Consolation

In that instant, Xiaoyu's respect for Zhang Sheng plummeted. If it hadn't hit rock bottom yet, it was at least hovering close enough that one could reach out and touch Wei Yuan. Xiaoyu believed anyone with half a brain understood how the wielder of Immortal Sword Great Sun would feel upon seeing False Sun. And since everyone understood, wasn't forging an Immortal Sword · False Sun specifically meant to disgust him? Yet this False Sun wielded by Zhang Sheng actually contained a wisp of the True Fire of the Sun's true intent. Its sword-bearing sword immortal simply lacked high intellect rather than having no mind at all; it was not entirely ignorant, and controlling a False Sun did not require much intelligence anyway. In terms of spirituality, if compared to mortals, Star Lord Shaoyang would be among the top three in the imperial palace examinations if not the champion scholar himself. Zhang Sheng's sword-bearing immortal, by contrast, was like a scholar who had failed the local exams—nowhere near earning official honours, and a hundred thousand li from reaching the palace examinations, yet vastly more knowledgeable than an ordinary mortal. That an Immortal Sword · False Sun could cultivate any spirituality at all was already incredible. Judged strictly as a False Sun, Zhang Sheng's sword was the finest of its kind, an absolute pinnacle. Single-handedly, she had elevated False Sun to a height where it never belonged. Yet no matter how high it rose, it could never compare to the genuine Great Sun. And this wielder could hardly be called a sword immortal—at most, it was merely a swordsman. Zhang Sheng had not summoned an Immortal Sword · False Sun to serve as decoration. With a shift of her divine intent, the swordsman advanced with sword in hand, slashing downward toward Star Lord Shaoyang with a thin streak of fire! The strike was rather insolent. Irritation surfaced on Star Lord Shaoyang's face. With a wave of his hand, he struck the swordsman back with his sword, leaving a massive notch in the False Sun, clearly damaged. Yet Star Lord Shaoyang was slightly surprised. He had used thirty percent of his strength in that strike, yet he hadn't severed the counterfeit across from him? Just then, Star Lord Shaoyang received a thought from Xiaoyu: *This person is a senior and teacher. We must treat her with respect and not harm her.* Star Lord Shaoyang duly dialed his strength back by another ten percent. Zhang Sheng frowned slightly and said, "Do not hold back. Even if you slay it, it does not matter." Xiaoyu grew a little irritated. While sword-bearing fighters could not truly die, having one slain on the spot would still deplete a large amount of vital energy and injure Zhang Sheng's nascent soul. If he really did that, wouldn't that barbarian Wei Yuan come after his life? No amount of goodwill could fill such a bottomless pit. The False Sun swordsman attacked once more, but Star Lord Shaoyang twisted his body, evading a fiery line slashing from behind. A second swordsman had appeared behind him, swinging another thread of fire. The two swordsmen mounted a pincer attack from front and rear, coordinating seamlessly. Their combined combat power far exceeded the simple sum of the two, forcing Star Lord Shaoyang to exert thirty percent of his power before completely regaining the upper hand. Zhang Sheng stood motionless. Two more sword-bearing fighters appeared on the field, joining the fray. In the blink of an eye, four became eight, and eight became sixteen. A full sixteen counterfeit False Suns swarmed around Star Lord Shaoyang, slashing and hacking wildly in a spectacular melee. Star Lord Shaoyang had already brought his power to seventy percent yet still could not gain an advantage, leaving him no choice but to add another ten percent. Though it was merely a ten percent difference, the effect was night and day. That extra power was enough to sever the immortal swords in the hands of two swordsmen defending together in a single stroke! Star Lord Shaoyang had suddenly surged with power right as the blades collided. Caught off guard, Zhang Sheng had two False Suns severed simultaneously, throwing the sword-bearing fighters into brief disarray. Xiaoyu immediately shouted, "Do not be insolent toward Master Zhang!" Star Lord Shaoyang gave a slight nod, looking haughtily at the dozen-odd fighters retreating. Zhang Sheng's brows knitted slightly. She sensed Xiaoyu had said those words specifically for her benefit, and a touch of killing intent surfaced toward Star Lord Shaoyang for his sudden surge of power. Without a word, she recalled the two damaged swordsmen and summoned sixteen more onto the field. A full thirty False Suns surrounded and clashed against Immortal Sword Great Sun—which was not only the genuine article, but a limited edition at that. In an instant, trailing embers splashed across the stage, and the True Flame of the