Chapter 307: Broken Sword
Despite the occasional madness, Evan still was the strongest opponent Zen had ever encountered.
Chances were Zen would have long been defeated if refinement techniques or life vitality was allowed in this battle.
After all, there was a gap in inner energy between the two fighters. Undoubtedly, Zen's foundation was solid, and this made him stronger than other warriors in the same stage. But Evan was solid in foundation, too. He didn't raise his energy abruptly through pills, but accumulated strength through regular exercise and practice.
However, Zen wasn't frustrated that Evan was stronger than him. He knew that if he worked hard enough, he would also reach the sixth stage of the Illuminating Soul Realm. And in time, he would reap greater achievements than what Evan had accomplished.
But improving his level was not the primary goal. Right now, his focus should be on the sword fight.
“The swordsmanship you are employing is very unusual. The basic swordsmanship is already the simplest form when using a sword, but yours seems to be even simpler than the basic. I don't know how you managed that, but I know there's always a way to crack it!”
That said, Evan straightened himself and poised for another attack. As he held himself and charged for the strike, his mental aura was so strong no one dared to look him in the eye. At that moment, Evan was a completely different person, nothing like the aimless, silly, dignified, and proud fighter he was known to be.
And the change was so abrupt that it caught the audience by surprise. Not many were capable of understanding what was happening.
“I will conquer your simplest swordsmanship technique with a most complicated one!” he declared. And as he started to attack, the sword in his hand began to shake violently.
Suddenly, it tinkled, and as it continued to make noise, the sword vibrated harder, leaving numerous images of a sword around it.
Like thousands of peonies blooming simultaneously, under Evan's careful control, the shadows of swords took shape. They formed thousands of flowers made of swords, which were as beautiful as they were deadly.
“Falling Flowers Sword!” Evan's hands were steady and his eyes fierce.
And as a storm of swords swept through the field, he roared.
Like the spectators, Zen was in awe. 'What an expert swordsman! And that sword is beautiful and lethal!' The young disciple held his breath as he continued to be dazzled by the overlapping and extremely complicated sword flowers overhead.
He now understood what Evan meant by “cracking the simple swordsmanship with a complicated one.”
The method indeed proved to be very effective.
In fighting a swordsman, one had to discover the flaws in his swordsmanship. However, this Falling Flowers Sword was not only gorgeous in its effect, but likewise deadly in its complication. It was not that there was no flaw in a complicated swordsmanship, but the complexity of the Falling Flowers Sword helped to cloak its imperfections. It would take Zen some time to learn of the flaws in Evan's swordsmanship.
But Zen didn't have the luxury of time. When two swordsmen were in combat, the one who slowed down would lose the fight. Zen had to bite the bullet and keep up with his skillful opponent.
Sighing inwardly, Zen lowered the tip of his sword and kept the weapon close to his left side, allowing its strength to reach the front of the blade. Then he extended his left middle and index fingers until they straightened and pressed on his right wrist.
“Circle parry!” he announced.
He focused all his energy on this move.
The “circle parry” was one of the basic swordplay skills employed for defense. Since he was fighting a very tough opponent, Zen had only to assume a defensive pose then step back.
“Chink!”
The sound of metal against metal went on nonstop as the swords clashed. In what seemed like a second, Evan's sword hit Zen's weapon countless times, forcing the young disciple to stumble back.
It took Zen seven or eight full steps to regain his footing. And he didn't have enough time to recover his breath before Evan advanced again, sword in hand, fury in his eyes.
"You think simplest is the strongest?
Bah! I say your sword is not strong, but soft. So, how are you going to defeat me with that?
Show me! Defeat me with your pliant sword! You're merely a novice at the second stage of nature level. And a beginner like you won't be able to see through my swordsmanship. When I take a stab at you, my sword will strike you twelve times. That number is square with a second stab, so the sword strikes one hundred and forty-four times. And my third stab? It's one thousand seven hundred and twenty-eight strikes of a sword! I dare you to fight back against this downpour of attacks!"
