518 The Intimidating Radiance of Youth

When those three painters from the Pavilion of Divination cried out in shock,many people on the great ship guessed at what sort of technique Xu Yourong wasusing. It was just that it was far too shocking, so none of them dared tobelieve it. Only now, after hearing the words of Mao Qiuyu and the other twodid they finally confirm that it really was as they had imagined. There was an eerie silence, with only the sound of the waters of the Luo Rivergently slapping against the hull of the ship. They all looked at the distant stone bridge, covered in misty rain and foggysnow, that scene which seemed more appropriate in the land of fairies, and allthought in shock, is the Sword of Great Light really going to appear once more? Countless years ago, at the very beginning of the schism between theOrthodoxy's north and south, the first Holy Maiden entered the Mausoleum ofBooks to view the monoliths and comprehend the Dao, entering in autumn andremaining all the way until the summer. At the end, under the pavilion at thevery front of the Divine Path, she created two grand sword techniques. One wasa technique said to be the most ingenious and incomprehensible ‘DepartingSpring’. The other was the legendary Sword of Great Light. The Sword of Great Light possessed a divine aura surpassing the mortal world,as well as unimaginably terrifying might. Together with the Orthodoxy's Scrollof the Harmonious Sun, the seventh move of the White Emperor's Burning SeaStyle, the Halving Blade Style's ‘Skybreak’, and the ‘Autumn Slaying’ of thespear style of the Chen Imperial clan, they were called the continent's FiveGrand Masterstrokes. The Scroll of the Harmonious Sun comprehended the Heavenly Dao, forgetting thesea of stars. The Burning Sea Style was incomparably tyrannical. The HalvingBlade slaughtered all things. With an indifferent look, the Frost God Spearcould cause all living things of the world to wither away. Each had its ownDao, unsurpassed in bearing and spirit. But the Sword of Great Light wasdifferent from the rest, more similar to offering a sacrifice to the stars, atechnique that transcended the path of the sword. The Sword of Great Light was an almost unimaginable sword technique. It had nospecific style, instead seeming like the essence of all sword techniques, thecomplex orbits of the myriad stars. Ultimately, it was demonstrated through thesimplest of methods. This sword technique was simultaneously simple and complex. Every ray of lightwas a sword, and the rays of light traveled between the heavens and earth, ableto imitate all things and reach any place. As long as one's body was betweenheaven and earth, how could one avoid it? Besides the legendary "Departing Spring" and the "Scroll of Time", no moreprofound and incomprehensible technique could be found in the Orthodoxy. Tolearn it would naturally be extraordinarily difficult. The learner had toclearly understand all the sword styles of the world. Then, with the assistanceof the divine Qi of the temple sword, they could take their understandings ofthe path of the sword and perfectly meld them with the teachings of theOrthodoxy. To learn the Sword of Great Light necessitated the assistance of the templesword's divine Qi to comprehend. Many years ago, Zhou Dufu had invaded HolyMaiden Peak and taken the temple sword away, resulting in the loss of the Swordof Great Light. "Hasn't the Sword of Great Light been lost for several centuries?" The people on the ship all stared at the fantastical scene atop the Bridge ofHelplessness, stared at the indistinct figure of Xu Yourong. They couldn't helpbut gasp in shock and awe. Linghai Zhiwang replied, "The temple sword has already reappeared in theworld." It was at this point that many of them realized that the sword in Xu Yourong'shad was actually the temple sword of South Stream Temple. Soon after, theyrecalled the rumors about Chen Changsheng discovering the Sword Pool in theGarden of Zhou and knew that this temple sword must have been returned to SouthStream Temple by the Li Palace. They couldn't help but feel that this matterwas a little disorderly. Mo Yu stared at the Bridge of Helplessness, her elegant eyebrows arched. Besides time, there was no other way to comprehend and understand the divineQi of the temple sword. Back when the temple sword was still in Holy MaidenPeak, not every generation of Holy Maiden was able to grasp the Sword of GreatLight. Those Holy Maidens able to grasp the Sword of Great Light often had togreatly advance in cultivation and then spend several decades before they werefinally able to thoroughly comprehend it. Mo