‘Righteousness and morality held no sway; profit alone reigned supreme.’
The sword arts of the Blooming Flowers Over Water Sect did not excel in raw power, nor did they conquer through sheer speed.
Instead, they pursued a unique methodology centered on defense and counterattack.
The more aggressive an opponent’s assault, the more ferocious their counterattack would become.
This distinct approach, vastly different from conventional sword arts, was profoundly influenced by Jueziming’s personal character.
Though Jueziming rarely made enemies throughout her life, brutal killings and harm relentlessly plagued her path.
Finally, unable to endure it any longer, she intervened to assist a maiden in distress, thereby laying the foundation for the Blooming Flowers Over Water Sect.
The Blooming Flowers Over Water Sect exclusively admitted female disciples and deliberately remained aloof from worldly affairs.
Should anyone dare to infringe upon them, they would retaliate with thunderous, decisive force.
Yet, if an aggressor retreated upon realizing the formidable challenge, the sect would thereafter treat them with utmost courtesy, bearing no grudge and seeking no revenge.
This particular aspect utterly baffled many of those present.
Considering the Blooming Flowers Over Water Sect’s unwavering detachment from worldly affairs and their consistent avoidance of initiating conflict, it seemed inconceivable that they would emerge from their seclusion to pledge allegiance to Polaris.
No matter how refined or profound ordinary sword arts might be, their execution invariably left discernible traces.
Master swordsmen possessed the acuity to deduce an opponent’s shifting maneuvers and their subsequent trajectory by observing the subtle signs and sounds produced during their performance.
Having once crossed swords with Jueziming, Wan Ren possessed a considerable understanding of her sword arts.
Guan Xuelan’s ‘Starfall Sword Art’ and Ye Shuanghong’s ‘Spring Water Sword Art’ were Jueziming’s two most formidable secret techniques.
Though designated as ‘secret techniques,’ when performed individually, these two sword arts were indistinguishable from any ordinary style, leaving equally discernible traces.
Their true brilliance, earning them the title of ‘secret techniques,’ lay precisely in the fact that when two practitioners alternately wielded them, they could effectively mask each other’s movements.
Consider Guan Xuelan’s current maneuver on the field: a direct thrust at East Bamboo Immortal, employing the ‘Xue Character Art.’
Given East Bamboo Immortal’s formidable capabilities, it was inconceivable that she wouldn’t detect the faint whisper of the blade slicing through the air.
Upon recognizing that sound, she would have instantly devised a countermeasure and prepared her defenses.
Indeed, if Guan Xuelan were to persist in using a move already anticipated by her opponent, she would undoubtedly be easily countered and swiftly placed at a disadvantage.
However, the true ingenuity lay in Ye Shuanghong, positioned on the other side, opportunistically employing the very same ‘Xue Character Art.’
The two sword strikes descended simultaneously, their trajectories, velocities, and forces perfectly synchronized.
Their combined ‘Xue Character Arts’ effectively canceled out the faint friction of blades against air, rendering this particular strike eerily silent, as though it manifested from nothingness.
Even East Bamboo Immortal, with all her acute senses, failed to detect it for a crucial moment.
The true challenge of the Blooming Flowers Over Water Sect’s sword art did not reside in the individual ‘cultivation of sword techniques,’ but rather in the intricate ‘coordination of swordplay.’
Should two practitioners fail to achieve flawless synchronization, if the direction, speed, or even the subtle force of their strikes were not absolutely identical, then the crucial effect of canceling out each other’s sounds would be utterly lost.
Guan Xuelan and Ye Shuanghong’s seemingly effortless mastery of this intricate technique was, in fact, a testament to their relentless, painstaking practice, accumulated diligently over countless days.
Wan Ren possessed an understanding of sword arts far more profound than most.
In his youth, he too had been impetuous and full of vigor, tirelessly seeking out master swordsmen across the land to engage in contests.
Initially, his sole aim was to secure victory, but as his triumphs began to far outnumber his defeats, he gradually grew indifferent to mere outcomes.
Thereafter, his duels served a higher purpose: to glean strengths and absorb invaluable experience from his opponents’ techniques.
Fleeting victories and transient defeats were but ephemeral illusions; it was the accumulated experience that offered lifelong benefit.
This profound truth, however, undoubtedly eluded Ma Yan.
As Wan Ren observed Ma Yan’s sword arts, he initially found them quite peculiar.
Yet, after prolonged scrutiny, he discerned that while each of Ma Yan’s individual moves harbored countless potential variations, the overall repertoire of techniques remained surprisingly limited.
In actual combat, Ma Yan could only secure victory through sheer unpredictability and eccentricity.
It became clear that his sword art, since its inheritance from his sect, had undergone no significant improvement or innovation.
