Unrivaled Medicine God, page 53
To make the guardian of the stage invoke the array at full power, Ye Yuan was probably unprecedented and unrepeatable.
At the foot of the mountain, many students were forced back by the raging sword intent. The initially packed plaza was currently split into multiple segments.
The front rows were mainly Spirit Condensation Realm students. They were still able to withstand the encroachment of the sword intent.
Behind them was a vast stretch of empty space, and behind the empty space were those Earth Rank students. Those even further out at the periphery were students with inadequate strength.
Ye Yuan who was residing at the heart of the storm, on the other hand, did not show the slightest signs of discomfort towards the violent sword intent. He stood with his hands behind his back while the fierce wind worked up by the sword intent tore his clothes. But Ye Yuan himself remained completely unmoved like a pine tree.
But at this moment, Ye Yuan's disposition was drastically different from usual. It was as if his entire being had transformed into a sharp sword, and he was resonating with those raging sword intents.
" Mm? You actually have your own sword intent as well!" Seeing the situation, Lu Yan was completely taken aback, as his voice transmitted from the void.
"This Junior was lucky to have comprehended some sword intent. Compared to Senior You Wuya's sword intent, it's still far from it. It's just able to forcefully protect myself."
Ye Yuan was just being modest. How could his Falling Flower Floating Zero Sword Intent possibly be inferior to You Wuya's?
Except, Ye Yuan's current cultivation realm was not high, and he himself also had the intention of restraining his sword intent to protect his body. That was why he did not unleash it around.
But in terms of the sword intent's level, You Wuya was just a Lower Realm expert back then. How could he possibly be mentioned in the same breath with Ye Yuan?
One had to know that when Ye Yuan created the Falling Flower Floating Zero Sword, even the Extreme Sword Divine King could not stop praising it!
"Alright. Since that's the case, you have to be careful! I'm going to attack now!" Lu Yan's voice transmitted over.
Ye Yuan replied indifferently, "Feel free to attack, Senior!"
Then Ye Yuan trod across the steps while braving the sword shadows filling the skies.
One step, second step, third step . . .
Ye Yuan walked all the way for 30 steps, yet the azure sword shadows which filled the skies did not descend from start to the end. It just kept accumulating more and more.
It was evident that Lu Yan had already pushed the quantity of these azure sword shadows to the limits, all for the final 33 steps where the attack would begin to land.
Under so many sword shadows' descend, even steel would also be shredded to rotten mud.
These sword shadows were formed by sword intent. Under the influence of Lu Yan, the killing power would be extremely bloodcurdling.
The students who challenged the stage in the past, including Mo Yuntian, all faced almost certain death under these sword shadows.
But the sword shadows that Ye Yuan was facing currently were several times, even dozens of times greater than what the others had experienced! Even if a Spirit Condensation Realm came to the third stage, it would be tough to say whether or not they would be able to retreat fully!
But Ye Yuan was presently behaving like nothing was wrong, and he strode out to the first of the 33 steps without hesitation!
As expected, the sky full of sword shadows stabbed towards Ye Yuan like raindrops and looked like it was about to pierce Ye Yuan full of holes like a beehive.
Right at that moment, Ye Yuan wielded his fingers like a sword and pointed to those sword shadows. A streak of faintly discernable sword qi shot towards those sword shadows.
The imperceptible sword qi was engulfed instantly!
Ye Yuan did not seem to give up resisting. His sword fingers drew a half-arc in midair and finally pointed to his right.
At the next moment, an unimaginable scene occurred!
The sword rain which obscured the skies actually collectively flew out to the right of Ye Yuan in front of that arc Ye Yuan drew before him and vanished entirely into the void!
"What? Yo– How did you do that?" From the void came Lu Yan's alarmed voice.
Ye Yuan smiled and said, "Senior, this Junior has some understanding in the application of sword intent. These sword intents might appear to be extremely powerful, but in reality, they are just rootless grass. scattered and not condensed. I used sword intent to tow them, so they would naturally deviate off course. This is an artful way of using a weaker force to deal with a greater force."
