Chapter 186: Infinite Sword Art
Yan Lixuan stood with his hands behind his back, staring at Zhang Ruochen, and smiled, "When I saw you, I felt that perhaps my heart knot could be untied today."
"Oh?"
Zhang Ruochen said, "I can help you?"
"If I lose to you today, it might just untie that knot." Yan Lixuan said.
So he had come seeking defeat!
Zhang Ruochen did not know what Yan Lixuan's heart knot was, nor did he ask. If Yan Lixuan felt he could tell Zhang Ruochen, he naturally would. If he didn't want to say it, even if Zhang Ruochen asked, he wouldn't speak.
"In that case, I can only defeat you and help you untie your heart knot." Zhang Ruochen said.
"Defeating me is no easy task. Perhaps the one who loses will be you, and I will have to leave disappointed."
Yan Lixuan walked to the roadside, plucked a foot-long green blade of grass, and pinched it between two fingers.
"Hua!"
A wisp of golden true qi surged from between his fingers.
The originally soft blade of grass instantly stiffened, becoming as sharp as a sword.
Yan Lixuan's aura shifted with it, his entire person becoming sharp, his hair like steel needles, his gaze like a sharp sword.
In the air, a wuwu sound arose, as if invisible swords were flying around his body.
"Shasha!"
Zhang Ruochen slowly raised his arm. Fallen leaves on the ground flew up, gathering in his palm to form the shape of a sword. A total of seventy-two leaves, under the control of true qi, spun continuously.
Yan Lixuan squinted his eyes, revealing a hint of surprise, and said, "Good!"
Before the sound had even faded, Yan Lixuan shot forward with a shua, his speed like an arrow released from a bowstring, reaching seventy-two meters per second.
The blade of grass in his hand, like a thin sword, traced an arc and stabbed toward Zhang Ruochen's heart.
The moment before Yan Lixuan made his move, Zhang Ruochen swung his sword and slashed out, cutting diagonally toward Yan Lixuan's neck.
Yan Lixuan's expression changed slightly, and he quickly shifted three steps to the right.
"Could it be that his realm of sword intent is even higher than mine, striking later yet arriving first?"
Yan Lixuan no longer hid his strength and shouted, "Blood Qi Condense Spirit!"
Beneath Yan Lixuan's feet, a massive blood array nine meters in diameter formed. Behind him, the phantom of a giant tiger appeared, and above his head, a four-foot blood sword hovered.
By activating his bloodline power, Yan Lixuan's strength and speed climbed to a new height.
"Prajna Infinite!"
Yan Lixuan's aura surged greatly as he executed a spirit-grade upper-class sword art, the Prajna Sword Art.
Prajna Infinite was the first move of the Prajna Sword Art.
The blade of grass in Yan Lixuan's hand emitted a golden radiance, like a golden sun, carrying an unmatched momentum as it pressed toward Zhang Ruochen.
The power of a spirit-grade upper-class sword art was extraordinary, incomparable to a spirit-grade lower-class sword art.
"I can't clash head-on with him; I have to use finesse." Zhang Ruochen thought to himself.
"Heart of Heaven Stirring the Tide!"
The leaf war sword in Zhang Ruochen's hand suddenly split apart, transforming into seventy-two leaves.
Each leaf was a small sword.
The sword qi surged like waves, layer upon layer, continuously neutralizing the sword art Yan Lixuan had unleashed, eventually dissolving it into nothingness.
"Hua!"
After breaking Yan Lixuan's sword art, the seventy-two leaves re-condensed into a war sword, suspended in Zhang Ruochen's palm.
"Zhang Ruochen, I spent fourteen years mastering the Prajna Sword Art. At the Mysterious Extreme Realm, you are the first person to withstand one of my sword strikes." Yan Lixuan laughed heartily, in high spirits.
Zhang Ruochen said, "Outsiders say your maximum burst speed is seventy-two meters per second, but the speed you just unleashed reached seventy-six meters per second. Were you hiding your strength?"
"Weren't you hiding yours too?"
Yan Lixuan laughed again and attacked once more, "My Infinite Sword Art has eight moves in total. If you can block all eight, I will immediately admit defeat."
"Second move, Infinite Heaven and Earth!"
Yan Lixuan's body seemed to leap through the air, now east, now west, his sword moves unpredictable, making it impossible to judge from which direction he would strike.
Zhang Ruochen suddenly turned and swung his sword in a slash.
This strike from Zhang Ruochen did not hit Yan Lixuan.
Yan Lixuan stabbed down from above Zhang Ruochen's head, piercing through Zhang Ruochen's body and splitting it in two.
But Yan Lixuan felt no joy; instead, his expression changed drastically. He had only pierced an afterimage left by Zhang Ruochen, while Zhang Ruochen's true body was nowhere to be found.
"Infinite Shield!"
Yan Lixuan immediately executed a defensive sword move. Streams of sword qi converged into a massive shield shadow in front of him.
"Boom!"
Zhang Ruochen swung the leaf war sword, striking the shield shadow.
Both retreated simultaneously.
Moments later, they clashed again.
"Infinite Break Kill!"
"Infinite Light!"
...
Hundreds and thousands of sword qi gathered within a ten-zhang radius around Yan Lixuan, forming a vortex, pushing Yan Lixuan's aura to its peak.
Yan Lixuan executed the final move, roaring, "Infinite Reincarnation!"
