Chapter 203

Chapter 203: The Martial Arts Tournament!

Sword cultivator!

Upon hearing Yuan Shi’s words, Ye Tianming immediately grew interested. Up until now, he had never truly fought against a powerful sword cultivator. He had to admit, he was eager to witness what a truly formidable sword cultivator looked like, especially the sword domain that Xiao Hun had mentioned.

The sword domain!

He had thought about it before, but had only glimpsed it during his fight with Yang Jia. For him, that was far from enough. He also wanted to create his own sword domain, and ideally one that could merge with his own Law of All Beings.

However, he currently had no idea how to go about it. If only he could witness a truly powerful sword domain…

Seeing the excitement and anticipation in Ye Tianming’s eyes, Yuan Shi smiled and said, “Wait a moment, I’ve already notified her.”

Ye Tianming suppressed the excitement and eagerness in his heart and nodded. “Alright.”

After waiting for a moment, Yuan Shi’s brow suddenly furrowed.

Ye Tianming quickly asked, “What’s wrong?”

Yuan Shi said in a low voice, “No response. Let me try again.”

As he spoke, he looked at the token in his hand and his lips began to move.

A moment later, a cold voice suddenly came from within the token. “Not interested.”

Not interested!

Ye Tianming: “…….”

After a brief silence, Yuan Shi looked at Ye Tianming. “Since coming here, this person has never lost a single match. When she finally left, she said one thing: she was disappointed. Then she told me that if someone made it onto the Divine Martial Stage, she could be contacted.”

Ye Tianming was slightly taken aback, then smiled. “It seems I’ll need to get onto the Divine Martial Stage before I can fight her.”

Yuan Shi thought for a moment, then said, “I’ll find you a different opponent. Although that opponent isn’t as strong as this female sword cultivator, they’re still extremely powerful.”

Ye Tianming thought for a moment, then said, “Senior, how strong are you?”

Yuan Shi froze.

Ye Tianming smiled. “No need to pick someone young for me to fight.”

Yuan Shi looked at Ye Tianming. “You want to fight me?”

Ye Tianming nodded. “Yes.”

Yuan Shi said, “Young man, in all these years, you’re the first person to ever challenge me.”

Ye Tianming said, “I mean no disrespect, Senior. I simply want to have a good, all-out fight, or even get beaten, that’s fine too.”

He had originally wanted to find Old Yang, but Old Yang gave off the impression that he simply couldn’t fight anymore.

Yuan Shi looked at Ye Tianming for a moment, then said, “You really want to fight me?”

Ye Tianming nodded.

Yuan Shi gave a nod. “Alright.”

As he spoke, he waved his hand, and the barrier around them activated, with layers of light screens shielding the arena.

Yuan Shi looked at Ye Tianming. “Come on!”

Ye Tianming said nothing more. He raised his hand and thrust out a single sword strike. As the strike was unleashed, a towering sword momentum surged forth like a volcanic eruption.

Yuan Shi responded with a single downward press of his hand.

Boom!

Before Ye Tianming could even launch a second strike, the towering sword momentum instantly shattered!

Ye Tianming stood frozen in place.

Yuan Shi fixed his gaze on Ye Tianming. “I’ve watched your battles. Each sword strike of yours grows stronger than the last, and by the end, the power of your momentum is at least dozens of times greater than the first strike. But what if I crush your sword momentum the moment you launch that very first strike?”

Ye Tianming fell silent. In that instant, he had discovered the flaw in his seemingly invincible sword momentum.

Yuan Shi said, “If you ever face a truly top-tier powerhouse, they won’t give you the chance to land those later strikes. They’ll crush you the moment you launch your first, preventing your momentum from ever building up.”

Ye Tianming said in a low voice, “I understand.”

The opponents he had faced before were never truly powerful, which was why he had always been able to keep stacking his sword momentum. But once he faced a truly powerful opponent, they simply would not give him the chance to stack it.

One strike, and they’d suppress you outright.

Real combat!

