Chapter Seventy-One: Commanding the Winds and Clouds

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Fan Lanzhou, Early Dao Embryo Stage.
Bai Chengzhou, Middle Dao Embryo Stage.
In terms of cultivation, Fan Lanzhou was already at a disadvantage; with Bai Chengzhou being the first to face him, it inevitably seemed somewhat bullying.
However, under Ning Jiuyi’s tutelage, there were only two disciples at the Dao Embryo stage. The other, Feng Wanhai, though also only at the early stage, was said to be so deeply immersed in the way of the sword that his strength surpassed even Bai Chengzhou’s. Thus, it was reasonable for Bai Chengzhou to take the field first.
Seated behind Ning Jiuyi, Bai Chengzhou’s aged face showed a smile that was neither quite a smile nor a smirk as he heard his own name called. He stood, cupped his hands to Ning Jiuyi, and then swept toward the battered center of the plaza.
“Win for me.”
Ning Jiuyi’s cold, commanding voice reached Bai Chengzhou’s ears. Bai’s brows twitched slightly, and he nodded.
“Second Senior Brother, you can do it!”
Elsewhere, Yang Xiaoman and others cheered for Fan Lanzhou. Though the people of Budong Peak were few, they did not intend to lose in momentum.
Fan Lanzhou also nodded, then swept down toward the center of the plaza.
“Junmei, watch my sword carefully.”
Fan Lanzhou gave Fang Junmei a final word of advice, to which Fang Junmei nodded in return.
Like a drifting cloud emerging from the mountain, Fan Lanzhou floated toward the plaza’s heart.
...
Boom—
Thunderous sounds erupted almost instantly. Both men had more at stake than ordinary disciples, and the moment they landed at the plaza’s center, they began their clash without even an exchange of words.
Wind surged, clouds gathered, earth and mountains shook!
These two cultivators who could not afford to lose abandoned all tedious probing and unleashed their true skills from the start.
Bai Chengzhou’s aura was overwhelming, his spiritual power robust. Being of the earth element, he wielded a mystical art called the Six Ding Mountain-Moving Sword Technique. His long sword, aglow with yellow radiance, moved neither quickly nor slowly and tapped the ground, infusing it with yellow swordlight.
Rumble—
Suddenly, from beneath the earth, monsters the height of two men, clad in golden armor, their faces vague and expressionless, burst through the ground. Each lifted a chunk of shattered, glowing earth and hurled it at Fan Lanzhou.
One.
Two.
Six in total before stopping.
This technique left many cultivators dumbfounded; they never imagined a sword art could be used in such a manner. In truth, it had surpassed the realm of sword techniques and become a sophisticated spell performed through the forms of swordsmanship.
Fan Lanzhou wielded the same blue longsword he had used in his spar with Linghu Jinjiu—an upper-grade magical weapon named Ancient Path, the Ancient Path of warm-heartedness!
With it, he naturally employed the so-called Grand Evolution Wind-and-Cloud Sword Art. As the strange, glowing earth attacked, Fan Lanzhou casually unleashed a move called Wind Blades, Frost Swords.
Continuous waves of swordlight shot from the tip of the Ancient Path, intercepting the oncoming earth.
Boom—
Dust flew!

