Chapter 169: Battle in the Dense Forest

Clang!

Ding Songyan rose and drew his sword. Moonlight shimmered across its crystal-clear blade—pure, brilliant, and cold enough to chill the air.

At once, the forest within fifty meters plunged into darkness. Far above, countless stars sprang to life, dense as a dream.

To Bai Zhaolin, it was subtly different from the Dharma Realm Tao Wenshu had revealed. The stars hung higher, farther away, like a backdrop to the darkness. Beneath that vast starry sky, Ding Songyan himself gave off a warm, yellow light, like a candle burning against the night.

He cultivates the Candlelit Nocturne Sutra as his primary art? No, isn’t he a Grandmaster who achieved a single leap to success? Did he consume a divine treasure compatible with the Brightnight Sect’s arts, or one that can accommodate them? No wonder he caught up with me. He really did use Northern Dipper Wayfinding. Bai Zhaolin was first taken aback before finding a reasonable explanation.

Because his family’s Secret Classic of Mountains and Seas was incomplete, he could not immediately find a corresponding case.

Then another question arose in Bai Zhaolin’s mind.

That is not right either. Why does he only have the physical anomaly of double pupils? That boy cannot possibly be a martial arts prodigy who became a Grandmaster in his early 20s, can he? The Brightnight Sect has kept this well hidden...

Ding Songyan looked roughly 21 or 22. His bearing was clearly more mature than that of his current peers, and Bai Zhaolin thought it was not impossible that he was 23 or 24. If he were taken for a martial arts prodigy who had entered the Dharma Realm early, that was barely acceptable.

At present, Ding Songyan’s reputation circulated only within the sect and among a small handful of people. No outsider would idly flip through the entirety of the thick Orchid Rankings. At most, they would read the parts that interested them. Before coming to Alpine Lake Mountain, Bai Zhaolin had only verified the latest ranks assigned to the Brightnight Sect’s other Grandmasters. He regarded martial artists below the Dharma Realm as beneath notice, so naturally he did not know his present opponent’s precise age or Orchid rank.

Phew... Bai Zhaolin exhaled, dispelling the stray thoughts from his mind and entering the state required of a deathmatch.

Holding the Wind Saber and Rain Saber, he slowly took a step forward.

Whoosh!

The wind suddenly rose in the forest.

Bai Zhaolin took one step, then another. His pace quickened, and the wind rose with him—first a restless sigh, then a howl. The dark "starry sky" above began to shudder as dark clouds rolled in, swallowing star after star.

The air grew damp. A mountain storm was coming.

In a deathmatch, a martial artist’s momentum was of utmost importance. Once one’s spirit fell behind and a flaw appeared in one’s mind, they could at best perform 70% or 80% of their full strength. In a battle that might be decided by the slightest margin, that was an irrecoverable disadvantage.

When they were only forty meters apart, Ding Songyan vanished.

The stars above wavered and dimmed behind the wind and rain. Darkness swallowed the forest. Somewhere in that darkness, it felt as though countless beasts were stirring—and something far worse was waiting.

Bai Zhaolin’s heart stirred. His figure swayed faintly, then he began to run amid the howling wind.

The gale blew him left one moment and right the next. His entire body was like a fallen leaf, making the course of his advance impossible to grasp.

This also made it impossible for his opponent to judge.

He was guarding against Ding Songyan’s imminent attack. Based on his understanding of the Brightnight Sect’s arts, what awaited him had to be the killing move from the Seven Swords of Candlelit Night.

An instant later, a warm, dim candlelight flared before Bai Zhaolin.

And then, through that terrible darkness, a warm candle flame appeared. For some reason, Bai Zhaolin’s nerves loosened. The little flame felt like shelter—a place out of the wind and rain, somewhere he no longer had to be wary.

His sabers slowed by half a beat.

The instant the candlelight entered his eyes, Ding Songyan’s sword was already there.

Candlelight Illuminates the Heart!

This was a killing move from the Seven Swords of Candlelit Night that could rival the Northern Dipper Killing Sword. Paired with Candlelight Sword Intent, it could weaken an enemy’s will to fight and ease their vigilance, making it difficult for them to evade the ensuing sword, which was fast to the extreme.

Only upon reaching the Dharma Realm did this move become complete. With "night" concealing him and "candlelight" masking his approach, Ding Songyan could silently draw close to his target, causing his enemy to be struck by the sword almost the moment they saw the candle flame.

See the flame, and the sword is already in you.

Yet the prerequisite for "see the flame, and the sword is already in you" was that the proper scene had already been created and an opportunity secured. It was like the Northern Dipper Killing Sword’s "a strike must kill." It did not mean that the enemy would die whenever the move was casually used. Rather, when a Brightnight Sect disciple deployed the Northern Dipper Killing Sword, the target was usually already unable to evade or block it.

The same held true for Candlelight Illuminates the Heart.

Thus, Bai Zhaolin was quite surprised that Ding Songyan had opened with Candlelight Illuminates the Heart. In this situation, he had far too many ways to evade it.

His desire for revenge is too urgent... As the thought crossed Bai Zhaolin’s mind, he shifted to the right in time with a change in the wind, narrowly dodging Ding Songyan’s Frostshade.

Clang! He snapped up the Rain Saber and knocked the crystal-bright sword aside. His Wind Saber came down immediately after—one cut, two, three, each trailing a shrill howl of wind as the blade tore toward different points on Ding Songyan’s body.

Winds from Eight Directions!

Ding Songyan shifted his footing. His body seemed to sway, and somehow slipped through the storm of saber light that filled the eight directions.

Frostshade, knocked aside, curved back in a graceful turn. Drawing on the simplest "binding" principle of Candlelight in the Dark Night, it carried the Rain Saber into an arc then came back around.

