164: Chapter 164 Using Air as Armor, Casually Commenting on the Senior Sister

A dead silence lasted for three breaths.

Then, the spectator stands around the Law Execution Platform erupted like a boiling pot of oil!

"It... it was blocked?!"

"How is that possible! That was Senior Sister Leng Ningshuang's Ice Soul Mysterious Maiden Sword!"

"A Qi Refinement Stage Cultivator taking a strike from a Late Golden Core Stage expert head-on without a scratch? Am I seeing things?!"

"There's something strange about that robe! It must be a protective Magic Treasure bestowed by the Sect Master!"

The wave of discussion almost overturned the Law Execution Platform.

In the front row on the east side, Zhao Yan's wide-open mouth finally closed; he bent over to pick up his rolling wine gourd, his fingers trembling slightly from the force.

Qingyan gripped Ning Caihe's sleeve tightly, her voice trembling, "Senior Brother Ning... Senior Brother Xu, he's... he's okay?"

Ning Caihe didn't answer, merely staring at the moon-white figure on the platform, sword light swirling in his eyes as if trying to see through every inch of Xu Ruyu.

On the west side, Su Mei had stood up completely straight, her alluring peach-blossom eyes now filled with shock and suspicion.

Behind her, several Junior Sisters chattered away:

"It's a Magic Treasure! The Sect Master must have secretly given him some supreme protective treasure!"

"But didn't the Sect Master want to kill him? How could..."

"Are you stupid? It's all for show, don't you get it? The Sect Master can't exactly say 'I want to kill my own Personal Disciple' out loud, can she?"

"That makes sense... but this Magic Treasure is just too strong; even a strike from the Late Golden Core Stage couldn't break through it..."

On the Law Execution Platform.

Leng Ningshuang's icy blue eyes stared intently at the moon-white robe on Xu Ruyu's chest—or rather, at the transparent ripples on its surface that had just calmed down.

She knew the power of her strike better than anyone below the platform.

With seventy percent power, Frosty Heavens and Frozen Earth, an ordinary Golden Core Initial Stage Cultivator would at least end up severely injured and spitting blood if they took it head-on.

Yet the Qi Refining youth before her was not only unharmed, but even the corners of his clothes weren't ruffled.

Those transparent ripples...

Leng Ningshuang's pupils contracted slightly.

It wasn't a spiritual power shield, nor a Formation barrier, nor even any defensive method she recognized.

The way those ripples flowed was far too strange, as if... as if the air itself had condensed into an invisible wall before Xu Ruyu.

"What Cultivation Technique is this?"

Leng Ningshuang finally spoke, her voice still cold, but carrying a hint of imperceptible gravity.

Xu Ruyu tilted his head slightly, as if considering how to answer.

After a moment, he said softly, "It's not a Cultivation Technique, it's... principles."

"Principles?" Leng Ningshuang frowned.

"Yes." Xu Ruyu raised his right hand, his five fingers making a loose grip in front of him. "Between heaven and earth, Qi fills the universe.

Qi is not a dead thing; it is in perpetual, ceaseless motion.

No matter how fierce Senior Sister's Sword Qi is, it is ultimately just a form of 'motion'.

And as long as it is 'motion', it can be guided, dispersed, and... neutralized."

He spoke cryptically, leaving the vast majority of people below the platform completely bewildered.

But Leng Ningshuang understood about seventy percent.

Having cultivated the Mystic Ice Heavenly Maiden Art to the seventh level, "Heavenly Maidens Descent", her comprehension of the Laws of heaven and earth far exceeded those of the same rank.

Xu Ruyu's words touched upon deep-level Laws like 'kinetic energy' and 'energy conversion'. Though the phrasing was odd, the core concept shook her to her heart.

"Are you saying... you controlled the air?" Leng Ningshuang said word by word.

"Not control, but resonance," Xu Ruyu corrected. "I made the air molecules within three feet of my body vibrate at a specific frequency.

When Senior Sister's Sword Qi strikes, these vibrating air molecules form a... buffer layer.

Most of the Sword Qi's kinetic energy is absorbed and dispersed by this buffer, eventually turning into harmless heat."

He paused, adding, "Like a punch hitting cotton."

Below the platform, there was another uproar.

"Nonsense! What air molecules? What buffer layer?"

"Mystifying things! He must be using some shameful secret treasure!"

"Senior Sister Leng Ningshuang, stop wasting words with him! Just use your full power!"