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Fan Lanzhou followed his sword, paying little heed to the seemingly terrifying chunks of earth flying at him, but instead moved like the wind through the gaps blasted open, drawing closer to Bai Chengzhou.
Bai Chengzhou watched, a faint smile on his lips, and with a flicker appeared beside the nearest golden-armored giant.
Roar!
The golden-armored giant bellowed like a human and swung a massive fist the size of a washbasin at Fan Lanzhou, the wind howling from its force. Had it landed, the injury would surely not be light.
Fan Lanzhou’s gaze was calm as water. With a swift stroke of the Ancient Path, a patch of white mist several yards wide sprang into being from the void, not only meeting the giant’s fist but also shrouding Fan Lanzhou’s own figure.
Boom!
The sound reverberated.
Yet all could tell that was not the sound of a fist connecting solidly. Those cultivators who extended their spiritual senses saw clearly that Fan Lanzhou, swift as lightning, darted to another direction and attacked Bai Chengzhou anew.
They had spiritual sense and could see, but the golden-armored giant did not. After missing its target with a punch, it stared at the cloud before it in utter bewilderment.
...
Swish—
In another quarter, Bai Chengzhou, a seasoned veteran, naturally sensed Fan Lanzhou’s movement and dodged aside.
The two men now fought amid the six golden-armored giants, their contest locked in a fierce struggle that lasted for dozens of breaths.
Bai Chengzhou was steady and composed, executing a sword technique that seemed light and casual yet carried the weight of a mountain. Each blow thundered like a storm, but the moves, though seemingly repetitive, concealed mysteries unknown.
Fan Lanzhou’s every strike, on the other hand, was the simplest—thrust, lift, chop, slash... Yet each move seemed as if he had practiced it a million times, so natural and fluid as to make one’s hair stand on end, like wind over grass, silent and swift, like clouds gliding across the sky, ethereal and beautiful.
Sometimes as wind, sometimes as cloud—
This was the subtlety of the Grand Evolution Wind-and-Cloud Sword Art.
Compared to Bai Chengzhou’s steady style, Fan Lanzhou’s free and airy elegance was even more terrifying.
Boom—
As he passed by, a casual strike or two would slay several golden-armored giants, scattering them into earthy-yellow energy.
Many cultivators watched with wide eyes, inwardly praising Fan Lanzhou’s grace—a man who wielded the sword with beauty and without losing its might.
Fang Junmei’s eyes sparkled with admiration, his obsession with the art so deep he forgot whether to learn or simply to marvel.
...
Fan Lanzhou moved with the poise of a refined scholar, as if painting with ink and brush—his gestures unrestrained and graceful, yet what he painted was the wind, and what he swept forth was cloud.
Yet Bai Chengzhou, across from him, was unfazed, steadily deploying that mountain-heavy sword art.
From Ning Jiuyi’s side, all eyes watched Fan Lanzhou with cold, sneering looks, silently betting on how long he could last.
Only they knew that this so-called Collapsing Five Mountains River Sword Art, though it seemed to have only one move, hid its changes in secret. Each strike contained a peculiar method for stacking power, with each blow stronger than the last. If Fan Lanzhou insisted on matching force with force, his internal organs would inevitably shatter in time!
Clang—
With the golden-armored giants vanishing one by one, Fan Lanzhou and Bai Chengzhou now engaged in a direct contest of strength.
One strike—

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Two strikes—
…
In a short while, the two exchanged dozens of blows head-on.
Yet the outcome Ning Jiuyi’s disciples anticipated—Fan Lanzhou coughing blood and gravely wounded—never happened.
“What’s going on with this youngster? How can his physical body be so strong?”
Ning Jiuyi wondered in surprise.
“Could he be using some sort of protective artifact?”
His disciples also speculated.
Few noticed that Fan Lanzhou’s Grand Evolution Wind-and-Cloud Sword Art was subtly changing, no longer simple thrusts and lifts but forming circles, drawing out cloud-like little dragons.
Suddenly—
With another resounding clash, Bai Chengzhou unexpectedly spat a mouthful of blood and was hurled backward, his face instantly turning ashen.
...
In a flash, after sending Bai Chengzhou flying, Fan Lanzhou casually sheathed his sword, making no move to pursue, his gaze steely as though waiting for his opponent to concede.
At this point, the situation seemed clear.
Yet no one could fathom how Bai Chengzhou was suddenly injured.
Lying on the ground, Bai Chengzhou stared at Fan Lanzhou as if he had seen a ghost. Only he knew that in that last blow, there had been a terrifying power that could shatter mountains and rivers, the very essence of his own Collapsing Five Mountains River Sword Art.
But how did Fan Lanzhou not only avoid injury, but turn the attack back on him?
“Are you not going to admit defeat?”
Fan Lanzhou asked calmly when his opponent remained silent, a fine sheen of sweat on his brow hinting that victory had not come easily.
Bai Chengzhou’s gaze flickered rapidly.
“Chengzhou, get up!”
At that moment, Ning Jiuyi’s cold and severe voice rang through the valley. The old man fixed Bai Chengzhou with a piercing stare and abruptly stood.
Hearing these words, many cultivators felt their blood stir and looked at Ning Jiuyi in admiration, thinking him a man of indomitable will.
“Use the artifact I lent you. Even if you lose, force out more of his techniques. You must leave Fan Lanzhou gravely wounded!”
This was sent as a spiritual message, the tone cold and sinister.
Had others heard it, their jaws would surely have dropped to the ground.