Chapter 35: Sincere Admiration
“Demonic Path, cease your arrogance! Heavenly Extreme Star Washing Sword!!”
Zhou Bujue unleashed his most prized Magical Treasure, the spirit sword of the Star-Plucking Immortal Venerable, powerful enough to dominate Qixia Isle.
A burst of light swept across the surroundings, bringing a sense of clarity to the White Emperor Sword Sect disciples, temporarily dispelling their fear.
“Buy me some time,” Zhou Bujue said before taking a seat on the ground to meditate.
“Senior Brother hasn’t given up! We can’t fall here!” Yu Xin’er shouted at everyone, her eyes hardening.
The disciples of the White Emperor Sword Sect nodded in agreement, rallying one after another.
In contrast, Ye Changsheng only had a floating branch, lacking any imposing aura.
This branch was nothing special; Ye Changsheng had just casually broken it off and refined it into a Magical Treasure on the spot, a makeshift solution.
“Good will triumph over evil! Don’t be intimidated by his aura; he’s alone, and we have seven! Flying Star Sword!”
Zhao Hu gripped the Flying Star Sword and advanced, leading the charge as the other disciples followed.
“Perfect, time for a more suitable weapon.”
Ye Changsheng grabbed the floating branch and met Zhao Hu head-on.
“Take this, Golden Surge Sword!”
Zhao Hu raised his sword high, channeling his True Qi into the Magical Treasure, covering the sword with a sharp radiance.
Shifting Flowers Connecting Wood.
Ye Changsheng silently chanted in his heart.
His figure suddenly flickered like a phantom, unpredictable, causing Zhao Hu’s full-power strike to miss.
Ye Changsheng’s hand touched Zhao Hu’s wrist, and with further applied subtle force, it extended to the opponent’s arm.
The subtle force numbed Zhao Hu’s wrist bones, rendering them weak and powerless. Ye Changsheng’s strength manipulated him effortlessly, first forcing him to drop his weapon, then to grip something else.
“Zhao Hu, what are you doing, Zhao Hu!” Yu Xin’er exclaimed in shock.
It was only then that Zhao Hu came to his senses. In his hand was a branch, while Ye Changsheng now held the Flying Star Sword.
The two had exchanged weapons.
A sharp sword was now slicing towards Zhao Hu. He instinctively blocked, and the branch snapped under the impact.
*Clang!*
At the last moment, Yu Xin’er rushed forward, casting a protective Sorcery to block the blow for Zhao Hu.
Both of them were sent flying by the residual force.
“Thank you, Junior Sister Yu!” Zhao Hu said gratefully.
“Don’t call me Junior Sister, you idiot! Why would you hand a weapon to the enemy?” Yu Xin’er glared at Zhao Hu. “Quickly recall your Magical Treasure!”
“…Sorry, I understand!”
Zhao Hu gritted his teeth, trying to summon back the Flying Star Sword.
But the Flying Star Sword in Ye Changsheng’s hand remained utterly still.
“What are you doing? Hurry up!” Yu Xin’er urged anxiously.
“It’s not that, I… I can’t summon the Flying Star Sword back…” Zhao Hu whispered, his face pale.
To suppress an opponent’s Natal Artifact, one needed to be at least three realms higher.
Zhao Hu was at the Foundation Establishment Realm, meaning the young man before him was at least—
“Even Senior Brother, as brilliant as he is, is only at the Half-step Nascent Soul Realm. N-no, it’s impossible! How can such a person exist in this world?”
Cold sweat soaked Zhao Hu’s clothes, shattering his understanding of reality.
“All show, no substance!”
Yu Xin’er didn’t hear Zhao Hu’s mumbles, mistaking it for a loss of fighting spirit. She continued the battle herself.
“This person’s movement technique is bizarre. Everyone, don’t get close to him! Lingfeng Sword, Sword Control Technique!”
Yu Xin’er called out to the other disciples, and together they unleashed their Sword Control Techniques, attempting to attack Ye Changsheng with their flying swords from a distance.
Ye Changsheng raised his sword and swung, cleaving a trail of Sword Qi across the ground and knocking down all the White Emperor Sword Sect disciples’ flying swords.
