218: Chapter 221 The Twentieth Floor, Creating an Opening

Snow-white blade light fell one after another.

No pause.

No breath.

The white-clothed swordsman seemed to know neither fatigue nor hesitation, every strike landing exactly where Lin Yi was most vulnerable.

The grey-clothed man on the nineteenth floor had struck when Lin Yi's blade momentum was transitioning, interrupting his rhythm.

But the white-clothed swordsman on the twentieth floor went a step further.

He did not give Lin Yi any chance to fully build up his momentum.

The moment Lin Yi began to raise his blade, the snow-white light had already slashed toward his side.

The moment Lin Yi retreated half a step, the second blade had already sealed his path of retreat.

Lin Yi tried to use the Dao of Water to disperse the force, and the third blade pierced into the weakest point of his water momentum.

This feeling was extremely uncomfortable.

It was like an invisible net, spread out in advance before all of his movements.

Clang!

Another jarring collision.

Lin Yi blocked the white-clothed swordsman's diagonal slash with his blade, a small crack appearing on the battle platform beneath his feet.

The white-clothed swordsman used the momentum to close in, his blade turning and stabbing toward Lin Yi's throat from an almost impossible angle.

Lin Yi's figure moved like water, sliding backward.

The blade grazed his neck, severing a lock of black hair.

Lin Yi's eyes sank completely.

Not with anger.

But with focus.

The twentieth floor was far stronger than the nineteenth.

The speed, strength, and level of Dao intent of the white-clothed swordsman were not necessarily higher than his.

What was truly terrifying was the rhythm.

He had almost no obvious flaws.

Every strike seemed to be the natural extension of the previous one.

Block the first strike, and you would fall into the second.

Avoid the second strike, and you would be caught by the third.

Forcefully break the third strike, and the fourth was already waiting.

Outside.

On the square of the Hunyuan Tower, more and more people gathered before the light screen.

"He has stopped at the twentieth floor."

"Normal, the twentieth floor has always been a major hurdle."

"To reach the twentieth floor in the Divine Body Realm is already very strong."

"But if he can pass the twentieth floor, that would be different."

"The difference between the nineteenth and twentieth floors is not just a little bit."

The Grey-robed Elder looked up at the light screen, his gaze not shifting away.

The Purple-Clothed Woman stood beside him, whispering:

"He has stayed on the twentieth floor longer than the nineteenth."

The Grey-robed Elder said:

"The technique of the opponent on the twentieth floor is near-flawless."

"Many a Genius reaches this point, not because their strength is insufficient, but because they cannot find an opportunity to strike."

"Unless they are strong enough to directly crush the opponent."

"Otherwise, they can only slash out an opportunity themselves."

The Purple-Clothed Woman was stunned.

"Slash out an opportunity themselves?"

The Grey-robed Elder nodded.

"If there is a flaw and one can seize it, that only counts as having good eyes."

"If there is no flaw, yet one can still create one, that is true technique."

...

Inside the Hunyuan Tower.

The offensive of the white-clothed swordsman became increasingly urgent.

The snow-white blade light was like a tide, wrapping around Lin Yi layer by layer.

Lin Yi had already retreated to the edge of the battle platform.

If he retreated one more step, he would be forced into a desperate situation.

But just at this moment, Lin Yi suddenly stopped.

He no longer retreated.

Water ripples spread beneath his feet, but they did not spread outward; instead, they all retracted within three zhang of his body.

The white-clothed swordsman slashed over.

Lin Yi did not immediately block.

He looked at that blade light, looking at the second and third blades hidden behind it.

The realization brought to him by the nineteenth floor became completely clear at this moment.

A flaw is not something to be waited for.

It is something to be slashed out.

Since the opponent's blade momentum was like a seamless world, there was no need to look for cracks.

Create a crack oneself.

Lin Yi raised his blade.

This strike was not fast.

It was even half a beat slower than the white-clothed swordsman.

Yet it was this half-beat slower strike that slashed at the very instant the snow-white blade light was about to fall.

Clang!

The blade lights collided.

The first blade of the white-clothed swordsman did not shatter.

But the second blade behind it was delayed by an instant.

This instant was very short.

So short that it was almost impossible for ordinary cultivators to perceive.

But for Lin Yi, it was enough.

He stepped forward.

The pitch-black long blade followed that momentary lag, slashing into the continuous blade momentum of the white-clothed swordsman.

The second blade fell.

The white-clothed swordsman's figure was forced to retreat for the first time.

The light in Lin Yi's eyes grew brighter.

