Chapter 588: Civil Engineering + Flying Swords: A Promising Combination?
As Zhang Yu unleashed his Heavenly Kunlun Mountain-Moving Divine Power, his flying sword hurtled toward Bei Wufeng with lethal force. Yet Bei Wufeng remained calm, his fingers flicking lightly to shift his Sword Art.
“Junior Brother, this isn’t how flying swords work. It’s not about brute strength.”
“What do you think of this Ten Thousand Swords Art?”
Bei Wufeng chuckled softly. His twelve flying swords multiplied rapidly, splitting into two, then four, until the sky was filled with countless sword shadows.
This transformation wasn’t a physical increase in the number of Bei Wufeng’s Great Sky Sacred Law Flying Swords. Instead, Zhang Yu’s senses were overwhelmed by a dense, indistinguishable mass of illusory and real targets.
Zhang Yu felt as if he had activated radar, unable to discern the true form of Bei Wufeng’s swords amidst the swarm of red dots — all false targets.
Zhang Yu knew that during a Sword Duel, flying swords crisscrossed the vast sky at incredible speeds and over great distances. At such moments, visual tracking alone was impossible.
Even within this ten-mile battlefield, attempting to visually locate Bei Wufeng’s twelve swords would be futile, unable to keep up with the opponent’s rapidly shifting attacks.
The Great Sky Sacred Law Flying Swords detected and locked onto their targets using the Great Sky Sword Realm and the Great Sun Moral Sword Intent.
In terms of Sword Intent, both Zhang Yu and Bei Wufeng had clashed repeatedly since the battle began, neither able to gain a decisive advantage.
However, in the Sword Realm, Bei Wufeng held a clear lead.
Now, with the Ten Thousand Swords Art activated, Zhang Yu’s flying sword perception was completely disrupted. As streams of light collided, his twelve Great Sky Sacred Law Flying Swords seemed to have gone blind, forced into a steady retreat.
Bei Wufeng chuckled softly. “Junior Brother, if this continues, the repair costs for your flying swords will be considerable. Do you still wish to proceed?”
Zhang Yu replied calmly, “Senior, this has only just begun. Why rush to end it?”
As he spoke, Zhang Yu formed a Dao Seal with his hand, activating the Heaven and Earth Cataclysmic Formless Heart Weapon.
“Wind Tribulation!”
With a distant finger strike, a vast spiritual wind surged toward the twelve Great Sky Sacred Law Flying Swords.
Instantly, the flow of spiritual energy into the swords surged, causing their Sword Realm to expand violently. This shattered large swathes of the Ten Thousand Swords Art’s illusory projections, gradually allowing the swords to detect the true locations of Bei Wufeng’s flying swords.
“Fire Tribulation!”
A soft boom echoed through the air.
Magic Power surged from the twelve flying swords, coalescing into fiery auras that forced them into overdrive.
In an instant, the swords transformed into twelve bolts of lightning, their movements propelled by Earthly Fiend Gravity and the Fire Tribulation. Bei Wufeng found himself overwhelmed, his hands moving in a frantic blur.
“Well done, Junior Brother! Who would have thought you could push the Heaven and Earth Cataclysmic Formless Heart Weapon to Level 10 in just two months?”
“Excellent! Let’s have another sword duel, then.”
“Twelve Sword Servants! Come forth!”
A Spirit Realm gate materialized in the air — the entrance to Bei Wufeng’s grotto-heaven deep within the Spirit Realm.
As the gate swung open, twelve Sword Spirit phantoms leaped out.
These Sword Spirits were artifact spirits Bei Wufeng had painstakingly crafted. Though lacking true wisdom, each had undergone extensive sword technique training. Day and night, they absorbed sword technique data within his Spirit Realm Grotto-Heaven, mastering diverse styles and engaging in constant sword duels against one another.
Combined with the Spirit Realm’s acceleration function, each of them was like a sword technique master who had cultivated for centuries, their minds completely focused on swordsmanship.
The moment the twelve Sword Servants activated, Zhang Yu felt as if twelve Foundation Establishment experts were attacking him with their flying swords.
