Legend of Zhan Zhao

Chapter 83 Two Powerful Swordsmen Clash
The night was deep, and the Bian River shimmered with light.

The lights on both banks reflect the desolate scene in the heart of the river.

Zhan Zhao leaped up and arrived at the center of the river first.

Madam Gu followed closely behind.

Due to the characteristics of the Heart Sword Divine Technique, its use on land can easily cause widespread collateral damage, inevitably resulting in some limitations.

On the contrary, this is a better place to perform.

The two did not make a move immediately. They waited for the Six Doors to urgently disperse the boats on both sides, and then bought two small boats as their vehicles for the fight.

During this time, people on both sides of the river could only see two figures standing silently in the middle of the river, so tense that they seemed unable to breathe.

at last.

The battlefield has been set up.

Zhan Zhao stood at the bow of the boat, his long sword drawn, pointing diagonally at the river, his red robes fluttering in the wind.

Madam Gu also stood at the bow of the boat, her white clothes fluttering, a sword in her hand, and wisps of water vapor, like frost and mist, swirling around her.

This is not a manifestation of the sword energy emanating from her body.

On the contrary, it was Zhan Zhao's invisible sword energy that surrounded her, creating a strange scene.

If it were someone else, they would feel uneasy and might even try to eliminate it beforehand.

But Madam Gu's gaze remained cold as she silently watched the sword energy swirling around her, forming an all-pervasive probing attack.

They remained completely unmoved.

It was as if all seven emotions had been extinguished, leaving only a clear and bright sword heart.

Zhan Zhao's gaze darkened slightly, feeling an unprecedented sense of unease.

What is meant by "sword heart enlightenment"?

One of its functions is to be extremely sensitive to the flow of sword intent and changes in space, and to be able to predict the opponent's movement trajectory through the sword's momentum, and to meet the enemy solely by sensing the aura.

Isn't this the function of the Six Lines Invisible Sword Qi to perceive the enemy's situation and anticipate their moves?
indeed.

Different paths lead to the same destination; all methods lead to the same goal.

Once one has mastered a certain level of divine skills, the pursuit of them gradually becomes unified.

However, the Six Lines Formless Sword Qi is something he does intentionally, and he has been proficient in this path since he first started learning it.

Sword Heart Clarity is a passive state, requiring the Heart Sword Divine Technique to be cultivated to an extremely high level in order to reach this realm.

Madam Gu has not yet fully reached that level, but she has already touched the edge.

Moreover, whether intentionally or unintentionally, she made the choice that best countered the Six Lines Formless Sword Qi.

The "爻" in the Six Lines of the Formless Sword Qi refers to the meaning of exchange and change.

To put it bluntly, the enemy needs to make changes in their actions; only through these changes can information be gathered.

Once the information was collected, it was incorporated into the divination using the Eight Trigrams, thus providing a solution.

However, Madam Gu remained unmoved. Facing the sword energy that clearly enveloped her, it was as if it were a bottomless abyss, swallowing all external brilliance.

The anticipation of the enemy's moves through the changing hexagrams failed for the first time.

But in fact.

Madam Gu's inaction also had its reasons.

The Heart Sword Divine Technique uses the seven emotions as fire to temper the sword intent; the sword moves are the swords of the seven emotions.

When dealing with the enemy, one should also target their joy, anger, worry, thoughts, sorrow, fear, and shock.

However, Zhan Zhao's emotions were quite different from those of other martial artists.

He comprehended the Six Minds Clarification Technique, which uses six methods—stillness, concentration, cessation, observation, awareness, and unity—to clarify the six minds, achieving purity and freedom.

It's not that they lack emotions; on the contrary, they are rich in emotions, yet perfectly balanced.

Like a lake, with a gentle breeze, it steadily spreads out in concentric circles, creating a unique aesthetic beauty.

Therefore, the choice of the seven emotions in the Heart Sword Divine Technique has fallen into an awkward situation for the first time.

It feels like every emotion can be triggered.

