Chapter 588: The Mountain Gate of Li Mountain (Part 2)
Yes, the sword technique Liang Banhu used was the most ordinary Mountain Gate Sword of the Li Mountain Sword Sect.
Any disciple who entered the Li Mountain Sword Sect had to learn this sword technique in their first year.
Chen Changsheng had learned this technique, so he naturally recognized it. But it wasn't until he saw Liang Banhu's strike that he understood why Li Mountain was truly worthy of being called the Origin of Ten Thousand Swords. Even an ordinary introductory technique had its own essence and should not be underestimated—he glimpsed a hint of the Clumsy Sword's intent within Liang Banhu's strike.
Liang Banhu's iron sword met the sword of that Heartless Sect expert.
A dull thud rang out.
When violent sword intents clashed, which was stronger?
Naturally, the more stable sword intent was stronger.
On the sunlit slope, straight ridges of farmland stretched out without any deviation.
Liang Banhu's iron sword clashed with the Heartless Sect expert's blade and then disengaged, but the next strike followed immediately.
His hand gripping the sword was too steady, his sword too stable, so much so that the transitions between sword forms seemed to have no pause whatsoever.
Over a dozen sword cries echoed atop the cold mountain. In just a few moments, Liang Banhu and that Heartless Sect expert had exchanged several moves. The iron sword remained as steady as ever, pressing forward unceasingly.
It was like walking between the ridges of a field, or even more like climbing the steep peaks of Li Mountain—not fast, but with extremely steady steps. Eventually, one would reach the highest point.
Dust and smoke spread across the stone platform, sword light flickering in and out of view. Suddenly, a clear ring sounded as Liang Banhu withdrew his sword, lightly retreating several zhang, his feet landing on the ground.
He held the iron sword, still steady, his expression still calm, like a farmer who had just finished his day's plowing.
The Heartless Sect expert looked down at his chest in disbelief. A wound had appeared there, he didn't know when.
The wound wasn't deep, and it didn't bleed much, but it was very straight, as if it had been drawn on.
This battle had decided victory and defeat.
Many had thought Liang Banhu might win. Although he was the least famous of the Seven Laws of the Divine Kingdom, he was still one of the Seven Laws.
But no one had expected him to win so easily... or more precisely, to win so steadily.
Only by completely controlling the situation could one deny the opponent any opportunity, making it feel as natural and inevitable as plowing a field or climbing a mountain.
Even more shocking was that from start to finish, he had used only the most ordinary sword technique of Li Mountain—the Mountain Gate Sword.
"I concede."
Liang Banhu sheathed his sword, bowed to the Heartless Sect expert, and walked back into the Li Mountain Sword Sect's formation, his expression unchanged.
But Zhe Xiu's eyes were the sharpest. He noticed that when Liang Banhu sheathed his sword, his sleeve trembled slightly.
—Facing a powerful enemy, his hand holding the sword had been so steady. Now that he had won, why was his hand trembling?
It was naturally not tension or unease, but faint excitement, or rather, the satisfaction of releasing the pent-up frustration in his chest.
The wounded Heartless Sect expert was helped back to receive treatment from the Heavenly Mechanism Pavilion. A wandering cultivator from the northwest, seeing his pale, despairing expression, furrowed his brow and looked toward the Li Mountain Sword Sect. Tianliang Commandery was in the northwest. Apart from the Snow Mountain Sect, all the sects and wandering cultivators across tens of thousands of li in the northwest had countless ties to the Heartless Sect or the Zhu Clan.
Or rather, they all worshipped Zhu Luo as a deity.
Clearly, this wandering cultivator was about to challenge the Li Mountain Sword Sect.
The Li Mountain Sword Sect didn't give him the chance.
Guan Feibai walked to the center of the field, looked at the wandering cultivator expressionlessly, and said, "Come on."
—Since it was obvious he was going to challenge, why not be direct and let him be the one to pick the fight?
The Li Mountain Sword Sect was not a rigid sect with a uniform style, but Guan Feibai's style was indeed the most prominent one of the sect.