Even with Zhang Yu’s lightning-fast mental processing and vast martial dao experience, he found himself completely unable to withstand the twelve Sword Servants’ coordinated assault.
Amidst a series of thunderous explosions, Bei Wufeng’s flying sword, amplified by the twelve Sword Servants, swept forward like a storm, closing the distance to within a thousand meters of Zhang Yu in an instant.
Faced with this combined offensive from the Sword Spirit, Zhang Yu’s gaze sharpened slightly. Without realizing it, he had already switched the Azure Lotus Sword Embryo to Third Eye Mystic Power and the Chain Method Diagram Set to Martial Dao Sacred Body.
Allowing the enemy’s flying sword to approach within a thousand meters was precisely what Zhang Yu had intended.
Within that range, he could barely track the flying sword’s movements with his own eyes.
Especially with the enhancements from his Third Eye Mystic Power and Martial Dao Sacred Body, the previously chaotic and indecipherable twelve-pronged Sword Intent assault now appeared crystal clear. Each strike and stance became simple, clear, and… learnable.
With a resounding clang, the two flying swords collided fiercely, mirroring each other’s posture and sword techniques.
To Bei Wufeng’s astonishment, the more his flying sword advanced toward Zhang Yu, the fiercer the resistance grew. Zhang Yu even began to mimic the twelve Sword Servants’ movements.
“What is this…?” Bei Wufeng’s mind raced. “Could he have concealed a Sword Spirit within his flying sword? Is he secretly learning my Sword Spirit’s data during our Sword Duel?”
In less than a minute, the Third Eye on Zhang Yu’s forehead trembled violently, frantically imitating the Twelve Sword Servants’ sword techniques.
Simultaneously, the Immeasurable Heart Inner Dharma Body activated with full force. Accompanied by the Four-Headed White Ox’s roar in his mind, three additional streams of consciousness surged forth, each commanding a flying sword.
At that moment, Zhang Yu seemed to transform into four beings, each possessing the Third Eye Mystic Power and wielding three flying swords in a sword formation, relentlessly repelling Bei Wufeng’s attacks.
Combined with the Heavenly Kunlun Mountain-Moving Divine Power and the Heaven and Earth Cataclysmic Formless Heart Weapon, Zhang Yu gradually gained the upper hand.
In the sky, True Monarch Tranquility watched the scene and nodded slightly. “Bei Wufeng chose the Grand Void Divine Artifact Strategy, a military-grade artifact refinement technique. Using this as his foundation, he paired it with the Great Sky Sacred Law Sword Formation, enhancing the formation with numerous additional functions.”
“During a Sword Duel, his style is flamboyant and intricate, overwhelming simplicity with complexity. His vast array of techniques allows him to adapt to any situation.”
“Zhang Yu, on the other hand, switched from the Civil Engineering Department and cultivated the Heavenly Kunlun Mountain-Moving Divine Power. He later chose the Heaven and Earth Cataclysmic Formless Heart Weapon as his artifact refinement technique.”
“Neither of these cultivation arts greatly aids in artifact refinement; they are better suited for enhancing the power of magical artifacts.”
“In this Sword Duel, Zhang Yu clearly intends to overcome skill with brute force, crushing ten techniques with sheer power…”
As True Monarch Tranquility pondered this, he thought to himself, “But facing such a straightforward approach, how could Bei Wufeng, who has prepared so many countermeasures, possibly lack a contingency plan?”
In the blink of an eye, Bei Wufeng’s Sword Realm had expanded relentlessly, compressing Zhang Yu’s Sword Realm to its breaking point. Under this crushing pressure, Zhang Yu’s flying swords seemed to react a beat slower, as if suffering from severe network lag.
Simultaneously, Bei Wufeng flicked his sword fingers lightly, causing his twelve flying swords to tremble in unison.
With a long, arrogant laugh, he declared, “Junior Brother, if you think you can defeat me with these crude Civil Engineering techniques, you’re severely underestimating the Way of the Flying Sword.”
“Heavenly Kunlun Mountain-Moving Divine Power is fine for digging earth.”
