“Junior Sister Gu was actually only half a quarter-hour away from outlasting Senior Sister Wen's Ten Thousand Wood Flying Blades?”
“Half a quarter-hour against the Ten Thousand Wood Flying Blades is still an incredible feat, okay? Without relying on external help, we wouldn't even last thirty breaths under it.”
“Junior Sister Gu had already endured it for half a quarter-hour before admitting defeat!”
“If that's the case, I want to see it for myself even more.”
After that day, Gu Ningyun's role on Fighting Peak flipped completely. Instead of waiting to ambush others, she became the one everyone else was camping for.
Every time she finished sparring with a senior sister or brother she had ambushed, other Foundation Establishment disciples would grab her. They were willing to wait half an hour for her to recover her spirit energy just to spar with her.
Gu Ningyun was highly perplexed until she heard about Senior Sister Wen Lin's reputation among the Foundation Establishment stage on Fighting Peak, and then it clicked.
“What a miscalculation! I should have bought a more detailed list from Qin Xiaosheng!”
After all, in terms of sheer numbers, the majority of the Foundation Establishment peers seeking her out were still multi-spirit root cultivators.
After being camped for a few days, Gu Ningyun found it wasn't so bad.
Because so many people were camping her, her sparring time and frequency on Fighting Peak tripled. Every time she returned to Cloud Residence, Wen Xuan had to carry her back on her shoulders.
Although it was exhausting, the benefits were extremely gratifying.
During this period, she sparred with too many fellow disciples, including sword cultivators, artifact cultivators, magic cultivators, array cultivators, talisman cultivators...
All kinds of methods emerged in an endless stream, truly broadening her horizons.
Among the sword cultivators she encountered, some walked the orthodox Sword Dao just like her, while others simply used the sword as a weapon.
When sparring with orthodox sword cultivators, she clashed sword qi with them, and even encountered several senior sisters and brothers who had cultivated a sword intent prototype.
Although she was thoroughly beaten by the sword intent prototypes, the experience of facing them directly remained fresh in her memory.
Even when facing those who simply used swords as weapons, she did not dare lower her guard.
Her caution was justified. These unorthodox sword cultivators did not refine sword qi or sword intent. Instead, they took a different path, practicing various sword techniques.
These sword techniques were completely different from sword qi and sword intent prototypes; they were more like spells.
But compared to spells, these sword techniques were sharper and more terrifying in their attacks.
The first unorthodox sword cultivator she faced was a senior sister with Gold, Wood, and Fire three-spirit roots, whose cultivation was comparable to Gu Ningyun's.
That senior sister stood on the fighting platform, her robes fluttering loudly in the mountain wind.
She pointed her long sword toward the sky and said loudly, “I have one move, and I will only use this one move—Great Void Flying Glow.”
As her fire spirit energy surged and her long sword swept out, the rosy clouds on the horizon seemed to be summoned, turning the entire fighting platform a brilliant crimson.
Holding her peach wood sword, Gu Ningyun was actually somewhat at a loss for how to respond.
These crimson clouds looked like the most beautiful and harmless sunset glow, but as they drew near, their temperature rivaled the earth fire of Artifact Peak.
The advantage of her sword qi lay in its sharpness, speed, and silence, specializing in piercing a single point to break a surface.
But the scorching heat of the fire was formless. Facing this massive wave of formless sword technique attacks, her sword qi was completely helpless.
At this moment, she suddenly recalled the words of Senior Sister Yang Churan and the artifact spirit of the Sword Dao Hall:
“True Sword Dao and ordinary sword technique study belong to completely different systems.
At the same cultivation level, a sword cultivator who has refined sword qi can unleash a single full-power strike that is several times stronger than the most exquisite sword technique.”
These words were true, but with a caveat.
At the same cultivation level, one's Sword Dao comprehension had to keep pace as well.
During the Qi Refining stage, sword qi could overpower many cultivators of the same tier, including those using sword techniques.
However, the Foundation Establishment stage was a realm dominated by sword intent prototypes. When facing a sword technique of the same cultivation level, simple sword qi fell far short.
