The bright moon hung high in the sky, sprinkling its light over the lake.
In the middle of the lake, there was an island with undulating mountains. It was the former Qing Court Sect, which later became the abode of the Moon Devil. The pavilions and terraces were still there, but they were no longer as prosperous as they were in the past. Under the illumination of the moonlight, it seemed a little desolate.
But tonight, he had become the centre of attention of the entire Clear River prefecture once again.
"This Yin Xiaochou of the Sword Collection palace wields one of the Ten Renowned Swords, the Breaking Water sword. He's at the peak of Foundation Establishment, and it's said that he's already comprehended the true essence of the sword, becoming one with the sword. He's even more powerful than Fu Qingjin in the past. He's declared that he wants to challenge all the geniuses of the younger generation in the eighty-one prefectures of the nine commanderies of the Green province. He's already challenged twenty-one prefectures, and he's yet to taste defeat. His name has spread through the world!"
Above the great lake, the Soaring Dragon Ship broke through the clouds and soared into the sky.
A few vague figures stood on the deck. Hua Chenglu introduced Yin Xiaochou's situation to Li Qingshan.
Wei Yangsheng added, "In the beginning, he visited them one by one, but many of them found an excuse to avoid him. Later on, he sent out a Sword Letter and invited all the challengers in the prefecture. Anyone who didn't show up would become a laughing stock!"
"This is to build up the might of the Sword Collection palace and strengthen the unity of the Demon Slayer. However, it's only eighty-one prefectures, so it'll already be impressive if even half of them go. Is he bold enough to go to the southern commanderies?" Hwa Seung-zan shook his head.
Li Qingshan crossed his arms and stood at the bow of the ship. The wind blew, but he was as still as a mountain.
It made Hua Chenglu sigh inside. Big brother Li's bearing is becoming more and more unfathomable. Just how much stronger has he become in the past few years of secluded cultivation? Is he Yin Xiaochou's opponent?
Li Qingshan looked down at the familiar Moon Court Lake. The island was dark. There were no lights in the pavilions. Only specks of spiritual light flickered on the mountaintop. Those were the geniuses of the various sects!
The most powerful aura was at the peak of the mountain. A black-robed man was sitting cross-legged. He looked to be in his twenties or thirties, but he had an aura of vicissitudes.
"This must be Yin Xiaochou!"
Li Qingshan touched his arm. There was a dragon-shaped shadow hidden there. Having refined the Soaring Dragon Sword, he knew the origin of this aura. It was the will of the previous Sword Masters. A thousand years passed. After experiencing the vicissitudes of life, the successor would naturally be influenced. Unless it was like Li Qingshan, who used his own will to suppress the will of the sword.
Yin Xiaochou seemed to sense something. He looked up at the sky. Their gazes met from afar. Yin Xiaochou's eyes shot out two sharp sword essences. Straight up into the sky.
Infusing sword intent into one's vision to stun people was a great technique of the Sword Collection palace. If one's cultivation was high enough, they could even destroy the enemy's sea of consciousness.
However, when the sword intent shot into Li Qingshan's eyes, it was like a stone sinking into the ocean.
Yin Xiaochou, who had intended to let Li Qingshan suffer a loss, felt a chill in his heart. "Who is this person?"
Then, he glanced at the so-called geniuses around him. "Is there finally a worthy opponent?"
Li Qingshan retracted his gaze with a smile and turned his head.
"The Breaking Water sword? Hehe, Danqing, did you bring a brush and paper? "
"How can I not bring something that makes a living?"
As one of the invited geniuses, Chu Danqing seemed rather absent-minded today. His eye sockets were slightly dark, and his eyes were bloodshot. Who knew what he was thinking. Only when he heard Li Qingshan's question did he return to his senses.
Hua Chenglu knew that Li Qingshan had specially gone to find Chu Danqing during the small gathering last night. Ever since then, his mind had wandered off, and he had even bid farewell and left first. Only tonight did he emerge from the Soaring Dragon ship. She could not help but become rather curious about what Li Qingshan had said to him!
