The Fairy: From the Traveling Merchant

Chapter 895 Sword Duel
Tantai Zhugong wore a purple robe over a light green inner lining. He was handsome, gentle, and elegant, yet he also possessed a hidden confidence and arrogance.

He pointed the "Snow Bamboo Sword" in his hand slightly diagonally forward and slowly chanted:
"Wearing purple robes, he slowly sweeps across the Jade Mountain peak, breaking bamboo into swords to ignite the cold mist. He lazily gazes at the snow-capped peaks of the Nine Provinces, and begins to believe that there are no banished immortals among mortals."

This... even comes with its own entrance poem?

Even Zhao Chen, with his composure, was momentarily stunned. Then he understood why the other party had given him a strange feeling when they first met.

"So this guy was just showing off the whole time! It's just like how I always try to impress people. No wonder it felt both familiar and strange..."

While Zhao Chen was internally complaining, Tantai Zhugong spoke first: "I heard that you captured Yu Chao easily before. I hope you won't disappoint me."

His voice was indifferent and cold, yet for some reason it contained a hint of fanaticism, and his divine sense locked onto Zhao Chen firmly.

You challenged me to a sword duel because I defeated Yu Chao? Then why launch a business war? Just come to me privately, and I guarantee I'll use my "full strength," even my magic weapons.

Zhao Chen muttered a few complaints to himself, but on the surface he smiled slightly and said, "I have long admired the 'Snow Bamboo Sword', and today I will take this opportunity to learn from Young Master Bamboo."

"Although you possess a superior-grade magical sword and have a powerful spiritual sense, your actual cultivation level is still slightly inferior. I won't take advantage of you; you should make the first move," Tantai Zhugong said calmly, giving the initiative to Zhao Chen.

Zhao Chen glanced at Ming Xueling in his own pavilion in the corner and secretly transmitted his voice: "Xiao Ling, you stay behind for me. If you find anything unexpected, ignore the rules and help me immediately."

The origins of this Tantai Bamboo Palace are unpredictable, and it even predicted my thoughts, so I have to be on guard. Although it has other tricks up its sleeve, I'd rather not use them if I don't have to.

Ming Xueling nodded almost imperceptibly, her seemingly ordinary demeanor masking a fierce preparation.

Inside the arena, a thin, extremely condensed blood-red sword light, like the crimson moonlight of a blood moon, transformed into a torrent and slashed out. Within it, countless tiny, dazzling stars seemed to twinkle, and it was imbued with an intense killing intent. In just an instant, it sliced ​​through the shattered bamboo forest and was about to descend upon Tantai Zhugong.

This is the first move of the Falling Star Divine Sword Manual, "Silver River Collapse"!
Originally, this move was supposed to be a torrent of icy moonlight, causing anything it touched to feel as if it had fallen into an ice cave, even freezing its inner world.

However, Zhao Chen's magical artifact, the "Crimson Flame Maple Sword," did not fit this imagery, so he changed "Cold Moon" to "Blood Moon," replacing "Freezing Intent" with "Intent of Slaughter," and used the current move, "Silver River Collapse - Slaughter."

A week ago, he might not have been able to do this, but through this period of dual cultivation with the "Nine Netherworld Divine Body," his understanding of the "Falling Star Divine Sword Scripture" has reached a new level, and he is now able to move beyond the original moves.

Faced with this sword strike, Tantai Zhugong's eyes revealed approval. Then, he raised his "Snow Bamboo Sword," and the sword shadow transformed into a nine-zhang-long torrent of moonlight, carrying many star fragments that swept across the entire arena. Everything it touched froze, and even Zhao Chen's blood torrent stagnated.

The sounds of swords clashing were deafening, and shattered sword energy scattered in all directions until it was absorbed by the outer array and disappeared.

This is also a move called "Silver River Collapse," and it's the original version!

Inside the bamboo pavilion in the corner, Nie Fei suddenly stood up, his gaze fixed on the point where the swords of the two people in the arena clashed, his face full of shock.

