Chapter 862 Blood debt duel (7)


    ??Chen Gutian performed a downward sh intending to interrupt Chen Zhn''s diagonal sh. Chen Zhn out of fear of losing his sword from the sh, tensed his muscles as he lowered his center of gravity, opting to lower the speed of his attack and focus on stability only to find the powerful attack he was expecting to fall on him was a feint.


    Chen Gutian put less than expected force in his attack and instead borrowed the force created from their sh to recoil himself over Chen Zhn,unching himself slightly above Chen Zhn''s head, his body rotating along with his sword aiming to dice Chen Zhn''s head.


    Chen Zhn rapidly reacted by dislocating his ankle and rolling over forward, narrowly dodging the spinning de aimed at his head. However even if he dodged the attack, he didn''t escape unscathed as a geyser of blood sprayed from his shoulder revealing an exposed vicle that was hanging loosely on his shoulders.


    To those weaker than them, that whole segue of attack would have been like shimmering light charging over Chen Zhn in the blink of an eye, and a spray of blood appearing an instantter. From the recoil to gliding to shing,Chen Gutian''s speed had been as blindingly fast as he was throughout the attack.


    If it were anyone else but Chen Zhn in that position, they would have likely had their head sliced through like a pumpkin without even realizing how.


    Chen Zhn wasn''t given a chance to bemoan his state as Chen Gutian continued with his relentless attacks. A flurry of stabs and shes that shimmered into hundreds of cyan light descended on him like an avnche as he was forced into a desperate struggle of dodging and parrying.


    With one shoulder almost out ofmission, his movements were greatly affected which in turn affected almost every other part of his swordy, particrly his reaction. For someone who had gone almost five minutes without so much as a scratch, shallow wounds started coloring his body in a growing number and it wasn''t long before his pristine white robes were colored red.


    "His despicable character aside, one has to admit he is talented..." murmured Yang Qing, Yu Gen nodding.


    Even with a torn shoulder, which effectively rendered his right hand unusable, and Chen Gutian not letting up in his attacks, the fact that Chen Gutian still couldn''t heavily injure him was a testament to the capabilities of Chen Zhn.


    Even injured, his talents shone through in how he handled himself, especially in manipting the Owl vignt sword art. He fluidly executed the art to parry almost all of Chen Gutian''s attacks, and when defending orpletely dodging the attack wasn''t feasible, he knew when to trade his survival for small injuries, which always forced Chen Gutian''s hand to ept the trade.


    Even handicapped he still managed to contain Chen Gutian''s attacks, but how long could he keep this up was what everyone wondered.


    The owl vignt sword art was highly taxing on one''s body, and that was when one was fully fit, let alone in an injured state like the one Chen Zhn.


    As the fight went on it became clear to Yang Qing why the art was ssified into a blue grade art. As potent as the art was, it had clear deficiencies, one of which was it was ill-suited for fighting a protracted battle.


    The longer the fight went on, the worse it got on the one executing the art. Their muscles would be highly strained, and the demands of the spiritual sense were tranted into great demands on the soul which would be just as fatigued as the muscles the longer the fight went on, and then there was the enormous qi reserves the art demanded all throughout its executions. Its focus on extreme precision and speed meant you couldn''t let up for even a second. The tempo either had to be sustained or continuously raised. There was no lowering it or its bite would dull.


    Chen Zhn and Chen Gutian had only fought for ten minutes but the amount of qi they expended was simr to the amount of qi one would expend executing a regr blue-grade art for one and a half hours straight.


    He could already tell they were fast approaching the half mark on their reserves though Chen Gutian seemed to have a slightlyrger capacity than Chen Zhn.


    It was ringly obvious now when it came to the Owl vignt sword art, you either had to settle the matter fast or as time progressed, the opponent would be the least of your problems. The art would quickly turn its de on the owner.


    With each passing second, the relentlessness ofChen Gutian left Chen Zhn with little to do other than defend. His robes were soaked in sweat and blood, with hair sticking close to his skin, but even with Chen Gutian pushing him to the extreme, where a single misstep could spell his death, his eyes were calm, his response meticulous, without any waste of movement and when it came to Chen Gutian, his experience showed.


    Even with a clear advantage, he wasn''t anxious, eager, or impatient to end, but maintained the same attitude he had throughout the fight even before Chen Zhn''s injury.


    A secondter one of Chen Gutian''s attacks managed to prate Chen Zhn''s study defense which resulted in a pinpoint st at Chen Zhn''s side, leaving a gaping hole.


    But even with another grievous injury to him, Chen Zhn didn''t so much as flinch or act desperately because of it. He maintained hisposure and momentum, as he adjusted himself ordingly to his body''s state which even if he was hated, earned a look of respect from those watching, notwithstanding Yang Qing and Yu Gen who both furrowed their brows at the same time just as Chen Gutian was arming another powerful thrust towards Chen Zhn''s exposed side.


    A sharp piercing light was instantly produced from where Chen Zhn was standing, heading straight for Chen Gutian''s sword.


    ng.


