Chapter 172 – [TBD](1) (2/2)

The most frightening thing was, even though the swords had already separated, Chen Chang Sheng could still clearly feel a strand of True Essence, following the blade’s length and traversing past his inner channels to directly attack his Ethereal Palace.

With a dull thump, Chen Chang Sheng’s inner mind had been injured by the sword manifestation, blood appear on the edge of his mouth and his footsteps touched upon the floor, unable to stand stably. He retreated once and again until he reached the wall, before finally being able to forcefully stand firmly.

A blade’s edge cut through the air, and he raised his sword horizontally in order to maintain a defensive posture. His face was pallid and blood trickled from his lips, looking rather miserable, but what was even more miserable was his current state of mind.

Gou Han Shi really was very strong, far stronger than Zhuang Huan Yu, he couldn’t exchange wound for wound even if he wanted to.

A shrill and forlorn sound once again resounded within the tower and Gou Han Shi’s sword once again came at him, this time the move used was Thirteen Swords of a Toppling Star; the sword struck out like a star, seemingly constant, yet hard to follow.

*PA* *PA* *PA* *PA*

Tens crisp sounds continuously arose.

Chen Chang Sheng could no longer guard the area under his feet and was forced to turn towards his left, continuously retreating, with his steps chaotic, trudging up the damp sand as he retreated a distance of over 30 metres.

As he finally stood firm, he could no longer suppress the malefic feeling within his chest and a sound escaped from his mouth, alongside a mouthful of blood.

Gou Han Shi held his sword, calmly standing within the arena, the gaze he directed at Chen Chang Sheng did not contain any sort of mockery, scorn or taunting, but rather, it had a faint admiration and respect.

From Three Blades of the Fisherman’s Song to Thirteen Swords of a Toppling Star, he had used the most powerful and familiar moves he knew. Through over ten years of bitter training, these sword manoeuvres were unending and as fast as lightning, with each manoeuvre following the other. No matter what opponent he was to face, under this chaining momentum, they would undoubtedly become flustered, their defeat looming.

Chen Chang Sheng couldn’t block those moves, retreating time and time again in a rather dismal fashion and was wounded by True Essence, continuously coughing up blood, but his steps were still solid and his mind remained calm.

That’s because Chen Chang Sheng’s knew what he had to do to counter those sword manoeuvres.

Due to limitations of time, Chen Chang Sheng’s cultivation on the path of the sword couldn’t reach a pinnacle. Knowing the path but being unable to carry it out, yet, his knowledge on the way of the sword was extremely deep and broad, being especially familiar with the swords arts of Li Shan Sword Sect.

Where others wouldn’t even know how to counter Gou Han Shi’s sword manoeuvres, he could find the most appropriate move for countering, if it wasn’t for the levels between them being too different, he would perhaps be able to receive those moves a lot easier.

It was a pity then, that the difference between levels is something difficult to surmount.

Chen Chang Sheng looked at Gou Han Shi silently, the right hand that was gripping onto his sword lightly trembled.

Having truly experienced the might of the Ethereal Opening realm and feeling that strand of True Essence which was still continuously attacking him within his inner channels, he was certain that if he hadn’t used cloth to bind the sword hilt to his hand, the sword would have probably already left his grasp.

The most evident difference of this gap between levels was in the purity, or perhaps strength of True Essence. He clearly understood that this difference wasn’t something that can be shortened in such a short time, therefore, he could only think of a different method; to try and close in on this difference through sheer quantity.

What I have is silver, what you have is gold. Silver is inferior, whilst gold is precious, then if I wish to overwhelm you in terms of fortune, I can only rely upon having a quantity of silver that engulfs you, that’s right, it’s that simple.

With his mind set, Chen Chang Sheng unhesitatingly began to meditate and self-observe. His divine sense went from without to within, traversing tens of thousands of miles in but an instant and arriving at that pure white snow plain. His divine sense, akin to a gust of wind, alighted upon a snow plain in the Southeast.

At that instant, it seemed as if he could hear some sort of sound, with that sound being akin to dry leaves that had accumulated for some years being set on fire.

As if someone had added fuel to a burning pyre.

A meeting of the strongest liquor and the prettiest girl.

With a rippling sound; a loud whoosh resounded; then, a cheer.

The wind was like an inferno, dropping down. The Southeastern snow plain fragment was immediately set ablaze. The Star Brilliance that had remained undisturbed for many months became a violent blaze, setting alight everything around it.

Chen Chang Sheng’s body instantly became incredibly hot and the very air around him heated up.

A horrifying heat took hold of his body and mind, all water became beads of sweat and quickly dissipated. It was unknown as to if this was the reason, but his muscles lost its water content, giving rise to waves of pain that felt like he was being ripped apart.

The biggest source of pain was a feeling; he subconsciously stuck out his tongue to greedily lick his lips, fighting against the feeling of irresistible thirst that came from them.

He really was very thirsty, really wanting to drink some water and really wanting to be deluged within icy cold rain.

The people observing the match had remained quiet. That was until they saw Chen Chang Sheng hold up his sword horizontally in front of him and the atmosphere within the tower suddenly becoming abnormally warm. With this, they finally realised that something was happening.

“He’s doing initial meditation again?”

“How is this possible?”

“Just how much Star Brilliance does he have inside of him?”

“Where is all that Star Brilliance being stored?”

Up on the second floor, countless sounds of shocked, exclaiming questions could be heard.