Chapter 2144: A Resolute Sword Heart
"It's a bit strange. Why did she volunteer to fight? A battle destined for defeat, and with Meng Jianxi already ahead of her, I can't think of any meaning in her accepting the challenge."
Li Suo expressed her confusion.
Yun Che twisted the corner of his mouth, dodging the question. "Cai Li's Heaven-Breaking Sword Intent can, to a certain extent, counter... ah, I should say it doesn't fear the Luminous Mystic Realm much. But with the addition of Glazed Ice, Cai Li has no chance of winning."
He looked at the two women facing each other from afar within the battle barrier, his emotions a tangled complexity.
One in black, one in white. One as clear, cold, and aloof as a frosty moon and ice fairy, the other as ethereal and dreamlike as an ancient painting of an ephemeral bloom. Perhaps in the eyes of the world, obtaining either one would be the greatest blessing for any man, a delusion that even myriad beings dared not fantasize about.
Yet no one knew—not even Shen Wuyi and Hua Caili, meeting head-on for the first time—that one was his legally wedded wife, and the other had devoted her entire being to him, steadfast until the end.
Yun Che forcefully drove away the chaotic thoughts in his mind and focused. "This battle definitely won't last long. Next..."
"It will be my turn."
He wasn't worried that Shen Wuyi would harm Hua Caili severely. After all, the malice of the Dreamless Divine Venerable had always been directed only at men.
"You?" Li Suo was puzzled. "Although you've made a name for yourself in the Abyss, you are ultimately not the Dreamweaving Divine Son. On what grounds will you participate in this battle of Divine Sons?"
"And besides, why do you want to... fight her?"
"Think too much. Of course it's not with her."
The corner of Yun Che's eyes silently brushed against the location of the Abyss Emperor for a single moment.
"I have experienced true loneliness before—that feeling of having someone by your side but your heart being completely empty is extremely terrifying. And the Abyss Emperor... the loneliness he bears is probably countless times heavier than what I felt back then."
"It's like walking alone in an endless dark night, year after year, for a million years... And if a single ray of light that tears through the loneliness suddenly appears in this endless darkness, he absolutely cannot ignore it or remain silent."
Li Suo seemed to be pondering something.
"Eternal Night Divine Kingdom, Shen Wuyi, cultivation level Divine Annihilation Realm Level 6. Heaven-Breaking Divine Kingdom, Hua Caili, cultivation level Divine Annihilation Realm Level 2. For this battle, Shen Wuyi shall receive the Primordial Chaos Seal, balancing her profound strength realm to match Hua Caili's."
The High Priest's palm once again lit up with that bronze profound light. In the next instant, that bronze light shot out, passed through the barrier, and landed on Shen Wuyi.
At the moment of contact, the profound light had an inexplicable moment of pause, causing the High Priest's brows to slightly furrow.
But this pause lasted only an imperceptible moment, then bloomed on Shen Wuyi, forming a small sealing profound formation before quietly fading away.
Immediately, Shen Wuyi's profound energy aura rapidly weakened. In just three breaths, it had fallen straight to Divine Annihilation Realm Level 2, achieving nearly perfect balance with Hua Caili's released profound energy.
"Begin!"
With a clear and crisp sword cry, Liyun Sword left its sheath, a brilliance like fireflies pouring out, reflecting onto Hua Caili.
In that single instant, the young girl's temperament changed dramatically.
The faint childishness in her eyes quietly faded. Her clear, moon-like pupils condensed a cold star that made people almost dare not look directly at her. Her figure remained delicate, yet she radiated a solemn sword intent that kept all things at bay.
Her snow-white cloud robe danced without wind. The Seven Luminaries Sword Pattern and Star God Pattern on her skirt flowed with the sword intent, emitting fragmented, radiant light.
At this moment, everyone's vision blurred inexplicably... In memory, the Heaven-Breaking Divine Maiden was as beautiful as a celestial star from beyond the heavens, but she had never grown up. Yet now, she faintly bore the bearing of the Sword Immortal Hua Qingying.
"..." The Abyss Emperor's pupils shifted slightly for a brief moment.