"Sss . . . Have some . . . understanding?" Lu Yan muttered to himself.
This sort of thing was easy to say, but to actually do it was extremely difficult!
Forget about 'some knowledge' towards sword intent, it would be incredibly arduous for even those who 'understood sword intent very well' to do this!
Lu Yan spent his entire life immersed in the Azure Dipper Purple Yang Sword Art, and he had remarkably profound understanding towards sword intent. But if he were the one just now, he might perhaps be able to do it, but he definitely could not do it like how Ye Yuan lifted a heavy object as if it was light!
Only now did Lu Yan knew just how exaggerated Ye Yuan's 'some understanding' was.
But this way, Lu Yan could finally put his heart completely at ease. He could also totally unleash the array formations at the back now. The greater Ye Yuan's strength was, the higher the hopes of the Tranquil Cloud Sect returning to the Northern Domain!
The second of the 33 steps, the quantity of the sword intent decreased to a thousand.
This time around, Ye Yuan used two fingers before he could draw the sword intent away.
The third of the 33 steps, the quantity of the sword intent decreased by another ten times. There were only a hundred!
This time around, Ye Yuan unleashed five fingers!
. . . . . .
The number of sword intents of the Azure Dipper Purple Yang Sword Art became increasingly lesser, while the number of fingers Ye Yuan used progressively increased.
It was very clear that while the number of sword intents lessened, the power was multiple times greater than before!
"The Azure Dipper Purple Yang Sword Art truly lives up to its reputation. To have such incredible power! The attack of my Falling Flower Floating Zero Sword is lacking, but it has no flaws to be exploited when using it for defense. Even so, this one hundred sword intents could actually force me to use five fingers. Truly impressive!" Ye Yuan was also full of praise in his heart.
In a blink of an eye, Ye Yuan had already arrived at the final step of the 33 steps.
This time, only one beam of sword intent condensed in front of Ye Yuan!
But when Ye Yuan laid eyes on this sword intent, this face changed to a never before seen solemnness!
This streak of sword intent was where the true meaning of the Azure Dipper Purple Yang Sword Art lied!
Like before, Ye Yuan took a step forward. The sword intent did not strike immediately but gradually became corporeal.
"Be careful, Ye Yuan! This beam of sword intent is the pinnacle work of Founding Ancestor, You Wuya! It has unbelievable power. Even if you comprehended sword intent, you still have to be careful when dealing with it," Lu Yan warned.
Ye Yuan said with a solemn face, "Many thanks for Senior's warning. Ye Yuan knows!"
Previously, those sword intents were overflowing with sword qi. But this time around, Ye Yuan could not even feel the slightest trace of sword qi leaking out!
From this, one could tell just how consolidated this streak of sword intent was!
When Ye Yuan's foot landed on the Nine Heavens Road's 999th step, the streak of sword intent finally mobilized!
Chapter 104. Fusing Sword Intent! |
"En? Just now, I clearly still felt that incredible sword intent. Why is there nothing now? Could it be that Ye Yuan succeeded in passing the stage?" Huyan Yong suddenly exclaimed.
"If he succeeded in passing this round, the Nine Heavens Peak will condense a rainbow road to send him down the mountain."
Feng Ruoqing's words meant that Ye Yuan still had not passed the stage successfully.
"But . . . what's this situation? Could Ye Yuan have . . ." Being completely unable to view the situation inside the Nine Heavens Road, Huyan Yong's imagination started running wild.
"Stop making wild guesses. We should just wait patiently. However, the Nine Heavens Road this time is truly somewhat peculiar. I wonder what Ye Yuan encountered inside."
. . . . . .
Since the final streak of Azure Dipper Purple Yang Sword Art started condensing, Ye Yuan already completely stop unleashing the sword intent from his body and shut his eyes.
It seemed like he had completely given up on resisting.
"What are you doing, Ye Yuan? This streak of sword intent is extraordinary! You will die like this!" Lu Yan's voice transmitted over.
Ye Yuan ignored Lu Yan. In reality, he had already entered a selfless state and sealed his five senses up.
