Chapter Forty-One: The Art of Sword Escape

In the air, the longsword fragmented into eleven blades, all stabbing toward the spot where Shi Qi had just been, embedding themselves into the ground. Shi Qi thought to himself how close he had come to disaster; had he not reacted swiftly, he would have been skewered like a porcupine.

The eleven swords rose from the earth, spinning in midair. Then, the figure in purple slowly emerged from the shadows of the blades. The eleven swords vanished, leaving only one in the purple-clad man's hand.

Shi Qi frowned. "What kind of sorcery is this?"

The purple-robed figure remained silent; after all, he was merely a phantom born of the illusion.

Without pause, the purple-robed man tossed his sword into the air, then leapt onto it, riding the flying blade as he charged toward Shi Qi.

"Hmm?" Shi Qi watched as the purple-clad figure vanished atop the sword, which again split into eleven blades, scattering and attacking from all directions.

Shi Qi dropped to one knee, his right hand striking the ground in a palm.

"Command Seal! Draw the earth into a prison!"

Once more, Shi Qi gathered water into a sphere, enveloping himself within it.

"Thud, thud, thud, thud, thud..." The eleven flying swords stabbed into the water sphere.

"Such formidable power," Shi Qi marveled.

The sphere endured only briefly before the swords penetrated deeper, each blade sinking three inches or more into the watery barrier.

Seeing the swords above gradually piercing through, Shi Qi smiled faintly, formed a seal with his fingers, and whispered, "Ice."

Instantly, the water sphere, infused with Shi Qi's intense cold energy, transformed into an orb of ice. The eleven flying swords became trapped within its frozen shell.

The swords trembled and struggled to break free, but for a moment, they could not escape.

"Ice magic?" Outside the formation, the elder watched the battle in astonishment. "Apart from the Northern Realm, there are actually cultivators in the world who use ice techniques. What an interesting young friend."

"Where is the true body of the purple-robed man?" Shi Qi seized the moment to ponder. In their first exchange, when the Azure Cloud Umbrella deflected the sword, the purple-clad figure had vanished. In the second round, he rode the sword and disappeared again.

There were only two possible explanations for this disappearance:

First: invisibility spells.

Second: extreme speed.

Shi Qi dismissed the second possibility; if the opponent moved faster than he could perceive, he would already have been skewered.

So, invisibility then? The true body hidden somewhere, directing the flying swords in attack?

As the eleven swords began to break free from the ice, Shi Qi stopped pondering, channeled his energy, and activated his Heavenly Eye.

At that moment, the eleven swords escaped the icy prison and soared into the air.

Shi Qi swept his palm, dispersing the ice sphere, all the while watching the surroundings for changes.

The eleven swords spun in the air, then merged into one, and the purple-robed figure materialized once more.

After a few breaths, the purple-clad man repeated his tactics: he conjured the flying sword from the sky, vanished, and the sword split again into eleven blades, speeding toward Shi Qi.

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"Here it comes!" Shi Qi shouted, throwing out the Thousand Resilience Shield to block before him, while focusing his gaze intently on his surroundings.

"Clang, clang, clang..." The shield absorbed the barrage.

Behind it, Shi Qi frowned deeply. "How is this possible?"

He scanned the area with his Heavenly Eye, unable to detect even a trace of energy flow. Even an invisibility spell would leave some hint of energy movement in a frontal attack, but there was nothing.

Where had the purple-robed man gone?

Shi Qi pondered, glancing at the sky. Eleven swords merged again, and the purple figure materialized.

Why did he appear each time? Could it be…?

"I understand now!!" Shi Qi's lips curled upward. "So that's how it is!"

The mask of the purple-robed man concealed his face and expression, and once again he repeated his tactic: the sword flew out, his body vanished, swords split into eleven and stabbed toward Shi Qi.

Yet this time, Shi Qi felt a chill in the attack.

"Duang!"

The eleven swords struck the Thousand Resilience Shield, forcing it into dormancy!

"Each assault grows stronger," Shi Qi remarked in admiration. "But it's a pity; I've already figured it out."

Though the shield reverted to its dormant form, it had nonetheless blocked the fierce onslaught.

The eleven swords bounced away, swirling in the air, preparing to merge again.

"Now!" Shi Qi shouted.

Just as the swords were about to unite, Shi Qi flashed from his spot, his right hand behind his back, racing toward the swords.

The blades had just merged, and the purple-robed figure was appearing.

As the purple-clad man emerged, Shi Qi was already before him!

"Water Spirit Orb!"

Shi Qi's right index finger, charged with water energy, was ready. As the opponent appeared, Shi Qi unleashed the orb at him.

"It's not finished yet! Rapid fire!"