It worked.

It wasn't breaking the opponent's blade.

It was creating the first break point in the opponent's otherwise seamless blade momentum.

The white-clothed swordsman's third blade slashed over again.

Lin Yi did not use his Top-grade Divine Body to suppress it forcefully, nor did he use the Dao of Water to forcefully wear it down.

He still only used his blade.

One strike fell.

It slashed before the third blade.

Not blocking.

But intercepting.

Like carving a gap in advance before a rushing river.

The white-clothed swordsman's rhythm stalled again.

This time, the pause was more obvious.

Lin Yi's long blade slashed out for the third time.

The pitch-black blade light condensed into a line, passing through the gap that he had forcefully torn between the snow-white blade lights.

The white-clothed swordsman raised his blade to defend.

But it was already too late.

The black line swept past.

The white-clothed swordsman's body slowly split from shoulder to waist.

The twentieth floor, passed.

Lin Yi stood on the battle platform, not immediately entering the next floor.

He looked down at the long blade in his hand.

The power of those three strikes just now was not the strongest.

But for "One Blade Slashes One World", it was more important than simply shattering the nineteenth floor.

The so-called Slashes One World.

It is not just about swinging a blade when the world is already cracked.

It is that where the blade falls, even a world that should be seamless must be slashed to create a crack.

Lin Yi closed his eyes for a moment.

When he opened them again, his aura did not surge significantly.

But the feeling of holding his blade was already different from before.

...

Outside the Hunyuan Tower.

The light screen flashed.

Lin Yi, twenty-first floor.

A low gasp immediately sounded on the square.

"Passed!"

"He really passed the twentieth floor!"

"At the first level of the Divine Body Realm, passing the twentieth floor on his first time in the tower is already very strong."

"Where... exactly is the Jiuzhou World?"

On the high platform, several force deacons finally sat up straight.

One of them spoke:

"Submit a briefing."

"No need to disturb the Elder yet, but this person is worth continuing to observe."

"Passing the twentieth floor at the first level of the Divine Body Realm, if he can continue to push forward, the value will be different."

The Purple-Clothed Woman looked at the light screen, her eyes also becoming serious.

She knew that from this moment on, the name Lin Yi was no longer that of an ordinary tower climber.

At least on the Hunyuan Tower square today, many people would remember him.

...

Twenty-first floor.

Twenty-second floor.

Twenty-third floor.

Lin Yi continued to climb upward.

After the twentieth floor, the opponents on each floor were clearly stronger.

There were black-clothed assassins skilled in movement techniques.

There were silver-armored Martial Artists who controlled thunder.

There were also projections of foreign races with formidable Divine Bodies who could withstand blade edges.

Lin Yi did not kill them instantly like he did in the first dozen floors.

But he did not stop for too long either.

The Breakthrough on the twentieth floor made his blade more accurate, and better at actively creating flaws.

He would fight for a while on each floor, grind for a while, and then kill the opponent.

On the twenty-fourth floor, he encountered a Martial Artist wielding a shield.

That person had extremely strong defense, and his shield technique was perfect and flawless.

Lin Yi used nearly a hundred moves before he slashed open the shield momentum with "One Blade Slashes One World".

The twenty-fourth floor, passed.

The outside world was already completely bustling.

"Twenty-fourth floor!"

"At the first level of the Divine Body Realm, on his first tower climb, he actually reached the twenty-fourth floor."

"He wouldn't really be able to reach the twenty-fifth floor, would he?"

"The twenty-fifth floor is another hurdle."

"If he can pass the twenty-fifth floor, then it won't just be a record for ordinary deacons; at least some Elders of major forces will know his name."

"Nine Provinces Lin Yi..."

"I fear he is really going to become famous today."

Inside the Hunyuan Tower.

Lin Yi appeared on the twenty-fifth-floor battle platform.

The battle platform on this floor was no longer empty.

Surrounded by endless black water.

The battle platform was like an isolated island, suspended in the center of the black water.

In the distance, a figure slowly walked out from the black water.

It was a man wearing black scale armor.

He held a curved blade in his hand.

He looked up at Lin Yi, his eyes devoid of any emotion.

But the surrounding black water all began to surge the moment he appeared.

Water.

Lin Yi's eyes flickered slightly.

This was the first time since entering the tower that he had encountered an opponent who was also skilled in the Dao of Water.

The black-scaled man slowly raised his blade.

The entire expanse of black water rose along with it.

"Twenty-fifth floor."

"Defeat me, and enter the twenty-sixth floor."