Chapter 130: A Flash

Ai Hui had no idea that someone was secretly observing them, but he wouldn’t really care even if he knew .

He was exceptionally focused right now; all his attention was on the grass sword in his hand .

Never had he imagined that there would come a day when he could experience the world through the “eyes” of a sword . He felt as if he had possessed the grass sword, turning it from an inanimate object into a living thing .

If he hadn’t bought it from Manager Li’s shop himself, Ai Hui would probably have thought that this grass sword was some kind of legendary weapon .

Back when he was reading swordplay manuals in the swordsman school, Ai Hui would often chance upon passages discussing the mythical sword souls . These were, of course, legends of old, and now that the swordsmen were long gone, there was no longer anyone who could verify such things .

Ai Hui had treated these passages as mere stories .

The cultivators of the past had left behind many bizarre accounts, but even those were no match for the seemingly exaggerated topics of the swordsmen . He had read accounts of swordsmen who were too embarrassed to even leave their homes without first achieving a certain skill level .

Ai Hui was initially astonished by the things he had read, but the sheer number of such accounts soon left him numb . Yes, indeed, today you put out the sun, tomorrow you shattered the moon, and the day after you could only destroy the stars . Oh, did you say that there were too many stars?

The more he read, the more accustomed he became to these oddities . Eventually, these stories no longer made him feel any shock or surprise .

But, today, the grass sword he was wielding seemed to be alive . The feeling wasn’t particularly intense, but it was exceptionally clear . Could it be that swords really were alive?

Ai Hui was still unsure .

Every swordplay manual would mention at least once that swords had essences within them . What they meant was that every sword, when cast, was bestowed with its own spiritual characteristics .

Sword essences varied in strength, and some were even able to grow along with their owners, further evolving into sword spirits and sword souls .

Since this was written in practically all the swordplay manuals, Ai Hui believed that it wasn’t all nonsense and might have been actually true during the Cultivation Era . But the times had since changed, with elemental energy becoming dominant after the disintegration of spiritual force . Now that even the swordsmen were gone, how could there still be sword essences?

Ai Hui suppressed these distracting thoughts and executed a simple sword stroke .

He had read countless swordplay manuals and had an understanding of swordplay that few today could match . His actions were accurate and well-controlled .

When he had just planted the sword embryo, the only literature that he could seek help from were the swordplay manuals . Strangely, it was the low-level manuals that were of use to him . The more advanced the manual, the less applicable they were .

Brandishing a grass sword was usually effortless for Ai Hui .

Today, however, this feat could hardly be said to be effortless .

Ai Hui seemed to have become one with the grass sword; he felt as though he was bound by the surrounding air . He was not accustomed to this restrictive sensation, and Ai Hui felt like he was trapped under water, repressed by forces all around him .

He knew that this was merely an illusion, but the experience was too intense .

Thrusting the sword just a little bit faster made it feel as though he had slammed into a large wave, causing the blade to wobble .

Ai Hui had no choice but to increase his effort as each stroke became heavier than the last . His muscles were bulging and trembling from the effort, like a heavy-duty belt driving a huge wheel .

Ai Hui’s sword strokes slowed down as the sword became heavier and the air resistance increased .

Beads of sweat rolled down Ai Hui’s body as his muscles continued to churn out massive amounts of power . All of a sudden, he felt as if he had finally pierced through that invisible resistive force .

With a sudden jolt, the grass sword in his hand spontaneously emitted dazzling rays of light . Its brightness was so intense that not even the scorching midday sun could mask its brilliance .

The light that had burst forth from the grass sword blinded Ai Hui . He noticed that the grass sword had become much lighter .

A loud boom followed!

A powerful earth-rending force sent Ai Hui flying through the air before he could even react .

The massive blunt force left Ai Hui thoroughly concussed, his ears ringing . An unknown amount of time had passed before he heard Fatty’s anxious voice coming from what seemed like quite a distance away . “Ai Hui…Ai Hui, are you all right? How are you feeling?”

The surreal sounds gradually became clearer as Ai Hui’s pupils began to focus .

Fatty anxiously let out a stream of words . “Ai Hui, can you not scare me like that? What kind of training is this? It looks more like you’re committing suicide! Here I had thought that you became more tranquil, but it seems like you’re as violent as ever—no, you’re even more violent now . I don’t get it, aren’t you doing just fine? What’s more, I’m the one who owes money, not you…”

Fatty’s long-winded nagging reminded Ai Hui of their time in the Wilderness .

His whole body was unbearably numb—an aftereffect of that enormous impact he had just suffered . Although it had disrupted the flow of his blood and qi, it could heal in moments . After ten seconds, he finally recovered some movement, and he struggled to stand up .

He spat out the sand in his mouth, still feeling dizzy .

What… just happened?

