Chapter 1303: Is It Over?

In the Mountains and Seas Zone, Liu Tianmu had barely managed to materialize the Thirteenth Sword: Emotion, but even then, she had still severely injured Shang Qing. A year had passed since that time, and she had comprehended much more regarding the Thirteenth Sword.

The moment she opened her eyes, a light breeze swept out from the tip of her sword. It blew towards Lu Yin, Zenith Mountain, and everyone else as well.

Anyone who was touched by this breeze experienced a strange sensation. It was as if their bodies were completely vulnerable beneath Liu Tianmu's sword, as if her sword was hanging just above their heads.

Shang Qing paused on his way up the staircase and looked towards Liu Tianmu with a heavy expression.

He was the only person here who had endured a blow from the Thirteenth Sword, but even after all this time, he still had no idea how he could resist such an attack. The only solution that he could think of was to prevent Liu Tianmu from ever having the chance to unleash the Thirteenth Sword.

However, since the Thirteenth Sword had already been successfully unleashed, it was too late for Lu Yin to stop it even if he wanted to. Liu Tianmu could make the swords that everyone sensed descend upon their targets at any time.

This battle would be decided entirely on whether or not Lu Yin could endure while beneath Liu Tianmu’s sword.

Shang Qing had been able to use his Tri-Yang Technique to do so, which also meant that he himself had not needed to move. However, what about Lu Yin? If he was badly injured by this attack, then how could he climb any farther in ZENITH? That would be a great pity.

Lu Yin stared intently at Liu Tianmu's face, and his pupils transformed into runes. He immediately began erasing some of her attack’s runes, but his efforts were futile. Given his current mastery of Truesight, he was not able to weaken the Thirteenth Sword, though if Jin He or God Taiyi were the ones attempting to do so, they might be successful.

The Thirteenth Sword was already poised and in position. The moment the light breeze brushed past his cheeks, Lu Yin had known that he would not be able to stop this attack. Truesight was unable to weaken it, and the Yu Secret Art also could not divert it. He was not even confident that the Ce secret technique could dodge it.

If the Thirteenth Sword was not a truly unavoidable skill, then it would have never earned its legendary reputation of being invincible.

Did he regret pushing this matter? Maybe, but maybe not. He knew that he would have to face this attack sooner or later. Even if Liu Tianmu had not unleashed her Thirteenth Sword during ZENITH, Lu Yin believed that he would still have to confront it some time in the future.

However, Lu Yin was far superior to Shang Qing in one aspect: physical strength. If Shang Qing had been able to recover after taking a strike from the Thirteenth Sword, then Lu Yin would most likely be able to do so as well, though his combat power would definitely be affected.

With this thought, Lu Yin dropped his head and looked at his heart’s location. Maybe it was time to make use of that. He should have already mastered that power, but even now, he had not been able to do so.

Countless people watched as Liu Tianmu's sword fell; the Thirteenth Sword had already been executed. Liu Tianmu stumbled. She lost all strength in her legs and nearly collapsed onto the ground.

During the battles in the Mountains and Seas Zone, she had immediately collapsed after unleashing the Thirteenth Sword, no longer possessing the strength to continue on. At the present moment, she was holding out much better than that time.

Then what about Lu Yin?

Once that thought occurred, innumerable eyes turned to look at Lu Yin.

Shang Qing had a grim expression. He himself had once suffered an attack from the Thirteenth Sword. He knew that it was invisible and unavoidable, so he was just waiting to see the full extent of Lu Yin’s injuries.

Everyone stared at Lu Yin, and even Lu Yin himself began examining his own body. Was it over? Had the Thirteenth Sword already struck? Seriously? Then why had he not felt anything at all?

Lu Yin panicked and felt his neck before running his hands all over his arms. He could not find any injuries. His entire body was completely unscathed. Bewildered, he looked at Liu Tianmu in complete confusion.

Liu Tianmu met his gaze with a similarly confused expression. She was certain that her sword had struck true, one hundred percent certain. The Thirteenth Sword had undoubtedly stabbed Lu Yin through the heart, so what in the world was going on? A victim of her sword was not showing even the slightest reaction to her attack. Was his heart really fine?

The two of them stared at each other in utter bewilderment; one was certain that she had delivered a fatal blow while the other was fully aware that he was unharmed. What a paradoxical situation.

“You… was that your last attack?” Lu Yin asked in an uncertain tone.

“You’re… fine?” Liu Tianmu was completely puzzled.

Lu Yin arched a brow. “Did you really attack just then?”

“Are you really alright?” Liu Tianmu also repeated her own question. From the day that she had been born to the present moment, she had always stood on top. In the Sword Sect, she was known as the First Senior Sister, the one who had comprehended the Thirteen Swords and the one with a peerless talent. To the outside universe, she was one of the Ten Arbiters that held the lives of countless people in the palm of her hand. She was a figure to be revered.

