Chapter 12 Bet

"Oh? You really do get ahead of yourself when given an inch!" Supervisor Zhou Shengtai was not angry, but pleased instead. His Battle Intent surged, clearly piqued by this stunning debut of Yun Bai's aerial combat.

He shouted across the air, his voice remaining clear amidst the gale: "Kid, looks like you're a natural for aerial combat! In that case, let's make a bet and see who's better!"

He pointed to the vast Cang Plains below and the more distant, faintly visible flying Demon Birds: "We'll set a three-hour limit! Let's see who can hunt more high-quality aerial Demon Birds! The range is limited to this three-hundred-mile airspace! If you win, everything I hunt in these three hours—be it Demon Cores or Materials—all belongs to you!"

He paused, his bald head reflecting a cunning glint in the sunlight: "Of course, if you lose... you'll have to agree to do one thing for me in the future, provided it doesn't violate morality and is within your capabilities! How about it? Dare to accept?"

Yun Bai had just experienced the exhilarating pleasure of flying on his sword and slaying enemies from a thousand meters away, and was filled with high spirits. Hearing this, he couldn't help but laugh loudly, his fighting spirit completely ignited: "Alright! Since you, Brother Zhou, a dignified Senior of the Second Realm, are willing to lower yourself to compete with a junior at the First Realm Mid-stage like me, what do I have to fear! It's a bet! Just wait and see, I'll definitely make you bleed heavily today!"

"Haha, that's the spirit! Then... start!" Supervisor Zhou Shengtai laughed loudly, the Flying Sword beneath his feet flashing with spiritual light. He instantly transformed into a streak of light, shooting towards the direction where the Devilish Qi was denser, his speed astonishingly fast.

Yun Bai was not to be outdone. His eyes narrowed, and he unleashed his Divine Sense to its fullest. The fifth-grade Flying Sword "iron kite" beneath his feet emitted a clear, resonant hum, its speed increasing abruptly as it carried him across the sky like a silver meteor.

"Although I have only recently begun practicing the Huaying Sword Manual," Yun Bai thought rapidly, "the 'Sword Light Differentiation' technique within it is perfect for group battles right now! The key lies in being fast, accurate, and ruthless, as well as multitasking to control the overall situation!"

He lowered his head to look at a small Formation Plate embedded near the hilt of the "iron kite"—the "Favorable Wind Ear" detection plate. The plate's surface flickered with light, displaying the spiritual power disturbances within a certain range. At this moment, about five miles to the front left, four or five distinct red dots were rapidly approaching his position!

"They're here!" Yun Bai's spirits lifted, and he urged the "iron kite" to meet them head-on.

"Gaa——!!" A harsh, strange screech pierced through the wind, carrying magic power that disrupted the mind. The first things to come into view were five Demon Birds with grayish-brown feathers, looking like vultures but with even more vicious and cunning eyes—Sorrow Vultures! Observing their energy reactions, they all reached the Peak of the First Realm!

"Perfect for testing my sword!" There was no fear in Yun Bai's eyes. He joined his right hand fingers into a sword shape and pointed into the void.

"Huaying Sword Manual: Light Differentiation!" Hum!

The "iron kite" sword body shone brilliantly. Following the guidance of Yun Bai's Divine Thought and the infusion of spiritual power, three silver Sword Qi phantoms, as solid as reality, suddenly differentiated from the tip of the main sword! The sword lights were about three feet long, identical in shape to the "iron kite," flickering with cold radiance, and whistled through the air, heading straight for the three leading Sorrow Vultures!

The two Sorrow Vultures rushing at the front clearly did not expect such a strange and swift attack, and it was already too late to dodge!

Puff! Puff! Two soft sounds, and blood bloomed in the air. The two Sword Qi phantoms precisely pierced through their skulls, and the Sorrow Vultures died instantly, falling downwards. The third Sorrow Vulture desperately rolled to the side in terror; the sword light grazed past its wing, bringing up a spray of blood and black feathers. It let out a painful screech, its figure staggering.

The other two Sorrow Vultures, both shocked and angry, let out sharp screeches and, without hesitation, scattered, flapping their wings to escape!

"Go!" Yun Bai changed his hand seals, urging with his Divine Sense. The three sword lights drew sharp arcs in the air; two pursued the injured Sorrow Vulture, and one intercepted the other escapee. At the same time, the "iron kite" beneath his feet dived nimbly, passing by the corpses of the two fallen Sorrow Vultures. With a sweep of spiritual power, he temporarily stored them, the Demon Cores already extracted by the Sword Qi.

