Chapter Eighteen: Wind and Thunder Stir, Gentle Breeze Breaks

  Is this... really...

  Outside the sword array's light screen, Zhao Qianye's face showed a shocked expression. Having also cultivated the Purple Cloud Wind and Thunder Sword, he naturally knew what this move represented and it was also his current bottleneck in understanding that he couldn't break through.

  Zi Xuan Wind and Thunder Sword 10th Form: Wind and Thunder Guidance.

  As Lu Qing moved, countless cyan-purple light spots suddenly appeared around the Heart Refining Sword. Although Lu Qing had already grasped it, this was also his first time fully exerting himself, and he didn't dare to be slow in the slightest. Lu Qing completely immersed his mind into the Heart Refining Sword, feeling the rapid gathering of wind and thunder energies around him. He felt that those cyan or purple light spots seemed to have life, following him like mischievous children as his mind gathered.

  In an instant, Lu Qing's body suddenly burst out with a powerful gust of wind and thunder, the ground beneath his feet was trampled by the sharp sword energy, and in an instant, it cracked open in all directions. The shattered stones floated up, and even on each piece of broken stone, tiny green or purple light spots began to gather.

  With a loud shout, Lu Qing's Heart Purification Sword moved, and those scattered light spots instantly condensed.

  Crackling, amidst the astonished gazes of the crowd, a purple lightning bolt, six zhang long and as thick as a bowl, enveloped Lu Qing's Heart Refining Sword. Around this purple lightning, faint cyan wind blades, only an inch long, flitted about, tearing the surrounding air into countless tiny fragments.

  It's Thunderbolt indeed!

  Zhao Qianye's gaze was extremely solemn, his eyes tightly fixed on Lu Qing's every move. The so-called Wind and Thunder Summoning was to summon the powerful wind and thunder energy between heaven and earth, and then merge it with the wind and thunder sword energy to guide the attack. However, it was easier said than done. In the past six months, no matter how hard Zhao Qianye tried, he couldn't gather enough wind and thunder energy. Even when he used his divine sense to forcibly absorb it, he was counterattacked by the merged violent wind and thunder energy, shocking his sea of consciousness. It wasn't until a month ago that he fully recovered.

  Zhao Qianye knew that he still didn't have enough insight and understanding of the two energies of wind and thunder, so he couldn't gather enough of them to trigger the display of this Wind Thunder Sword. The power of the Five Elements was profound and mysterious, but ordinary elemental attributes were not easy to comprehend. Non-elemental attributes were even more obscure and difficult to grasp, let alone his non-elemental dual attribute of wind and thunder sword energy. It was already challenging enough to understand the two energies separately; once they merged together, the difficulty level could be imagined.

  Just as Zhao Qianye's thoughts flashed, a purple lightning bolt with sharp wind blades fiercely struck the incoming tornado.

  Boom!

  Like a broken bamboo, the purple electric whirlwind quickly tore apart the tornado. As Lu Qing poured more wind and thunder into the sword, the two energies of wind and thunder in the sky and earth flew rapidly towards the Lianxin Sword, breaking through the air and producing a series of explosive sounds.

  Looking at the inch-by-inch shattered dragon roll, Nie Qingtian's expression was unprecedentedly solemn. The sword tip pointed upwards, and with a swift motion of his hands, the Xuanfeng Sword began to rotate rapidly. Stretching out his right hand, he grasped the sword and swiftly drew an arc, and immediately, the people outside the light screen saw countless cyan light spots converging towards Nie Qingtian's Xuanfeng Sword. In an instant, a massive wind blade, about seven zhang long and nearly one chi wide, condensed into shape, enveloping the Xuanfeng Sword.

  The azure wind blade was semi-transparent, with the sound of wind flowing on it. "Xun Wind Break!" A loud shout, Nie Qing Tian gazed at the descending purple electric Xun Wind, his right foot stomped out a three-inch deep hole on the ground, his eyes shone with cyan divine light, and the Xun Wind sword swung out to rapidly stab towards Lu Qing.

  Hiss——

  The wind blade cut through the air, making no sound, and the airflow was squeezed open to both sides by the wind blade. On the tip of the wind blade, a faint blue light flickered unsteadily.

  Hūn

  In an instant, countless electric flowers burst open in the air. Whether it was Lu Qing's condensed purple electric whirlwind or Nie Qingtian's gathered sharp wind blades, they all shattered instantly. The thick purple electricity and wide wind blades shot out wildly in all directions.

  Lu Qing's Heart-Clearing Sword danced rapidly, laying down a dense sword curtain in front of him. The Wind Blade Purple Thunder struck the sword curtain, producing a loud "Boom Boom" sound, and the powerful force sent Lu Qing flying instantly.

  Nie Qingtian's face changed, and his body rapidly retreated backwards. The Xuanfeng Sword in his hand spun rapidly, and a cyan-purple energy screen quickly spread out before him, covered with countless spinning Xuanfeng air swirls.

  A deafening roar, almost at the same time, two people were blown away by the scattered purple electric wind blades, colliding with the rounded purple-red gas curtain on both sides, and hundreds of scattered purple electric wind blades also pressed onto the sword array gas curtain.