Sun sprayed everywhere, scorching the dueling platform with pits and hollows. Yet had there been thirty-two swordsmen, the formation would have been virtually seamless and their coordination flawless. Missing two fighters, the sword formation's might diminished drastically—not merely by a fraction, but by a full forty percent due to the gap in the grand array. By now, Xiaoyu had realized that Star Lord Shaoyang's earlier strike had likely been intentional. Otherwise, handling a formation of thirty-two swordsmen would have proved quite troublesome and required considerable effort. Empowered by the formation, the swordsmen functioned as a unified whole; eighty percent of his strength was no longer enough to sever their immortal swords. Star Lord Shaoyang quietly conserved another reserve of power, preparing to repeat his trick as their blades crossed once more. But suddenly, a white-robed swordsman appeared before his eyes! Her robes were whiter than snow, her expression cold and aloof. Holding a pure-white immortal sword in her hands, she did not stand upon the stage but hovered in midair, gazing down coldly at Star Lord Shaoyang. This white-robed swordsman certainly looked the part, but her strength... was truly pitiful. Though the intent within the blade she held was pure to the utmost, it could not hide the fact that it was merely Mortal Tier. A trash Mortal Tier immortal sword producing a sword-bearing fighter was something utterly unheard of. Xiaoyu felt his common sense being overturned, but then remembered: hadn't the swarm of False Suns before him done the exact same thing? Puzzled, Xiaoyu genuinely could not understand why Zhang Sheng would spend her idle time cultivating so many Mortal Tier swords. Star Lord Shaoyang harboured the same doubt. Yet right then, a point of white light suddenly flared on the blade in the white-robed swordsman's hands—brighter by far than the sun hanging high in the sky! It possessed no heat, nor any gusting wind; it was simply bright, so blindingly bright that Xiaoyu might as well have been struck blind, his vision overwhelmed by white light! In that split second, Xiaoyu finally recognized the sword intent of this blade: Immortal Sword Pure White! Star Lord Shaoyang could see nothing either. The Pure White sword intent affected not only eyesight but divine sense as well. Closing one's eyes was useless; he could only turn his head away. Yet as Star Lord Shaoyang turned his head, another white-robed swordsman stood at his flank! The new white-robed swordsman unleashed her sword intent, plunging Star Lord Shaoyang and Xiaoyu once more into a world of pure white. A deluge of curses surged through Xiaoyu's mind. Such a trash immortal sword, and Zhang Sheng hadn't just forged one—she had forged two! What could this be if not having far too much time on her hands? Curse though he did, Pure White was undeniably effective. Star Lord Shaoyang now had to use his natal immortal power to shield his divine sense before he could see anything clearly. Only then did Xiaoyu realize there were not two Pure Whites, but four, occupying the four cardinal directions to form a self-contained sword formation with no blind spots whatsoever. Seeing Star Lord Shaoyang's defenses take effect, the Pure White sword intent stopped releasing continuously and began flickering at random. The brief bursts of intense light flared even brighter, and caught unawares, Xiaoyu was once again cast into a world of pure white. Fury flared in Star Lord Shaoyang. No longer holding back, he pushed his strength to ninety percent. Yet his sword intent was suddenly blocked by a dense, heavy aura of sword intent. The opponent was clearly not very strong, but exceptionally resilient, refusing to disperse under his strikes. Sixteen more swordsmen appeared on the stage, wielding nameless Earth-phase immortal swords arranged into a formation dedicated purely to defense. In the five phases, Fire engendered Earth; against the Earth-phase sword formation, the True Flame of the Sun lost none of its power, yet the defensive strength of the Earth-phase swords rose slightly nonetheless. Now three grand formations covered the stage—attacking, defending, and restraining—forcing Star Lord Shaoyang to the brink of exerting his full strength. Fortunately, Star Lord Shaoyang's immortal power regenerated ceaselessly. So long as he did not fight at absolute full strength, he could battle until the end of time—a divine ability neither Great Sun nor Yangming possessed. Meanwhile, Zhang Sheng's swordsmen were of low tier after all, and their auras would inevitably wane over time. Zhang Sheng continued to stand with hands clasped behind her back as eight more immortal swords materialized on the field. Xiaoyu recognized these as well: the Great Bright Demon-Subduing Sword. The moment the eight swords appeared, they formed an array. Instead of advancing, they took positions