This was a duel. It was a duel that determined who could go further in the mass selection, proving who was stronger. It was even an important duel that involved the honor of the organization!
This duel was supposed to be extremely intense. Both sides would use all their strength and fight to the death, constantly breaking through their limits and surpassing each other. No one was willing to be outdone, and finally draw a perfect and regrettable end with a tiny gap.
However, why did the scene change without anyone realizing it?
Why did the duel turn into such a state?
Why?
Heartless let out a long sigh as his eyes gradually turned cold.
"Tu Dahei, I will no longer show any hesitation or mercy from now on. This is a duel, and the sword is our only form of communication. Using all your strength is the best form of respect."
Heartless raised his psionic sword with a deadpan expression. His eyes were sharp as surging sword intent surged around him. He said coldly, "Sword techniques are split into five ranks. Sword techniques, sword intent, sword truth, sword soul, and sword domain. Ordinary swordsmen can only use empty sword techniques in the beginning, but after years of practicing the sword, most of them will be able to temper their sword intent. Only an extremely small number of true swordsmen can create their own sword truth. As for sword soul and sword domain, they can only be comprehended by the world's top sword experts."
"Tu Dahei, your sword already has sword intent, but that's all. Compared to sword truth experts, you are still far from it. I have practiced the sword for more than ten years, and at the age of fourteen, I gained insights into my own sword truth. This sword truth is known as [Heartless]. "
"So I'm very sorry. You will be defeated by my sword truth [Heartless]!"
After Heartless said that, his eyes were as cold as winter, as though he had abandoned all his emotions.
Shi Xiaobai also gradually stopped immersing himself in the Kun Peng Sword Technique that he could not extricate himself from. He could sense the cold aura that Heartless emitted. It was like an ice sculpture that froze all his emotions, thoughts, and 'burdens'.
Heartless had 'activated' his sword truth, [Heartless], and entered a realm of emotional nothingness.
Sword truth might seem like an illusory term, but in fact, its existence was very real. It was real and powerful.
Shi Xiaobai had previously experienced sword truth from Sunless. Her sword truth was [Obsession], and she only had a sword in her hand. There was only the sword in his eyes, and only the sword in his heart!
Sunless was a sword fanatic. She was constantly 'activating' her [Obsession] Sword Truth. Even when she was sparring with Shi Xiaobai, she did not 'deactivate' it either. Sunless' Sword Truth was already 'one with the sword' with her.
Hence, Shi Xiaobai had suffered a terrible defeat in the Sword of Consciousness sparring. In the beginning, he only knew sword techniques, but he did not even have Sword Intent. Hence, he could not withstand a single strike. Later on, he gradually gained insight into Sword Intent, allowing him to last more than ten rounds with Sunless, who was using Beginner Sword.
The strength of the Sword Dao was evident.
The reason why Heartless was known as the second best swordsman among the rookies was because he had created his own Sword Truth at the age of fourteen. Sword Truth was an important standard to determine if a swordsman was outstanding. For example, whether one possessed a Sword Truth, how powerful one's Sword Truth was, or whether one's Sword Truth was one with the sword, etc.
"Come on, let This King witness your Sword Dao!"
The fighting spirit in Shi Xiaobai's eyes burned once again!
Heartless was expressionless as he silently raised his sword and walked towards Shi Xiaobai. His aura was completely different from before.
Shi Xiaobai let go of all the distracting thoughts in his mind. Swordsmanship was never his strongest technique. It was even a combat technique that he had recently begun cultivating. However, in this battle, he would only use his sword.
Just as Heartless said, the sword was the only form of communication between them!
Heartless closed the distance and suddenly slashed with his sword!
This strike was simple and unadorned. It did not even use any sword techniques. It was just an ordinary strike!
However, this strike was as fast as lightning and as fast as fire!
Shi Xiaobai did not retreat and instead advanced. Similarly, he slashed out with his sword!
"Boom!"
