Thunderclap——
Lightning flashed across the sea of clouds pressing down on the head, and countless twisted electric snakes spread towards the sky.
Soybean-sized raindrops smashed onto the giant black stele. The two figures standing on either side were as small as grains of rice compared to the thousand-foot platform, but at this moment, they became the focus of the entire world.
Tens of thousands of martial artists in the martial arts world were intently staring at the two top swordsmen in front of the stele. Upon hearing the words "My saber is faster than Kuang Yazi's", no one sneered at it.
After all, this is how "martial arts" is. Standing on the shoulders of predecessors, generation after generation of "students surpassing their teachers" elevates the concept of martial arts to the extreme. There is no fastest, only faster; there is no highest, only higher. There has never been any unchanging strongest move throughout the ages.
But although everyone in the martial arts world knows this truth, it's not that easy to achieve.
Martial arts moves are like chess records. Although "there are no identical games in history", after thousands of years of inheritance, the proud sons and daughters of the martial arts world in successive generations have explored the strongest approaches to the extent that "one more chess piece is cumbersome, and one less chess piece lacks the right timing".
For later generations, not to mention creating a peerless martial art out of thin air, even just innovating, slightly optimizing the approaches of their predecessors, and making it improve by the slightest bit is as difficult as ascending to the sky.
The gazes of everyone present were focused on Ye Jingtang, who was "making his debut" in the martial arts world for the first time. They thought that if Ye Jingtang didn't have something new and better than Kuang Yazi, he probably wouldn't dare to speak so arrogantly in such an occasion.
However, Ye Jingtang really looked too young.
Although nine out of ten of the current generation's One Immortal, Two Sages, and Eight Spears were at the peak before the age of thirty, being young wasn't anything strange.
But Ye Jingtang looked at most around twenty years old. A man's physique is completely formed around twenty-four or twenty-five years old. At this age, it can be said that he hasn't reached his peak yet.
If he can surpass Kuang Yazi now, then his talent already belongs to the level of an immortal descended to the mortal world. In the future, he might even be able to shake Fengguan City.
Xuanyuan Chao stood still in the rain. In the face of Ye Jingtang's arrogant words, he just replied indifferently:
"Let the saber do the talking."
Hua la la~~
The rain poured down, and the lake suddenly fell silent.
After looking at Xuanyuan Chao, Ye Jingtang turned around, walked past the stele, and came to the interior of Junshan Terrace.
Seeing this, Xuanyuan Chao pulled out the Junshan Saber, took off the leather shoulder strap from behind his waist, hung it on his back, and walked towards the depths from the other side.
Ta ta ta~~
The steady footsteps became the only sound in the world.
Qiu Tianhe hesitated a bit when he saw this. After all, if the fight took place in front of the stele, the combatants would have the opportunity to jump off the arena. According to the established rules in the martial arts world, falling off the arena means defeat. If the winner jumps off the arena to chase and kill, it's considered an unsportsmanlike behavior, and generally, no one would do that.
And fighting in the middle of the thousand-foot platform is almost like a life-and-death struggle in a cage. The weaker side has no possibility of escaping the arena, and whether they can live or not depends only on whether the winner shows mercy.
Qiu Tianhe walked behind, hesitant to speak. He wanted to persuade Ye Jingtang not to be so arrogant, but with tens of thousands of people watching, boosting the opponent's momentum and dampening one's own spirit was obviously not advisable.
The True Lord Xuanji, holding a pile of weapons, was much calmer in demeanor. Her gaze was fixed on Ye Jingtang's back, secretly pondering how Ye Jingtang could use the saber faster than Kuang Yazi.
Junshan Terrace was too large. Countless martial artists floating on the lake were too far away to see clearly. When they saw outsiders stepping onto the platform, some bold swordsmen also landed on the edge of the platform.
Although standing on the platform meant that they could be cut down casually and die in vain, and they would also be scolded, compared to watching a battle of this level up close, this risk was really nothing.
Ta ta ta...
Soon, the two came to the center of Junshan Terrace, far away from the surrounding waves and the fleet. The only sounds in the world were the wind and rain.
