"I'll say it again. You can't do it."
Nan Qü looked like a little child at the moment. He looked a bit adorable when he wagged his finger, but the eerie smile on his pale face made him look rather dreadful. "However, it's said that you're the strongest swordsman in Chaotian. I'll give you a chance to challenge me."
"I'll say it again. You'll die."
Liu Ci went on with a faint smile, "I'm the sect master of Aoyama, so I'm invincible."
Nan Qü couldn't help but laugh, "How can you kill me when your grandmaster, master and senior masters couldn't even do it?"
"I'll kill you with my sword, of course," said Liu Ci.
"But you don't even have a sword," said Nan Qü sympathetically while looking at him.
Upon hearing this, the Cultivation practitioners of various sects burst into an uproar.
It wasn't until that day that the Cultivation practitioners of Chaotian learned about it.
The swords came out of Aoyama, and the Immortal Liu Ci, as the sect master of Aoyama, didn't have a sword of his own?
It was true that Liu Ci had no choice but to lack a sword.
Back when he returned to Aoyama from the Zhongzhou School, he had no choice but to travel slowly in the sky by stepping on the sword cloud. This was also the reason why he didn't have a sword.
"The following fight is not a true contest; it's my instruction to you."
Looking at Liu Ci, Nan Qü said with a warm expression in his eyes, "How can you achieve the path without a sword? I'm the only one who can solve this problem. Be my disciple, and I'll spare your life. "
To be able to instruct the Sect Master of Aoyama on the sword work was a perfect scene for Nan Qü, who was determined to surpass the Aoyama Sect for the rest of his life.
Nan Qü was fully aware that Liu Ci wouldn't agree to this request, but he would teach him in a more direct way.
At the same time, he would let all the Cultivation practitioners in the world know who was the number one swordsman.
Liu Ci had already walked out of the Sword Formation of Six Stars and arrived in the sky.
Nan Qü's figure disappeared abruptly. In the next moment, he arrived in front of Liu Ci along with countless sword lights.
He didn't wield his sword, because the child of the sword ghost was a sword himself.
Liu Ci did not draw his sword, because he did not have a sword. He stretched out his broad palm, bringing with it the countless sword wills of the world, which formed a square diagram.
Whoosh!!!
The hundreds of Aoyama Flying Swords that hovered in the sky like raindrops began to tremble, while the real raindrops instantly turned into powder and disappeared without a trace.
Nan Qü was drifting gently in the sky. It was hard to tell if his figure was real or fake; he looked like both a ghost and a fairy man.
Suddenly, a splash appeared on the surface of the sea. Liu Ci rose up on his sword cloud and floated toward the sky again.
His whole body was drenched, and his clothes were torn all over. Faint traces of blood could be seen.
The Sect Master of Aoyama was considered the strongest swordsman in all of Chaotian, but he was slashed so badly by a swing of the sword!
Seeing this, all the cultivators were shocked speechless. In the beginning, some people thought that Nan Qü's sword ghost method was formidable, and that he might not be able to defeat the Immortal Liu Ci; but they had finally realized that the Great Grandmaster of the Foggy Island was indeed the Great Grandmaster of the Foggy Island.
Seeing Liu Ci fly back from the surface of the sea, Nan Qü's expression was full of complicated emotions; it was the happiness of having his wish fulfilled, but it was also the emptiness of being invincible.
"Back then, Daoyuan thought I had a murderous nature, so he didn't want to take me as his disciple. I wasn't convinced, so I found the manor house left by the fairy man of the previous generation overseas and developed a new idea. In the end, I had surpassed him in the sword work … He thought that he could use the Sword Formation of Aoyama to cut down my Dao Tree and seize my First Child Sword in order to destroy my sword work; but is it possible?"
Nan Qü went on sentimentally, "I've cultivated diligently on the Foggy Island for hundreds of years, and I've finally mastered the most perfect sword work. By using the sword ghost as a human and the human as a sword, I've become invincible in the world!"
Liu Ci said after wiping off the blood on his beard with his sleeve, "Sneak-Attacking and surpassing are two different concepts."
Upon hearing this, Nan Qü grew angry and said sternly, "No matter what, I've won! I've proven that my sword work is far superior to your Aoyama's sword work! "
A thousand years ago, that youth from the south wanted to become the personal disciple of the Sect Master of Aoyama, the Immortal Daoyuan; but he was refused. What he wanted to do most in his long Cultivation life was to destroy Aoyama, to prove to everybody, including the deceased Immortal Daoyuan, that people could still cultivate the ultimate sword work even without Aoyama, and even surpass Aoyama!
Back when Xiwang Sun took Liu Shisui as his personal disciple, what the Godly Swordsman of West Ocean had done over the years was to prove it.
In the end, it was that youth who had accomplished his goal.
"You've been defeated by me today, and Aoyama will keep losing until it's destroyed. I've already seen that day."