However, although the flexibility and speed of the sword light phantoms surpassed that of a physical Flying Sword, maintaining their existence and precise control also consumed Divine Sense and spiritual power. The injured Sorrow Vulture flew into a rage, desperately performing rapid, continuous zigzag maneuvers, narrowly dodging one sword light. Ignoring its injuries, it turned around and pounced towards Yun Bai's main body! The other Sorrow Vulture also cunningly changed direction, attacking from the flank!

Yun Bai's expression did not change; he snorted coldly and circled his sword finger.

"Differentiate again!"

The "iron kite" main sword flashed with light once again, and two more sword lights differentiated and shot out—one to intercept the enemy pouncing from the front, and one to block the flank! The previously pursuing sword lights also rapidly returned to assist.

In an instant, there were five sword lights flying and crossing around Yun Bai, weaving into a deadly silver web of light.

The Sorrow Vulture pouncing from the front could not dodge in time and was pierced through the chest by a sword light, dying on the spot. The flanking Sorrow Vulture was also forced to dodge in a panic, adding new injuries to its wings.

The last Sorrow Vulture, which had been injured earliest and had already escaped quite far, seeing its companions die one after another, let out a hoarse, shrill cry filled with extreme fear and resentment!

"Sorrowful Wail!" Yun Bai's Sea of Consciousness trembled slightly, and the Source Core Black Hole quietly rotated, devouring the invading negative emotions. His eyes cleared, and he seized the moment when the opponent's figure paused slightly due to using its innate screech.

"Merge!"

Driven by his thought, the two sword light phantoms closest to the Sorrow Vulture suddenly accelerated and merged abruptly while in flight; their radiance intensified, and their speed skyrocketed!

"Chii——!!" The thickened, merged sword light was like a silver lightning bolt, instantly crossing the final distance, from back to front, completely piercing through the Sorrow Vulture!

Five Sorrow Vultures, all slain.

Yun Bai beckoned, and all the sword light phantoms returned to the "iron kite" sword body like rivers flowing into the sea, their radiance fading. He controlled the Flying Sword to collect the remaining prey one by one and extracted the Demon Cores.

"Sword Light Differentiation: where my thought goes, the sword light reaches. It is much less burdensome and far more flexible than simply controlling multiple physical Flying Swords," Yun Bai calmly reflected while cleaning up the battlefield. "However, the intensity and control range of the differentiated sword lights are still constrained by my own spiritual power and Divine Sense. The farthest strike just now was at about two hundred and fifty meters, and the sword light's power had already attenuated by thirty percent. Moreover, maintaining five sword lights is currently the upper limit for smooth operation."

He lowered his head to look at the "iron kite," its sword body like autumn water, with runes flowing across it. When executing the sword manual, the feeling of spiritual power resonating through specific circuits in the sword body and the sword light differentiating like an extension of his own limbs was far more intuitive than controlling independent Flying Swords.

"This is the kind of sword technique suitable for aerial combat." Yun Bai's gaze was burning. "The sword lights are both real and illusory, gathering and dispersing at will, offering more changes and better adaptability to complex and ever-changing aerial dogfights. However, how to more efficiently allocate spiritual sense to simultaneously control multiple sword lights for precise coordination still requires a lot of practice."

"Xiao Liu," he asked in his heart at the same time, "record the spiritual power fluctuations, Divine Sense consumption curve, and sword light intensity attenuation data over distance from the sword light differentiation and control just now. I want an optimized plan for the number of differentiations, attack distance, and spiritual power output ratio."

In his mind, the cold voice of the auxiliary AI sounded: [Data collection in progress, preliminary model established. The current upper limit for sword light differentiation is five; it is recommended to maintain three to four in conventional combat to ensure flexibility. The maximum effective control radius is two hundred and twenty meters, with an optimal lethal radius within one hundred and eighty meters. The model correlating spiritual power output and Divine Sense load is being optimized...]

"Good. Then let's use more battles to hone this sword technique!" Yun Bai hesitated no longer, his eyes looking sharply at the dense light dots lighting up again on the "Favorable Wind Ear" Formation Plate. The "iron kite" beneath his feet emitted a joyful hum, carrying him as he turned into a streak of silver light, actively heading towards new challenges.

The hunting and cultivation in the high altitude, amidst the sword light differentiation, had only just begun.