In Ye Yuan's world, there was only that utterly terrifying sword intent left in front of him!
He was savoring the sword intent of the Azure Dipper Purple Yang Sword Art on purpose.
While on this road, Ye Yuan had used the Falling Flower Floating Zero Sword Intent to guide the Azure Dipper Purple Yang Sword Art, and it was not a simple evasion of sword intent.
Since the original intention of this array was to allow future generations to study the sword art, then this set of sword techniques would not place emphasis on killing.
Except, this sword art was too powerful. Students were unable to comprehend it, which was why they fell here.
From countless streaks sword intents to a thousand streaks, then a hundred streaks, ten streaks, and finally one streak. The quantity decreased, but the power progressively increased!
It looked like this was the effect brought forth due to the manifestation of sword intent. But with Ye Yuan's experience, it was naturally not so shallow.
These final 333 steps were actually the process of how You Wuya gradually deepened his understanding towards sword intent!
And this final sword was the most powerful sword intent which You Wuya left behind in the Endless World!
If this final sword came out right away, then it would have been impossibly difficult to comprehend the Azure Dipper Purple Yang Sword Art's sword intent.
But the ingenious part was that You Wuya derived the forms on the steps from his lifetime's comprehension. This resulted in the possibility of allowing the challenger to comprehend sword intent.
Of course, the prerequisite was that the challenger could survive under such cold piercing sword intent.
Nobody could be like Ye Yuan to have the thoughts to comprehend the sword intent leisurely.
Although the Nine Heavens Road was rather bumpy, Ye Yuan had to admit that You Wuya had expended much care and thought for future generation disciples.
"Why aren't you using sword intent, Ye Yuan!" Seeing that streak of sword intent about to fire, Lu Yan's anxious voice transmitted over once more.
The sword intent was already fully activated. Even he had no way of stopping that sword intent anymore.
Ye Yuan actually withdrew his own sword intent at the most critical moment, which caught him totally off-guard.
Swoosh!
When Ye Yuan's feet landed on the 999th step, that sword intent suddenly activated.
The sword intent converged without spreading, but Lu Yan was aware of this sword's terror.
But right at this moment, Ye Yuan's eyes remained shut, as if he was unaware of the impending danger.
Lu Yan gritted his teeth, and he instantly appeared in front of Ye Yuan!
A faint phantom stretched his hand out to draw a circle in front of him. A streak of sword intent condensed and shot out.
However, this streak of sword intent was just like an ant encountering an elephant when compared to that streak of sword intent which blasted over. The difference was too huge.
Lu Yan was able to condense such a terrifying sword intent because he unleashed it through the array formation.
Now that this streak of sword intent was released by him himself, the power was too weak.
After all, Lu Yan was only a fragmented wisp of divine sense.
He wanted to save Ye Yuan, but the flesh was weak even though the spirit was willing.
"Many thanks, Senior Lu. Allow me." Right then, Ye Yuan's calm voice sounded out from behind Lu Yan.
Meanwhile, an aura which Lu Yan was familiar, yet also a stranger to, rose from Ye Yuan's body.
There was no time to think, so Lu Yan made way for Ye Yuan.
That streak of sword intent was extremely fast and arrived in front of Ye Yuan in a blink of an eye.
However, Lu Yan could clearly see that when the streak of sword intent reached several dozen meters in front of Ye Yuan, it became like it was submerged in mud. The speed became increasingly slower and progressively sluggish.
Finally, that streak of sword intent came to a stop around two feet in front of Ye Yuan.
Ye Yuan reached out, and lightly tapped the tip of the sword with a finger. That streak of sword intent dissipated with a bang!
Lu Yan who was watching by the side was flabbergasted and was utterly dazed for some time.
He had never thought that this final stage could be cleared like this!
This was simply inconceivable!
He had hosted the Nine Heavens Road's third stage for nearly 200 years and was all too clear on the might of that streak of sword intent.
This was with the array formation at full power. Even a peak Spirit Condensation Realm martial artist might not be able to withstand that streak of sword intent, yet it scattered with a gentle tap from Ye Yuan?
