Daily life of a cultivation judge

Chen Gutian performed a downward slash intending to interrupt Chen Zholan's diagonal slash. Chen Zholan out of fear of losing his sword from the clash, tensed his muscles as he lowered his center of gravity, opting to lower the speed of his attack and focus on stability only to find the powerful attack he was expecting to fall on him was a feint.

Chen Gutian put less than expected force in his attack and instead borrowed the force created from their clash to recoil himself over Chen Zholan, launching himself slightly above Chen Zholan's head, his body rotating along with his sword aiming to dice Chen Zholan's head.

Chen Zholan rapidly reacted by dislocating his ankle and rolling over forward, narrowly dodging the spinning blade aimed at his head. However even if he dodged the attack, he didn't escape unscathed as a geyser of blood sprayed from his shoulder revealing an exposed clavicle that was hanging loosely on his shoulders.

To those weaker than them, that whole segue of attack would have been like shimmering light charging over Chen Zholan in the blink of an eye, and a spray of blood appearing an instant later. From the recoil to gliding to slashing, Chen Gutian's speed had been as blindingly fast as he was throughout the attack.

If it were anyone else but Chen Zholan in that position, they would have likely had their head sliced through like a pumpkin without even realizing how.

Chen Zholan wasn't given a chance to bemoan his state as Chen Gutian continued with his relentless attacks. A flurry of stabs and slashes that shimmered into hundreds of cyan light descended on him like an avalanche as he was forced into a desperate struggle of dodging and parrying.

With one shoulder almost out of commission, his movements were greatly affected which in turn affected almost every other part of his swordplay, particularly his reaction. For someone who had gone almost five minutes without so much as a scratch, shallow wounds started coloring his body in a growing number and it wasn't long before his pristine white robes were colored red.

"His despicable character aside, one has to admit he is talented..." murmured Yang Qing, Yu Gen nodding.

Even with a torn shoulder, which effectively rendered his right hand unusable, and Chen Gutian not letting up in his attacks, the fact that Chen Gutian still couldn't heavily injure him was a testament to the capabilities of Chen Zholan.

Even injured, his talents shone through in how he handled himself, especially in manipulating the Owl vigilant sword art. He fluidly executed the art to parry almost all of Chen Gutian's attacks, and when defending or completely dodging the attack wasn't feasible, he knew when to trade his survival for small injuries, which always forced Chen Gutian's hand to accept the trade.

Even handicapped he still managed to contain Chen Gutian's attacks, but how long could he keep this up was what everyone wondered.

The owl vigilant sword art was highly taxing on one's body, and that was when one was fully fit, let alone in an injured state like the one Chen Zholan.

As the fight went on it became clear to Yang Qing why the art was classified into a blue grade art. As potent as the art was, it had clear deficiencies, one of which was it was ill-suited for fighting a protracted battle.

The longer the fight went on, the worse it got on the one executing the art. Their muscles would be highly strained, and the demands of the spiritual sense were translated into great demands on the soul which would be just as fatigued as the muscles the longer the fight went on, and then there was the enormous qi reserves the art demanded all throughout its executions. Its focus on extreme precision and speed meant you couldn't let up for even a second. The tempo either had to be sustained or continuously raised. There was no lowering it or its bite would dull.

Chen Zholan and Chen Gutian had only fought for ten minutes but the amount of qi they expended was similar to the amount of qi one would expend executing a regular blue-grade art for one and a half hours straight.

He could already tell they were fast approaching the half mark on their reserves though Chen Gutian seemed to have a slightly larger capacity than Chen Zholan.

It was glaringly obvious now when it came to the Owl vigilant sword art, you either had to settle the matter fast or as time progressed, the opponent would be the least of your problems. The art would quickly turn its blade on the owner.

With each passing second, the relentlessness of Chen Gutian left Chen Zholan with little to do other than defend. His robes were soaked in sweat and blood, with hair sticking close to his skin, but even with Chen Gutian pushing him to the extreme, where a single misstep could spell his death, his eyes were calm, his response meticulous, without any waste of movement and when it came to Chen Gutian, his experience showed.

Even with a clear advantage, he wasn't anxious, eager, or impatient to end, but maintained the same attitude he had throughout the fight even before Chen Zholan's injury.

