Chapter 19

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Chapter 19: The Sword Cultivator and Knife Cultivator Were Equally Foolish

Blizzard Island was both an island and a sect, ranking alongside Qingliu Sword Sect and Tianyin Temple as the three major righteous sects.

The cloud boat from Qingliu Sword Sect slowly approached the island, where they could see the cherry blossoms as white as snow. However, the cloud boat found it difficult to move forward.

The disciples were surprised, "Why can’t we enter? Did we offend someone in Castle Peak City?"

The young disciples were all under a hundred years old and it was their first time participating in the Swordsmanship Contest. No one knew what was going on.

Wen Yun had read about it in the thin book given by the Wan family ancestor. She softly explained, "Blizzard Island is skilled in formations, perhaps they are setting challenges for disciples from other sects before they enter the island."

Martial Sister Mengran nodded and said, "It is said that during the last Swordsmanship Contest hosted by our sect, they also set up a sword formation at the mountain gate for disciples from other sects to break through."

In short, everyone from the major sects wanted to show superiority over disciples from other sects.

Unfortunately, sword cultivators are not familiar with formations. If they had some knowledge of formations, they wouldn’t need to spend a thousand spiritual jade to have someone set up a formation on the cloud boat.

That is a whole one thousand top-grade spiritual jade!

Zhu Erchong and Bao Pilong, the two senior brothers, were impatient and cheerful. Zhu Erchong laughed, "What’s there to fear about formations? We just need to fly over on our swords, right?"

Even Martial Sister Mengran, who appeared gentle on the outside, had a similar bold personality. She held Wen Yun’s arm and said, "Martial Sister Wen, don’t worry, elder martial sister will take you over."

The group of sword cultivators dressed in simple white shirts all drew their swords. The cloud boat suddenly lit up with several beautiful yet chilling sword lights, drawing the attention of disciples from other sects nearby.

Brother Zhu Erchong is the oldest and most skilled among the disciples. He flew ahead, leading the way with his sword, while the others followed closely behind.

As they were about to fly into Blizzard Island, an invisible barrier appeared. Zhu Erchong’s sword hit it and got stuck, unable to move, even the sharp energy on the sword faded away.

The other disciples who were not as skilled as Zhu Erchong also couldn’t get through, so they had to retreat to rethink their strategy.

Inside Blizzard Island, some disciples mocked, "How ridiculous! These sword cultivators dare to underestimate our Blizzard Island’s formations."

"Fools." A young person who was androgynous sat at the front, lazily opened their eyes and snorted disdainfully from their nose.

Someone chuckled, pointing in another direction, "Junior Brother Qian, look at that, if you want to talk about fools, the Jiang family using knives are even more foolish than those using swords."

Qian Lishen fiddled with a formation disk and leisurely said, "They’re all brainless."

The commotion caused by the Jiang family was no less than that of the Qingliu Sword Sect.

As the leading of the four major families, the Jiang family was only second to Qingliu Sword Sect in terms of martial strength. Their family’s Eighteen Blades of the Jiang clan were on par with Qingliu Sword Sect’s Clear Cloud Sword Technique and Drifting Mist Sword Art. It was said that with each strike of the blade, a layer of dark energy would accumulate. If they could unleash eighteen strikes, they could split mountains and seas.

Wen Yun was lying on the edge of the cloud boat watching the group of strong men over there, sighing, "Their arms are thicker than my legs."

Standing beside her, Ye Shubai explained to her, "Knife skills are different from sword skills, they pursue greater strength, so their muscles are larger."

She stared at the hot Jiang family people in the group, nodding appreciatively, "Knife cultivators are quite handsome."

Ye Shubai replied calmly, "Cultivators are judged by their skills, why judge based on looks?"

Wen Yun chuckled, "Not judging based on looks, but on physique. And if we really want to judge based on looks, the most handsome person is right beside me, why would I look at those playing with knives."

In a blink of an eye, she shifted her focus, waving the fire hemlock wand with a smile, "Look at the one with the longest legs carrying the biggest knife, he must be Jiang family’s young master Jiang Si as written in the book!"

Ye Shubai’s voice turned very cold, "Stop looking and go find a way to break the barrier."

The one with the longest legs was indeed Jiang Si, with his black hair tied up high, wearing a sharp outfit, carrying a large knife standing on the cloud boat, watching his brothers wield their knives at an invisible barrier.

Seeing that the formation could not be broken, he smiled and raised his large knife with a clear voice, "Step aside, let me handle this!"

Jiang Si took a big step with his long legs. His arm muscles bulged as he skillfully performed the Jiang family’s famous Eighteen Blade technique. Each strike was more impressive than the last, leaving onlookers amazed.

"He has unleashed the Tenth Blade, this young man from the Jiang family is truly exceptional!"

"Eleventh blade, no, Twelfth blade!"

With a fierce cry, Jiang Si charged forward, gritting his teeth and delivering three more powerful strikes!

"Crack—"

With a faint sound of cracking, after unleashing the Fifteenth Blade, the young man’s tall figure stepped into Blizzard Island, breaking through the barrier forcefully!

He smiled and called out to his brothers behind him, "Come in quickly, I am the first from the Jiang family…"

Before he could finish speaking, a wave of spiritual power flashed by, and the shattered barrier miraculously repaired itself, making it difficult for anyone outside to pass through.

"That lad from the Jiang family, actually let him in." Qian Lishen frowned and said softly, "Send someone to greet him."

He held his chin with his hand and said weakly, "Boring, really boring, no one has broken the formation seriously today."

