Chapter 14: Youth Radiates Brilliant Light
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When those three painters from the Heavenly Mechanism Pavilion cried out in shock, many people on the great ship guessed what sword Xu Yourong was using. It was only because they were too stunned, utterly unable to believe it, that they waited until they heard Mao Qiuyu and the others speak, finally confirming that it was indeed as they had imagined.
A dead silence fell, utterly soundless, save for the Luo River gently lapping against the ship's hull.
People gazed at the stone bridge shrouded in rain, mist, and snowy haze in the distance, at that scene that seemed like a celestial realm. They thought in shock: Was the Great Light Sword about to reappear in the world?
Countless years ago, at the beginning of the schism between the northern and southern branches of the National Religion, the first Southern Holy Maiden observed the steles at the Heavenly Book Mausoleum and comprehended the Dao, from autumn to summer. Ultimately, beneath the pavilion before the Divine Path, she created two great Daoist techniques. One was the supremely profound and elusive "Spring Has Departed," and the other was the legendary Great Light Sword.
The Great Light Sword possessed a sacred significance that transcended the mundane world and an unimaginably terrifying power. Along with the National Religion's Sun and Moon Scroll, the White Emperor's Sea-Burning Art's seventh form, the Two-Severing Blade's "Sky-Rending," and the Chen Imperial Clan's spear technique's "Autumn Slaughter," it was known as one of the five ultimate techniques of the continent.
The Sun and Moon Scroll comprehended the Heavenly Dao and forgot the Star Sea; the Sea-Burning Art was domineering and unparalleled; the Two-Severing Blade slaughtered all living beings; the Frost Remnant Spear gazed coldly upon the withering of all things in the world. Each had its own path, excelling in temperament and spirit. The Great Light Sword, however, was different. It was more like an offering to the starry sky, a transcendence of the sword path itself.
The Great Light Sword was an unimaginable sword technique. It had no specific forms; rather, it was more like the essence of ten thousand swords, an exceedingly complex trajectory of starlight, ultimately manifested in the simplest way.
This sword technique was both the simplest and the most complex. Every ray of light was a sword stroke, and light traveled between heaven and earth, capable of taking any form, reaching any distance. As long as one was within heaven and earth, how could one avoid it?
Aside from the legendary "Spring Has Departed" and the "Scroll of Time," the National Religion could find no other technique so profound and difficult to comprehend. Learning it was naturally exceptionally hard. The practitioner of the sword must have a clear understanding of all the myriad sword techniques in the world, then, using the sacred aura within the Zhai Sword, perfectly integrate that understanding of the sword path with the orthodox Daoist techniques of the National Religion.
To learn the Great Light Sword, one had to use the sacred aura within the Zhai Sword for enlightenment. Many years ago, Zhou Dufu stormed the Holy Maiden Peak, took the Zhai Sword away, and the Great Light Sword was lost from that time on.
"Hasn't the Great Light Sword been lost for several hundred years?"
The people on the great ship, looking at the Bridge of Helplessness that seemed like a celestial realm, at Xu Yourong's figure faintly visible in the snowy mist, couldn't help but cry out in shocked whispers.
The King of Linghai said, "The Zhai Sword has reappeared in the world."
Only then did people realize that the sword in Xu Yourong's hand was the Zhai Sword of the Southern Creek Nunnery. Then, recalling the rumor that Chen Changsheng had discovered the Sword Pool in the Zhou Garden, they understood that this Zhai Sword must have been returned to the Southern Creek Nunnery by the Li Palace. They couldn't help but feel that the matter was somewhat chaotic.
Mo Yu looked at the Bridge of Helplessness, her willow-leaf brows slightly raised.
To comprehend and experience the sacred aura within the Zhai Sword required nothing but time. Back when the Zhai Sword was still on the Holy Maiden Peak, not every generation of Holy Maiden could master the Great Light Sword. Those who did master it often only achieved complete enlightenment after decades of cultivation, once their cultivation base was fully developed. She knew very well that Xu Yourong had only just turned sixteen last month and had only received the Zhai Sword from the Li Palace seven days ago. So how had she managed to do this?
