Lu Yang strode over to Chen Zui's side.
Planting his wrought iron staff onto the reef, he reached out to steady him.
Chen Zui waved his hand, supporting himself with the two halves of his broken spear to steady his footing.
“Young Hero Chen.”
Lu Yang's voice carried a rough sincerity.
“When Qingyangzi detonated himself just now, if you hadn't stood in front to block it, that shockwave would have been enough to collapse half of Jinyang City's walls.
“The thousands of lives on those walls were all saved by you.
“Jinyang City will remember this debt of gratitude!”
“Senior Lu overpraises me.”
Chen Zui shook his head, looking up at the two figures still confronting each other far out on the sea.
Sword light still flickered, and the qi of heaven and earth still vibrated.
The clash between Shen Xingzhi and Lü Beisheng seemed entirely undisturbed by the explosion just now.
“However, Qingyangzi detonated his full cultivation as a peak Boundless Realm grandmaster. That power was absolutely not something my current strength could withstand.
“In that moment just now, someone helped me.”
Chen Zui's gaze shifted back and forth between the two figures on the sea.
“Just as the light wall of Unmoving Like a Mountain was on the verge of shattering, a trace of sword intent fused into it.
“That trace of sword intent was extremely faint—so faint that if one didn't sense it carefully, it would be impossible to notice.
“Yet it was precisely that trace of sword intent that filled the breach in the weakest part of the light wall.
“It helped me endure the final and strongest wave of the shockwave.”
Lu Yang's pupils narrowed slightly, following Chen Zui's gaze toward the sea.
Two Earthly Sword Immortals were clashing with all their strength.
Sword light crisscrossed, causing heaven and earth to change color.
By all rights, they shouldn't have had any time to spare to worry about the turn of events on the reef beach.
Yet if that trace of sword intent truly existed, then in all the world, the only ones capable of splitting off sword intent to help under those circumstances were those two.
“Was it Sword Immortal Shen, or Sword God Lü?” Lu Yang asked in a low voice.
Chen Zui shook his head. “I can't tell. That trace of sword intent was too faint.”
Just then, the sword light over the sea suddenly came to a stop.
The two surging currents of sword intent reined themselves in at the exact same moment.
The Eastern Sea, which had been turned upside down by sword qi, restored its calm in this single instant.
The thousands of spectators on the city walls held their breath simultaneously.
Qin Tiegu's hand trembled as he gripped his wrought bronze staff.
A-Tong poked his head out from behind him, his eyes wide and round, his lips trembling slightly.
Everyone realized the exact same thing.
This world-shaking duel had finally reached its conclusion!
On the sea, two figures still stood facing each other a hundred zhang apart.
Shen Xingzhi's green robe fluttered loudly in the wind as he stood with his hands behind his back, looking as elegant and dashing as ever.
Lü Beisheng held Sheiru, its point angled down toward the sea, while the sword intent he had suppressed for twenty years slowly subsided around him.
Neither man showed any obvious wounds, nor were their robes damaged in the slightest, as if the earth-shattering battle from moments ago had merely been an illusion.
Yet Chen Zui's gaze remained locked onto Shen Xingzhi's right hand.
That hand was still held behind his back, but from Chen Zui's angle, he could see an inch-long tear at the cuff of Shen Xingzhi's right sleeve.
In that world-destroying clash just now, this inch-long tear was the sole trace left behind.
Yet it was precisely this inconspicuous tear that was enough to prove everything.
At that moment, a hearty burst of laughter echoed from midair.
It was Shen Xingzhi laughing.
The laughter rang out clear and resonant like a dragon's cry, carrying an utterly carefree delight.
“Good! Good! Good!
“Lü Beisheng, you didn't sit in solitude for twenty years for nothing.
“This old man has suppressed the martial world for most of his life, and today, someone has finally pushed me back.”
The moment those words were spoken, the entirety of Jinyang City fell into a dead silence.
Everyone understood the meaning of those words.
Yet no one could believe their ears.
Shen Xingzhi.
