47: A Sword Startles the Thunder
As Ye Chen's voice fell, a deathly silence filled the area before the courtyard gate.
Everyone looked at him as if he were a madman. Using Lei Lie to test his sword? Did he not know that Lei Lie was a famous Body Cultivator in the Inner Court, possessing overbearing strength and a cultivation base as high as the Kaiyuan Realm Seventh Level Peak? Could it be that Ye Chen had suffered Qi Deviation during Cultivation and lost his mind?
Lei Lie was stunned for a moment, then, as if he had heard a massive joke, he burst into deafening laughter. "Hahaha! Using me to test your sword? Just with a piece of trash like you who just entered the Kaiyuan Realm Sixth Level? I can smash you into meat paste with a single punch!"
His laughter stopped abruptly, his face turning even more sinister. He took a step forward, shattering the bluestone ground as the terrifying Spiritual Pressure of the Kaiyuan Realm Seventh Level Peak erupted like a volcano, bearing down on Ye Chen without reservation! At the same time, he clenched his right fist, veins bulging under his bronze skin as a brutal and overbearing Fist Intent condensed, as if a primordial beast was awakening within his fist!
"Take a punch from me! Mountain Crusher!"
Lei Lie roared, his body launching like a cannonball as his fist drove straight toward Ye Chen's face! The wind from the punch howled, compressing the air; even before it hit, that peerlessly fierce Fist Intent already made it difficult to breathe, as if a literal mountain were crashing toward him!
This punch was devoid of any flourishes, interpreting the fierceness of power to the extreme! He wanted to use the most crushing posture to completely blow Ye Chen apart with one punch, intimidating everyone who dared to oppose the Lin faction!
Facing this punch capable of shattering a small mountain, Ye Chen's eyes remained calm and rippleless. Under the Luminous Sword Heart, the trajectory, power, and even the subtle variations within this punch were clearly reflected in the lake of his mind.
Fast, fierce, but... direct and lacking variation.
He did not choose to meet it head-on with "Immovable Rock Guarding Heart," nor did he immediately use the "Nirvana" Sword Intent.
At the very instant that Mountain Crusher punch was about to strike his face, Ye Chen moved!
His movements did not seem fast; they were even somewhat leisurely. His footwork was like flowing clouds and water as his body pivoted by an extremely small margin, letting that fierce and overbearing wind from the punch whistle past the tip of his nose! At the same time, the qingfeng sword in his hand did not leave its scabbard; instead, he used it along with the sheath, like a spirit snake emerging from its hole, to point with incomparable precision at Lei Lie's right elbow joint—which was filled with immense power but slightly exposed due to his forward lunge!
Using cleverness to break strength, attacking where he must defend!
Lei Lie only felt a sharp, stinging pain at his elbow joint, as if stung by a poisonous bee. The circulation of Spiritual Qi in his entire arm suddenly stalled, and the condensed Mountain Crusher Fist Intent actually showed signs of dissipating! He was horrified; it was too late to change his Move, so he could only rely on his powerful Physical Body and spiritual power to forcibly stabilize the momentum of his punch!
*Bang!*
The wind from the punch brushed past Ye Chen's body and slammed into the protective Formation on the courtyard wall behind him, letting out a muffled thud as the light shield rippled violently. After that single point, Ye Chen had already used the momentum to drift back thirty feet, his expression composed, his breathing not even slightly disturbed.
In a single exchange, the winner was clear!
Lei Lie's certain-hit punch hadn't even touched a corner of Ye Chen's clothes; instead, he had suffered a hidden setback!
The entire crowd was in an uproar!
"He... he dodged it?"
"He used clever force! He struck Senior Brother Lei's joint!"
"What precise eyesight! What fast movement technique!"
Everyone was stunned by Ye Chen's nonchalant yet exquisite response. What kind of astonishing anticipation and control did this require?
Lei Lie stabilized himself, feeling the numbness in his right arm. His face instantly turned red as blood—it was extreme shame and fury! He had actually been toyed with like this by a kid with lower cultivation than him?!
"Little beast! Can you only hide?!" Lei Lie roared, the earthy yellow spiritual power around him surging frantically as his Aura swelled again. He struck with both fists, the shadows of his punches like a torrential storm, covering every direction around Ye Chen! "I'll see how long you can hide! Chaotic Wind Hammer Technique!"
The sky full of punch shadows was airtight, as if to completely submerge Ye Chen!
Facing this even more violent attack, Ye Chen's eyes narrowed slightly. He knew that constant evasion was not a long-term solution, and he truly needed a hearty battle to fully familiarize himself with his surging power.
"Since that's the case, as you wish."
Ye Chen finally drew his sword!
*Clang!*
The qingfeng sword was unsheathed! The dark-gold sword light was not dazzling, yet it carried a restrained sharpness, as if it could slice through light!
He did not perform the "Silent Shadow Sword Art" he had just comprehended, nor did he use the Nirvana Sword Intent. He simply pushed the "Flowing Wind Fleeting Shadow" Sword Intent to its limit, combining it with exquisite basic sword Moves to meet the sky full of punch shadows!
