A Clash of Prodigies Across Ages!

An ancient teenage prodigy and a modern teenage prodigy stood locked in a standoff, both brimming with fighting spirit that surged straight to the heavens. "Sect Master Lu's talent is greater than any I have ever witnessed in my life. Although the Dao Seeking Sect has a half-immortal like Daoist Lord Hanhai, the pool is ultimately too small to nurture a true dragon. "My Heavenly Court recruits the virtuous and talented from far and wide. If you are willing, why not join my Heavenly Court? There will certainly be a position as Holy Son reserved for you." "Oh? Aren't you worried I might take your position as Young Cult Master?" Young Cult Master Lu laughed heartily. "Respect for the strong is an eternal truth. If you can defeat me and lead the Heavenly Court to recreate its ancient glory, what would be wrong with giving you this position of Young Cult Master?" The onlookers secretly marveled. He truly was someone worthy of holding the position of Young Cult Master; such magnanimity far surpassed his peers. Lu Yang merely shook his head. "I appreciate Young Cult Master Lu's good intentions, but the Dao Seeking Sect has nurtured and raised me. Turning my back on it would make me a petty scoundrel." "Is that so? What a pity, then." Young Cult Master Lu had genuinely invited Lu Yang to join the Heavenly Court. If Lu Yang joined, it would undoubtedly grant him another measure of certainty in the coming struggle of the Golden Age. What a shame. In that case, they could only fight. Even with his unmatched talent, Young Cult Master Lu dared not hold back against Lu Yang. Seven longswords hovered vertically, shielding him on all sides. The characters engraved on their hilts—such as "Tianshu," "Tianxuan," and "Tianji"—revealed the origins of the seven swords. "That's the legendary Seven Stars Sword Set!" the patriarch of the Divine Ao Clan shouted, his voice cracking as he recognized the swords. "What is the Seven Stars Sword Set?" Most of the crowd had never heard of it. The Divine Ao Clan patriarch said in a heavy voice, "During the ancient era, there was a sword cultivator named Liu Ningxuan. Peerless in both zither and sword, he was the most formidable sword cultivator of the ancient era, with talent rivaling the Sword Tower Supreme of Great Xia. "Our clan had an old ancestor who had cultivated to the peak of Tribulation Transcendence. Even so, he was slain in a single strike by this Liu Ningxuan!" The crowd gasped. The Divine Ao Clan was renowned for their defensive prowess. A Divine Ao at the peak of Tribulation Transcendence possessed undeniable defensive might, yet even he had been slain by Liu Ningxuan? "Liu Ningxuan excelled at the unity of man and sword. When man and sword become one, reaching the ultimate sublimation, a single strike guarantees death to anyone below an immortal! "Everyone thought he would cultivate to become a half-immortal or even a true immortal, but unfortunately, he disappeared after a battle. Some say he became deeply trapped in an immortal realm and could never leave, while others say he died. "This Seven Stars Sword Set belonged to Liu Ningxuan!" Lu Yang had not expected the Seven Stars Sword Set to possess such a history. He knew of Liu Ningxuan, who was peerless in zither and sword—the one who had achieved unity with his sword a little too well. *Fairy, do you know anything about this?* This stumped the Immortal Fairy. She racked her memory in earnest distress before shaking her head. "I don't really remember. When that kid fought this immortal, he was holding a bunch of flashy swords. I didn't pay much attention to what the swords looked like. They all look pretty much the same anyway." Young Cult Master Lu smiled as he gripped the Tianshu Sword. "Speaking of which, our last battle was when we were both at the middle Golden Core stage. Who would have thought that a little over a year later, both of us would have advanced to the middle Nascent Soul stage?" Lu Yang said nothing, silently drawing the Green Blade Sword. *Clang—* A beam of sword light shot into the sky, tearing through the waters and reducing the surrounding area to a vacuum. Two kinds of True Fire coated the Green Blade Sword, and the sword qi transformed into golden divine birds. The birds flapped their scarlet feathers, completely unaffected by the waters of the East Sea! The sword qi of the Tianshu Sword was magnificent and grand, carrying the arrogance of the ancient era, yet purer and sharper. The other six flying swords shot forward like six flood dragons breaking free of their cages, slicing the golden divine bird clean in two. Yet after being split apart, the golden bird miraculously turned into two smaller golden birds, their blazing heat not diminishing in the slightest! "What kind of True Fire is this?" Even with the vast experience of the East Sea cultivators, none had ever seen True Fire in this form. "It looks like Golden Crow True Flame, but the problem is, who has ever heard of a golden crow with only two legs?" Even a mortal child who had never cultivated knew the famous name of the three-legged golden crow. The two battled from the water into the sky, and from the sky onto an island, clashing for hundreds of rounds. Everywhere they passed was left in utter ruins. The combat prowess they displayed shocked everyone present. Could this truly be the level of the middle Nascent Soul stage? In their youth, these prominent figures of the East Sea had all been regional prodigies whose cultivation and combat strength far exceeded their peers. Yet not a single one among them had ever reached the heights shown by Lu Yang and Young Cult Master Lu. Even the Tribulation Transcendence ancestors weighed it in their minds and felt they could only barely pull off such a feat at that stage. "Wasn't it said that Lu Yang