But it also feels like none of the various triggers have a particularly good effect.

To some extent, their martial arts styles complemented each other perfectly.

This is what maintains the superficial balance.

But it only lasted a moment before Zhan Zhao moved.

the reason is simple.

Madam Gu simply didn't make a move.

His sword energy was constantly stimulating Madam Gu's body, depleting her true energy at every moment.

Given his young age and the fact that his skill level was already inferior to his opponent's, he was still young.

Such a stalemate is tantamount to deliberately putting oneself at a disadvantage.

Therefore, we had no choice but to take action.

Since the choice has been to strike first, tactics are also extremely important.

As soon as Zhan Zhao drew his sword, the longsword moved like a rainbow piercing the sun, aiming straight for the ship beneath the opponent's feet.

Madam Gu, in her simple white shoes, touched the bow of the boat, and the awning boat beneath her feet suddenly sank, stirring up waves.

She herself used the recoil to leap into the air, her inner demon drawing a cold, moon-like arc of light.

"clang--!"

The two swords clashed for the first time, sparks flying onto the churning river surface. Both swords shuddered and plummeted downwards.

'He's skilled enough to fight!'

Through this straightforward competition, Zhan Zhao basically determined that Madam Gu's martial arts skills were a relatively weak point.

Each sword technique has its own strengths and weaknesses.

The Heart Sword Divine Technique is indeed not known for its profound skill.

However, Madam Gu's method of cultivation seems to be quite unique.

In addition, Zhan Zhao has recently used the Zen Tranquility Samadhi Soup and the Ten-Complete Return to Origin Pill, and his sword power has increased after comprehending the Divine Light of the Yao, which is a relatively prominent point.

As soon as Zhan Zhao landed, his boot slammed onto the mainmast, and the entire official ship suddenly swayed sideways.

Bang!
The two small boats collided. Madam Gu did not unleash the Seven Emotions Sword Intent; just as her sword was about to thrust out again, the boat tilted violently, causing her sword strike to falter.

Taking advantage of the opportunity, Zhan Zhao launched an attack, sweeping his longsword across the deck.

Madam Gu lightly stomped on the side of the boat, and the official boat, which should have capsized, immediately righted itself. This was because she poured her inner strength into the bottom of the boat, and the Bian River water was manipulated as if by her own arm under the power of her energy.

She is not known for her profound skills, but relatively speaking, her decades of accumulation are not easy to match.

The two boats were subjected to opposing forces, and their sterns collided, causing a lantern on the mast to shake violently.

Zhan Zhao kept his sword moves unchanged, lightly tapped his feet, hooked the toe of his boot onto the rope, stabilized his body as the ship tilted, and at the same time steered the ship to collide with it again.

"Using boats as soldiers?"

Spectators on both sides of the strait watched intently, and some couldn't help but exclaim in surprise at the sight.

I thought the clash between these two sword masters would be a display of sword energy and unexpected moves, but to my surprise, they started competing with their vehicles in the blink of an eye.

The small boat beneath their seats will be the core of the contest...

Ship collision?
However, Gu Lin, Zhou Wuxin, Zhao Wujiu, Lian Caiyun, and the others became completely serious, realizing what such a ship collision meant.

There is still room for maneuver in a sword fight; once a winner is determined, the two can wave their hands to stop the fight.

However, once the ship breaks apart and sinks into the water...

The two in the middle of the river have no room to maneuver; the outcome, even life or death, will be decided in an instant.

Upon further reflection, the experts had to admit that, as the weaker party, Zhan Zhao's only way to win was to take an unconventional approach.

Madam Gu was willing to do anything for the sake of her son, Gu Lin.

I never expected Zhan Zhao to go to such lengths for the Six Doors.

The constables were moved to tears once again.

It's too late to say.

The two small boats were also incredibly unlucky to be involved in a battle of this magnitude.

In less than the time it takes to drink half a cup of tea, it was mostly broken apart by the violent jolts.

But Madam Gu seemed to realize that things couldn't continue like this. Suddenly, she turned her sword and leaped forward again, stepping on the broken waves.

