Chapter 270

Chapter 270: See All Beings

The first form of the Emotionless Sword Art is the peak of cold. In that bitter chill, a peerless Ice Lotus blooms.

This move is powerful because it pushes ice to the limit.

When the ice-attribute spiritual power is driven to its peak, the sword turns into a lotus.

Now, Li Shuang gained a new insight.

In her sword moves, there is not only extreme cold.

All things under heaven, the Five Elements turning without end, can all become part of the sword.

Before Li Shuang even realized it, her final strike, carrying all her strength, had already fallen.

Sword light spun like the cycle of the Five Elements, and the most extreme frost Sword Qi exploded.

The sharpness of metal, the burning of fire, the binding of wood, the weight of earth, and the change of water all merged into the sword at this moment.

The Black Abyss Sword chopped hard at the last Five Elements Source Thread.

The blade trembled.

The Five Elements Source Thread trembled too.

Li Shuang panted lightly.

This move was called See All Beings.

It was the second style of the Emotionless Path: See All Beings.

Everyone stared at the Water Screen.

Had it… worked?

On the golden altar, a wood calamity appeared this time.

Vines surged toward Li Shuang all at once, while her body slowly toppled.

She had spent every drop of strength. She could not even dodge the simplest attack.

Hearts jumped in the crowd.

So… did she still lose at the last second?

In the next instant, the Five Elements Source Thread shook, faster and faster, until it split in the middle.

The vines about to touch Li Shuang vanished in the air, then broke apart into dots of light.

Five new Five Elements Crystals fell with a clear sound by Li Shuang’s side.

A calm voice announced: “Intermediate Five Elements Crystal, Value Points: three million!”

Li Shuang had almost no strength left, but she still tugged at the corner of her mouth and let a smile appear.

She had won her bet.

[It is not that I love to gamble.]

[But does this world really allow steady, slow growth?]

[The City Lord raises Human Race geniuses at any cost. Is that only because she is kind?]

[Did someone like Ye Zhao Zhao, a Devil Seed who appeared out of nowhere, show up by accident?]

A sense of danger had hung over Li Shuang’s heart for a long time for reasons she could not name.

The higher her cultivation grew, the heavier that danger felt.

She had a strong feeling that in this age, she could not hide or lie low or chase only safe progress.

She had to fight, grab chances, struggle, and grow as fast as possible, just to gain the right to face the truth of this world.

She had worried too.

[Do I like to gamble too much? If I chose the same path as You Lan, I could win more safely.]

But if she did not force herself, she might never know how far she could go.

No matter what, she had won.

The Five Elements Crystals turned into flowing light and entered Li Shuang’s sea of consciousness.

The golden altar under her feet slowly rose and reached the fifth layer.

In front of the Water Screen, everything fell quiet.

Besides You Lan, there was now one more person standing on the fifth layer of the Golden Soul Altar.

What was more, she had used the hardest method to get there.

On the fourth-layer golden altar, You Lan swayed for a second.

Her mind slipped, a giant wave crashed over, and she almost got thrown off the altar.

Luckily, she was experienced. She adjusted fast and forced her stance to steady.

Even so, her heart was in chaos.

Before now, she could still comfort herself.

At least, she had been the only young genius to set foot on the fifth layer of the Golden Soul Altar.

But now…

Li had entered the fifth layer before her.

Li had even used the method of cutting the source threads.

Did this mean that the so-called number one genius, You Lan, had been completely surpassed?

More waves kept coming one after another. You Lan dared not think anymore. She clenched her teeth and held on.

No matter what, she had to reach the fifth layer.

Last time, she failed to pass the fifth.

This time, her target was the sixth layer.

As long as she reached the sixth layer, she would still be the number one genius.

In Myriad Arts City, inside a teahouse, the Elder drank tea while watching the Water Screen.

Seeing the unwilling look on You Lan’s face, the Elder sighed.

This disciple of his… this was her first real taste of failure.

If Li stopped at the fifth layer while You Lan passed the trial, maybe You Lan could keep a last bit of pride.

If she still failed to pass the fifth layer, could You Lan bear the blow?

Gu Yuan said with a hint of gloating: “Senior Brother, your genius disciple will not be ruined just like that, right?”

He had wanted to take Li as his disciple only because his Senior Brother had shown off again and again after taking You Lan as a disciple.

Now, even though he had not taken Li, watching his Senior Brother choke a little was still nice.

The Elder glanced at him and smiled: “No. If she loses this time, that will mark the true start of her growth.”

Gu Yuan raised a brow: “You do have faith in her.”

The Elder spoke calmly: “I have faith in her heart for the path.”

You Lan loved cultivation to the point of obsession. Over the years, except for those few times he joked around to make her rest a moment, she had trained almost without pause.

Her heart for the path was shocking.

If she lost this time, it would be a chance for her to look at herself again.

Could Li really make You Lan lose well? The Elder even felt a little excited to see it.

In the void, the City Lord looked at a few figures of the Phantom Stage that appeared suddenly and stayed silent.

One figure said: “City Lord Yu, you hid very well.”

Another chuckled: “You keep saying you are not good at teaching, yet you taught such a peerless genius?”

A third voice added: “If I am not wrong, this Li’s Rebirth Art is already at first-layer Great Completion. Her talent in the Soul Method is terrifying.”

Someone else said: “More than that. Did you see her sword? The grade is not high yet. But the Sword Spirit fits her extremely well. That should be a rare Purple Affinity.”

Another voice praised: “Her grasp of the Way of the Sword is amazing. In that last move where she cut the final source thread, Five Elements power was already hidden inside. She understood that on the spot.”

They summed up with teasing voices: “A genius in the Way of the Sword. A Sword Spirit with Purple Affinity. A Rebirth Art bound to the Lunar Star. City Lord, is this what you call not knowing how to teach?”

Ember looked at the hazy figures and, after a brief silence, said helplessly: “What if I say I truly never taught her. Would you believe me?”

The figures kept smiling without a word.

Ember was completely helpless now.

She was speaking the truth, but Li’s performance was so over the top that no one believed her.

“We do not ask for anything big. Each of us has a junior we value. City Lord, would you point them in the right direction?”

“That is right. We are willing to pay a price that will satisfy the City Lord.”

They finally stated why they had come.

Ember’s lips twitched: “I really am not good at it. If you send your juniors to me, I will only slow them down.”

“Why be modest, City Lord? As long as you teach with your full effort, we will have no complaints. Here is a small gift. Please accept it.”

These top experts of the Human Race directly offered heavy gifts.