This year's winter in the capital was much colder than in previous years. It was still early winter, but the Luo River was already frozen, especially on the surface of the river outside the canal gate. The ice was thick enough for a person to stand on.
At this moment, Wang Po and Tie Shu were standing on the icy surface of the Luo River.
Between the two of them, there was a breach that was more than a hundred feet wide. The river water was rippling inside, and it was incomparably dark, like an abyss.
The thunder that resounded through Jingdou rose from the snowy street and ultimately landed there.
With his hands behind his back, Tie Shu expressionlessly looked at his opponent, as if he had never made a move before.
Wang Po's blade was held horizontally in front of him. His clothes had been torn in many places, especially his sleeves, collar, and sleeves. It was as if they had been blown by a fierce gale for decades.
Blood could be faintly seen in those lacerations.
It was obvious that he had been injured in a single exchange, and his injuries did not look light at all.
However, Tie Shu's eyes did not relax, nor was there any contempt or disdain. On the contrary, they became even more serious, and even somewhat vigilant.
Wang Po still had not unsheathed his blade. Several clear finger marks could be seen on the sheath, and it was even clearly bent.
He still did not draw his saber.
An expert of the Divine Domain had taken the initiative to attack, but he still had not unsheathed his blade.
This was a very puzzling and shocking matter.
What was even more shocking was that he was still alive even though his injuries were not light.
…
…
Back when he was fighting Zhu Luo on the rainy street of Xunyang City, Wang Po had unhesitatingly used his strongest blade technique, cleaving out countless cracks in space. Only then could he barely keep Zhu Luo's moonlight at the other end of the street.
Today, when facing Tie Shu on the snowy streets of the capital, he had not even unsheathed his blade, yet he was able to receive one of Tie Shu's blows.
Tie Shu and Zhu Luo were both Storms of the Eight Directions, and in terms of combat prowess, he was even slightly above Zhu Luo.
This could only mean that in these two short years, Wang Po's blade had become much stronger than it had been in Xunyang City.
Tie Shu's face was expressionless, but his mood was somewhat complicated.
Even without using his saber, Xiao Chen was able to receive his powerful attack head-on and was still standing. He was indeed worthy of being the strongest among the younger generation.
He did not know how much progress Wang Po had made in these past two years, only that he was more powerful than the rumors said, much more powerful than he had been in Tanzhe Temple.
This rate of improvement was simply unimaginable.
He could no longer judge how far Wang Po was from that threshold.
It was still the same sentence.
— — Wang Po still did not draw his blade.
"What saber is this?" Tie Shu suddenly asked.
Since Wang Po had not unsheathed his blade, what was he asking?
If there were spectators on the two shores of the Luo River, they would certainly not understand these words.
Wang Po understood.
Saber was just one word, but it could have many meanings.
The blade itself.
The moves of the saber.
The trajectory of the knife.
The path of the blade.
He did not draw his blade, but he had already made his move.
This move was the Horizontal Blade.
Wang Po's Saber Dao and the mysteries of this move were all contained in this horizontal slash.
As such, he was able to receive Tie Shu's attack without using his saber.
Tie Shu had never seen such a marvelous saber technique.
What he wanted to know was the name and origin of this move.
"I don't know."
Wang Po said, "He didn't tell me."
…
…
There was still some distance between the Wei Estate and the alley of the Northern Military Department, and they would have to cross the Luo River.
On their way here, Wang Po and Chen Changsheng had stopped by the banks of the Luo River to chat.
The banks of the Luo River had cold willows, embankments, ice on the surface of the river, and stories.
When they had first met in Xunyang City, they had not spoken much. Now that they had reunited in the capital, they knew that they would soon separate again, perhaps even for eternity, so they had chatted a great deal.
They had chatted about Wang Zhice's past, about the Bridge of Helplessness, and about each other's past.
Seeing the metal blade at his waist, Chen Changsheng recalled the mausoleum in the Garden of Zhou, as well as the master of the mausoleum, and the blade style drawn on the black coffin. He had an idea.
