Chapter 28: Overwhelming in Swordsmanship
"Incredible!"
"With just a simple draw and sweep, he effortlessly dissolved Jian Meng'er's move? How did he do it?"
"This swordsmanship is so strong!"
After only their first exchange, waves of astonished cries erupted across the training grounds.
"This Jian Wushuang—his understanding of the sword far exceeds anything we imagined." The great figures on the viewing platform marveled as well.
Their standards were high, so they naturally could see the extraordinary qualities of Jian Wushuang's swordsmanship.
That simple draw and sweep looked easy, but in truth it required perfect mastery of the force of the sword, along with an extremely high level of swordsmanship fundamentals.
Then Jian Wushuang executed the same Sword Like the Tide, with a full twelve layers of sword-intent waves, and no one could help but sigh—Jian Meng'er, even at full strength, could only unleash eight layers of sword-intent waves, while Jian Wushuang had produced a full twelve.
The enormous gap in their swordsmanship was laid bare in an instant.
"Get lost!"
Jian Meng'er gave a delicate shout, and her long sword suddenly hacked furiously forward.
The simple furious chop carried a terrifying momentum, imbued with an aura of righteous grandeur. Her vast spiritual power condensed into a single point, and the moment it collided with the tide-like waves of sword intent surging from Jian Wushuang, it erupted.
"The Tianyuan Sword Art!" On the viewing platform, Bai Chong's pupils suddenly contracted. He glanced at Shui Hanxin beside him and said in a low voice, "No wonder you were so confident. So your precious disciple practices the Tianyuan Sword Art!"
Shui Hanxin smiled faintly and said nothing.
The Tianyuan Sword Art was the supreme cultivation method of the Tianyuan Sword Sect. Its grade far surpassed the many cultivation methods of the Sword Marquis Manor, and the strength of a cultivation method determined the purity and abundance of one's spiritual power.
Jian Meng'er, who cultivated the Tianyuan Sword Art, was absolutely stronger by more than a notch than many ordinary experts at the peak of the Great Achievement stage of Sea Transformation. This was the true reason why, back then, she had managed to withstand twenty moves from the Four Great Elders of the Sword Pavilion despite only being at the Great Achievement stage of Sea Transformation.
The twelve layers of sword-intent waves were directly scattered by Jian Meng'er's single simple furious chop, and one streak of sword shadow after another burst forth from her hand.
Fast—every sword was astonishingly fast.
"The Aurora Sword Art?" The corner of Jian Wushuang's mouth curled slightly, then his voice abruptly turned cold. "I told you before—although the Aurora Sword Art pursues the ultimate in speed, you cannot chase it blindly. You must also attend to the coordination and continuity between your techniques. But you clearly didn't take that to heart. There are too many openings. What's more, your swordsmanship... is too slow!"
Too slow!
His voice rang loudly across the training grounds, instantly stunning the many manor disciples there.
After all, in their eyes, the swordsmanship Jian Meng'er was displaying was already astonishingly fast. Those streaks of sword shadow were so quick they were nearly impossible to catch with the naked eye. In just that brief instant, Jian Meng'er had already unleashed dozens of swords, though every one of those strikes had been easily parried by Jian Wushuang.
"Too slow!"
"Too slow!"
Jian Wushuang shook his head even as he parried, clearly handling it with ease.
Jian Meng'er clenched her teeth, doing everything she could to make her sword faster, but even after she had performed the entire Aurora Sword Art from beginning to end, she hadn't so much as grazed the hem of Jian Wushuang's clothes.
"Now let me show you what the true Aurora Sword Art is." Jian Wushuang's cool voice left his lips.
As soon as the words fell—shaa~~~ A terrifying barrage of sword shadows, far faster than Jian Meng'er's, burst forth in an instant.
Fast as lightning, fast to the extreme, one sword linked to the next—coordinated, continuous!
"Too fast!"
"Heavens!"
The training grounds erupted in gasps.
If Jian Meng'er's sword speed had merely left them amazed, then now, watching Jian Wushuang perform the very same Aurora Sword Art, the speed left them genuinely unable to believe their eyes.
It was simply too fast to see clearly.
"How can it be this fast?" Jian Meng'er was also greatly alarmed. Seeing those layered sword shadows sweeping toward her like lightning, she quickly stilled her body into a boulder, deploying the Boulder Sword Art—one of the eighteen first-rate sword arts of the Sword Pavilion, made specifically for defense—doing her utmost to block.
Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!
A continuous stream of collisions rang out. Jian Meng'er's expression was visibly panicked. Jian Wushuang's sword was simply too fast. She parried with everything she had, yet still could barely hold on, forced into a sorry state.
Sword light flashed, and after only a short while, that overwhelming, crushing sword art abruptly stopped.
"Eighteen breaths!"
Jian Meng'er, who had been forced all the way to the very edge of the high platform, stared fixedly at Jian Wushuang before her. Even as she had been straining to withstand his sword, she had been secretly counting the time—and in the end, Jian Wushuang had performed the entire Aurora Sword Art in just eighteen breaths.
Whereas for her to complete the full sword art at full power would take at least thirty-seven breaths.
That meant Jian Wushuang had executed the sword art more than twice as fast as her, and it was clearly more coordinated, more continuous!
So fast she could hardly withstand it.
Jian Meng'er glanced at her own sleeve. On it were two clear slits where a blade had passed, her fair skin showing through, filling her with shame and indignation.
"Scoundrel!"
Jian Meng'er shouted in fury. The killing aura of her Three-Kill Sword surged instantly, and her long sword swept out viciously in a horizontal arc.
One Sword, Drifting Snow!
The Drifting Snow Sword Art, one of the eighteen first-rate sword arts of the Sword Pavilion!
"Truly laughable."
Jian Wushuang merely sneered. After easily dissolving the technique, an even fiercer, more domineering version of the Drifting Snow Sword Art than Jian Meng'er's unfolded from his hand.
Returning one's own technique upon oneself.
Whatever sword art Jian Meng'er unleashed, Jian Wushuang would first dissolve it with ease, then return that very sword art to her in a form that was fiercer, more mature, more perfect.
Overwhelming her in swordsmanship!
A complete, utter crushing defeat in swordsmanship!
In truth, Jian Meng'er's swordsmanship was already quite impressive—she had mastered all eighteen sword arts of the Sword Pavilion to the Great Achievement stage. But now, before Jian Wushuang, her swordsmanship seemed like nothing more than a child's play.
The gap was too great.
"The gap between these two youngsters in swordsmanship is even larger than we imagined." Situ Qingyue gazed down from above and said solemnly, "Jian Meng'er's swordsmanship is already quite good, but compared to Jian Wushuang, the difference is simply far, far too great!"
"It's unimaginable—a young fellow not yet sixteen, and his swordsmanship has already reached such a level. Jian Xinhong, within your Sword Marquis Manor, apart from you, I'm afraid there isn't a second person whose swordsmanship surpasses this little fellow's, is there?" Ye Xiu turned to look at Jian Xinhong.
As the Lord of the Sword Marquis Manor, Jian Xinhong naturally understood the manor's situation better than anyone. Hearing Ye Xiu's words, he could not help but nod.
Comparing pure swordsmanship alone, within the Sword Marquis Manor, apart from himself, there truly was no one stronger than Jian Wushuang.
...