Chapter 899: Absolute Speed!

Li Yun opened his eyes outside the Astral Battle Realm and stayed silent for several breaths. The crowd around him was just as quiet. Nobody mocked him or laughed, because everyone had seen what happened.

Li Yun had used everything. He had released five Xiantian Stage Intents, six thousand precious swords, and the full power of the Myriad Sword Spirit Command Art, and he had even unleashed the same ultimate sword formation that had beaten the Old Fisherman.

He had still lost. Yet nobody thought he was weak. The fact that he had forced Yuan Zhenhai to reveal that final blade already proved how terrifying his combat power had become.

The real problem was Yuan Zhenhai himself. He had several centuries of accumulation, and outside the Astral Battle Realm he stood at the perfection stage of the 9th level of Spirit Manifestation Realm, with a comprehension of the Blade Dao that already touched Dao Resonance. The realm suppression could reduce his cultivation, but it could not erase centuries of understanding.

A moment later, Yuan Zhenhai appeared as well and looked at Li Yun. There was no arrogance on his face, only genuine admiration.

“You’re strong,” he said.

Li Yun looked at him in silence, and Yuan Zhenhai went on.

“If you had fought me as I was several centuries ago, when I first cleared the second floor…” He shook his head. “I would have lost.”

The crowd stirred at once, but Yuan Zhenhai ignored them.

“The reason I beat you today isn’t that your sword lacks power. It’s that you haven’t had enough time.” His expression turned serious. “How long have you been cultivating? I’ve stayed at the peak of the Spirit Manifestation Realm for several centuries. A difference in accumulation like that doesn’t just disappear because the Astral Battle Realm suppresses us to the same level.”

Li Yun remained quiet, because he understood. This defeat was completely different from losing to some impossible gap in cultivation. Yuan Zhenhai had shown him something far more valuable. He had shown him a direction that went beyond raw power, beyond simply having more Intents, and beyond controlling more swords.

That direction was resonance, the perfect unity of one’s body, weapon, Intent, essence qi, and the heaven and earth around them. Yuan Zhenhai had not entered the Dao Resonance Realm, but his final saber strike had already contained the beginnings of its principle.

Li Yun slowly let out a breath, and then he smiled faintly. He had lost, and he had lost completely. Yet instead of feeling frustrated, his eyes grew brighter. Now he finally understood why the third floor was still so far out of reach.

His current combat power was terrifying, his techniques were powerful, his Intents were many, and his Myriad Sword Spirit Command Art was formidable. Even so, another level of comprehension existed above all of that, and his own true cultivation was still limiting how much power he could ultimately bear.

The talk around them gradually started up again.

“Li Yun lost.”

“Like I thought, experience still matters. Yuan Zhenhai has been here for centuries longer. Nobody should be surprised that he won.”

“Even so, Li Yun pushing him this far is already terrifying. At the same cultivation level, who on Chronospace Island besides Yuan Zhenhai could beat Li Yun now?”

“And don’t forget, Li Yun has only been here for eight months.”

The looks directed at Li Yun were still full of amazement. His defeat had not hurt his reputation. If anything, it had made people see his potential even more clearly.

Yuan Zhenhai looked at him. “Li Yun, you’re even stronger than I expected. With your talent, I doubt it’ll be very long before you surpass me.”

Li Yun shook his head. “Thank you for the lesson, Brother Yuan.”

There was nothing shameful about admitting defeat. Yuan Zhenhai was a monstrous genius in his own right who had cultivated on Chronospace Island for centuries. If Li Yun had already surpassed him after eight months, that would have been the truly unreasonable outcome.

Yuan Zhenhai suddenly sent him a private sound transmission.

“Brother Li, there’s another issue. Your current methods are still somewhat limited. Right now, the Myriad Sword Spirit Command Art and your five Intents make up your main combat system. That’s enough for the second floor, but it will never be enough for the third. More importantly, your five Intents are extraordinary, but your mastery of them hasn’t yet reached the level you’d need to contend with that guardian.”

Li Yun’s expression turned serious as Yuan Zhenhai continued.

“The third-floor guardian has the Temporal Dao. I’ve thought about that problem for many years, and as far as I can tell, there are only two practical ways to beat him. The first is obvious, and that’s to comprehend the Temporal Dao yourself.” He immediately dismissed it. “That path is barely worth discussing. If we could comprehend temporal principles easily, we’d already be close to touching the complete Chronospace Dao. At that point, experts from the Chronospace Lineage would come for us in person, and there’d be no reason to worry about the Everlasting Pagoda at all.”

Li Yun nodded. “What’s the second way?”

“Speed,” Yuan Zhenhai said, and his eyes sharpened. “Absolute speed. You need to become fast enough to beat the green-robed guardian before he can activate the Temporal Dao, before he freezes your time, and before he attacks. You have to strike first and end the fight immediately. That’s the only way to get around the advantage his control over time gives him.”

Li Yun thought it over and then nodded. “That makes sense, Brother Yuan.”

If he could not counter the Temporal Dao directly, then stopping his opponent from ever using it was naturally the most straightforward solution. He would have reached the same conclusion on his own eventually, but Yuan Zhenhai’s experience had saved him from wasting time on useless directions.

Yuan Zhenhai laughed, and this time he spoke openly instead of through a sound transmission.

“Li Yun, if you ever want to spar again, come find me. If we keep trading techniques, we should both improve faster.”

Li Yun smiled. “Of course.”

An opponent like Yuan Zhenhai was exactly what he needed.

“Good.” Yuan Zhenhai nodded, then turned and left.

Li Yun did not stay either. He now understood the direction he needed to take, and the only thing left was to walk that path.

As the two of them disappeared in different directions, the cultivators around them slowly dispersed. What had happened that day, however, spread across Chronospace Island with astonishing speed.

By nightfall, almost everyone trapped on the island knew two things. Li Yun had become only the second person of the current era to clear the second floor of the Everlasting Pagoda, and after just eight months on Chronospace Island, he had already forced Yuan Zhenhai to reveal the combat comprehension he had built up over several centuries.