Chapter 207: Immortal-Taught Swordplay

With his hair hanging loose, Li Linquan swung a longsword wreathed in azure lightning at the enemy before him.

He wore tight-fitting blue-black clothes. Handsome and masculine, he had ears like an ox’s and unusually fair skin, with tawny leopard-like markings showing through in many places. One eye was ordinary; the other blazed with lightning. A long phantom tail trailed behind him, wrapped in fierce silver arcs.

Alone with his sword, he faced over a hundred martial artists.

He charged without fear, his azure-lightning sword hacking, slashing, slicing, and sweeping upward, each stroke taking a life. Behind him, his phantom tail became a brilliant silver lash of lightning, sweeping and striking as a second weapon.

After a fierce bout of fighting, Li Linquan cut his way through the martial artists. Suddenly, he saw a figure.

The man wore a loose, wide-sleeved robe and a ridged crown. His face was indistinct, and he held an iron-black longsword.

Without a word, he thrust at Li Linquan’s throat.

Exhilarated by the slaughter, Li Linquan merely turned aside to protect his vital points and answered attack with attack. His sword shot out like lightning, shedding azure sparks until tiny bolts filled the air.

The man’s iron-black sword turned partway and swept easily through an arc, still pursuing Li Linquan’s throat.

It was an ordinary stroke, one even a Human Realm martial artist could perform. Yet Li Linquan’s hair suddenly stood on end.

Before his lightning sword reached him, he’d have had his throat slit!

The greater the danger, the more excited Li Linquan became. Rather than darting backward, he unleashed a cry like a clap of spring thunder.

"Ha!"

Like Heaven’s thunderous judgment, the cry stunned everyone and everything around him for an instant and scattered the nearby sinister presences.

The iron-black longsword faltered too.

Li Linquan seized the opening and surged forward. True qi erupted, lending even greater thunderous force to his lightning-wreathed blade.

After that brief pause, the man turned slightly to the side, moving his shoulder forward. His iron sword cut diagonally down toward Li Linquan’s sword arm.

Li Linquan had no time to parry with his sword or block with his lightning tail. He could only shift his feet and swing aside.

After that retreat, he could not launch another attack. His opponent seized the initiative with every stroke, always targeting a flaw in his movement or technique. At times, the man even seemed to anticipate his thoughts and responses, so that Li Linquan nearly ran into the iron sword himself. Narrow escapes followed one after another, and sweat soaked his back.

What brought cold sweat to Li Linquan’s brow was that, after countless exchanges, their swords had yet to clash even once. He had no chance to exploit the enemy blade’s metal nature by sending azure lightning through it and into its wielder’s body.

After struggling to hold on for what felt like an eternity, Li Linquan finally saw an opportunity.

The repeated discharges from his sword and tail had filled the air with tiny azure and silver bolts.

Crack! As he drew his sword back to defend, Li Linquan lashed out with the nearly four-meter-long phantom lightning tail behind him.

Lightning flared. The tiny electric serpents filling the air suddenly converged under its pull.

Crackling and snapping, they wove into an immense net that descended over the swordsman in the wide-sleeved robe.

Li Linquan could clearly see that, even before the lightning net touched his opponent, every hair on the man’s body stood on end. His iron-black sword had begun to tremble almost imperceptibly.

Without hesitation, Li Linquan reversed his retreating sword and sent it shooting forward.

It became a brilliant bolt of azure lightning, following the net straight toward his enemy’s face.

Just then, the man in the wide-sleeved robe and ridged crown swept his iron sword horizontally.

The utterly unremarkable stroke seemed to cut through the phantom net’s vital qi junction. Its crackling lightning abruptly dispersed, leaving the air clear.

The next instant, it struck Li Linquan’s sword-griping hand.

The azure-lightning sword fell limply to the ground. Li Linquan’s eyes widened as the iron blade rose and thrust toward his throat.

He jerked upright, gasping for breath.

Sunset clouds filled the sky beyond the window. Inside, the tables and chairs were sinking into shadow.

Li Linquan raised his right hand to his forehead and found it beaded with cold sweat.

He remembered having a nightmare, but most of its details had already slipped away.

Vaguely, he recalled fighting someone who had attacked for dozens, perhaps a hundred moves without once needing to defend. He himself had barely kept up, unable to strike back at all.

"That swordplay..." Li Linquan frowned, fear still lingering in his heart.

He managed to recall a few moves. They felt like the most ordinary strokes with familiar variations, yet after turning them over several times, he suddenly sprang from the couch, hurried barefoot to an open space in the room, and drew his sword to practice.

This is the next realm of swordsmanship I’ve dreamed of reaching. No, the realm beyond that!

The more Li Linquan practiced, the more discouraged he became. He could not capture that feeling, much less grasp the principles it contained.

As his initial excitement faded, Li Linquan frowned again.

Did I really dream that up myself?

Could someone have entered my dream through a dream art and used me to test his sword?

But I’ve never heard of any sect with a dream-art inheritance in Great Zhao possessing such remarkable swordsmanship...

He opened the door, summoned a maid, and asked quietly, "Who is visiting the house at present? What physical anomalies do they have?"

Colored Thread House was supposed to guard such information closely. But the sight of Li Linquan’s extraordinary beauty, his pale, weakened face, and his slightly bewildered eyes filled the maid with tender concern.

