Chapter 29: Going Against the Tide to Slay the Dragon’s Remains

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“Oh? So you’re actually approaching me? Instead of running, you chose to come closer?”

Facing Luo Huai’an’s sword strike, a blade carrying the pinnacle sword momentum of the mortal Dao, Xiao Yi showed not a trace of gravity on his face—he even had the leisure to offer commentary.

Luo Huai’an said nothing, merely thrusting his sword forward in silence.

The flowing cloud patterns on the blade carved through the night wind with consecutive strikes surpassing the speed of sound, like a great river descending from the heavens, unstoppable!

“Ha! Not talking? That won’t help you either, because your sword is far too weak!”

In that instant, Xiao Yi let out a sinister laugh and drew his own sword.

Upon that bone-white blade, streaks of crimson patterns flickered to life in an instant, extending all the way up his right arm to the very shoulder.

Man and sword were as one.

That sword did not come like a violent storm, nor like surging floodwaters—it was a galaxy of stars plummeting from the nine heavens!

Two dense streams of Sword Light clashed in continuous exchange—ten strikes, dozens of strikes, over a hundred strikes in an instant!

“How is this possible? He’s actually suppressing my Hundred Refinements Realm late-stage peak sword rain barrage!

Is this really that Young Prince of Xia Manor, Xiao Yi?”

Luo Huai’an’s face remained composed, but inwardly he was genuinely shocked by Xiao Yi’s terrifyingly improved combat prowess.

Especially the fact that despite his own full-powered sword assault, the opponent not only deflected every single strike without flaw, but he even felt that Xiao Yi was still holding back.

“Luo Huai’an, it seems your Jian Dao martial form isn’t all that impressive either. A single river of stars from my hundred rivers converging into the sea already has you this flustered.”

Xiao Yi’s heavy vertical slash deflected Luo Huai’an’s sword momentum, instantly throwing his center of gravity off balance.

The next moment, he stepped forward, twirling his right hand in a beautifully ornate sword flourish to switch grips—from a standard right-hand grip to a reverse grip in his left hand.

“Break for me!”

The power of that reverse-handed strike was so immense that even though Luo Huai’an blocked it with both hands on his sword at full strength, the overflowing Sword Qi directly sheared off a quarter of the Pleasure Boat’s second-floor pavilion.

“Ugh!” Luo Huai’an’s sword momentum collapsed in an instant, his entire body sent flying backward, slamming heavily into a wall at the corner of the Pleasure Boat.

Earth and stone, wood splinters, and the vast clouds of dust kicked up by the collapsing pavilion mingled with the night wind and Hei Wu, spreading across the entire Pleasure Boat and even a hundred zhang across the River.

Only when the smoke and dust slowly dissipated did the black moon above peek out from behind the storm clouds, casting its light through the sheared-off eaves of the Pleasure Boat’s second floor and onto this corridor of life-or-death sword inquiry.

Luo Huai’an spat out a mouthful of blood, clearly wounded by the Sword Qi of that strike whose power far exceeded his expectations.

“So this is peak combat power below the Human Immortal realm? Late-stage peak of the Hundred Refinements Realm, the Great Master stage—still not enough.

Luo Huai’an, let me show you what true peak combat power below the Human Immortal realm really looks like.”

With a somewhat sinister smile, Xiao Yi held his sword horizontally before him and lightly drew the edge of his pale bone blade across his own left palm.

In the next instant, spiderweb-like crimson patterns rapidly spread from his left hand, covering his entire body, then quickly dimmed.

Thereafter, a pressure descended—one sufficient to force every mortal being within a hundred zhang to prostrate themselves in worship.

“Human Immortal pressure? That’s impossible!”

Luo Huai’an wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, forced himself up from the rubble, and stared at the scene before him in disbelief.

Yet soon, he lowered his head slightly to look at the longsword in his hand.

His furrowed brow slowly relaxed, and he let out a long, relieved breath.

There was not a trace of confusion or turbidity in Luo Huai’an’s eyes—still as clear as a spring of pure water.

And within those pupils of crystalline clarity, an unyielding, ever-brightening fighting spirit rose slowly like a swimming dragon emerging from the depths.

“No… it’s only half-step Human Immortal after all.”

Luo Huai’an’s expression returned to its initial calm as he fixed his gaze on Xiao Yi.

“It seems that for some reason, you cannot truly step into the Thousand Peaks Human Immortal realm.”

“Hmph. Putting up a brave front. Even if it’s only half-step Thousand Peaks, I, Xiao Yi, can still suppress you.”

The death match resumed.

Xiao Yi was clearly displeased that Luo Huai’an’s sword heart remained unbroken even after he had displayed such overwhelming power at the half-step Human Immortal level.

