Chapter 170: Stars Fall Like Fire
Chapter 170: Stars Fall Like Fire
Faced with Ding Songyan’s Wandering Star Overhead, Bai Zhaolin instinctively wanted to answer with Heaven and Earth in Calamity.
He would kill the disciple the same way he had killed the master!
But on second thought, something felt wrong.
It was understandable that the Brightnight Sect’s other disciples could not see that Wandering Star Overhead was countered by his art. But Ding Songyan was a Dharma Realm Grandmaster, and the first person to reach the island in the lake. There was no reason he would fail to notice it.
It’s a trap!
The instant Bai Zhaolin reached that conclusion, he felt a chill between his brows. The qi of the void around him pressed down layer upon layer, driving him to "meet" Ding Songyan’s sword tip and make the calamity of bloodshed real.
If he tried to break free, that qi would backlash, bringing the terror of heaven and earth turned against him and all things going awry.
Bai Zhaolin bit the tip of his tongue again, shaking himself free of that dazed state. His rippling Rain Saber then swept upward.
This strike was not the force of rain, but surging water. After great wind and heavy rain came great floods. Only that depicted "floods across the eight wilds."
Crash! Fierce water sounds rang through the void. Bai Zhaolin’s Rain Saber was like a colossal wave suddenly surging upward, swift and fierce as it slammed into the crystalline sword tip darting at him through crimson starlight.
At the same time, the cicada-wing-thin Wind Saber in his right hand swiftly traced a half circle around him.
A piercingly sharp wind suddenly rose. Bai Zhaolin’s true qi surged outward with the Wind Saber, creating a violent hurricane that ravaged all without distinction between friend and foe.
This hurricane burst outward from within. As Bai Zhaolin’s Rain Saber knocked Ding Songyan’s Frostshade Sword askew from the side, it flung broken branches, fallen leaves, toppled saplings, and Bai Zhaolin himself in every direction.
Ding Songyan was not spared either.
Wind Calamity Has No Eye!
This was a move from Heaven and Earth in Calamity. While it did not counter Wandering Star Overhead like the signature move of the same name, it nevertheless helped Bai Zhaolin escape his predicament.
With a bang, Bai Zhaolin crashed into a tree, making the large trunk shake violently and shedding a great many leaves.
The famed Wind-Shadow Saber of the martial world had gained another sword wound on his right shoulder. His clothing was torn, but no blood flowed.
That moment of hesitation had nearly caused him to fall to Wandering Star Overhead.
The moment Bai Zhaolin steadied himself, he saw Ding Songyan leave an afterimage as he rushed at him with his sword, leaving the dense forest lightly swaying in his wake.
He really is impatient. He cannot wait to avenge his master... Bai Zhaolin raised the Wind Saber and Rain Saber again, and the two became locked in battle.
Facing Ding Songyan’s relentless pressure, he retreated at times, evaded at others, and sometimes circled around trees. He counterattacked with only one or two saber strikes on occasion, seemingly losing ground in momentum.
Boom! Ding Songyan’s sword struck a large tree. Sword qi burst from within and blew it apart.
Bang! Bai Zhaolin’s Wind Saber flashed, missing Ding Songyan. Unable to rein in the blow, it struck a giant tree, which immediately snapped at an angle and crashed heavily onto the muddy ground.
The dense forest within dozens of meters gradually thinned.
The two fought fiercely for a long time. The surrounding dampness accumulated to its limit, and real raindrops began to fall. This made the dark night, already dim with starlight and wavering candlelight, deeper and more obscure.
Bai Zhaolin finally found an opportunity. He shifted position like a swift wind and brought the Rain Saber down upon Ding Songyan’s head.
Just as Frostshade Sword rose to meet the Rain Saber, he turned his Wind Saber and slashed horizontally at his opponent.
Nor was that all. The Wind Saber stirred up a fierce gale, which actually blew the Rain Saber slightly off course, guiding it around the crystalline longsword that gleamed with cold light.
Wind Strengthens the Rain!
Ding Songyan snapped up the scabbard in his reverse grip to intercept the Wind Saber, his body tilting slightly back and to the right as the impact pulled at his shoulder. Frostshade came whipping back with him, its hilt wrapped in a vermilion tassel crashing into the side of the Rain Saber.
