Chapter 338 - Yin Yang Sword Formation
No one noticed these uninvited guests as everybody in the hall, students and teachers, was standing around the sword formation.
Ai Hui, who was in the middle of it, was also unaware of the situation outside.
He was in trouble. It was the fifth sword formation.
That earlier cheer was from when he destroyed the fourth sword formation.
The fourth was Big Dipper sword formation, an obvious modification of Cultivation Era’s Big Dipper sword formation.
Ai hui had read more than one swordplay manual involving Big Dipper. Plus, he practiced the inheritance of [Big Dipper] so naturally, he understood it better than most.
Nevertheless, he still came across a minor problem. As compared to his understanding of Big Dipper, the creator had an even deeper comprehension of the whole system. Ai Hui had been suppressed for a good eight minutes before getting a chance to retaliate.
He used up a tremendous amount of strength. Clink, clink, clink! Finally, the fourth formation was shattered.
But the moment he stepped into the fifth formation, he fell into a tough spot.
This was actually a Yin Yang sword formation!
Ai Hui was astonished. Could it be that Karakorum’s understanding of swordsmanship had already reached such a level? There was Yin Yang in primal chaos, and it transformed into five elements. It appeared that Yin Yang was simpler, but when it came to practice the simpler things were actually harder.
The same idea applied to battles. The simpler the reasoning, the harder to fancify it. But when done, it would be extremely powerful.
This sword formation was like that as well.
The Yin Yang grass swords were like a shoal of fish cruising around Ai Hui’s body. It looked harmless and ordinary, but the more harmless it looked, the more dangerous it really was.
Ai Hui’s state of mind and awareness were completely shut off from the outside world, as if there was an invisible wall isolating him from it. What was even more unimaginable was that these Yin Yang grass swords brought such turbulent flows that disrupted and warped his perception.
The perception he’d been relying on all this while was completely failing him. His sense of position and speed were wrong because of the distortion produced by the turbulent flows.
Ai Hui had never been in such a situation before.
Skyheart Flaming Lotus Lamp was powerless since this wasn’t an illusion created by a psychic attack.
Outside the formation, Qin Xian subconsciously sighed a breath of relief. "Looks like he’s going to be stuck in this one."
Not knowing why, he felt as though a weight was lifted off his mind. Quickly, he realized that he wasn’t the only one feeling this way. Lian Junyu, too, sighed, "Yeah, it’s simply too shocking but luckily Yin Yang formation is obstructing him."
"Chief's mentioned that Yin Yang sword formation was an accidental discovery. After building it, she spent quite some time to find the solution to it." Qin Xian added in admiration, "To be able to reach this stage, Chu Zhaoyang’s power is undeniable. Destroying four sword formations is an impressive feat that hasn’t been done before."
"What a pity. Such a good opportunity for a breakthrough." Lian Junyu continued regretfully, "If he was in a slightly weaker sword formation, he just might be able to do it."
Breakthroughs usually occurred under pressure, but if the pressure was too great, not only was it difficult to break through, it might cause injuries.
Sufficient accumulation, an opportune moment, the appropriate level of pressure…Only when all conditions were suitable would one be able to complete a breakthrough. Breakthroughs were challenging because of this.
"There’s no choice, this is life." Qin Xian agreed in disappointment.
If Chu Zhaoyang did break through and become more capable, it would be even more advantageous for Karakorum. But failure had its own benefits too. It showed Chu Zhaoyang the power of Karakorum’s swordsmanship, which would make it easier to keep him as a teacher in the main institution.
Qin Xian was already thinking about how he could persuade Chu Zhaoyang to stay.
Just then, he sensed something, jerked his head up, and looked toward the Yin Yang sword formation.
A big man looked at the impenetrable crowd before giving a petite man a look. The petite man hurriedly shook his head, expressing his confusion.
Deep down, the petite man was crying about his bad luck. All had been normal when he’d snuck over to investigate. Boss hated it most when people deceived him. If Boss developed suspicions about him and killed him in a moment of fury, he wouldn’t even get the chance to plead for justice.
The petite man felt Boss’s displeasure, but even before he could speak up, Boss reached his arms out to push through the crowd.
Those who were shoved aside were furious and were about to display their annoyance, but seeing that the group wasn’t one to be provoked, they swallowed the curse words that almost left their mouths.
Boss continued pushing his way in and his subordinates followed closely behind.
Suddenly, someone from the crowd starting scolding but Boss turned a deaf ear to it. Others dared not to get as angry as they pleased.
Reaching the inner crowd and getting a clear look at the situation, Boss finally sighed a breath of relief.
If he’d made his way in only to see Xiao Shuren’s corpse, he definitely would have lost it.
Since what he saw had nothing to do with his mission, he decided not to waste any more time. The news that there might be people with the same motives shocked him greatly. Who else did Xiao Shuren provoke?
He was even more alert at this point and did not wish to be sidetracked any further. Catching Xiao Shuren was top priority.
