A year had passed since the destruction of the Skydemon Sect’s Eastcalm branch.
At the training grounds in Mirror Lake Meng Manor.
The white-robed Yan Jin held a sword in each hand, filling the surrounding area with an icy aura. It turned the area blurry, and he stared solemnly at the distant Meng Chuan.
By now, the eighteen-year-old Yan Jin had also reached the Seamless realm! He had challenged a group of experts who were well-versed with Force in Eastcalm Prefecture. In fact, he had even challenged the three Core Condensation realm experts in Eastcalm Prefecture—Yun Fucheng, Zhang Yong, and Bai Shuwan. He had defeated all of them! In terms of sword arts alone, he was one of the top mortals in Eastcalm Prefecture. In addition, he had a powerful Godfiend foundation, and his strength and speed far surpassed ordinary Core Condensation experts. Thus, he was able to defeat the three of them.
However, there was one person he couldn’t defeat, and that was Meng Chuan!
“Yan Jin, this will be the last move in our sparring match today.” Dressed in a navy-blue robe, Meng Chuan held a saber in one hand while standing in the distance. He attacked the moment he finished speaking.
Swoosh!
Meng Chuan phased away and entered the icy aura. Although the freezing aura affected his speed and vision, the lightning in his body sparked and propelled him forward at incredulous speeds. He still exceeded Yan Jin in every way despite the negative effects on him.
Swish! A saber beam lit up—without the sound of the wind—as he cleaved down. With his saber technique reaching this stage, even the air was no longer an obstacle.
Yan Jin tried his best to block the attack with both swords.
In the blink of an eye, eight Meng Chuans appeared, each slashing out different saber beams. All of them aimed at a weakness in Yan Jin’s dual-wielding sword technique. Meng Chuan didn’t have any clone techniques. The clones resulted from his movement techniques. These eight saber beams flew towards Yan Jin one after another.
Yan Jin could clearly sense Meng Chuan’s eight slashes using his domain of ice and frost. His swords blocked the attacks one after another, but he felt Meng Chuan’s strikes tearing apart his swords in a bid to find his weaknesses. However, Yan Jin used all his strength to block the eight strikes, forcing Meng Chuan’s attacks to fail.
Swoosh.
In the blink of an eye, Meng Chuan retreated dozens of feet away. The speed made Yan Jin’s eyelids twitch.
His speed was simply too terrifying. It was said that cultivating a Lightning Divine Body meant speed, but Meng Chuan’s speed was that of a peerless genius’!
“Yan Jin, your Turtle Sword Art is becoming more and more powerful. Even my saber technique is unable to crack it.” Meng Chuan laughed. “Forget it. There’s no need to compete anymore.”
“Thank you.” Yan Jin retracted his swords and looked at Meng Chuan. He said seriously, “I know you are helping me hone my sword technique.”
“Haha, I’m also training my saber techniques.” Meng Chuan walked to a nearby table and drank a cup of tea he poured himself.
Liu Qiyue—who was sitting by the stone table and reading a book—had also matured. However, she was now half a head shorter than Meng Chuan. Mainly because he was 18, making him much taller than before.
“Yan Jin, Ah Chuan’s movement technique and saber arts are fast. He can attack and retreat as he wishes. You can’t hurt him at all. Just give up,” said Liu Qiyue with a pout.
“I know, but as long as my sword techniques can hold him back, there’s a chance of defeating him,” said Yan Jin seriously.
“Qiyue, Yan Jin’s Yin-Yang Icefire Sword Technique is very dangerous. I don’t even dare to fight him,” said Meng Chuan.
His Godfiend foundation was extremely robust, and Yan Jin’s Godfiend foundation wasn’t inferior to his.
In accordance with the nine cultivation commandments he collated, he pursued the extremes and pushed his speed to the limit. As for Yan Jin, he focused on using dual-sword techniques and was more skilled in frontal combat.
He was only a step faster in his cultivation.
