Chapter 206 Comprehending Swordsmanship, Cyan Lotus Sword Technique

Chapter 206: Chapter 118: Comprehending Swordsmanship, Cyan Lotus Sword Technique

One of them was the Cyan Cloud Sect, as one of those six individuals from back then was its founding patriarch—the Cyan Cloud Upper Immortal. Although Yi Hanqing did not know so many secrets of the Cultivation Realm, he could still feel the sheer power of Shangguan Yunmeng’s Sword Intent at this moment.

"A bright moon shines on a clear pool, while peach blossoms bathe in the spring breeze. Compared to hers, my Sword Intent seems... to be lacking by more than just a single tier."

Yi Hanqing watched the spring scenery of peach blossoms around him being constantly encroached upon by that cold moonlight, understanding he couldn’t continue like this. He put down the wine pot in his hand, and a cyan Spirit Sword fell into his grasp.

"Rise!"

Under Yi Hanqing’s control, the peach blossoms around him began to gather, forming a tide of petals in a very short time that crushed toward Shangguan Yunmeng. Wrapped in the spring breeze, the pink peach blossoms hid a murderous intent beneath their seemingly gentle and beautiful scenery. Because every single peach blossom was equivalent to a Flying Sword—touching one meant certain death.

Facing this, Shangguan Yunmeng, who had originally been immersed in her own world, finally seemed to snap back to reality. She looked at the overwhelming tide of peach blossoms and swung her sword.

In the next second, a moonlight-like Sword Qi broke through the waves. A closer look would reveal that this Sword Qi actually resembled a silver crescent moon. When this silver crescent met Yi Hanqing’s tide of peach blossoms, it shattered the sky-filling wave of petals with unstoppable force. With its residual might undiminished, the silver crescent slashed violently across Yi Hanqing’s body.

CRACK!

As a sound akin to shattering glass rang out, the scenery of Sword Intent surrounding Yi Hanqing instantly dissipated. He stumbled backward three full steps before finally coming to a halt.

The surrounding Cyan Cloud Sect and Jade Void Mountain disciples also woke as if from a dream. They stared at the two on the Daoist platform with dazed expressions, as if none of them fully comprehended what had just happened.

Looking at Shangguan Yunmeng, who had already retracted her Sword Intent and wore a calm expression, Yi Hanqing smiled bitterly. "...I lost."

As soon as these words were spoken, the entire venue instantly erupted into an uproar. Even the Jade Void Mountain side hadn’t expected Shangguan Yunmeng to actually defeat Yi Hanqing—the current chief disciple of the Cyan Cloud Sect’s Sword Concealment Peak—in a pure contest of Sword Intent.

What was this? This was an absolute, overwhelming victory!

Yi Hanqing was at Foundation Establishment Perfection, while Shangguan Yunmeng was merely at Qi Cultivation Perfection. The gap in their Cultivation was massive. Though everyone knew that in actual Magical Combat, Yi Hanqing could effortlessly defeat Shangguan Yunmeng, a Dao discussion was not Magical Combat.

A Dao discussion didn’t take Cultivation into account!

A total, crushing victory! The Jade Void Mountain Cultivators shouted in excitement. A few of the more boisterous ones even grinned and grimaced at the nearby Cyan Cloud Sect Cultivators, thoroughly rubbing the victory in their faces. Faced with the relentless, in-your-face gloating of the Jade Void Mountain Cultivators, the Cyan Cloud Sect Cultivators could only lower their heads and play the ostrich. There was nothing they could do; even Yi Hanqing, who was supposed to be a guaranteed win, had lost. In this Dao discussion, they had truly lost all face and dignity.

Unlike the dejected Cyan Cloud Sect disciples, Yi Hanqing himself was very open-minded. Just as he had told Xue Youqing of Ten Thousand Talisman Peak earlier, it was completely normal to win or lose in a Dao discussion; there was no need to take it too much to heart. After all, the point of a Dao discussion wasn’t victory or defeat, but whether one could glean any insights.

And though he had lost to Shangguan Yunmeng this time, he felt he had gained a tremendous amount. Not only had he discovered many weaknesses within his Peach Blossom Sword Intent and Spring Breeze Sword Intent, but he had also vaguely found a direction to perfectly fuse the two. Knowing the direction and actually achieving it were two entirely different matters, yet Yi Hanqing still felt this Dao discussion had been incredibly valuable to him.