The blow stalled the rippling longsaber in place, stripping it of momentum and force.
Frostshade shuddered violently. Borrowing the rebound, Ding Songyan shot toward Bai Zhaolin like a hawk taking flight from a branch.
Stars Turn, Constellations Shift.
Bai Zhaolin barely dodged sideways. Fearing a follow-up horizontal slash, he tapped his toe and swept rapidly backward as though riding the gale. Ding Songyan held Frostshade and pressed forward step by step, every sword stroke seeking his soul.
One retreated and one pursued. One defended and one attacked. They quickly traveled over thirty meters, but remained within the area where rain poured down in sheets.
Bai Zhaolin retreated in a zigzag, veering off in different directions from time to time.
Beneath the dark "starry sky," amid the howling wind and rain, Bai Zhaolin was retreating when his heel suddenly caught on a barely noticeable stump—the remains of a sapling he had cut down earlier.
His body lurched, and his backward momentum abruptly stopped.
Ding Songyan seized the opening. In the blink of an eye, he came streaking forward as a brilliant blade of killing intent, cold and deadly, aimed straight between Bai Zhaolin’s brows.
Northern Dipper Killing Sword!
A smile appeared at the corner of Bai Zhaolin’s mouth.
This was the situation he had deliberately created.
After evading Wandering Star Overhead, Bai Zhaolin deliberately kept himself on the back foot, as though Ding Songyan’s tempestuous assault had him fighting just to draw breath. Yet he never let himself look beaten. He wanted that hotheaded young fool to grow more frantic with every exchange, more reckless with every attack.
Just as he had expected, his opponent had taken the bait. By now, every move was aimed at ending his life on the spot, and his patience for the give-and-take of battle was wearing thin.
That was exactly what Bai Zhaolin wanted. When he finally exposed an opening, his opponent would hesitate at nothing, stop thinking about the risks, and see only one thing: an opportunity. He would reach for it without a second thought.
And that was the moment Bai Zhaolin had been waiting for.
Like a seasoned hunter, he had finally lured his prey into the trap.
Now! Bai Zhaolin brought both the Wind Saber and Rain Saber slashing toward the crystal-bright sword, their blades crossing in a strange twist halfway through.
Whoosh!
A piercing wind erupted, sweeping the crashing rain from all directions into the area less than four meters before Bai Zhaolin.
Merging with saber qi, it formed wind blades and rain swords, all taking shape and capable of inflicting tremendous harm.
This was the expanded-range form of Sudden Rain Falls, one of Bai Zhaolin’s strongest killing moves.
Yet it was no longer called Sudden Rain Falls. It was called Wind and Rain Stir the Eight Wilds!
Wind and rain raged through the Eight Wilds, razor-sharp forces tearing through everything in their path and dragging all around them inward. Even Bai Zhaolin had to fight to keep his footing, lest the storm sweep him bodily into the killing zone.
Watching the sword light about to fall into the trap, Bai Zhaolin seemed to smell the sweet scent of blood.
Good. Very good!
He had killed the Brightnight Sect’s sect master, and now he would cut off its future as well!
Give a martial prodigy like this a few more years, and I fear I may no longer be his match. Better to cut him down before he has the chance!
Just then, the cold, gleaming sword light came to a halt less than four meters from the edge of Wind and Rain Stir the Eight Wilds, revealing Ding Songyan within it.
The Northern Dipper Killing Sword had never been aimed at Bai Zhaolin at all. Its true target was a single raindrop hanging there.
Wh... He... When did he realize this was a trap? Amid his astonishment, Bai Zhaolin could no longer withdraw the Wind Saber and Rain Saber or halt the wind and rain engulfing the Eight Wilds.
Wind blades and rain swords howled down, crossing in a frenzy as they ravaged everything around them. Only after a full two breaths did the assault finally subside.
Suddenly, the dark "starry sky" flared brilliantly, and the crimson star once again spilled its blood-tinged light across the forest.
Wandering Star Overhead.
