"Young Master Meng, I never expected your strength would improve so much in just a few short years." Li Ruji sent a voice transmission. He looked joyful. "You have already stepped into the Dao and, from that clash just now, I can see that you are in no way inferior to Xiahou Zhen. I, Li Ruji, am very impressed!"
Qin Yun sighed inwardly.
The praise was excessive!
He had already stepped into the Dao decades before descending into this world.
"Even so, Young Master Meng, you have to be careful. This Xiahou Zhen has mastered a physical formulation. His body is in no way weaker than mine," said Li Ruji through a voice transmission.
"Mr Li, rest assured." Qin Yun smiled and nodded.
Li Ruji nodded before flying down to the imperial palace.
As he flew down, Li Ruji turned back to look at Qin Yun and Xiahou Zhen as they floated opposite each other. He sighed inwardly. "I never expected Meng Yiqiu to develop his strength so fast. In a blink of an eye, he has exceeded me. The world's strongest two are not me and Xiahou Zhen. It's Xiahou Zhen and this Meng Yiqiu! However, I wonder who is the stronger of the two?"
Li Ruji felt a little sour at that moment.
Even as the so-called God of War, he was only ranked third on the God roll and could only watch as two other peerless experts fought.
"Whatever. At least I survived." Li Ruji consoled himself.
In midair.
Xiahou Zhen's eyes were hawkish as they stared at Qin Yun under his mop of silver hair.
"Meng Yiqiu?" Xiahou Zhen said in a deep voice. "I thought I was already invincible in this world and that only Li Ruji can barely qualify to fight me. I never expected that your strength is so much higher than Li Ruji's."
From the clash they just had, Xiahou Zhen had already determined his strength.
He did not gain any advantage during the clash! Furthermore, Qin Yun didn't even attack with all he had because he was busy attempting to save Li Ruji.
"Mr Xiahou." Qin Yun stood in midair and gave a relaxed smile. "I've long heard that Mr Xiahou ranks first on the God roll. It's only today that I have a chance of sparring with you."
"Hahaha…"
Xiahou Zhen responded with a hearty laugh. His silver hair flailed in the wind as his fighting spirit bolstered. "I've waited too long for this day! Meng Yiqiu, be on your guard!"
He instantly attacked once again, his saber flashes raining down from every direction!
"A rare opponent."
Qin Yun instantly brandished his Frost Sword.
With a heart as still as an ice mirror, it reflected his surroundings. Qin Yun began using one sword technique after another, many of which were learned in this world! He believed that they were sufficiently powerful but they had never been tested in actual life-and-death combat.
"Clang! Clang! Clang!"
The weapons clashed.
However, Xiahou Zhen was astounded. "This Meng Yiqiu's sword arts undergo a myriad of changes. They're lingering and soft one moment, then extremely oppressive, then astoundingly fast and unpredictable the next."
"Yes, this attack is overly soft. It looks like complementing Yin with Yang is the correct way to do it. On the other hand, this attack should be done with more verve. Oh. This attack actually has such a major flaw." With Qin Yun's still mirror heart, his expertise in defensive arts, and him having learned the Lockheaven Sword in this world, he completely controlled the situation. The occasional test of his sword moves was done in controlled environments.
"I'm actually at this much of a disadvantage?" Xiahou Zhen also noticed this and could not help but panic. "With his sword techniques, he has controlled the surroundings without me realizing! It's as though I have fallen into his net. How is this possible? He's such a young fellow. He entered the Heaven roll just a few years ago. How did he make his attacks so much more profound and proficient than mine in such a short span of time?"
"Oh no!"
Xiahou Zhen's expression suddenly changed.
The Frost Sword in Qin Yun's hand quickly phased into a sword beam that abruptly thrust forward. It appeared like an ordinary strike.
"Whoosh."
Despite being more than a hundred feet apart, space seemed to contract strangely. The sword instantly appeared in front of his chest. Because Xiahou Zhen was alarmed, he failed to block in time.
"Bam!"
The sword beam stabbed straight into Xiahou Zhen's chest. Although it encountered resistance from the empowered flesh, it still managed to penetrate deeply. It even continued on its trajectory from sheer momentum to slice across his chest.
The wound split open as blood spewed out. The injury was rather serious but his wound healed at a discernible pace.
"Even I was unable to injure Li Ruji this badly." Xiahou Zhen was horrified.
"This attack is not bad." Qin Yun's eyes lit up as he turned delighted.
In this world, he had grasped a new Paramount realm, Small World. It was similar in function to the Length Contraction Spell but different in theory! The Length Contraction Spell depended on a talisman amulet but Small World acted to change the Heavenly Dao through Qin Yun's sword, distorting and changing space itself.
Using Small World as the foundation, Qin Yun next fused the Infinite Paramount realm and other moves, allowing for a strike that was excessively fast.
And truly, it paid off.
"I'm actually injured? No, I can't let this continue. I have to fight him in close combat. I have to injure him at the cost of being injured. I can withstand being injured by him about ten times but he won't be able to survive a single strike of mine." Xiahou Zhen immediately made such plans. He felt conflicted though. "I once despised Li Ruji for using such strategies but who knew that there would come a day for me to rely on such a strategy to save my life?"
"Boom—"
Xiahou Zhen's silver hair flared as he began ignoring his wounds in order to exchange injury for injury. He wished to injure Qin Yun just once with no regard for himself!