Li Qingshan smiled. "Take them all out. Prepare to paint a painting!"
"Sure. What painting?"
Li Qingshan rubbed his chin and thought seriously. "Let's call it the Painting of Divine Might where the Wise and Valiant Li Qingshan Defeats the Brainless, Pretentious Yin Xiaochou!"
The deck suddenly fell silent. Everyone seemed like they had been struck by lightning. Even the corner of Han Tieyi's eye twitched.
Chu Danqing smiled bitterly. "I feel like this name is an insult to my painting!"
"Then you can choose the name. I'll be going down first!"
Li Qingshan waved his hand and leapt off the bow of the ship, landing right in front of Yin Xiaochou. He smiled. "Li Qingshan!"
"Greetings, commander Li!" The geniuses from sects set aside their arrogance and bowed. There was no one in the Clear River prefecture who did not know the Scarlet Hawk commander Li Qingshan.
"Yin Xiaochou!"
Yin Xiaochou could not help but straighten up and stare at Li Qingshan deeply.
"The first disciple of the Chan Monastery of Deva-Nāga's Unraging Guardian King, Li Qingshan, the Scarlet Hawk commander of the Clear River prefecture. I heard that he practises the greatest secret technique of the Chan Monastery of Deva-Nāga, the Demon Suppression Statuary. His strength far surpasses regular Foundation Establishment cultivators. Because he hasn't joined the monastery to cultivate, he possesses the title of the greatest secular disciple of the Chan Monastery of Deva-Nāga. Even a prince has suffered greatly at his hands."
"When I left the Sword Collection palace, junior brother Fu also told me to be careful of this person. He's definitely not someone easy to deal with." Though, hasn't he always been cultivating in secluded cultivation in the Chain mountains in the past few years? Why has he suddenly emerged? "
Yin Xiaochou was not afraid of Li Qingshan. He possessed absolute confidence in his own strength. He just cared a little about the two words "Chan Monastery of Deva-Nāga". Of the three great sects of the Green province, the Chan Monastery of Deva-Nāga mediated the balance between them, which was why the Sword Collection palace and the Umbral Yin sect could maintain such a long period of peace.
However, he cast his worries to the back of his head very soon. The path of the sword was about advancing forward fearlessly and fearlessly. He would never cower in fear. "Since he's bold enough to come, I'll just take a hit at the Chan Monastery of Deva-Nāga's reputation. Let's see whether the legendary Demon Suppression Statuary has an undeserved reputation or not!"
"Your sword is called the Breaking Water sword!"
Li Qingshan looked at the sword on Yin Xiaochou's knees. The dark sheath seemed simple and unadorned, with a few lines of poetry vaguely engraved on it. However, it was a little curved, not perfectly straight.
"That's right!"
"My sword is called the Water sword!"
Li Qingshan smiled and waved his hand casually. The moist water vapour condensed into a transparent water sword in his hand. He flicked the edge gently, and there was a clang.
"Very well then. I'll see how it goes today!" Yin Xiaochou's eyes narrowed. He was clearly making fun of his sword. To a swordsman, this was the greatest form of provocation, and it was filled with contempt. This was different from any opponent he had encountered in the past twenty-one prefectures.
"Danqing, are you ready?" Li Qingshan said to Chu Danqing, who had hurried over afterwards.
"Yep!" Chu Danqing took out a brush and paper as he was told. He was ready to paint.
"Let's change the name of this painting to the Water Sword Destroys the Breaking Water sword!" Li Qingshan called out. He pointed the tip of his sword at Yin Xiaochou and smiled. "Draw your sword!"
Even now, he did not act like he was facing a powerful enemy at all. He was as relaxed as if he was taking a stroll in the park. The successor of the Ten Renowned Swords of the Sword Collection palace, the supreme swordsman who had challenged twenty-one prefectures in a row, was only a weakling that he could defeat easily.
Yin Xiaochou stood up slowly and drew the Breaking Water sword slowly.
In that moment, clear light shimmered. The bright moon paled.
It paled as well. And everyone's faces. The geniuses that had been invited from the various sects and clans could not help but hold their breaths.