Ai Hui’s gaze fell onto where he had previously stood . What he saw shook him deeply, his reaction similar to a deer in headlights .

A large pit, which was six meters in diameter and three meters deep, appeared where he had last stood .

Duanmu Huanghun stared blankly at the pit . Not even the sudden influx of figures and noise could rouse him from his daze .

“What happened? What’s going on?”

“Did a wild beast get in?”

“Wasn’t this place supposed to be safe?”

“Heavens…what just happened here?”

The commotion brought even more students out of their rooms . Everyone was still on edge from the incident in the Garden of Life, and they were all easily startled . That massive blast had definitely thrown their instincts into overdrive .

The guards in the area soon came over to investigate .

“What a large pit!”

“What is going on? Did a wild beast attack?”

“Did anyone witness the events that transpired?” asked a man, who appeared to be the head of the guards .

“I—I—I… . ” stammered the guard that gave Ai Hui directions .

“What is it?” the head asked softly .

The guard gulped and replied, “One of the students was practicing when suddenly…”

“A student was practicing?” the head responded with suspicion . He glanced at the large pit in the training ground . “Do you mean to say that this deep pit was the result of a student practicing?”

Everyone else was filled with disbelief . How could a student possibly create such a huge pit?

“What he said was true,” said Duanmu Huanghun out of nowhere . He inevitably stared at Ai Hui’s dazed face, unable to calm down .

He now realized just how wrong he was to have underestimated Ai Hui .

Duanmu Huanghun could understand why the head guard wasn’t convinced . He probably wouldn’t believe it if he hadn’t seen it himself either . His [Viridescent Flower Dance] was unpredictable and vicious, but creating a pit this large would take up every last shred of his strength .

Causing an explosion like this didn’t actually require skill . What was more important was the quality of one’s elemental energy .

Fire elemental energy was the most explosive of them all, but to create a pit of this size would still require the activation of at least four palaces . Students with an affinity for other elements would probably need something upwards of six palaces to achieve the same effect .

Ai Hui here wasn’t using fire elemental energy but the non-explosive metal elemental energy!

What’s more, he had only activated two palaces .

Duanmu Huanghun had already found it hard to believe that Ai Hui could activate two palaces in such a short time . After all, that guy had such a pathetic aptitude .

Although terribly shocking, Duanmu Huanghun could still accept it . When it came to training, elementalists with poorer aptitudes could at times have sudden bursts of progress .

This sight in front of him, though . . .

It was completely beyond his understanding .

The head guard recognized Duanmu Huanghun, especially since he was the only person here that required extra protection . He nodded towards Duanmu Huanghun . Now that he knew his subordinate was telling the truth, an intense feeling of curiosity arose within him .

Could it be that… there was another genius among them?

He slowly walked towards Ai Hui, inspecting the pit as he went past it . It was only upon closer inspection that he fully realized the complete magnitude of the blast .

The head guard’s expression turned grave . He’d probably be dead from an impact this powerful .

“Young man, how may I address you?” the head guard asked amiably .

Ai Hui had regained his composure by then, and his eyes were glowing with a strong luster . He had sensed immense changes within his body and couldn’t wait to resume his practice .

“My name is Ai Hui,” he answered hurriedly . “Can you lend me a sword?”

His Sawtooth Grass Sword had been completely destroyed . All that was left was the hilt that Ai Hui was holding on to . The thoughts in his head urged him to get on with his practice, distracting him from feeling sorry for the loss of his sword .

The head guard was stunned for a moment, but he quickly responded, “No problem!”

He turned around and shouted, “Someone toss me a sword!”

One of the guards brought his sword forward, and the head guard grabbed it and handed it over to Ai Hui . His tone was friendly as he instructed, “Use it as you please, Ai Hui . Everyone else, kindly step away from the immediate area . ”

He was experienced enough to notice that Ai Hui had just had a revelation . He knew that it was horribly annoying to be disturbed at times like these . After all, inspiration seldom knocked twice .

Ai Hui sincerely thanked the head guard .

Everyone kept quiet as they looked on curiously . Seeing Ai Hui all ready to start anew kept them fixated . They might have missed his performance earlier but not this next attempt!

Ai Hui couldn’t be bothered about the onlookers . He took the sword and began to assume the same stance as before .

Duanmu Huanghun stared at Ai Hui with his eyes wide; he recognized the same stance from before . Was Ai Hui going to repeat that move? He focused hard, afraid he’d miss any details .

All he had seen before was an exceptionally brilliant burst of light that had obscured Ai Hui’s silhouette .

Right after that came the earth-splitting sensation .

This time, he had to see the technique that enabled a student with only two activated palaces to generate such explosive strength .

Everyone, not only Duanmu Huanghun, kept their eyes peeled and held their breaths .