Cohabitation with Sword Spirit-Chapter 149 - 119: Insufficient Chest Defense
Evening of October 15, 2017
At the East City District Shen Garden Training Ground, Wang Jiu, with a hint of curiosity, flicked his hand and shot out two streams of light Sword Qi, which landed on either side of Li Wanqing's shoulder armor with a crisp tinkling sound. Li Wanqing's body trembled slightly, swaying a couple of times, and completely absorbed the aftershock.
"Interesting," he said.
This outcome was unexpected, causing Wang Jiu to immediately change into an expression of delighted interest. At the same time, the pure white Divine Sword Body began to tremble slightly, brewing for the next tentative outburst.
The two Sword Qi strikes just now, though released with a flick of the finger and appeared quite casual, essentially were direct hits from the Celestial Divine Sword. The mysteries contained within the Sword Qi were beyond what ordinary cultivators could imagine.
If it were any other Cloud Surge Realm cultivator hit on both shoulders by those two Sword Qi strikes, their Protective True Essence would instantly crumble. Even if they weren't severely injured with snapped tendons and broken bones, the Sword Qi disruption would interrupt their True Essence flow, rendering them incapable of combat for a while. Yet, Li Wanqing merely swayed her body and fully dissipated the Sword Qi, leaving only two barely noticeable scratches on the pitch-black shoulder armor.
This terrifying defense capability seems even superior to the original Pure Glass Armor.
It appears, over thousands of years, not only has this Primordial inheritance treasure not faded with time, but has faintly ascended...
It's uncertain whether the Pure Glass Armor contained such mysteries in its original design, or if it was the changes in the Laws of Heaven and Earth in Xiangzhou that realized it... Nonetheless, this duel is definitely worth every ticket.
——
On the other side, Li Wanqing felt a small chill run down her back.
Just a hair's breadth, just a tiny bit more, and the shoulder armor on both sides would have been broken. If she hadn't subconsciously sensed the danger at the moment the opponent's Sword Qi was released and instantly enhanced the defense of her entire armor by a level, she might have already lost a move.
The opponent... no matter how she looks at it, is just a Cloud Surge Realm cultivator. But the Sword Qi he casually flicked out was as powerful as Qian Family's scoundrel's full Qiankun Throw. Such a light-yet-heavy technique, Li Wanqing had never seen in any Cloud Surge Realm cultivator before; even Cloud Flipping Realm experts find it hard to achieve Wang Jiu's ease.
Misjudged. Sister Xin truly brought a master.
With a tinge of coldness on her back, Li Wanqing thought self-deprecatingly. This time, it seems she's kicked an iron plate...
However, that's what makes it fun. Bullying the weak is so boring, beating ten or a hundred Qian Ye-like losers doesn't raise any excitement. But if this iron plate can be forcibly kicked through, it'd be exhilarating indeed. The stronger the enemy, the more glorious the victory.
Thinking of this, Li Wanqing laughed, "Alright, decided, today I'm going to make you wear a little skirt!"
The next moment, the woman took a small breath, changed the operational path of her internal True Essence, highly focused her Divine Sense, and continuously refined and uplifted her belief, injecting it into the Yuqing Armor.
The Yuqing Taoist Armor immediately responded, absorbing Li Wanqing's released True Essence and faith like a giant whale sucking in water. The black armor flickered with a faint glow, and although there was no change in appearance, its internal defensive strength rapidly climbed to an astonishing level. At the same time, Li Wanqing's feet lightly sank into the ground, indicating an extremely massive weight.
Previously, when facing Qian Ye's full Qiankun Throw, Li Wanqing used this technique to remain unwavering like a mountain. Three hundred Spirit Stones exploded simultaneously, enough to instantly flatten a mountain top if not for the array's suppression, but when landing on the fully activated Yuqing Taoist Armor, it didn't even leave a scratch.
Seeing the scene, Wang Jiu slightly furrowed his brow, the Sword Qi brewing in his hand was held back.
This defense... is truly beyond expectations. Even the original Pure Glass Armor likely doesn't have such exaggerated performance. Given Li Wanqing's defensive power at this moment, it wouldn't be easy even for a mid-stage Cloud Flipping Realm cultivator to break through head-on.
Moreover, Wang Jiu truly doesn't have the firepower of a Cloud Flipping Realm at this time.
Since being awakened by Shen Qingming in mid-May, over five months, the reconstruction progress of the Sword World has been extremely gratifying. However, the two most crucial core buildings within: Demon-slaying Blade and Myriad Spirits Hall, are functional structures and do not possess direct combat capability. Wang Jiu's flicking Sword Qi relies on the Wind Gathering Array to collect the Heaven and Earth Spirit Wind, converting it into usable True Essence, which naturally forms through the tempered Sword Body. To ordinary people, this casual Sword Qi is already quite shocking, but to the Celestial Divine Sword, it's merely at the finger-flicking level.
Expecting a finger-flick to penetrate a reinforced Pure Glass Armor, Wang Jiu doesn't think the Celestial Divine Sword that has degraded to nearly a blank slate could perform such wonders.
