Chapter 2258: A Gap
No one had expected Long Tian to suddenly accept Liu Que's challenge, and even greater excitement blossomed in the students’ eyes.
Liu Que was said to be the most talented member of his generation, surpassing even the top descendants of the four ruling powers. He was supposed to be on the same level as the four Junior Progenitors, while Long Tian was one of the most recently appointed Junior Progenitors. A spar between these two drew even the God of Food’s interest.
Lu Yin had been constantly maintaining as great a distance from Long Tian as possible, as he was worried that his scent would give him away. As he looked at the blood pool, and then at Long Tian, Lu Yin understood why Liu Que’s request for a spar had been delayed earlier; he was going to be used by Long Tian to lure the students into the White Dragon Clan.
The God of Food and the rest of the chaperones also understood this, and Mr. Tang wanted Liu Que to refuse the spar, but Liu Que did not care about why Long Tian had suddenly accepted his challenge. Liu Que had wanted to fight against one of the Junior Progenitors for a long time, but Xia Shenfei had been undercover in Realmless, while Long Tian had remained on Dragon Mountain, which had prevented Liu Que from having any opportunity to do so. After finally being given the chance to fulfill his dream, Liu Que would not even consider stepping back.
Everyone moved outside the cave, and Long Tian and Liu Que faced each other. Long Tian appeared perfectly calm, and there was even a slight smile on his face. Rather than appearing like an arrogant person from the previous generation, Long Tian gave the impression of an elder.
"As a junior, you should have the first move," Long Tian offered.
Liu Que had no intention of being polite, and his sword shot out of its scabbard and into his hand as he reached forward and grabbed the weapon. He took but a single step, yet the edge of the blade was already right in front of Long Tian’s face. Only a few people present were able to see the attack, as not even Nong Siniang or Qing Feng could clearly see what had happened.
It was only at this moment that anyone understood just how fast Liu Que’s sword could be. He had never gotten serious in a single match that he had fought in Virtue Archives, but he was using his full power against a Junior Progenitor.
Long Tian was still calm as he watched Liu Que's sword approaching. At some point in time, a spear had appeared in Long Tian’s hand, but he did not thrust it forward. Instead, the spear moved to block the incoming blade. The sword struck the spear with a loud bang, and ripples spread throughout the void in the area, and space soon started to shatter. Liu Que shifted his sword. It dropped down, and the tip shot up to stab Long Tian from below. Three sword attacks flickered out at almost the same moment, and while not a single attack was able to break through the defense of Long Tian’s spear, one attack did manage to push him back.
Lu Yin observed Long Tian throughout the fight. He had become much more stable and powerful over the last few decades. Even if he was only a one-tribulation Envoy, he was at least as strong as a three-tribulation Envoy.
Liu Que was not even close to Long Tian’s level.
Liu Que retreated a few steps and stared at Long Tian. "I asked for a fight, not a training mannequin!"
Long Tian’s smile grew wider. "Very well."
The moment those words left his lips, Long Tian vanished, as he had used the Roving White Dragon. Liu Que’s pupils shrank, as he could not detect his opponent anymore, and he had no idea which direction the next attack would come from.
Working from his experiences from countless battles, Liu Que reacted by instantly tearing through the void and entering the true universe.
Entering the true universe as an Enlighter was something that only the four Junior Progenitors had been capable of doing in their generation, but Liu Que was capable of doing so as well.
He had wanted to avoid fighting in the true universe, or at least prove himself capable of dodging Long Tian's attack without resorting to such a measure, but the gap between them was too large. As soon as Liu Que entered the true universe, he was not greeted by the sight of empty space, but by the tip of a spear.
Liu Que forced himself to pull back, which caused his body to twist and contort in an effort to avoid the spear. However, the spear pressed down, and the shaft struck Liu Que, pinning him to the ground. He spat out a mouthful of blood as dust billowed up.
All of the onlookers remained silent. They had already known that Long Tian would win, but they had not expected the victory to be so easy. He had only made a single attack, but that had rendered Liu Que powerless, completely unable to resist.
This was Liu Que, someone whom an entire generation looked up to.