Zhan Zhao parried with his sword, but was forced back two steps by the impact, his boots leaving deep water marks on the slippery deck.

"Wow!"

A sword aura swept across the ship's side, and amidst the flying wood chips, he used the momentum to flip and leap onto the ship's awning.

Madam Gu lightly touched the water's surface with the tip of her sword, using the momentum to leap into the air, and then thrust her inner demon directly at her opponent's lower body.

Zhan Zhao changed his move, tapping the side of the boat with his toes and spinning to thrust forward.

"Keng!"

Amidst the clang of metal, Zhan Zhao was so shaken that he broke through the ship's railing, his chest heaving violently, and half of his body dangling outside the ship.

"not good!"

Zhou Wuxin was startled.

In these two straightforward and unpretentious exchanges, Zhan Zhao was completely at a disadvantage.

Just because the skill difference isn't significant doesn't mean there isn't one. And Madam Gu's every strike didn't even involve the additional use of the Seven Emotions Sword Intent; she simply used a direct confrontation, expanding her advantage without any fancy moves.

Fortunately, it happened at that moment.

Just as Madam Gu was about to give chase, she suddenly felt the boat beneath her tilt violently—

An invisible sword aura had already severed the mooring ropes of the boat!
"Oh!"

The first ship fell apart.

Madam Gu had no choice but to leap onto the boat beneath Zhan Zhao, where she was immediately met with a barrage of sword energy.

We've been waiting for you!

Zhan Zhao's sword strikes suddenly accelerated, each move as fast as lightning, yet he always managed to defend himself against every attack...

The changing hexagrams reveal the changing energy, creating a cage between heaven and earth!
The sword's encirclement technique unfolded instantly!

"Om-!"

Almost instantly, a strange sword cry also rang out.

The seven emotions unfold in the Heart Sword Divine Technique!

Madam Gu's swordplay suddenly slowed down, each move clearly visible, yet each strike was deeply moving...

The seven emotions stir the heart, while the five senses are deprived!
The formless sword energy of the Six Lines clashes with the Divine Sword Technique of the Heart!

The two supreme sword techniques remained still at first, but when they were unleashed, they were earth-shattering, each unleashing their ultimate moves at the other.

"What time is it now?"

Just as the real confrontation was about to begin, another figure appeared among the group from Yunqi Manor; it was none other than "Xingyun" Chu Zhirou.

He conspired with Li Kong to kill Tang Lei using unusual methods. To prevent him from colluding with outsiders, he was imprisoned in the Gu family mansion. If he cannot explain himself clearly, he may be expelled from the family.

However, the fact that Gu Lin's true identity was revealed means that the two of them did not betray him; on the contrary, it was to protect their senior brother.

Therefore, while Zhan Zhao and Madam Gu were waiting in the middle of the lake, Granny Jiang also called a servant to quickly return to the house and release the two of them.

Chu Zhirou rushed over to help immediately.

Seeing Zhan Zhao and Madam Gu fighting, Chu Zhirou quickly realized something was wrong and said in a deep voice, "Master's wife has to go into seclusion to practice her internal energy every night at midnight!"

The disciples shuddered.

In the case of Tang Lei, the reason why Chu Zhirou and Li Kong chose that time to make their move was because every night at midnight, Madam Gu would practice her internal energy in her own room and not see any outsiders.

It was precisely because of this gap that the two dared to take action, clean up the mess, and set up the scene.

Of course, Zhan Zhao noticed this detail and used it to narrow down the suspects.

And at this moment.

The group from Yunqi Manor looked up at the moon in the sky, and then heard the sounds of the night watchman in the distance, realizing that it was time.

When the Six Doors were mobilized, it was just as the city lights were coming on.

However, after going through various ups and downs, especially the preparation time before the two sides fought, it was clear that...

It is now almost midnight.

The time for Madam Gu to cultivate her inner energy is approaching...

Could this be the turning point that decides the outcome of this battle?
(End of this chapter)