Chapter Sixteen: Reversal

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  She seems like an ordinary woman, without a stunning appearance or an impressive physique, yet she is a strong person who has reached the pinnacle through her ordinariness.

  This woman was only fond of swordsmanship, and when she first started practicing in her early years, she barely managed to grasp one heavenly vein. Later, she obtained a third-rate sword technique from the Ministry of War, and from then on, she soared to great heights.

  Xiao Yi's gaze was fixed on Mu Xue, her eyes were extremely pure, without any impurities, only an intangible sharpness, her gaze was very firm, her spirit and willpower had condensed to a shocking degree, even in it, there was a subtle aura of sharpness.

  This is no trivial matter, even the spirit and will are imbued with the sharpness of the sword. This is the utmost sincerity towards one's own martial arts, as the saying goes: "Where utmost sincerity resides, even metal and stone can be opened." It's not just empty words.

  As the Wooden Snow approached, the sword hum also surged, and in Xiao Yi's spiritual world, a cyan iron sword actually condensed out. This was the momentum of the Wooden Snow, an ordinary cyan iron sword that burst forth with astonishing sharpness in Xiao Yi's spiritual world.

  This sharp aura was unstoppable, piercing through everything, and wreaking havoc in the fragile spiritual world. No one dared to be careless, as Xiao Yi stirred up the ferocious spirit of the giant green-scaled elephant, which suppressed the spiritual world. The cyan iron sword was instantly knocked flying.

  A hint of surprise flashed in her eyes, but Muxue's footsteps grew faster and faster, along with the Qingtie sword on her back, the sword hummed continuously, like a dragon's roar.

  Getting closer, when the distance between Xiao Yi was only ten zhang away, the Qing Tie sword finally came out of its scabbard.

  Clang!

  A cyan sword light flashed and pierced, a nearly one-meter-long cyan sword energy fluctuated unpredictably, without any fancy moves, stabbing straight at Xiao Yi's chest. This ordinary-looking sword seemed to cut off all of Xiao Yi's retreat routes, the sword energy had not yet arrived, but its sharp edge was already close, piercing through the air, and in an instant, it was riddled with holes.

  On the stone stage.

  "This is... Clear Wind Swordsmanship?" Shi Hu Qianfu hesitated, "It has the semblance of Clear Wind Swordsmanship, but it's already somewhat different."

  The Clear Wind Sword Technique is a third-rate military technique of the Bloodstone Tribe, and it's indeed unremarkable. Many Bloodstone warriors wouldn't choose it when they first enter the military department. In these decades, Mu Xue can be considered the only one who has practiced this third-rate sword technique.

  "She's creating a new sword!" Qianyuan said in a deep voice, "On the basis of Qingfeng Swordsmanship, she is integrating her own insights to create a swordsmanship that belongs to herself. Now it seems that she has almost succeeded. The strength of this swordsmanship is absolutely not inferior to the top-notch second-rate martial arts."

  What!

  Akane Chihiro's heart skipped a beat, and he had actually created a sword technique that was close to the top of the second-rate martial arts. This young woman was so young, yet her comprehension was terrifyingly high, and her unwavering determination towards the way of the sword could be clearly felt even from afar.

  Throughout the ages, there have been many strong individuals, but those who truly stand at the pinnacle are not necessarily physically exceptional. From Muxue's body, Chiyan Qianfu felt a kind of aura that belonged to the strong.

  This sword's edge was too sharp, even Xiao Yi felt a stinging sensation on his skin, as if he was being cut open. Behind him, the dark broken spear hummed and suddenly shot out, colliding with the blue iron sword in mid-air.

  Hiss!

  There were countless sparks flying everywhere, broken guns and swords falling into Xiao Yi's hands. Mu Xue's cultivation was even stronger than his, almost penetrating a hundred heavenly veins. Each sword contained nearly a hundred kilograms of force. As for Xiao Yi, after consuming the thousand-year-old purple bamboo, his cultivation had made rapid progress, but due to the absorption by the Stone Mirror, he only reached the cultivation level of nineteen heavenly veins, and ninety-five kilograms was his limit.

  Although his strength was inferior to Muxue's, if he let the opponent know about his true state, it would be absolutely impossible for him to remain so calm, but this was not what Xiao Yi wanted.

  The Wind and Thunder Gun Technique blossomed in Xiao Yi's hands, from the first move "Wind Rises, Thunder Moves" to the second move "Fierce Wind, Sudden Rain", the third move "Lightning Flash, Thunder Roars"... to the eleventh move "Thunderbolt, Ten Thousand Pounds". Whether it was an ordinary technique or a two-move ultimate skill, in his hands they all merged into one, without any flaws, as if he had comprehended and cultivated for decades. The gun technique was so pure that it was astonishing.

  The two exchanged dozens of moves in an instant, Mu Xue's sword edge was too sharp, every sword was a hundred kilograms of force, the air was pierced by the sword energy, her blood energy was also fierce, after dozens of moves, she began to gain the upper hand.

  In Xiao Yi's perception, Mu Xue's swordsmanship seemed to transform into a gentle breeze in the end, penetrating every nook and cranny. Every sword strike was aimed at the weak points, and every sword strike was unstoppable. Her sword transformed into countless residual shadows, as if hundreds of iron swords were firing simultaneously. The intense sword hums merged into one piece. Although Feng Lei's gun technique was strong, when facing such a swordsmanship, there was also a sign of being caught off guard.

  The azure scales of the barbaric elephant roared, for the first time being blocked, the opponent's spiritual will was like a sword, with countless sword energies bursting out and striking against the scales, splashing out numerous tiny sparks.