Ye Jingtang took off his bamboo hat, revealing his long hair tied up with a black ribbon. He stood in the rain with his hands naturally drooping. His gaze changed from sharp to calm, and there was no more fluctuation in his aura. He became like a stone integrated with the environment.
Qiu Tianhe was stunned when he saw this scene. After all, in the capital a few days ago, Ye Jingtang didn't have this kind of state of harmony between man and nature at all.
At this realm, Ye Jingtang couldn't see through Xuanyuan Chao, and Xuanyuan Chao couldn't see through Ye Jingtang either.
For this reason, Xuanyuan Chao regarded Ye Jingtang more seriously. He put aside his new and old grudges, also let his hands droop naturally, focused his mind only on the saber, and looked into Ye Jingtang's eyes.
The two stood still ten zhang apart, and the dense crowd around Junshan Terrace all held their breaths.
And a battle that was bound to spread far and wide and influence the pattern of the martial arts world in the next few decades officially began at this moment!
Thunderclap——
The thunder roared through the sky, and a shrill saber cry also sounded in the center of Junshan Terrace.
Qiang lang——
Ye Jingtang's figure moved from stillness to motion without the slightest sign.
The moment the thunder sounded, his whole body had already rushed out through the air. The stone bricks under his feet were all shattered. The dense raindrops were broken into water mist by his figure and carried by the strong wind, turning into a long white fog like a dragon.
Hong long——
At the same time as Ye Jingtang burst into action, he unsheathed his single saber. The moment the tip of the saber left the sheath, his figure had already arrived in front of Xuanyuan Chao!
Such an astonishing speed not only surprised the nearly ten thousand martial artists watching the battle but also Qiu Tianhe. After all, he could be 100% sure that even if he could see this saber strike clearly, he definitely wouldn't be able to react in time. By the time he unsheathed his saber, his head would already be gone.
After all, Xuanyuan Chao was the Spear Master who had dominated the martial arts world for decades. Although he was at the end of his peak period, he was still at the peak. This earth-shattering saber strike didn't cause the slightest fluctuation in his aura.
Seeing the saber strike as fast as thunder approaching, a trace of a sense of déjà vu even flashed in Xuanyuan Chao's eyes.
After all, when he first saw Kuang Yazi in his youth, this was the kind of saber strike he saw. It was flawless, stunning the world, and inescapable. Although it was just a starting move, it left him with an unforgettable picture for a lifetime. For this reason, he spared no effort to chase after it for decades.
Seeing this saber strike again made Xuanyuan Chao feel as if he had returned to the day when he fought Kuang Yazi to determine the Spear Master.
But unfortunately, the saber was still the same old saber as before, without any change, but he was no longer the young man who had just entered the martial arts world!
Hong——
At the same moment that Ye Jingtang rushed forward, Xuanyuan Chao had already made his move.
His nearly two-meter-tall burly figure instantly burst into action. His muscles bulged, and even his flower-like white hair stood up straight in the air.
His two arms, like dragons and pythons, lifted up. His left foot stepped back, and his back hunched. The 108-jin heavy Junshan Saber broke through the sky full of rain curtain from behind:
"He——"
Ye Jingtang unleashed a horizontal slash with all his strength. His speed had been increased to the limit, but what blocked his way was still the Junshan Saber slashing down from above.
Both sides didn't use any false moves. They just applied their respective peak moves to the extreme, with the fastest against the fastest. And the result was already clear to the masters present who could see clearly.
Ye Jingtang had enough explosive power, but this saber strike would definitely be blocked by the Dragon-Slaying Order.
Once the two blades met, Ye Jingtang couldn't possibly withstand the heavy saber head-on, let alone send the Junshan Saber flying and continue with the next saber strike.
The only result was that his move would be interrupted by one saber strike, losing his balance, and then he would be continuously attacked to death by the Dragon-Slaying Order.
Not only the martial artists watching the battle but also the True Lord Xuanji saw the danger. She had quietly moved forward, ready to come to the rescue when Ye Jingtang was sent flying, lest Xuanyuan Chao directly cut Ye Jingtang to death with two or three saber strikes.