Ye Tianming took a deep breath and smiled. “Indeed, real combat is what’s needed. Only through actual fighting can I discover my own problems.”

Yuan Shi said, “This sword technique of yours… no, it’s more accurate to say that what you’re using isn’t a technique, but a kind of Dao. You can feel it, it’s a very powerful Dao, but it’s not powerful enough yet, or rather, you can still make it even stronger.”

As he spoke, he paused, then added, “In many fights, one punch or one sword strike is all it takes.”

One punch!

One sword strike!

Ye Tianming’s eyes narrowed slightly. All this time, he had been overlooking something. Whether it was building up momentum or continuously stacking it like Zong Wu did, both required time. But if he faced a truly powerful opponent, would they give him that time?

Absolutely not!

They would forcibly suppress you before your momentum even had a chance to rise.

Yuan Shi said, “What you need is an evenly matched opponent. But for someone like you, finding an evenly matched opponent is clearly an extraordinarily difficult task.”

Ye Tianming smiled bitterly. “That’s true.”

The opponents he faced now were either too weak or too strong, making it nearly impossible for him to push himself to his absolute limits.

Yuan Shi said, “Let’s go again.”

As he spoke, he lightly pressed down with his right hand, suppressing his own cultivation to the same level as Ye Tianming’s.

Ye Tianming took a deep breath and thrust out his sword again, still using the “Invincible Fist Dao.” He naturally couldn’t change everything in an instant, so he still had to first try to push this sword technique to its absolute limit before attempting to change it.

Once Yuan Shi suppressed his cultivation to match Ye Tianming’s, his power could no longer effortlessly overwhelm Ye Tianming. However, he still managed to suppress Ye Tianming’s momentum, just without being able to completely shatter his sword momentum.

Ye Tianming then launched his second strike, and as he did, his momentum began to surge explosively. He quickly followed with a third strike, then another and another. Soon, by the time Ye Tianming reached his one hundred and twentieth strike, his sword momentum had reached a point where it was evenly matched with Yuan Shi’s, with neither able to suppress the other.

Evenly matched!

But Ye Tianming’s momentum kept growing stronger and stronger. Yuan Shi couldn’t help but furrow his brow, because each time he thought the next strike would be Ye Tianming’s limit, it never was.

Was there truly no upper limit?

By the time Ye Tianming reached two hundred strikes, Yuan Shi’s expression had become unprecedentedly grave. This time, he was truly feeling the pressure. His power was already struggling to hold back Ye Tianming, and by the time Ye Tianming reached two hundred and twenty strikes, Yuan Shi had been completely suppressed.

By the time Ye Tianming reached two hundred and thirty strikes, Yuan Shi had been utterly overwhelmed. The relentless, unending sword momentum pressed down on his heart like one towering mountain after another, making it difficult for him to even breathe.

Yet Yuan Shi held on stubbornly, because he believed Ye Tianming had to be reaching his limit at any moment. As long as he could hold out, once Ye Tianming’s momentum was exhausted, Ye Tianming’s defeat would be inevitable.

By the time Ye Tianming reached two hundred and thirty strikes, Yuan Shi was actually already on the verge of collapse. Damn it, he truly hadn’t expected Ye Tianming to still be able to keep striking.

Could there really be no upper limit?

Just thinking about it made Yuan Shi’s head spin.

But he still believed there had to be a limit, because he had already noticed something from the pallor of Ye Tianming’s face. He knew that Ye Tianming had to be at his limit by now.

He had to hold on!

He could not lose!

What a joke, if he lost to a young man, how would he ever show his face again?

He would hold on even if it killed him.

Ye Tianming wanted to see his own limits, while Yuan Shi was fighting for his pride. No matter what, he could not lose to Ye Tianming. Otherwise, if those old fellows ever found out, they’d laugh their heads off at him.

And at this moment, Ye Tianming had already reached two hundred and thirty-three strikes!

