Bai Yun slowly opened his eyes. Even though he could not see, he could still feel the excitement in the air. He heard a lot of clan members cheering for himself. For a moment, Bai Yun wondered if he was really so popular. But then he realized that it was most likely due to Bai Mo's infamy rather than his own popularity.
Bai Yun slowly walked up the steps to the arena. As he did so, Bai Yun thought about the past few months. He had been working for this moment for a long time. He had participated in battles that took decades, even centuries to plan. But somehow, this moment felt longer to him.
By the time Bai Yun slowly reached the arena, Bai Mo was already standing there. Bai Yun grinned as he saw Bai Yun. "I was expecting to fight Bai Qing in the finals. Who would have thought that you, a qi condensation realm guy, would be the one to make it all the way over here." Bai Mo said.
Bai Yun did not say anything. He simply took out his sword and waited for the fight to begin. He had met people like Bai Mo before. Talking to them would be a waste of time. They only understood strength.
Seeing that Bai Yun was not in a mood to converse Bai Mo simply chuckled. He took out a saber and stood there waiting for the match to begin.
The referee for this match was the second elder of the clan. The elders of the clan were the referees in the four finals of the clan tournament. This was done in order to ensure that there was no accident and also to make sure that there was no unfair advantage given to anyone in the fight. Thus the second elder, someone who was close to neither Bai Tianji nor the ninth elder was finally chosen to be the referee.
"Begin." The second elder finally said, after seeing that the two of them were ready.
The moment the fight began, Bai Yun and Bai Mo ran at each other. When Bai Mo reached Bai Yun, he swung his saber hard at Bai Yun.
Bau Yun did not want to entangle with Bai Mo. He knew nothing of the other party's strength. So Bai Yun chose a more cautious approach. He took a step back and weakly crossed swords with Bai Mo in order to ascertain his strength.
When their two weapons crossed, a terrifying force was transmitted into Bai Yun's arms. Bai Yun shook his arms to shake off the force, but the remnants of the force threw his arms off course. Knowing that he was at a disadvantage in terms of strength, Bai Yun immediately leapt back in order to make some space.
Bai Yun quickly assessed Bai Mo's strength. Bai Mo had reached the peak of the initial stage of the foundation establishment realm, and he had also traveled a bit in the body tempering path, probably covering five or six skin sewings. Bai Mo's strength was much greater than Bai Qing's. While not as much as the other Bai Mo he ran into, it was still not a strength he could easily resist.
As Bai Yun stepped back, Bai Mo chased after him. Bai Mo suddenly cast his movement technique to speed up and swung his sword at Bai Yun. But Bai Yun instantly cast wind motion and got out of the way. But even then his robe was slightly cut by Bai Mos saber.
Bai Mo laughed when he saw this. "Our cultivations are far too different. You have no chance of victory." He said and ran back at Bai Yun.
Bai Yun stood still and awaited Bai Mo. Just as Bai Mo neared him, Bai Yun suddenly cast wind motion and closed the distance between them, and thrust out his sword. But Bai Mo saw this and put his saber in front of his chest. But the moment the two weapons collided, Bai Yun's sword vibrated in a weird manner and almost slipped past Ba Mo's saber. But Bai Mo suddenly exploded out with his strength and thrust out in full force to make Bai Yun's sword go astray.
But Bai Yun was still moving forward. He put up his left hand and punched at Bai Mo's head. But Bai Mo easily caught Bi Yun's hand. He then laughed and raised his saber to strike at Bai Yun.
But Bai Yun's movement changed before Bai Mo could strike. In an instant, Bai Yun appeared behind Bai Mo. Both Bai Yun's as well as Bai Mo's hands were now wrapped around Bai Mo's throat. Without waiting Bai Yun immediately caught Bai Mo in a chokehold.
For a moment Bai Mo struggled to escape the chokehold but was unsuccessful. With a roar, he leaned forward and threw Bai Yun over his shoulder. Bai Yun struck out with his sword at Ba Mo's back as he flew out. But instead of cutting Bai Mo, there was a feeling as if Bia Yun's sword cut metal instead.
Frowning, Bai Yun kicked out. Hs leg landed on Bai Mo's face, blowing him back. In an instant, Bai Yun had leapt a great distance, once again putting a distance between them.
Bai Mo shook his head as he felt the aftereffects of Bai Yun's kick. He grinned as he saw Bai Yun standing a short distance away.
"Are you surprised you couldn't hurt me." Bai Mo said while laughing.