But to everyone's disbelief, the scene of the two blades meeting didn't occur!
Xuanyuan Chao started with a violent move of hunching his back and flicking the saber. Relying on the half-step distance pull it out by the backstep, the heavy saber had already reached above his head.
But in the next instant, Xuanyuan Chao suddenly found that the last step the black-clothed swordsman in front of him took in front of him was like the foot of a towering Buddha shaking the mountains and rivers. It instantly shattered the stone bricks within a few zhang in all directions.
Dong——
And Ye Jingtang, holding the saber in his left hand and slashing horizontally, his handsome face instantly turned red. His eyes were bloodshot, his clothes were torn to pieces, and even his hair tie burst open. His already superb explosive speed was forcibly doubled in this half step!
?!
Xuanyuan Chao's eyes showed surprise. The moment he saw this saber strike, he understood that this saber strike incorporated the "Reverse Blood in Fengchi" of Honghua Tower.
"Reverse Blood in Fengchi" could indeed double the explosive power instantly by harming oneself before harming the enemy.
However, "Reverse Blood in Fengchi" was a spear move, and the flow of qi was along the spinal line, integrated with the qi channel of the Overlord Spear, and had nothing to do with the starting move of the Eight Steps Frenzied Saber. The result of forcing its application would only be a disruption of qi and an injury to the meridians.
The only way Ye Jingtang could use this saber strike was by completely disassembling the moves of "Reverse Blood in Fengchi" and the Eight Steps Frenzied Saber, and then reconstructing the flow of qi, combining the essences of these two peak martial arts into one. Although it seemed no different from the Eight Steps Frenzied Saber on the surface, the inner essence was completely different.
After three saber strikes, Kuang Yazi started to harm himself. He sacrificed a lot to gain a little in killing power, and he was so crazy about seeking killing power that he didn't care about his own life. Therefore, his swordsmanship was called "Frenzied Saber".
And this saber strike of Ye Jingtang's was obviously better than his master's.
He didn't hesitate to seriously injure himself to stack explosive power as soon as he unsheathed the saber. Life and death were in this one saber strike, and he didn't leave any room for retreat at all. It could be said that he carried out Kuang Yazi's concept to the extreme, and it could already be regarded as the most fanatical swordsmanship in the world!
Xuanyuan Chao's astonishing swordsmanship attainments allowed him to figure out the details of this saber strike in an instant.
But in the face of this life-threatening and crazy swordsmanship, he still fell into a difficult situation.
Just as Ye Jingtang said before the battle, his saber was faster than Kuang Yazi's!
This was not a matter of pure strength, but of swordsmanship attainments.
Even if he and Kuang Yazi were at the same level, his saber would still be faster. Kuang Yazi would lose a hundred times in a hundred fights.
The "backstep" in Xuanyuan Chao's starting move was to defend against Kuang Yazi's starting move, exchanging space for the time to unsheathe the saber.
But in the face of this saber strike with a sudden doubling of speed, it obviously reached the upper limit that the hunchback and flick of the saber could handle. At the same level, the Dragon-Slaying Order would still lose a hundred times in a hundred fights!
Sa——
The saber strike, which was almost insanely fast, reached Xuanyuan Chao's waist and abdomen before the heavy saber slashed down.
If nothing unexpected happened, after Xuanyuan Chao slashed down, Ye Jingtang would have flashed past his side with his astonishing speed, completely ending Xuanyuan Chao's undefeated record.
But after all, Xuanyuan Chao was the Spear Master. After chasing Kuang Yazi for decades, he couldn't have not thought about the situation where he couldn't defend against this saber strike.
The moment Ye Jingtang's aura became abnormal, Xuanyuan Chao had already given up on making a saber strike and changed his stable figure to a sideways dodge to avoid it.
Hong long——
In the rumbling sound of the ground shattering, Ye Jingtang, turned into a black afterimage, passed through Xuanyuan Chao's side, leaving a trail of blood behind.
Xuanyuan Chao's figure flashed sideways several zhang in an instant, creating a distance from Ye Jingtang. A blood wound more than an inch deep appeared under his left rib.
