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Yu Jiuzhen steadied his emotions, then clasped his fist in greeting. “It’s been a few months since we last saw each other, Fellow Daoist Su. You’re even more impressive than before.”
One sentence broke through the stifled atmosphere.
The middle-aged scholar and his companions all looked conflicted.
They’d traveled here alongside Su Yi, but laughably—and regrettably—they didn’t realize they had an expert in their midst!
“You’re busy setting up a formation. Don’t tell me it’s targeted at me?” Su Yi said as he looked at the cultivators busy throughout the mountain.
“How could we even think of such a thing?” Yu Jiuzhen laughed bitterly. “I won’t hide it from you. We’re improving our formations for fear that the aftershock of your duel with His Excellency Dongguo Feng will reach our mountain.”
“Oh,” said Su Yi. “So that means that if I want to leave with Miss Xinzhao, I have to beat Dongguo Feng first?”
Yu Jiuzhen hesitated, then said, “Fellow Daoist, you don’t know this yet, but two days ago, Dongguo Feng made his position clear. If Xinzhao wants to leave, she’s welcome to do so at any time, and no one will stand in her way. Xinzhao chose to remain here anyway.”
Su Yi paused, briefly stunned. “Why is that?”
Yu Jiuzhen sighed. “When she learned that you chose to come here on her account, how could she possibly choose to leave before you arrived? It’s ultimately because she’s worried about you.”
Su Yi couldn’t help but laugh. “That works too. Go tell Dongguo Feng I’ll give him a chance to challenge me.”
He then pointed into the sea of clouds overhead. “I’ll wait for him there.”
Yu Jiuzhen shivered from head to toe, then said solemnly, “Got it!”
“Also, tell Miss Xinzhao to pack up her things. Once the battle’s over, I’ll take her away,” ordered Su Yi.
Yu Jiuzhen didn’t quite know what to say. How could he fail to realize that Su Yi didn’t seem the least bit concerned about Dongguo Feng?
Yu Jiuzhen paused to consider his words, then said, “Fellow Daoist Su, Dongguo Feng is no ordinary person. If you ask me, you ought to be careful.”
“I actually rather hope he’s strong,” said Su Yi.
Yu Jiuzhen was stunned, but he said no more. He immediately ordered his subordinates to pass on the message.
Su Yi, meanwhile, took the skies, soaring like a whirlwind. In a few blinks of the eye, he’d arrived beneath the dome of heaven.
The young woman in green looked a bit ashamed. She murmured, “So, all of us misjudged him…”
The other youths fell silent.
The middle-aged scholar and the various older-generation experts smiled bitterly and shook their heads. Deep within their hearts, they rejoiced. Rejoiced that they hadn’t mistreated or outwardly disdained a legendary, peerless figure like Su Yi.
“Everything else aside, we came at just the right time. We’ll get to watch Su Yi and Dongguo Feng’s duel. That’s cause for celebration!” said an ornately-dressed young man.
The others' spirits soared, and their hearts filled with eagerness. All of them looked up at the sky.
Wind and rain churned, and misty light surged.
As the clouds shifted, the boundless, hazy landscape came in and out of view.
Su Yi stood in the air, admiring the picturesque beauty of the landscape. He held a jug of wine and drank on his own, perfectly content.
Meanwhile, on the peak of Cloudsky Divine Mountain—
“Young master, Su Yi had already arrived,” said an older Dongguo clansman. He’d appeared silently and without warning, and as he spoke, he lowered his head respectfully.
Before a thatched hut.
Dongguo Feng silently opened his eyes and put Heart Killer back in its sword case. He then rose from his seated meditation and put his sword case on his back.
He stared into the depths of the sea of clouds and said, “I know.”
Before his voice finished echoing through the air.
Deep within the distant sea of clouds, Su Yi seemed to sense something, and he looked over from afar.
Their gazes clashed in midair.
Dongguo Feng’s typically tranquil gaze silently lit up, like the glint of a sword’s edge.
There was no need to even question it. He knew that the young man in blue standing amidst the clouds was Su Yi!