Shen Wuyi raised her hand, the Heartless Sword pointed diagonally at the ground. She neither launched an attack nor formed any Glazed Ice, clearly letting Hua Caili strike first.
The sword intent in Hua Caili's eyes had condensed into an even more soul-piercing cold star. Her fingers holding the sword were slender and pale, and the aura swirling between her fingers had seamlessly merged with the blade glow of the Liyun Sword, spreading an ethereal, otherworldly aura around her.
Seven pale sword shadows spiraled silently around her... Most people didn't even notice when these seven sword shadows had taken shape.
Hua Caili slightly lifted her gaze. Wherever her gaze landed, even the air seemed to be split by the sword momentum, causing faint ripples. Without any visible movement or change in her aura, a sword shadow shot out, carrying a long, slender white streak, straight at Shen Wuyi.
Shen Wuyi didn't move at all. The sword shadow passed through her body... but then abruptly halted the moment it pierced through.
The afterimage dissipated. Shen Wuyi's true form had already appeared to Hua Caili's left... close enough to touch.
A spatial shift of the Luminous Mystic Realm!
But, in that very instant when Shen Wuyi's true form appeared, a sword shadow suddenly burst into her pupils, less than half a foot from her brow.
Even with an unpredictable, instantly completed spatial shift that prevented the opponent from locking on with spiritual sense in time, this sword shadow seemed to have been poised and waiting, thrusting straight at her almost the moment she materialized.
At such close range, with the sudden arrival of the sword shadow, it was Shen Wuyi who was caught off guard. With no way to evade, she had no choice but to use a second spatial shift.
Shiiing!!
The sword shadow struck empty air, leaving behind a long-lasting pale sword scar. Shen Wuyi's true form appeared above Hua Caili's right... Again, the moment she materialized, two sword shadows came from left and right, meeting her head-on.
Shen Wuyi's sword momentum didn't even have time to rise. She barely twisted her body, letting both sword shadows pass by. But immediately, two more sword shadows followed closely behind... The sword shadows that had passed behind her also suddenly reversed direction, two in front and two behind, sealing off all her escape routes.
Shiiiiing——
Shen Wuyi's afterimage shattered. All four sword shadows missed, leaving only the shrill sound of air being rent.
A thousand zhang away, Shen Wuyi's true form materialized. She cast a sidelong glance at her right arm.
A few-inch-long break appeared in the black robe on her right shoulder, revealing snow-white jade skin and a bleeding sword wound.
A brief silence, then a wave of clamor.
No one had expected that in the very first exchange, Shen Wuyi would be injured.
And even Dian Jiuzhi, until his defeat, had failed to inflict any external injury on Shen Wuyi.
"Could that be the legendary Heaven-Breaking Sword Intent?" Meng Jianxi said with no small amount of surprise. "I heard that three years ago, the Heaven-Breaking Divine Maiden, after ending her training, not only broke through in realm but also comprehended the Heaven-Breaking Sword Intent. But Uncle was certain it was just a rumor, because even the Sword Immortal predecessor, at this age, had not yet comprehended the Heaven-Breaking Sword."
"Unexpectedly... not only is it true, but it also looks... so naturally and skillfully wielded, not at all like someone who's just taken the first step."
"..." Yun Che stared at the barrier, saying not a word.
Meng Kongchan said lightly, "The world only knows that the Heaven-Breaking Sword Intent of the Heaven-Breaking Divine Kingdom can make an opponent's profound force fragile as thin paper, easily broken. But few know that the greatest strength of the Heaven-Breaking Sword Intent is that the sword shadows it condenses possess their own spiritual awareness."
As someone who had fought Hua Fuchen many times, Meng Kongchan naturally counted as one of the people in the world who understood the Heaven-Breaking Sword Intent best. "Ordinary profound practitioners sense enemies with spiritual perception, but the Heaven-Breaking Sword's spiritual awareness tracks the heart and locks onto the soul... This outcome is within expectations."
Around Hua Caili, the seven sword shadows had all returned. She hadn't moved an inch from her position, yet she caused the profound practitioners present to tremble inwardly.