Compared to Xuanyuan Chao's figure, this superficial wound was almost negligible, but the red blood spilled on the gray and black stone platform, still causing an uproar in the entire field!
"Huo..."
After all, this was the first time Xuanyuan Chao had bled on the arena in the forty years since he became famous!
Qiu Tianhe was stunned when he saw this scene and simply couldn't understand what was happening.
And the True Lord Xuanji secretly clicked her tongue, completely unable to figure out where Ye Jingtang had come up with such a move.
In fact, Ye Jingtang didn't come up with this move for a long time.
Previously, he hadn't seen the strength of the Eight Spears, and his vision had always been focused on "countering moves with moves", always studying external conditions such as weapons and movements.
But after seeing the True Lord Xuanji's foundation of "a punch is just a punch" yesterday, he opened his eyes and understood that in the eyes of the top masters, "moves and weapons" were not important at all. What was important was the inner essence.
Then he spent the other half of the night adjusting the methods of circulating qi in the Overlord Spear, the Dragon-Slaying Order, the Eight Steps Frenzied Saber, etc., learning from each other and exploring how to make the original moves stronger.
As long as his vision was there and his thinking was correct, constructing the method of circulating qi and finding the optimal solution was really just a matter of an hour or two for him.
At this moment, after the saber strike passed through Xuanyuan Chao's body and left a wound on him, a fanaticism feeling of blood surging also emerged in Ye Jingtang's usually calm eyes.
"He——"
The moment Ye Jingtang rushed behind Xuanyuan Chao, he stomped heavily on the ground with both feet, his figure turned at an acute angle, and he sent the saber in his left hand into his right hand, pushing the saber forward to slash, instantly creating a white fog on the thousand-foot platform!
Hong long——
The two saber strikes were connected without any gap, not giving the opponent any time to fight back.
Xuanyuan Chao had just landed after flashing sideways, and Ye Jingtang had already rushed in front of him again!
Xuanyuan Chao had studied the Eight Steps Frenzied Saber for half his life and was very clear about the moves. He couldn't be completely unable to fight back in a set of consecutive attacks. While flashing sideways, he had already spun the heavy saber around and slashed towards the direction where Ye Jingtang was attacking.
But Ye Jingtang also knew the weakness of the Dragon-Slaying Order. Relying on the light saber's flexibility, he suddenly reduced his speed halfway through the surprise attack, just right to let the Junshan Saber sweep past in front of him, and then his speed burst to the limit again!
Sa——
Although Xuanyuan Chao could handle the hundred-jin Junshan Saber with ease, in a battle at the same level, with a weapon a hundred jin heavier, he couldn't maintain the same reaction speed as Ye Jingtang.
Seeing Ye Jingtang seize the opportunity, Xuanyuan Chao didn't hesitate to stop the saber and pull it horizontally, protecting it in front of him as a shield.
Dang——
A thunderous sound suddenly rang out on Junshan Terrace.
Ye Jingtang, who unleashed all his strength, held the saber with both hands and rushed in front of him. Seeing Xuanyuan Chao pull the saber to block, he directly changed the slash to a stab and stabbed at the thick saber body.
This saber strike condensed all of Ye Jingtang's lifelong learning, and its power was terrifying. As soon as the saber momentum was unleashed, it shook away the rain curtain and stabbed out a void in front of him.
If it landed on the Junshan Saber, even if Xuanyuan Chao was holding a divine weapon, it was possible that he would be directly pierced through until it entered his heart.
For this reason, Xuanyuan Chao reacted extremely quickly. He pushed the saber with his right hand to make the Junshan Saber form an inclined surface. When the therefore Dragon Saber stabbed it, it slid towards the left rear along the surface. Fire was sparked on the thick body, and sparks flew!
Chua——
The When the therefore Dragon Saber stabbed it Dragon Saber in Ye Jingtang's hand wouldn't be unable to stop like the Junshan Saber. As soon as the stab missed, he immediately retracted the saber and pulled it down, slashing towards Xuanyuan