Yet, if it's impossible to break through head-on, there's always the option to find an alternative path. Noticing her feet deeply embedded in the ground, it's easy to deduce that the Yuqing Taoist Armor has the divine effect of converting the power of mountains and earth veins for personal use. Hence, by merely destroying the terrain, the opponent's defense will naturally crumble.
And there are many methods to destroy the terrain, such as using the roots of the ancient guardian tree to loosen the soil of the training ground, or simply using Sword Qi to explode the soil, both of which can swiftly weaken the high defense of the Yuqing Taoist Armor.
However, just as Wang Jiu, using his authority as the owner of Shen Garden, ordered the Hospital Tree Spirit to extend its roots and revitalize the soil, Li Wanqing seized this fleeting opportunity and switched from defense to offense, moving first! That set of pitch-black armor instantly reactivated into a thick fog, flowing like water and converging in front of Li Wanqing's chest. After a momentary pause, it struck down like lightning.
The Yuqing Taoist Armor, when covering the body, is unparalleled in durability, but when detached, it possesses unparalleled sharpness. As the black fog rolled, it resembled a beast of the abyss, instantly triggering numerous alarms within the training ground.
The specifications of the Shen Garden Training Ground could accommodate duels between cultivators below the Cloud Flipping Realm. Once exceeded, the array inside would struggle to ensure the safety of both parties. Li Wanqing's attack, in an instant, pushed the performance limits of the training ground, causing the entire area to tremble precariously.
This sudden change caught even Wang Jiu, with all his experience, off guard. By the time he severed his connection with the Hospital Tree Spirit, the Yuqing Taoist Armor was already right in front of him, leaving no room for counteraction.
Such a formidable young girl!
With his experience of sparring across the world and countless battles, it was rare for Wang Jiu to encounter someone so adept at such swift changes among cultivators of the Cloud Surge Realm. This was unrelated to strength; it was purely an innate combat instinct.
Whether or not one can accurately seize the opportunity, make a judgment at the first moment, and whole-heartedly execute the tactical intention... there is indeed a touch of innate talent in this. Even though Wang Jiu considers himself a top expert in this field, at this moment, he found it somewhat amusingly delightful that a young girl from the Cloud Surge Realm managed to trick him.
Ah, this is the joy of sparring with newcomers. You never know what you might encounter. Though they may be weaker, they often possess more inspiration and creativity than those masters who can move heaven and earth. Generally speaking, among about one hundred beginners, there are one or two major talents. And Li Wanqing, she is definitely the crème de la crème!
The next moment, the black fog struck, and the vicious Yuqing Taoist Armor slammed into Wang Jiu. In an instant, it switched between tangible and intangible forms hundreds of times, and each change unleashed a terrifying destructive power akin to the full-force strike of a late-stage Cloud Surge Realm master. At the same time, Li Wanqing, enduring the extreme fatigue of activating the Taoist Armor, stepped forward to finish off Wang Jiu.
Li Wanqing dislikes bullying the weak but despises mercy born of recklessness even more. If she fights, she ensures the opponent has no chance to retaliate. Although theoretically, the explosive power of the Yuqing Taoist Armor is enough to be lethal, a finishing move is still necessary. If Wang Jiu indeed has a trump card and manages to withstand such a fierce attack, Li Wanqing would immediately continue the assault, delivering the final blow to crush him, or at least not be caught off guard by a counterattack.
In case he doesn't have a trump card... at least Li Wanqing can promptly rescue him and claim she did her best, blaming the malfunction on the aging training ground array.
However, just as Li Wanqing was bolstering her spirits, closing in on Wang Jiu, she realized the tall man in white had vanished without a trace, leaving only his White Sword floating in the air, spinning rapidly and churning the surrounding black fog in chaos, preventing it from forming.
"…This?" In her surprise, Li Wanqing instinctively discharged her last trace of True Essence, transforming it into two clusters of red light that exploded on the White Sword's body.
As expected, it was unscathed.
Unexpectedly, the two identical clusters of red light rebounded like a mirror reflection, hitting her right in the chest.
In an overcharged state, forcing out the last bit of True Essence to strike, Li Wanqing's body was almost completely unguarded. Hit by the red light, she couldn't help but groan, her vision blackened, and all her strength vanished without a trace.
If it were anyone else, they would have no choice but to collapse to the ground. But Li Wanqing stubbornly endured the excruciating pain that seemed to tear her mind apart, forcibly extracting a thread of strength from her bloodline, refusing to fall.
As long as one doesn't fall, the battle isn't over...
Wang Jiu had already used the Illusion Sword Technique to re-project the Sword Spirit True Form, watching the wavering Li Wanqing who refused to admit defeat. He said helplessly, "Hey, you've already lost."
"I haven't!"
Meanwhile, a piercing buzzing rang through the training ground, the inherent array declaring the duel's result.
"I protest!"
"You're currently drained of Qi Blood. It's best to concede and heal quickly to avoid any side effects."
"I don't care, I haven't lost!"
Wang Jiu was about to elaborate on the victory and defeat but, recalling the advice of an old friend, nodded, saying, "Alright, let's call it a draw then."
Upon hearing this, Li Wanqing felt the only motivation keeping her going dissolve and she reluctantly lay back looking up at the sky.
"Haha, fine, I admit defeat."