Bai Weiwei, Xia Shenguang, and Wang Xiaofan all stared at Long Tian in shock. This was the strength of the four Junior Progenitors.
All three of them were Realmbreakers capable of challenging one-tribulation Envoys, but they knew that they were powerless against the Junior Progenitors, as they could not even face Liu Que. Even if the four of them worked together, they might not be capable of pushing Long Tian any harder than he had in his spar with Liu Que.
Long Tian looked down at the youth on the ground, his spear still in his hand. "Get up. Your sword qi still hasn't disappeared. Is this a battle technique of some kind?"
Bai Weiwei and the other students were surprised to hear this. Was Liu Que’s sword qi still present?
None of the instructors were surprised, as there were four sword attacks that Liu Que had released still hidden in the void.
This was quite odd, as the sword qi of four individual attacks remained frozen in the void. Most cultivators would not sense a thing, as only true powerhouses could hope to feel the attacks.
Once the smoke and dust cleared, Liu Que emerged from the ground. Blood trickled from his mouth, and there were wounds across his entire body. Even then, excitement filled his eyes. This was the feeling he had been chasing after, the feeling of being crushed and having no strength to resist. Only in such a state could he make further progress.
Long Tian looked at Liu Que with admiration. "Your strength is about the same as ours when we were at your level."
"It’s not enough. I might not have fought you back then, but I still know that it's not enough!" Liu Que's tone of voice changed, and his eyes glittered. His hand squeezed the hilt of his sword, and it slashed out again.
No matter what sort of tricky or deceptive attack Liu Que used, each one was met with a thrust from Long Tian’s spear.
Qing Feng's breathing grew ragged. If he were in Liu Que’s place, it was clear that every one of his sword attacks would be seen through by Long Tian. This opponent would place an unimaginable amount of pressure on Qing Feng.
Liu Que refused to give up. He was determined to find Long Tian's flaws, but Long Tian had not even used a single battle technique, aside from the Roving White Dragon. Not even the White Dragon Clan’s White Dragon Transformation had been used, which was one of the clan’s trump cards.
Already, ten sword attacks hung hidden in the void.
Long Tian glanced around. "Is this enough sword qi yet?"
Liu Que leaped up to confront Long Tian's impenetrable defenses. The sword turned sideways as a blade fell. At the same time, the ten bits of sword qi floating in the void merged together with the edge of Liu Que's sword. This particular attack was so powerful that even Long Tian had to treat it seriously. As the attack approached, Long Tian was actually forced to take action for the first time in the fight, and his spear shot upwards.
Long Tian had not used his stellular energy to forcefully suppress Liu Que yet, and that did not change even at this moment.
Bang!
There was another massive impact. Mr. Tang’s finger moved, and his field appeared in front of the watching students, sparing most of them from certain death due to the shockwave.
Liu Que’s sword that had been reinforced by ten additional pieces of sword qi that had been stored in the void should have been enough to kill a one-tribulation Envoy, but he was slapped down by Long Tian. Not only that, but the tip of Long Tian's spear had also stabbed an inch into Liu Que's body. It was only an inch, but that was enough. Liu Que’s sword was still some distance away from reaching Long Tian.
Just as Long Tian was about to say something, his expression changed. He saw that the notch at the tip of Liu Que's sword had somehow been filled in to complete the sword. No, that was not it…
In an instant, the notch reappeared in the sword, and the ten sword qi attacks that should have vanished returned in a flash.
Long Tian tried to pull his spear back, only to discover that Liu Que was tightly grabbing hold of the shaft. At the same time, Long Tian felt a source of danger from behind.
The God of Food, Lu Yin, and several others focused behind Long Tian. There, a portion of a sword attack sliced out from the true universe. It was actually precisely what had filled the gap in Liu Que’s sword. It was the merged sword qi from ten attacks, and having such an attack slash out from the true universe behind someone was Liu Que’s most powerful attack.
Liu Que was already powerful enough to kill a one-tribulation Envoy, but this attack was able to execute even a two-tribulation Envoy.
He absolutely deserved his reputation of being on the same level as the most recently appointed Junior Progenitors.
Unfortunately, there was still a significant discrepancy in strength, and even Liu Que’s most powerful attack was unable to harm Long Tian at all.