in eight directions, joining forces to suppress Star Lord Shaoyang, actually diminishing his immortal power by five percent! Only now did Xiaoyu understand that when the Great Bright Demon-Subduing Sword was cultivated to its limit, the crux lay in the words "Demon-Subduing." But in the next breath, he grew furious—was she treating him like a demon to be subdued? Sharing his thoughts, Star Lord Shaoyang was equally enraged. He unleashed his full power in an instant, battering the surrounding swordsmen into a miserable state and threatening to tear the grand formation apart. Yet at that moment, four pale-azure immortal swords appeared on the field: Silk Rain. The sight left Xiaoyu stunned, and a clamour erupted among the onlookers. If anyone remembered correctly, the Silk Rain sword had originally been created by Wei Yuan as a knockoff of Zhang Sheng's Azure Silk Rain. Zhang Sheng had actually forged four Silk Rain swords herself—was she knocking off a knockoff of her own creation? Amid the confusion, fine threads of rain drifted across the stage. The auras of all the swordsmen climbed steadily, returning to their peak in the blink of an eye. The spectating cultivators were astounded—was this how Silk Rain was meant to be used? Then three genuine Azure Silk Rains appeared, forming a Three Talents sword formation in the air. A wisp of rain, dyed the deepest shade of azure, bypassed all defenses and landed directly upon Star Lord Shaoyang. Star Lord Shaoyang felt his immortal power continuously dissolving under the azure drizzle. If this persisted to the end, it would surely damage his foundation. He dared not be careless and had to divert a portion of his immortal power to resist it. Layered under multiple suppressions, he could now muster at most ninety percent of his power to fend off the enemy. The moment Azure Silk Rain entered the fray, it suppressed Star Lord Shaoyang, stabilizing the battle into a grinding deadlock where neither side could easily claim victory. Just as Xiaoyu was about to call for a halt, dozens more sword-bearing fighters appeared on the stage, forming a formation of seventy-two positions. The immortal swords in their hands were a motley assortment; the formation existed purely to amplify their power. A full seventy-two trash flying swords bombarded Star Lord Shaoyang relentlessly, nibbling away like ants devouring an elephant, dismantling his defenses bit by bit. Xiaoyu stared slack-jawed, momentarily forgetting to call a stop. Suddenly, the stage cleared. Zhang Sheng had recalled all the swordsmen, leaving only Star Lord Shaoyang standing frozen where he was, his robes tattered and his expression bitter. Meanwhile, the divine senses hidden in the shadows wasted not a moment, bringing out shadow-recording stones one after another. "Enough. Let us end it here," Zhang Sheng said mildly. Xiaoyu gave a bitter smile. "Master Zhang, have you reached the Dharma Idol realm or not?" "Not yet." A sudden desolation crept into Xiaoyu's heart. "...I understand." Zhang Sheng offered comforting words. "Had you not harboured contempt and attacked with full force from the start, the outcome would naturally have been different. Underestimating the enemy is a fatal mistake in combat. You must never do so again." A faint glimmer of light suddenly appeared in Xiaoyu's eyes. "Had I gone all out, could I have won?" Zhang Sheng fell silent for a moment before replying, "...No." "Why?" Zhang Sheng had been waiting for this very question and answered at once, "I still have several hundred immortal swords I haven't brought out." For a moment, Xiaoyu's mind went entirely blank. He didn't know what to say, feeling only a profound damp chill in the wind, seeping straight into his marrow. Seeing his state, Zhang Sheng could only offer further comfort: "For disciples of our Palace of Grand Beginning, isn't fighting across realms a routine matter?" Xiaoyu bit his lip so hard it nearly bled! Disciples of the Palace of Grand Beginning battling enemies above their realm was indeed routine, and top disciples emerging victorious was hardly rare. But the problem was, Xiaoyu was the one on the higher realm being fought against. At this point, Xiaoyu felt he had thoroughly experienced Sky Azure Hall's knack for comforting fellow disciples. Yet he never imagined he had still been too naive. Zhang Sheng looked at Star Lord Shaoyang, pondered for a moment, and said to Xiaoyu, "I once walked the path you are on. But later I met an enemy and learned that it led to a dead end. So, using the opportunity of dying and returning to life, I cast everything aside and started over from scratch. However, there is no need for you to do so; you can continue down this path of specializing in a single sword." "Whom did you meet back then?" The words were out of Xiaoyu's mouth before he could regret them. "The First Heavenly Shaman." Star Lord Shaoyang quietly vanished.