Proofreader & Editor: Lotas
Perhaps it was the pent-up frustration in his chest.
Xu Taiping's words rang out with a resounding force, each syllable thundering across the Sword Control Platform like a clap of thunder, painting the faces of the onlooking disciples—who had been watching with detached amusement or even schadenfreude—with shades of shame.
But to Ye Xuan, these words were nothing short of a provocation.
"You dare challenge me with your swordsmanship?"
Ye Xuan snorted coldly upon hearing this.
As his voice faded, his sword sang out of its sheath with a "zing."
Amidst the hum of the sword, his figure seemed to merge with the blade, transforming into a dazzling streak of sword light. Accompanied by a torrential downpour of dozens of sword shadows, he thrust his sword towards Xu Taiping with the ferocity of a sudden cloudburst.
This technique, aptly named Torrential Rain, was one of the ultimate moves of the Ten Directions Sword.
Now, executed with Ye Xuan's profound cultivation at the level of the Gazing Abyss Realm, its power was nothing like the ordinary martial sword techniques.
"Boom!"
While the spectators in the Cloud Pavilion were either astonished by the power of Ye Xuan's Torrential Rain or pondering how Xu Taiping would counter, the platform on the Sword Control Platform suddenly trembled violently.
Immediately after, Xu Taiping's figure turned into an afterimage, accompanied by a series of explosive sounds, and appeared behind the blinding sword light of Ye Xuan.
He threw a heavy punch.
"Bang!"
With a loud crash, Ye Xuan, who had seemed one with his sword light, was smashed by Xu Taiping's fist and sent flying, sword and all.
"Boom!"
Before Ye Xuan could even hit the ground, Xu Taiping's figure once again left an afterimage in place and, with a sound of tearing through the air, appeared behind Ye Xuan.
Bullhorn Mountain Collapse.
His heavy fist, carrying the force of a bull's horn, slammed heavily into Ye Xuan's back.
"Bang!"
Ye Xuan's body was sent flying once more.
And only at the moment he was sent flying did the flames on his Dragonflame Armor finally burst forth.
Clearly, Xu Taiping's punching speed had surpassed the reactive speed of the Dragonflame Armor.
"Bang!"
Just as the flames on the Dragonflame Armor began to dissipate, Xu Taiping appeared behind Ye Xuan once again, delivering another Bullhorn Mountain Collapse with crushing force.
"Boom!"
This strike nearly shattered Ye Xuan's Dragonflame Armor.
"What incredible speed! What heavy fists!"
Many cultivators in the Cloud Pavilion exclaimed in unison upon witnessing this scene.
"That wasn't any ordinary technique; that was the speed and power Xu Taiping's body unleashed after removing the two-thousand-pound iron weights."
Xu Ziyan was dumbstruck.
Because when Xu Taiping had dashed out, she had not felt any fluctuations of True Qi from his body.
She knew of martial artists who could temper their bodies to be as tough as steel or even magical treasures, but those were all grandmasters, either local tyrants or heads of martial sects. And how old was Xu Taiping now?
Fifteen? Sixteen?
She hardly dared to imagine.
"Perhaps Taiping hasn't just been wearing those iron weights for this match. For the past two, maybe three years, he must have been using them to temper his body."
Xu Ziyan murmured to herself.
She understood that short-term body tempering with iron weights was ineffective; it had to be a long-term, day-after-day process to reach the level Xu Taiping had achieved.
"Clang!"
In that moment, Xu Taiping suddenly drew his sword, slashing towards Ye Xuan's abdomen.
A gap had appeared in the Dragonflame Armor at Ye Xuan's abdomen due to Xu Taiping's previous Bullhorn Mountain Collapse. If this slash connected, Ye Xuan would be gravely wounded, if not killed.
No one had ever imagined that the prodigy of the Qingxuan Sect would be so thoroughly dominated by a youth from the foot of the mountain.
"Sword Prison!"
Just then, Ye Xuan, who had been on the receiving end of the onslaught, suddenly let out a hysterical roar.
"Zing!"
"Boom!"
The sound of the sword's cry tearing through the sky mingled with the whoosh of sword Qi.
Dozens of pure sword Qi burst forth from Ye Xuan, guided by his long sword, drawing a large circle with a radius of more than ten yards on the platform, encasing him within.
"Bang!"
Xu Taiping's sword struck the wall formed by the sword Qi, shattering his blade upon impact.
Having blocked Xu Taiping's strike, Ye Xuan finally found a moment to breathe.
"I won't give you another chance to strike!"
An infuriated Ye Xuan, sword in hand, protected by the dozens of pure sword Qi, thrust his sword towards Xu Taiping.
"Zing!"
Amidst the sound of the sword, his figure and the sword once again became one, transforming into a streak of sword light that shot forth.
In his rage, Ye Xuan unleashed the Ten Directions Sword once more.
"Boom!"
In an instant, amidst the explosive sounds, streaks of sword light crisscrossed over the platform.
With his cultivation at the minor completion of the Gazing Abyss Realm, the power of the Ten Directions Sword was several times greater than before.
"Zing!"
Amidst the crisscrossing sword light, Xu Taiping suddenly drew his last fine steel longsword from his waist.
"Boom!"
And in the moment he drew his sword, his aura surged explosively.
A wave of energy, characteristic of the Gazing Abyss Realm, burst forth on the platform. Blades of ice formed from the sword shadows danced around him, shielding him from Ye Xuan's relentless strikes.
"Swish!"
Simultaneously, Xu Taiping decisively swung his sword.
In an instant, his figure merged with the blade, tracing a full moon across the platform. He broke through Ye Xuan's sword Qi, circled behind him, and then slashed down at his back.
The longsword, carrying a shadow of two to three yards, struck heavily on Ye Xuan's back.
Three Kills, Steel Severing.
"Bang!"
With a thunderous crash, the protective sword Qi around Ye Xuan was cleaved open by Xu Taiping's single strike.