But on the Law Execution Platform, the six Senior Brothers behind Leng Ningshuang all wore grave expressions.

Among the six, Lin Feng, whose cultivation was the highest and had already touched the threshold of the Nascent Soul stage, slowly opened his slightly closed eyes, his gaze landing on Xu Ruyu like something physical.

He whispered, "What this boy says... may not be false."

"Why do you say that, Senior Brother Lin?"

Chen Yun, in black robes beside him, asked in a low voice.

"Look closely at the three feet around him," Lin Feng's voice was extremely soft, audible only to the six of them. "The air flow is abnormal.

When ordinary Cultivators circulate their spiritual power, the air creates turbulence due to spiritual fluctuations.

But within three feet of this boy, the air flow presents a strange... sense of order."

Fang Yue, with grey robes and short hair, squinted, and indeed—where Xu Ruyu stood, the hem of his robe was slightly raised, but the curve was extremely uniform, as if meticulously regulated by some invisible force.

More strangely, with Xu Ruyu as the center, the dust on the ground within three feet swirled slowly, forming a faint vortex.

"He is controlling the airflow at a microscopic level," Lin Feng concluded, a trace of wariness appearing in his eyes for the first time. "This is not a method a Qi Refining stage Cultivator should possess."

On the platform, Leng Ningshuang had recovered from her initial shock.

She was, after all, the top Disciple of the Hehuan Sect's current generation; her strength of will far exceeded that of ordinary people.

Although Xu Ruyu's words had shaken her, they only served to further provoke her competitiveness.

"In that case," Leng Ningshuang slowly raised her luoyun sword, its tip pointing distantly at Xu Ruyu, "then I shall see how many strikes your 'Air Armor' can withstand."

As she finished speaking, the icy blue spiritual power around her erupted!

A chill more terrifying than before swept out from her as the center, and the ice on the Law Execution Platform's floor thickened to half a foot with a series of "crack-crack" sounds!

The six people behind her all retreated three steps—not out of fear, but to give Leng Ningshuang space to exert her full strength.

"Ice Soul Mysterious Maiden Sword, Second Form: Snow Covers a Thousand Mountains!"

Leng Ningshuang's figure turned into an icy blue afterimage, crossing thirty feet in an instant as the longsword in her hand transformed into a sky full of sword shadows!

Each sword shadow was as solid as the real thing, carrying bone-chilling cold and a space-tearing sharpness, stabbing at Xu Ruyu from all directions!

This time, she used ninety percent of her power.

Everyone below the platform held their breath.

Zhao Yan gripped his wine gourd tightly, Qingyan closed her eyes, not daring to look, and Ning Caihe's hand remained pressed against his sword hilt.

However—

"Ding ding ding ding ding—!!!"

A dense sound of impacts, like heavy rain hitting banana leaves, exploded!

Xu Ruyu still stood in place, not even moving his feet.

The moon-white robe around him rippled with transparent waves once again, only this time the ripples were denser and more rapid, like a water surface being pelted by pebbles.

Countless icy blue sword shadows stabbed into the ripples, but it was as if they had entered a mass of invisible and tough gelatin.

For every inch the sword points advanced, it felt as if they had to exert a thousand tons of force.

Even more strangely, after all the sword shadows pierced three feet into the ripples, their speed would plummet, eventually hovering one foot in front of Xu Ruyu, unable to advance even a fraction more.

Then, the sword shadows shattered.

They weren't shattered by force, but rather like ice meeting a warm current, they slowly melted and dissipated, turning into a sky full of ice crystal dust that shimmered with fine light in the morning sun.

Xu Ruyu even had the leisure to raise his hand and catch a falling ice crystal.

The ice crystal stayed in his palm for a breath before silently melting into a drop of water.

"Senior Sister's technique, where sword shadows alternate between real and illusory and the cold seeps into the bones and marrow, is indeed exquisite."

Xu Ruyu loosened his hand, the water drop falling to the ground. "Pity, the Sword Qi was dispersed. If all the power were condensed into a single point, perhaps it could break through this 'Air Armor'."

His calm tone as he critiqued the Hehuan Sect's current number one Eldest Senior Sister left Leng Ningshuang both shocked and indignant.

At this moment, perhaps she truly understood why the Sect Master had summoned her to Ningyin Hall to personally instruct her cultivation.

Perhaps, the current Xu Ruyu is the real Xu Ruyu?

Everyone had been fooled by him.