217: Chapter 220 The Nineteenth Floor, Sharpening the Knife

The gray-clothed man's punch carried no momentum whatsoever.

No divine light.

No strange phenomena.

It didn't even cause the air to explode.

Yet, the moment Lin Yi's long blade collided with the fist, his entire arm trembled slightly.

It wasn't because of immense power.

It was because the landing point of that punch was too precise.

It was precise enough to hit exactly the weakest point of his blade momentum's transition.

Lin Yi's eyes finally turned a bit more serious.

The opponents on the previous eighteen floors had varying strengths: some were powerful, some were fast, and some were exquisite with their blades and swords.

But in the end, they were merely "strong."

The gray-clothed man before him was different.

Every step and every punch of his seemed to have calculated in advance how Lin Yi's next strike would change.

Lin Yi turned his long blade, the blade light flowing like water, and slashed toward the gray-clothed man's shoulder.

The gray-clothed man did not retreat.

He merely shifted half a step to the side, avoiding the sharpest point of the blade, and flicked his right index finger.

Clang!

His knuckle struck the side of the blade.

Just as Lin Yi's strike gained momentum, it was forced half an inch off course.

Half an inch wasn't much.

But in a battle at this level, half an inch was enough to determine life or death.

The gray-clothed man closed in, his left fist striking directly at Lin Yi's chest.

Lin Yi slid backward like water, simultaneously executing a backhanded horizontal slash.

The gray-clothed man, however, seemed to have been waiting for this strike all along; he pressed his arm down, and his fist passed through a gap in the blade light.

Bang!

The force of the fist grazed Lin Yi's shoulder.

The fabric on Lin Yi's shoulder tore slightly.

He was uninjured.

But this was the first time since entering the tower that he had been truly touched by an opponent.

Lin Yi was not angry; instead, his eyes brightened slightly.

"So that's how it is."

This gray-clothed man didn't win by brute force.

He used the minimum amount of force to disrupt his opponent's most crucial rhythm.

Such a technique was almost impossible to encounter in the Nine Provinces.

Even the Elders of the Sanshan Family relied more on Realm, Divine Body, divine weapons, and Formation to suppress others.

But the opponent on the nineteenth floor of the Hunyuan Tower seemed to exist solely to hone technique.

Lin Yi did not immediately use his full power.

He suppressed most of the pressure of his Top-grade Divine Body.

He also maintained his Concept of the Dao of Water at the bare minimum.

He used only his blade.

He engaged the gray-clothed man with the purest blade techniques.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

The fist and blade clashed repeatedly.

The gray-clothed man's fist appeared to be made of flesh and blood, yet it was as hard as a divine weapon.

Every punch was light.

Yet every punch caused Lin Yi's blade momentum to stall slightly.

Ten moves.

Twenty moves.

Fifty moves.

Lin Yi's blade grew slower and slower.

It wasn't that he had become weaker.

Rather, he had begun to deconstruct every one of his own strikes.

Previously, when he would Cultivate "One Blade Slashes One World," he had pursued power and the edge to slice through everything.

But the gray-clothed man before him had shown him something else.

The same power, with a different landing point, yielded completely different results.

The same blade light, if released half an inch earlier or a moment later, would have completely opposite power.

"One Blade Slashes One World" was not just about having a strong enough blade.

It was also about striking at the cracks of the "World."

This thought suddenly flashed through Lin Yi's mind.

The long blade in his hand changed slightly.

The blade light, which had previously flowed like a river, suddenly condensed into a thinner, heavier, and more precise black line.

The gray-clothed man paused for an instant for the first time.

The next moment, he threw another punch.

Lin Yi also struck with his blade again.

Clang!

The fist and blade collided.

This time, it was the gray-clothed man who was forced back.

He retreated three steps.

Lin Yi did not pursue with his long blade but slowly raised it.

He understood.

His previous blade style had been about breaking the situation with force.

This strike now truly began to touch upon the deeper aspects of the divine body chapter of "One Blade Slashes One World."

It was not about shattering everything.

It was about finding the place in that "World" that most deserved to be slashed.

The gray-clothed man charged again.

His fist momentum suddenly accelerated.

Punch after punch, like a sudden rainstorm striking stone.

Lin Yi stood his ground, his long blade slashing out time and again.

His blade was still not fast.

But every strike was more precise than the last.