"Many thanks to Senior Lu for sacrificing yourself to save me just now!" Ye Yuan gave a bow to Lu Yan. Only now was his consciousness dragged back to reality.
Lu Yan stared at Ye Yuan like he was looking at a monster. He smiled bitterly as he said, "My actions just now were redundant. That final sword would not have been able to deal any harm to you."
Ye Yuan smiled and said, "No matter what, Senior Lu ignored your own safety to save Ye Yuan just now. Ye Yuan will definitely engrave this in my heart."
Lu Yan coming to save Ye Yuan was indeed unnecessary, but he did not know that Ye Yuan could deal with that beam of sword intent!
If Lu Yan took on that sword just now, his soul would have disintegrated by now.
Just based on this action was worthy of Ye Yuan remembering it.
Lu Yan however just waved his hands and said emotionally, "I didn't expect this! I really didn't expect this! My Tranquil Cloud Sect actually birthed such a peerless genius like you! Not only did you comprehend the Heart Like Still Water Realm, you even fused together sword intents in the third stage!"
Only after his shock did Lu Yan find out why he had such a peculiar feeling just now.
The aura coming off of Ye Yuan carried his own sword intent's aura and also had the aura of the Azure Dipper Purple Yang Sword Art!
Ye Yuan, he actually merged the two completely different sword intent into one and transformed it into his own new sword intent!
Even if You Wuya returned, such talent was beyond his!
Ye Yuan smiled and said, "This Junior was lucky. Does this count as me passing?"
From the moment the array formation was fully unleashed, Ye Yuan already had the thought of incorporating the Azure Dipper Purple Yang Sword Art's sword intent into his own sword intent.
The Falling Flower Floating Zero Sword was excessively nimble, while the attack was lacking. This was its greatest flaw.
But the Azure Dipper Purple Yang Sword Art was a sword technique which emphasized on slaughter. The attack power was immensely powerful. Furthermore, this sword intent's level was very high and not beneath that of Ye Yuan's sword intent. It was very suited to be merged into the Falling Flower Floating Zero Sword.
Finally, he had a sudden epiphany at the last moment.
The fused sword intent was on an entirely different level from before. Hence, that streak of sword intent was just like an obedient baby in front of Ye Yuan's aura.
The competition between sword intent was not a competition of strength, but instead, it was a competition towards the comprehension of sword intent. Otherwise, Ye Yuan would have long been pulverized into meat paste.
Lu Yan nodded his head somewhat mechanically. "Of course it counts as passing! A flawless pass!"
Chapter 105. First in a Thousand Years! |
Of course he passed!
If even Ye Yuan's result did not count as a pass, then nobody could clear it.
After the shock, Lu Yan was wildly ecstatic in his heart. To have such a genius figure appear, why would the Tranquil Cloud Sect worry about not being able to return to the Northern Domain?
"Ye Yuan, your talent is even greater than Founding Ancestor You Wuya! I'm afraid that your future accomplishments are probably not going to be inferior to him. My Tranquil Cloud Sect is truly fortunate to have you!" Lu Yan sighed in admiration.
"Many thanks for Senior's praise."
Ye Yuan had never doubted his own talent before.
In his previous life, it was just that he did not place his attention on the martial path. But his talent in Martial Dao was not necessarily inferior to Ji Canglan.
"Rainbow Road! Appear!"
Lu Yan gave a low cry and fired a shot of essence energy into the array. Following that, a multi-colored road appeared on the top of the Nine Heavens Peak.
"Ye Yuan, right now, you can be considered to have inherited Founding Ancestor You Wuya's mantle. I hope that you won't forget today's promise. I'm someone who's about to die and won't be able to see the day the Tranquil Cloud Sect returns to the Northern Domain. I hope that you will carry this Canghua Sword with you. If we can really return to the Northern Domain one day, I hope that you will bring it with you to the Northern Domain. Of course, if you don't despise it, you can also use it for battle. It also counts as a continuation of my life!'
