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After Zhang Yong listened to Su Ming's explanation about the massive black evaluation stele, he became interested. He looked toward the stele carved into the side of the mountain, glistening under the sunlight filtering through the clouds.
"My techniques before I run out of spiritual energy..." Zhang Yong whispered, turning the words over in his mind. This was a perfect opportunity to test his progress on the Sword Path without relying on his immense spiritual power.
"Do you want to try it?" Su Ming asked enthusiastically. "After all, I want to know our levels compared to each other at our best."
Zhang Yong nodded. "Why not? But are you sure? After all, understanding is my forte."
"Hmph," Su Ming scoffed sarcastically. "And what if it is? I have my talent too!"
They headed toward the black stele, where a Buddhist monk stood nearby, watching the competitors with a calm expression.
"Welcome, fellow Daoists," the monk said with a slight bow. "Do you wish to enter the stele?"
"Yes," Zhang Yong replied. "How does it work?"
The monk gestured toward the stele. "Simply touch the stele, and your consciousness will be drawn inside. Only your understanding of the Paths will be used. It seems you and your companion plan to compete. In that case, please place your hands on the stele."
Zhang Yong and Su Ming placed their hands on the cold black stele at the same moment.
They felt as if their souls were suddenly pulled, their consciousnesses transferring to an endless grey void.
Then the appearance of this grey space transformed into mountainous terrain.
"Finally!" Su Ming smiled, and in his hand appeared a sword just like the one he used. "Let's see who is truly stronger!"
Su Ming moved first. There were no dazzling golden energy waves, only clarity and speed in the strike. His sword moved in a perfect straight line, crossing the distance between them in the blink of an eye.
Zhang Yong raised his fingers, and a massive ice dragon stood behind him.
Dance of Ice was a control skill, and Memory of Ice was a strengthening skill. By combining these two ice techniques into a single attack, it was extremely powerful.
The massive ice dragon shot forward, but Su Ming did not retreat. He smiled defiantly, and his sword did not waver even a hair's breadth. "Golden Twilight Sword Intent!"
Sharp waves of golden light shot forth, splitting the dragon in two and crossing toward Zhang Yong.
"What a bastard," Zhang Yong smiled nervously, but he raised his hand, and Defense of Zen appeared before him, blocking the cuts and partially reflecting them back toward Su Ming.
Su Ming raised his sword toward the cuts as he muttered, "Fifth Form of the Clear Plum Blossom Sword Art – Blossoms Swaying with the Wind."
Just as the sword tries to cut a flower petal, the petal skillfully evades the sword without a single scratch.
Su Ming's movement was graceful and precise; he waved his sword and deflected the direction of the strike away.
Zhang Yong smiled. "Very good! But let me show you something else." He raised his hands, and snow particles gathered around him, forming dozens of sharp ice daggers. "If the flower avoids the sword, what will you do against a blizzard?"
"I'll cut every snowflake!" Su Ming replied with confidence.
Thirteenth Form of the Plum Blossom Sword Art – Blossom Storm
His sword began to spin at incredible speed, forming a golden vortex that protected him from all sides.
The ice daggers collided with the golden vortex and shattered into fine dust. But Zhang Yong seized this moment to close in quickly using Shadow Steps toward Su Ming.
"Timing is important in battle, isn't it?" Zhang Yong whispered as he appeared directly behind Su Ming using Earth Fold, his hand ready to stab a dagger into his neck.
But Su Ming was prepared. "Anticipation is more important!" He spun on his heels, his sword emitting a purple flash. "Autumn Thunder!"
A silent, nearly invisible sword strike pierced Zhang Yong's defenses and headed toward his heart. There was no time to evade it.
At the last moment, Zhang Yong used the Unshakable Body, and a mass of metal appeared before his chest.
The mass shattered under the force of the strike, but it absorbed most of the impact, pushing Zhang Yong back several steps.
"That was close!" Zhang Yong said, holding his chest where the metal had cracked.
"And the next one won't be farther!" Su Ming said, preparing for another attack.
"Unfortunately, you'll have to deal with more," Zhang Yong smiled as another Zhang Yong appeared behind Su Ming.
Su Ming had no time to turn. His eyes widened as he felt the danger from behind, but instead of panicking, he smiled a defiant smile. "You think I didn't prepare for this?!"
Heart of the Sword!
A shockwave of pure mental energy erupted from his body in all directions.
The spectral copy slowed for a moment, and that was all Su Ming needed. He spun with lightning speed, his sword cutting in a wide arc.
Seventh Form: Flower Cutting Shadow
Su Ming struck the copy's body, but it exploded. The force of the impact pushed Su Ming backward directly toward the original Zhang Yong.
"Now!" Zhang Yong said, ready for a strike. He raised his hand, and Su Ming's pink spirit appeared behind him.
But Su Ming was faster. "This is what I was waiting for! Five Thunder Swords! "
Instead of resisting the pushing force, Su Ming used it to increase his speed, as five purple thunder swords surrounded him.
"Watch this!" Su Ming shouted, his eyes blazing with the fervor of a desperate fighter. "Winter Thunder!"
The five swords suddenly merged into a giant sword of frozen white lightning, cutting through the air with a sound like the heavens themselves splitting apart.
This strike combined the destructive power of thunder with the deadly cold of winter, the true peak of Su Ming's understanding of the Sword Path.
Zhang Yong did not retreat. Instead, he smiled a fierce, defiant smile. "Finally! This is the power I was waiting for! I knew you hadn't given it your all!"