Never once had she felt as lost as at this particular moment. Even when she had witnessed the true nature of the Tri-Yang Technique in the Mountains and Seas Zone, she had not been this disturbed. She literally lost all self-control at this moment, as Lu Yin’s perfect condition after receiving her attack overturned everything that she knew and understood.

Even if Liu Tianmu’s beliefs had been overturned, there was no need to mention how others were handling this outcome even more badly.

“The Thirteenth Sword already struck? That can’t be.”

“It did! Arbiter Mu said so herself.”

“But how can Lu Yin be perfectly fine? His shirt isn’t even wrinkled! This doesn’t follow any sort of logic or reasoning!”

“Bro, are you seriously talking to me about logic right now?”

…

On Swords Peak, Liu Qianjue was also completely bewildered. He was certain that Liu Tianmu had delivered the Thirteenth Sword, so why had nothing happened to Lu Yin?

This situation left everyone dumbfounded.

Shang Qing stared closely at Lu Yin; was he really alright?

God Taiyi was completely certain that Lu Yin was fine, as the bastard’s runes had not changed in the slightest.

Within the deafening silence, Lu Yin stared at Liu Tianmu and asked, “Where did you strike me?”

“Your heart, on the left side,” Liu Tianmu replied with a heavy tone.

As soon as he heard that she had targeted his heart, the first thing that Lu Yin thought of was the black and white mist. Had the Thirteenth Sword attacked the black and white mist? He probed the area around his heart but did not feel anything. The Thirteenth Sword must have been swallowed by the mist!

“What did you do?” Liu Tianmu exclaimed in disbelief. Even in ancient times, this situation had never occurred with the Sword Sect’s Thirteen Swords. In the past, when one of their sect masters had been devoured by a Cosmic Hou, the Thirteenth Sword had still managed to inflict serious damage upon the creature. It was unthinkable that a human could receive the Thirteenth Sword and emerge unscathed while a unique creature like a Cosmic Hou had been injured.

Lu Yin raised his hand and declared, “Your time in ZENITH is done.”

After speaking, he unleashed a Vacuum Palm. Liu Tianmu was easily knocked off of the mountain’s peak, falling down to the first layer.

Lu Yin had not used his full strength, as that would have certainly killed Liu Tianmu. He did not want to make things ugly between him and the Sword Sect.

However, no matter what, Liu Tianmu was sure to be in bad shape.

After defeating Liu Tianmu, Lu Yin deliberately turned and looked up at Shang Qing. He flashed Shang Qing a smile before starting to move up the stairs himself, heading straight for the peak of the mountain.

Shang Qing briefly locked eyes with Lu Yin, and he could not stop himself from revealing a hint of utter shock. Even when Lu Yin had defeated Yuhua Mavis, Shang Qing had not been blown away. But seeing Lu Yin conquer the Thirteen Swords had truly amazed the first Honor Chosen. Although there were no limits to Lu Yin’s power, Lu Yin would still never be a match for Shang Qing no matter how strong he became.

Shang Qing’s unshakeable confidence and contempt for his peers still remained the same.

Elsewhere, another fight was just about to end as well. This one was between Wen Sansi and Wang Yi.

Wen Sansi had been predicted to place twelfth in the final rankings, which was higher than Lu Yin’s predicted placing. Wen Sansi’s higher rating was almost entirely attributed to his innate gift of an impenetrable barrier, but that very same barrier had just been destroyed by Wang Yi.

Following a soft noise, Wang Yi zipped past Wen Sansi and shattered the barrier into pieces. Wang Yi just left a single comment with Wen Sansi. "That’s a pretty impressive defense."

From the start of ZENITH to the present moment, Wang Yi had never spoken a single word. However, Wen Sansi's barrier had gotten Wang Yi to speak.

Mira, Michelle, and the Wen family in the Innerverse were all shocked to see the barrier shatter, because this meant that Wen Sansi had been defeated.

Wang Yi did not launch any follow-up attacks, simply proceeding to walk up the stairs.

Wen Sansi did not move. He simply turned his head to stare at Wang Yi, the depths of his eyes containing a certain astonishment that had never existed before. He had witnessed a one-of-a-kind battle technique that had given him an inexplicable feeling, as if he deserved his defeat. Just like his surname, Wang (King) Yi was the king of cultivators.1 His battle techniques had reached a level that Wen Sansi knew he could never touch.

Even though Lu Yin had assisted Ling Gong once during her fight, she still ended up losing to Xia Jiuyou.

The combination of Xia Jiuyou’s Yōu Reinforced Palm and innate gift of echo was enough for him to defeat Ling Gong. She still remembered how, during the battle in the Mountains and Seas Zone, her Skycastle had been sliced in two by Xia Jiuyou's Triple Blade Will. During this most recent battle, Xia Jiuyou had continuously revealed bit after bit of his terrifying strength. The power of his Yōu Reinforced Palm was many times stronger than what he had unleashed in the Mountains and Seas Zone.

He had merged with all of his clones aside from Xia Luo, and at present, it seemed that Xia Jiuyou was gradually revealing an aura of invincibility that could even threaten Shang Qing.

