Naked Sword Art
Chapter 422 - 422: Silver Lotus

"But… I know how to reach him."

Chu Piao gave a faint nod of relief. "Please. Tell him everything. I'll be here. Waiting."

A heavy silence lingered between them before Xun Wei finally asked, "Do you really think you can stall until he gets here? The other girls on our side are stronger than me."

Chu Piao smirked faintly. "I can. Even if they all came at me at once, I wouldn't lose."

She blinked, not sure if he was boasting or telling the truth. She still knew nothing about this man other than his name—and his connection to Xiao Fang.

After a pause, she stood again, drawing her sword with quiet resolve.

"If you don't mind," she said evenly, "I'd like you to prove it."

Chu Piao raised an eyebrow. "You want to exchange pointers? You're too young and inexperienced to face me."

"I am the disciple of Master Wu Yue," she replied. "Don't look down on me."

For the first time in the tournament, Xun Wei drew her sword, and took on a ready stance. She couldn't tell how strong he was, but she was smart enough to know she couldn't underestimate a Divine Swordsman.

Suddenly the crowd erupted into cheers. Because for the first time in the tournament, Xun Wei seemed to be taking the fight seriously.

"This is it, is Xun Wei going to go 10-0, or is she going to be defeated by the Flowing Blade sect's prodigy," the announcers shouted in excitement.

"Wei! Wei! Wei!" The crowd cheered.

…

"You see that!? She drew her sword. I told you he was strong, she must see him as a threat!" the stubborn man in the crowd shouted in excitement.

The people that made the bet with him had gloomy looks on their faces because they realized victory wasn't going to be as easy as they thought it would be.

…

"Xiao Fang's grandmother accepted you as a disciple?" Chu Piao said in surprise before studying her body a little more carefully. "I suppose that explains why I saw you with Lei Xinyi that night."

A flicker of genuine respect passed across Chu Piao's face as he casually drew his sword as well.

"Very well. I want to see what the disciple of the Legendary Wu Yue is capable of."

Xun Wei's frown deepened, seeing his natural aura leak out of him as he took on a battle stance.

'This feeling…' she thought nervously.

She had felt this feeling before.

Chu Piao's stance was relaxed, yet as solid as a mountain. Confident and unwavering.

In that moment, she felt like she wasn't facing an ordinary swordsman, not even the average Divine Swordsman made her feel like this.

Her Swordsman instincts had reached a point where she could guess the strength of someone before exchanging blows with them. And what her instincts were telling her now was that she was facing an impossible opponent, someone that could easily win even if she didn't make any mistakes at all. This was the exact same feeling she got whenever she faced Xiao Fang.

[ Nine Winds of the Azure Dragon ]

[ Illusory Clone ]

Without a shadow of a doubt, two things were painfully clear to her now: Chu Piao was in fact a Divine Swordsman. And the second—he was ridiculously strong.

Xun Wei's breath steamed the blade of her sword, and her eyes flashed of silver as her gaze locked onto Chu Piao. There was a level of focus and seriousness in her eyes and posture she didn't have while facing anyone else.

She was ready. If he wanted to see what the disciple of Wu Yue was capable of, she was determined to show him.

There was one technique Wu Yue had attempted to teach her back in the Divine Sword sect, but the skill required to perform it was simply too high. However, using 3 clones to assist her, she felt like she could do it.

Since learning how to make a 3rd clone, she had been hoping to test the technique out on Xiao Fang first, but this was as good of a time as any.

Everyone was standing or sitting at the edge of their seats. Judging by Xun Wei's stance, they could tell she was going to do something truly spectacular.

Chu Piao noticed it too, not just her stance, but her incredible focus, and unrelenting gaze.

Chu Piao smirked.

Finally, his voice broke the silence.

"Come."

Suddenly, a cold light streaked from Xun Wei's corner, and Chu Piao met her at the center.

[ Silver Lotus ]

A flurry of clashes and sparks shot out. The crowd held their breaths as the two attacked each other with impossibly fast strikes.

Chu Piao was deeply impressed to see Xun Wei perform Wu Yue's [ Silver Lotus ] technique, even if she needed the help of her clones to perform it.

As powerful as Xun Wei's spirit attribute was, it could increase her battlepower high enough to match Chu Piao's base strength, so she wasn't able to threaten him, but it was enough to push him back as he casually defended himself.

"Are we really watching… a fight between two members of the youngest generation?"

"Shit, they're so fast."

Then—

Getting a bit too excited, Chu Piao's eyes flashed with a cold light. His sword moved in a swift, precise arc.

Xun Wei's swordsman's instincts screamed a warning. She reacted instantly.

[ Stealth ]

In the blink of an eye, all of her clones were destroyed—yet Xun Wei herself had vanished.

She still had one more sword style up her sleeve, her very own technique she had been developing using the [ Shadow Clone ] technique.

[ Shadow Clone ]

Suddenly, something bursted up from beneath Chu Piao's feet, shooting upward like a spear. He twisted away just in time, but when the figure passed him, it vanished—it was only a clone.

Before he could fully recover, Xun Wei's real body streaked down from above, appearing the instant her clone disappeared. She aimed to land a decisive blow, but he jumped away, narrowly evading that attack too.

Still, Xun Wei wasn't finished. The moment her foot touched the ground, she vanished once more.

[ Stealth ]

At the same moment, another clone appeared behind him.

[ Shadow Clone ]

When that strike missed, she reappeared on his opposite side, attacking again in the blink of an eye.

Even that didn't land, but the attacks continued. Faster and faster, Xun Wei was forcing Chu Piao to be constantly on his toes.

She attacked him from every angle, striking from his blind spots with dizzying speed. She and her clones zipped past him—back and forth, above and below—appearing and disappearing like shadows in a storm.

A sword style even more frightening than the [ Silver Lotus ]. In that moment Chu Piao understood why someone like Xun Wei could become Wu Yue's disciple.

The attacks continued to get faster and faster as if she was perfecting the technique as she went, till it eventually became flawless.

[ Ghost Blade Art - Phantom Blitz ]