"Three out of the four major families have already arrived, except for the troublemaker from the Jiang family. The Wan family is quite generous, bringing lavish gifts to our Blizzard Island. We can’t really make things difficult for them."

"Young Master Qing Hong from the Yu family hasn’t arrived yet, as for the Xie Family…"

When his fellow disciple mentioned the Xie Family, Qian Lishen’s interest was piqued slightly, "Only that Xie Mian who came a few days ago showed some cleverness, actually able to discern the pattern of my formation."

Someone below praised, "But he only understood the pattern, couldn’t break the formation. It’s thanks to your generosity, Junior Brother Qian, for letting him in."

He raised his chin proudly, "That’s right, even the elders at the Soul Changing Stage in our sect can’t easily unravel this Spirit-gathering Array. Those fools have a long way to go!"

The forces outside the island are still struggling to break the formation.

The Buddhist monks from the Tianyin Temple were the first to arrive, they have been reciting scriptures and playing the wooden fish at the edge of the formation for three days.

Wen Yun was puzzled when she heard this news, "Why are they chanting scriptures towards the formation? Are they trying to influence the formation to open on its own?"

Ye Shubai was reading a magic book at the moment, without even looking up, he explained, "The monks at Tianyin Temple are often ascetics who strengthen their bodies with Buddhist practices. They chant scriptures to enhance their inner strength, probably preparing to break through the spiritual formation with their physical bodies."

As he finished speaking, the monk on the other side indeed put his palms together and used his body to break through empty-handed.

Wen Yun asked curiously, "The Jiang family’s knives can break through anything, and the monks at Tianyin Temple have bodies that are impervious to swords. If Jiang Si were to strike them with his sword, could he actually cut through them?"

Ye Shubai just looked at her quietly without saying a word.

Wen Yun lightly coughed and said, "I don’t want to watch. I will go help our senior brothers to find a way to break the formation."

On the cloud boat, the people from Qingliu Sword Sect were still discussing how to break the formation.

Senior brother Bao Pilong swung his sword and said, "We sword cultivators are just as good as the knife cultivators from the Jiang family. Let’s break through the formation together!"

Even the usually quiet Shen Xinghai couldn’t stay silent anymore. He furrowed his brow and reminded them, "Brother Bao, we sword cultivators value speed over brute force. Jiang Si needed fifteen strikes to create a small opening, so even with our full sword techniques, we might not be able to break through."

"Younger brother makes a good point. What do you suggest we do then?"

Facing many curious eyes, Shen Xinghai simply said, "I don’t know."

Martial Sister Mengran hesitated, "Although our swords are not as powerful as knives, if we all focus on stabbing together, we may not all be able to enter, but we can send one or two people in first like the Jiang family."

This suggestion was agreed upon by everyone, Shen Xinghai said in a deep voice, "Among us, Martial Sister Wen is the most skilled in swordsmanship. Why not let her take the first strike to set a good example."

"Alright, Martial Sister Wen, come qui…hey, where did Martial Sister Wen go?"

Wen Yun stood at the very edge of the cloud boat, reaching out to touch the invisible barrier.

She had not practiced spiritual formations, but she had studied magic formations for hundreds of years.

"When the sword energy touches it, it doesn’t dissipate, but seems to be sucked in, and after Jiang Si slashed it just now, it quickly returned to its original state."

The sea breeze tousled the girl’s hair, partially covering her face, yet she was completely focused on feeling the strange formation ahead, murmuring key points under her breath.

"It absorbs spiritual power to repair itself, so unless one can destroy the entire spiritual formation at once, any attack in front of it will feed spiritual power back to it…"

"If I’m not mistaken, this is how it works, interesting, interesting!"

Wen Yun raised her hand and ordered without looking back, "Give me pen and paper!"

The junior disciples behind her were puzzled and said, "Martial Sister Wen…"

"Quiet!" Shen Xinghai softly scolded, "Martial Sister Wen might be breaking the formation."

Breaking the formation?

Has the Qingliu Sword Sect taught about formations?

Despite their disbelief, everyone had seen her skills during the previous inner sect competition and trusted the youngest girl.

Martial Sister Mengran quickly found pen and paper and handed it over, while everyone stood by silently to support her.

The girl on the cloud boat was completely absorbed in her own world, sitting on the ground and drawing symbols that others couldn’t understand.

Shen Xinghai stared at the familiar six-pointed star pattern, unconsciously pressing his chest.

There was a paper on which Wen Yun had drawn a similar design from the past.

In the distance, there were various noises of broken formations, salty sea breeze blowing in, carrying the sound of waves hitting the rocks.

The girl sitting on the ground seemed oblivious, with a furrowed brow, constantly sketching mysterious lines on the paper, without any spiritual power fluctuations, yet strangely imbued with a sense of the mysteries of nature.

Her fair hands were unknowingly stained with ink, one piece of waste paper after another thrown aside.

The sun, which had been high above, was gradually setting in the west, and besides Jiang Si, there was no one else breaking through the formation!

In the dimming sunset, Wen Yun’s beautiful profile reflected on the calm and windless sea.

"The position of the sun corresponds to the fire element, the moon to the water element, and then symmetrical with the double stars…"

Wen Yun murmured to herself, her eyes finally showing a hint of chill.

Pick up the pen, make a stroke, draw a line, and finally a dot!

As the last drop of ink fell, the magical elements of the world were instantly drawn towards this piece of paper, slowly gathering on it–

Ye Shubai looked at the girl who raised her eyebrows while holding the pen, her dark hair flying in the sunset. As their eyes met, she smiled proudly and freely.

Only he and she knew.

She broke the spell!