This was a clash between swords. It was a clash between sword beams. It was a battle between Sword Intents!
There was no victor in this strike, but Shi Xiaobai was completely at a disadvantage.
Heartless slashed out once again!
No, it wasn't a single sword strike this time. This sword strike that seemed to be a single sword strike contained 3rd level Sword Intent!
Shi Xiaobai managed to withstand two of the Sword Intents, but he was unable to withstand the third Sword Intent. He had no choice but to take a step back!
However, Heartless' attack did not stop because of Shi Xiaobai's retreat. He had already slashed out with an even stronger strike!
Heartless did not use the Sword of Homecoming, Heaven Shrouding Eclipse, nor did he use the lower form of the Kun Peng. All he did was a normal head-on slash, but this sword technique that returned to simplicity had shadows of the three sword techniques.
This was Heartless' condensed version of his sword techniques!
His Sword Truth [Heartless] froze all emotions, so his every strike would not be affected by excitement, fear, nervousness, soft-heartedness or any other emotions. Every strike of his was simple and direct, aiming straight for the vital parts!
Shi Xiaobai fought with his sword, but the more he fought, the more difficult it became. All he could do was retreat again and again.
Finally, at the thirteenth strike, Shi Xiaobai's psionic sword was shattered. He retreated in time, but his clothes had been torn open. It nearly left a blood-red wound.
However, Shi Xiaobai did not have the time to feel the lingering fear, nor did he have the time to feel frustrated over his failure in this exchange. This was because Heartless' next strike was already slashing at his throat!
"Clang!"
Heartless' sword had been blocked!
The beam in Shi Xiaobai's eyes burned like the sun. The boiling fighting spirit seemed like it could burn everything!
Lingering fear?
Feeling frustrated because of his failure?
Shi Xiaobai would not do that. At the instant his psionic sword shattered, other than dodging the fatal strike, he had immediately created a brand new psionic sword!
He would not waste time to feel upset over his failure.
The only thought in his mind was:
Such a failure, give This King another ten thousand times!
.....
.....
In front of a dilapidated stone wall, a boy about five or six years old was holding a small knife carved from wood. He was constantly stabbing at the stone wall.
On a careful look, there was an extremely tiny hole in the stone wall. And the boy's stabbing of the knife seemed to be aimed at the tiny hole in the stone wall.
However, the tiny hole was just too tiny. It was only slightly bigger than the tip of the knife. It needed to be perfectly aimed to stab in. However, the boy's movements with the bayonet seemed to be deliberately magnified. Every stab had to cross half his body before stabbing out. This made it impossible for him to accurately stab the tiny hole.
The boy's every stab was aimed at the surroundings of the tiny hole, but every stab was extremely fast and forceful. Hence, every stab left his tiny hand numb.
The boy frowned and with a crying face, he repeatedly stabbed at the tiny hole.
Ten times, a hundred times, a few hundred times, a thousand times …
From noon to dusk, he had stabbed the tip of the knife into the tiny hole less than ten times.
The autumn dusk was slightly dark and cool. The air seemed to condense into frost. The back of the boy's tiny hand turned slightly red from the cold, but he did not stop.
"Xiaobai, it's time to eat."
A gentle voice called out as footsteps gradually approached from the other side of the wall.
The boy's eyes lit up as he finally stopped. He jogged to the other side of the wall and saw a black-haired youth slowly walking over.
"Brother!"
The boy exclaimed softly as he ran to the black-haired youth's side.
The black-haired youth squatted down and touched the boy's head. He reached out and held the boy's tiny right hand.
"Hiss …"
The boy let out a soft cry of pain.
The black-haired youth looked down and saw that the boy's fair and tender right palm was already turning purple. A hint of heartache flashed in the black-haired youth's eyes as he sighed. "You, why don't you slack off? I specially sent Dad away to let you rest, but you … Sigh, why don't you stop practicing with the Pig Slaughtering Knife? "
"No way!"
