Demon Sword Sect’s Undercover
Chapter 215 - 215 214 Back to Anhe 1

215: Chapter 214: Back to Anhe 1 215: Chapter 214: Back to Anhe 1 Hou Niao took a few steps forward, his demeanor neither servile nor overbearing, and raised his hand in a salute,

“Hou Niao’s abilities are modest, I ask for guidance from my fellow senior brothers.”

He did not recognize a single person facing him, men and women alike, all members of the Jin City family, which is why they dared to act so unscrupulously; the only person he was truly concerned with was Rao Zongzhi from Yujing.

According to the Daoist, this was the least of the five Yujing disciples, but his strength compared to their bunch of country bumpkins was incomparable; handsome and poised, he was surrounded by others like the moon surrounded by stars, whereas, towards him, a rival, not many paid too much attention.

A disciple stepped forward from the crowd, “Zhou Duo from the Mu Shuai Manor, wishes to learn from Junior Brother’s expertise.”

Everyone spread out to make room for the fight, watching silently to see how things would unfold,

Hou Niao drew his standard-issue longsword, focused and ready to respond; not that he underestimated his opponent, but his current Lonely Sword was somewhat unstable, and he was afraid he couldn’t control it.

The Daoist had said to strike freely, but after all, being sect brothers, how could he truly strike to kill?

Zhou Duo, with longsword in hand, focused his gaze and gathered strength; within the Quanzhen Sect’s internal competition, swordsmanship was everything.

Resorting to techniques to scrape a win was dishonorable, an unspoken understanding among everyone.

He took a step forward, a feint to test his opponent’s reaction, ready to advance or retreat based on the situation; seeing Hou Niao standing immobile like a wooden chicken, he immediately shifted from feigning to making a real move, stepping forward to charge, his longsword striking at his opponent’s side, still primarily probing.

At this very motion, Hou Niao also moved, but not to probe; he aimed to determine the victor in an instant.

The two faced off, closing in simultaneously, so quickly; their swords clashed instantly, reminiscent of two bulls locking horns.

Hou Niao had come prepared, while Zhou Duo, caught off guard, was pushed back several steps by his opponent, desperately summoning Dantian Spiritual Power to withstand the assault.

Just as he was about to push back, Hou Niao had already withdrawn his sword, taking advantage of Zhou Duo’s forward stumble due to exerting force on empty air.

With a flash of the sword, the hair was severed, leaving him disheveled.

Zhou Duo was furious, his sword techniques yet to be fully displayed, the potential of his Magic Sword left unfulfilled, and he had been successfully ambushed by his opponent’s strategy; how could he just let it go?

In that moment, the brilliance on his longsword intensified, signaling that he was about to show his true skills.

The Daoist chided gently, “Enough!

The winner has been determined, do not persist in struggle.”

Zhou Duo was not ready to stop, but then he heard Rao Zongzhi’s voice from behind, “Junior Brother Zhou, do not act rashly.”

Having one’s hairdo cut off in a real battle meant having one’s head fall to the ground; who cares if you hadn’t exerted full effort or shown your true abilities?

A hint of amusement flashed across Rao Zongzhi’s face, not because Hou Niao was so strong, but because from beginning to end, he had been plain and ordinary.

Clashing swords could not prove who had deeper skills, because one was focused, and the other was indifferent.

The slash that severed the hairdo was not particularly stunning; a proper and orderly strike, its victory lay precisely in its timely execution.

The crux of the victory was in the push and release when their swords met; the push caused Zhou Duo to erupt with all his might, while the release left his eruption hitting nothing, this tightening and relaxing revealed the essence of swordsmanship.

A skilled hand indeed; unexpectedly, in a minor place like Da Feng Plain one could witness such swordsmanship, not too far off from what his Yujing senior brothers could achieve.

The technique was quite good, but many factors determine true strength, such as the depth of Dantian Spirit, the power of attributes on the sword, and so on.

Zhou Duo retreated unwillingly, feeling humiliated.

He had intended to strike with an overwhelming first move, yet it had turned into an embarrassing misfiring.

Another disciple stepped forward with his sword, “Duan Kunshan from the Central Army Headquarters of Jin City, at your service.”

The Central Army Headquarters was the place most dissatisfied with the allocation of slots for this event.