Sneering at his retreating opponent, Evan tried to make Zen feel threatened. Hundreds of thousands of flowers blossomed around his swords, emerging endlessly, as fast as his eyes could follow as he thrust his sword at dazzling speed.
Watching from a short distance, Yan's brows wrinkled. She was aware that not enough cultivation was Zen's serious disadvantage.
'If my brother had practiced sword skills for as long as Evan did, he would have won the fight. After all, his simple swordsmanship is certainly more practical than the Falling Flowers Sword, and performs better in combat, ' Yan thought.
But the most skilled fighter wasn't always the strongest. A fighter's overall strength should include every aspect - mental, physical, and spiritual - working as a whole.
After all, Zen had defeated Patrick in their previous encounter. And that was due to Zen's brilliance in martial arts, his prudent use of his unique skills pulled out of his sleeve.
If Zen had stepped into the consummation stage of nature level, he wouldn't have to rely on his present skills to defeat others. At that stage, when a fighter's energy storage was full, any surplus energy could be used to nurture his or her soul. And the fighter would acquire the power to communicate with the universe.
And if he could enter the Illuminating Soul Realm, more significant changes would happen to him. His strengths, reactions, eyesight, and sense of timing and coordination would be further enhanced.
Lost in thought, Yan quickly shook her head to return to the situation at hand. Her brother's eyesight was keen. If he entered the Illuminating Soul Realm, the Falling Flowers Sword would be nothing to him. He would easily notice the flaws the moment Evan executed his first move. But her brother needed to grow further, so for now, Evan remained too powerful an adversary for him.
“Clang!”
The new attack had Zen taking several more steps back.
At the moment, he was not far from the edge of the combat field. If backed into a corner and left with no room for retreat, he would no doubt lose the fight.
Gaining advantage again, Evan burst into laughter.
With a big smile, he yelled at Zen, "You seem to be out of tricks.
You and your sword are beaten!" That said, he sneered.
The senior disciple's sword clinked again and a thousand flowers formed to launch countless attacks. He had much faith in his skills and didn't think Zen could see through his rapid moves. The only outcome he saw for Zen was defeat.
Also watching from not far away was Elder Ge, who shook his head at what he saw. Zen was a good disciple and a skillful fighter, but he was no match for Evan, yet. Even though they were competing in swordsmanship, Evan's energy storage gave him the advantage. The combat wasn't fair for Zen.
Up until that point, Zen had blocked two of Evan's attacks. But he had reached his limit and was close to the extreme. All he could manage now was the defensive posture “circle parry”, but had no other means to attack.
In a sword fight, defense was often the worst. Many textbooks said that “the best defense is offense”. Thus many swordplay schools had even abandoned teaching defensive skills and instead focused on offensive skills. As long as opponents were pinned down during a fierce attack, victory for the one with the upper hand was inevitable.
That was Evan's current strategy. He intended to disrupt Zen with his quick attacks, then defeat him at the third attack!
But just as everyone thought Zen would lose the fight, all of a sudden, something happened.
“Clink, cli - clunk!”
As Evan's attacks were deflected, the tinkling sound continued to ring, when all of a sudden, a loud clunk permeated the air causing the entire combat field to vibrate. It was Evan's sword, and it had cracked during collision, its front half gone.
“W...what?”
Evan held the broken sword and stood frozen in a posture for attack. His eyes nearly popped out of shock.
Everyone stared at him in silence, Zen included.
No one expected to see this happen! What kind of fighter broke his weapon in the middle of a fight? Was that not being irresponsible and unprofessional?
From where she stood, Yan giggled and gloated.
Only she knew the reason why the sword snapped. Commonly, senior disciples like Evan owned fairy weapons. But Evan lost his in a bet with Yan. He should have exchanged points to get another one, but he had been too busy improving his strength to earn points and get a new sword.
