Chapter 43: Wielding wood as a sword, striking with lightning to cleave the heavens

“Alright, I’ll gladly accept your kind offer then, senior brother.”

Su Xiaotang smiled.

“Then come at me!”

Gu Che crossed his arms in front of him, assuming a near-perfect defensive stance.

Meanwhile, on the viewing platform, Lin Anlan asked with some unease:

“Senior Sister Xiaotang… can she really win? It’s said that the Celestial Master Manor’s Protective Golden Aura, even when used by a newly initiated cultivator, is equivalent to a Profound-grade defensive magical artifact. And that senior brother from the Celestial Master Manor who has completely mastered this Protective Golden Aura…”

“Haha.”

Hearing this, Shen Yuying, for some reason, suddenly laughed.

“Senior Sister, what are you laughing at?”

Lin Anlan couldn’t help but ask curiously.

“Little junior sister, do you think I wanted to replace Xiaotang because I was worried about her?”

“Of course.”

“That’s not it, little junior sister.”

“I wanted to replace Xiaotang just because I was momentarily angry and impulsive.”

“You naturally think Xiaotang is the weakest in cultivation among the three of us, and that’s indeed the case. Even compared to Qianchi, she’s on a completely different, lower level.”

“But that’s only the result of comparing combat strength when cultivation levels are unequal.”

“In reality, if the three of us had equivalent cultivation levels, Su Xiaotang would theoretically be the fastest among us at defeating enemies.”

“Sigh, seems there’s nothing much worth watching.”

Chen Qianchi propped his chin on his hand, speaking with boredom.

Only Lin Anlan didn’t understand, feeling utterly confused, until…

Boom…

Boom….

Boom…

Hearing this thunderous drumming, Lin Anlan couldn’t help but look up.

But when she looked up, she found the sky, while somewhat gloomy, clearly had no lightning and no raindrops.

So where was this thunder coming from?

Seeing her curious expression, Shen Yuying smiled:

“Little junior sister, do you know what ‘Lieque’ is?”

“Lie…que? This junior sister doesn’t know. Please enlighten me, senior sister.”

“This ‘Lieque’ refers to the light that tears the sky above—the electric flash, that is, thunder.”

“Thunder?”

“Mhm.”

As she spoke, Shen Yuying looked towards Su Xiaotang on the field.

Following her gaze, Lin Anlan also looked over.

On the field, Su Xiaotang was currently holding that wooden stick, standing perfectly straight in a posture that could be described as full of openings, the stick just casually held in her hand.

“Little junior sister, do you know why Xiaotang is the only one who never has a single protective gear or weapon crafted for her by our master?”

Lin Anlan shook her head.

“That’s because Xiaotang’s physique is different from all of ours.”

“I am a fox demon, Qianchi is a pure-blooded Celestial Dragon, and Xiaotang… she is just a mortal.”

“A mortal?”

Lin Anlan didn’t understand.

If she was a mortal, she should logically need a magical artifact for protection even more.

How could she not have a single one?

“Yes, but she possesses an ability that even made our master’s teeth ache with envy when he saw it.”

“Really? What ability could make even our teacher envious?”

“‘Wield all things as swords, make heaven and earth their sheaths.'”

“Innate Sword Body!?”

Lin Anlan was so startled her eyes nearly popped out.

“How is that possible?”

“Oh…”

Lin Anlan patted her chest, her heartbeat calming a bit.

“Not that vulgar.”

“What!?”

Lin Anlan didn’t understand what Shen Yuying was saying.

That was the Innate Sword Body, a physique only seen in ancient mythical times.

Wield all things as swords, make heaven and earth their sheaths.

Any object touched could be transformed into a spirit sword.

The wielder would never be harmed by sword energy, their comprehension of the Sword Dao multiplied several times over, and the lethality of their sword techniques increased dozens of times.

And Shen Yuying actually said…

Not that vulgar!?

What was she talking about!?

Suddenly, Shen Yuying seemed to remember something and apologized;

“Sorry, I misspoke. Xiaotang does not ‘wield all things as swords.'”

“She ‘wields all things as immortal swords.'”

“Huh!?”

Lin Anlan whipped her head around to look at Su Xiaotang in the center of the field.

She saw that the very ordinary wooden stick in her hand was now emitting a faint light.

Looking closely, a semi-transparent aura was wrapping around the stick in the shape of a sword blade, becoming clearer and clearer.

At that moment, Lin Anlan suddenly realized what was off.

A normal Innate Sword Body allowed one to wield all things as swords.