Nan Qü looked at Liu Ci, his eyes exuding a cold and blazing glow. "The downfall of Aoyama will start from now on."
Bu Qiuxiao said that the individual Cultivation practitioners were of little significance in the war in the Cultivation circle, unless they were figures in the Heavenly Arrival State.
Nan Qü was such a person.
The Godly Swordsman of West Ocean stood in the sky behind Nan Qü like a statue.
The prowess of this pair of master and disciple could only be compared to the Immortal Jingyang and Taiping Zhenren in the last one thousand years.
If either Liu Ci or Yuan Qijing died at the West Ocean, the Aoyama Sect would have no choice but to seal off their mountains like the No-Mercy Sect had done.
As far as the Aoyama Sect was concerned, the best solution was for Liu Ci to return to the Sword Formation of Six Stars and wait for the Sword Formation of Aoyama to fall and kill Nan Qü.
However, doing so would be tantamount to admitting that the sword work of Aoyama was inferior to that of the Foggy Island.
The Aoyama Sect rarely had the option of admitting defeat, not to mention that their opponent was the Foggy Island that day.
Liu Ci said to Nan Qü, "Your proof is not enough."
This meant that they would fight again.
Nobody thought Liu Ci would win, including his allies like Ōzawa and the Platanus Sect.
The Immortal Liu Ci had always been considered the strongest swordsman in Chaotian, but the Great Grandmaster of the Foggy Island, Nan Qü … was simply too powerful.
Cultivation was about the passage of time. Nan Qü had a high generation and a profound Cultivation state, and he was the strongest swordsman in the world back then.
Now, he had created a new method of sword ghost, and he was a fairy man!
The most dreadful part was that Nan Qü came here to seek his own death.
When a fairy swordsman decided to risk his life and become a ghost, nobody could defeat him.
When he decided to use his own life in exchange for the defeat of the Aoyama Sect, nobody could stop him.
If Liu Ci were defeated by his sword, what would the Aoyama Sect do?
Zhao Layue thought that she would stay behind closed doors for one hundred years after returning to Aoyama.
Liu Shisui thought that he had to study hard in Yimaozhai and try to break through the Heavenly Arrival State as soon as possible; then he would return to Aoyama and rebuild his sect.
Zhuo Rusui thought to himself, "Damn it."
…
…
As Liu Ci was killing Nan Qü on the ocean, Jing Jiu was also killing Nan Qü in the ruined temple on the barren mountain.
He grabbed Nan Qü's hand and exerted a bit of force. More sword lights came out from the point of contact between their hands, slicing the broken ruins into smaller particles.
The ground of the barren mountain cracked open, and countless deep cracks appeared on the ground, where the underground spring could be vaguely seen.
The sky opened up, and the Sword of the Universe pierced toward Nan Qü's head in a straight line.
Pah!!! Nan Qü reached out his left hand and grabbed the tip of the Sword of the Universe.
The Sword of the Universe was as clean as a dustless object, but it seemed to be alive at the moment, vibrating incessantly, in an attempt to cut off Nan Qü's hand.
"It's a good sword!" Nan Qü praised.
As he uttered these two words, the sharp claws of the white cat had already reached his right eye.
Nan Qü closed his eyes and used his eyelids to block this strike.
Crack!!! A withered willow tree on the cliff a few miles away was broken into two halves.
An endless energy came out from the skinny old man's body. He lifted up Jing Jiu's body and smashed it toward Nan Wang who had just arrived in front of him. Boom!!!
Nan Wang was knocked backward and smashed into the field a few miles away, sending up a great deal of sand and pebbles. The entrance of a cave could be vaguely seen amid the smoke and dusts.
Nan Qü couldn't shake off Jing Jiu's hand, so he used Jing Jiu as a weapon and slammed Nan Wang into the deep end of the cliff.
The white cat let out an eerie and dreadful shriek. He leaped down from Jing Jiu's shoulder and grabbed Nan Qü's head, scratching it with all his might.
If a regular house cat scratched it, it would at most leave a thin red line on the head; but he was the Master White Ghost, the Principal Guard of Aoyama. Each of his claws was as powerful as a sword in the Heavenly Arrival!
The bright lights and the dreadful sword wills were everywhere on the barren mountain. The cliff collapsed, and the smoke and dusts rose up.
Nan Wang's angry voice rang out outside the smoke and dusts, "F * ck your ancestors!"
She leaped up while holding the Zither Sword with both of her hands, and slashed it down toward Nan Qü's head.
Nan Qü's countenance was expressionless as he swung Jing Jiu at the Zither Sword.
Boom!!! Nan Wang was sent flying backward again, and half of the stony mountain collapsed from the impact. He couldn't get up from the ground.
The white cat was still attacking madly amid the smoke and dusts, looking like a flash of formidable white light. The dreadful meowing could be heard incessantly, as if the cat was calling for sex.