Furthermore, Dongguo Feng realized something, as if by a sword cultivator’s instinct. He knew that, after all his years of cultivation, he’d finally found someone like him, someone with utterly terrifying attainments in the Dao of the Sword.
A hint of delight coursed through him for the first time in many years.
“Su Yi, I’ve waited for you for a long time!” said Dongguo Feng.
His voice was grave, and every word boomed like thunder, reverberating throughout the landscape and spreading far and wide.
Throughout Cloudsky Divine Mountain, everyone set aside their tasks.
They then watched as a chilling, grim sword intent rose, soaring through the sky. It pierced and dispersed the clouds, shaking the firmament.
The misty curtain of spring rain suddenly had an additional, bone-chilling austerity.
“He’s so strong!” Outside the mountain gates, the middle-aged scholar and the others were, without exception, astonished. It was as if they’d witnessed the descent of a god of the sword.
“With sword force like that, it’s no wonder he’s seventh on the Ranking of Stars. He really is a peerless sword cultivator of his generation…” sighed Yu Jiuzhen.
The other higher-ups all squinted and gazed up at the dome of heaven.
Dongguo Feng’s thin figure strode through the rain. Before long, he arrived at the sea of clouds.
Wherever he passed, the sky rippled, and the mists dispersed like willow catkins!
It even seemed as if the skies might crumble beneath his surging, majestic, grim sword intent.
Su Yi couldn’t help but look surprised.
His sword force is as majestic as a mountain, and his sword intent is as firm as iron. Dongguo Feng’s attainments in the Dao of the Sword have obviously already reached the level of ‘unity of mind and will.’
When determining the power of someone’s Sword Dao, he looked first at sword force, next at sword intent, and third at their sword heart.
Sword force was a manifestation of sword intent produced when one’s qi circulated.
That was what was happening now. When Dongguo Feng circulated his qi, his sword force was like a mountain. It was vast yet concentrated, and it blanketed the skies with its soul-shaking momentum.
What was sword intent? It was the power of one’s Sword Dao, tempered through one’s mastery of Grand Dao Mysterious Truths.
And the sword heart? That was the manifestation of a sword cultivator’s body, qi, and spirit!
The stronger one’s sword heart, the greater their control and application of sword force and sword intent.
Between sword force, sword intent, and sword hearts, Su Yi undoubtedly valued the third the most.
After all, both sword force and sword intent were ultimately just skills, while the sword heart was the fundamental determinant of a sword cultivator’s strength.
There was no doubt that Dongguo Feng was an extremely dazzling sword cultivator.
He could already control his sword force and sword intent at will, with natural ease. There was no need for ostentatious displays; with every movement, he revealed his proud, imposing spirit.
Amidst the sea of clouds.
Dongguo Feng stood three hundred feet away from Su Yi.
Instantly, throughout Cloudsky Divine Mountain, all gazes focused on the two combatants.
One was the young legend whose name shook the nation just months prior. Although he’d disappeared for quite some time, now that he was back, no one would dare overlook his existence.
Chu Yunke and the five other Hidden Cloud Sword Mountain Spiritual Manifestation disciples’ deaths were the best possible proof of this!
And his opponent? He was a highly prominent monster of the ancient era, the man who’d once single-handedly suppressed Cloudsky Divine Palace. Furthermore, he was Seventh on the Ranking of Stars!
And now, these two peerless experts were about to duel in the clouds hovering over Cloudsky Divine Mountain.
Who wouldn’t have paid attention? Who wouldn’t have been eager?
“So, Brother Su really did show up….” Wen Xinzhao’s eyes reflected a mixture of delight, worry, and tension.
The blue-robed young man standing amidst the clouds looked just as he had before, with the air of a banished immortal.
Daoist Master Coldsmoke and Qing Ya stood by Wen Xinzhao’s side. When they looked at Su Yi, their hearts surged with emotion too.
“I just don’t know if he’s a match for Dongguo Feng.” Daoist Master Coldsmoke’s expression was rife with deep-seated worry.