All of the light gathered on the sword-wielding Yin Xiaochou. His clothes drifted about. He stood aloof from the world. It seemed like he was about to be blown away by the wind.
However, what attracted them even more was … It was still the Breaking Water sword. The blade was curved and slender, like a crescent moon. It gave off rings of light.
Li Qingshan's gaze was attracted by it as well, but he remained unfazed, as if he could not sense the threat from the Breaking Water sword at all. Without a doubt, this displeased Yin Xiaochou even more than cursing. He had traveled through the twenty-one prefectures, but he had never been treated like this.
As a result, he said nothing more and swung his sword.
No one could describe the breathtaking nature of this strike!
It cut through the moonlight, cut through the flowing water, and cut off all the worries and worries of the world!
Chu Danqing wanted to paint the elegance of this strike subconsciously, but he was unable to put his impulses into action.
Han Tieyi instinctively imagined what he would do if he faced this strike, but he admitted helplessly that he had no idea how to block it. It was no wonder he had heard that many geniuses and experts from the other prefectures would be defeated by a single strike from Yin Xiaochou, while the spectators would often lose the courage to face him, directly choosing to forfeit.
However, little did he know that this strike was the most powerful strike Yin Xiaochou had unleashed ever since he left the Sword Collection palace. In order to sharpen his heart of the sword, he had never used the power of the Breaking Water sword in his past battles. He only used it as a sharp, treasured sword, which was undoubtedly equivalent to binding his hands and feet in battle.
But at this moment, Yin Xiaochou broke through all restraints and became one with the sword. Using the momentum of his consecutive victories, he poured all of his strength and belief into the strike!
"Breaking Water!"
Li Qingshan stopped smiling and swung the water sword in his hand.
It was as swift as a dragon emerging from the ocean!
"I've got it!" Chu Danqing's eyes suddenly lit up, and his brush began to move.
Last night, Li Qingshan had passed the two scrolls of the Three Absolutes Calligraphy to Chu Danqing, asking him to complete the final repairs so that the supreme calligraphy, painting, and sword manual could once again appear in the world.
Before this, Li Qingshan had already refined them separately and comprehended the sword intent within them. He then corroborated it with the sword intent from the Soaring Dragon sword. In the end, it was his own belief, condensing the unparalleled sword intent that belonged solely to him!
The dragon soared through the four seas, rampaging through the world. The seas surged, vast and boundless!
The two swords collided. The Breaking Water sword swept past the water sword and landed on Li Qingshan.
Li Qingshan raised the broken sword in his hand and sighed. "A sword casually condensed from water still can't compare to a true arcane treasure at the end of the day!"
The Breaking Water sword was not just an arcane treasure. The Sword Collection palace possessed many arcane treasure-grade swords, but there were only ten renowned swords. They possessed the wills of the past masters of the sword and were powered by the secret sword techniques of the Sword Collection palace, so their power could not be compared to regular arcane treasures.
Even among the ten renowned swords, the Breaking Water sword was renowned for its destructive power that could cut through everything!
The spectators all felt that Li Qingshan was being a little too careless if he wanted to take on it head-on by condensing a random sword out of water. However, at this point, it was meaningless to use this as an excuse.
Han Tieyi frowned slightly. This did not seem to be his personality. He seemed crude and straightforward, but he was actually the person with the most thorough thoughts. In particular, when he fought against others, he was basically extremely clever. He would never be defeated because he underestimated his opponent. As the victor, Yin Xiaochou's behaviour was rather strange as well.
"Big brother!" Hua Chenglu cried out involuntarily. She would probably see the terrifying sight of him being cleaved in two.
Hwa Seung-zan said softly, "Don't worry. It's fine!"
Li Qingshan smiled at Hua Chenglu and tossed the broken sword aside. It turned into mist in the air and returned to the void. Then he asked Yin Xiaochou, "How was it?"
Yin Xiaochou opened his eyes and looked at Li Qingshan as if he had encountered something unbelievable. His lips parted and he said with some difficulty, "How was it?"
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