“But using it to control flying swords?”
“Utterly laughable.”
The twelve flying swords unleashed torrents of sword qi, which surged back and forth between them, circulating rapidly within the sword formation.
Fueled by the full power of the Sword Realm, the energy transfer within the sword formation reached its peak.
To Zhang Yu’s perception, Bei Wufeng’s twelve flying swords had become completely unified, each strike drawing upon the combined power of all twelve blades.
In contrast, Zhang Yu’s twelve flying swords, suppressed by Bei Wufeng’s Sword Realm, reacted a beat slower and now lacked the necessary power to compete.
Amidst a series of explosive clangs, Zhang Yu felt his Great Sky Sacred Law Flying Swords being knocked away one by one, as if struck by invisible lightning bolts in mid-air.
He couldn’t even track the trajectories of Bei Wufeng’s twelve flying swords before his own were repeatedly repelled.
Whoosh!
One of Zhang Yu’s flying swords grazed his body as it hurtled backward.
Simultaneously, twelve streaks of light shot toward him, poised to pierce his defenses in the next instant.
“The outcome is decided,” Bei Wufeng thought, but as the thought flashed through his mind, a sudden black flash erupted from his Bionic Eye, severing his connection to the twelve Great Sky Sacred Law Flying Swords.
“What?!”
At the same moment, a thunderous rumble shook the earth from deep below.
Nine towering platforms, constructed at some unknown time, erupted from the ground, forming a great formation that temporarily blocked the Spirit Realm signals to the flying swords.
Bei Wufeng immediately understood: “This bastard… while dueling me, he was secretly constructing a formation underground?”
Bei Wufeng immediately formed a Dao Seal, preparing to forcibly establish a connection to the Spirit Realm and break through the Formation’s barrier.
Given the crude, temporary nature of Zhang Yu’s Formation, Bei Wufeng was confident he could reestablish contact with his flying sword in a mere instant.
But in the next moment, Zhang Yu spread his fingers and reached out across the hundred-meter distance, grasping toward the twelve Great Sky Sacred Law Flying Swords.
“Senior, you were right. Compared to sword control, my Heavenly Kunlun Mountain-Moving technique excels at Formation deployment.”
The hundred-meter distance made the twelve flying swords appear crystal clear in Zhang Yu’s eyes.
The loss of the Spirit Realm signal prevented Bei Wufeng’s Sword Intent from continuing to infuse the blades, allowing Zhang Yu to easily lock onto the twelve flying swords.
With a palm strike, Zhang Yu’s sword casket shot toward the flying swords.
Under the overwhelming pull of Earthly Fiend Gravity, the twelve temporarily uncontrolled flying swords, like twelve darting fish, were effortlessly drawn into Zhang Yu’s sword casket.
Just as the sword casket snapped shut, the Spirit Realm connection violently reestablished itself. A heaven-shaking Sword Intent erupted from the flying swords, and the phantom figures of the Twelve Sword Servants descended once more.
“Break through!”
With a furious roar, the twelve flying swords struggled violently.
But in the next instant, as Zhang Yu stomped down heavily, the earth transformed into a colossal beast, its gaping maw swallowing the struggling swords and the sword casket whole.
The beast then morphed into a towering mountain, which in turn became a towering peak. The peak then shattered into countless walls of bronze and iron, crushing the flying swords within their unyielding embrace.
Simultaneously, Zhang Yu’s twelve flying swords shot forth like bolts of black lightning, streaking toward Bei Wufeng’s position.
Had this not been a Sword Duel, Bei Wufeng could have effortlessly summoned other magical artifacts to parry the swords while continuing to manipulate his own to break free from the suppression.
But this was a Sword Duel. As Bei Wufeng watched Zhang Yu’s lightning-fast approach, he knew he had already lost.
Meanwhile, True Monarch Tranquility observed the battlefield’s shifting dynamics, musing, “If this formation continues to develop, it seems it could further enhance the Sword Realm, amplify the Spirit Realm signals of the flying swords, and amplify the power of the sword formation.”
“Civil Engineering combined with Flying Sword Communication?”
“This might actually work.”