That blade style could not be passed down verbally, so he could only tell Wang Po what he had comprehended from it.
Wang Po did not express his thanks, nor did he refuse, but it was clear that he was not very interested.
Even though he clearly knew that it was the strongest blade style in all of history.
Because he had his own path of the blade, and his path of the blade was the exact opposite of Zhou Dufu's Severing Blade.
Chen Changsheng continued. In the wilderness, he had learned the sword from Su Li.
Many cultivators of the world were very interested in this matter, or perhaps very jealous.
Wang Po was not jealous, because he did not like Su Li. But it was still Su Li's sword, so he was rather interested.
Especially when Chen Changsheng mentioned that the third sword that he had learned from Su Li was, in reality, also not something that Su Li had learned.
He said to Chen Changsheng that he wanted to learn this sword.
Chen Changsheng said yes.
They stood under the cold willows by the Luo River and spoke a few words.
And then, Wang Po learned that sword.
He was the third person in the world to learn this sword.
And he had only used a few words to learn it.
Once Su Li learned of this, he wondered what sort of mood he would have.
That sword was called the Stupid Sword.
To learn this sword, one needed to temper it a thousand times, needed to endlessly repeat it monotonously and impatiently.
What this sword required was not talent, but a persistence that bordered on stupidity.
So Su Li could not learn this sword, because he was too smart.
Logically speaking, no matter how astonishing Wang Po's talent was, he should not have been able to learn this sword in such a short amount of time.
Interestingly, Wang Po's method of practicing the blade was very similar to Chen Changsheng's method of practicing the sword.
In the past few decades, he had brandished the metal blade far too many times.
Now, he only needed to use the sword as a blade to display this sword, or perhaps this blade.
Thus, Tie Shu's terrifying hands were not able to break through his sheath.
"You lost because you were wrong."
Wang Po looked at Tie Shu and said, "You should not have stopped me from unsheathing my blade."
Tie Shu was quiet for a few moments, then asked, "What do you mean?"
Wang Po replied, "Only when the blade is hidden in its sheath can it have all sorts of transformations and limitless possibilities. Although it is not the strongest, it is the hardest to break."
Tie Shu asked, "Do I really have to foolishly wait for you to unsheathe your blade?"
Wang Po replied, "If you do not dare to see the truth of this blade, then the truth will often not be as you wish it to be."
Tie Shu's expression was indifferent. His hands clenched behind his back, countless rays of cold light and sharpness seeping out from his fingers, noiselessly slicing apart the wind and snow.
This scene was a sign of his current mood, because Wang Po had guessed his thoughts, so could he have predicted the correct conclusion?
His gaze fell on Wang Po's blade and he taunted, "Then you can show me the truth, if you can still do it."
Wang Po's blade was the truth.
From the moment he had left Scholartree Manor, the entire world had been waiting with bated breath.
But the blade was already bent beyond repair, so how could he pull it out of its sheath?
As he spoke, Tie Shu arrived in front of Wang Po, his two hands flying through the air.
A fierce gale blew over the Luo River, obscuring one's eyes with snowflakes. One could faintly make out the silhouettes of ten fingers, shaking the snow as they pierced through the air, like a massive tree extending its branches, like a massive flower blooming.
Countless unyielding Qi suffused with a metallic aura descended upon Wang Po as those branches extended and petals unfurled.
The iron tree bloomed.
This was a Daoist technique of the Divine Domain, a power above the starry sky.
No matter how well this blade could defend, it could not conceal the entire starry sky.
If Wang Po did not unsheathe his blade, he would assuredly die.
So Wang Po finally unsheathed his blade.
The blade was still in its sheath, but its intent had already risen.
An extremely swift and fierce blade Dao that seemed especially simple and sincere soared into the sky.
The wind and snow suddenly sped up, countless cracks appearing on the frozen surface of the Luo River.
As he sensed this blade intent, Tie Shu's expression instantly chilled, his eyes bursting with killing intent.
Only he could see that Wang Po was using this blade to break through!
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