*Ding ding ding ding...!*
The sword tip and fist edges collided frantically at speeds hard to capture with the naked eye, erupting in a continuous sound of clashing metal! Sparks flew, and the ripples of spiritual power spread incessantly, carving crisscrossing furrows into the ground!
Ye Chen's figure weaved through the punch shadows like a phantom. Every time he struck with his sword, he hit the weakest point of the punch's power or the gaps between Move transitions. His sword was fast, precise, and ruthless, demonstrating "breaking a surface with a point" to the fullest!
The more Lei Lie fought, the more alarmed he became! He felt as if he had fallen into a viscous web of swords. Every punch felt like hitting cotton, his power constantly being diverted, while the opponent's tricky sword tip always found the most uncomfortable angles to strike, forcing him to defend. He felt incredibly stifled!
His strength clearly far surpassed his opponent's, yet he felt as if he had power but nowhere to use it! The opponent's sword technique was simply bizarre to the extreme!
"Ah! Break for me!" Unable to land a blow for a long time, Lei Lie went berserk. He recklessly condensed his entire body's spiritual power, bringing his fists together to form a massive spiritual war hammer. With a tragic Aura that seemed to destroy everything, he smashed it down toward Ye Chen's head! "Heaven-Collapsing Hammer!"
This was his trump card, its power comparable to a Profound Rank High Grade Martial Skill! He had once used this Move to heavily injure an opponent at the Kaiyuan Realm Eighth Level!
Facing this life-risking strike, a hint of seriousness finally flashed in Ye Chen's eyes.
"That's enough."
He whispered to himself, and his Aura, which had been restrained, erupted at this moment! Kaiyuan Realm Sixth Level spiritual power was poured into the qingfeng sword without reservation! Dark-gold patterns flowed across the blade!
He no longer dodged, nor did he use clever tricks.
Instead, he simply gripped the sword with both hands and performed an upward reverse slash!
He did not use the Nirvana Sword Intent; he simply integrated the extreme speed of "Flowing Wind Fleeting Shadow," the penetration of "Immovable Rock Guarding Heart," and his entire understanding of the Sword Dao into this single strike!
"Wind Shadow—Vanguard Breaker!"
The sword light was as condensed as silk, striking later but arriving first. It hit with incomparable precision at the very core of that massive spiritual war hammer—the point where the energy flow was most dense!
*Puff!*
A slight sound, like a bubble bursting.
Under Lei Lie's disbelieving gaze, his Heaven-Collapsing War Hammer, which condensed his full power, was actually torn apart from the middle by that condensed silk-like sword light, breaking the surface from a single point! The violent spiritual power instantly lost control and exploded in all directions!
And that sword silk, its momentum undiminished, instantly pierced through the dissipating spiritual power and struck Lei Lie's arms, which he had hurriedly crossed in front of his chest!
*Crack! Crack!*
The stomach-turning sound of bones fracturing rang out clearly!
Lei Lie let out a shrill scream, his arms bent at a bizarre angle. His whole body was like it had been hit by a giant elephant; he spat out blood and flew backward, slamming heavily onto the ground dozens of feet away. After a few struggles, he fainted.
His arms were completely shattered!
Quiet!
A deathly silence!
Everyone stared dumbfounded at the green-robed figure standing with a sword on the stage, and at Lei Lie, who was slumped in the distance like a dead dog.
Was it over?
Lei Lie, who was at the Kaiyuan Realm Seventh Level Peak and famous for his strength in the Inner Court, had actually... lost?
And he lost so thoroughly! From beginning to end, he had been firmly suppressed by the opponent, and finally, he was heavily injured by a single sword strike!
To what level had Ye Chen's strength reached?! Was he truly only at the Kaiyuan Realm Sixth Level?
Ye Chen slowly returned his sword to its scabbard, not even sparing a glance at the unconscious Lei Lie. His gaze calmly swept across the surrounding onlookers who were staring in shock.
Everyone his gaze swept over felt a chill in their hearts, subconsciously lowering their heads, not daring to meet his eyes.
Through this battle, Ye Chen used absolute strength to announce to everyone that he was by no means a soft persimmon that could be squeezed at will! If the Lin faction wanted to Move against him, they had to be prepared to pay a painful price!
He ignored the crowd's reaction and turned around, intending to return to his courtyard.
However, at the moment he turned, a killing intent far deeper and more terrifying than Lei Lie's, like a cold poisonous snake, suddenly locked onto him from the back of the crowd!
At the same time, a voice as cold as ten-thousand-year-old profound ice slowly rang out:
"Junior, your actions are so vicious, crippling my Disciple's arms. Today, this old man shall take the place of your Elders and teach you a proper lesson!"
Before the voice had even finished, a crimson palm print, seemingly condensed from magma and carrying a terrifying high temperature capable of incinerating the eight desolations, ignored the distance of space and instantly appeared above Ye Chen's head, slapping down fiercely toward his crown!
Linghai Realm!
The one who struck was impressively a Linghai Realm Elder! And judging from his words and attributes, it was highly likely Lei Lie's mentor, the one famous for being overprotective and having a fiery temper—Elder Lie Huo!
Killing intent descended abruptly!