Zhang Ruochen was like a small boat amidst giant waves, standing upright within the violent sword qi, and said calmly, "It's time to end this."
"Shua!"
Zhang Ruochen burst forth at a speed of eighty meters per second, stabbing out with his sword like a white rainbow piercing through the void, breaking all the sword moves Yan Lixuan had unleashed.
When Zhang Ruochen's body stopped, he had already crossed over ten zhang. The leaf war sword in his hand pierced through Yan Lixuan's chest.
Thirteen of the leaves passed through his chest, stained with crimson blood, suspended behind Yan Lixuan.
However, under Zhang Ruochen's exquisite control, the thirteen leaves avoided the internal organs, merely piercing flesh and skin, without truly severely wounding Yan Lixuan.
Yan Lixuan stood frozen like stone, staring at the sword formed by the leaves, a bitter smile on his face, and said, "I have lost. I was already defeated when I made my first move."
Zhang Ruochen withdrew his true qi, and the sword automatically dispersed, turning into leaves that fluttered lightly to the ground.
"I just wanted to see the power of a spirit-grade upper-class sword art, but it wasn't as strong as I imagined." Zhang Ruochen said.
Yan Lixuan said, "I once thought that obtaining the Infinite Sword Art would make me invincible at the same cultivation level. Only today did I realize that the sword art I had practiced for years was so easily broken. If I had known this earlier, I would never have done that wrong thing to obtain this sword art. Xin Lian wouldn't have died at the hands of our enemies either. It's all retribution."
Zhang Ruochen roughly understood that Yan Lixuan's heart knot was probably related to the Infinite Sword Art.
For a Mysterious Extreme Realm martial artist to obtain a spirit-grade upper-class sword art was already an incredible thing.
Just then, Zhang Ruochen sensed the spiritual energy between heaven and earth rapidly flowing, all converging toward Yan Lixuan.
"Boom!"
The spiritual energy around Yan Lixuan violently shook, surging like a tide into his brow.
Moments later, Yan Lixuan opened his eyes again, a look of relief on his face. He bowed deeply to Zhang Ruochen and said, "This defeat today has brought me great gains. If I break through to the Heavenly Extreme Realm in the future, I will surely repay this favor."
With that, Yan Lixuan departed, his sleeves billowing.
Just now, he had untied his heart knot, breaking through years of shackles, and advanced to the Earth Extreme Realm.
"Senior Brother, why did Yan Lixuan leave so suddenly? Who won between you two?" Liu Chengfeng rushed in from outside, extremely curious.
"Who won or lost doesn't matter."
Zhang Ruochen pondered for a moment and asked, "The inner palace academy of the Martial Market Academy is in Heavenly Demon Martial City, right?"
"Senior Brother, why are you going to the inner palace academy of the Martial Market Academy? Right now, many people want to deal with you. I heard someone spent a huge sum to hire assassins to take your head, with a bounty as high as 14,700,000 silver coins. On the Black Market's Bounty List, you rank thirty-seventh, with a price comparable to some Heavenly Extreme Realm martial artists." Liu Chengfeng said with some concern.
The Bounty List was a public ranking issued by the Black Market, based on the bounty price for each martial artist. The higher the price, the higher the ranking.
For example, Zhang Ruochen was not only targeted by Xun Guihai but also by other forces and individuals who wanted his life.
All the bounties combined made up Zhang Ruochen's head price.
Only martial artists with a cumulative bounty of one million silver coins could enter the Bounty List.
Zhang Ruochen was somewhat surprised, "How did it suddenly get so high? I remember the bounty was only a little over a million silver coins before, barely enough to make the Bounty List."
Liu Chengfeng said, "It's because your battle with Xun Guihai was too dazzling. Some even suspect you have reached the Supreme Extreme Realm of the Mysterious Extreme Realm. Your talent threatens the interests of many, so naturally, many want to kill you. They don't dare to kill you openly, so they spend money to hire Black Market assassins. The bounty keeps stacking, so it gets higher and higher."
Zhang Ruochen gently rubbed his chin and said, "If my bounty really reaches 14,700,000 silver coins, it will definitely attract Heavenly Extreme Realm martial artists. Even if I stay at your father's residence, it might not be safe. The truly safe place is only the inner palace academy of the Martial Market Academy."
"Moreover, if I want to master the Wind-Riding Flying Dragon Shadow in the shortest time, I must go to the inner palace academy of the Martial Market Academy."
If he stayed at Liu Chuanshen's residence, even if he trained for another year, he wouldn't be able to master the Wind-Riding Flying Dragon Shadow. He needed external force, and he had to go to the inner palace academy because it had places that could help Zhang Ruochen train.
Liu Chengfeng said, "Then I'll go invite Father to personally escort you to the inner palace academy."
"No need for that trouble. Just tell me the location of the inner palace academy, and I'll go there myself." Zhang Ruochen said with a mysterious smile.
"Senior Brother, don't joke around. If you get assassinated by Black Market killers on the way to the inner palace academy, I can't bear that responsibility." Liu Chengfeng said anxiously.
"I'm not joking. Evading those killers is a simple matter for me. During my absence, Fourth Brother, Junior Sister Zi, and Kong Xuan can stay here temporarily. The killers are targeting me; they shouldn't trouble them." Zhang Ruochen said seriously.
Other martial artists naturally couldn't enter the inner palace academy of the Martial Market Academy unnoticed, but Zhang Ruochen could, because he possessed the Time-Space Crystal.