Long Tian’s right hand held his spear, while his left hand reached behind him to grab hold of the void and twist it like a cloth. He quite literally Seized the sword slash and clamped it between two fingers.
Most of the students were completely shocked. They had not expected Liu Que to have such a strange ability. It was something practically impossible to guard against. After all, the slash had shot out from the true universe, which meant that anyone beneath the Envoy realm would be defeated by it.
Even if Bai Weiwei and a few others were able to briefly force their way into the true universe, much like the Junior Progenitors had been capable of at the same cultivation level, they could not block an attack that came from the true universe and carried the power of ten merged sword attacks.
If any of the students faced this attack of Liu Que’s, they would absolutely die.
Yet again, their estimation of Liu Que’s strength rose even higher, while Long Tian’s strength was something that they could not even fathom.
"Is this your trump card? Pretty impressive," Long Tian complimented. He had never even considered the possibility of Liu Que forcing out his innate gift.
Liu Que coughed up more blood. "It's still my loss."
Long Tian lowered his spear and set Liu Que onto the ground. Seeing the swordsman’s weakened state, Long Tian laughed. "You didn’t actually think that you could defeat me, did you?"
Liu Que stared at Long Tian. "Why not? You Junior Progenitors aren’t invincible. After all, Lu Xiaoxuan defeated all four of you at the same time."
Long Tian's expression completely changed. The name Lu Xiaoxuan was his reverse scale. The four Junior Progenitors had always been regarded as invincible within their generation, and it had long been true. However, just a few short decades ago, Lu Xiaoxuan had suddenly appeared and defeated all four Junior Progenitors in the Dominion Realm, completely humiliating all of them.
"If Lu Xiaoxuan can do it, then so can others." Liu Que refused to accept the idea that Long Tian was invincible. "I’ll challenge you again after I become an Envoy."
Long Tian did not quibble with Liu Que. After all, how were the thoughts of him and the other Junior Progenitors any different from Liu Que’s thoughts? They had also believed themselves capable of defeating Lu Xiaoxuan after becoming Envoys, and all three Junior Progenitors had nearly joined the task force sent to the Forsaken Lands. However, in the end, only Wang Su had gone. "I'll let you have another chance. I know that your level of talent is impressive. Soaking in the Ancestor Python's blood won’t only improve your physical strength, but it will also heal you. After you emerge from the blood pool, I’ll allow you to challenge me again."
Liu Que was not stupid. He understood that Long Tian was using this chance to entice the students of Virtue Archives into joining the White Dragon Clan. "While I want to challenge you again, I will wait to do so after I become an Envoy. There’s no reason to do so now."
Long Tian casually stated, "Lu Xiaoxuan is also a swordsman."
Liu Que's eyes flickered.
"He uses something called the Thirteen Swords."
Liu Que's expression changed. This was surprising information. "The Thirteen Swords?"
Long Tian continued, "I can try to imitate what I observed to show you Lu Xiaoxuan's sword skills. The Thirteen Swords belongs to your Liu family as well. Would you like to see it?"
Liu Que thought about it, turned around, entered the cave, and jumped into the blood pool.
Liu Que was far more interested in Lu Xiaoxuan than Long Tian. He was a genius who had overcome the four Junior Progenitors on his own before escaping from the Perennial World. If there was ever a chance to compete against Lu Xiaoxuan's battle techniques, Liu Que would do whatever it took.
Lu Yin found it quite unexpected that Long Tian had used the name of Lu Xiaoxuan to tempt Liu Que. Also, it was clear that Long Tian was lying. Lu Yin had not known the Thirteen Swords when he had been in the Perennial World last time, as he had only learned them after returning to the Fifth Mainland and Possessing Liu Qianjue.
The only way that Long Tian could know about the Thirteen Swords was through Liu Tianmu. Clearly, other trespassers had been caught.
Everyone stared at Liu Que in the blood pool, and he could see the wounds that riddled his skin visibly healing. They also saw the blood enter his body. The man grew pale, and he was clearly suffering from terrible pain.
Updat𝓮d from freew𝒆bnovel(.)com