I’ll tell him what he wants to know... Lowering her voice, the maid described every guest she knew of.

None of them fits... So no one entered my dream? Li Linquan turned and went back inside.

He could not help revisiting the fragments of swordplay he remembered. Had his waking thoughts carried into sleep, allowing him to break through every barrier in his dream?

Or did an immortal enter my dream to teach me divine swordplay? The harder Li Linquan tried to remember, the hazier the dream became. He could not reconstruct the duel.

Frustration swept over him. He bitterly regretted not remembering more.

Immortal-taught swordplay... Immortal-taught swordplay... Li Linquan stared in a daze at the Hengbo River beyond the window, its waters reflecting the sunset clouds.

......

Ding Songyan derived Candleflame True Qi once more, strolled over to the bamboo pipe, and washed his hands.

Feeling relaxed, he reflected on the fight in the dream.

The Heaven-Splitting Thunderlight Sword is indeed remarkable, but it was also Li Linquan’s considerable talent that brought out its full potential...

He’s another man who prefers offense to defense. Being forced to defend against eighty-one consecutive moves can’t have felt pleasant...

Good thing it happened in a dream and took little time. Otherwise, Fifth Xie might have knocked on the restroom door to ask whether I’d drowned in shit...

Li Linquan is certainly handsome and masculine, but there’s a seductive charm to his every gesture and expression. And with that fair skin of his... Tsk, tsk. Master Xiaozhang is remarkable to have captured even a little of that indescribable allure in a portrait...

He practices martial arts and fights even in his dreams, and he has that explosive temper. His nature really doesn’t match his looks...

Ding Songyan dried his hands with a silk cloth in the restroom, went out, and returned to his seat.

Resuming their earlier conversation, he asked Xie Fengchao thoughtfully, "Once you reach the Heaven-Man Realm, can you suppress traits gained from consuming things like Yao grass?"

"Yes," Xie Fengchao answered with certainty, then added, "But if they’ve already caused physical changes, I don’t think you can suppress them completely."

"That’s good." Ding Songyan found himself pleasantly lost in thought.

"What, do you want to eat Yao grass too?" Xie Fengchao teased.

"No need for that." Ding Songyan raised his cup, clinked it against Xie Fengchao’s, and drained it.

Xie Fengchao chuckled.

"I know you don’t want it for yourself. Once you’re married and your wife reaches the Heaven-Man Realm, you’ll find her some Yao grass and keep all that beauty to yourself. Am I right?"

He named no one. A young woman’s reputation was at stake. Even in jest, he could hardly discuss her by name behind her back.

"I’m mainly curious whether traits gained from divine herbs and immortal fruits can be manifested and suppressed at will," Ding Songyan explained.

"See? You didn’t deny it." Xie Fengchao laughed.

He gave a sigh.

"The Heaven-Man Realm is far harder to reach than the Dharma Realm. I only dare dream of it..."

"What’s youth without a little wild ambition? That’s three penalty cups for you." Ding Songyan clicked his tongue.

Xie Fengchao offered no protest. He let the young woman beside him pour his wine and drank three cups in succession.

For the rest of the evening, the four young women took turns sitting beside the two men, chatting and joking, while the others played and sang nearby.

Before they knew it, the night had grown late. Wiping his mouth with a silk cloth, Xie Fengchao asked, "Yang Shiduo has made a name for himself in the Flame Capital too. Haven’t you heard? Why didn’t you invite him to join us for wine and music?"

"The Orchid Grace Examination is only two months away, and I have some things to attend to. I don’t want to drag him into anything that might affect his chances in the martial examination. I’ll visit him once those matters are settled or the examination is over," Ding Songyan explained briefly.

Take the Accumulated Evil Way affair. Ding Songyan had little to fear if Evil Spirit Fei Biru or someone like her targeted him. With his clan behind him, Xie Fengchao was much the same. Yang Shiduo, however, would be far more vulnerable if he became involved.

Xie Fengchao did not ask what Ding Songyan intended to do. He merely smiled.

"If anything interesting comes up, come and find me. I do know my way around this city."

He turned to another matter.

"Xing Chang is serving in the Left Guard Army, guarding Zhukou Camp. He can’t leave without permission and is allowed into the city only one day a month. If you want a drink with him, you’ll have to get the day right."

Ding Songyan nodded and rose before Xie Fengchao could. He smiled.

"Well, the mood has run its course. Let’s head home."

"That’s my line!" Xie Fengchao rose with a laugh.

Didn’t you get that line from me too? Ding Songyan shot Fifth Xie a glance.

Outside Colored Thread House, Xie Fengchao climbed into the carriage waiting by the street and rode off in style to the Xie residence.

The Flame Capital had plenty of carriages for hire, charging roughly four qian per kilometer.

Ding Songyan chose to stroll through the Flame Capital’s late-night streets.

He passed bustling night markets along the way, with lanterns lining both sides of the street.

As he studied the lay of the land and memorized the streets and alleys, Ding Songyan glanced at the passersby. They walked in groups or chatted and laughed in pairs. Few were alone.

The streets and alleys between the night markets lay quiet and still.

I wonder whether Senior Sister has received the letter I wrote before coming to the Flame Capital... Amidst the chilly autumn wind, beneath the soft moonlight, Ding Songyan’s thoughts suddenly drifted far away.

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