Nan Qü grunted, and swung Jing Jiu at the cat. His attacks were like a rainstorm, and he had swung hundreds of times in a few seconds.
With a dreadful meowing, the white cat was hit by Jing Jiu and fell into the wild grass.
… …
… …
"I didn't expect you, an old devil, to have attained the path toward heaven in the end. Is it possible that the sword work will eventually lead to the unification of sword and human?"
Liu Ci's voice rang out in the sky again.
There was no fear in his voice, nor was there any coldness before a fight; there was only calmness and confidence in his voice.
He said to Nan Qü sympathetically, "It's a pity that you're not the first person to walk on this path."
Creating a new sword work was like discovering the principle of heaven and earth; the first person to achieve it was of course the most important.
The Cultivation practitioners of various sects were startled, but they didn't quite believe it. They thought that the Immortal Liu Ci intended to disturb the mind of the Great Grandmaster of the Foggy Island.
Though they couldn't understand Nan Qü's sword ghost method, they were fully aware that such a formidable sword work was not a secret method of any sect. Only a talented swordsman like Nan Qü could create such a sword work hundreds of years after his Dao Tree was destroyed, his First Child Sword was stolen, and he was trapped on the Foggy Island.
With such a condition, it was impossible to find another person in all of Chaotian, to say nothing of the Aoyama Sect.
Hearing what Liu Ci said, Nan Qü was startled, but he soon calmed down, saying, "It's impossible. I'm the only one who can create such a brilliant sword work."
Back when his Dao Tree was destroyed by the Immortal Daoyuan using the sword work of Aoyama, and his First Child Sword was stolen, his Cultivation state stagnated. As a result, he had no choice but to resort to a risky method. He transformed his body into a sword, and then he used the Sword Pill to invade his body and gave all of his spiritual soul to the sword ghost.
"Your sword work is indeed unique. You used the soul-capturing method of the southern barbaric tribes to refine the sword ghost, and then used the dark fire of the Foggy Island to refine your body into a sword. The combination of these two methods is indeed brilliant …
Hearing what Liu Ci said, the expression on Nan Qü's face grew more and more unsightly, because it was evident that Liu Ci knew something about his sword work.
"… However, Aoyama has known this method a long time ago."
It was quiet at the West Ocean, except for the ripples and Liu Ci's voice.
"There's one more thing I want to clarify."
Liu Ci went on, "In fact, I have a sword."
The sheath of the Inherited Heaven Sword appeared in front of him.
Nan Qü said with narrowed eyes, "This is the sheath of the sword."
Everybody could tell that.
"A sheath is needed only if you have a sword. This is a simple principle."
"Please," Liu Ci said.
He looked at Nan Qü.
Yet, he said this "please" to somebody else.
He held the sheath of the Inherited Heaven Sword with his left hand and grabbed something in the air with his right hand, pulling it out slowly.
No sword came out from nowhere.
Yet, the whole heaven and earth heard a sword sound.
… …
… …
The barren mountain had collapsed, and the ruined temple was gone. The wild grass had turned into frost, and the wild dust had died down.
Countless white marks appeared on Nan Qü's face and neck, looking rather dreadful; but he was not severely wounded.
In the wild grass, the white cat licked his paw, which was stained red with blood. It was unclear how many of his nails were broken.
Jing Jiu was in the worst condition. His face was pale, and blood seeped out from every pore on his body, making him look like a bloody man. A great deal of his sword source had been consumed as well.
Half of the white cat's teeth were broken, and the blood was dripping down from the corners of his mouth. He didn't bite Nan Qü again, but stared at Jing Jiu with a complicated expression in his eyes.
He didn't say anything, but everybody could see the imploring intent in his eyes, as if he was begging Jing Jiu to agree to something.
It was unclear what he wanted Jing Jiu to agree to at such a critical moment. Could it be that he could reverse the situation by agreeing to it?
Unexpectedly, Jing Jiu didn't pay any attention to him. Instead, he posed a few serious questions to Nan Qü.
"The red lantern has been destroyed, and the sword ghost can't return to this body. Which one of you is the real you?"
"If I kill this you, will the surviving you still be you?"
"Will the other you still be yourself?"
When they were fighting to the death, it was strange to suddenly discuss such a question.
Yet, Nan Qü gave the answer, and it was obvious that he had given it some serious thought. "The surviving me is me."
Jing Jiu fell silent for a while before saying, "What you said makes sense."
A sword sound could be heard in the distance.
It was an invitation.
"Please come back."
If it were before, he wouldn't accept it no matter how many people were killed in front of him.
But he changed his mind today. It was because he wanted to compete with Nan Qü to see who was the strongest swordsman in the sword work.
Aoyama was still the Foggy Island.
"I'm still you."
As such, he accepted Liu Ci's invitation.
Then, he drifted up.
(End of this chapter)
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