novelraw Chapter 126 : Defeat
Chapter 126 : Defeat
126: Defeat
Yuyin's flawless, long leg stamped heavily on the stage.
Whoosh, her figure, carrying a gust of fierce wind, charged toward Lan Lianyue, showing no intention of stopping.
With a shimmer of silver light, her longsword, over 1.3 meters in length, sliced through the air, letting out a faint hum as it struck horizontally toward Lianyue. This slash was even more powerful than the backhanded one from before.
Lan Lianyue truly could not understand why Yuyin's swordsmanship seemed to have been completely reborn within one week. Last week, her strikes were nowhere near as sharp, and now they carried a kind of ethereal grace that was unfathomable to Lan Lianyue.
She did not dare to block it head-on, leaping aside. The spirit water in her Jade Pool surged, and a dark blue Primordial Energy, visible to the spiritual sight of a Source Martial Practitioner, emanated from her. It seemed to form countless bewitching fluctuations, like the figures of many blurry, living creatures, causing the surrounding world to sink into an indistinct illusion.
"So that's how it is!" With the portrait of the Jade Clarity Female Immortal guarding her soul, Yuyin could perceive everything before her with even greater calm. "Her illusion is actually a spiritual illusion formed by the Primordial Energy she releases from herself. This is something only a Source Martial Practitioner can see within the range of her illusion. And the strange fluctuations from her pupils possess a secret art that somehow controls a person's soul. The combination of the two makes a Source Martial Practitioner feel as if they are in an illusionary realm.
Conversely, ordinary people cannot see her Primordial Energy illusionary art.
Yuyin could already see through this illusion. Knowing the reason, she was even more confident in dealing with it. She completely ignored these illusory shadows and charged directly at Lan Lianyue.
Lan Lianyue, using her Primordial Energy, drove the Moon Blade to slash at Yuyin head-on. The speed was extremely fast. Even without considering the illusion, Lan Lianyue was a first-rate expert at the Early-Stage of Purple Domain Realm, and her method of controlling objects was also superb.
The Moon Blade spun as it slashed. If not blocked properly, it would hook onto one's sword and injure them.
While swiftly retreating, Yuyin was in fact grasping the timing of the Moon Blade's rotation. She swung her sword.
Clang!
The Moon Blade was forcefully slashed away.
In the stands, Hua Yuanjing was also sitting in the Student Council section. She couldn't help but feel a shock in her heart. "Other than Senior Brother Lingfeng, I have never seen any student able to slash away Lian's Moon Blade!"
Even the teachers like Chen Qian'ning were greatly surprised. Although they knew Yuyin was formidable, the gap between her and Lan Lianyue was still considered significant. They had all thought this would be a match where Lan Lianyue would suppress her opponent unilaterally, but now, Yuyin had gained the advantage.
Lan Lianyue's Illusory Spirit Art was completely useless against her. The reason Lan Lianyue had been able to withstand three moves from Chen Qian'ning before was also due to the influence and delay caused by her illusions.
And Yuyin's swordsmanship had improved unbelievably compared to last week.
"What kind of swordsmanship is this? Even I find it somewhat unfathomable." Chen Qian'ning said, her chest rising and falling.
"Spirit Orb!"
Lan Lianyue thought to herself, leaping into mid-air. She opened her long sleeves, and her hands scattered nine shining blue Primordial Energy Orbs, which flew toward Yuyin along different arcs.
"Hmph." Yuyin had already seen through her illusions and ignored them, leaping up to attack.
But just as she reached her, Yuyin suddenly felt a powerful eruption of Primordial Energy.
"Not good!"
Bang!
Among these nine shining Spirit Orbs, one was real. It was an orb formed by the condensation of Lan Lianyue's powerful Primordial Energy into a spirit, and it exploded right in front of Yuyin's chest. The speed was too fast. The other eight were illusions, making Yuyin think they were all illusions.
The method of Gathering Source to Form Spirit could not only be used to condense within the body. If one's realm reached a certain level, combined with a certain secret art, one could also condense their own Primordial Energy outside the body into an extremely unstable and powerful Primordial Energy, which could also be used to injure others.
Yuyin landed heavily on one knee. The clothes on her chest were torn by the Primordial Energy. However, Yuyin's body, as white and flawless as jade, was completely unharmed.
