Ye Futian stood there as countless sword will pierced his body as he was caught in the storm of sword will. Even his spiritual will seemed to have been caught in that Lihen sword will. What he was caught in felt rather familiar to him, like how it was when he was being subjected to the medicine baths and suffering their intense agony. There had been multiple times when he was subjected to his breaking point and almost crumbled.
The medicine baths provided by Saint Jiang had him breaking his limits all the time back then. The limit of both his physical body and his spiritual will continued to be challenged, making him infinitely near to experiencing the divine calamity. What Wang Chuan subjected him to actually made him feel a sense of familiarity. It was a testament that Wang Chuan’s sword will was infinitely close to the level of divine calamity as well, making him simply one step away from achieving sainthood. Having suffered through the medicine baths meant that the level of sword will attacks he was subjected to then was utterly unable to truly shake him.
Not enough. The storm of calamity conjured by his spiritual will within his mind seemed to have become even stronger. His physical body rang and shone with brilliant light, seemingly having resonated with the great path. Ye Futian’s eyes were incredibly sharp. It was as if he were to pierce through the great path. He took one more step forward, intending to see what Wang Chuan’s limits were and if Wang Chuan would be able to shake him. An opponent like that was hard to come by, so much so that he had met no one of such prowess before in Emperor Xia’s Realm below the Saint Plane but Xia Qingyuan.
Wang Chuan’s eyes stayed on Ye Futian. Ye Futian, as one who had trained his ways through his physical body, meant that he was far from being able to reach Wang Chuan’s level, yet Ye Futian was nonetheless capable of taking on his attacks with his physical resilience alone. There was hardly anyone as powerful as Ye Futian in that sense, and he had no idea if Xia Qingyuan would be capable of that, as he had never fought her. However, his mind remained as calm as the surface of a lake. Every single step he took amplified his sword will. The space between the two of them seemed to have burst with a harrowing storm. The high-pitched whipping seemed rather deafening.
Wang Chuan’s hand extended as he looked before him. Boundless sword will coalesced before his hand, and a sword seemed to be conjured bit by bit. “I shall conjure a sword using the powers of the great path. If you’re able to take this strike, there is probably no one below the Saint Plane who can defeat you,” Wang Chuan said. The sword before his hand gradually materialized, pulsing with the will of the way of the sword. It pierced through the space and Ye Futian vaguely felt as if his body was about to be torn apart. All pressure that he was suffering at that moment had actually surpassed that of the medicine baths he went through all those years ago.
So this is what the so-called “Edge of Pinnacle below Saint Plane” is. The people of Emperor Xia’s Realm claimed that Wang Chuan possessed powers at the level of Edge of Pinnacle below Saint Plane and they had been right. He was indeed qualified to be called such. It was a pity that Wang Chuan met Ye Futian. Despite being the Edge of Pinnacle below Saint Plane, the holy land where he came from would still be reduced to having no one around below the Saint Plane.
The space seemed to have been frozen solid and everything seemed to have stopped flowing. Ye Futian’s rule powers affected the entire space, yet it was still unable to stop the sword will from flowing. The sword will of his opponent was above the level of his own rules.
Ye Futian extended his hand and the rules conjured a halberd. It was shining all over and it pulsed with powers capable of tearing everything apart. Wang Chuan waited for Ye Futian’s halberd to come into being before lashing out with his sword. That simple thrust seemingly merged his being with his sword into a single entity. That one thrust seemed to be of true swordsmanship.
A dazzling flash of the sword appeared in the space around them. The currents around them crumbled, and everything seemed to have been reduced to nothing. The space seemed to be truly stifled. One thrust with the sword seemed to have destroyed everything in the world. It seemed to be the other sword thrust capable of doing so.
Great force shot to the sky from Ye Futian’s body. While his plane was not at Wang Chuan’s and he had yet to comprehend the power of the great path, the terrifying force about him continued as he stepped forward. Light of rules coursed about his body as they were infused within his halberd.
He thrust his halberd as he saw the sword coming from the other side. Dazzling light burst and a black dot of vortex actually manifested below the devastating sword will. With every inch the halberd moved, the force turned greater.
I don’t care how strong your sword is, my halberd shall take care of it.