As he was about to leave, Boss felt something and turned his head around instinctively, looking toward the sword formation.
A splendid silver ray blossomed within it.
This silver ray was so piercing to the eyes that even the vigilant boss was caught off guard and blinded by it.
Could it be a trap? His heart was jumping and as he was about to move, a terrifying aura soared from within the formation.
The big man’s heart tightened and the little rationality that was left in him kept him on his feet.
Crack!
A sound like a shattering glacier sounded from underneath his feet that made hearts palpitate. It seemed to explode by his ear, causing his hair to stand on end.
His whole body turned rigid. He was motionless and felt that any movement on his part would provoke his murderousness and turn himself into dregs.
If he could see right then, he would’ve realized that not only he, but everyone else was experiencing the same thing.
The timid ones fell onto the ground as their knees went soft and gave way.
Inside, Ai Hui’s eyes were so bright they could combust and the grass sword was wrapped up in the dazzling silver light. He was like a gust of wind, moving swiftly and forcefully within the formation and amid the glaring silver rays. The sword rays were like long strands that were pulled out from melted silver liquid.
The strange thing was that these silver, strand-like sword rays seemed to have imprinted themselves in the sky and there was no sign of them vanishing.
The grass sword in his hand was like a bottomless pit. The elemental energy within Ai Hui’s body was surging wildly toward the sword, and every hair-like strand consumed a shocking amount of elemental energy.
But it was as if Ai Hui was unaware. The blinding silver light shone on his face, turning it into a white sheet. It also accentuated his stone-like features, making them seem even more cold and solid.
Only his pupils shone brightly, in spite of the already dazzling, blinding silver light. They were so clear, distinct and memorable.
His sword moved delicately yet imposingly.
It was as if Ai Hui was holding a brush rather than a sword.
The sword rays drawn in midair were densely packed and intertwined. Even if they were put in front of people, no one would understand them. Even Ai Hui did not.
But he remembered every detail very clearly.
How could he forget about the metal wind sword screen that rose from the ground in the final Metal Elemental Tribulation from the Five Elemental Eight Treasures Porridge feast? Each crisscrossed metal wind sword trace was engraved into his heart. He felt the dense sword consciousness amid the seemingly chaotic sword rays. The metal wind sword screen proved its strength.
It was part luck that he managed to break the screen. He thought back to that scene many times and felt lingering fear.
He’d tried figuring out these disordered sword rays but hadn’t been able to find any clues.
Except this time, he thought about the sword rays from the metal wind sword screen.
The change of Yin and Yang was simple and mysterious at the same time. He felt that the only thing he could fight against was the metal wind sword screen.
Since there were no clues, he was going to duplicate it completely!
This sudden thought jolted Ai Hui into action since he couldn’t come up with any other method. Without hesitation, he began drawing the metal wind sword screen’s messy sword rays.
These messy rays seemed to have a bizarre power. When the first ray was drawn in the sky, the turbulent flows of Yin and Yang that were everywhere instantly weakened significantly.
This gave Ai Hui a huge confidence boost.
Following which, however, Ai Hui bumped into an unexpected situation. The messy looking sword strokes consumed way too much elemental energy.
He felt that the sword in his hands was like a starving leech, desperately sucking away his elemental energy.
Ai Hui knew that he mustn’t stop. Once he did, the incomplete sword rays would collapse. Moreover, he had a feeling that once the sword rays collapsed, the causal effect would be extremely terrifying and wasn’t something he could endure at that moment.
The Skyheart Flaming Lotus Lamp operated at full force and every elemental energy sword pill within his body was mobilized.
As the turbulent flows were held down, Ai Hui reconnected with the external elemental energy. Threads and wisps of metal elemental energy shot out from the wind into Ai Hui’s body, and into his sword following his Circulatory Cycle Revolution.
The grass sword was like an ever-starving monster, greedily swallowing up every trace of elemental energy.
In the wind, the abundant metal elemental energy was being sucked away violently.
The leaves on the ground rolled up and the wind became stronger.
The well-replenished grass sword shone even brighter. Not only was Ai Hui being enveloped within this splendid silver light, his body was surrounded by a silverish white halo of metal elemental energy.
Everyone regained awareness when the wind became so strong that their clothes started to make sounds. The glaring silver light rapidly faded and everybody channeled their elemental energy into their vision and finally saw the ongoing situation clearly.
The metal elemental energy amid the crazy wind spiraled down like a tornado and circled around Ai Hui’s body. His sword moved naturally and each stroke was clean and carried a tinge of indescribable flavor and mystery.
Ai Hui’s expression did not change but his vigor rose continuously.
Not good, the big man thought. Where did such a powerful fellow come from? At this point, he was already set on withdrawing from the scene. The person involved had unmeasurable powers and those messy sword rays made him feel fear and trepidation.
An experienced person like him had an acute sense of danger.
Just then, Ai Hui stopped suddenly with a final stroke. It was complete.
Time seemed to stop at this point.