This kind of Spirit Orb secret art, if used to attack a general Source Martial Practitioner below the Mid-Stage of Spirit-Seeking Realm, should be able to defeat them in one move. If used to attack a general late-stage or perfection-stage Spirit-Seeking Realm practitioner, it could also inflict varying degrees of injury. But Yuyin, tempered by the Imperial Daughter Body Refinement and with her Primordial Energy mirroring it, had a defense far surpassing that of an ordinary Spirit-Seeking Realm Source Martial Practitioner. It was actually unable to cause her any substantial harm.
"This...!" Lan Lianyue's brow furrowed. She grew anxious. This Spirit Orb consumed a great deal of Primordial Energy and spirit water, yet it had no effect on this woman whatsoever? Instead, she had wasted so much Primordial Energy for nothing. The spirit water in Lan Lianyue's Jade Pool was not as abundant as Yuyin's.
Yuyin's constitution naturally had a lot of spirit water, and with her breakthrough at an extremely high Primordial Energy value, the spirit water in her Jade Pool far exceeded that of an ordinary female cultivator.
Swish!
Yuyin moved with swift, wind-like steps, charging toward Lan Lianyue. As the strongest fighter in the Lingdu Source Martial Academy, Lan Lianyue did not want to keep retreating. She caught the Moon Blade and engaged Yuyin in close combat.
Lan Lianyue's close-combat techniques with the Moon Blade were strange and unpredictable, and her strikes were incredibly swift, with absolutely no lack of power.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
Yuyin and Lan Lianyue exchanged flashes of sword and blade light on the stage, with bright sparks flying.
Their techniques, footwork, and body movements were all perfect and flawless. However, Lan Lianyue was still at a great disadvantage in terms of strength. In a direct clash, the force of the recoil she suffered was much greater. Yuyin seemed to have inexhaustible stamina, each sword strike heavier and faster than the last!
Lan Lianyue, whose footwork and techniques were originally no worse than Yuyin's, was thrown into disarray by the sheer weight of Yuyin's sword power.
Ding!
With an agile sword step, Yuyin struck Lan Lianyue with her sword, forcing her to retreat continuously. In her frustration, Lan Lianyue ignored her now-disrupted footwork and swung the Moon Blade in a counterattack, but Yuyin easily deflected it with a simple sword wash. Seizing the opportunity, Yuyin kicked out.
"Ah!" Lan Lianyue let out a delicate cry. She was kicked in the waist and abdomen by Yuyin and fell to the ground. Her body was delicate and light, and she slid a great distance.
"Senior Sister Lian..." A match was a match. Seizing an opportunity, Yuyin could not hold back, but she still felt a pang of unwillingness in her heart.
Lan Lianyue, the strongest in the Lingdu Source Martial Academy, had been kicked down. This was a situation no one present had ever seen before. Many students gasped.
Lan Lianyue stood up stubbornly. She was panting. Her physical stamina was not as abundant as Yuyin's. Her consumption was already great, and she felt fatigue. In previous battles, she had never needed to expend so much physical energy; her opponents could rarely get close to her.
"Why... why am I being completely overpowered by this woman? Why can she see through my illusions? Why has her swordsmanship become like that of a completely different person in just one week? Has she been hiding her true strength all along?"
Lan Lianyue couldn't help but recall the things she had said to Yuyin time and again.
"I cannot lose. This is impossible. If I lose to this first-year student here, how can I face everyone? How can I face my brother? And how can I face her..."
She must win!
Lan Lianyue opened one hand, and the Moon Blade flew to her. She danced with the Moon Blade, and the surrounding Primordial Energy, carrying phantom blue, sorrowful flames, surged upwards.
Buzz!
The Moon Blade, carrying her intense Primordial Energy, flew out. In mid-air, blue light flowed through the carved patterns on the Moon Blade, and it actually split apart in the air, transforming into nine thin blades that attacked Yuyin from all directions, each with a different speed and trajectory.
A gasp went through the entire crowd. Lan Lianyue could actually control nine blades simultaneously with such precision, which was truly shocking. The top students from the third-year Daoist Arts Department were especially ashamed; controlling just one was a great effort for them, and the power and speed were far inferior to any of Lan Lianyue's.
"As expected of Senior Sister Lian!" Wang Xuezhang in the audience was also immensely shocked. He had never known Lan Lianyue was hiding such a ultimate move.
"Xia Yuyin, no matter how good your swordsmanship is, can you block my Nine Serene Blades all at once?" It seemed as though phantom blue flames burned in Lan Lianyue's eyes. Controlling nine objects simultaneously was a huge drain on her Primordial Energy and mental strength.
Facing the nine flying blades, Yuyin was also startled. She could not face nine attacks at the same time. In this critical moment, she could only retreat temporarily.