    A loud metallic sound reverberated around the tform, followed by the explosion of air and dust around them with something barrelling backward at breakneck speeds. Without pause, four bamboo leaves appeared above the tform, each leaf had a terrifying sharpness to it that it would not be a stretch to say one of those leaves could instantly shred apart a 10,000-meter mountain into particles.


    "His art seems to have changed. Is it something he had? It seems to be even better and more dangerous in terms of its destructive abilities than the Owl vignt sword art.." said Yang Qing to Yu Gen as he observed the delicate crystalline bamboo leaves that were honing in on Chen Gutian with fierce momentum.


    In a single moment, the role of attacker and defender had changed with Chen Gutian being on the defensive end as he blitzed around the tform defending against those leaves. Every time his sword shed against one, it produced the same feeling as one would when shing against another weapon.


    His sword had faint cracks on its surface and his left side was bleeding heavily with bone being revealed.


    Chen Zhn was fast on him with his sword coated in a deep green color that gave the illusion it was a bamboo shoot that released a terrifying sharpness that was several notches higher than the leaves targeting Chen Gutian. Were an early-stage core formation expert present to view the de in its current form, their eyes would instantly bleed from the sharpness radiated by it.


    "What do you think, brother Yu Gen?"


    "It''s a different art, though, I don''t know, it feels to have some aspect of the previous art he used, only this one seems to focus on one aspect to the extreme, sharpness."


    "My thoughts exactly.."


    Up on the tform, Chen Gutian tried his best to dodge the leaves looking to rip him apart, however, with how nimbly they moved, it proved difficult as cuts ranging from shallow to deep started appearing on his body from every leaf that prated his defense, and the circumstances turned graver when Chen Zhn joined the attack.


    His attacks were now more forceful and powerful but still remained fast. His attacks felt like the attacks of a snapping bamboo shoot. Those snaps were curvingly fast and impactful, with Chen Gutian recoiling every time he traded blows with Chen Zhn.


    However just as it looked like Chen Zhn was gaining ground, Chen Gutian''s de transformed, and just like Chen Zhn''s, his had the look of a bamboo leaf. Three leaves were produced from the tip of his de in rapid session, which shed against three of the four leaves that were targeting him, and just as the fourth leaf was about to tear his right eye out, a fourth leaf came out and intercepted the leaf that was after him.


    "You reached the fourth.." Chen Zhn muttered in surprise as he saw Chen Gutian''s fourth leaf, which though looked smaller than the rest of the leaves he had produced, still contained the same sharpness.


    Chen Zhn''s surprise didn''t stop there as he saw another leaf slowly sprout from Chen Gutian''s de as their des shed against each other.


    His eyes widened as he saw the leaf slowly sprouted as he muttered,


    "Impossible.." over and over.


    The other elders looked just as surprised by the turn of events, only Chen Zian disyed a different emotion, his was that of regret, as he let out amenting sigh.


    Chen Gutian at the moment had blue light veins appearing all around his body as the fifth leaf was being produced. When that fifth leaf formed, it was the size of a pea grain, but its momentum contained the destructive force of the four leaves he had producedbined.


    "Let''s end this shall we.." he softly muttered with a tired aged voice as the fifth leafunched itself toward Chen Zhn, who managed to narrowly dodge it as it was aimed at his forehead. It struck his ear, vaporizing it in the process.


    Chen Zhn let out a maddening roar as he increased the speed of his attacks with Chen Gutian matching him in kind. They traded blow for blow, their attacks turning into shimmering blurs in the process, as their attacks reached new heights in terms of speed and power. Their wounds grew rapidly, with more appearing on Chen Zhn owing to the extra bamboo leaf Chen Gutian had under his control.


    Even with their growing injuries, none of them stopped as they increased the tempo. Chen Zhn with a decisive glint shing in his eyes, pulled his sword back like he was knocking an arrow, and in the process left his chest exposed to be sliced apart by two of the leaves that had been targeting him.


    "You''re not the only one who can put their life on the line.." he muttered. In his gaze, he saw Chen Gutian''s thrust slowly approaching his heart. It was like time had slowed down.


    "Will my sword ever reach you.." he thought as he saw the silhouette of a young handsome man with eyebrows that were shaped like a sword and clear serene eyes appear behind Chen Gutian.


    "Four leaves return into one.."


    The four leaves that had been floating above him instantlybined at the tip of his de forming a clover, and with it, a silent sword hum was produced along with a gentle cyan light that covered the entire sword and Chen Zhn.


    He gently thrust his sword forward. It moved slowly just like Chen Gutian''s sword and his leaves were moving. In its slow speed, it caught up with Chen Gutian''s sword but ignored it as it moved past it, inching ever so closer to Chen Gutian''s chest, whereupon contact, the leaves slowly melted into Chen Gutian''s chest as the light that had covered the sword and Chen Zhn blended into it.


    Chen Gutian''s chest disintegrated inch by inch, with blood and bone being melted away by the green light that had invaded his chest and it wasn''t long before a massive watermelon-sized hole was created in Chen Gutian''s chest, and Chen Zhn''s hand passed through that cavity while on his end, Chen Gutian''s de had already reached his body with Chen Zhn apathetically looking on as his chest was slowly being run through.


    "Good fight.."