As members of the Six Divine Kingdoms, no one would forget the shocking evaluation the cold and strict High Priest had once given Hua Qingying... the highest sword talent in the history of the Six Divine Kingdoms, the only one in the current era who might achieve True Godhood through her own efforts, without inheritance.
Such an astonishing Sword Immortal took seventy-seven years to comprehend the first thread of Heaven-Breaking Sword Intent.
And Hua Caili...
Ding!
A light chime, carrying an instant of bone-piercing cold, dispelled the strange thoughts in everyone's hearts. Shen Wuyi's Heartless Sword had already condensed a faint icy light, and around her, that eerie, almost demonic Glazed Barrier appeared.
Even against Dian Jiuzhi, she hadn't condensed Glazed Ice this early.
The sound tide completely died down. Everyone held their breath, waiting to see whether the Heaven-Breaking Sword Intent of the Heaven-Breaking Divine Maiden, under equal conditions, could cut through the Glazed Barrier that even Dian Jiuzhi, two realms above, couldn't forcefully break.
But Hua Caili spoke softly at that moment:
"I am no match for you."
She seemed to be saying words of surrender, but her voice was as clear and cold as a spring, without any self-deprecation or weakness. On the contrary, her demeanor and aura suddenly surged with a strong determination... even approaching resolve.
"My only chance of victory... is a single sword!"
"If you take this sword, I will concede."
Zheng... Zheng!
The Liyun Sword began to tremble lightly, emitting somewhat restless sword cries.
Hua Fuchen's gaze sharpened. He wanted to witness firsthand the great surprise Hua Caili had prepared for him... the third sword of the Heaven-Breaking Sword she had comprehended within the Seven Star Heaven-Breaking Formation, what kind of splendid sword radiance she could unleash.
Shen Wuyi remained expressionless, nor did she immediately strike.
Zheng!!!
The Liyun Sword suddenly trembled violently, letting out a heavy cry that could shatter metal and stone. Hua Caili's jade-like face tightened, the sword light in her eyes blazing like starlight exploding, tinged with a resolve that seemed to sever all things.
The profound energy and sword aura around her also began to tremble and surge. Her snow-white cloud robe fluttered wildly. The Seven Luminaries Sword Pattern and Star God Pattern on her skirt all blazed with unusual light, flickering on and off, dazzling yet carrying a faint hint of unease.
"...!?" Shen Wuyi suddenly frowned.
She felt as if a sword was pressing against her heart and soul, carrying an indescribable, almost absurd sense of soul-binding, making her feel—inexplicably yet with absolute clarity—that under this sword, it pursued the heart and locked onto the soul, leaving no escape.
And the sword light of this sword grew fiercer with every breath, its sword might surging wildly with every instant, gradually intensifying to the point where her heart and soul began to feel a deeper and deeper chill.
She raised her sword horizontally, and layers of Glazed Ice rapidly condensed on the body of the Heartless Sword.
"...?" Hua Qingying frowned in doubt, then suddenly her expression changed drastically.
"Caili, stop!!"
This sudden cry made everyone turn their heads instantly, shocked to find it was the Sword Immortal Hua Qingying.
A flash of green light, and Hua Qingying had already moved to the front of the battle barrier, her voice filled with an urgency unfamiliar to all: "Caili, no foolishness! Stop immediately! Caili!!"
Everyone stared wide-eyed in shock.
Those who knew the name of the Sword Immortal also knew that Hua Caili was her only irreplaceable treasure. Only her safety could cause Hua Qingying, who remained cold and aloof like a distant fairy her entire life, to lose her composure like this.
Hua Fuchen also realized what was happening. Ignoring where they were, he teleported beside Hua Qingying, his pupils shrinking violently along with the intensifying sword radiance of Hua Caili.
That was not the momentum of the third Heaven-Breaking Sword.
It was clearly... the fourth Heaven-Breaking Sword!
If this were outside the battlefield, knowing that Hua Caili had even glimpsed the fourth Heaven-Breaking Sword, he would have been overjoyed beyond measure. But now, sensing the trembling of her sword breath and the abnormal wildness of her sword intent, he was only filled with extreme fear.