Bai Mo then pulled off his upper robe to show that he was wearing a golden inner shirt. This inner short was glowing in the moonlight.
"I know that your style is to slowly inflict damage, and then to go for the victory when a chance presents itself." Bai Mo said. " But with this golden silkworm vest, your sword will be unable to hurt me. I want to know how you will win now."
Bai Yun frowned when he heard Bai Mo. But he was actually chuckling inside. He had already felt the existence of the inner shirt when his soul tendrils wrapped around Bai Mo. This was why he tried to choke Bai Mo, instead of attacking him with swords. The strike just now was to test the strength of the inner shirt.
Bai Yun then stood up straight. He pulled out the scabbard of the sword from his storage ring.
"Are you giving up." Bai Mo asked. "That's a good idea. You should know the difference between us quite well by now."
"If you have any trump cards, you should use them." Bai Yun said. "Because I am about to use mine."
"You still have a trump card left." Bai Mo said incredulously. "Are you telling me you reached here without using your full strength while you are still at qi condensation. And blind."
"Of course." Bai Yun said. "I haven't had a chance to use it until now, as I was afraid no one could withstand it. But with your inner shirt, you might stand a chance."
Bai Yun pulled his sword into his scabbard. As Bai Mo stared at Bai Yun, he got a weird feeling. Sensing that something was wrong, he started to move towards him. As Bai Mo ran at Bai Yun, his blade started to vibrate and a black aura rose from it.
"Referee." Ba Yun suddenly said. "Please be ready to interfere ad save Bai Mo. I can't control myself pretty well."
And then, just as Bai Mo neared him, Bai Yun pulled out his sword. And as he pulled out his sword, Bai Yun used the first of the six truths of the sword god, sword drawing.
As Bai Yun pulled out his sword, it seemed as if a bright light was shining from his sword. The sword seemed to be shining more beautiful than the moonlight. The sword seemed as if it was cutting the moonlight itself.
As the sword was drawn, an attack flew from Bai Yun's sword. It flew towards Bai Mo at an incredible speed. When Bai Mo saw the sword coming towards him, a look of horror appeared in his eyes. For some reason, he had the feeling that he would not be able to stop that attack.
Bai Mo put everything he had on the line and struck out with his full strength. But it did not help. Bai Mo's saber was broken through in an instant by Bai Yun's sword. The next moment, the sword continued on towards Bai Mo without even slowing down.
The sword was too fast and Bai Mo had no way to dodge. Bai Mo looked on in horror as the sword strike cut Bai Mo across his chest He felt the force of the cut through his golden armor, shaking his inner organs.
Just as Bai Mo was immobilized by terror, he felt a great force take hold of him. The next moment, he was pulled out of the way of the sword strike by the referee.
In an instant, all of these movements were completed. When it was over, Bai Yun stood there with his sword drawn and slightly panting. He had spent every drop of qi in his body to pull off sword drawing and was completely spent.
And everyone else was staring at him. The referee was holding Bai Mo and was staring at Bai Yun. Bai Mo had broken into a cold sweat and was staring at the place where he stood just a second ago in horror.
The clan leader and the rest of the elders had all gotten up from their seats. They were all staring at Bai Yun in surprise. In their mind, they could still see that perfect sword strike over and over. The more they saw it, the more horrified they felt. They had a feeling that that sword strike was superior to even the strongest attack in the clan.
"Wi-winner Bai Yun." The referee finally announced the result after a moment. He could hardly believe the strength of the strike that he just saw and was stunned into silence.
For a long moment, there was only silence in the clan. Every single person who was watching was entranced by the beauty and power of that sword strike and had forgotten to cheer. Bai Yun put away his sword and pulled out his walking stick. He slowly made his way down the steps and towards his father.
As the crowd watched Bai Yun in stunned silence, scattered applause started to appear. One by one people soon came to and started to applaud Bai Yun's victory. By the time he stepped off of the steps, the entire crowd was cheering for him.
Bai Yun quickly came to the side of Bai Mu. "I am too tired." Bai Yun said. "Let's go back." Bai Mu nodded stiffly.
Bai Yun knew that there would definitely be questions from the clan leaders about his sword strike, but he was in no mood to answer them. And even if he tried to explain to them, they would not be able to understand the sword strike he just made. Only someone who had traveled a great way in the path of the sword dao would be able to comprehend the sword strike.
Bai Mu then took Bai Yun back to their mansion. The moment he reached his room, Bai Yun collapsed on the floor and fell asleep.
After all that work, it was finally time to sleep.