  The war table is square.

  Many strong Wujiang-level masters were dazzled, and Xiao Yi's two moves were too fast. Only the gun shadow was seen in the air, and the sword shadow was like rain. In Mu Xue's hands, a clear wind swordsmanship was evolved to the extreme, starting to rise to the highest level, and it was no longer the original clear wind swordsmanship. The original clear wind swordsmanship only had nine swords, but at this moment in Mu Xue's hands, each move was not just nine swords, but even ten swords, dozens of swords, and almost every sword had no interval. The sharp sword energy pierced everything, covering several meters of void space, and the air seemed to be torn apart like thin paper.

  They were Shi Hu Qianfu Zhang Sanren, who also shook his head slightly at this moment. Although Xiao Yi had made rapid progress, he was not completely flawless. His flaw was that he had too little experience and lacked countless life-and-death battles to comprehend the way of war. The brutal elephant's great power technique had caused his cultivation to surge, but it couldn't give him a sense of the space between life and death. In the eyes of Shi Hu Qianfu Zhang Sanren, victory or defeat was almost certain, and even if Xiao Yi didn't show any flaws at this moment, as time went on, as long as he showed a thread of weakness, there would be no more chances to turn things around.

  Shi Zhi Xuan sat quietly in front of the bluestone table, his expression calm and unruffled. He neither gave any guidance to the three people nor revealed even a hint of emotional fluctuation. By his right hand stood an iron rod, its black body simple and unadorned, occasionally revealing a faint dark glow.

  Wow!

  On the battlefield, a shocking arrow whizzing sound rose, and the red copper giant arrow left the string. The thick arrow body was as fast as lightning, leaving behind clear afterimages in the air. This arrow surpassed the speed of sound and instantly reached the chest of the young man from the Volcano Tribe. However, he calmly raised his hand, and his movements seemed slow but were actually swift. A layer of deep blue battle aura appeared on his hand, and with a single grab, he caught the red copper giant arrow.

  "It's too slow." He slowly opened his mouth, the smile at the corner of his mouth undiminished. Then, with a slight force in his palm, the red copper arrow burst open and broke into two pieces.

  What!

  Tuoba Feng's heart skipped a beat, and at this moment, his spiritual world was stirred up with shocking waves. He actually caught the crimson copper arrow with his bare hands, and in the instant he just made his move, he even sensed that the momentum locked onto his opponent's body was suddenly dispersed. His opponent's spiritual will seemed to be far superior to his own.

  "Half-step Refining Blood, Small Round Fulfillment!" On the stone platform, Qianyuan Thousand Husband let out a low shout, his eyes more serious than ever before. "What a strong physique, at such a young age, you've already stepped into this realm, I'm afraid it won't take half a year for you to condense the Zhou Tian Qi Hai, at that time, your department won't be one of the four major Thousand Husband departments anymore."

  Chi Yan's face was filled with a faint smile, but he remained silent. This was indeed his greatest reliance in coming to the Bloodstone Tribe this time. The so-called Half-Step Blood Refining Small Circulation was actually the culmination of all 108 Heavenly Veins, and only one step away from condensing the Zhou Tian Qi Hai, achieving the realm of Blood Refining Small Circulation.

  On the battlefield, Tuoba Feng was like facing a great enemy. His spirit and will were more concentrated than ever before. The red copper arrow fell on the bowstring, but it was slow to shoot out, because his momentum had already locked onto the opponent and could not be released. Even his gaze could not look directly ahead, as if there was a raging flame burning in his spiritual world that he barely extinguished.

  In Tuoba Feng's spiritual perception, the young man from the Huo tribe was getting closer and closer, already less than ten zhang away. Suddenly, he stopped in his tracks and looked towards Xiao Yi's direction.

  Mù Xuě's Qingfēng sword technique was sharp and fierce, at this time it enveloped the four directions of empty space, with layers of sword shadows, overlapping peaks, a meter-long green sword energy cutting through the air, piercing sounds, and it was already very difficult to see Xiǎo Yì's figure.

  But only Mu Xue knew that from start to finish, Xiao Yi had never been enveloped by her swordsmanship. The opponent was too quiet, except for the initial Wind and Thunder Gun Technique being fierce and overbearing, later on, her sword momentum became even more vigorous, but the opponent remained calm and unhurried, often able to find the weaknesses in her sword techniques, yet not making a move. From initially needing ten swords to find one weakness, now almost every sword had been seen through by the opponent, the spear pointing straight, forcing her to change her sword style.

  Just as Mù Xuě's Qīng Fēng Jiàn Fǎ had reached its ultimate form, and the countless sword shadows were once again enveloping Xiāo Yì, a majestic and powerful gunshot-like sound emerged from within those infinite sword shadows. This gunshot-like sound was like thunder, like a mountain collapsing, like a tsunami, and finally transformed into a shrill arrow-like whistling sound. This gunshot was too fast, so fast that Mù Xuě didn't even have time to react, before it fiercely pierced through the countless sword shadows.

  Boom!

  Sparks flew everywhere, the Qingtie sword was shaken off, the broken gun pointed at Muxue's throat, and then put down again.

  "I lost."

  Muxue's voice was calm, as if she didn't care about winning or losing at all, but the sharpness in her eyes grew even stronger, this was a strange woman.

  The sudden change left many people unprepared, unable to react in time. In an instant, Muxue's sword was knocked out of her hand. If it were just a matter of changing positions, it would be acceptable, but they couldn't tell what was real and what wasn't. (Remember to collect this if you like it, brothers and sisters!)