This time, he was determined to utterly crush this stubborn nail before him with absolute force—this obstinate thorn!

However, just as Xiao Yi was about to swing his sword again, a wisp of lethal, supremely dangerous aura quietly appeared—one capable of posing a fatal threat to him.

“Xiao Yi, don’t be so hasty… Did you think my Jian Dao martial form was that great river of swords?”

Luo Huai’an’s words were so calm that compared to Xiao Yi, whose aura had undergone an almost Human Immortal-level transformation, he merely assumed the most ordinary basic sword stance.

Yet in that moment, the flow of air changed.

The illusory river of the sword Dao condensed from Sword Qi did not surge toward Xiao Yi—instead, it followed his own sword momentum and rushed toward the Luo Huai’an before him.

Xiao Yi’s pupils abruptly constricted. Already at the half-step Human Immortal realm, he detected the anomaly with razor-sharp perception:

“No! This is your true Jian Dao martial form! Is this the real foundation behind your and Ye Tingyu’s claim of being the supreme swords below the Human Immortal realm?”

“My Hundred Refinements martial form is named [Countercurrent Tide]!”

The sword stance was plain and unadorned, yet Luo Huai’an’s sword momentum was like a lone skiff sailing against the current.

No matter how high the winds or how fierce the waves, they could not capsize this sword-boat that pressed upstream.

And the sole purpose of this sword-boat was to ride the wind and waves, surging against the current, heading for the very source of the river—to cut down all enemies in its path.

“The sword river rolls back three thousand waves, a lone boat spans the hundred-zhang abyss.

Say not the clear ripples only mirror shadows—the countercurrent surges straight up to slay the dragon’s bones!

Xiao Yi! Watch as I cut you down!” Luo Huai’an recited in a ringing voice, then bellowed and thrust his sword forward!

“Good! A fine ‘countercurrent surging straight up to slay the dragon’s bones’!

Then let me see the real skill you’ve kept up your sleeve—let’s see if you can actually cut me down!”

Black mist exploded from Xiao Yi’s entire body, his eyes shot through with bloodshot veins.

Clearly, facing this strike capable of slaying an immortal with mortal means, he felt the thrill of crossing blades with a true powerhouse for the first time.

He had crawled up from the freezing depths of the Yuning River.

He didn’t even know if he truly was Xiao Yi.

But now, through this sword inquiry with Luo Huai’an, he had found his answer.

He was absolutely certain he was Xiao Yi—the Young Prince of Xia Manor, Xiao Yi!

Two, three, five, nine… eleven rivers of starlight swirled around Xiao Yi’s body, then converged into a single great river of stars spanning the pitch-black sky.

Though it was less than one ten-billionth of the starry sea, it was more than enough to drown every ant in the mortal world that dared to challenge the might of heaven.

The next instant, the bone-white sword born from the starry river and the spirit-patterned longsword riding a lone skiff against the current collided upon the Pleasure Boat, where Sword Qi had gathered like a vast ocean.

In a single instant, the sky-piercing Sword Intent split the storm clouds above, and the bright moonlight once again spilled down upon the Yuning River.

The night returned to silence, and time itself seemed frozen in that one moment.

The victor was decided.

Luo Huai’an’s sword… had broken.

A wound running from his left upper body down to his waist and abdomen, so deep the bone was visible.

He smiled a bitter smile, shook his head helplessly, and dragged his mortally wounded body step by step to the railing of the Pleasure Boat.

“Old friend, I’m sorry… I wasn’t worthy of you.”

The peerless sharpness had long faded from his eyes as he calmly gazed at the broken longsword in his hand.

Then, he fell limply into the water…

“Slaying an immortal with mortal means… Luo Huai’an, you are truly terrifying.

If my cultivation hadn’t been half a step above yours, this sword inquiry would have been my loss.”

At this moment, Xiao Yi was kneeling on one knee, equally worse for wear.

Because the broken half of Luo Huai’an’s sword blade was currently embedded in the center of his chest—undoubtedly a fatal wound for any ordinary person.

But Xiao Yi was no longer an ordinary human.

Even such a lethal injury was not enough to kill him.

Just as Xiao Yi was about to stand and pull the cloud-patterned sword tip from his heart, a woman’s plaintive voice came from the doorway of the only pavilion room that had not collapsed amid the wreckage of the Pleasure Boat.

“My lord… is that you?”

Xiao Yi looked up and saw, beneath the bright moonlight, a stunningly beautiful woman clad in thin red gauze stepping out with a face full of anxious uncertainty, tears streaming down her cheeks.

Xiao Yi paused slightly—especially when he saw the swelling of Liu Linglin’s belly.

His eyes held not only helplessness, but also an indescribable… resentment.