In his previous training, two hundred and thirty-five strikes had been his limit, which meant that, just as Yuan Shi suspected, he was indeed rapidly approaching his own limit.

When he reached the two hundred and thirty-fourth strike, the challenge arena around them cracked into a spider-web pattern. The barrier in this place could no longer withstand his sword momentum. And it wasn’t just the arena, Yuan Shi was also struggling to hold on, though he hadn’t completely collapsed yet.

When Ye Tianming reached two hundred and thirty-five strikes, the entire challenge arena shattered with a thunderous crash. At the same time, Yuan Shi was sent flying. The towering sword momentum swept across the arena, shaking the surrounding space and time until it rippled like boiling water, utterly terrifying.

After unleashing that strike, Ye Tianming did not collapse. Instead, he held on through sheer force of will. At this moment, his mind was completely blank, with only one thought: to keep striking. And so, with the very last of his strength, he swung out his two hundred and thirty-sixth strike.

As that strike was unleashed, Yuan Shi’s expression in the distance instantly changed. He hurriedly restored his cultivation, then slammed his right hand forward in a fierce downward press.

Boom!

Ye Tianming’s terrifying sword momentum was instantly suppressed in place. But this time, he was unable to shatter it as easily as he had at the very beginning. A flash of shock crossed his eyes, and he slammed his right hand downward again with force.

Boom!

The boundless sword momentum was crushed this time, but in the next instant, Ye Tianming in the distance gently raised his left hand.

Boom!

The sword momentum that had just been crushed suddenly began to reconverge in an instant…

“Hmm?”

Yuan Shi stared at the scene in disbelief.

But before Ye Tianming’s momentum could fully reconverge, he simply collapsed. And as he fell, the sword momentum that had been gathering dispersed along with him.

Yuan Shi walked over to Ye Tianming. He looked at him, his brow deeply furrowed. “How is this possible……”

After some time had passed, Ye Tianming woke up. He was still on the challenge arena. He smiled wryly. “Senior.”

As he spoke, he stood up.

His body was still exhausted.

Yuan Shi stared at him. “I’ve somewhat underestimated this ‘Dao’ of yours.”

Ye Tianming shook his head. “Although this ‘Dao’ grows stronger and stronger as it goes on, as Senior said, if someone doesn’t give me that opportunity and suppresses me outright from the start, I’ll be crushed. So this ‘Dao’ still needs some improvement.”

Yuan Shi said, “Two hundred and thirty-six strikes probably still isn’t your limit. Do you want to keep going?”

Ye Tianming smiled. “Of course!”

After resting, he fought Yuan Shi again.

And so it went. Ye Tianming trained with Yuan Shi for a full six months and more, and over those six months, he had improved from two hundred and thirty-six strikes to two hundred and forty strikes!

It may seem like only four additional strikes, but the power compared to before was vastly, incomparably greater.

And in order to better serve as a sparring partner, Yuan Shi did not suppress his cultivation to match Ye Tianming’s. Instead, he suppressed it to the Chengzu realm.

There was no other way, at the same cultivation level he simply couldn’t withstand Ye Tianming’s sword momentum.

During this period, he wasn’t only honing his sword momentum with Yuan Shi. He was also studying the sword domain and the Three Thousand Great Daos, attempting to perfectly fuse the Dao of the first generation Heavenly Court Master with the Three Thousand Great Dao Arts, and ultimately merge them with his own Mortal Aspect Dao!

The one somewhat regrettable thing was that he still hadn’t managed to create his own sword domain, because he had never witnessed a truly powerful sword domain. But he wasn’t in any rush.

In cultivation, time in the world passes quickly.

On this day, after Ye Tianming had completely fused the Three Thousand Great Dao Arts with his own Mortal Aspect, he stopped, then went to bid farewell to Yuan Shi.

Yuan Shi looked at Ye Tianming. “Leaving so soon?”

Ye Tianming nodded. “I have a martial contest, and the time has come.”

His martial arts competition with Yang Jia was only three days away.

It was time to go back and settle everything.