While the art itself possessed an inherent agility and strangeness, the absence of continuous refinement and adaptation had, in Ma Yan’s hands, gradually confined it strictly to the ‘Way of the Peculiar and Unpredictable.’
He was akin to a grand chef renowned for a universally acclaimed signature dish.
However, if that chef were to live their entire life basking solely in the glory of that one creation, they would inevitably become shackled by it, unable to transcend its confines.
That very dish would then represent the zenith of their culinary journey, rather than merely its inception.
Such was precisely Ma Yan’s predicament.
He adhered rigidly to his sect’s inherited traditions, neglecting to infuse his own understanding or innovation into the art.
Consequently, this particular sword style was denied the opportunity for continuous refinement and improvement that could have elevated it to widespread renown.
Every sword art, no matter how exquisite, harbors subtleties that must never be underestimated, alongside inherent flaws that cannot be ignored.
Should one fail to confront these imperfections directly, choosing instead to focus solely on the art’s intricacies, then those very deficiencies will inevitably become the most significant constraint upon its brilliance.
In stark contrast, observing Yi Ranchén’s performance, the superior refinement of their sword arts became immediately apparent.
While Yi Ranchén’s techniques might not boast the same bewildering array of variations as Ma Yan’s, they had been meticulously refined and tempered by Cheng Lixue.
Consequently, even Ma Yan’s swift, wind-like shifting maneuvers failed to grant him even a sliver of an advantage against Yi Ranchén.
Although Wan Ren could not, in that moment, conceive of a direct counter to Ma Yan’s sword art, he had already concluded that Ma Yan’s path to victory would be exceptionally arduous.
Indeed, if Cheng Lixue were to wield this very sword art, Ma Yan’s defeat would be an absolute certainty.
If Ma Yan’s assertions held true, then his master’s prowess in this sword art must have unequivocally surpassed his own, enabling them to defeat Cheng Lixue.
However, Ma Yan’s present struggle against Yi Ranchén strongly suggested that his own accomplishments in this sword art fell short of his master’s, and his true strength was inferior to Yi Ranchén’s.
He was merely managing to hold Yi Ranchén to a draw by virtue of his peculiar sword techniques.
Despite the formidable power of the From Lightning Gate sword art, it tragically lacked a worthy successor capable of truly elevating and spreading its renown!
In that moment, Ma Yan’s thoughts eerily mirrored Wan Ren’s.
He had never anticipated his opponent’s strength to be so formidable, in no way inferior to his own.
While he possessed the confidence to temporarily suppress them with his peculiar maneuvers, he knew such an advantage would be fleeting.
His opponent’s remarkably steady sword art would, after a momentary lull, inevitably reclaim control of the engagement.
He had initially presumed a fifty percent chance of victory, but it now became painfully clear he had severely underestimated his adversary.
At this juncture, even securing a mere draw would be considered a fortunate outcome, let alone claiming a decisive victory.
Within the entire From Lightning Gate, his mastery of the ‘Pursuing Lightning One Line Sword’ was, regrettably, middling at best, neither exceptional nor truly poor.
Had his fellow disciples not perished, any one of them who surpassed him in skill could have engaged this young girl and undoubtedly secured victory.
He had never imagined Cheng Lixue’s disciple would possess such an unshakeable foundation in sword arts.
It appeared that after Cheng Lixue’s massacre of the From Lightning Gate years ago, they had learned a crucial lesson, thereby advocating for a more grounded and steadfast approach to swordplay—a strategy specifically designed to counter unorthodox and unpredictably strange styles like the ‘Pursuing Lightning One Line Sword.’
A surge of bitter resentment welled within him at this thought.
Cheng Lixue must have foreseen that the disciples of the From Lightning Gate would inevitably surpass their predecessors, and it was for this reason alone that they had ruthlessly eradicated the entire sect, eliminating any potential future threats.
His defeat today at the hands of Yi Ranchén would not only bring disgrace upon the From Lightning Gate, but also betray the profound techniques bestowed by his sect, and shame his fallen brethren and master.
‘Today, I must emerge victorious! No matter the cost!’
Suddenly, his longsword unleashed a flurry of bizarre, unexpected maneuvers, driving Yi Ranchén back with a relentless onslaught.
While it outwardly appeared as though his opponent was being suppressed, everyone present could subtly sense that he was, in fact, at the end of his tether.
Yu Wusheng, for his part, secretly derided the man’s sheer overestimation of his own capabilities.
Now, Ma Yan resembled nothing more than a desperate clown, relentlessly pursuing his opponent across the arena, a picture of utter disarray.
‘He had boasted of a fifty percent chance earlier, hah! Could his current odds even amount to five percent of that fifty percent? What utter bluster!’
Though Ren Du and Director Ji remained locked in their own contest of internal energy, both their gazes had already instinctively shifted towards the intense duel unfolding between Yi Ranchén and Ma Yan.
