"Sky Sword Style, White Flood Dragon!"
Master Sky Sword's brows slightly creased. The golden ripple emitted by Ye Chen made him feel as if the latter could pounce on him at any moment and brazenly slay him. He stretched out his hand and slashed with two fingers, issuing a white-ribbon like sword Qi. This sword Qi shrank and extended indefinitely, warping and twisting. It looked like a little flood dragon covered in white light rays.
"Draw your sword!"
Following Ye Chen's shout, another golden ripple appeared. Countless sparks flew about as the white dragon sword Qi and golden ripple made contact. As a result, the white dragon sword Qi deviated from its course and struck deep into the lake behind.
Rumble!
The lake water turned tumultuous, and in the next moment, a hundred meters thick water stream rose majestically, shooting thousands of meters high and then raining down on the entire mountain. Looking at the lake once again, its water level seemed to have gone down by dozens of meters, seeming on the verge of drying up.
"Good! Fitting for the genius of a millennium…to come up with such a strange body protection art!" How could Master Sky Sword not see that Ye Chen had created a unique move that lay in between offense and defense by using 'body as sword'! Not only did this move have a powerful offense, it also had a diverging effect. Any incoming attack would be first weakened, and then suffer a deviation in its direction.
"The path of sword dao is like a boat going against the current…If you don't make the effort to advance, you'll instead be forced backward. I'm moving forward at every moment, so I dare accept being called the Sword Master."
Ye Chen extended his hand and pointed. With that gesture, the raining water suddenly converged together, forming a water dragon which again entered the lake, filling it to the brim once again.
Hearing these words, Master Sky Sword suddenly felt a slight regret. He had no enmity with Ye Chen. The only reason for his visit was because the title of Sword Master had been bestowed to a young man, which made him quite displeased. He could tolerate his name slowly being forgotten, but he couldn't tolerate the title of Sword Master being sullied. For him, Sword Master was almost a divine existence, so he couldn't allow it to be sullied. However, after his probing just now, he discovered that Ye Chen was a lot stronger compared to his information. If he'd known that the latter had such high potential that he really seemed to be improving every moment, he might have reconsidered his position.
Of course, now that the arrow had already been released, he could only continue to defeat Ye Chen and make his trip worthwhile.
Buzz!
With that in mind, Master Sky Sword pulled out his sword. As soon as the sword, which was shining like limpid waters of autumn, left the sheath, it immediately issued a murderous sword Qi toward Ye Chen. The air before him twisted and warped as a multi-colored light spread out, giving off an illusory feeling.
"This is my home. We'll fight in the sky."
Ye Chen slightly bent his knee and turned into a beam of sword light, charging straight up into the sky while narrowly avoiding Master Sky Sword's attack at the same time.
Bang!
Master Sky Sword's sword Qi was extremely condensed, and although it contained powerful destructive force, its range was not big. Therefore, it only left behind an immeasurably deep hole by the lake. Seeing Ye Chen leave, he flicked his sleeves. Amidst a flickering white light, his body turned illusory, seeming like a white silk strip while chasing after Ye Chen.
Huff!
When the two left, Ye Xiaoshui, who was a few hundred meters away, felt as if he could finally breathe again. His body, drenched in sweat, nearly collapsed. He raised his pale white face and gazed at the two figures in pursuit.
"Too powerful! A hundred…no! Thousand times stronger than me. They can kill me just with their breath. In this life, if I can be one-tenth as powerful as them, my life will not be in vain."
"This won't do. I might not be able to see a fight at this level in my whole life. Even if I can't understand it, it will let me broaden my horizons and improve my mental state. I absolutely can't miss it."
Master Sky Sword and Ye Chen had already disappeared into the eastern horizon, so Ye Xiaoshui clenched his teeth and chased after them. After leaving Ye residence, he soared in the sky, doubling his speed.
After the time for a cup of tea to brew, Ye Xiaoshui finally spotted the two figures at a small mountain range. This mountain range was a trial location for Ye family disciples, and it had been long covered with sword scars and concentrated sword intent.
Due to the distance, Ye Xiaoshui couldn't see the two figures clearly. However, this was enough for him. In the sky above the mountains, two figures could be seen repeatedly colliding into each other, huge sparks flying everywhere.
"Sky Sword Style, Sky Chop!"
After exchanging blows, Master Sky Sword rushed above Ye Chen by borrowing the impact. His whole being united with the sword and slashed down. Even before the arrived, the frightening sword pressure cleaved the mountain range into two halves, producing a frightening sword scar with a depth of several hundred meters.
"Ah, such a fast sword!"
Ye Chen was almost unable to figure out the sword's trajectory. Raising his center of gravity, Ye Chen raised his sword up and faced the attack, using the Spiritual Sword Attack.
Deng!
One from above, one from below—the two swords pressed against each other.
Buzz!
With the two at the center, circular ripples spread out. The sky seemed to have turned into sluggish quicksilver, and the time itself seemed to be stopped.
Dozens of li away, Ye Xiaoshui could also feel that time seemed to have stretched out, slowing down his thinking speed.
Rumble!
After a temporary silence, a huge explosion rang out, and berserk shockwaves spread out. All the tall summits of the mountain range were peeled off, and all the demonic beasts present bled out of their mouths, noses, and ears, dying on the spot. Fortunately, there were no ordinary people in this region. Otherwise, it would have been a tragedy.
