Chapter Twenty: The Parting Battle

  Everyone's recommended votes, crazy smashing!

  Smiling at the two, Lu Qing was quite satisfied with his current progress. Over the past month, his overall improvement had surpassed that of before. The benefits brought by the Sword Soul Scripture truly delighted him. Although he still hadn't managed to cultivate the refreshing aura in the Divine Court's Sea of Consciousness after a month of cultivation, it had allowed him to be full of energy every day, with his sword energy becoming even more refined. When practicing swordplay, his senses were clear and his mind was sharp, allowing him to make rapid progress. This made him even more grateful to his master, Xuan Qing.

  "You're preparing..." Lu Qing looked at the attire on Yu Ji and Hua's bodies, aside from the swords on their backs, they also had an additional plain cloth bundle. Lu Qing asked with some doubt. As for Zhao Qianye not being there, perhaps he had already sensed the pressure from the person in front and had gone to the Chaoyang Cave in the back mountain to meditate in seclusion half a month ago.

  Duan Qingyun smiled and said, "It's been two and a half months since the big competition at the end of the year. Now, many of my fellow disciples have gone to the Outer Affairs Hall on the main peak to receive their tasks and leave. I and Jiuhua discussed it and jointly received a task to guard and transport the Xuan Tie mine. The location is in Chaoyang City, and it will take about two months."

  He nodded, and Yu Jihua continued: "Yes, we're leaving tomorrow, so we need to head down the mountain now. Lu Qing, you haven't established your foundation yet, and it's still shallow. Although your sword skills have already glimpsed the doorway, you still need a lot of time to accumulate your sword energy, so stay on the mountain for now."

  He nodded, and Lu Qing originally had no intention of doing the task. What was most precious to him now was time, and at this stage, his top priority was to meditate and accumulate sword yuan energy. His understanding of the swordsmanship realm was already sufficient, and for a sword servant who had not yet built his foundation, mastering the Tengyun Nine Swords was already meeting the requirements.

  Suddenly, Lu Qing's heart moved, the giant sword in his hand slowly rose, and a fierce battle intent burst out, pressing towards Duan Qingyun from afar.

  "Ah, you think you've improved your sword skills and want to try me out? Well, I'm not a soft persimmon! Come on, come on, let's see what you're made of. Don't cry if you lose!" Duan Qingyun shouted loudly, but his hands didn't relax in the slightest. The Lihuo Sword behind him suddenly flashed out of its scabbard, and in an instant, a layer of purple sword energy enveloped the blade. At the tip of the sword, a three-inch-long crystal-clear sword energy extended out.

  Lu Qing saw clearly that when he first met Duan Qingyun, his sword had a six-inch-long sword energy on the tip. It was obvious that at this moment, Duan Qingyun only used half of his strength.

  In fact, Duan Qingyun did not dare to be arrogant like Yu Jihua at the beginning. He didn't have the realm of Sword Guest Stage, and now Lu Qing's swordsmanship has improved, he also saw it in his eyes. If he suppressed his cultivation to the same level as Lu Qing and lost, he would lose face greatly. After weighing the pros and cons, he decided to suppress his cultivation to the Small Heavenly Realm of the Sword Holder.

  With a footstep on the ground, the Heart Purifying Great Sword rose up with a layer of dense purple sword energy, and the sword energy in the dantian qihai reached its peak.

  Broadsword Exercise (Seven Forms) - First Form: Sweep Away Clouds and See the Sun!

  Compared to the awkward transformation half a month ago, Lu Qing's swordsmanship has gradually become smooth and effortless. With the addition of the giant sword's refinement, he was able to fully utilize the basic Asura Seven Styles of the Sword Slave Clan.

  In Duan Qingyun's senses, Lu Qing's sword from bottom to top not only mixed with the whistling and wailing sound of breaking through the air, but also seemed like a towering purple mountain standing upright, cutting through the clouds, its majestic and vast momentum fully revealed.

  "Good——" Duan Qingyun let out a loud shout, Lu Qing's sword had already approached his current realm of swordsmanship, and vaguely even gave him a sense of crisis. Not daring to slack off, the Flame Sword spun in mid-air and slashed out horizontally with its backhand, as if the sword lived up to its name, its momentum was like a raging fire. With the same attacking move, Duan Qingyun's chubby body suddenly burst forth with speed that didn't match his physique at all, crossing several meters in the blink of an eye.

  Boom!

  Two large swords cut together without any fancy moves, purple stars shot out in all directions, the center of the two swords suddenly lit up with a dazzling purple light, followed by a fierce explosion sound, a layer of clear and visible invisible air waves spread out in a circle.

  Hum——, Lu Qing heard the mournful cry of Lian Xin in his hand, and his heart suddenly skipped a beat. For a moment, his fighting spirit surged forth, and he even forgot that Lian Xin's grade was not high after all. However, this exchange also made him roughly sense the grade of Duan Qingyun's Lie Huo Jian, which should be around sixth-grade. Because although Lian Xin was only close to fourth-grade, some aspects had already reached the requirements of fourth-grade, and in order to make it suffer damage, at least seventh-grade would be needed, let alone cutting it off, which was impossible without eighth-grade or higher.

  The two men simultaneously triggered a wave of energy that pushed to both sides, and Yu Jihua, who had already retreated to one side before the two men clashed, watched clearly. Duan Qingyun retreated six steps, while Lu Qing retreated five and a half steps.

  "Good boy, what a big momentum!" Duan Qingyun exclaimed in surprise, shaking his somewhat trembling right hand. Although he had already prepared himself for the weight of Lu Qing's fist, adding Lu Qing's own cultivated strength still made him suffer a bit.

