The Sword Fighting Platform, where students fight each other and have sword competitions, is also known as the arena.
Throughout any academy, there are multiple places, and once on the sword-fighting platform, the students must determine a winner.
The sword-fighting platform brought by Yi Yingying and Lu Qinghe was slightly secluded. At this moment, no one had used it, and there were only a few students nearby, obviously out of consideration for his face.
Lu Qinghe didn't think much of it. The two didn't say much and directly stepped onto the sword-fighting platform.
"Your meridians are damaged, and your true energy cannot be transported. Even if there is still the residual true energy of the pinnacle of the Triple Refinement Realm, the power it unleashes is only at the level of the first refinement. I will use the true energy of the first refinement to compete with you," Yi Yingying said, holding a slender sword directly at Lu Qinghe.
"Controlling true energy will distract you. At that time, your full cultivation base will unleash only seventy percent. Furthermore, if the true energy is similar, solely competing in swordsmanship, how can it be called an enjoyable battle? Yi Yingying, give it your all and show me your true strength at this moment," Lu Qinghe said, slowly gripping his sword, and his eyes became extremely sharp.
Sensing the majestic aura emanating from Lu Qinghe's whole body, Yi Yingying's eyes lit up, and her expression became serious. "Alright, then let's go all out."
"Swish!"
After Yi Yingying finished speaking, her true energy was stimulated and surged out, and her long sword struck the air. A brilliant cold light suddenly appeared in Lu Qinghe's eyes.
Yi Yingying's renowned sword technique, Hundredfold Swordsmanship.
"Good!"
The Thunder Sound Refinement Art inside Lu Qinghe's body buzzed. With the true energy's support, his blood was fully activated, and his heart pumped forcefully.
Although his true energy cultivation was far inferior to Yi Yingying's, relying on the power that erupted from his own body, he shifted his position and directly broke free from Yi Yingying's swordsmanship's lock.
"Hm? Ninefold and Tenfold!"
The Hundredfold Swordsmanship was famous for its mysterious and unpredictable sword trajectory. No one could predict where the next move of the Hundredfold Swordsmanship would strike.
Just as Lu Qinghe had just escaped from Yi Yingying's swordsmanship lock, her swordsmanship suddenly changed, and the sword edge swiftly turned, piercing through the air, almost reaching within a meter of Lu Qinghe.
"Swish!"
Meteor Pierce!
When the sword edge was about to hit Lu Qinghe, he half-stepped back, allowing Yi Yingying's swordsmanship at its peak power to dissipate. As Yi Yingying's sword edge turned again, the sharp sword in Lu Qinghe's hand, like a stream of light, struck out, landing at the turning point of Yi Yingying's swordsmanship change.
"Clang!"
The true energy shook. The advantage of the pinnacle of the Triple Refinement Realm's true energy made Yi Yingying's hit sword edge produce concentric air currents, reducing the threat of Lu Qinghe's sword move to the lowest level. The interrupted variation of her swordsmanship just regenerated and was about to directly reach Lu Qinghe's forehead.
However, before her variation reached its peak power, Lu Qinghe's sharp sword struck out again, one step ahead, triggering the power that erupted from her swordsmanship in advance, making the void resonate.
"This is..."
The sudden change left Yi Yingying's true energy contact in a vacuum.
The old power had exhausted, and the new power had not yet emerged.
At this critical moment, Lu Qinghe's sword struck out again.
Meteor Pierce!
Meteor Pierce to the extreme!
With one sword strike, Lu Qinghe completely intercepted Yi Yingying's next move, forcing her to raise her sword to block and then swiftly retreat.
"Bang!"
The clash of the two swords emitted sparks. Yi Yingying was pushed back a step by the force of the sword, while Lu Qinghe's sword was pushed back by the powerful true energy contained in Yi Yingying's sword edge, obstructing the smooth flow of his attack.
"Good! Take my next strike!" Yi Yingying's eyes flashed with excitement, and her face was full of joy as she launched another sword technique.
"Thousandfold Hundredfold!"
A sword strike transformed into dozens of variations before it even reached her, like a deer with hidden horns, untraceable. Looking at it, all one could see was flashing sword lights, real and illusory, ever-changing.
