Chapter 402: Inferior by a Margin

The duel between the dagger and the short sword was no less intense than that of two long swords. As the saying goes, “An inch shorter, an inch more dangerous.” If two short weapons were to clash with a resounding “clang,” it would be nothing short of a joke.

Moreover, Zhang Xiaohua knew that the old man could not truly sense his divine sense, so he had already released his spiritual perception, monitoring the changes in the old man’s swordplay and footwork.

Thus, no matter how the old man’s sword techniques changed—whether blending real and fake or unleashing genuine moves—they could not escape Zhang Xiaohua’s divine sense. He could always find an opening amidst the old man’s shifting dagger techniques, easily executing his nameless sword style and sending his small sword to the old man’s throat, forcing the elder to keep changing his moves to dodge. After a dozen or so rounds, the old man was already at a disadvantage.

Although the bronze mask covered the old man’s face, it could not shield his vital throat. Moreover, from the wind stirred by Zhang Xiaohua’s thrust, the old man had no doubt that even if the small sword struck the mask directly, it could easily pierce through.

“Where did this young man come from? His swordplay is so formidable! Could he be a newly cultivated prodigy of the elusive Piaomiao Sect, whose whereabouts have been unknown these past years?”

“Though I cannot see this youth’s face, judging from his voice, he seems quite young. To have such cultivation at his age—if given enough time, wouldn’t he easily surpass the likes of us? If I don’t take him down today, such a chance may never come again.”

The old man in the bronze mask, now at a disadvantage, instantly made up his mind—he must nip this threat in the bud.

The old man took a deep breath, not making any ostentatious moves. His face was hidden beneath the bronze mask, betraying no emotion, but the hand gripping the dagger suddenly flushed red, seeming to swell slightly. At the same time, his dagger techniques changed, becoming abruptly faster. Within Zhang Xiaohua’s divine sense, there was an immediate shift: the dagger’s moves grew indistinct, no longer as clear as before. Even the flaws and feints in the swordplay became elusive and hard to grasp.

Unable to spot any openings, Zhang Xiaohua’s incomplete nameless sword style was immediately stretched thin. Within a few breaths, his sword had clashed with the dagger several times; sparks nearly flew with each “clang.” “What sword technique is this?” 

Zhang Xiaohua was shocked.

His divine sense could not even discern the trajectory of the opponent’s swordplay!

After a few crisp clashes, the sound of weapons meeting vanished altogether. The old man’s swordplay shifted again; it seemed his earlier moves were just probing, and now his true skills were revealed. Zhang Xiaohua’s small sword could no longer touch the dagger, and the old man’s entire body seemed to be without a single flaw.

Just at that moment, as Zhang Xiaohua hesitated, unsure where to strike, he suddenly felt a sharp pain under his arm. Looking closely, he saw the old man’s short sword had pierced right into his armpit. Zhang Xiaohua was greatly startled; with a wave of his left hand, the small sword slashed toward the old man’s throat. The old man had thought his strike would succeed, but when the tip of his sword stabbed into Zhang Xiaohua’s body, it could go no further. He couldn’t help but be stunned, and by the time the tip of the small sword reached him, he hurriedly raised his dagger to block, already a step behind.

Seeing this, Zhang Xiaohua couldn’t help but secretly laugh to himself. Each move came faster and fiercer than the last, no longer displaying the carefree elegance of the nameless sword technique from before. Like a raging storm, he attacked the old man’s throat. Yet, the old man remained calm and unhurried, as if he had already seen through the direction of Zhang Xiaohua’s sword moves. With the short sword in hand, he guarded his throat tightly, and for a time, Zhang Xiaohua could not break through in the slightest.

After a few more exchanges, a hint of laughter appeared in the old man’s eyes. His sword moves, swift as lightning, unfolded again, aiming straight for Zhang Xiaohua’s face and throat. Zhang Xiaohua was greatly alarmed. His robe could protect his whole body, but his face and neck were exposed. Instantly, he shifted his steps, unleashing the Piaomiao Steps technique, narrowly dodging the dagger’s attack.

Seeing this, the old man’s eyes shone with even more amusement. He too exerted force with his feet, his figure flickering, leaving a trail of afterimages beneath the lamplight. It turned out to be a lightness skill technique not a bit inferior to the Piaomiao Steps.

Thus, the balance Zhang Xiaohua had just regained with his footwork was instantly lost, and his face and throat were once again under threat from the old man’s short sword!

Who was this old man?

How could he possess such profound skill?

For a moment, several questions flashed through Zhang Xiaohua’s mind.

Ever since returning from the deserted island, Zhang Xiaohua had encountered several formidable opponents, but none could withstand even a single move from him. In his heart, he had already come to look down somewhat on martial artists. Earlier, when the old man sensed his divine sense, Zhang Xiaohua had been slightly on guard, but upon discovering that the old man could only sense the gaze of the divine sense upon himself and nothing more, he grew contemptuous again. Only now, when his fist techniques, sword techniques, and Piaomiao Steps were all inferior to this mysterious old man in the bronze mask, did a great wave surge in his heart—he had underestimated the heroes of the world after all.

In truth, it wasn’t just Zhang Xiaohua who was shocked; the terror in the mysterious old man’s heart was a hundred times stronger than Zhang Xiaohua’s.

Who was he? One of the renowned experts of the martial world, yet at the start, he had ended up fighting to a draw with this young man he had never even heard of—and even found himself at a disadvantage. Even after unleashing his most secret sword technique, he had only barely managed to regain the upper hand, and though he had come close to stabbing the youth several times, he simply could not kill him. Whether the youth had mastered some iron-cloth technique or wore some extraordinary protective armor, he could not tell. Now, even after displaying his peerless lightness skill, he still could not slay this young man at once. This youth’s martial arts were nearly on par with the top experts of the martial world. Just who was he?