In the next instant, a star lit up high above, piercing the night and flying into the distance.

Augmented by it, Ding Songyan thrust Frostshade fiercely forward. The blade skimmed past the Rain Saber and shot straight for Bai Zhaolin’s throat. Starlight exploded from the tip.

Flying Star Piercing Dawn... At such close range, he forsakes defense for attack? Bai Zhaolin’s heart jolted. The Wind Saber snapped back, cutting through the air with a shrill whoosh as it struck Frostshade’s side and blocked it. Using the rebound and the surrounding gale, Bai Zhaolin rapidly retreated and opened the distance.

Fire burned in Ding Songyan’s eyes, and his killing intent was unwavering. His figure flashed, and he was close again.

Frostshade flashed repeatedly as he attacked with fierce force.

Bai Zhaolin’s mind remained steady. Unhurried and unflustered, he linked his twin sabers together and defended so tightly that not even wind or rain could penetrate.

The left-handed Rain Saber was heavy and slow; the other right-handed Wind Saver, light and swift. Rain and wind—two completely different styles, yet in Bai Zhaolin’s hands they moved as one. Wind quickened the rain. Rain fed the wind. Each strengthened the other, their momentum climbing with every exchange.

That was the essence of the Wind-Rain Eight Wilds Strategy.

Steel rang through the howling wind. Stars trembled overhead, sometimes breaking loose and falling. Dampness gathered in the air like rain. Leaves and weeds whipped through the forest, and mud churned beneath their feet.

Night, wind, rain—the whole world seemed to move with their blades. Yet that lone, warm candle flame still burned.

Ding Songyan pressed the attack without pause, but Bai Zhaolin held firm. They flashed past one another again and again, blades screaming against blades, trunks splintering and branches raining down around them.

Some sparks from their clashing weapons were extinguished by the gale and vanished without trace. Some drifted upward, swaying as they merged into the brilliance. Others rose and fell, stubbornly refusing to go out.

The battle-hardened Bai Zhaolin was already waiting for an opportunity, for the moment when this wave of his opponent’s offensive reached its end.

Nothing can burn at full force forever!

After 20 or 30 breaths, Ding Songyan’s pandemonic offense finally showed the slightest sign of slowing. Bai Zhaolin, who had been building momentum for some time, slashed out with the Rain Saber in his left hand.

It combined the surrounding dampness with sharp saber qi, transforming it into droplets that could pierce metal and shatter stone. Like a sudden downpour striking banana leaves, they rained down upon Ding Songyan’s body.

Then, in an instant, the slow and heavy Rain Saber became swift and light.

The patter of rain became the knocking of fate itself—bringing sorrow, hastening age, calling death closer with every drop.

Sudden Rain Falls!

The Wind Saber in Bai Zhaolin’s right hand dragged behind, growing slow, as though it were laboriously hauling a hurricane.

If Ding Songyan blocked Sudden Rain Falls, he would be met by its cull.

Wind Comes Late!

Ding Songyan’s wrist turned. Frostshade swept out in a perfect arc. Force and candlelight intent collapsed inward together, spiraling into a vortex that seemed to devour everything around it.

The rain droplets of saber qi began to bend. One after another, they were dragged toward the vortex, racing toward its center. Bai Zhaolin’s Rain Saber followed.

Within the vortex of Candlelight Illuminates All, Ding Songyan had already concealed Stars Turn, Constellations Shift, waiting to rebound Bai Zhaolin’s Rain Saber, block his Wind Saber, and exploit the opening with Frostshade.

Bai Zhaolin had painstakingly studied the Brightnight Sect’s arts and moves for years. He had long understood the variations Candlelight Illuminates All could receive and the traps it could conceal.

Something was wrong.

Bai Zhaolin’s Wind Saber—thin as a cicada’s wing—went from sluggish to blinding in an instant. A hurricane erupted around it.

He caught up with his own Rain Saber.

And struck it.

In an instant, the gale ceased and the sudden rain stopped. The twin sabers froze in midair, while the airflow around them spun at high speed, forming walls of wind and ramparts of cloud.

Deep Within the Clamor, the Wind Is Still!

Ding Songyan’s Candlelight Illuminates All immediately had nothing left to absorb, and the concealed Stars Turn, Constellations Shift had nothing left to borrow.

Seeing the strange walls of wind and ramparts of clouds around them about to collapse and form a killing move, starlight flashed in his eyes. He changed his sword momentum and released outward the force he had previously absorbed and borrowed.

One star lit. Then another. Then another. The points of light erupted into a single vast blade of radiance. Above, the dark heavens answered: a river of stars suddenly appeared, suspended across the night like the reflection of another world.

Bright Milky Way, force against finesse!

For a time, star radiance illuminated the darkness. Sword light tore through the collapsing walls of wind and cloud and the crossing blades of saber qi, forcing open a path through the storm.

Once the sword light and saber radiance faded, Ding Songyan’s figure appeared behind and to Bai Zhaolin’s side. His clothes were torn in many places, and many fine saber marks had appeared across his body. Yet with his muscles contracting and true qi circulating, no blood seeped out.

With a tap of his toe, Ding Songyan advanced rather than retreating, lunging at Bai Zhaolin again.

He is more anxious... His near injury just now made him feel frustrated... Bai Zhaolin’s mind remained unruffled as he calmly made his judgment.

He had fought countless martial artists on his path to becoming a Grandmaster. In this respect, his experience far surpassed that of an untrained young man.

At the edge of the dark "starry sky," a crimson star suddenly ignited, bathing the forest in a blood-red glow.

The light fell across Bai Zhaolin. His mind wavered.

Wandering Star Overhead?

He still dares use that?

Did he not see how his master died?

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