Shi Qi yelled, sending a second Water Spirit Orb after the first.

"Your disappearance isn't invisibility, nor speed, but your true body hides within the flying swords!"

"Boom! Boom!"

Two tremendous explosions sent gusts of blue mist swirling, buffeting Shi Qi's white robe and black hair as he flipped twice in the air and landed. The blast from the Water Spirit Orbs had summoned a haze of blue water vapor.

Shi Qi looked up, continuing, "Moreover, though your attacks grow stronger each time—if your next assault increases again, I doubt I could withstand it completely. However…"

He paused. "Your attacks follow the same pattern: after the eleven swords strike, they merge into one, and your true body appears. This is your greatest flaw!"

As Shi Qi finished speaking, a purple silhouette dropped from the mist, crashing heavily onto the ground.

"As expected, I've won this round," Shi Qi smiled.

As the purple-robed man fell, a white light flashed, the surroundings began to spin, and a familiar dizziness swept over Shi Qi. In an instant, he realized he had left the arena and returned to the formation within the house.

"Clap, clap, clap..."

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When Shi Qi opened his eyes, the elder applauded, cupping his hands.

"Remarkable, young friend! Congratulations on passing the second trial."

Shi Qi rolled his neck and exhaled deeply. He stepped out of the formation, addressing the elder, "Senior, your trial is far from simple!"

The elder laughed. "You don't know, young friend, the first round wasn't merely a test of energy strength—it was preparation for the second round."

"Preparation?" Shi Qi asked.

"That's correct. It chooses the opponent for the second round based on the strength and purity of the energy input. The higher your energy, the stronger your opponent."

Shi Qi continued, "That purple-robed man just now?"

The elder smiled. "He was a phantom of Gu Xinjue, one of the four guardians of the Alliance of Humanity—a projection of that lord's true body."

"Devil Sect?" Shi Qi recalled Bai Qiu explaining that the world was divided among the righteous path, the demonic path, the neutral, and the evil. The Devil Sect was one of the two major demonic factions.

The elder nodded. "Indeed, the foremost demonic sect—the Devil Sect."

He went on, "Young friend, to be honest, Gu Xinjue's phantom used the Devil Sect's secret technique—the Sword Escape Art."

Shi Qi nodded; Bai Qiu had told him that the Sword Escape Art ranked fourth among the Ten Great Techniques. Before it were the Faceless Art of the Xuan Moon Palace, the Body Refining Art of the Overlord City, and the long-lost Divine Thunder Art.

Thinking back, Shi Qi had dueled with Bai Qiu, inheritor of the eighth-ranked White Clan's Talisman Gate Escape Art; later fought Liao Hongda, practitioner of the second-ranked Overlord City's Body Refining Art; then witnessed Leng Bingmeng's Faceless Art of the third-ranked Xuan Moon Palace; and now battled Gu Xinjue's phantom, user of the fourth-ranked Sword Escape Art.

He had only left the island for a few days and already encountered four of the Ten Great Techniques.

Aside from the lost Divine Thunder Art, there remained the ninth-ranked Mo Clan's Mechanisms, tenth-ranked Five Elements Thunder of the Leishan Sect, seventh-ranked Beast Taming Art of the Thousand Crane Gate, sixth-ranked Diamond Invincibility and Universal Emptiness of Leiyin Temple, and fifth-ranked Qimen Divination of the Tianyuan Sect.

At this pace, he would meet all Ten Great Techniques in no time.

Shi Qi smiled wryly at the thought.

He asked the elder, "This Sword Escape Art—seems…"

"Haha," the elder chuckled, "You mean, it seems unimpressive? You exposed its flaw after only two exchanges—how could it rank fourth among the Ten Great Techniques?"

Shi Qi said nothing, tacitly agreeing.

The elder sighed, "Ah, Gu Xinjue's phantom was only at the Golden Core stage, and the Sword Escape Art here was merely a superficial copy. The true art unleashes a thousand swords, ever-changing, with the true body hidden within the blades, attacking with the sword—not quite man and sword as one, but both offensive and defensive, and extremely sharp."

He continued, "What you saw was only the most basic form: weak and riddled with flaws. With more advanced Sword Escape Art, you'd be defeated before you could discern a counter. To be honest, I've never seen the true technique myself."

Shi Qi nodded. Had that been the genuine Sword Escape Art, it would indeed seem strange.

"However," the elder added, "Since Gu Xinjue inscribed his phantom into the formation, it's been triggered only four times."

"Only four?" Shi Qi was surprised.

"Yes, just four. So to draw out Gu Xinjue's phantom, I am quite excited myself."

"Then…what about the results?"

The elder smiled. "Young friend, you just claimed the first victory—Gu Xinjue's first defeat!"

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