The fleeting advantage Ma Yan had managed to seize was swiftly wrested back by Yi Ranchén.
His earlier flurry of peculiar maneuvers had inadvertently exposed a multitude of his own vulnerabilities, causing him to plummet from a momentary ‘advantage’ into a clear ‘disadvantage,’ unable to even salvage a draw.
A familiar voice abruptly resonated within his mind, yet for a fleeting moment, he found himself utterly unable to recall the identity of its speaker.
[Thrust at her left shoulder, then shift your attack to ‘Shenque Point,’ ‘Zhangmen Point,’ ‘Zhishi Point,’ before transitioning to ‘Jianjing Point,’ ‘Quchi Point,’ ‘Taiyuan Point.’ Next, stab ‘Tiantu Point,’ ‘Laogong Point,’ ‘Fengshi Point,’ and finally, breach ‘Tianchuang Point,’ ‘Guanyuan Point.’]
Ma Yan had no time for deliberation.
In a desperate bid to avert certain defeat, he could only resort to a desperate measure, blindly following the voice’s instructions as if treating a dead horse as alive.
Like a mere puppet on strings, he completely abandoned all independent thought, not once questioning the veracity of the advice or contemplating his next move after executing the commands.
Under the sudden ferocity of his counterattack, Yi Ranchén’s assault was momentarily stymied.
She promptly cast aside her greatsword to prevent any vulnerabilities from being exploited; the massive blade spun gracefully through the air before settling perfectly into its sheath on the ground.
Having thus discarded her larger weapon, Yi Ranchén, now wielding her slender sword, launched herself forward with fluid grace, her movements as seamless as if her previous attack had never been interrupted.
The fleeting advantage Ma Yan had gained from his recent counterattack vanished utterly.
Moreover, his numerous weaknesses were now laid bare before his opponent.
The clandestine guidance, which had initially appeared to be his salvation, was, in truth, a short-sighted tactic that ultimately brought about his complete undoing.
Yu Wusheng found the situation even more ludicrous.
While Ma Yan’s recent barrage of attacks had been undeniably exquisite, forcing his opponent to discard her sword to avoid falling into a disadvantage, any perceptive observer could discern this as nothing more than a desperate, last-ditch effort.
Yi Ranchén, after all, wielded two swords; even having abandoned her greatsword, she could still deftly employ her slender blade to target Ma Yan’s vital points.
Yi Ranchén swiftly inverted her sword, striking Ma Yan squarely in the chest with its hilt.
Ma Yan immediately spat blood and was sent hurtling backward.
Swiftly, the slender sword’s qi then pierced towards Ma Yan’s wrist; a sharp pang of pain caused him to inadvertently fling his longsword into the sky.
[Catch the sword, then target ‘Qihai Point,’ ‘Lianquan Point,’ ‘Shenmen Point.’]
Although Ma Yan suspected the hidden voice was deliberately harming him, his fervent desire for victory, and his unwillingness to succumb to Cheng Lixue’s disciple, compelled him to heed the mysterious advice once more.
Witnessing Ma Yan’s longsword slip from his grasp, Yi Ranchén confidently sheathed her slender sword, a proud smile gracing her lips.
“With your meager skills, you dare claim my master is inferior? Such arrogance…”
Before she could even finish her declaration, Ma Yan, still suspended mid-air, suddenly surged upwards.
He snatched his longsword from the sky and lunged at her.
Yi Ranchén merely chuckled, deciding against using her sword entirely and opting to meet his attack with her sword sheath instead.
She deftly dodged his longsword, raising her sheath to deliver another decisive blow.
Unexpectedly, his sword qi pierced the ‘Shenmen Point’ on her palm.
A sudden weakness seized her hand, and the sword sheath instantly flew from her grasp.\nFearing her twin blades might fall into enemy hands, she swiftly twisted mid-air and kicked the sheath upwards, hoping someone from the Southern Dipper Star faction would intervene to catch it.
The Southern Dipper Star faction was entirely unprepared for Yi Ranchén’s sudden reversal.
Zhu Jifeng, without a moment’s hesitation, launched himself into the air, reaching for the twin swords suspended above.
On the Polaris side, Yu Wusheng was equally stunned by this unforeseen turn of events, but like Zhu Jifeng, he reacted with swift precision.
He reasoned that even if no harm befell the Southern Dipper Star faction, seizing Cheng Lixue’s swords would be a significant achievement, a perfect means to thoroughly humiliate them.
Almost simultaneously with Zhu Jifeng, he lunged to intercept the swords.
Their palms met, their forces clashing, causing the sword to hover motionless in mid-air, neither falling nor flying towards either side.
Both men landed, yet neither relented their palm force, each striving to draw the sword to their own side.
As for Yi Ranchén and Ma Yan…
Victory and defeat had already been decided.