"Great swordsmanship!"
Lu Qinghe's spirit was highly concentrated, and his blood and true energy were operating intensely. The true energy was running at the speed of breaking through twelve weeks of the celestial meridians in an hour.
"Cold Moon, Shooting Star!"
"Swish! Swish! Swish! Swish! Swish!"
In the next moment, the sword in Lu Qinghe's hand seemed to split into ten, and ten sword shadows simultaneously struck, completely encompassing Yi Yingying's dozens of variations.
Ten against dozens, this was an unequal confrontation.
But Lu Qinghe's ten swords were genuinely ten swords, while Yi Yingying's dozens of variations were derived from the profound mystery of swordsmanship, like a reflection in a mirror.
Under the peak eruption of one second of ten swords from Lu Qinghe, these illusory variations were forced to reveal their true forms, and many changes dissipated.
"Bang! Bang! Bang!"
Accompanied by continuous impacts, sparks appeared in the void. All of Yi Yingying's swordsmanship was completely broken by Lu Qinghe.
In the world of swordsmanship, only speed can break through all defenses!
Amidst the chaotic swords, Lu Qinghe's sharp sword pierced through, breaking all the blocks, and hitting Yi Yingying's forehead.
Chilliness swiftly spread from the midpoint of Yi Yingying's brows.
However, before the sword could truly pierce Yi Yingying's brow, the True Qi at the peak of the Triple Refinement Realm counter-attacked. Under the shock, the swordsmanship dispersed, Lu Qinghe repeatedly retreated, and the sharp sword in his hand almost slipped away.
The significant gap in True Qi cultivation cannot be easily bridged by exquisite swordsmanship, even if the gap between the Triple Refinement Realms is not obvious.
In one second and ten swords, Lu Qinghe broke through all of Yi Yingying's swordsmanship, but ended up hurting himself more than eight hundred times.
Yi Yingying's True Qi at the peak of the Triple Refinement Realm even caused Lu Qinghe's palm to crack open, with blood flowing out. After regaining his posture, his right hand holding the sword continued to tremble.
...
"Ah! It's Senior Sister Yi Yingying!"
At this moment, the few dozen students around seemed to notice the unusual scene in the sword fighting platform and exclaimed in surprise.
"Isn't Senior Sister Yi Yingying participating in the graduation ceremony? Why is she appearing on the sword fighting platform? And who is she fighting with? Besides the Northern Zhen, Biluo, and Yan Youyou, who else in Qingyuan City can be her opponent?"
"I know him, he is Lu Qinghe, known as the foremost figure among the younger generation in Qingyuan City. He hasn’t been severed in his meridians. Yet he appears here, challenging Senior Sister Yi Yingying?"
"Overestimating himself, does he think he can challenge Senior Sister Yi Yingying now? It seems like Lu Qinghe thinks he is the strongest in Qingyuan and so wants to gain popularity by challenging Senior Sister Yi Yingying. Let's go and see how Senior Sister Yi Yingying deals with him."
For a while, the few dozen students around put down what they were doing and began to talk as they headed towards the sword fighting platform.
But at that moment, Yi Yingying had no intention of chasing after Lu Qinghe, who had been shocked and forced back.
"Is this…the Snow River Swordsmanship?"
Looking at Lu Qinghe, who was sweating on his forehead due to the vigorous stimulation of his blood, Yi Yingying looked somewhat dazed.
"Star-Piercing Moon-Thrust Swordsmanship."
Lu Qinghe named the swordsmanship he was using and then said, "We haven't fought for six months, and you have already practiced the Hundred Folds Swordsmanship to the level of Thousand Folds Swordsmanship."
"Thousand Folds Swordsmanship…"
In Yi Yingying's mind, there echoed the scene from a moment ago where the sparks flew. She couldn't come back to her senses for a long time. "But your Cold Moon Star-Scattering Swordsmanship has broken through it all."
"You still have energy left, while I, just now, have reached the peak of my physical body by stimulating my blood and Qi. This method can't last long, and now, I am powerless to fight again."
Yi Yingying shook her head.