Each time it landed, it was perfectly caught on the breaking point of the gray-clothed man's flowing fist momentum.

The seventy-third move.

The gray-clothed man's right fist blasted forward.

Lin Yi slashed diagonally with his blade.

Not at the fist.

But half a foot ahead of the fist's momentum.

There was nothing there.

Yet as the blade light fell, the fist momentum of the gray-clothed man's entire arm seemed to have been cut off at the root.

His movements showed a true pause for the first time.

Lin Yi stepped forward.

The long blade swept from bottom to top.

A black line streaked past.

The gray-clothed man's figure split open from the chest.

Nineteenth floor, passed.

...

Outside the Hunyuan Tower.

The murmurs before the light screen were much quieter than before.

Because the time Lin Yi spent on the nineteenth floor was significantly longer than before.

"Is he stuck?"

"That's normal; the nineteenth floor is on a different level of difficulty than the previous eighteen."

"To reach this point at the first level of the Divine Body Realm is already quite impressive."

"It's impressive, yes, but if he stops at the nineteenth floor, he won't be able to stir the interest of any truly important figures."

"He has only just entered the Divine Body Realm; what's the rush? If he comes back after Cultivating for a period of time, his results will surely be higher."

The woman in purple did not speak.

She kept her eyes fixed on the floor number behind Lin Yi's name.

The gray-robed Elder beside her also narrowed his eyes.

"He is not stuck."

The woman in purple looked at him.

The gray-robed Elder said slowly:

"He is using the nineteenth floor to hone his blade technique."

As soon as he finished speaking.

The light screen flashed.

Lin Yi, twentieth floor.

The plaza fell silent for an instant.

Then, the murmurs rose again.

"He passed!"

"At the first level of the Divine Body Realm, he passed the nineteenth floor."

"This is different."

"The twentieth floor is the real hurdle; let's see if he can hold on."

On the high platform, several faction deacons also sat up a bit straighter.

The eighteenth floor was only worth recording.

The nineteenth floor was already worth watching closely.

If he could still perform well on the twentieth floor, it would be time to send reports up the chain.

...

Inside the Hunyuan Tower.

Lin Yi appeared on the twentieth-floor battle stage.

As soon as he steadied himself, he felt the world around him change.

The nineteenth floor was very quiet.

But the twentieth floor was deathly silent.

The entire battle stage was empty; there was no wind, no sound, and even the Spiritual Qi seemed to have solidified.

At the end of the battle stage, a man in white slowly materialized.

He also held a blade in his hand.

The blade was long and narrow, snow-white in color.

The man in white looked up at Lin Yi; his eyes were hollow, yet he gave off an extremely dangerous feeling.

"Twentieth floor."

"Defeat me to enter the twenty-first floor."

The voice faded.

He vanished.

Lin Yi's pupils constricted, and his long blade instinctively moved to his side.

Clang!

The snow-white blade light struck his pitch-black blade.

The Void Realm beneath Lin Yi's feet sank violently.

So fast.

It was not just fast.

It was that this strike appeared in the place it least should have.

It was faster, more precise, and more ruthless than the nineteenth floor.

The man in white's second strike had already descended.

Lin Yi raised his blade to block.

The third strike followed close behind.

The fourth strike.

The fifth strike.

The snow-white blade light merged into one, as if there were no gaps at all.

For the first time, Lin Yi was forced to retreat.

One step.

Two steps.

Three steps.

Yet his eyes grew brighter and brighter.

This was the twentieth floor.

Compared to the nineteenth floor, it was a completely different level.

The nineteenth floor had been teaching him how to find flaws.

But the twentieth floor offered him no obvious flaws.

Since there were no flaws.

Then he would just have to slash them out himself.

Lin Yi gripped the handle of his blade, and the power of his Top-grade Divine Body surged into the blade for the first time.

The pitch-black blade vibrated gently.

The next moment, he stopped retreating.

He met the snow-white blade light with one strike.

Boom!

The black and white blade lights collided in the center of the battle stage.

The entire battle stage shook violently.

Lin Yi's sleeve tore, and his arm went slightly numb.

The man in white was also forced back half a step.

Half a step.

It was enough.

Lin Yi stepped forward, his Battle Intent heavy and focused.

The twentieth floor had finally made him feel pressure.

And it had finally given his blade a reason to continue moving forward.