Still affected by Wind and Rain Stir the Eight Wilds and temporarily unable to move quickly, Bai Zhaolin was bathed again in crimson starlight, and his mind grew dazed.
Seeing no other way for the moment, the mentally affected Bai Zhaolin bit the tip of his tongue and sent his force down into his feet.
You want to see what Heaven and Earth in Calamity can do?
Then watch closely!
Unless you’ve made some other arrangement that I’ve failed to detect, this will break your Wandering Star Overhead!
Bai Zhaolin drove both feet into the earth. The entire forest shuddered, and the mud beneath him trembled visibly.
He raised the Wind Saber and Rain Saber, and his body spun with them, spiraling into a raging tornado.
The surrounding wind and rain, along with every hostile current of qi, were swept into the saber storm, feeding the calamity. The vortex seized the descending crimson starlight and the crystalline sword tip flashing toward him alike, dragging both into the maelstrom.
Heaven and Earth in Calamity!
As the change took hold, the stars in the dim "night sky" began to light up one after another. They were not brilliant. Instead, they glowed with the soft yellow hue of candlelight, carrying a faint warmth.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! The stars came raining down, each transforming into a streak of candle-bright sword light. They shot toward Bai Zhaolin, shrouding the heavens and blotting out the moon, while the current of his own swirling qi drew them straight into the tornado.
These were no longer wind and rain, nor were they merely the heaven-and-earth qi that empowered the Celestial Stars Sword Art and gave rise to its effects. They were true Candlelight True Qi—real sword qi, razor-sharp and tinged with the warm yellow of candlelight!
Kindling Passes to Candle.
From the very beginning, Ding Songyan had been quietly building momentum with an improved version of Kindling Passes to Candle. Beneath the silently unfolding Chaos Realm, every mote of "candlelight" scattered by the clash of their blades was caught and held within twenty meters, hidden among the countless "stars," accumulating layer upon layer.
Many of those "candle flames" had been snuffed out by the wind and rain, but after such a long battle, the Fathomless Sea had nevertheless taken shape.
Yet Ding Songyan had never intended to link those candle-flame stars with Kindling Passes to Candle and unleash them in one overwhelming strike. Instead, he relinquished control entirely, letting Bai Zhaolin’s saber momentum drag them in and turn them into a rain of swords.
After unleashing Heaven and Earth in Calamity, Bai Zhaolin could almost see the scene that awaited the Brightnight Sect’s martial prodigy: a grisly death, followed by a sect whose future slowly withered away.
Then the "candle flames" came. One after another, they transformed into true sword qi and surged into the maelstrom. Most were shredded apart by the saber force, but there were simply too many. More and more slipped through.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Strands of sword qi pierced Bai Zhaolin’s body.
Through the searing pain, Bai Zhaolin felt as though he were surrounded by countless Brightnight Sect disciples. None of their swords was particularly powerful, yet they came without end, wave after wave, one after another. At last, the candlelight blazed, driving back the darkness.
Sword qi raked across Bai Zhaolin’s body. None of the wounds was fatal, but his hands could no longer keep a firm grip on the twin sabers, and he could not execute the techniques that were supposed to follow.
Beneath the crimson starlight, the glittering sword tip slipped past the Rain Saber at last. It skimmed the blade and touched his brow, then plunged deep, cold and merciless.
Thud. Bai Zhaolin crashed heavily to the ground. His twin sabers flew several paces away, and a deep sword wound gaped between his brows.
Lying on his back, he looked up into Ding Songyan’s eyes.
There was anger in them. Hatred. Killing intent. But not the slightest trace of haste. Beneath it all lay an icy calm.
He... As Bai Zhaolin’s consciousness began to fade, the truth suddenly became clear.
The way he had caught up to me. Every word he had spoken. Every choice he had made during our battle. All of it had been meant to make me believe one thing: that he was desperate...
In Bai Zhaolin’s fading vision, the crystal-clear sword was still pointed at his face. Blood from his body gathered rapidly into bright red droplets, running down the blade before falling toward the space between his eyes.
At the brink of death, Bai Zhaolin heard Ding Songyan grit out through clenched teeth.
"Killing you with Wandering Star Overhead was exactly what I intended."