The object held would transform into a spirit sword but wouldn’t change its shape or have anything attached to it; it simply enhanced its lethality.

But what was that?

Why was that sword… wrapped in a layer of sword energy?

And sword energy shaped like a blade?

Not only that, upon noticing the sword was wrapped in sword energy, Lin Anlan also realized something else.

The thunder she had heard earlier was actually coming from the training field, and the direction of the sound was clearly from Su Xiaotang.

“Lieque Three Lines Sword,” Shen Yuying explained calmly.

“What?”

“This is a special sword technique our master crafted specifically for Xiaotang after confirming her physical qualities. It’s the only technique she can cultivate, and the only move she knows how to use.”

“A sword technique… only Senior Sister Xiaotang can cultivate?”

“Correct. Not even us, our master, or even Dongfang Qingwei can cultivate it.”

“Why?”

“Because if you fail in cultivating this sword technique, the lightest consequence is damaged meridians, and the worst is cardiac arrest. So you must succeed on the first try.”

“So… Senior Sister Xiaotang succeeded on her first try?”

“No, quite the opposite. Because the theoretical probability of successfully cultivating this technique on the first attempt is zero percent.”

“Zero percent!? Then Senior Sister Xiaotang she…”

“Correct, she failed. And not just once.”

“Not just once?”

“I once roughly estimated. Xiaotang’s number of failures, rounding down, is probably around three thousand times.”

“Three thousand!?”

“Exactly. That is to say, although Xiaotang possesses an extremely domineering physique, her talent and bone structure are both of the lowest grade.”

“But even after failing cultivation thousands of times, Xiaotang still stands there, standing there completely unharmed. Now, do you understand?”

At this moment, Lin Anlan was trying hard to calm her emotions.

Hearing these words, for the first time, she felt a different, new perspective towards this usually lazy and gluttonous senior sister.

Boom…

Boom…

Boom…

Thunder sounds came from the field again, this time louder and closer to the sound of actual thunder.

Suddenly, Su Xiaotang took a deep breath, then exhaled it all out with a whoosh.

After the exhalation, the thunder sounds grew even louder, now completely resembling the sound of lightning.

“First Line: Traverse Heaven – Purify Lungs.”

“Take a deep breath, then expel it all. Expel the oxygen from the body, switch to using spiritual energy pathways to supply respiration, allowing muscles to reach optimal state. Then have spiritual energy replace oxygen entering the lungs, making muscles and heart beat in sync, jointly producing thunder-like drumming.”

Shen Yuying said softly.

Then, on the field, Su Xiaotang began slowly lowering her posture, one foot forward, one foot back, then bending both knees.

Her left hand rested on what seemed like the sword sheath position on the wooden stick, her right hand on the hilt, assuming an iaijutsu stance.

Gradually, another discordant thunder sound arose, but immediately, this sound synchronized with the other thunder sounds, becoming multiple thunderclaps with the same rhythm.

Zzz— Zzz—

At the same time, faint blue electric sparks began to appear around Su Xiaotang’s body, following the rhythm of the thunder, crackling softly.

“Second Line: Traverse Earth – Embody.”

“Lower the body’s posture, seek the flow rhythm of one’s own spiritual power, resonate with the drumming, synchronize these two again. Once successful, it will cause faint, crackling electric sparks to appear around the body.”

Suddenly, the thunder stopped.

Not by fading away, but by ceasing completely in an instant.

In the center of the field, Su Xiaotang, who had kept her eyes slightly closed, suddenly opened them.

Her body leaned forward slightly, and she transformed into a bolt of lightning, bursting forth at an invisible speed.

The next moment, she was already behind Gu Che.

She was seen kneeling on one knee, holding the wooden stick, slowly performing the motion of sheathing the sword.

As it entered the ‘sheath,’ she softly uttered:

“Strike.” (zhāo)

Zzz— Zzz—

Crack

Gu Che’s body was first enveloped by faint, crackling lightning, then with a crack sound, like shattering glass, his Protective Golden Aura completely shattered without a trace left.

On the viewing platform, Lin Anlan was left dumbfounded, having completely missed what happened.

“Third Line: Traverse Thunder – Strike.”

“Become lightning itself, strike down the opponent with a single, invisible-speed blow.”

“Wow~”

On the other viewing platform, Dongfang Qingwei’s mouth formed an ‘O’ shape.

She looked at Chu Fan beside her and smiled, patting his back.

“Not bad, your little disciple. So fast even I could barely see it.”

“Need you to tell me?”

Chu Fan said with a raised corner of his mouth, unable to hide his pride.