The sword and spear pierced through Li Qiye’s body and crucified him on the spot.
“It’s over.” Some spectators became dazed at this sight.
Virtually everyone assumed that Li Qiye still had, more or less, a heaven-defying method. He would be able to struggle against the two for a while. Some thought that he would actually win.
They didn’t expect to see him die in this manner.
“Isn’t this too tiger-head and snake-tail? This is how it ends?” Another murmured, astounded.[1]
Due to Li Qiye’s unbridled attitude prior, they thought that he would do something shocking. Now, he couldn’t resist for a second.
“What a joke, he wasted our time. I would have left long ago instead of waiting.” One expert complained at the ending.
“Bragging is useless, only skills matter.” A Duality student snorted: “I thought he would be able to do something impressive but the guy is just a paper tiger. Now, he threw his life away in a disgraceful manner.”
The crowd became awfully disappointed. Some shook their head while other started cursing.
In fact, though they were happy at their victory, they felt a tinge of disappointment. Li Qiye died too fast; this result was rather favorable for the guy.
Unfortunately, they suddenly realized something. Though their weapon pieced Li Qiye’s throat and body, they didn’t feel the contact at all.
“Wait, they didn’t kill Li Qiye, they didn’t even touch him at all!” An elder from a big sect noticed something amiss.
“Right! No blood at all, they didn’t touch him!” Another older expert saw it clearly.
Everyone else started taking a look. Sure, the sword and the spear clearly pierced his body but not even a drop of blood spilled. Moreover, Li Qiye still maintained the same pose.
“What’s going on? Is this an illusion?” One expert said.
“No, he’s really standing there, it’s not an illusion.” A powerful ancestor shook his head.
The duo became surprised. At this moment, they thought that it was only an image of Li Qiye; the true body must have escaped. They activated their heavenly gaze only to find that Li Qiye was actually there.
“My turn.” Li Qiye lazily smiled.
This seemed to confirm that Li Qiye was the real thing. It wasn’t an illusion or a fake image. It looked quite bizarre because Li Qiye had no reaction despite being penetrated by the sword and spear.
Zhang Yunzhi and Li Xiangquan reacted quickly by recalling their weapon for a defensive attempt.
Alas, it was too late since Li Qiye was making his move – he casually pushed the saber forward without needing any force.
“Break!” Li Xiangquan crazily roared. The sword in his hand released lightning serpents before slashing towards Li Qiye’s saber.
Zhang Yunzhi roared as well, swinging his spear to create a defensive silver wall.
This simply didn’t matter. The torrential lightning bolts and the tough wall couldn’t stop the saber from inching forward.
This was a bizarre scene. The saber cut through space and time. It seemed to be targeting Li Xiangquan and Zhang Yunzhi’s next move, not their present self.
In the next moment, the two somehow exposed their weak spots to Li Qiye’s saber. The casual thrust managed to strike them in the left chest area.
“Pluff!” Zhang Yunzhi’s armor didn’t matter, the same for Li Xiangquan’s lightning barrier.
The saber ignored all defenses and retaliation, able to bypass them to hit the targets. It felt as if it came from a different spatio-temporal dimension.
Li Qiye pulled his saber back as blood gushed out of his foes’ gaping chest. The wound was startling. The two looked as if they were struck by lightning as they staggered backward.
Meanwhile, the crowd became stupefied. They saw Li Qiye’s action clearly – he simply raised his saber and gently pushed it forward.
Stopping this attack was as simple as can be, even for a fool, let alone Zhang Yunzhi and Li Xiangquan who were completely prepared.
The obviousness and simplicity of the thrust made it even more perplexing. People had no idea how Li Qiye managed to connect.
“What sorcery is this?” A junior asked.
This question popped up in everyone’s mind. The ancestors themselves couldn’t come up with an explanation after seeing this.
“Sorcery? This is the mysteries of the sword dao.” However, a capable master glared at this junior and revealed.
People then found out that this pertained to the dao of Sword Emperor. Unfortunately, they didn’t understand it in the slightest.
“I don’t notice anything, looks like I’ve wasted decades learning the sword dao.” An expert swordsman smiled wryly.
They understood that it wasn’t a coincidence. Li Qiye had figured out the sword dao left behind by Sword Emperor.
“Hmm, this dao…” An enlightened big shot said: “I didn’t see it that clearly but the thrust exceeded time and space. Not sure if this was actually the case, it just gave that sensation. It would explain why Li Qiye wasn’t damaged by the attacks. So the profundity of this technique is beyond the stance.”
He wasn’t absolutely certain but at the very least, he noticed the subtle hints, unlike the others.
“The whole thing is bizarre, using a woodchopping saber for a supreme sword technique.” Another spectator added.
“He really understood Sword Point…” Meanwhile, the students of Duality couldn’t believe it.
Some have spent years looking at it but they made zero progress. A while ago, they even made fun of him for copying the stance in order to look cool. Now, he clearly proved them wrong.
“Sword Point…” Yang Ling herself was stunned. Li Qiye had offered to teach her Sword Point before but she chose the merit law left behind by Duality Master instead.
The other students became uncomfortable. Their effort was in vain while Li Qiye only needed to look at it once before learning it.
1. Meaning, a strong start but weak finish. So this is a case of readability versus freshness. This idiom is rarely used in the novel and I don’t see it that often in other novels either. I could have done, All that for this, or what a weak finish. I chose freshness this time since enough has been repeated