Chapter 258

Chapter 258

"???"

Upon hearing Dong Zhongyuan's words, Li Shiyin felt something was wrong...

"Hey!" She hurriedly yelled at the sky, "I was only supposed to fight one of you, but now you want me to fight six. What's wrong with you?!"

"Hahahahaha..." But Dong Zhongyuan only left behind a burst of loud laughter and disappeared.

Li Shiyin wanted to continue arguing, but at this time, the "Li Shiyin" in front of the stone tablet had already rushed towards her with a sword in hand.

The opening move was "Immortal Seeking the Way", an ethereal and unpredictable figure that was simply impossible to discern clearly amidst the chaos.

Only now did Li Shiyin understand how others felt when facing her movement art.

...Ethereal like a ghost.

As "Li Shiyin" approached, the sword wrapped in star sword qi stabbed towards Li Shiyin. Li Shiyin dodged to the side and took out the Qingxing Sword behind her back.

When "Li Shiyin" struck with her sword again, Li Shiyin fought back with her sword...

"Ding!"

The two swords imbued with star sword qi clashed in midair.

"Hmm?" The moment the two swords collided, Li Shiyin immediately noticed something was off. "Her strength and sword qi intensity should only be at my level from three years ago..."

She reacted swiftly, "The strength of this fake is probably only at the level when I defeated Song Ze three years ago!"

As a sword genius like Li Shiyin, her strength improved every day. How much would she have progressed in three years?

...Three years ago? She smiled.

When she fought Song Ze three years ago, Li Shiyin's cultivation was at the mid Foundation Establishment stage. Her sword qi boundary was at the initial enlightenment level. She had not yet comprehended Dust Sealing Absolute Stillness or Dream Fantasy Nebula. She had not learned the Divine Eye technique or the Plucking Stars in One Sword yet.

The current Li Shiyin versus the Li Shiyin from two years ago would be an extremely easy win.

The two were both using Immortal Seeking the Way and wielding star sword qi. They fought vigorously amidst the chaos, appearing and disappearing repeatedly, with star sword qi splitting apart the chaos before disappearing into the distance.

Li Shiyin was very clear about everything this "Li Shiyin" was capable of. Fighting her gave Li Shiyin the feeling of seeing through something clearly like looking at a fire. It was like having the patterns on her palm.

It was as if she stood high up, watching this "Li Shiyin" attack herself. This feeling was very strange. She looked upon her past self, fully aware of the strengths, weaknesses and limits.

"So this was what I used to be like." She nodded to herself, not rushing to defeat this "Li Shiyin". Instead, she carefully examined her own sword techniques, mystic arts and combat habits for any issues or obvious loopholes.

Only when this "Li Shiyin" had demonstrated everything she was capable of, including her strongest move at the time - "Celestial Soaring Immortal", did Li Shiyin finally strike her down with one sword.

"Killing myself, what a strange feeling." She thought to herself.

Standing amidst the chaos, she carefully reflected upon the insights she had gained just now. She felt her strength had improved significantly.

"Did Dong Zhongyuan do this on purpose?" She wondered with some doubt.

The stone tablet lit up with golden light again. It was the #9 ranked "Yue Youqun". After the golden light faded, the "Yue Youqun" appeared before the stone tablet.

He paused briefly before charging towards Li Shiyin.

After exchanging just one move, Li Shiyin understood that the strength of these fake bodies was at the true level recorded on the Geniuses Ranking when they made the board.

Yue Youqun was slightly older among the top geniuses. Hence, he made the ranking board later on. There was a huge gap between this "Yue Youqun" and the current Yue Youqun.

It did not take Li Shiyin long to defeat him.

#9, #8, #7... The owner of #7 spot on the Geniuses Ranking was actually Qi Yuan instead of Yan Tianxing.

Looking at Qi Yuan who practiced sword controlling arts, Li Shiyin recalled the years of suffering endured by Tian Wenjin and could not help frowning, feeling rather angry.

"Let me see how strong you were before getting injured!"

With this thought, Li Shiyin immediately unleashed her full power without holding back like before. Instead of waiting for the fake to attack, she took the initiative to kill towards "Qi Yuan".

Compared to the other geniuses on the ranking, Huang Feiyu was very young, around the same age as Qin Ran. Hence, he had made it onto the Geniuses Ranking fairly late. His strength was exceptionally formidable...almost the same as when he got injured.

He had also comprehended sword qi, reaching the second level boundary.

In addition, he had a water spirit root. His sword qi contained an aura of surging great rivers, somewhat similar to Lu Junxing's techniques.

"No wonder he could make the Geniuses Ranking!"

This scumbag truly had ability. Li Shiyin had quite a tough fight, forced to utilize third level sword qi to slowly whittle away at "Huang Feiyu" before finally defeating him.