The boy's eyes widened as he shook his head and said, "Dad said that if the Pig Slaughtering Knife isn't accurate, the big white pig will be in a lot of pain, much more pain than me. So, in order to stab accurately, I have to practice diligently! Brother, don't worry about me. It's not like I'm in a lot of pain. I'm no longer a three-year-old. There's no need for Brother to worry! "
The black-haired youth smiled wryly as he rubbed the boy's head. "Yes, yes, yes. You're five this year, so you have to pay more attention to your safety and health. Do you understand? Although Dad looks very strict, he might be secretly distressed. You still have a long way to go. You can slowly practice with the Pig Slaughtering Knife! "
When the boy heard that, he fell into deep thought for a moment before he suddenly shook his head firmly. He pursed his lips and said, "No way! I'm too stupid. I can't stab that tiny hole. Dad said that someone as stupid as me can't be saved if I don't work hard. Besides, Brother said previously that failure is the mother of success. The more times you fail, the earlier the baby of success will be born. "
The black-haired youth opened his mouth, but he did not know what to say. The last time he said that, it was to comfort the little boy who had failed many times. He did not expect the little boy to keep those words in his heart and even use them to encourage him.
Was such a thing a good thing or a bad thing?
The black-haired youth could only say, "Let's go. Let's go back and eat."
The boy's eyes lit up as he nodded vigorously. He was very, very hungry.
The black-haired youth walked to the other side and held the boy's left hand. The two of them walked in the direction of home.
"I like failure, Mommy!"
The boy said as he walked. Suddenly, he looked up and asked, "By the way, Brother, when will Mommy be back? I haven't seen her yet! "
The black-haired youth paused for a moment as he turned his head slightly to the side, as though he was hiding something. He said softly, "Mommy has gone to a very, very distant place. I don't know when she will be back. However, she must be constantly concerned about Xiaobai. She must want to see Xiaobai."
The boy acknowledged with an "Oh" and did not say another word.
The dusky afterglow of the setting sun elongated their shadows. The shadows of their hands overlapped each other, as though they would never separate.
.....
.....
"Failure is the mother of success."
With this thought in mind, he once again produced a psionic short sword.
In a short span of ten minutes, his psionic short sword had shattered more than twenty times. His clothes were also lacerated in several places. There were also some bloody marks on his body.
In terms of sword techniques, Shi Xiaobai was indeed incomparable to Heartless, who had activated Heartless Sword Truth. He was defeated without any suspense and retreated in a pathetic manner. The expenditure of his psionic power and stamina was extremely exaggerated. If not for him having a technique like "Unleaking Turtle Aura" to forcefully endure, he would have long been defeated due to exhaustion.
However, Shi Xiaobai was still holding on. Although he had been defeated more than twenty times, the duel was not over.
Heartless did not show any mercy, nor did he show any hesitation. Just as Shi Xiaobai retreated, he closed in once again. It was as though he would only stop at the moment of true victory.
"The next strike will end this duel."
Suddenly, Heartless, who had been silent for a long period of time, said. His voice was calm and cold, as though he was an emotionless machine stating an objective fact. His aura rose once again.
"This King thinks so too."
Shi Xiaobai nodded in agreement and said, "The next strike will defeat This King's Sword Truth!"
.....
(PS: I'll give it a try today. I'll change to a guaranteed two chapters. Each chapter will be more than three thousand words. The second chapter will be updated later. As for how late, it will depend on when I code it. Anyway, it will definitely be updated. The reason for changing to two chapters is to make each chapter's content more substantial. If it were three chapters, I would be used to writing seven thousand words together, but more than half of the seven thousand words would be used to pave the way for the later chapters, making it look very watery. Now, by changing to a content of three thousand words, there will be fewer pave words, making it look more substantial.)
(To be continued.)
You've already exceeded your reading limit for today. If you want to read more, please log in.
Login
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