Before they could even control their swords to fly up again, Ye Changsheng tossed the Flying Star Sword.
“Sword Suppression Technique.”
A majestic aura of suppression emanated from the Flying Star Sword, flooding out like a mountain torrent, suppressing all the weapons.
The Magical Treasures clattered to the ground, losing their Spiritual Energy before Ye Changsheng, becoming like heaps of scrap metal.
The disciples were also pinned to the ground, prostrating before Ye Changsheng as if in submission.
The profound suppression of his cultivation made it hard for them to breathe, like lambs awaiting slaughter. Fear returned to them all.
“So terrifying… a Demonic Cultivator…” a trembling Yu Xin’er finally understood why Zhao Hu had lost his fighting spirit.
Ever since the beginning, Mo Baizhi had always said Ye Changsheng was a born villain, and it was a shame he wasn’t the ultimate antagonist.
Ye Changsheng had always thought his Master talked nonsense.
But looking at the current scene, Ye Changsheng calmly looked down at these Cultivators. Before his Demonic Qi, even the rising sun in the sky seemed dim.
Perhaps Mo Baizhi hadn’t wronged him.
“Sky-Opening Sword Art!”
Zhou Bujue, who had been preparing his ultimate move, finally opened his eyes. A surge of Spiritual Energy shot into the sky, dispersing the clouds overhead as if tearing the firmament apart.
“We’re saved! It’s the Sky-Opening Sword Art!” Yu Xin’er exclaimed in delight. “This is the Sky-Opening Sword Art that can control the Sky-Opening Sword Array! A Cultivation Technique that even the Elders can’t master! Senior Brother has actually mastered it!!”
Zhou Bujue slowly ascended into the air, holding the Heavenly Extreme Star Washing Sword. A storm of Sword Qi swirled around him, making him appear like an immortal sword cultivator reborn.
Why did other people get such cool moves? His Master always taught him villainous techniques.
Ye Changsheng thought with a touch of helplessness.
He didn’t make any grand gestures, merely circulating the True Qi within his body and performing a protective technique.
Zhou Bujue felt the victory was assured. In his eyes, the other party’s minimal action was no different from suicidal behavior.
Victory was assured!
“Turn to ashes before the Sky-Opening Sword Art, Sword! Open! The! World!”
The Heavenly Extreme Star Washing Sword carried Zhou Bujue’s Sword Intent, descending with the momentum of Heaven’s Opening.
*Clang!*
A transparent barrier of True Qi appeared before Ye Changsheng. His protective technique blocked the impressive Sky-Opening Sword Art.
No matter how Zhou Bujue drove his Sword Control Technique to its extreme, he couldn’t breach this defense even slightly.
Meanwhile, Ye Changsheng stood with his hands behind his back, calm and composed. He had countless opportunities to kill Zhou Bujue but never took them.
It was as if he were curious to see how far the other could perform, which was humiliating to Zhou Bujue.
“Move! Move!” Zhou Bujue roared hysterically.
All the opportunities, Magical Treasures, Spiritual items, Cultivation Techniques, martial skills, and cultivation he had accumulated over the years couldn’t make the person before him budge an inch, let alone make him take it seriously.
“…” The composed young man ignored the frantic prodigy.
“Attack! Kill me if you must, just move!”
Zhou Bujue’s State of Mind shattered, and his Sword Intent faded with it.
Struggling shamefully until the end, he still couldn’t provoke Ye Changsheng to make a move.
He realized that from beginning to end, he wasn’t even a threat.
All the past praise and achievements now seemed ridiculously laughable to Zhou Bujue.
“You are very excellent. At your age, you possess extraordinary power, a realm unattainable by your peers. I truly feel it.”
Ye Changsheng’s sincere admiration shattered the defenses in Zhou Bujue’s heart.
“Zhou Bujue, there is no doubt, you are a true genius, the foremost of the new generation, unreachable by others.”
The Heavenly Extreme Star Washing Sword, inherited from the Star-Plucking Immortal Venerable, fell to the ground. Zhou Bujue lost the will to fight.
If I am a genius, then what are you…?
A realization dawned upon Zhou Bujue. It seemed he would never be able to break through to the Nascent Soul Realm in his lifetime.