After beating Huang Feiyu, she arrived at the #4 position, which belonged to Dong Zhongyuan.

Looking at the elegant young man standing gracefully before the stone tablet, Li Shiyin took a deep breath to steady her breathing.

"Let me see what you've got, you coy fella."

Before they even started fighting, Li Shiyin was forced back two steps by the domineering sword qi, and her fingers went numb, overwhelmed by Liu Baixuan's terrifying aura.

"Clang!"

After blocking another blow from Liu Baixuan's sword qi, Li Shiyin took the opportunity to flee, and began to maneuver around "Liu Baixuan"... There was no future in confronting Liu Baixuan head-on.

She circled around Liu Baixuan, looking at this domineering "Liu Baixuan". From time to time, she wondered, how did a person like this become so refined?

...She had a vague answer in her heart.

However, no matter how fierce and domineering Liu Baixuan's swordplay and sword qi were, they had just entered the sword qi realm. Once Li Shiyin decided not to confront him directly, he was soon cut into shreds by Li Shiyin's strands of starry sword qi.

"Liu Baixuan" disappeared, and the stele shone with bright golden light. "Lu Junxing" appeared in front of the stele if nothing unexpected happened.

"Huff... huff..."

Li Shiyin gasped heavily, the small amount of spiritual power in her body slowly flowed, easing the pain and fatigue of her body. The few direct confrontations with "Liu Baixuan" had injured her greatly, and her hands were still slightly numb.

She looked up at "Lu Junxing" in front of the stele. Lu Junxing had a smile on his face, still looking nonchalant, just like he was now.

All the way here, Li Shiyin could see the immaturity in everyone else, including herself. Only "Lu Junxing" seemed to have not changed at all.

Seeing Li Shiyin, he drew out his sword, swaying drunkenly towards Li Shiyin...

And as he moved, landscapes slowly took shape around him. With each step, mountains and rivers formed. He walked towards Li Shiyin.

Li Shiyin looked at the mountains and rivers under Lu Junxing's feet in horror. Those vivid mountains and rivers were all sword qi!

They were all third stage sword qi!

Could this "Lu Junxing" from who knows how many years ago actually exhibit such sword qi?

So how powerful was the present Lu Junxing?

Li Shiyin dared not imagine.

She held her breath, stirred her last bit of spiritual power, activated her guardian sword intent, wrapped herself in starry sword qi, forming a sea of stars to protect herself.

"Ding ding ding..."

As the two sides' sword qi clashed, Li Shiyin discovered...

This "Lu Junxing" had not comprehended sword intent!

In other words, he was able to perform this "Sword Walking Through Mountains and Rivers" even without sword intent...

This person was too terrifying!

Li Shiyin had defeated Liu Baixuan, but could only cling on to life under Lu Junxing's sword qi.

She confirmed her guess in her heart, why the fierce and domineering Liu Baixuan would become who he was today.

She remembered at the sword exchange meeting, Lu Junxing scolding Liu Baixuan for being "timid and fearful, afraid of this and that"... He thought Liu Baixuan was afraid of his master, but actually, he was afraid of Lu Junxing.

Lu Junxing was Liu Baixuan's demon.

And now...

Li Shiyin could relate completely.

...In the end, she still did not manage to defeat "Lu Junxing". Before her strength ran out, she was fished out by Dong Zhongyuan.

Li Shiyin's whole body was drenched, her hair and clothes soaked with sweat.

She lay on the debating stage, sweat mixed with blood flowing out from the edges. Looking up at the sky, she didn't know if she was too tired or what, but she felt a bit hopeless.

This was exactly the sight Dong Zhongyuan wanted to see. Leaning on his walking stick, he walked over, looking at Li Shiyin with a smile, and asked, "How was it?"

He was asking about Lu Junxing's strength.

Li Shiyin shook her head again and again, not answering.

"Alright..." Dong Zhongyuan laughed heartily, leaning on his walking stick, limping down from the stage. He said to the referee, "She won this match."

Even though Li Shiyin had won, only her supporters cheered from below. The others were either discontent or still confused. Even Li Shiyin herself felt baffled, without any sense of victory at all.

Without any sense of taking first place in the assessment.

Qin Ran flew onto the stage, half kneeling by Li Shiyin's side, and asked, "What's wrong?"

"Master..." Hearing Qin Ran's voice, Li Shiyin looked over, her eyes instantly reddening. Calling out grievously for master, she burst into tears.

Qin Ran reached out to hug her. She crawled into Qin Ran's arms, her hands hugging Qin Ran's back, crying out, "Master, I can't beat him!"

"Who?"

"Lu Junxing."