  Don't look at Lu Qing, who is not yet thirteen years old, but with years of sword casting and the fifty-pound hammer given to him by Lu Yun, his physical strength is unmatched, and his power is in no way inferior to that of a typical adult man.

  Without a sound, Lu Qingyun rotated the Sword Origin Technique, using it to repair the sword energy that had been broken off from Duan Yu's Flame Sword. Almost at the same time, both of them moved simultaneously.

  Sigh——

  Their figures were like the wind, and the two of them clashed together in an instant, with hardly any thought. Lu Qing activated the Soul Refining Technique, a name he had given to avoid confusing it with other parts of the Sword Soul Scripture.

  In an instant, Lu Qing felt that his mind was much calmer than before, and the place where his gaze fell was even clearer. Without thinking, he fully unleashed the Tengyun Nine Swords, and the Lianxin Sword whizzed through the air, piercing through it like a purple, dazzling ribbon, reaching its limit at the wrist, quickly arcing downwards, and the sword body drew a perfect circular arc to counterattack Qing Yun's blocking arm.

  Satisfied, he nodded slightly, and with his profound cultivation base, he naturally saw it very clearly. Just now, Lu Qing's two styles of Tengyun Jiu Jian could be said to be smooth and effortless, and the changes in sword momentum were like flowing water and clouds. Compared to when he first came up the mountain a month and a half ago, his progress was breathtaking.

  Looking at Duan Qingyun, facing Lu Qing's attack like a flowing cloud, the Flame Sword seemed to have lost its weight and was swung randomly. To match his physique, Duan Qingyun's Flame Sword was custom-made by Huang Lao, although it wasn't as heavy as Lu Qing's Refining Heart, it still weighed around 40 kilograms.

  The same Tengyun Jiujian, compared to Lu Qing's Xingyun Liu Shui, had a completely different grandeur. The fierce fire sword seemed to have lost its previous ferocity, and even with the changes in sword moves, it still gave Lu Qing a kind of ethereal feeling, as if the Tengyun Jiujian being wielded by Duan Qingyun at this moment was the real one.

  Soaring clouds, soaring clouds, riding on the Milky Way, drifting between heaven and earth, never stopping day or night! This is the opening phrase of Lu Qing's memory of the Nine Swords of Tengyun.

  As the two men exchanged blows quickly, thirty moves had passed in the blink of an eye. This feeling became increasingly clear in Lu Qing's heart, and the pressure on his body grew heavier. Although it was the same sword, the trajectory of the sword's movement became more and more blurred. The mental energy used to observe also gradually increased, and the force received from the collision of the blades seemed to be getting bigger and bigger.

  Lu Qing was somewhat puzzled, as by now his dantian qihai's sword yuanqi range had already exceeded 80%, almost reaching the late stage of accumulation for a Sword Servant. Could it be that the power of a swordsman was so strong? From the three-inch-long purple sword energy extending from Lie Huo Jian, it could be seen that Duan Qingyun hadn't increased his cultivation, but why was he getting harder and harder to defend against?

  My heart was in disarray, and I raised an eyebrow, Lü Qing's swordsmanship connected with that slight pause, he deeply looked into my eyes, it wasn't that the sword's energy was exhausted, the mere thirty moves were not enough to completely exhaust Lü Qing, at most half of his energy was consumed.

  The fact was indeed as Yu and Hua had expected, the next ten moves of Lu Qing's swordsmanship became increasingly chaotic. Although his sword techniques were still changing freely, his breath was disrupted due to the doubts in his heart.

  Finally, in the 42nd move, Duan Qingyun grasped Lu Qing's slightly disordered breath, and with a fierce sword strike, Lu Qing only felt a sharp pain on his palm, and the Heart-Refining Sword in his hand suddenly flew out of control, stabbing into a large bluestone with a "pu" sound.

  Is it over? Lu Qing was stunned, and he lowered his head to look at the red mark on the back of his right hand. That was the last segment of Qing Yun's sword body, which had been imprinted with the mark of the sword's energy being absorbed.

  "That's the realm of weightlessness—" Yu Ji explained as he walked over.

  "Light as a feather——" Lu Qing looked at Yu Jihua with some confusion.

  He nodded definitely and Yu Jihua continued: "This is the realm of swordsmanship, it can also be said to be a branch of the five realms of the sword path. As far as I know now, there are only three realms: lifting heavy as light, lifting light as heavy, and self-transformation of light and heavy. These three realms have no cultivation limit, as long as you understand enough, you can reach it. This is also a relatively important factor in determining victory or defeat. Some things are not simply determined by cultivation, even the powerful Sword God Temple can only give out a standard."

  With a thoughtful expression, he nodded slightly. Lu Qing's eyes suddenly lit up, "Then what realm have you reached, Brother Yu?" He knew that Yu Jihua's cultivation was very high, at least for him now, the Sword Guest stage was still a realm to be looked up to.

  I was stunned for a moment, then looked at Lu Qing with deep meaning and replied: "I'm still in the realm of 'lifting heavy as light', including your brother-in-law among the top 16 to top 5 are all in this realm. As for the third realm, if you understand it, legend has it that eight or nine out of ten can successfully condense their sword soul. However, in all these years on Chaoyang Peak, I've never heard of anyone reaching the sword soul realm before. Maybe some of the main peak owners and sect masters have reached it, but in reality, no one is clear."

  "Yes, I'd say you're pretty good too, Lu Qing," Duan Qingyun said, handing over the Heart Refining Sword inserted into the bluestone to Lu Qing. "Your ability to adapt and lead has already approached the threshold of making heavy things light as a feather. Among the more than 50 fellow disciples on our Mt. Yang Peak, you're already among the top ranks. Keep working hard, I believe you'll definitely be able to successfully build your foundation."