Chapter 514 - The Shameless and Despicable Chen (1/2)

Xiao Chen’s eyes widened at the sword that reached his face in an instant. He held his breath. Not only was he exhausted from battling the snow creature earlier, but he was also hiding some of his cultivation. Taking on this attack wasn’t a walk in the park. He unleashed his Immortal-override Steps at once, leaving only his shadow behind as he reappeared a hundred feet away.

Even so, the wind carrying the sword managed to graze his cheek, making him feel suffocated. A loud explosion rang beside his ears as a floating island was cut into smithereens. The pavilions and kiosks on the island were all reduced to dust.

Xiao Chen was shocked. What unadulterated power would it take to destroy a floating island fitted with a defensive barrier from such a distance?

Just pure strength wouldn’t cut it. No matter how strong one was, if his strength wasn’t pure, his power would surely scatter after traveling such a distance. He would, at most, push away the floating island. To destroy it, his power would have to be so concentrated that it wouldn’t disperse, and this would have required absolutely pure cultivation.

The same logic applied when you try to snuff out a candle from a distance. No matter how strong one was, if his breath wasn’t concentrated, he could at most make the flame flutter. If he could condense his breath, then just a gentle blow would have been enough to extinguish the candle. Everything boiled down to whether one could condense his breath. Strength alone was insufficient.

Realization suddenly dawned on Xiao Chen. He finally understood that while Bai Ling’s cultivation was beneath his, his power was a little richer than his.

Then, in a split second, the crushed island swiftly pulled together and once again became complete. It looked no different than before. Of course, the island had indeed fallen once, but the Cloud Mist Academy was fixed with a powerful Spirit Energy Restoration Formation capable of restoring anything that its disciples damage. Without it, the buildings inside the academy would have long been ruined by its war-mongering students.

“Immortals in the Sky!”

Before Xiao Chen could snap out of it, Bai Ling was once again screeching. This time, Cyan Spirit Sword had produced two additional illusions of itself and was attacking Xiao Chen from three directions. It felt as if three fairies had appeared in the sky, with their sleeves fluttering in the wind.

Of course, what appeared to be three beautiful fairies were nothing more than three terrifying Sword Qi to Xiao Chen. He rolled to the side in a panic, dodging the first attack. Following a loud explosion, a massive pit appeared on the ground, only to swiftly return to normal.

“KABOOM!” Another deafening explosion resounded. Once again, Xiao Chen was desperately avoiding the Sword Qi. He had no way of fighting back in his current state.

Over at the Long-Gate Pass, a dozen or so youngsters were clenching their hands. Jiang Qianqian’s eyebrows were weaved into a frown. Xiao Chen was able to pinch her sword with a single hand, but he was now being badly trashed by an ordinary disciple of the Cloud Mist Academy. This academy was indeed hiding many gifted students. Still, she felt more excited than ever.

The older disciples who were watching from a distance inside the square started laughing when they saw Xiao Chen running with his tail behind his legs, without an ounce of his previous arrogance. One of them boasted, “If Senior Sister Bai Ling gets serious, even ten of us won’t be her match. This kid is going to suffer.”

“Pfft! Maybe Senior Sister Bai Ling will let him off just because he’s handsome?” said another female disciple, laughing.

Another massive pit had appeared in the middle of the square, with stones scattered everywhere, but everything soon regathered. Xiao Chen pushed his Immortal-override Steps to its pinnacle so he could avoid the onslaught of Sword Qi. Sometimes, he would be rolling on the ground. Other times, he would be retreating in haste. The youngsters watching in the square watched him with bated breath.

Xiao Chen was still dodging attacks, making him look like a sorry figure. His opponent’s cultivation wasn’t as high as his, but her power was purer. In Bai Ying’s words, compared to Bai Ling’s pure strength, his power seemed empty. Overcoming Bai Ling with strength alone seemed impossible, not even if he stopped hiding his strength.

This made him yell, “Jade for a Thousand Miles!”

Most people would cry out the name of their attacks, not because the attacks relied on the yelling alone or because they wanted to scare their opponents. Rather, attacking required the rapid circulation of True Energy. The moment a person cried out the name of his attack, his Qi would sink in his Elixir Field and facilitate the demonstration of the attack. That would allow him to become truly one with his weapon.

“Swish! Swish! Swish!” Following several bursts of wind movements, four cyan-colored sword lights of nearly 300 meters long attacked Bai Ling from all around. Everyone was taken aback. His swordsmanship was pretty good; was he making a comeback?

Bai Ling, being the target of the sword lights, could feel better than anyone just how terrifying the attacks were. She couldn’t figure out why a peak of the Nascent Soul cultivator could unleash a Sword Qi that rivaled her Immortals in the Sky move, but knew that she couldn’t fight him head-on. Instantly, her body became weightless as she deftly evaded the Sword Qi attack. She was lithe in the air, unlike Xiao Chen’s pathetic rolling on the ground.

“Phoenix’s Cry Amid Bamboos!” Before Bai Ling could fall to the ground, Xiao Chen was once again attacking. Since he couldn’t win against her with strength, let them battle close-combat swordsmanship.

The onlookers gasped when they saw him taking the initiative to get close to Bai Ling. Wasn’t he underestimating his opponent a little too much? To think he would dare engage in close combat with Bai Ling. Didn’t he know that Bai Ling trained her swordsmanship under Perfected Immortal Qingxu for seven days? Was he unaware that she was known to be the best swords master around? However, it seemed that he was indeed in the dark about all these.

“Clang!” A quick, sharp noise cut through the air as Bai Ling blocked Xiao Chen’s sword. Even though his sword was like a maze of illusions that made it hard for people to distinguish reality from fantasy, she was still able to pinpoint the sword’s body at once. She twisted her wrist and twelve copies of her sword materialized in the air, their shadows layering upon each other. This time, it was Xiao Chen who was surrounded.

Xiao Chen’s insides turned cold. She was the first person who could so easily shatter his Green Flute Swordplay. Her exquisite grasp of swordsmanship was truly beyond his expectations. Her swordsmanship was not at all beneath his.