As the “Great Void Flying Glow” swept in and the crimson clouds pressed down from the sky, Gu Ningyun realized clearly that only a sword intent prototype could break through this move.
After realizing her sword qi was useless, Gu Ningyun executed her movement technique, shifting and dodging across the stage to evade the crimson clouds.
Her fingertips danced across her flute, and the light, lively defense melody 《The Qin and the Wei》 flowed out, wrapping her in a layer of musical shielding.
She did not use attack melodies, the 《Taiqing Astral Wind Art》, or any other offensive measures. Instead, she simply wove through the attack range of the sword technique.
Sword techniques, though similar to spells, were still fundamentally connected to the sword.
Within a sword technique lay the creator's and the user's understanding of the sword.
If she wanted to cultivate a sword intent prototype, she needed to accumulate insights into the Sword Dao.
This was a perfect opportunity to comprehend the Sword Dao, and she naturally had to seize it.
“Great Void Flying Glow” was powerful, but Gu Ningyun managed to dodge most of the crimson clouds using her movement technique, and the remaining ones were blocked by 《The Qin and the Wei》.
Before Gu Ningyun could deflect the last bit of the crimson clouds, a second “Great Void Flying Glow” was already pressing down from above.
“I heard Junior Sister Gu's movement technique is formidable. Let's see then—is your movement technique superior, or does my sword technique reign supreme?”
With a cartwheel, Gu Ningyun dodged a wave of attacks, changing her position six times in the blink of an eye.
The flute notes of 《The Qin and the Wei》 rang out once more.
The two of them engaged in a battle where one only attacked and the other only dodged.
As Gu Ningyun's understanding of “Great Void Flying Glow” grew, she handled it with increasing ease.
Yet, every time she blocked a wave of attacks, the next “Great Void Flying Glow” would become even more troublesome.
Clearly, while she was improving, her opponent was also adapting and growing stronger.
Until, at a certain moment, the senior sister spotted a flaw in 《The Qin and the Wei》.
At the exact moment one song ended and the next began, there was a tiny gap in the transition.
In that brief transition, when the sound shield was at its weakest, a new “Great Void Flying Glow” swirled forward, carrying thousands of crimson clouds.
She dodged most of the crimson clouds, but the remaining portion was enough to shatter the old shield, severely injure her, and knock her off the fighting platform.
With the old shield shattered and the new one not yet formed, even the fastest movement technique would be unable to evade the strike.
Unwilling to actually take a brutal beating, Gu Ningyun retreated along with the momentum of the crimson clouds and leaped off the fighting platform.
She had lost, but winning or losing was never her focus on Fighting Peak.
Since her movement technique had broken through to Small Success, Gu Ningyun began to hone her swordplay.
Whether she was ambushing others or being ambushed herself, if she could use her sword to face her opponents, she would fight them head-on with it.
When encountering sword techniques or sword intent prototypes that her own swordplay could not match, she would coordinate her movement technique with 《The Qin and the Wei》, facing the attacks head-on to comprehend the Sword Dao.
Without realizing it, although she had not yet touched the threshold of the sword intent prototype, her knowledge of various combat methods and her understanding of sword techniques and the Sword Dao had improved significantly.
Her coordination of her movement technique and 《The Qin and the Wei》 became increasingly refined, allowing her to hold out longer under overwhelming onslaughts.
Gradually, a rumor spread on Fighting Peak: there was a little junior sister in the Foundation Establishment stage whose offensive capabilities were unknown, but her survival skills were absolutely top-tier.
Wen Xuan burst into loud laughter upon hearing this. “Ningyun, they only think you came to Fighting Peak to practice your movement technique. Little do they know, you're actually trying to study the Sword Dao!”
Once the rumor spread, the Foundation Establishment disciples grew curious.
They refused to believe just how “top-tier” her survival skills could be.
Fighting Peak grew more and more lively, and Gu Ningyun's fighting style was incredibly provoking.
No matter what, there would always be times when she got hurt. In order not to delay the next sparring match, Gu Ningyun would pop a Return-to-Spring Pill whenever she was injured.
Rate on N.U.