Yu was well aware that Xu Youronghad only turned sixteen last month and had only received the temple sword fromthe Li Palace not seven days ago. So just how had she managed to pull it off? Just as the people on the ship were all struck speechless, a change occurredon the bridge. Countless bright, but not dazzling, rays of light piercedthrough the snowy fog to illuminate the Luo River and the cold-resistant willowbranches on the two banks. The fairyland instantly transformed into the DivineKingdom, the stone bridge seemingly the path that led to the Divine Kingdom. It was now confirmed without question that Xu Yourong really was using theSword of Great Light. Rays of light pierced through the snow, causing the light and shadow in thefog of snow to shift, creating countless indistinct marks. Those marks weresword intents, frozen and unmoving, hidden and unreleased. If those rays of light in the snow were to make contact with something, thenthese countless sword intents would come with the snow and appear in the rain.Although at this point, no one had seen those sword intents actually transforminto sword techniques, people could already sense that countless swordtechniques were concealed within them. This was the most frightening aspect of the Sword of Great Light. If ChenChangsheng raised his sword to confront it, these sword intents would alltransform, and who could eliminate all the light between the heavens and earth? If it were someone like Mao Qiuyu or Linghai Zhiwang, these experts only astep from the Divine Domain, they would only need to use their vigorous trueessence and profound cultivations to forcefully suppress and then shatter XuYourong's Sword of Great Light. They only needed to pay the correspondingrather minuscule price. But Chen Changsheng had a similar cultivation level toXu Yourong, and his amount of true essence and strength of spiritual sense wasfar inferior to hers. How could he break this sword? Of course, the Sword of Great Light was no earthly technique. To use thissword, one would inevitably have to pay an enormous price. Even with XuYourong's Heavenly Phoenix blood, she could most likely use it just once. If Chen Changsheng could not break this Sword of Great Light, his defeat wascertain. If he could break the Sword of Great Light, then Xu Yourong's loss waswithout question. This was also precisely the reason that painter from thePavilion of Divination had uttered those words in shock. Today's match on the Bridge of Helplessness had been the focus of everyone'sattention. For this battle, the common folk of the capital had waited severalmonths, or even close to two years. Was it possible for this match to end so quickly? Many people were very surprised. No matter if it were Mao Qiuyu, LinghaiZhiwang, or Daoist Siyuan in that battle, none of them would have allowedthemselves to be forced into such desperate straits so soon. Yes, these were desperate straits. This was the case for both Chen Changsheng and Xu Yourong. Victory or defeat depended on a single attack—Chen Changsheng and Xu Yourongwere both people very confident in themselves, and people with suchself-confidence would never allow themselves to be forced into such a situation. But they still acted in this way, neither leaving a path of retreat forthemselves. Chen Changsheng had used Wang Po's path of the blade to draw a path on thesnow bridge. Xu Yourong had used her own path to receive this path. All thiswas because they were both upright youths. Youths did not need to keep any reserve. They would not hide their weakness, much less hide their attacks. What youths wanted to do was to intimidate. As a result, this battle that had just barely begun had reached its end. Senior experts like Linghai Zhiwang were no longer youths, and had evenforgotten their own youths, so they could not understand. Tang Thirty-Six couldunderstand, Su Moyu understood, Prince Chen Liu could faintly understand, andZhexiu understood the most. Because they were all young people. "Both Chen Changsheng and Xu Yourong don't enjoy performing for others." TangThirty-Six turned his head to glance at the dense mass of people crowding thetwo banks of the Luo River and said, "It will end very quickly." At this moment, a cry of shock suddenly rose up from the great ship. On the Bridge of Helplessness, the fog of snow madly danced and the mist ofrain suddenly scattered. Countless rays of light concealing countless sword intents assaulted ChenChangsheng. Chen Changsheng raised his sword and stabbed at a certain place in the rainand snow. There was nothing new about this attack, much less any deep meaning behind it.