Chapter 1 Former and Current First

One was the former number one chief disciple, and the other was the current number one.

Only a few years separated them. To other disciples, a few years wouldn't bring much change. But to top geniuses like Huo and Bai, a few years was enough to create a despairing gap.

And now, the two greatest geniuses of the Faceless Sword School were about to clash! Instantly, this news spread like wildfire among all the surrounding disciples and deacons. Even the other elders couldn't help but project their senses from their residences to observe.

Inside the Kui Ling Pavilion.

Kui Ling and Yun Chen were sitting across from each other, drinking tea, when they heard the news from their disciples. They immediately stopped.

"Bai Lu has excellent aptitude and seems to have a Yuan Seal (a natural, innate seal), but he's still not as talented as Huo Qingkong. He definitely can't win, but it remains to be seen by how much he'll lose," Kui Ling said seriously.

"Junior Brother is progressing extremely fast," Yun Chen said. "Based on his previous performance, he should be able to last ten moves if Senior Brother holds back. If he suppresses his realm to the same level."

"Then what realm do you think Bai Lu is at?" Kui Ling asked.

"Uh..." Yun Chen was speechless.

She really didn't know Bai Lu's level. After all, cultivation realm was a secret that no one would spread around. It was only exposed when a qualitative change occurred, such as breaking through a certain level of the sect during active registration and verification.

After all, reaching a new level meant different treatment, status, authority, and resources. It would also greatly benefit relatives and friends.

But ordinary small improvements were not publicized.

This was the origin of many stories of sect experts who suddenly appeared out of nowhere, shocking the sect with a long roar, leaping over the dragon gate to the upper echelons.

Of course, such experts were extremely rare. Most of them disappeared silently.

"Bai Lu is very guarded. I don't know his exact realm, but I estimate that even if he makes a breakthrough, he won't actively expose himself," Kui Ling had been with him for so long and understood Li Cheng Yi's personality to some extent.

"After all, even if he reports it, the change in resources he'll receive won't be significant. I'll give him everything I have."

"Master is right," Yun Chen nodded. "Fortunately, Junior Brother established his reputation by fighting the people from the Years Sect. It's understandable if he loses this time."

"..." Kui Ling smiled and said nothing more.

She often secretly observed Bai Lu, and often saw a kind of fearlessness in the child's eyes, an attitude of looking at everyone as equals.

Even Huo Qingkong, whose strength far surpassed his, Bai Lu treated him with the same attitude.

This made her feel that the little guy was a very special child.

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Inside the Faceless Great Hall.

The Sect Leader, Saint Spirit Taoist, slightly opened his eyes, as if he could see the competition below.

Compared to three years ago, the wrinkles on his face were deeper and thicker, and he exuded a faint aura of twilight.

"Ming Cong," he suddenly said.

"Here," an ugly Taoist child with half of his face covered in golden scales quickly entered from outside the door.

"What do you think of Bai Lu?" the Saint Spirit Taoist asked softly.

Ming Cong had followed him for thousands of years. Although he looked like a Taoist child, he was actually a disciple with extremely strong strength and extraordinary experience.

"Junior Brother Bai Lu... has high potential and the makings of an elder," Ming Cong replied after careful consideration.

The Saint Spirit Taoist nodded slightly.

"The Four Little Swords can assist Qingkong in the future, with Bai Lu as the leader. Not bad."

"It's just that Bai Lu seems unwilling to submit, which may cause trouble," Ming Cong said seriously.

"Don't worry, Qingkong will handle everything," the Saint Spirit Taoist said faintly.

Both of them fell silent, focusing their senses on the martial arts arena, waiting for the result.

One was the strongest of the previous generation, and the other was the strongest of the current generation. It was truly exciting to see what kind of changes and reactions their collision would produce.

*

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*

At this moment, on the martial arts stage.

Huo Qingkong flashed and appeared fifteen meters in front of Li Cheng Yi, standing still. He held his sword in his right hand and looked over.

"Junior Brother, you can attack first, don't hold back." He smiled calmly. Clearly, at his current realm, facing Bai Lu was too easy.

This was the first time Li Cheng Yi had truly faced the future Faceless Scholar.

From the current perspective, this Senior Brother didn't look like he could turn into that twisted monster.

Something drastic must have happened in the future to cause the appearance of the Faceless Scholar.

Before, they had been teammates and brothers. Now, looking at him as an opponent,

Li Cheng Yi realized how twisted this guy was.

On the martial arts stage, Huo Qingkong was like a huge black hole, constantly devouring and disturbing everything that approached.

Some of the air that got close seemed to condense into sword-shaped, strange transformations.

'This is definitely not something that the Faceless Sword Art and the Saint Spirit Power can do. Even the other elders who practice the Thousand Faces Sword Manual haven't seen this situation.' Li Cheng Yi was shocked. Compared to Kui Ling, he felt that Huo Qingkong was even more oppressive.

"Then I'll offend you." After observing, Li Cheng Yi gripped the Dingyuan Sword.

He was considering how much strength to unleash.

This was his sixth year of entering the sect. The first five years were spent practicing the sect's techniques. No matter how talented he was, there had to be a basic foundation-building process.

So, in six years, he couldn't exceed six seals at most. This was assuming that he had a natural Yuan Seal.

The two fell silent.

Around Li Cheng Yi, wisps of Wisdom Swords (hui jian) emerged and gathered on the Dingyuan Sword.

Ding.

In an instant, he disappeared from the spot, like a streak of cyan light, cutting across fifteen meters and stabbing towards Huo Qingkong's torso.