So all this time, Evan was only using an ordinary mysterious weapon.
That was also the reason why he entered this competition. He wanted to take the opportunity to ask Kenneth for a favor - a new fairy weapon.
According to the tournament guidelines, the first prize was a fairy weapon.
So this whole time, Evan was merely using a makeshift weapon that was mediocre at best.
A mysterious weapon was no match for a spiritual weapon, let alone a fairy weapon. But Evan had somehow used his regular sword in a fairy-weapon way.
If he didn't use the Falling Flowers Sword to attack, he would've saved himself from the embarrassment. The sword would not have broken so soon. Usually, in fights, swords crossed several times.
But the Falling Flowers Sword was different. For those using this, the speed of the attack was a critical factor. And for every second, the sword thrust thousands of times.
In their previous combat, Evan chopped at Zen with his sword countless times but was blocked each time. So, his makeshift sword collided with Zen's Streamer Sword for many, many times.
How could an ordinary mysterious weapon withstand such forceful collisions?
And finally, the stress due to the collisions accumulated to create a mass that caused a change in the shape of Evan's sword, resulting in damage.
Looking at the damaged sword, Zen breathed a sigh of relief and momentarily relaxed. He knew a broken sword did not mean victory for him. After all, this was merely a friendly competition, and Evan could always borrow a sword somewhere.
But this setback gave him a chance to recover, regroup, and take time to think of a way to defeat the Falling Flowers Sword.
On the other hand, Evan wanted to scream out loud.
He was on the verge of winning, but the bloody sword denied him the victory. How could his sword snap at this crucial juncture?
He tossed the broken sword violently, and with a mournful face approached Elder Ge for help.
“Elder Ge, could you please lend me a sword?”
Reluctantly, the Cloud Sect elder shook his head.
“I don't use a sword, so how can I lend you any.”
Hearing the reply, Evan looked at the one hundred thousand disciples watching the match and begged, “Would any of you lend me a sword?”
To his utter dismay, no one responded to his request.
Disheartened, Evan swore in his mind, 'Dang it! I am the most senior disciple of Cloud Sect. How dare these people deny me like this! I swear to heaven that if I don't enter Cloud Hall and remain an Elder in Cloud Sect, I would kick everyone's sorry rears!'
Finally, he threw Yan a hopeful glance. Before he could speak, the female warrior had already anticipated him.
“And what should you call me?” she teased.
Although Yan was no longer kept in Hell Mountain, her true identity was still a secret. She didn't want Evan to call her by name.
Evan understood what she meant. With a resigned sigh, he said, “My Queen, can I have my Cloud Return Sword back?”
“What did you say? Your Cloud Return Sword?” Yan's eyes flashed. Her brows were raised to mock Evan.
“Oh no, no! I didn't say that. I mean, you're the current owner of the Cloud Return Sword. Can I borrow your Cloud Return Sword, please?” The senior disciple knew he had to ask nicely. After all, he had lost the sword to Yan, and he had to rely on her mercy to use it again.
His tone pleased Yan, and she looked at him with a smile of satisfaction. But as Evan thought she was about to lend him the sword, her smile disappeared. She answered coldly, “No, you can't.”
“Goo...what? What did you say? You said no? You piece of...” Evan felt like swearing but held back his tongue. Yan was his last hope. And Cloud Return Sword was originally his weapon, which he used for a long time. The sword was so familiar to him like it was a part of his body. Using it again would give him the edge. And submitting to humiliation was his only choice.
But the true reason for refusing Evan was simple. Yan had spotted Zen immersed in meditation and she knew he was thinking of ways to defeat Evan. She was simply buying him time.
The fight was not a fair competition. And it was reasonable for her to help her brother to win.
As neither could convince the other, Zen decided to interrupt. He opened his eyes and with a confident smile suggested to Yan, “Let him borrow the sword.”