Chapter 433 - 228: Champion Zhang Mountain

Chapter 433: Chapter 228: Champion Zhang Mountain

In the past, as a Swordsman, Yao Tianchuan would never have had such a thought. But after the events of last year, even though he had finally managed to take up his Treasure Sword again, his temperament had subtly changed. He subconsciously avoided thinking about many things deep inside.

’It was all that person’s fault anyway... Only by defeating the disciples of the Cloud Mountain Sword Sect one by one, then finding and utterly defeating that person from before, could he mend his Sword Heart.’

Today was the first day.

Xie Yuan didn’t respond to Yao Tianchuan’s taunt, simply asking:

"Are you ready?"

Yao Tianchuan was taken aback for a moment, a sudden flash of anger rising within him.

’How dare *he* be the one to ask that? By what right?’

He snorted.

"I wasn’t planning on wasting much time on you; after all, you’re just a nobody. But now, I’ve changed my mind. I’m going to let your senior brothers and sisters watch how you’re defeated—powerlessly and despairingly."

After speaking, Yao Tianchuan took a deep breath and looked at the referee.

"Let’s begin."

The referee silently retreated to the edge of the arena, raised his hand high, and then brought it down.

"Begin!"

Xie Yuan’s hand was on his hilt. The moment he heard the referee’s call, he drew his sword, which became a flash of cold light as he lunged toward Yao Tianchuan.

Yao Tianchuan’s Long Sword pointed casually at the ground. He watched Xie Yuan’s approach.

’Too slow.’

He scoffed inwardly.

’And he dares call that a fast sword?’

’And he dared to tell me to be careful?’

’His confidence is laughable.’

’If I wasn’t planning on slowly shattering his Sword Heart, I’d show him what a real fast sword looks like!’

Yao Tianchuan raised his Long Sword vertically, executing the simplest of moves—"Incense to the Heavens." He planned to block Xie Yuan’s Sword Edge with the section of his blade three inches from the tip.

’He wanted his opponent to know what it felt like to have every move countered, every action seen through—just as he had once experienced...’

He stared directly into Xie Yuan’s eyes, eagerly anticipating the flicker of surprise and disappointment when his Long Sword was blocked.

’Will you still be spewing such nonsense then?’

Yao Tianchuan’s eyes lit up as he waited for his plan to bear fruit.

But a moment later, things weren’t quite going as he had imagined.

He felt no impact of blades clashing through the hilt of his sword, nor did he hear the crisp CLANG of steel on steel.

His block had met only empty air.

’How could that be?’

Yao Tianchuan’s eyes narrowed as a sense of foreboding washed over him. With a flick of his wrist, he swept his Long Sword left and right, trying to intercept the incoming blade.

But still, he felt nothing. His blade hadn’t touched the Sword Edge.

He didn’t know what had happened. His heart seized. He began to withdraw his sword, intending to take a defensive stance and assess the situation, but his hand froze in place.

A sharp sword was stopped steadily at his throat.

The scene was eerily familiar...

Yao Tianchuan was dazed for a moment before his face paled.

"Impossible! You... Where was your sword?"

"At your throat."

Xie Yuan replied with a guileless look.

"...I meant just now! Why... why couldn’t I see your sword!"

Yao Tianchuan choked on his words, barely restraining a roar.

Xie Yuan withdrew his Long Sword and shook his head.

"Perhaps the gap between us is just too great."

"..."

Yao Tianchuan was stunned speechless, just like the thousands of spectators both on the ground and in the building above.

To them, the trajectory of Xie Yuan’s Long Sword had been perfectly clear, which only made the outcome seem all the more ghostly.

His "fast sword" wasn’t fast at all; it was as slow as that of someone who had just broken through to the Qi and Blood Metamorphosis Realm.

Yet, as Yao Tianchuan raised his blade to block, Xie Yuan’s sword came to a steady halt just in front of it. When Yao Tianchuan swept his sword from side to side, Xie Yuan’s blade swayed in perfect unison, sticking so close to Yao’s own blade and hidden within its gleam that Yao Tianchuan didn’t notice it at all.

By the time he frantically pulled his sword back, Xie Yuan’s blade, like a dragon emerging from the clouds, followed its movement and sealed his throat with a single strike.

Xie Yuan’s Long Sword was right under Yao Tianchuan’s nose the entire time, yet he was completely blind to it. The audience, who could see everything, was left utterly speechless by this divine display of skill.

What kind of Swordsmanship was that?

His "fast sword"... had it really defeated Yao Tianchuan in a single move?

No, wait—Yao Tianchuan really lost?!

The audience finally snapped out of their stupor, their faces filled with astonishment as they processed what had just happened. Slowly, murmurs and discussions began, swelling into a clamor that roared toward the heavens.

"Yao Tianchuan, master of the invincible fast sword, was really taken down in one strike by that slow ’fast sword’!"

"That’s no fast sword! It’s more like a... a fast-slow sword."

"I can’t believe it. Turns out Yao Tianchuan is just a one-trick pony. He looks impressive, but in reality, he’s just getting by on that single move."

The crowd below buzzed with excitement, quickly forgetting how highly they had thought of Yao Tianchuan just moments ago and instead began to sing Xie Yuan’s praises.

"The disciples of the Cloud Mountain Sword Sect are more incredible than the last! This one’s moves were simply divine!"

"Wasn’t it just that Yao Tianchuan was pathetic? His own sword blocked his vision."

"You don’t get it! That move looked simple, but it’s incredibly complex! It involves the Five Elements and Eight Trigrams, Qimen Dunjia... His Swordsmanship must be a form of the Eight Trigrams Sword!"

"I’ve never heard that the Cloud Mountain Sword Sect specializes in the Eight Trigrams Sword... Is this person’s name Zhang Mountain?"

"Zhang Mountain..."

The crowd chattered endlessly, sizing up Xie Yuan with astonished expressions.

Even though it was just one move, and his cultivation level didn’t seem particularly high, the mastery of Swordsmanship displayed by this obscure disciple of the Sword Sect was truly astonishing.

And the name "Zhang Mountain" quickly spread from person to person.

Upstairs in the Wangjiang Building, Ning Zi’s crimson lips parted wide enough to fit an egg. She was stunned for a long moment before she spoke.

"So this is the insight one gains from Sword Peak? How come I never gained an insight like that..."

Qin Zhenyang felt the move was vaguely familiar, as if it bore a trace of the Cloud Dragon Nine Forms.