Master Sky Sword and Ye Chen immediately separated, both retreating. However, Ye Chen stabilized himself after a few hundred steps while Master Sky Sword simply couldn't do so and continued to fall back.
"Thunder Devour!"
Going against the remnant shockwaves, Ye Chen's body streaked across like a sword light before slashing out a silver thunder sphere at Master Sky Sword, a destructive air pervading in the air.
"Sky Sword Style, Sword Array!" Startled, Master Sky Sword's body emitted eighteen Zhen Yuan longswords in a sword formation.
Kacha!
The silver lightning sphere and sword formation collided, and the sky suddenly lost all color. There were only silver-colored lightning snakes crazily coiling about while beams of sword Qi flew around; it seemed like doomsday.
Such a big commotion was bound to attract attention. People could be seen rushing over from every direction: Ye family members, South Rudra Sect members, and anybody who was close to the scene immediately rushed over. In a short while, more than a thousand people had already gathered, and it was merely the beginning.
"Xiaoshui, what's happening?"
Ye Tianhao and Shen Yuqing arrived together, leading a large group of Ye family members including elders and disciples. There were at least three-four hundred people. Ye Xiaoshui cupped his fists and respectfully greeted, "Patriarch, Matron!"
Thereupon, he narrated everything he knew word by word.
"Master Sky Sword…I heard he was at the absolute peak of sword artists a hundred years ago. Didn't expect him to be Chen-er's opponent." Ye Tianhao's raised his brows.
"Is Chen-er in danger?" Shen Yuqing worriedly spoke.
Ye Tianhao faintly shook his head, "Seems like the two are equally matched. Moreover Chen-er has the Defensive Sword Art, doesn't he? He still hasn't used it, so he must have some confidence."
Although Master Sky Sword astonished Ye Tianhao, he was confident in Ye Chen. Martial artists had a limited potential. Master Sky Sword had already become a peak sword artist a hundred years ago. However, if he hadn't had encountered some fortune, he would only be able to walk up to this step. The younger one was, the faster the cultivation base progressed. However, after a hundred years, there was simply no hope for him. Even entering half-a-step Life and Death realm would be an extravagant dream.
If that were not the case, the number of Life and Death Kings on the continent would have increased by at least ten folds.
"That is true." Shen Yuqing let out a sigh of relief. They had an inkling as to how powerful that technique was. In their view, it was simply a technique of gods.
"Who is fighting Ye Chen?"
"This person is powerful! He can actually fight Ye Chen on equal grounds. Ye Chen is, after all, ranked number one on the Masters Ranking, titled Sword Master."
"The Masters Ranking doesn't include experts older than two hundred fifty years of age. Could this person be someone already past two hundred fifty years…a reputed sword artist of the past?"
There were not many who recognized Master Sky Sword. But, the latter couldn't blame these people for their ignorance. After all, he had hidden himself for quite long. There were not many people in the martial world who could recognize him at this point in time.
Some knowledgeable ones could guess the course of events. This white-haired old man must have come because of the title of Sword Master. Only this title would cause these old freaks to leave their caves.
"Ye Chen, I'm going all out." Master Sky Sword could no longer drag this.
"Bring it!" Ye Chen began accumulating strength, waiting.
"Sky Sword Style, Star Sword Chop!"
As the limpid longsword rose high in the air, the sky above darkened suddenly, and numerous twinkling star phantoms appeared out of nowhere. Master Sky Sword's old hair fluttered as he furiously slashed down. All the stars were cleaved apart, giving off the impression of a sword cleaving through countless stars.
"Golden Hurricane!"
While the stars were being cleaved apart, a golden ripple suddenly spread out, seeming like a golden river in the starry sky that divided it into two halves.
Bang!
A violent explosion shook the heaven and earth. The space warped, and the surroundings around the two immediately turned indistinct; everything looking warped and elongated.
In the next moment, a resplendent brightness erupted as if a star had exploded, carrying specks of gold with it.
Master Sky Sword sucked in a deep breath and raised his protective Zhen Yuan to the limit. His entire being flung back, and during its course, golden specks would fall on his body every few moments. Whenever that happened, a loud sonorous sound rang out, along with sparks flying off his protective Zhen Yuan. Furthermore, after every such instance, his face became paler.
Ye Chen's circumstances were more or less the same as Master Sky Sword, since both had semi extreme-grade defensive armor. However, the only difference was that Ye Chen also had a defensive layer of dragon bone. Therefore, Master Sky Sword's blood and qi had turned tumultuous, making his face pale, while Ye Chen seemed quite relaxed, merely being carried backward by the brightness.
"Master Sky Sword, if you can only do so much, I'm afraid you'll be disappointed." Ye Chen spoke en-route.
After several breaths, Master Sky Sword finally calmed his blood and Qi, replying, "We are more or less equally matched. I can't defeat you, but you can't defeat me either."
He couldn't help but admit that he couldn't defeat Ye Chen with his strength, which made him extremely astonished. According to the information he'd received, during the battle with Du Gujue, Ye Chen was nowhere as strong as this. Only a few days had passed, but his strength had improved substantially again.
"I'm afraid that might not be the case!"
While speaking, Ye Chen's two fingers pointed. The Green emerald sword came out of its sheath on its own, and with a flicker of sword light, it appeared before Master Sky Sword in a flash. Under his appalled his gaze, the sword destroyed his Protective Zhen Yuan and slashed at his armor.
Puff!
Spurting out a mouthful of blood, Master Sky Sword retreated violently, his eyes alarmed!