Both parties had been fighting for quite some time and it was only then that they truly attacked each other. Both were figures at the pinnacle of their training below the Saint Plane. One of them trained in the way of the sword, while the other, in the way of the halberd. Both parties were capable of infusing everything they were capable of into their weapons, bursting with a single thrust, and there was utterly no need for complex methods. As such, both parties never needed more than one attack.
The sword clashed with the halberd. Abundant sword will was reduced back to the way while the halberd crumbled one inch at a time. The sword crumbled as well as the halberd, being reduced to bits inch by inch as well.
The terrifying storm pierced through the bodies of both men. If both men had been top-notch sages beneath the 33rd Layer of Heaven, they would have simply torn each other apart. However, both of them continued moving forward. Wang Chuan pointed with his finger after his sword crumbled, and Ye Futian replaced his halberd with his fist. The space rumbled as they kept going at one another.
The first and the finger clashed in an instant. Boundless sword will pierced through his arm from his fist. His body burst with the light of the sword. At the same time, his fist punched through his opponent’s finger, sending shockwaves into Wang Chuan’s body, where he raged furiously.
Stifling noises were heard and the actions of both men seemed to have halted altogether. Yu Sheng had finished his battle before things came to that point between the two. Everyone turned their eyes to the battlefield above, then at the two unmoving figures. Things seemed rather eerie at the moment. Eerie sword aura coursed about Ye Futian’s body as they pierced him all over the place, while the sword will on Wang Chuan seemed to have disappeared altogether.
So, who won?
The devastating aura circling both men finally dissipated altogether. A terrifying sheen was seen on Ye Futian’s body. Thunderous sound resounded from his body, and the sword will finally dissipated altogether. It seemed as if he had never been hurt by the sword will in the first place. His silver hair billowed in the air and his eyes remained looking brimming, as he gazed at Wang Chuan before him.
Cough… Wang Chuan coughed and blood was seen at the corner of his mouth. At that moment, the hearts of the swordsmen below shuddered violently and they looked ashen. Big brother actually lost?
Being the number one figure below Saint Plane of Lihen Heaven and having superb talent in swordsmanship, the seniors of Lihen Heaven claimed that under Saint Plane, Wang Chuan was a plane on his own. At that moment, however, blood was seen from his mouth, and the strength of his aura was dropping quickly. It was as if he had been crippled altogether. It seemed that even his body was barely holding on. It felt as if one had made it to Saint Plane in an instant, yet quickly dropped back down as a mortal.
Wang Chuan turned around and stepped out in the air. His steps were slow and narrow as if he had been reduced to a complete mere mortal. The skyscraping bearing he had before was nowhere to be seen. He walked before the palace and sat down where he had been before. Wang Chuan then closed his eyes.
There was no doubt that he lost.
As someone who had become a semi-saint and almost achieved sainthood, he remained incapable of destroying Ye Futian. In contrast, his opponent had managed to deal considerable damage to him. His internal organs were all rattled and no one knew exactly how many injuries he had sustained, causing his aura to feel so weak.
Wang Chuan recalled the path of cultivation that he walked all along. He became famous at an early age and had been the focus of everyone else ever since he became a part of Lihen Heaven. His path had been smooth-sailing right up to the point where he entered the 33rd Layer of Heaven and became a personal student of the lord of the Swordmaster of Lihen. He made it to Archmage Plane five years ago, and there were few in Lihen Heaven capable of fighting him toe-to-toe back then. He defeated every single one of his peers below Saint Plane at Lihen Heaven two years ago. Few were even able to make him lash out with a second attack.
He was lauded as the “Edge of Pinnacle below Saint Plane” back then. However, he knew that it was now, at this very moment, that he truly became someone befitting the title—someone who was truly one step away from achieving sainthood.
He knew well that if he were only to keep walking the path that he had walked so far, even if the likes of Ye Futian did not show up, his hard work would have eventually bore fruit and enabled him to become a saint. It would not have made any difference even if he had been able to defeat Ye Futian.
Ye Futian had not appeared at the Upper Worlds for long but had become incredibly renowned. Both Emperor Xia and Xia Qingyuan held him in very high regard. When he fought the Lihen Heaven’s swordsmen at the Xiao clan’s residence back then and had indeed proved that none of them were qualified to fight him, Wang Chuan knew right there and then that Ye Futian would become a rare rival. He might have been able to fight Wang Chuan and Wang Chuan might have even ended up losing. However, he invited Ye Futian to fight him at the 33rd Layer of Heaven nonetheless.