Ling Gong felt helpless. Blood continued to drip down her left leg and flow behind her as her ruined Skycastle slowly faded from view. “The Lingling clan is known for being able to take and combine ten innate gifts into an unrivaled innate gift, but it takes a lifetime to cultivate just any one of these innate gifts. Such a combined innate gift is advantageous against regular cultivators, but when matched up with someone like Xia Jiuyou, it’s no use.”

She was not disheartened, for the key to the Lingling clan’s innate gift was in the merging itself.

The further her cultivation advanced, the stronger her innate gift would become. Ling Gong had known for a long time what her future path would be, and one day, her innate gift would not merely summon a Skycastle. Rather, it would be a grand Skycastle Fortress, or even the mythical Skyrealm spoken of by mortals.

The powerhouses like Wang Yi, Zhi Yi, Shang Qing, Lu Yin, Yao Xuan, and Xia Jiuyou all made their way up the flights of stairs one after another. There were only eight people left who were still desperately fighting.

While Lu Yin was making his way up towards the mountain's peak, he suddenly felt a chill at his back. He turned around and saw a streak of sword qi approaching him. The Eleventh Sword?

Lu Yin instinctively raised a hand and grabbed the Eleventh Sword before hurling it over at Xia Jiuyou. Then, he looked into the distance, where Yōu Qi was standing with those ever present illusory black flames still wrapped around his entire body. There was a book above the war flag that he always carried, and the pages of the book were slowly flipping around.

The Eleventh Sword had come from Yōu Qi, as he had once again borrowed a battle technique from another person.

Wu Taibai seemed highly amused by the entire situation.

Xia Jiuyou was in a foul mood at the moment, and the fact that Lu Yin had reflexively hurled the Eleventh Sword at him clearly showed that Lu Yin viewed him as an enemy. Most likely, there wouldn’t be anymore one-on-one competitions once ten people reached the mountaintop. Rather, it looked like it would be a battle royal. Even though Xia Jiuyou had the Nine Clones Technique that made him powerful enough to face anyone, it did not mean that he wanted to become someone’s target.

And yet, Lu Yin was already focused on Xia Jiuyou while he could do nothing about it, which was why Xia Jiuyou felt oddly frustrated.

“Wow, you’re actually able to borrow other people’s battle techniques? You just used the Eleventh Sword, so can you call out the Thirteenth Sword too? I’d like to see what it’s like,” said an intrigued Wu Taibai.

Yōu Qi looked both sullen and gloomy. He stared straight at Wu Taibai while the book above his head continued to flip through its pages and he clutched the spear in his hand.

Yōu Qi had traded blows with Wu Taibai several times already, but he had not gained any ground on him. Instead, Yōu Qi actually felt a faint sense of oppression each time they clashed, as though his ability to become immaterial was being restrained.

“You can keep pulling out other people’s battle techniques. I won’t stop you,” Wu Taibai offered.

The black flames shrouding Yōu Qi’s body sharply expanded, and the war flag disappeared. He then transformed into the only patch of darkness between the sky and the ground while specks of darkness formed a night sky above the spear that suddenly shot at Wu Taibai.

This was Burial Garden’s secret technique: Will. This technique drastically increased Yōu Qi’s attack power.

Wu Taibai was surprised, and he raised a hand while also releasing a martial print that struck the tip of the spear.

There was a clang, and Wu Taibai was sent flying back, shocking him. He had not expected Yōu Qi to be able to force him back.

The book above Yōu Qi’s head flipped through more pages while he called out, “There was once a powerhouse who lived in ancient times, and his honorable name was Liu Guai.”

After Yōu Qi finished speaking, there was a whistling sound as the Eleventh Sword was summoned again. Simultaneously, Yōu Qi seemed to completely merge with his spear. The patch of darkness surrounding the spear left all those who saw it numb, and all of Zenith Mountain went pitch black.

The power of this spear attack far surpassed the power that Yōu Qi had shown when he had fought against Lu Yin in the Mountains and Seas Zone. If Yōu Qi had possessed an attack this powerful back then, then Lu Yin would have been completely unable to block it.

Wu Taibai made no attempt to avoid this attack. Instead, he raised his right palm as the image of the Progenitor of Combat appeared behind him. A terrifying pressure descended upon all of Zenith Mountain, compelling countless people to almost drop to their knees out of fear. The Progenitor of Combat was a domineering character, and he had created a secret technique known as the Mountains and Rivers Imprint. Using this secret technique was almost equivalent to bringing out the entire Sixth Mainland and smashing it onto Yōu Qi. This secret technique was another attack that disregarded space and distance, which made it extremely similar to the Thirteen Swords’ Eleventh and Twelfth Swords. However, the key difference was that Wu Taibai was the one using this attack, which made it much stronger than Liu Tianmu’s Twelfth Sword.

[1] The character for "Wang" means "king." ☜

OMA's Thoughts

Translated By: OMA

Edited By: Neshi/Nyxnox

TLC'ed By: OMA