This style was direct, fierce, tough, and arrogant, originating from Su Li and lasting for centuries.
Hearing Guan Feibai's cold voice, the area around the stone platform grew even quieter.
The northwest wandering cultivator's expression turned somewhat ugly, but in the end, he had no choice but to stay where he was. He slowly walked out.
Guan Feibai held his long sword horizontally before his eyes, his expression indifferent, saying nothing.
The northwest wandering cultivator slowly drew his sword, his expression solemn. His robes fluttered lightly, his aura radiating outward, his momentum gradually building.
A clear whistle rang out!
Guan Feibai dashed forward, his sword leaving its sheath and appearing in the lake wind, slashing toward the northwest wandering cultivator.
The dust and smoke on the stone platform, which had been slowly settling, billowed up again. The lake water shook even more violently.
Clatter, clatter, clatter, clatter! Four extremely clear sounds of sword edges cutting through flesh rang out. Four beams of sword light directly sliced through the lake wind and water!
The northwest wandering cultivator grunted, retreating repeatedly, but he simply couldn't block Guan Feibai's sword. Several bloody gashes appeared on his chest!
"Enough," Gou Hanshi said.
His voice was soft, yet everyone around the stone platform heard it clearly.
Guan Feibai's sword momentum was at its peak, but hearing his senior brother's words, he forcibly stopped in his tracks.
A sharp cracking sound was heard as several fine cracks appeared on the bluestone beneath his feet.
The northwest wandering cultivator had never expected him to stop on command, and moreover... to actually be able to stop on command.
His own sword move, already in a defensive posture, couldn't be released. His true essence surged backward, and he couldn't stop his momentum.
He stumbled backward like a drunkard, his steps growing increasingly chaotic. In the end, he couldn't keep his balance and sat down heavily on the ground, looking especially awkward.
By then, Guan Feibai had already sheathed his sword and turned to walk back to the Li Mountain Sword Sect's position.
The northwest wandering cultivator stared at his back, his face pale to the extreme, filled with shame and pain. His mind churned, and combined with the flare-up of his internal injuries, he couldn't hold back and spat out a mouthful of blood.
The stone platform by the lake remained quiet, even quieter than before, as if dead silent.
Tang Thirty-Six was silent, unusually refraining from mocking Guan Feibai a few times.
People were stunned by Guan Feibai's sword cultivation and lethality, equally speechless, but they didn't notice a detail in this fleeting battle.
Zhe Xiu noticed it, his expression turning serious as he said, "He's still using the Mountain Gate Sword."
Just then, a furious shout rang out on the stone platform: "Your Li Mountain Sword Sect is going too far!"
By now, everyone clearly understood the situation. This was a battle between the Li Mountain Sword Sect and Tianliang Commandery.
The relationship between the Li Mountain Sword Sect and the cultivators of Tianliang Commandery was complicated, because Su Li had once killed half of the Liang Manor, because of Liang Xiaoxiao and Liang Banhu's identities and what had happened to them, because of that rainy night in Xunyang City last year, and because of that letter this year that had burned Wanliu Garden to ashes.
The two sides had formed a deep enmity, impossible to resolve.
At such a time, anyone who would still speak up for the cultivators of Tianliang Commandery naturally came from Tianliang Commandery as well.
Hu Shusheng was a strong cultivator from Hanqiu City.
This man's cultivation talent had been recognized by both the Zhou Dynasty court and the Heavenly Mechanism Pavilion many years ago.
Everyone was certain that once he successfully formed his stars, he would definitely enter the Carefree List.
In the north, he even had the reputation of being undefeated within the Penetrating Darkness realm.
Now that Liang Banhu and Guan Feibai had both made their moves, the one he would naturally challenge could only be Gou Hanshi.
The atmosphere on the field immediately grew somewhat tense.
Gou Hanshi had been well-versed in the Daoist canon since childhood. His wisdom, perseverance, and comprehension were all top-notch.