At this moment, she still felt a hint of coolness on her forehead, which was due to Lu Qinghe's sword pointing there just now.
"If your True Qi were a little stronger, you wouldn't need the Triple Refinement Realm, just the Double Refinement Realm…in that trial just now, I would have been killed by your single sword strike. Even without True Qi, the result of the life-and-death duel would still be my death and your injury. The winner and loser are clear."
At this, Yi Yingying looked dejected. "I thought I had practiced the Thousand Folds Swordsmanship and that my swordsmanship was no longer beneath yours. I didn't expect that our gap would only grow wider."
"Isn't this great? You can still strive to catch up."
"To strive to catch up…"
Hearing Lu Qinghe's words, a glint finally appeared in Yi Yingying's eyes.
It wasn't the first time she had lost to Lu Qinghe, but it was clear that even though Lu Qinghe had only reached the level of the Single Refinement Realm in True Qi cultivation, he had pushed her to such an extent that her Thousand Folds Swordsmanship couldn't achieve a single victory. She was a little confused for a while.
With that brief moment of lull just now, she had come back to her senses. Looking at Lu Qinghe, her gaze once again became full of fighting spirit. "Senior Brother Qinghe, I know that a little setback won't defeat you. I believe that in the Thousand Ancient City, I won't have to wait too long for you."
"Then you better keep practicing your swordsmanship. I don't want the gap between us to widen more by the time I go to the Thousand Ancient City. "
After saying this, Yi Yingying looked a little dejected. "I thought I had practiced the Thousand Folds Swordsmanship and that my swordsmanship was no longer beneath yours. I didn't expect that our gap would only grow wider."
"Isn't this great? You can still strive to catch up."
"To strive to catch up…"
Hearing Lu Qinghe's words, a glint finally appeared in Yi Yingying's eyes.
It wasn't the first time she had lost to Lu Qinghe, but it was clear that even though Lu Qinghe had only reached the level of the Single Refinement Realm in True Qi cultivation, he had pushed her to such an extent that her Thousand Folds Swordsmanship couldn't achieve a single victory. She was a little confused for a while.
With that brief moment of lull just now, she had come back to her senses. Looking at Lu Qinghe, her gaze once again became full of fighting spirit. "Senior Brother Qinghe, I know that a little setback won't defeat you. I believe that in the Thousand Ancient City, I won't have to wait too long for you."
"Then you better keep practicing your swordsmanship. I don't want the gap between us to widen more by the time I go to the Thousand Ancient City."
Lu Qinghe said, glanced at the students from the Eastern Academy who were increasingly surrounding the area, and asked calmly and solemnly, "Did you enjoy this battle?"
Although surprised, Yi Yingying truthfully responded, "I did!"
Recalling Lu Qinghe's stunning ten swords, she added, "I enjoyed it very much!"
"Good."
When he was reborn as "Lu Qinghe", frail and unable to bear his shoulders, he could barely move in his daily life, and it was all thanks to Yi Yingying assisting and caring for him during his most difficult times.
This was a favor.
Today's battle, he vigorously stirred his blood and forcibly attacked, shaking his meridians, but he didn't mind. It was all for Yi Yingying's wishes.
Lu Qinghe nodded, "My purpose for this trip has been achieved. Go and continue your graduation ceremony."
Lu Qinghe left.
He left calmly, leaving with a light breeze.
Yi Yingying looked dazed. At this moment, Lu Qinghe seemed to be right in front of her, almost within her reach, yet he seemed like an immortal visiting the mortal world, as if he could leave at any moment.
"Senior Brother Qinghe, with your level of cultivation, even if you can't go to the Northern Moon Royal Academy, there are definitely other academies willing to recruit you. Let's go to the Changkong Academy together for further study and learning!"
"Academy…"
Lu Qinghe waved his hand but never turned back.
The Northern Moon Royal Academy, the Changkong Academy...they were just a stop in life, like a scenery on the road of life. It might be stagnant, or it might be lingering, but once it was missed, it wouldn't turn back.
Because…the journey of seeking truth and enlightenment was just beginning, and the true splendor of this world was slowly revealing itself.