He was actually quite familiar with the "Silver River Collapse," after all, Young Master Tantai had demonstrated it for him before, and even his signature move, "Listening to the Rain in the Bamboo Grove," drew heavily from it. He had been quite smug about it before, but now, seeing the two of them dueling, he realized just how vast the gap was between them!
He also realized that whether it was Zhao Chen's fight against him or Young Master Tantai's demonstration, he had only used a maximum of three-tenths of his strength...

At that moment, he suddenly felt relieved and no longer frustrated. After all, the gap was so big, and the two were not even on the same level. Losing to Zhao Chen was perfectly normal, and there was no need to take it to heart. In fact, being able to fight against him once might even be a source of pride in the future.

On a nearby high-rise building, the audience was still surprised by what Tantai Zhugong said about Zhao Chen defeating Yu Chao, when they immediately saw the clash of swords, "Silver River Collapse".

"It's as if the light of the blood moon and the light of the cold moon are each carrying countless stars, colliding and fighting... How beautiful, and how terrifying!" A female warrior couldn't help but exclaim upon seeing this scene.

Everyone nodded in agreement upon hearing this, and Master Mi praised, "With just this one move, it can be seen that the swordsmanship of the two has already exceeded the scope of supernatural cultivators. If their foundational supernatural abilities are not related to the 'moon,' then they have witnessed a higher level of 'moon' imagery."

After all, this sword strike was truly a high-grade divine power.

The reason why superior divine abilities are so domineering and profound is that their origins all point to beings at the True Monarch level or above.

Especially for first-grade great supernatural powers, their origin must be at least a being like Mo Yun, who has one foot in a higher realm, and they are basically all inherited by Dao Lords.

Zhao Chen was also quite surprised, after all, he had seen the "concept of the moon" at Ning Meng's place. Even if it was just the appearance, his understanding of the laws and principles of the "moon" surpassed that of most supernatural masters. However, he did not expect that he would only be on par with Tantai Zhugong in front of him.

Although he still had some energy left, Tantai Zhugong also seemed to be handling things with ease.

Just then, the sky inside the "Thousand Bamboo Garden" suddenly turned completely dark, so dark that one could not see their own hand in front of their face. What caused this was a sword light emitted by Tantai Bamboo Palace once again. It absorbed and condensed all the light in the entire fighting arena, forming a sword array according to the profound restrictions. Yet, it was a perfect whole, like a bright moon, depriving the opponent of their senses and plunging them into eternal night.

This is clearly a modified version of the second move of the Falling Star Divine Sword Scripture, "Taiyin Erosion Realm," but it is even more domineering than the original "Black Moon." In the past, it only used its own "blackness" to erode "whiteness," but now it uses its own "whiteness" to devour all the light, plunging this space into "eternal night."

Zhao Chen felt his consciousness being stripped away inch by inch by darkness. He knew that if this continued, he would eventually become blind and deaf. So he did not hesitate to use his modified version of "Taiyin Erosion Realm".

As the blood-red full moon rose into the sky, it shone brightly alongside the jade-like white moon, while streaks of crimson also pierced the pitch-black night, staining the pure "black" with a blood-red hue.

Unlike "black" which deprives people of their senses, "blood" deprives them of their reason!
Zhao Chen had not only witnessed Ning Meng's use of the "moon" concept, but also seen the "blood moon" appear in the sky, so he had a slight advantage in this sword fight.

In other words, he has the first move now!

However, just as Zhao Chen was about to unleash a new sword move, he heard Tantai Zhugong's voice:
"Don't rush to draw your sword. I created this scene because I want to talk to you..."

He paused for a moment, then said softly, "You know, I was supposed to be your help in the affairs of the capital, and you shouldn't have come to the capital so early..."

"It was His Majesty the Great Ancestor of the Ming Dynasty who changed the 'script'."

(End of this chapter)