If not for Qiu Shanjun within Li Mountain and Xu Yourong and Chen Changsheng outside it, he would surely be the most suitable leader of the younger generation in the human world.
Although Hu Shusheng's reputation wasn't as loud as his, he had been cultivating for many more years, surpassing him in both realm and experience.
With two such strong cultivators about to clash at the Boiling Stone Assembly, one could imagine how fierce and spectacular the battle would be later.
Gou Hanshi walked to the center of the field, looked at Hu Shusheng, and nodded, but said nothing.
Hu Shusheng said the Li Mountain Sword Sect was going too far.
He didn't answer, didn't defend himself, because although he was skilled at such things, he was unwilling to do so.
But to everyone watching, wasn't this calm silence itself a form of contemptuous humiliation?
Hu Shusheng said expressionlessly, "Don't you have anything to say?"
Gou Hanshi shook his head.
He had nothing to say.
From the storm in Xunyang City to the Heartless Sect expert's earlier remarks involving Liang Xiaoxiao, this battle had been destined for today.
The mountain gate of Li Mountain was a real gate.
Push open that gate, and you could see the mountain.
The people of the Li Mountain Sword Sect had different temperaments, but they all liked to speak plainly.
Gou Hanshi was a gentle person, but he was no exception.
He drew his sword from its sheath and thrust it forward.
Just one strike.
Hu Shusheng was defeated.
A crushing defeat.
This strike was called: Opening the Gate to See the Mountain.
The first form of the Li Mountain Sword Sect's Mountain Gate Sword.
...
...
The lakeside was silent.
People's gazes darted back and forth between the wounded, unconscious Hu Shusheng and Gou Hanshi, who had returned his sword to his sleeve. They were stunned into silence, gradually growing bewildered.
Chen Changsheng was also somewhat bewildered, but not because Gou Hanshi could defeat his opponent so easily.
He had always admired, even respected, Gou Hanshi. He had always believed that when he had defeated Gou Hanshi in the Grand Examination duel, it wasn't because he was stronger than Gou Hanshi, but because he had more reason to win the top spot in the Grand Examination, and because he had no attachments to this world.
That Hu Shusheng was praised in the north as undefeated within the Penetrating Darkness realm—so what?
He could now defeat cultivators at the initial Star Gathering realm, so naturally, Gou Hanshi could too.
What puzzled him and unsettled his emotions was that from Liang Banhu to Guan Feibai to Gou Hanshi, they had all used the Li Mountain Sword Sect's Mountain Gate Sword.
This could be understood as the confidence of Li Mountain disciples, the pride of the Seven Laws of the Divine Kingdom.
But he always felt that behind this choice, there should be some other hidden meaning.
"Because of Liang Xiaoxiao," Tang Thirty-Six said, looking toward the Li Mountain Sword Sect's position, his expression unusually serious, not as frivolous as usual.
Chen Changsheng was puzzled and asked, "Liang Xiaoxiao?"
Tang Thirty-Six withdrew his gaze, looked at him, and said, "Many people have forgotten who the top scorer of the Grand Examination before your time was."
Chen Changsheng remembered and said, "It was Liang Xiaoxiao."
"Exactly. Even among those seven, Liang Xiaoxiao's talent and strength were outstanding. Some people only know that Guan Feibai's perseverance in studying sword techniques was astonishing, that he had practiced all the sword techniques in the Li Mountain Sword Sect's general formula to perfection. But they don't know that Liang Xiaoxiao was no weaker. He had even turned the Li Mountain Sword Sect's Opening Gate Sword into a true killing art."
Tang Thirty-Six said, "In the hearts of the Li Mountain Sword Sect's disciples, the Opening Gate Sword... is Liang Xiaoxiao's sword. They fight with his sword technique, and the meaning they want to convey is very clear."
Zhe Xiu looked toward the Li Mountain Sword Sect's position, a hint of blood-red gradually appearing in the depths of his eyes.
Chen Changsheng thought for a moment and said, "I don't think so."