Chapter 161 – Eyes Closed and Unseeing; A Hundred Blades Arise (1/2)

Sand rose from the ground, akin to an explosion, Chen Chang Sheng suddenly disappeared from sight.

Only a single striking sound could be heard and a distinct sword mark appeared on the wall.

Chen Chang Sheng’s figure reappeared, his position was around 7 metres away from his original position. It was impossible to discern how he had arrived at that location.

He used the edge of his vision for a single glance, seeing that the sword mark left upon the wall was about an inch deep, faintly showing the pale stone within.

This is His Holiness’ Green Leaf World, within a constructed reality, structures here are extraordinarily robust, not to mention, a defensive array was being used in the Tower of Purging Dust.

The seemingly casual sword manoeuvre used by Zhuang Huan Yu had actually managed to leave such a deep scar upon the stone wall, it didn’t take much to imagine the amount of damage it would have done if it had landed on Chen Chang Sheng.

Even if his body’s physical defence was unbelievably high, it couldn’t possibly withstand that move directly.

Luckily, he had never thought of neutralising or blocking that sword manoeuvre, from the start, his intention was to avoid it.

At the moment the blade was drawn by Zhuang Huan Yu, Chen Chang Sheng moved; as the imposing sword flash reflected in his eyes, his right leg had already stepped onto the sandy floor, instantaneously moving.

If the sand-strewn floor could accurately mirror the real world’s night sky, then his initial position would have been the location of the Three Stars Mansion in the Southwestern direction and his current position would be the location of the Neck Mansion in the Southeastern direction.

He cast the sand as a blizzard, borrowing a blizzard’s form and traversing the Twenty-Eight Mansions of the constellations above; his motion technique was erratic and unpredictable; this, was Discerning Steps.

“So that’s Discerning Steps?” said Zhuang Huan Yu, while looking at him calmly, not feeling surprised at his dodging of the sword flash, it was evident that Chen Chang Sheng’s performances in the previous rounds were all known to him.

Chen Chang Sheng didn’t say anything, his right hand continued to firmly grip onto his sword’s hilt, his gaze was slightly low, resting upon Zhuang Huan Yu’s sword bearing right hand.

Zhuang Huan Yu took a step forward, holding out his sword horizontally, his manner was extremely relaxed.

Chen Chang Sheng could clearly see his right hand, which held his blade, gently tighten, the nails turning pale; all signs of impending motion.

Several lines of sword flashes, silently, without indication, cut across a distance of 30 odd metres, arriving in front of him.

Chen Chang Sheng once again moved before the sword flashes arrived, his divine sense focused to a thread, his figure suddenly accelerating. It seemed as if he had taken two steps to the West, yet in the midst of the transition, he had arrived at the rear.

It was still Discerning Steps, this time, he had followed the Southeastern path of the Seventh Mansion.

*BANG* *BANG* *BANG* *BANG*

Several sharp sounds of cutting could be heard erupting from the wall behind him towards the right.

Fragments of stone clattered onto the ground, four distinct sword marks appeared; swift and powerful to the extreme.

Zhuang Huan Yu’s expression remained calm, he stepped forwards once more, shortening the distance between him and Chen Chang Sheng by another step.

Chen Chang Sheng stared at Zhuang Huan Yu’s right hand with stern concentration.

Zhuang Huan Yu’s blade was too swift, too fierce, the battle had only just begun and he had only wielded his blade twice, yet Chen Chang Sheng was already feeling heavily pressured.

A faint sound of praise could be heard drifting down from the second floor.

It was praise for Zhuang Huan Yu.

In the previous rounds of the duelling, Zhuang Huan Yu didn’t meet any strong opponents and had very ordinary performances, not displaying any traits worthy of being the representative of the Capital’s younger generation, this lead to him actually being somewhat overlooked.

However, he had beaten Qi Jian in the past, but then chose to peacefully cultivate at Heavenly Academy, this caused his ranking to remain around tenth on the Proclamation of Azure Clouds. The reason for this was because his aim is Qiu Shan Jun and Qiu Shan Jun was no longer on the Proclamation of Azure Clouds.

The truth is, he considered himself strong enough to rank within the top 3 on the proclamation; even if he was to go against Zhe Xiu, he wouldn’t feel any fear.

The pride of Heavenly Academy naturally had the qualifications to be proud.

Such a proud and youthful expert, facing against Chen Chang Sheng, had actually used Heavenly Academy’s supreme skill, proving that he looked upon Chen Chang Sheng highly and that he didn’t want to give Chen Chang Sheng any chance.

Chen Chang Sheng’s motion technique was too fast, too erratic and unpredictable, if he had an attack to pair with his motion technique, he might really prove a threat towards Zhuang Huan Yu.

Therefore, Zhuang Huan Yu didn’t give him any chance for an attack, directly relying upon swift and fierce sword manifestations, restraining him to an area near the wall.

This was being overpowered by a difference in levels and power, where the strong have an absolute advantage, similar to how Luo Luo had previously crushed that scholar from Scholartree Manor.

The sword was once again wielded, multiple sword flashes once again cut through the air.

Shrill sounds of the air being broken continuously resounded.

Within the tower, golden sand slowly rose.

Sword flashes constantly swept by, akin to flashes of lightning.

Sword marks continuously appeared upon the wall, distinct and deep; as if artisans were currently carving calligraphy upon its surface.

Innumerable footprints appeared upon the sand, some in the West, some towards the East, without any sort of discernible pattern between them.

A whistling sound went by.

Chen Chang Sheng appeared in a location close by the wall, his right shoulder had a light wound.

Tens of sword flashes successively arrived, he had narrowly avoided most of them, but while transitioning from between the Willow and Well Mansions in the Southwest to the Bond Mansion in the Northwest, his True Essence flow stuttered, slowing him for an instant, allowing the sword flash to catch up.

Zhuang Huan Yu pointed his sword towards the floor, appearing especially dignified.

In comparison, Chen Chang Sheng’s upper clothing was covered with sand, which, coupled with his wound, no matter how small it was, combined to make him look a little haggard.

Yet his expression remained calm, he stared intently at Zhuang Huan Yu’s right hand, incredibly focused.

The Sword of Hithering Light is Heavenly Academy’s supreme skill, extremely taxing on True Essence; for something on the level of Discerning Steps, its True Essence consumption, unsurprisingly, was also high.

The reason why Zhuang Huan Yu was so confident, relying upon his sword arts to directly suppress Chen Chang Sheng, was because he trained diligently, had a high talent and his Fated Star was located far away.

Amongst those of the same generation, his True Essence capacity could be considered a pinnacle, even with such depletion, he could completely wear out Chen Chang Sheng and Chen Chang Sheng would not have any method of changing this situation.

“So it’s only to this degree?” he looked at Chen Chang Sheng while asking, his expression serious, without any hint of ridicule.

His mildly weary brows revealed disappointment.