The Shen Xingzhi who had dominated the world's Way of the Sword for decades.
Had actually admitted defeat with his own mouth?
“My strike just now was originally intended to deflect your sword intent and counterattack with the remaining force.
“However, your sword intent was far too pure—so pure that my guiding force had nothing to leverage.”
Shen Xingzhi drew his right hand out from behind his back and glanced down at the tear on his sleeve, the smile at the corner of his lips deepening slightly.
“When your sword grazed my sleeve, I knew that I had lost this fight.”
However, Lü Beisheng opposite him possessed not even half a shred of joy from victory.
He looked down at the sword Sheiru in his hand. The blade reflected the boundless glittering waves of the Eastern Sea, as well as his calm, complex face.
He remained silent for a long moment before slowly speaking, his voice hoarse and low.
“Senior Shen, it was I who lost.”
Shen Xingzhi raised an eyebrow and was about to speak, but Lü Beisheng held up a hand to stop him.
“During our fierce battle just now, I entered a state of self-forgetfulness.
“Where my sword intent went, my focus followed, leaving not even a fraction of leeway to care for external matters.”
He raised his head, his gaze crossing the sea to land on the young man standing on the reef beach with the broken spear, and then on the deep crater dozens of zhang in diameter.
“At that moment, that Daoist detonated his peak Boundless Realm cultivation.
“Had Young Hero Chen not stepped forward, those thousands of lives on the city walls would likely have been lost.”
He retracted his gaze and looked back at Shen Xingzhi, his eyes filled with shame.
“As the City Lord of Jinyang City who has guarded this city for twenty years, I should have been the first to act to protect it.
“Yet I was immersed in our sword duel, completely forgetting myself and remaining entirely oblivious to the crisis below the city.
“Meanwhile, while fighting me with all your strength, Senior Shen, you still had enough presence of mind to pay attention to the people in the city and even split off sword intent to assist Young Hero Chen.”
Hearing this, Chen Zui's heart leaped violently.
That trace of sword intent that fused into the light wall earlier was indeed Shen Xingzhi's handiwork.
This number-one Sword Immortal under heaven was able to divert his attention to notice the disaster on the reef beach while clashing at full power with an opponent of the exact same tier.
Furthermore, he could precisely deliver a trace of sword intent before Chen Zui without Lü Beisheng noticing.
This level of ease, this unfathomable mastery—it was simply beyond anything that could be described as merely "ridiculously strong."
Lü Beisheng held Sheiru horizontally before him, cupping the sword in both hands, and bowed deeply and solemnly to Shen Xingzhi.
“Senior Shen's mastery of the Way of the Sword is far beyond my reach. In this battle, it is I who lost.”
Looking at Lü Beisheng bowing down before him, Shen Xingzhi suddenly burst into hearty laughter.
“Lü Beisheng, ah, Lü Beisheng... Your biggest flaw is that you're far too honest.”
He held both hands behind his back, his green robe fluttering loudly in the sea breeze.
“If I say you won, then you won.
“Your strike truly grazed my sleeve—that is an absolute fact.
“As for a minor thing like splitting my focus to protect the city, I've been an Earthly Immortal for more years than you after all, so naturally my ability to multitask is a bit better than yours.
“What does that have to do with skill in the Way of the Sword?
“If you live to my age, even splitting your focus to protect eight cities simultaneously would be nothing more than a snap of the fingers.”
Lü Beisheng opened his mouth to speak further, but Shen Xingzhi waved a hand to stop him.
“Being able to enter a state of selflessness precisely proves that your Way of the Sword has reached perfection.
“The reason I didn't enter that state wasn't because my heart was filled with concern for the people.
“To be frank, I wasn't thinking about the common folk at all just now; that trace of sword intent was merely done in passing.
“Rather, it is because my Way of the Sword is not yet as pure as yours.
“Your sword is simply a sword—free of stray thoughts and encumbrances, possessing only the absolute resolve to break all arts with a single strike.
“Whereas my sword contains far too many other things.
“All of those are rust upon the edge of my blade.”
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