Swish! Swish! Swish!
While sprinting across the stage, Yuyin constantly changed direction, dodging the blades' repeated attacks, but this was easier said than done.
She could not dodge them all. Her clothes were cut, and red marks were left on her skin. Fortunately, Yuyin's defense was strong enough. The blades, divided into nine, were still manageable if she only took a few hits, but the consumption of her Primordial Energy defense was immense. If this continued, Yuyin would soon be unable to withstand it!
Relying on dodging was too passive. No matter how good her footwork, it couldn't match the flexibility of these light blades. But to rely on blocking, how could she accurately grasp the trajectories of so many light, swift, and ever-changing blades?
A thought flashed through Yuyin's mind. All these blades were controlled by Lan Lianyue's Primordial Energy. By sensing the surrounding Primordial Energy fluctuations, she could grasp the positions of the nine blades even without looking. Yuyin suddenly came to an abrupt stop and stood in the center of the stage.
"Xia Yuyin, you have lost!" Lan Lianyue's Primordial Energy erupted, driving the nine blades to attack Yuyin from all directions.
Suddenly, the spirit water in Yuyin's Jade Pool surged, erupting with powerful Primordial Energy. This even more dominant Primordial Energy created a certain interference with the surrounding blades, slowing them down.
At this moment, Yuyin's eyes seemed to fall into a kind of ice-cold emptiness.
Her heart, however, was like a mirror of Primordial Energy.
Facing the flying blades, Yuyin's steps were light and ethereal, like a fairy's. At the same time, the sword in her hand struck out with incomparable precision and speed whenever it was in the right position.
Lotus Azure Step, Heavenly Maiden's Intercept.
These were precisely the two ultimate defensive moves in the Mysterious Female Sword Art.
Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!
In just an instant, with flashes of sword light, all nine blades were struck down. There was even one instance where a single sword strike knocked down two blades.
This had reached a level of subtlety and precision in the adjustment of her own sword strikes, footwork, and posture.
Lan Lianyue stood not far away, her eyes wide open in disbelief. Her face was pale, and her consumption was also immense.
"Senior Sister Lian, now it's my turn, isn't it?"
But Yuyin seemed to still have an abundance of energy. Her legs sprinted as she charged toward Lan Lianyue, the longsword in her hand striking down heavily and swiftly.
In her daze, Lan Lianyue also immediately collected herself and reacted, swinging her long sleeves to block.
Whoosh!
Yuyin turned and kicked out.
Bang!
The kick landed on Lan Lianyue's arms, sending her staggering backward. A hint of pain appeared in Lan Lianyue's eyes. Yuyin's kick was too heavy, and the pain was immense.
As Lan Lianyue retreated, the nine blades, under her control, recombined into the Moon Blade and flew to her side. She no longer had the strength to control nine blades while also engaging in close combat.
But the Moon Blade did not return to her hand. Instead, it floated beside her like a shadow of her body.
As she danced her figure, using her long sleeves to defend against and dissolve Yuyin's attacks, the Moon Blade would occasionally rotate with her movements, striking out with trails of wavering light.
"Lianyue..." Hua Yuanjing couldn't help but stand up. She knew this was Lan Lianyue's strongest but also final combat technique, a method that combined the Moon Blade and the Ling Dance.
Lianyue was once a swordsmanship genius, but to support her brother, she chose to give up the longsword and instead major in the support-oriented Ling Dance... If not for this, the outcome of today might have been uncertain. However, this was probably something only Hua Yuanjing knew. Her gaze grew heavy as she began to worry.
This was a combat technique Lianyue had created for her own dignity and beliefs.
Dance of the Blade Moon.
It was incredible. Yuyin felt that fighting Lan Lianyue was like engaging in something noble and elegant. Her combat technique was too beautiful. The Moon Blade was as agile as if it were a part of her body, and it seemed to merge seamlessly with her dance-like movements of parrying and countering, blooming into a dance of a young girl's heart and soul.
For such an opponent, Yuyin could only hold the utmost respect, fighting with all her strength, caring not for victory or defeat!
Yuyin had an overwhelming advantage in swordsmanship and power, but her opponent's Moon Blade did not touch her body. Even when knocked away, it could be controlled by Primordial Energy to fly back and continue attacking Yuyin or assist in defense. And Lan Lianyue's dance was ethereal and graceful, with an unpredictable rhythm. Her flying sleeves used softness to overcome hardness. Even as Yuyin attacked with all her might, she felt a sense of being unable to fully exert her strength.