As Quanzhen Sect’s only mobile force in the Da Feng Plain, their exclusion was unacceptable, as their duty was to fight.

Duan Kunshan was the cream of the crop among the disciples of the Central Army Headquarters in Jin City below the Tongxuan level, excelling in swordsmanship, formidable and peerless, and also decisive in killing coupled with rich experience.

He had crossed swords with Luo Linwang before, and had only slightly fallen short.

He was not Zhou Duo; Shen Ai understood the reason to give it one’s all, and he would never take it lightly due to contempt.

With a flourish of his longsword, he unleashed an assault as fierce as a tempest, showcasing his proudest Crushing Thunder Sword Skill; he transformed into a sword wheel, within which faint thunder could be heard, and tiny bolts of lightning darted through the sword momentum.

This was not because he wielded Thunder Skill, but rather due to the thunder attribute of his longsword.

Such a head-on crushing assault, complementing the thunder force, made it very difficult for the opponent to match; if the opponent retreated, the subsequent moves would roll in continuously, especially as the Thunder Formation within the longsword would grow stronger with each cycle, until finally unleashing a thunderous strike from the sword!

How could one fend off a lightning strike with human reflexes?

Half of his strength lay in his sword, but you couldn’t say he was relying on the sword for victory.

This was the mystery of the Magic Sword lineage, making full use of Both Techniques and swordsmanship to double the effect.

Moreover, such a Thunder Sword demanded a high level of Dantian Spiritual Power from a cultivator; his confidence in doing so demonstrated his assurance.

The onlookers were mesmerized, including Daoist Wang; upon reflection, if they were to face him, they too would probably be at a loss.

Recklessly standing against the sword?

How could an ordinary longsword resist the lightning?

It’s feared that even holding the sword steady would be a challenge.

Dodging to the side?

Till when would that be an option?

Once the Thunder Sword could strike with lightning, it’s feared all one’s skills would be of no use!

The Crushing Thunder Sword Skill was indeed a superior sword technique of the Magic Sword lineage; with the low-rank cultivators’ methods, it was very difficult to have a perfect strategy.

And then there was Hou Niao, indeed living up to his name of Su Qiutu; he did not dodge, but instead boldly raised his sword to counterstrike!

Those in the know took a quiet breath; Hou Niao had been tricked, not having experienced the explosive impact of the Thunder Sword.

He did not know that indeed, with the level of Spiritual Power a low-rank cultivator possesses, even if one were to be struck by the sword’s lightning, it would only result in a numbing sensation, far from being paralyzed by the lightning.

This was determined by the nature of Spiritual Power; only with Mana would it truly have the effect of harming one’s body from a distance.

The true power of the Crushing Thunder Sword Skill did not lie in the lightning leaving the sword, but rather in the intertwining of thunder swords, which was when the lightning displayed its maximum potential.

As the swords clashed, it came as no surprise that before three exchanges had passed, Hou Niao’s longsword could not withstand the pressure of the Crushing Thunder, and under both the sword momentum and thunder force, he was completely at a disadvantage.

With three clashing sounds, Hou Niao’s longsword was flung out of grip by the Thunder Sword and was sent flying into oblivion.

Everyone thought it was over, but little did they know that it was just the beginning.

As the sword flew away, Hou Niao’s body did not follow its flight to jump out but instead went down on one knee…

Kneeling and smashing hard!

This was a Wrestling Skill that only those practicing Body Cultivation would train in.

Through the abrupt kneeling action, the opponent temporarily loses sight of the target, while the person in question slides forward on bended knee, putting the entire body’s weight and an explosive burst of Spiritual Power into this single kneel, slide, and smash!

Duan Kunshan’s Thunder Sword had just flung the opponent’s longsword outward, leaving his middle guard wide open.

He had not expected his opponent to resort to this move.

By the time he realized and thought of retracting his sword, it was already too late.

He felt as if his lower body had been rammed by a rampaging wild boar, the immense impact sending him flying into the air.

Hou Niao took advantage of the situation to stand up, one hand on the shoulder and the other supporting the waist, shaking him off with a toss.

Duan Kunshan landed several meters away, tottering, and understood that had his opponent not chosen to throw him outward but instead went for a twist and slam, he would likely have ended up with half of his bones dislocated.

True swordsmanship includes the moments when the sword is lost, but few understand this principle.