is a spell cultivator? Why is his Sword Dao so formidable that he can barely hold his own against Young Cult Master Lu?" a Body Integration ancestor asked, bewildered. In terms of Sword Dao alone, Lu Yang was outmatched by Young Cult Master Lu. He was only able to contest him by supplementing his swordplay with spell attacks. Another Body Integration ancestor shook his head. "No, he is far more than a spell cultivator! When I sought pills in Great Xia, I heard that this Lu Yang possesses a sword spiritual root, which is why Daoist Buyu accepted him as a disciple!" "He actually has a sword spiritual root?!" The surrounding crowd was stunned, their eyes trembling in shock. Throughout history, no one had ever heard of a sword cultivator possessing such consummate talent in magical spells as well. "Good, good, good! You truly are a worthy opponent! To think that even after reaching the middle Nascent Soul stage, you can still fight me to a standstill!" Young Cult Master Lu laughed heartily. It had been a long time since he had enjoyed such a thrilling fight. Anyone capable of fighting him to a stalemate would usually have to be at least at the late Soul Formation stage. The Tianshu Sword slipped from his grasp, rejoining the Seven Stars Sword Set. Young Cult Master Lu pointed up toward the sky, and the Seven Stars Sword Set formed a grand array. "Sect Master Lu, try this move!" Young Cult Master Lu extended two fingers and flicked them lightly. Sword chimes rang out ceaselessly as the Seven Stars Sword Set appeared directly above Lu Yang's head, their gleaming tips pointed downward. "Be careful, Sect Master Lu. This array is called 'One Sword Kneeling Immortal'! Even the Immortal Kirin, who had already attained immortality, had to drop to his knees before this sword array!" Hearing this ancient secret, the watching crowd erupted into a clamor, completely unable to contain their voices. "One Sword Kneeling Immortal—what a domineering name for an array!" "Immortal Kirin was once defeated by this sword array?!" "Who created this array? I've never heard of any ancient immortal who was adept in both sword arts and arrays." The onlookers buzzed with discussion. They had read countless ancient and modern texts, yet not a single ancient book recorded such an event. "That makes sense. This was a scandal for Immortal Kirin, so how could he have ever allowed it to be passed down to future generations?" "Array, activate!" As the words rang out, the sword array surged to life, bearing down with crushing force to annihilate everything and reduce heaven and earth to ruin. *Thud.* Even someone like Lu Yang could not withstand the terrifying pressure of the sword array and dropped to his knees. He threw his head back, glaring resolutely at the sword array without the slightest hint of submission, and produced the Sword Washing Pool. "One Sword Into Ten Thousand Swords!" Using sword intent, Lu Yang conjured thousands upon thousands of Sword Washing Pools. Blotting out the sky in a dark, dense mass, they resembled storm clouds heralding a torrential tempest, laden with the mighty power of heaven and earth. Just as everyone thought Lu Yang was about to lose, his sudden move left them completely dumbfounded. "What kind of technique is this?!" "Didn't he just say it? One Sword Into Ten Thousand Swords!" "There aren't even any swords here!" "Perhaps Lu Yang's comprehension of the Sword Dao has reached the realm where having a sword in one's heart allows everything in creation to serve as a sword! I heard that after arriving in the East Sea, Lu Yang defeated over a dozen Soul Formation cultivators relying on this very move!" "Right, right, right! I also heard this move can give form to swords, and the human forms it produces can sprout three heads and six arms!" Lu Yang paid no heed to the outside chatter, entirely undistracted. Focusing on the battle before him, he gave a soft cry: "Go!" The Sword Washing Pools poured down like a deluge—a sight utterly terrifying to behold. The two torrents of Sword Dao collided, unleashing unprecedented brilliance that shook heaven and earth, set the sea of clouds boiling, and surged straight into the highest heavens. "Who won?" The Sword Washing Pools and the Seven Stars Sword Set lay scattered across the ground. Lu Yang and Young Cult Master Lu were both half-kneeling, propping themselves up with the swords in their hands as they glared fixatedly at one another. Though their spiritual energy was utterly depleted, the blazing fighting spirit in their eyes burned as fiercely as ever. "All right, all right, let's stop here," Young Cult Master Lu suddenly chuckled. "If we keep going, we'll have to rely on swallowing medicinal pills. That wouldn't be fair to you. Let's call this battle a draw." "A draw it is, then," Lu Yang agreed briskly. Exactly as Young Cult Master Lu had said, continuing to fight would be pointless regardless of who won or lost. The two looked at each other and smiled, sharing a mutual sense of respect and camaraderie. Watching this, a veteran Tribulation Transcendence expert sighed. "Indeed. As peerless prodigies who rarely meet their match, encountering an equal opponent is of immense benefit to their future cultivation." Tao Yaoye felt that Lu Yang's acting was more real than a Dream Bubble. Man Gu watched the entire display with a pounding heart, convinced he would never be able to master such acting skills in his lifetime. Li Haoran thought that if Qin Haoran had possessed Lu Yang's brains back then, he would have led the Nine Nether Cult to strike it rich long ago. Meng Jingzhou, on the other hand, was contemplating whether he could launch a surprise attack right now and take out both the exhausted Lu Yang and Lu Yang in one fell swoop, thereby seizing the opportunity to usurp the position of Young Cult Master.