With this in mind, disregarding Shangguan Yunmeng’s status as a junior, he spoke sincerely. "Thank you for your guidance, Fellow Daoist Shangguan. Yi has benefited greatly this time."

"Huh?" Shangguan Yunmeng looked at Yi Hanqing blankly, seemingly unable to comprehend what insights he could have possibly gained.

She had clearly just copied the movements of the Immortal Sister from her dream, executing that Bright Moon Sword Dance exactly once. If Yi Hanqing had gained something from it, could it be the Sword Dance itself?

Did he want to learn the Sword Dance too?!

At this thought, an image involuntarily surfaced in Shangguan Yunmeng’s mind: Yi Hanqing wearing a Cloud Robe, holding a sword, and dancing gracefully. As soon as this image appeared, she couldn’t help but suck in a breath of cold air. She quickly shook her head, trying to toss the awkward visual out of her mind. After all, that image... was simply too weird!

Perhaps due to her resistance toward the mental image, Shangguan Yunmeng looked at the polite and refined Yi Hanqing standing nearby and subconsciously took half a step backward, distancing herself slightly. She was afraid that in the next second, he would open his mouth and ask her to teach him the Sword Dance. With her personality being so terrible at rejecting others, she truly wouldn’t know what to say. She absolutely did not want the bizarre image in her head to become reality.

Seeing her reaction, Yi Hanqing didn’t think much of it. Already fully immersed in his own world, he constantly replayed the scene of their Dao discussion as he lowered his head and walked off the platform.

Before long, Shangguan Yunmeng was the only person left standing on the massive stage.

She waited on the stage for a moment. Finding that no one else was coming up, she turned her head to look toward Li Xueke in the background. Li Xueke instantly understood that her junior sister was asking if she could come down now. Given Shangguan Yunmeng’s somewhat reserved personality, she genuinely wasn’t used to being stared at by a large crowd and appeared quite anxious.

A short while later, just as Li Xueke was about to tell Shangguan Yunmeng to step down, someone walked onto the Daoist platform.

"Huh, it’s you?" Seeing Lu Chen appear on the platform, Shangguan Yunmeng’s face instantly filled with curiosity. She hadn’t expected him to step forward at a time like this.

After all, she considered herself to have a decent relationship with Lu Chen; he was the first friend she had made in the Cyan Cloud Sect. Therefore, she didn’t really want to have a Dao discussion with him, afraid she might accidentally hurt him. Shangguan Yunmeng might be clueless, but that was only in regard to basic life skills—a consequence of being locked up in the palace for years. In other areas, she was far more competent. For instance, in Cultivation and Sword Intent. If possible, she truly didn’t want to hurt her friend.

In response, Lu Chen spoke with a deeply serious expression. "Inner Sect Disciple of Danyang Peak, Lu Chen, requests Fellow Daoist’s guidance."

"Ah?!" Hearing that Lu Chen was completely serious, Shangguan Yunmeng’s face immediately scrunched up into a bitter grimace. She was quite reluctant. However, since things had already reached this point, it seemed she had no choice. She looked at Lu Chen, furrowed her brow, and said earnestly, "O-Okay then. I will try my best not to hurt you."

With that, Shangguan Yunmeng unfurled her Sword Intent.

Lu Chen, on the other hand, not only didn’t rush to unleash his own Sword Intent, but instead began to observe her again. His Cyan Lotus-shaped pupils began to spin constantly, seemingly recording something.

The reason he wasn’t in a hurry to display his Sword Intent was related to the Skill he had comprehended earlier while observing the clash between Shangguan Yunmeng and Yi Hanqing. Yi Hanqing’s primary Sword Intent was the peach blossom, supplemented by the spring breeze. Shangguan Yunmeng’s primary Sword Intent was the bright moon, supplemented by a clear pool. During the observation process, Lu Chen not only gained insights from them but also combined those insights with his own circumstances to comprehend an entirely new Skill.

[You have observed a clash of Sword Intent. You have gained insight from it. You have comprehended the Skill... Cyan Lotus Sword Technique]

...

PS: Juggling work and writing back-to-back is honestly a bit overwhelming... The next update will be before midnight.