Just as the people on the ship were struck speechless by shock, the scene on the bridge changed again. Countless bright but not blinding golden rays of light pierced through the snowy mist, illuminating the Luo River beneath the bridge and the cold-resistant willow branches on both banks. The celestial realm instantly transformed into a divine kingdom, and the stone bridge seemed to be the path leading to that kingdom.
From this point on, there was no more doubt. Xu Yourong was indeed using the Great Light Sword!
The rays of light pierced through the snow. Within the snowy mist, light and shadow shifted, giving birth to countless faint, ethereal traces. Those traces were all sword intent, condensed but unmoving, hidden but unreleased.
If those rays of light within the snowy mist touched anything, then these countless sword intents would arrive with the snow and manifest with the rain. Although, up to this moment, people had not yet seen these sword intents transform into actual sword techniques, they could already faintly sense that countless sword techniques were hidden within them.
This was the most terrifying aspect of the Great Light Sword. If Chen Changsheng raised his sword to meet it, those sword intents would transform on their own. Who could eliminate the light between heaven and earth?
If it were a powerful expert like Mao Qiuyu or the King of Linghai, who were only one step away from the sacred domain, they could naturally rely on their abundant true essence and profound cultivation base to forcefully crush it, breaking Xu Yourong's Great Light Sword at the cost of a corresponding, minor price. But Chen Changsheng and Xu Yourong were on a similar level of cultivation. The quantity of his true essence and the strength of his divine sense were far inferior to hers. How could he break this sword technique?
Of course, since the Great Light Sword was not a mundane sword, using it would inevitably come at a great cost. Even with Xu Yourong's Heavenly Phoenix bloodline, she could probably only use it once at most.
If Chen Changsheng could not break this Great Light Sword, he would undoubtedly lose. If he could break this Great Light Sword, Xu Yourong would undoubtedly lose. This was precisely why that painter from the Heavenly Mechanism Pavilion had cried out in shock earlier.
Today's battle on the Bridge of Helplessness was the focus of all attention. The people of the capital had waited several months for this duel, or one could even say they had waited nearly two years.
Was this duel going to end so quickly?
Many people were astonished. Whether it was Mao Qiuyu, the King of Linghai, or Daoist Siyuan, none of them would have forced themselves into a dead end so early.
Yes, this was a dead end.
For both Chen Changsheng and Xu Yourong, it was the same.
Victory or defeat would be decided in a single sword stroke. Chen Changsheng and Xu Yourong were both people with great confidence in themselves. Confident people would not allow themselves to be forced into such a situation.
Yet they had done exactly that, leaving themselves no retreat.
Chen Changsheng had drawn a path on the snow bridge using Wang Po's blade path. Xu Yourong had her own path, but she calmly accepted his, because they were both in the prime of their youth.
Youth requires no reservation.
It does not hide its flaws, nor does it sheathe its edge.
Youth demands to be overwhelming.
And so, this duel had reached its end just as it had begun.
The senior experts like the King of Linghai were no longer young, and had even forgotten their own youth, so they could not understand. Tang Thirty-Six could understand, Su Moyu understood, Prince Chenliu vaguely understood, and Zhe Xiu understood best, because they were young people.
"Neither Chen Changsheng nor Xu Yourong would enjoy putting on a show for others." Tang Thirty-Six turned his head to look at the dense crowd on both banks of the Luo River and said, "It will end very quickly."
Just then, a cry of surprise suddenly rose from below the great ship.
On the Bridge of Helplessness, the snowy mist danced wildly, and the rain and fog suddenly scattered.
Countless rays of light, concealing countless sword intents, surged towards Chen Changsheng.
Chen Changsheng raised his sword and thrust it towards a certain point in the rain and snow.
This sword stroke had no novelty, nor any deeper meaning.
Yet, the rain and snow on the bridge suddenly stopped.