Guicang Against Silver Gleam

Di Luwu’s strike was simply too fast. Only after the silver dragon revealed its true form as a silver spear did an explanation slowly appear in the Viewing Mirror: “The spear strikes like a dragon, piercing all things.” Having run Xu Guzhi through, the silver spear whipped around abruptly, piercing each of the sword shadows filling the sky one by one. Only then did it drift leisurely back into Di Luwu’s hand. At that moment, the giant Lianshan swords Xu Guzhi had unleashed still had not touched Di Luwu’s body. Under the silver gleam’s rampant might, they vanished into faint wisps. Xu Guzhi violently spat a mouthful of blood, staring in disbelief at the "child" before him, who showed not the slightest ripple of emotion. The battle’s tide had turned in a mere breath. In truth, the vast majority of cultivating spectators across the world had been unable to see what had just happened. Only as the Viewing Mirror replayed the clash over and over in slow motion did they comprehend the fight's details. A collective gasp followed. “What terrifying speed! What sharp spearmanship!” “Just where does this Di Luwu come from? Isn't he far too powerful? It looks to me like even some Dao Integration Immortal Venerables might not be his match!” “Who do you mean by that, Fellow Daoist? Why not just say it plainly?” …… Yet in the arena, Xu Guzhi, having been impaled by the silver spear, did not concede immediately. Taking a deep breath, he fully healed the wounds across his body. Xu Guzhi opened his mouth slightly and swallowed the straight sword in his hand down into his belly. As the sword entered his body, his form disappeared. Right there before everyone’s watching eyes, Xu Guzhi vanished entirely! Once again, a caption surfaced on the Viewing Mirror to explain what had occurred: “The sword returns to concealment; the killing blow hides in the void.” For the first time, a slight ripple of expression surfaced on Di Luwu’s face. Yet it remained merely a ripple. He stood motionless in the void, reaching out his right hand to hook a finger forward in a provocative gesture. Barely an instant later, an invisible gleam of sword light abruptly materialized not far above Di Luwu’s head. Silent and soundless, just as it was about to sever Di Luwu’s neck, a silver glare roared up to meet the Guicang Sword, blocking the fatal blow. Di Luwu swept his gaze across the surroundings, yet still failed to find any trace of Xu Guzhi. Another invisible surge of sword qi struck, impossible for anyone to detect. Yet just before it touched Di Luwu’s body, it was once again intercepted by his silver spear. “Though the sword is formless, intent moves without thought.” “The spear of Wu: the pinnacle of speed, breaking all arts.” The Viewing Mirror’s commentary appeared once more. Li Fan stared at those two lines in the small mirror for a long time. Reflecting on the combat footage of Di Luwu and Xu Guzhi from a moment ago, he felt a flash of insight. Xu Guzhi’s Guicang Sword truly was extraordinary; even Di Luwu was unable to discover its whereabouts. However, Di Luwu’s speed was simply too great. He was more than a full tier faster than Xu Guzhi. Furthermore, Di Luwu had mastered the art of letting intent act without conscious thought, allowing him to mobilize his silver spear at the very instant an attack was about to land, intercepting each strike of the Guicang Sword one by one. Viewed this way, defeating Di Luwu was clearly an impossible task for Xu Guzhi. Yet for Di Luwu to defeat Xu Guzhi… It seemed extraordinarily difficult as well. Evidently fed up with being trifled with in such a manner, Di Luwu furrowed his brows for the first time. A ferocious silver radiance erupted from his body, sweeping across his surroundings with a vow to annihilate everything caught in its wake. In an instant, the Viewing Mirror’s display was entirely engulfed by the blinding silver light. After a brief moment of blindness, the scene in the mirror gradually returned to normal. “This time, that Xu Guzhi must surely be dead.” Just as many cultivators thought so, yet another invisible sword light—like a relentless, lingering ghost—slashed toward Di Luwu. Xu Guzhi was still concealed somewhere within the arena! Seeing this, Li Fan’s eyes instantly lit up. “This method is truly magnificent for preserving one’s life.” Di Luwu was clearly enraged by Xu Guzhi’s shameless tactics. Silver serpents of lightning ceaselessly tore through the surrounding space, even ripping open black rifts in the void. Yet they still failed to flush Xu Guzhi out. Among the spectator stands of the Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals, jeers and curses began to break out. “What kind of match is this? Hiding the moment you can’t win?” “I say don’t call him Xu Guzhi anymore—change his name to Xu the Tortoise!” No matter what anyone said, Xu Guzhi remained entirely unmoved, staying hidden in the void. Sword after sword, he launched ceaseless attacks toward Di Luwu. Seeing that the fight could continue until the end of time without a resolution, both sides finally engaged in amicable negotiations. A dramatic outcome ensued. The very first match on the first day of the tournament ended in a draw! This result took everyone completely by surprise. Only on the Heavenly Profound Mirror's Dharma Deduction Under Heaven forum did a cultivator post such a message: “Holy crap! It really was a draw! Three-hundred-to-one odds? I've struck it rich this time!” The post drew boundless envy and curses from countless cultivators. After Xu Guzhi and Di Luwu stepped down, a brief rest was taken before the second match commenced. The cultivator fielded by the Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals was someone Li Fan recognized: Shuo Feng, nicknamed “Wo Wudi.” The representative from the Five Elders Association, however, was a limping cripple. Though this Lame Daoist looked unremarkable, his combat prowess was formidable. Every gesture and step seemed to contain boundless might. The surrounding space warped so intensely that the broadcast on the Viewing Mirror grew blurred. Yet Shuo Feng was no pushover either. Relying entirely on his gleaming golden armor, he stubbornly withstood all of the Lame Daoist’s attacks. The two then tangled in a prolonged brawl until Shuo Feng finally seized an opening, commanding seven times seven, forty-nine flying swords to defeat the Lame Daoist. The Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals claimed victory in the second bout. Yet Shuo Feng himself wore little pride on his face. Cupping his hands toward the Lame Daoist, he departed without uttering a single word. He seemed rather dissatisfied with his own victory. “Shuo Feng’s victory lay in the superiority of his equipment, not in the valor of martial prowess.” Even the Viewing Mirror produced such a post-match commentary. By all rights, an act that bolstered the enemy's prestige while diminishing their own side's morale should never have happened. Yet it had appeared nonetheless. “Who is Shuo Feng?” “The dharma treasures on him are terrifyingly potent! If I had that set of gear, I probably wouldn’t be much weaker, would I?” “With just your skills? The guy has a great mother—what about you? Keep dreaming!” “A great mother? Fellow Daoist, do tell.” …… Cultivators across the world buzzed with discussion, and soon everyone knew Shuo Feng was the precious son of Immortal Venerable Feixue. Perhaps his chance to take the stage in this tournament had everything to do with his mother. Regardless of what Shuo Feng himself thought, the third match began amidst these heated debates. Everyone had anticipated another clash of dragons and tigers, yet the outcome arrived with astonishing speed. With just a single punch, the representative fielded by the Alliance of Ten Thousand Immortals was defeated. And the one who threw that punch was an utterly unremarkable peasant woman from the Five Elders Association.