199: Chapter 199 Frequent Good News

At the same time, inside the Qiankun Shield.

After another earth-shaking collision.

A figure flew backward, slamming hard into the ground and kicking up a large cloud of dust.

"Cough, cough... Good lad, your swordsmanship has improved again..."

Meng Ziyun's intermittent voice came from within the dust; it sounded like he was heavily injured.

"Hmph... Thunder, a heart that has betrayed its own original intention can never calm down again, and your swordsmanship will only regress instead of advancing..."

The gray light of spiritual power slowly dimmed, revealing Yun Long's figure.

At this moment, he held a black longsword, his whole person exuding a sharp and fierce aura. His clothes were intact, though his breath was slightly disordered; it seemed he had just consumed a lot of energy and hadn't suffered any substantial damage.

The dust slowly dispersed, and Meng Ziyun was kneeling on one knee, his trembling hands thrusting his sword into the ground to support himself as he stood up.

His white robe was already riddled with holes, and his gray hair was stuck to his wrinkled face by sweat; his whole person seemed to be permeated with the Death Qi of someone in their twilight years.

Watching his once-respected Master in this state, even someone as cold-hearted and ruthless as Yun Long had a complex light flickering in his eyes.

He silently added in his heart: Those words you just said were what you taught me before...

"Come... again!"

Meng Ziyun stood straight again, set his stance, and shouted at the Disciple he once had before him.

His body swayed slightly, and he could no longer hold his sword steadily, yet there was still no fear in his eyes; all that remained was a kind of obsession with the return to simplicity in combat.

It was as if they were not engaged in a life-and-death struggle, but rather a daily sparring session exclusive to a Master and Disciple.

"Thunder... I know you still have many trump cards left unused; what exactly are you hiding?"

Yun Long did not respond to his request for battle but asked in a puzzled tone instead.

During the time Meng Ziyun and Yun Long had been fighting just now, both had initially been trading blows purely through swordsmanship enhanced by spiritual power, without any other forces involved.

As a result, by the end of the fight, Meng Ziyun seemed to be enjoying himself so much that even when his swordsmanship began to fail to keep up with Yun Long's speed, and even when he was on the verge of being pierced through the chest by the black longsword in Yun Long's hand several times, he still insisted on using only swordsmanship.

And Yun Long also knew that many times, as long as he used his Superpower "Judgment Court," he could easily severely injure this Star Cult Priest of the second seat before him, but for some inexplicable reason, he hadn't done so.

The two of them had tacitly fought using this most primitive method for so long, until Meng Ziyun was defeated.

Although it appeared now that the Star Cult Priest before him was at the end of his rope, and he could kill him with just a slight movement of the sword in his hand, he didn't strike again.

Because he felt it was unreal.

He was an eighth-order Esper, and when Meng Ziyun left, he was only at the seventh order; now it seemed he still hadn't reached a Breakthrough to the eighth order. But he had also achieved Fusion with a Star Soul; in terms of combat power, he shouldn't be losing to him by too much.

But fighting up to this point, he felt that his victory was a bit too easy.

Meng Ziyun knew his swordsmanship was inferior yet insisted on dueling with swordsmanship, and he knew his rank was inferior yet chose to clash head-on.

It was as if... he was actively seeking death...

Not right, not right...

Yun Long shook his head.

This old bastard definitely had a trick up his sleeve; there must be something big waiting for him later!

"Hahaha... What, suspecting a trap?"

To his surprise, when faced with his question, the old man before him suddenly laughed disdainfully.

"Today... no, right now, I am just Meng Ziyun, 'Sword Fanatic' Meng Ziyun!"

Looking at Meng Ziyun's heroic and ambitious appearance, Yun Long frowned.

Then, his originally tense expression suddenly relaxed, and he sighed helplessly:

"Thunder... can't you just surrender..."

Those who knew Yun Long well knew that although in the eyes of outsiders he was the impartial "Judge" and a leader of humanity in the current era, he was actually a very sentimental person.

Facing this Master he had once respected most, his heart was quite conflicted.

But he didn't know the situation outside; the active forces the Star Cult had deployed this time far exceeded his expectations. Although his Wan Yao was being looked after by Chang Qiu, which gave him some peace of mind, it would be better for him to get out early...

He secretly clenched his fist, and a massive amount of spiritual power gradually gathered.

"This is the final ultimatum, Master... This is also the last time I will address you in the name of your Disciple. If you don't surrender, I will absolutely not hold back..."

"Hahaha... Thunder, didn't expect that, did you? Your main forces have already retreated rapidly. It seems you Star Cult Priests aren't very united either, to have actually forgotten you directly, not even coming to rescue you."

Suddenly, Qian Ruyi's phantom image appeared again within the Qiankun Shield.

"Uh... it seems I've come at a bad time..."

Knowing he had just ruined the atmosphere, he felt a bit awkward for a moment.

However, upon hearing the good news brought by him, Yun Long's originally tense heart immediately relaxed quite a bit.

"By the way, I have to say, your Star Cult's development of the Breath of the Abyss is quite complete. You even managed to create the 'zombie virus' from the movies; it really opened my eyes..."

Anyone with a discerning eye could see the poor state of the Star Cult old man before him, so Qian Ruyi didn't avoid it and directly stated the latest battle situation on the front lines.

"As for your Disciple, Yun Long, she performed very well; she rushed to almost every place where there was an uprising and killed the leaders. It even seems she encountered the Star Cult Priest of the sixth seat with Chang Qiu, and after a brief exchange, she managed to retreat unscathed!"

"I have to say, as the only result of the Starry Sky Exploration Project, her performance is indeed better than we expected..."

"Elder Qian, watch your wording; she is my Disciple now, a living person. Do not use that set of terminology from your research to refer to her..."

Yun Long spoke coldly, interrupting Qian Ruyi's words.

Seeming to realize that his good colleague was angry, Qian Ruyi hurriedly changed his words with an awkward laugh:

"Sorry... occupational habit... anyway, your girl performed very well this time; I feel now is the right time to announce her existence."

"That's great... the Yao Race has a 'Saintess,' and we humans also have a future 'Morning Star'; I've started to get curious about which of them is stronger..."