But as expected, this sword was easily blocked.

A slender, slightly purple blade accurately parried the tip of the Dingyuan Sword.

The Wisdom Swords stacked on the two swords exploded, colliding and making a crackling sound.

"Impressive! Again!" Li Cheng Yi suppressed his power to the level of six seals and suddenly unleashed the Faceless Sword Art's killing move.

Shadow Step (ta ying)!

His figure flashed and circled behind his opponent.

But with a similar flicker, Huo Qingkong also used Shadow Step.

The two rapidly flashed and chased each other on the small martial arts stage.

More than a dozen figures flashed in succession in a second.

Using Shadow Step, Li Cheng Yi's skill was no less than Huo Qingkong's.

The surrounding spectators below the fifth seal couldn't even see the true positions of the two and exclaimed in surprise.

The elders could see clearly, but their expressions were no longer relaxed.

Huo Qingkong was fine, having become famous in the previous battle, but Bai Lu, this rising star, was using Shadow Step just as skillfully.

This was a bit of an exaggeration.

After the two chased each other at terrifying speeds of ten times the speed of sound, Huo Qingkong suddenly stopped and blocked behind him with a backhand sword strike.

Clang!!

The two swords collided head-on, exploding a circle of substantial air waves.

'Instant Prison (shun yu)!' Li Cheng Yi suddenly pinched his fingers into a sword gesture, and a golden sword light flew out of the sword-nurturing pouch at his waist.

The sword light was extremely terrifying, reaching sixteen times the speed of sound as soon as it appeared. Like a golden arc, it struck Huo Qingkong at close range.

But this sword, exploding at point-blank range, also missed.

Huo Qingkong slightly tilted his head, just dodging the trajectory of the golden sword light flying past his face.

The terrifying speed of the golden sword also shocked him.

Sixteen times the speed of sound could already cause him some tremors.

Although it was a sudden burst from the sword-nurturing pouch, it was a bit of an exaggeration that Bai Lu, with his shallow cultivation, could nurture a blade of this strength.

Immediately, he gripped the sword hilt and shook it slightly, a faint, secret light swaying into existence.

The Bright Light (ming guang) could strongly control the opponent's movements and even the flow of power. Using the Bright Light with his current power meant using force to suppress people, intending to end it completely.

Unexpectedly, as soon as he used the Bright Light,

Li Cheng Yi retracted his sword light, suddenly retreated, and clasped his fists.

"As expected of Senior Brother, Bai Lu admits defeat."

The arena suddenly fell silent.

Li Cheng Yi's actions were somewhat abrupt, but everyone could understand that once they entered a contest of Saint Spirit Power cultivation, he would definitely lose.

After all, no matter how strong he was, he could not possibly be a match for Senior Brother, who already had an established seal ring.

Before, they could still compete purely in moves, but once they entered a cultivation contest, there was no need to continue.

Huo Qingkong also realized this.

He hadn't been able to gain an advantage over Bai Lu in the Faceless Sword Art, which made him feel a little surprised.

Although the last golden sword light was too fast, it could be understood as a contingency plan prepared by Elder Kui Ling, which was normal.

"At this age, Junior Brother's performance is amazing," Huo Qingkong looked at Li Cheng Yi appreciatively. He could feel that the other party definitely had trump cards that he hadn't used.

But this was just a test of skill, not a life-or-death battle, so it was natural not to use trump cards that consumed too much energy.

Testing the normal strength was enough.

"Thank you for your guidance, Senior Brother. There is still a big gap between me and you, and I need to work hard," Li Cheng Yi replied seriously.

Whoosh.

The surrounding crowd applauded. Unknowingly, more than a hundred people had gathered around.

If the fight hadn't ended so quickly, even more people might have gathered.

Li Cheng Yi didn't mind. From beginning to end, he had shown strength that didn't exceed six seals, except for the last burst of sword light from the sword-nurturing pouch.

The sword light at sixteen times the speed of sound was something that even his own body could only achieve.

Yes.

He did it on purpose.

Using Kui Ling's name and the sword-nurturing pouch, only bursting out once was forgivable and acceptable to everyone.

He just wanted to see if Huo Qingkong could catch that sword just now.

And the result chilled him.

Huo Qingkong easily dodged the golden sword light. The terrifying speed of sixteen times the speed of sound seemed like normal speed to him, easily dealt with.

This speed and strength exceeded Li Cheng Yi's expectations.

'It seems that... in terms of killing speed, I am definitely at a disadvantage without Flower Language,' Li Cheng Yi judged.

But it was understandable. He only had two seals that increased speed.

The seals he had condensed later, or rather, the Yuan Seals, were all used to enhance and nourish the blade.

One Yuan Seal enhanced and sublimated the power of consciousness to nourish the blade.

Now he could nourish three blades at the same time.

And the speed of nourishment was three times faster than before.

The sword-nurturing pouch was a very good magical item.

It could be nourished by the user's consciousness, constantly improving its own quality. The nourished blade could be launched easily like a well-strung crossbow, requiring only the press of a trigger.

This launch did not consume any consciousness or physical strength. It could store his own most powerful sword strike, or freely adjust the strength and reduce the power.

This magical item ensured that the experts of the Faceless Sword School could always hide a trump card for a comeback at any time, in any place, even when seriously injured.

And while ordinary people's sword-nurturing pouches could only nourish one sword, Li Cheng Yi could now nourish three, and the nourishment speed was three times faster than others. This meant that he could rapidly increase the power of the blade in a very short time.

(End of this chapter)