But Yuyin was not just about power. Her technique and speed allowed her to hold her own against this illusory dance-based combat style. The two of them seemed to be fighting to the death, yet also like they were interpreting a dance of a clash between hard and soft by two genius girls!
Yuyin's swordsmanship was extremely sharp, and she almost hit Lan Lianyue several times, but Lan Lianyue managed to dodge them all. And Lan Lianyue's counterattacks were also dodged by Yuyin using the Heavenly Maiden's Intercept and the Lotus Azure Step.
For a time, it was difficult to tell who would win. The exchange of offense and defense, of sword and dance, was absolutely beautiful. They fought until they were lost in the moment, fought with all their being!
The entire crowd was silent, as if they were all appreciating the interpretation of the new generation of Huaxia's geniuses.
If this continued, Yuyin did not know how she could defeat Senior Sister Lian. She could only give it her all.
Clang!
Suddenly, one of Lan Lianyue's Moon Blade attacks was below her usual standard. Yuyin seized the opportunity and knocked the Moon Blade high into the air with her sword. And the Moon Blade showed no sign of returning.
Yuyin slashed her sword at Lan Lianyue, only to find that Lan Lianyue's legs had gone weak, and she knelt on the ground.
"What!?"
Whoosh!
A strong gust of sword wind suddenly blew past. Yuyin pulled back with all her might. The longsword stopped less than an inch from Lan Lianyue's slender, white neck. The sword wind blew up Lan Lianyue's beautiful, sorrowful hair.
What was happening?
"Senior Sister Lian? Why didn't you dodge?" In that last split second, Lan Lianyue had made no move to defend herself.
Jiang Xue and the other referee teachers were all staring at the stage, extremely tense.
Almost everyone in the venue stood up, holding their breath.
Clang...
The Moon Blade landed on the other side of the stage and lay still.
Lan Lianyue's delicate, slender body still knelt there, trembling slightly, her gaze empty and deep like water...
In that moment just now, Lan Lianyue's Primordial Energy was completely exhausted.
And her delicate body had long since exhausted its physical strength, sustained only by her Primordial Energy.
"I..." Lan Lianyue felt the world turn dark, as if it were all pressing down on her. The countless gazes were more piercing than the sharp sword in Yuyin's hand. She did not know where to hide. If possible, she truly wished to disappear immediately. She did not know how to get through the time that followed.
She knelt there, her head bowed, her long hair covering her face, saying nothing.
Silence. After the silence, a clamor gradually began.
"Senior Sister Lian..." Yuyin could no longer feel even a trace of Primordial Energy from Lan Lianyue. She was like a helpless, weak young girl. Yuyin felt a pang of pity and retracted her sword.
After about ten seconds, Teacher Jiang Xue walked up. She ran to Lan Lianyue's side, reached out to check her briefly, and a look of pity appeared in her eyes. She stood up helplessly and waved to the entire crowd.
The match was over.
But at this moment, neither Yuyin nor the teachers had a smile of victory on their faces.
"Dear audience, classmate Lan Lianyue is no longer able to continue fighting. The victor is Xia Yuyin." Jiang Xue said calmly.
In the end, it was impossible to stop the cheers and applause from the entire crowd watching.
This thunderous applause and cheers seemed like countless, ruthless blows, pouring down on Lan Lianyue's body. She was too weak to speak. The world spun, but she was still conscious. She bowed her head, not knowing how to face all of this.
A few female students ran up to help check on Lan Lianyue's injuries.
Yuyin, amidst this praise that brought her no joy, turned and silently walked off the stage.
"Sister Yuyin..."
"Yuyin."
Hua Qianyuan and Yingluo were of course glad that Yuyin had won, but from Yuyin's expression, they could feel that she had no excitement of victory.
Just then, Yuyin's footsteps, the instant she stepped off the stage, stopped.
She resolutely turned around, walked toward Lan Lianyue, who had fallen to one side of the stage, and casually dropped the sword in her hand.
She walked up to Lan Lianyue and said to the few female students who were checking her injuries and trying to comfort her, "Please, make way."
"Huh?" The few female students were puzzled, but Yuyin's gaze was incredibly firm, and they subconsciously moved aside a little.
Yuyin bent down and lifted Lan Lianyue up in her arms.
Carrying her, she walked down the stage together.
The entire venue erupted in cheers.
The applause shook the Martial Arts Dojo, and the screams of young girls were continuous. Even the Department Heads like Chen Qian'ning and the other teachers stood up and applauded.