Just once was sufficient for him to slay his opponent.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The bluish-gray surges in the sky were cascading in chaos but sword flashes in the form of illuminated arcs would block the enemy off. At times, they would shimmer in a dominative fashion, encroaching and invading the bluish-gray surge! It held the complete upper hand.
"What a powerful sword technique. He can actually hold the advantage while fighting with Xiahou Zhen." Li Ruji's eyes were filled with shock when he landed in the imperial palace.
Xue Chong also flew to the side.
"Master," said Xue Chong immediately. "I never expected Meng Yiqiu to be this powerful."
"Yea. His sword techniques are much more brilliant." Li Ruji nodded. "However, Xiahou Zhen has cultivated an Ancient Black Fiendbody. Xiahou Zhen might very possibly turn the tables if he can engage in close combat!"
Xue Chong was worried as well.
Not far to the side.
Li Cheng looked up and watched. He was at the twelfth Qi Refinement stage, and with the battle happening above the imperial palace, he could barely make out the newcomer's figure. "That is… Frost Sword Meng Yiqiu? He actually managed to save Patriarch and, from the looks of it, put Xiahou Zhen at a disadvantage?"
Li Cheng found it somewhat unbelievable.
"Meng Yiqiu?"
"Frost Sword Meng Yiqiu! It's him!"
"He actually has the capability to repress Xiahou Zhen?"
There were many experts in the imperial palace. They could tell at a glance that the person who had joined the fray was Meng Yiqiu.
As for the many ordinary eunuchs and palace maids, they could not identify him. After all, they were about a kilometer away. At best, they could see two blurry figures but had no way to identify them.
Outside the imperial palace, only a few experts were able to barely recognize Meng Yiqiu.
"Frost Sword Meng Yiqiu has actually stepped into the Dao! Furthermore, his strength seems to be above that of Fiendlord Xiahou Zhen?"
"It looks like the world is changing!"
"In the future, the number one person in the world will be Meng Yiqiu!"
All the experts that could clearly see the battle were stifled and shocked.
A battle at this level would influence the entire power balance of the world, affecting billions of lives.
Of course—
Sovereign Capital was too big!
About two kilometers away, anyone below the Connate realm could not identify Meng Yiqiu. However, they could vaguely see that a new expert had joined the battle.
About five kilometers away, people couldn't even see their figures! All they could see were dark-red surges clashing with bluish-gray surges before it turned into sword flashes clashing with bluish-gray surges.
Meng Manor which was about fifteen kilometers away.
Among Dong Wan, Liu Qingsha, Gong Yan'er, and Meng Yuxiang, only Dong Wan had stepped into the Connate realm. And even he could not see things clearly.
"The person fighting has changed," said Dong Wan. "I believe the God of War has fled and a peerless sword expert has taken his place to block off Xiahou Zhen."
"Another expert?" Gong Yan'er could not help but comment. "In this world, who would dare partake in a battle between the God of War and Fiendlord Xiahou Zhen?"
"That's right. If the God of War can't withstand Xiahou Zhen, who can?" Liu Qingsha found it unbelievable as well.
"That is what is happening."
Dong Wan pointed into the sky. "Look, the sword flashes are in full dominion. The bluish-gray surges are trapped. The sword expert even holds the advantage."
"That's actually true." Meng Yuxiang looked up and watched as her face revealed a look of delight. She heaved a sigh of relief. "That's great. The Chu Kingdom is saved! My brother doesn't need to flee anymore."
"Yea. Yiqiu will probably return in a while." Gong Yan'er gave a joyful look too.
"However, who is that sword expert?" Dong Wan was puzzled.
"Could it be Peerless Sword Sage, fifth on the God roll?" asked Liu Qingsha. "Peerless Sword Sage might have had a breakthrough in strength, so now he can repress Xiahou Zhen?"
However, Gong Yan'er said, "Peerless Manor has never meddled in the affairs of the world. It's unlikely that Peerless Sword Sage would interfere."
"Perhaps God of War sought Peerless Sword Sage's help?" Liu Qingsha was filled with speculation.
However, Dong Wan was watching very carefully.
As he had the highest strength, he could see the sword flashes even clearer as a Connate realm expert.
"Why do I feel that… these sword flashes resemble Elder Meng's sword moves?" Dong Wan could not help but comment.
"Master's sword moves?" Liu Qingsha was perplexed.
"Resemble Yiqiu's moves?" Gong Yan'er was astonished as well.
"It's just a hunch. After all, it's just too far to see clearly," said Dong Wan immediately.
Apart from the extremely few people in Sovereign Capital that could identify Meng Yiqiu, there were countless others who did not know who the new sword expert was!
"Boom! Boom! Boom!" In midair, Xiahou Zhen was counterattacking maniacally.
Qin Yun continued testing his numerous techniques against his opponent's barrage of attacks. However, he would only occasionally test them when he was in complete control.
"Boom!"
The sounds from Qin Yun's sword flashes suddenly took on a deep tone. The world began to tremble. When a sword flash streaked across the sky, the trembling world suddenly revealed a black rift.
Xiahou Zhen retreated in shock when he saw that scene.
"This… This…" Xiahou Zhen stared at the black rift. "Shattering the void?"
Qin Yun could not help but stop too. The black rift had an endless suction force. It even seemed to be summoning him in an inexplicable manner. Qin Yun had a faint inkling that on the other end of the black rift was another vast world.
"Another world." Xiahou Zhen sensed it too. It was an instinctual pining! That was because reaching the other world meant having a chance of becoming a god, an immortal! One could have everlasting youth!
But in a blink of an eye, the black rift closed.