Dongguo Feng’s strength was common knowledge!
Even the mighty High Elder True Monarch Tranquil Seas of Cloudsky Divine Palace, a Spiritual Incarnation cultivator, was no match for him!
Of course Daoist Master Coldsmoke was worried. How could she not be?
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“Big Brother Su Yi is sure to win!” Qing Ya, however, was completely confident, and her eyes shone. “After all, even after all this time, he’s never lost before!”
Qing Ya’s optimism seemed infectious; Wen Xinzhao and Daoist Coldsmoke couldn’t help but smile too.
She was right! Su Yi had never lost before!
Meanwhile, amidst the clouds.
Dongguo Feng inclined his head and said calmly, “I am Dongguo Feng of the Dongguo Family. I’m a sword cultivator in the late-stage Spiritual Manifestation Realm. Greetings, Fellow Daoist.”
Su Yi nodded. “With your attainments in the Dao of the Sword, you are indeed qualified to duel with me. What’s even rarer and more precious is that you never used Miss Xinzhao’s life to threaten me. How about this? When we fight, I’ll leave you a path to life.”
Yu Jiuzhen and the other higher-ups looked at each other. Su Yi… really is as wildly arrogant as the rumors say…
Throughout the Great Xia, who else would dare speak to Dongguo Feng like that?
“Hmph! When the heavens wish someone dead, they first drive him to madness. This Su Yi kid is on the brink of death, but he still doesn’t know it!”
The Dongguo Family experts spread throughout the mountain laughed coldly. They made no attempt to hide their hatred for Su Yi.
“I am Dongguo Yun’s older brother. He’s dead, so it’s naturally up to me to avenge him,” Dongguo Feng said calmly. “Fellow Daoist, you ought to understand that this is not merely a duel to determine victory and defeat. This is a matter of life and death. However, I can promise you that no matter who ultimately lives or dies, your enmity with the Dongguo Family ends here.”
Su Yi laughed. “To you, this is about revenge, and it’s a matter of life and death, but to me? I just happened upon a worthy opponent, that’s all. Whether I kill you or not depends entirely on my mood.”
Dongguo Feng furrowed his brow, but he quickly regained his usual calm.
Clang!
His sword hummed within its case, then shot out.
His sword was three feet, two inches long. It was heavy, with no sharp point.
“My sword is called Heart Killer. Fellow Daoist, please instruct me.”
With his sword in hand, Dongguo Feng’s aura was even graver. His sword force was as majestic as a mountain, and the nearby clouds churned and dispersed.
“Heart Killer? Killing others to satisfy your heart’s desires?” Su Yi’s eyebrows shot up.
Dongguo Feng shook his head. “No. This sword kills my enemies, but more than that, it kills the thieves of the heart.”
“A good name,” said Su Yi. He couldn’t help but look appreciative.
True sword cultivators prioritized tempering their mental state above all else.
He could tell from his sword’s name alone that Dongguo Feng’s Dao of the Sword was far beyond the vast majority of the world’s sword cultivators.
As he spoke, Su Yi raised his hand and beckoned to his opponent. “Go on and draw your sword.”
However, Dongguo Feng furrowed his brow. “I heard that you possess unbelievable attainments in the Dao of the Sword. Why haven’t you drawn your weapon?”
Su Yi said casually, “I’m waiting to see whether or not you’re capable of forcing me to draw it.”
“This kid sure is arrogant!” The various Dongguo Family experts were all displeased. They found Su Yi’s attitude extraordinarily unpleasant.
Yu Jiuzhen and the other higher-ups felt bewildered. They wouldn’t have guessed that Su Yi would dare be so flippant against a terrifying monster of the ancient era like Dongguo Feng.
Only Dongguo Feng remained as calm as before. Neither insults nor flattery could sway him.
He wasted no time talking.
Boom!
Long-accumulated, bitingly-cold sword intent burst around Dongguo Feng.
Ten thousand feet of cloud trembled.
His strength startled even heaven and earth.