Strength Path – Heavenly Fist
Su Ming began to swing rapidly with his swords as Zhang Yong continued punching them again and again
As Zhang Yong continued to deliver relentless strikes, each punch seemed to carry the force of an entire mountain, compressed into a single point.
The shockwaves from the collisions shook the entire grey space.
Su Ming, on the other hand, was like a storm of flowers and lightning.
The five thunder swords hovering around him wove a tight defensive net, while his main sword, glowing with frozen white lightning, cut through the air in swift and deadly attacks.
Su Ming felt his breath beginning to falter. Even if this wasn't his real body, the burden was still heavy on his mind.
'Not yet!'
Su Ming couldn't help but push himself in this moment.
What could drive him to this extent?
"I don't have great talent." These were Zhang Yong's words from one day.
Until now, these were Zhang Yong's words. His talent was in understanding, and when it came to martial arts, he said he lacked talent?
This was nonsense!
This person who said he had no talent, and didn't even have a cultivation, was now competing fiercely with him.
So who was the real trash here now?
And the greatest irony was that Su Ming had never won against Zhang Yong.
Didn't Zhang Yong say that Su Ming's talent was better than his? Then why was he still unable to defeat him?
Su Ming's only point where he was better than him was the sword. But if you looked at it, Su Ming took about five to six years to achieve Sword Intent.
While Zhang Yong achieved Spear Intent in one year! What devastating talent was this?
If he had the same talent in the Sword Path, then Su Ming would be the only laughingstock here.
Not only the Spear Path; Zhang Yong surpassed him in alchemy too, and formations, the Five Elements, Light and Darkness, and everything else.
This was madness!
Su Ming thought Zhang Yong wasn't talented, but he worked hard. And as soon as Zhang Yong came out of his isolation, the gap in power between them grew larger and larger.
And the infuriating thing was that he still claimed he was lacking something!
If Su Ming had even a fraction of what Zhang Yong possessed, he would have....
'What am I thinking in the middle of a fight?'
"You think too much. Choose quick, useful options," Su Ming remembered Zhang Yong's words in that moment.
'He's right. I think too much.'
Suddenly, Su Ming's movements became slower. No, they didn't become slower; they became fewer.
"Hah..." Su Ming took a breath as his consciousness spread throughout his entire body.
'Zhang Yong is a monster. And the only way to fight a monster is to become a monster myself. I will not fall behind anymore.'
Su Ming's movements began to become faster, and his movements fewer, as one swing now cut through 2-3 of Zhang Yong's strikes.
'Faster than this.' Su Ming swung rapidly.
'Much faster.' Su Ming's fighting spirit surged.
'All I have is speed, so I will surpass Zhang Yong with it.' Su Ming's gaze sharpened like a honed dagger.
"That's right... Zhang Yong possesses Death Qi. Using it means hanging your life by a thread. He always hangs his life by a thread."
That was right: death, the stimulus that creatures enjoy when they are on the verge of death, which makes them stronger.
'Who am I to let my brother die alone? Let us both die.'
With the resolve to die, his will strengthened intensely, and a smile ready for death appeared on his face.
'Watch me, Zhang Yong. Just as the heavens affect the earth, you have affected me. You have changed my life. So let me show you the monster you yourself have created!'
Golden light!
The sword in Su Ming's hand began to shatter piece by piece. But as the pieces fell, as if the sword was shedding its skin, they began to take on a golden aura where the pieces had fallen.
Zhang Yong's eyes widened upon seeing the expression on Su Ming's face and immediately realized, 'Is this enlightenment? He is fully entering the Sword Will stage, transforming will into something material.'
With a final swing, Su Ming blasted the place and sent Zhang Yong flying.
Zhang Yong dug his fingers into the ground to keep from being swept away. "Sword Will... truly!" Zhang Yong whispered, his red eyes widening with surprise and admiration.
It had been replaced. The metal sword in his hand had disappeared, and what remained in his hand was a golden sword made of aura. It was the Golden Twilight Intent in a form that submitted to the user's will.
And it was truly beautiful.
Su Ming, now breathing with a strange calm, raised what remained of his sword's hilt. He no longer needed a physical blade; his will had become the sword itself. "Thank you, brother. Without your pressure, I would not have been able to break through this stage."
Instead of replying, Zhang Yong took a ready stance. "Let me see the power of this Sword Will myself!" He charged toward Su Ming, performing the Heavenly Fist.
Su Ming raised the golden sword. A simple, direct strike, without any ornamentation or complex technique. Just pure cutting.
The crimson fist collided with the golden blade. There was no thunderous explosion this time, only a sharp screech as if space itself was splitting.
Before Zhang Yong knew it, he had already been cut in two.
At that moment, the grey space began to collapse around them. The black stele pulled their consciousnesses back to the real world.
They found themselves once again at the foot of the black stele, where the Buddhist monk still stood quietly. "A magnificent battle. Rarely do I see such profound understanding of the Sword Path from competitors at your age."
He looked around to find a small crowd of sword practitioners had gathered, staring at them with respect and amazement. Clearly, their battle had not been as private as they thought.
"Who are these two?" one whispered. "One is from the Purple Star Sect, and the other... I don't know."
"Sword Will at this age? This is unprecedented!"
Su Ming and Zhang Yong ignored the praise and exchanged a look of understanding. These two had come a very long way together.
"Come, let's return to the others," Zhang Yong said, breaking the silence. "Perhaps they have finished their consultations as well."
Su Ming nodded and followed Zhang Yong away from the astonished crowd, leaving behind admiration and curiosity about their identities and power.