Both were guessing at each other’s identity, but their hands and feet did not pause for a moment. Zhang Xiaohua still could not recover from his disadvantage, as the mysterious old man’s lightning-fast attacks left him flustered and on the defensive. A look of joy flashed in the old man’s eyes, and taking advantage of Zhang Xiaohua’s unguarded moment, he suddenly lunged, his dagger thrusting at Zhang Xiaohua’s throat from a bizarre angle—the very spot Zhang Xiaohua could not defend. In the blink of an eye, Zhang Xiaohua was about to be killed on the spot!

At this critical moment, Zhang Xiaohua’s hand swiftly formed a spell gesture, and his figure suddenly flickered, vanishing from sight. In the old man’s utterly astonished gaze, his sure-kill dagger struck nothing but air!

“This…” the old man couldn’t help but cry out in shock.

At that moment, Zhang Xiaohua, his face ashen, reappeared in another corner of the hall.

That had been truly perilous—if not for Zhang Xiaohua’s mastery of the Earth Escape Technique, he would surely have been struck by that dagger. Even so, having just escaped from danger, Zhang Xiaohua’s heart was still thumping wildly.

Seeing Zhang Xiaohua reappear elsewhere, the old man, though shocked, dared not hesitate. He exerted force with his feet, leaving a trail of afterimages as he shot toward Zhang Xiaohua like lightning. Zhang Xiaohua, unwilling to let him get close again, flicked his left hand, hurling the small sword at the old man like a hidden weapon.

The old man burst out laughing. How could such a clumsy move possibly harm him? With a flick of his dagger, he sent the small sword flying into the air, not even bothering to look at it, his figure not slowing in the slightest as he continued to charge straight at the motionless Zhang Xiaohua.

But when he was still a few steps away from Zhang Xiaohua and saw that Zhang Xiaohua still hadn’t taken any defensive action, only holding his fingers in a strange gesture, a sense of caution arose in his heart. At that very moment, a fierce wind suddenly swept down from above, startling him. He didn’t have time to look up—instinctively, he dodged to the side. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw that the small sword he had just knocked away with his dagger was now falling straight down. He couldn’t help but feel puzzled: “How could it be such a coincidence? The small sword is falling right above my head?”

But before he could finish the thought, the descending small sword suddenly twisted its blade and shot straight toward his face!

In that instant, it was as if a bolt of lightning flashed through the old man’s mind. He suddenly remembered something and couldn’t help but cry out, “Flying sword!!!”

Seeing the small sword before him, as if imbued with a spirit, thrusting toward the flaw in his defenses, the old man could no longer maintain his earlier composure. Wielding his dagger, he blocked left and right, immediately falling into a disadvantage.

As for Zhang Xiaohua, seeing his flying sword take effect, he couldn’t help but feel greatly relieved: “Of course, this is how a cultivator should attack. Just now, I was foolishly using martial arts techniques to deal with a peak martial artist—how could I not suffer for it?”

With that realization, Zhang Xiaohua stood there at ease, calmly forming hand seals, using his divine sense to control the small sword as if it were an extension of his own arm, stabbing at the old man’s weaknesses.

Perhaps it was because the nameless sword technique was originally a sword-controlling art of the immortal path, but when the incomplete technique was applied to the divine sense-driven small sword, its power was instantly magnified. The old man was forced to defend with his dagger and could no longer break free from the small sword’s attacks to threaten the distant Zhang Xiaohua.

Moreover, the old man seemed to be completely shaken by the sudden appearance of the flying sword and, for the moment, had no better way to deal with it, forced to defend passively. In contrast, his earlier lightning-fast sword techniques, which had nearly driven the sword-wielding Zhang Xiaohua to the brink of disaster, now met their nemesis in the divine sense-controlled small sword. The flying sword, driven by Zhang Xiaohua’s mind, was far more agile than one held in the hand, able to shift angles at will, far surpassing the speed of the old man’s sword techniques. Even the lightness skill that had rivaled Piaomiao Steps now paled in comparison; though afterimages still flickered, he could not escape the threat of the small sword’s edge. The small sword chased after the afterimages, sweeping up a shadowy blur.

Previously, Zhang Xiaohua had used the flying sword technique several times, but those had all been one-sided massacres—never like this time, which could truly be called a battle between equals. Only today did he truly understand the power of a cultivator’s flying sword, and in this fierce contest, he gradually became more proficient in the nameless sword technique, his changes of moves growing ever more skillful.

After another dozen or so exchanges, the old man was barely able to defend himself, with almost no strength left to counterattack. A faint smile appeared at the corner of Zhang Xiaohua’s mouth as he formed a spell gesture with his hand. Spotting a flaw in the old man’s defense, the small sword spun abruptly and stabbed straight toward the old man’s bronze mask. In his haste, the old man couldn’t manage to change his move in time and had no choice but to reach out with his left hand to grab the small sword. Zhang Xiaohua sneered inwardly, and the small sword arched its body, dodging the old man’s left hand and heading straight for his forehead.

But just as Zhang Xiaohua imagined the small sword about to pierce the old man’s mask at his forehead, he heard the old man burst out laughing. Suddenly, the old man’s left hand grew larger, and with a “puff” sound, he actually caught the small sword in his hand.

Zhang Xiaohua’s face turned ashen!