With the second explosion, he felt the ground tremble.

He frowned and stood up.

 

Notes:

This novel is not my work... I just translated it from a Chinese web novel written by Wu Zui

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