He had comprehended Saber Force over half a year faster than Yan Jin. This gained him the upper hand during their matches, but he still had no way of defeating him.
It was different if he used the Power of the Soul, but he needed to keep it a secret. He wouldn’t use it unless it were a dire situation. In a normal sparring match, he would only use the Power of the Soul when sparring with his grandaunt.
“Meng Chuan, you’re going to Archean Mountain this year, right?” asked Yan Jin.
“Of course.” Meng Chuan nodded.
Yan Jin nodded slightly and said, “We’ll compete again in a month.” With that said, he turned around and left.
“This Yan Jin is very arrogant. He doesn’t understand the ways of the world and often comes to our place, but he has never brought us any gifts. His words are also cold. Speaking of which, Ah Chuan, you even saved his life.” Liu Qiyue complained after Yan Jin left.
“With that temper of his, he’s already being very polite to us. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have bothered talking to you. Furthermore, the reason why I’m competing with him is because his sword techniques are indeed able to temper my saber arts.”
If he were to encounter Murong You again—even if he didn’t employ the Power of the Soul—he could easily crush and kill him. However, Meng Chuan didn’t let it get to his head at all.
After reading through the intelligence from the Eastcalm branch, he knew how intense the situation between the humans and demons was. He needed to be stronger. In this era, if he didn’t use the Power of the Soul, he wouldn’t even be ranked in the top twenty amongst all the young geniuses in the world. For instance, his grandaunt had mentioned King Calm Sea’s fifth son—who had comprehended Force at thirteen and became a Godfiend at fifteen. There were many who were more outstanding than him. Of course, most of these famous geniuses had already entered Archean Mountain.
“What? The demons invaded human territory 129 times two years ago?” Liu Qiyue looked at the book and exclaimed, “Ah Chuan, are the books in your study speaking the truth?”
Meng Chuan glanced at her. It was one of the many books his grandaunt had sent over.
“They are.” Meng Chuan nodded. “We have been at a disadvantage in our war with demons! The demons are more powerful, but this is ultimately the human world. The demons live in the Demon Realm. They have to enter through a World Entrance. Humans have constructed large city passes at the permanent and stable World Entrances, and have powerful Godfiends guarding them.
“The demons invaded 129 times two years ago because of the World Entrances that spontaneously appeared. This allowed the demons to storm in. As for World Entrances... the vast majority of them are unstable. Some exist for half a day, while some exist for about two weeks. They will ultimately disappear. The ones that can exist perpetually are few.
“For example, our Eastcalm Prefecture’s Qinyang Pass has been the only permanent World Entrance in the past 800 years.”
Liu Qiyue closed the book. The information in the book made her shudder.
“Too many people have died. Many people die in every invasion.” Liu Qiyue’s voice was a little weak.
“I saw it with my own eyes when I was six,” Meng Chuan said calmly. “That time, one county city after another fell, and more than a hundred thousand humans were slaughtered. Fortunately, Godfiends arrived. Otherwise, I would have died in that monster invasion.”
The reason why every city had a Jadesun Palace built was to protect the large, heavily-populated cities. In dire situations, they could mobilize nearby Godfiends to reinforce a county city’s defenses.
“Oh, right. Ah Chuan, will you be attending this year’s Jadesun Palace Demon-Slaying Meet?” Liu Qiyue asked. “It’s still half a month away.”
“I’ve already promised the dean that I’ll be there when the time comes,” said Meng Chuan with a smile. “You’ve also realized the secret technique, and you should be the only sharpshooter in the eight Dao Academies who has done so.”
Liu Qiyue perked up. “Of course. But compared to Ah Chuan and that Yan Jin, I’m still too far from the two of you.”
Meng Chuan smiled.
Time had passed quickly. In a few more days, it would be three months since he reached the Seamless realm. His Quintessential Energy was almost perfected, and he could attempt to condense a core.
I wonder if I can succeed in my first attempt.
In all of Eastcalm Prefecture, there were only three people who had succeeded in condensing a core below the Godfiend level.