  Recite

  On this high, tens of meters tall, purple-red rounded air curtain, countless tiny ripples were set off, as if numerous pebbles had fallen onto the water's surface. Outside the air curtain, the six sword holders supporting the Sword Array also trembled, not calming down until ten breaths later.

  The white stone floor of the ground square was also ravaged, countless purple electric wind blades struck the ground, blasting out holes of several feet in diameter and depth, exposing the damp mountain mud underground.

  A large amount of white mist rose, dyeing the air curtain inside a vast expanse of whiteness. Only when the mist dispersed did everyone see the scene inside the sword array's air curtain. The outer sect disciples all had their mouths agape, while the inner sect disciples, although mostly calm and composed, also revealed shocked expressions.

  At this moment, what appeared in front of them was a black and white expanse. Compared to the square outside the air curtain, the ground inside the air curtain had been thoroughly lowered by several inches, and all the stone slabs had turned into powder scattered on the mud.

  Looking at Lu Qing and Nie Qingtian again, the martial robes on both of them were somewhat disheveled and damaged. Especially Nie Qingtian's white martial robe now seemed to be covered with a layer of grayish-black color, with five or six inch-long gashes on it. However, there was no blood flowing out, only Nie Qingtian's face looked slightly pale.

  Lu Qing's appearance was no better than Nie Qingtian's, his dark green martial attire covered in greyish-black stone dust and mud, making it impossible to discern anything, but the dozen or so long gashes on his martial attire did reveal something.

  "Your sword energy is almost depleted, isn't it?" Nie Qingtian's mouth curved into a smile. "Adding the previous exchanges, we've already had over ten moves. Continuing to fight won't yield any results. I can see that you haven't fully utilized your physical strength yet. Although I still have 30-40% of my sword energy left, if we were to determine a winner, it would definitely end in mutual defeat. Let's stop here for now."

  Nie Qingtian's tone changed as he said, "After the sword pool training is over, we'll fight again. Behind Clear Wind Drunken Sword, there's another move that I haven't used yet. From what I can sense, your understanding of the wind and thunder energies isn't at its peak, so that last move probably wasn't your final trump card either." As he looked at Lu Qing, Nie Qingtian's face was filled with deep meaning.

  Lu Qing was taken aback by the words, but he nodded immediately and said, "Alright, let's fight again after you've finished cultivating in the Sword Pool." By now, Lu Qing couldn't say anything else. In fact, with the Blood Slashing Sword Yuan Liquid continuously replenishing his body, his sword yuan had already recovered more than 70%. If they continued to fight like this, he might be able to completely deplete Nie Qingtian's sword yuan and gain victory, but that wasn't what he wanted.

  Using the Blood Extermination Sword to gain victory is also a matter of occasion and person in Lu Qing's view. When dealing with enemies, there are no concerns, but when it comes to pure swordsmanship, Lu Qing does not want to rely on it to gain victory. Such fame and victory have no meaning and will only bind his heart, making it difficult for him to make progress in his cultivation.

  So, if Lu Qing didn't use the Blood Extinguishing Sword's yuan liquid to recover, he could still barely use the eleventh style after exhausting his previous sword yuan. Adding his powerful physical strength and defense comparable to a fifth-grade sword, it was temporarily impossible to determine who would win or lose. Therefore, Lu Qing agreed to Nie Qingtian's proposal without any hesitation.

  However, the people outside the sword array were all ears, and Nie Qingtian did not use his divine sense to transmit sound, so almost everyone heard the conversation between the two. Perhaps they had already been shocked enough before, but at this moment, the crowd didn't show much surprise. However, at this time, everyone in their hearts knew one thing: that Nie Qingtian and Zhao Qianye's battle six months ago did not use all of his strength.

  At this moment, even if Nie Qingtian used his last trick, he still didn't have the confidence to win against Lu Qing.

  Lu Qing already possessed strength comparable to Nie Qingyun's.

  With a wave of his hand, Xuán Qīng retrieved the six swords from the ground and returned them to Luó Tiān Yǒu's six men. At this moment, all six of them had thoughtful expressions on their faces, clearly having gained some insight from the intense battle between Lù Qīng and the two of them.

  At the same time, they were also shocked by the two people's understanding of swordsmanship. The comprehension of swordsmanship, although it can be determined by the swordsman's accumulation after birth, is also influenced by the swordsman's intelligence to a certain extent. Under the same accumulation, the more intelligent person can often understand more things and spend less time.

  Within half an hour, all the disciples who came to watch the battle from the four peaks left with unparalleled satisfaction. Even many inner sect disciples had a sudden realization at this moment, and some of the difficulties they encountered in their swordsmanship suddenly appeared before them. This made them extremely joyful, and they quickly left Chaoyang Peak, rushing towards their respective main peaks. They believed that as long as they could retreat for several days, they would definitely be able to break through the bottleneck of their swordsmanship.

  PS: Recommended, collected, rewarded, commented, suggested, everything is needed in ten steps. Also, I wish everyone a happy Labor Day!