She had not yet fully mastered the fourth Heaven-Breaking Sword; otherwise, she would have excitedly told Hua Qingying long ago. Moreover, the sword might of the fourth Heaven-Breaking Sword required a massive consumption of profound energy. With her cultivation at only Divine Annihilation Realm Level 2, even a single sword strike would be extremely strenuous.
Forcibly unleashing it would likely harm the enemy ten parts while damaging herself twelve!
Her aunt's shouts had no effect on Hua Caili... It wasn't that she turned a deaf ear, but at this moment, her heart, will, and soul were all concentrated on the sword intent, leaving no spare capacity.
The High Priest raised his head, and an overwhelmingly powerful barrier instantly appeared before Hua Qingying and Hua Fuchen. His irrefutable warning voice also resounded across Eden Summit: "Stand back! No one may interfere with the battlefield!"
The white radiance of the Liyun Sword grew increasingly blazing, gradually dispersing into fragmented, sparkling white specks, then converging into countless firefly-like shooting stars.
The shooting stars slowly and arduously gathered amidst the wild sword breath... Gradually, they formed a seven-foot-long pale sword aura on the Liyun Sword.
The moment the sword aura took shape, the surrounding space twisted violently, then rapidly began to crack with fine fissures.
This scene made all the profound practitioners gasp.
How resilient was the space of Eden Summit? Yet Hua Caili, with profound force at Divine Annihilation Realm Level 2, had caused clearly visible spatial wounds. The power of this sword was completely beyond the limits of her realm.
But the alarmed expressions of Hua Fuchen and Hua Qingying made even the most obtuse person quickly understand the situation at hand... Although this sword strike from Hua Caili was extremely terrifying, the moment it was swung, it would surely come at a tremendous cost.
Their hearts trembled, and they were confused and puzzled. In previous Pure Land gatherings, the Heaven-Breaking Divine Maiden had been the least inclined to fight. Today was her first meeting with Shen Wuyi, and there was no possible enmity between them. The battle of the Divine Sons ultimately only involved some minor national face and the Abyss Emperor's promise, not touching any core interests of the divine kingdoms or divine successors.
Why... was she so determined and resolute!?
Dian Jiuzhi's expression showed barely concealed panic. Struggling free from Dian Sansi's support, his lips parted several times, nearly losing control and shouting.
"..." Yun Che's face was calm and unruffled, but his chest rose and fell slightly more rapidly.
On Shen Wuyi's sword, Glazed Ice was also rapidly condensing. By the time the Heartless Sword pointed forward, the slender blade was adorned with dozens of small, exquisite ice lotuses... yet they radiated a terrifying cold that could freeze even the gaze cast upon them.
Amidst the chaotic sword lights, Hua Caili's beautiful eyes finally slowly opened.
Her eyes held the pure and flawless radiance of a young girl, tinged with a pure resolve that others could not understand.
Countless sword lights and sword stars intertwined, beautiful to the point of suffocation, yet carrying the fierce coldness of heaven and earth's destruction.
The Liyun Sword thrust forward with its sword aura, and in that instant, heaven and earth fell silent.
Hua Qingying let out a pained sigh. She knew well that the moment the sword might erupted, Hua Caili would surely be severely injured.
But this was Eden Summit. She was doomed to be unable to stop it, only able to protect her the moment the battle concluded.
Shen Wuyi's sword thrust out in the same instant. Following the straight trajectory of the blade, countless ice lotuses bloomed into endless, dazzling, and poignant icy splendor.
The world fell completely silent. Everyone forgot to breathe. The flow of time seemed to slow down. Pairs of eyes, opened to their maximum, clearly reflected the figures of the two women and the increasingly close sword aura and icy splendor...
Until a certain moment, they finally collided and overlapped.
But the world remained utterly silent. No ice crystals exploded. No sword aura sundered the sky. Not even the slightest sound of profound energy tearing through the air.
Between Hua Caili and Shen Wuyi, a white figure had appeared.
His hands were extended. His left index finger touched the Liyun Sword, and his right index finger touched the Heartless Sword. The sword aura, the icy splendor, and all the externally released profound energy from both women vanished completely.
As if erased from the world in that instant by an invisible hand, leaving not a single trace of that erasure.
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