If Ye Futian was able to fight all the way up to the 33rd Layer of Heaven and truly defeat every single swordsman of Lihen Heaven, even beating me, what will become of the swordsmen of Lihen Heaven, and what will become of me? Wang Chuan thought. Will our minds in swordsmanship practice be fractured, and our way of the sword become flawed?
He lost moments ago and his mind was shaken. He was a semi-saint and yet he was unable to shake Ye Futian. There would have been no way that his state of mind would have remained totally unmoved. Everyone in the world would know of his defeat and his reputation would be tarnished. There was no way he could be unaffected.
No one in Lihen Heaven under Saint Plane had been able to defeat Ye Futian. The gleaming title of being the number one holy land of the sword in all of Emperor Xia’s Realm would be tarnished because of him from then on out. His mind was definitely affected.
He sat cross-legged and closed his eyes to think. Countless thoughts welled up in his mind in a single instant. Am I practicing the way of the sword for fame, for wealth, or to better my mind?
“If you feel troubled by anything, then the only to do is simply to cut it down with one swing of the sword.” The voice of the Swordmaster of Lihen was heard from the palace at the highest peak. Wang Chuan was shaken. He recalled the way of the sword that he practiced and the myriad of teachings from his teacher.
Fame, glory, and everything else in the world felt as if they were of no value. There was simply no way one could have always remained undefeated in one’s cultivation to reach the great path.
Wang Chuan looked up at the Swordmaster of Lihen, then smiled and said, “I understand, teacher.” He then turned his eyes at the air before him. His weakened aura spiked and became incredibly powerful in an instant. His sword will shot to the heavens within a single moment.
He remained seated upright and he said, “There will be one less person in this world tangled by worldly matters of fame and wealth. On the path of the sword, there shall be me, Wang Chuan.” He lost, and yet his path leading to sainthood was complete.
Sword calamity of the great path showered from the heavens above. The clouds rumbled and things looked severe at Lihen Heaven within that instant.
“Divine calamity.” Ye Futian looked up at the sky and his mind was slightly rattled. They stepped into Lihen Heaven’s territory and fought all the way up to the 33rd Layer of Heaven. However, Wang Chuan ended up using his ordeal to reach sainthood and his mind was elevated.
Wang Chuan lost but had become a saint.
At that moment, Ye Futian felt the turn of events to be ridiculous and something did not sit well with him.
“Thank you.” Wang Chuan looked straight ahead at Ye Futian. Ye Futian’s expression was a complex one. It was not only him. Even the swordsmen at the 33rd Layer of Heaven did not know what to feel about the turn of events. Is Brother Wang Chuan setting himself as an example here? they wondered.
At that moment, an unflinching gaze shot towards Ye Futian and his people. Ye Futian felt something and looked up. The Swordmaster of Lihen was looking at them. Ye Futian felt as if that one look from the Swordmaster of Lihen had penetrated his being, seeing all that doubt and struggle in his mind.
The Swordmaster of Lihen then looked at Ye Wuchen, who was right behind Ye Futian. A sword shot down from above straight into Ye Futian. That sword was conjured from the body of the Swordmaster of Lihen himself.
Ye Futian was totally startled and turned around to look at Ye Wuchen. He saw the sword punch right through Ye Wuchen’s body, which was then coiled around by unparalleled sword will in his entire being. That sword seemed to have seeped into his body.
Ye Wuchen felt as if his entire body was about to be torn apart. The sword will raged in a frenzy within. Slivers of terrifying sword will coursed about his body. At that moment, he had instead chose to close his eyes and let the sword will rage on. The sword will about him grew increasingly strong. It continued until his way of the sword became elevated and he broke into Archmage Plane.
Ye Wuchen opened his eyes and there seemed to be sword will in his eyes. He then looked up at the Swordmaster of Lihen above with a complicated expression as well.
“Your mind of the sword is pure. I shall lend you my sword then.” The Swordmaster of Lihen’s voice sounded fleeting as it came from above.
Ye Futian turned around and looked at the Swordmaster of Lihen, with a tinge of regret in his eyes. He then bowed to the air and turning around, saying, “Let’s get out of here.”