Comprehending Myriad Techniques as Woodcutter

’A handyman?’

’A handyman landed a strike so fast I couldn’t even react?’

Anger flashed across Yao Tianchuan’s face, and he growled,

"Stop toying with me! I was just caught off guard by that strike. You..."

Before he could finish, Xie Yuan withdrew his Long Sword and said calmly,

"Proceed."

Yao Tianchuan froze, sensing a calm and composed aura radiating from his opponent.

Only a person with immense self-confidence could possess such an aura—someone who could face him with such composure, their every move, from drawing to sheathing their blade, an effortless extension of their will.

Yao Tianchuan’s expression was graver than ever before, far more so than during the tournament earlier that day.

His hand slowly rested on his sword hilt. In a low voice, he asked,

"Are you in the Qi Blood First Transformation Realm?"

"Afraid I’ll have an unfair advantage?"

Xie Yuan smiled.

"I just broke through this month."

"Impossible!"

Yao Tianchuan stated flatly.

’The speed, angle, and sheer presence of that strike... how could a Swordsman who just reached the Qi and Blood Metamorphosis Realm possibly execute that?’

’Even I couldn’t have performed such a move back when I first broke through!’

As an exceptionally talented young Swordsman, Yao Tianchuan could tell from that single strike alone that his opponent’s mastery of the Sword Dao was profound.

’It would be impossible to execute a strike like that without decades of dedicated training in the sword.’

Yet Xie Yuan simply stood there, hand on his sword hilt, offering no explanation.

Seeing this, Yao Tianchuan felt his resolve begin to waver.

’Could this really be a Swordsman even more talented than I am...?’

He quickly shook his head, clearing away the distracting thoughts and focusing his mind entirely on the sword in his hand.

"Yao Tianchuan of the Jinling Yao Clan, from the Sword Storage Pavilion. Let us begin."

Xie Yuan said nothing, remaining in the shade of the tree, his face hidden in deep shadow.

The moonlight illuminated only the hem of his robes. A gentle night breeze rustled the branches, casting shifting shadows across his body and lending him an air of mystery.

Even at this distance, Yao Tianchuan, for some reason, still couldn’t make out his opponent’s face.

When his opponent didn’t respond, a flash of anger crossed his face. With a cold snort, he lunged.

A bolt of lightning seemed to flash across the clifftop, accompanied by a silent clap of thunder.

Yao Tianchuan’s Long Sword was like lightning from the heavens—too fast to follow. The moment it was seen, it was already upon its target.

Xie Yuan’s eyes flashed. His hand moved with a practiced ease, as if he had drawn his sword a million times before. Without a single wasted motion, his Long Sword shot from its scabbard to meet the attack.

TING—

The ringing of clashing blades echoed in the night sky. Yao Tianchuan’s sudden, lightning-fast strike had been effortlessly parried by Xie Yuan.

Yao Tianchuan’s eyes narrowed. He had seen Xie Yuan’s draw clearly—every detail of the movement was as smooth as flowing water.

And yet, he couldn’t react in time.

He could see it only because his opponent’s movements were so simple and efficient, without a single wasted motion. They were like flowing water, incomparably fast.

’Could I perform a move that fluid?’

The thought surfaced in his mind, but his hands never stopped. In an instant, he spun and thrust toward Xie Yuan’s lower body. It was the same move he had used against Xing Zhi earlier that day, apparently part of a standard opening.

The only difference was that his opening had been parried early on. Now, with his Long Sword a full body-length away from Xie Yuan, reacting was much easier.

Xie Yuan saw this, and the corner of his mouth quirked up. He ignored the blade aimed at him and instead swung his Long Sword in a horizontal feint toward Yao Tianchuan’s chest.

The strike had no target, looking as if it were just cutting through air. It was tantamount to freely offering his legs to Yao Tianchuan’s blade.

But just as Xie Yuan’s sword swung wide, Yao Tianchuan’s wrist twisted. His own Long Sword abandoned its target and swept diagonally upward toward Xie Yuan’s chest.

That circling thrust had just been a feint!

With Yao Tianchuan’s level of Swordsmanship, he naturally wouldn’t stick to rigid patterns. What he hadn’t anticipated, however, was that Xie Yuan seemed to have already read his mind. Xie Yuan’s Long Sword was simply waiting, held horizontally. It was as if Yao Tianchuan’s own upward slash was delivering his arm right onto the blade!

Startled, Yao Tianchuan halted his sword’s momentum at the last possible second, narrowly avoiding having his hand severed.

An ordinary Martial Artist would have been thrown into complete disarray by this. Even a skilled one would have been forced onto the defensive, struggling to regain the upper hand.

Yao Tianchuan, however, remained composed. The moment his arm halted, he instantly converted the upward slash into a thrust, without the slightest pause, as if this had been his plan all along!

His opponent had anticipated his move with a dangerous feint to the chest. But by countering it, Yao Tianchuan had exposed an opening in his opponent’s torso. This thrust was a killing blow!

To escape a trap and instantly turn it back on his foe by finding an opening—Yao Tianchuan was truly worthy of his fame. The skill behind his astounding record of nineteen consecutive victories was finally on display.

But just as his Long Sword was about to pierce his foe’s chest, there was another TING. His opponent’s blade, having returned at some unknown moment, was now held vertically before his own, firmly blocking the thrust.

Yao Tianchuan’s gaze froze. He hadn’t seen the blade return to a defensive position at all.

’If that sword hadn’t pulled back, but had lunged forward instead... I...’

He gritted his teeth, no longer daring to hold anything back, and erupted with his full strength.

The Long Sword in Yao Tianchuan’s hand danced like a sky full of lightning. Several electric flashes struck toward Xie Yuan in the blink of an eye.

It was as if the moon itself had descended upon the cliff.

The light from Yao Tianchuan’s blade merged into an impenetrable dome of shimmering, dazzling light. It illuminated every detail of the cliff—everything but Xie Yuan’s face.

Under an assault so ferocious it defied description, any Swordsman at the Qi Blood First Transformation Realm would be helpless. Even a master at the Second Transformation Realm would have to proceed with caution or risk injury!