A second later one of Chen Gutian's attacks managed to penetrate Chen Zholan's study defense which resulted in a pinpoint blast at Chen Zholan's side, leaving a gaping hole.

But even with another grievous injury to him, Chen Zholan didn't so much as flinch or act desperately because of it. He maintained his composure and momentum, as he adjusted himself accordingly to his body's state which even if he was hated, earned a look of respect from those watching, notwithstanding Yang Qing and Yu Gen who both furrowed their brows at the same time just as Chen Gutian was arming another powerful thrust towards Chen Zholan's exposed side.

A sharp piercing light was instantly produced from where Chen Zholan was standing, heading straight for Chen Gutian's sword.

Clang.

A loud metallic sound reverberated around the platform, followed by the explosion of air and dust around them with something barrelling backward at breakneck speeds. Without pause, four bamboo leaves appeared above the platform, each leaf had a terrifying sharpness to it that it would not be a stretch to say one of those leaves could instantly shred apart a 10,000-meter mountain into particles.

"His art seems to have changed. Is it something he had? It seems to be even better and more dangerous in terms of its destructive abilities than the Owl vigilant sword art.." said Yang Qing to Yu Gen as he observed the delicate crystalline bamboo leaves that were honing in on Chen Gutian with fierce momentum.

In a single moment, the role of attacker and defender had changed with Chen Gutian being on the defensive end as he blitzed around the platform defending against those leaves. Every time his sword clashed against one, it produced the same feeling as one would when clashing against another weapon.

His sword had faint cracks on its surface and his left side was bleeding heavily with bone being revealed.

Chen Zholan was fast on him with his sword coated in a deep green color that gave the illusion it was a bamboo shoot that released a terrifying sharpness that was several notches higher than the leaves targeting Chen Gutian. Were an early-stage core formation expert present to view the blade in its current form, their eyes would instantly bleed from the sharpness radiated by it.

"What do you think, brother Yu Gen?"

"It's a different art, though, I don't know, it feels to have some aspect of the previous art he used, only this one seems to focus on one aspect to the extreme, sharpness."

"My thoughts exactly.."

Up on the platform, Chen Gutian tried his best to dodge the leaves looking to rip him apart, however, with how nimbly they moved, it proved difficult as cuts ranging from shallow to deep started appearing on his body from every leaf that penetrated his defense, and the circumstances turned graver when Chen Zholan joined the attack.

His attacks were now more forceful and powerful but still remained fast. His attacks felt like the attacks of a snapping bamboo shoot. Those snaps were curvingly fast and impactful, with Chen Gutian recoiling every time he traded blows with Chen Zholan.

However just as it looked like Chen Zholan was gaining ground, Chen Gutian's blade transformed, and just like Chen Zholan's, his had the look of a bamboo leaf. Three leaves were produced from the tip of his blade in rapid succession, which clashed against three of the four leaves that were targeting him, and just as the fourth leaf was about to tear his right eye out, a fourth leaf came out and intercepted the leaf that was after him.

"You reached the fourth.." Chen Zholan muttered in surprise as he saw Chen Gutian's fourth leaf, which though looked smaller than the rest of the leaves he had produced, still contained the same sharpness.

Chen Zholan's surprise didn't stop there as he saw another leaf slowly sprout from Chen Gutian's blade as their blades clashed against each other.

His eyes widened as he saw the leaf slowly sprouted as he muttered,

"Impossible.." over and over.

The other elders looked just as surprised by the turn of events, only Chen Zian displayed a different emotion, his was that of regret, as he let out a lamenting sigh.

Chen Gutian at the moment had blue light veins appearing all around his body as the fifth leaf was being produced. When that fifth leaf formed, it was the size of a pea grain, but its momentum contained the destructive force of the four leaves he had produced combined.

"Let's end this shall we.." he softly muttered with a tired aged voice as the fifth leaf launched itself toward Chen Zholan, who managed to narrowly dodge it as it was aimed at his forehead. It struck his ear, vaporizing it in the process.

Chen Zholan let out a maddening roar as he increased the speed of his attacks with Chen Gutian matching him in kind. They traded blow for blow, their attacks turning into shimmering blurs in the process, as their attacks reached new heights in terms of speed and power. Their wounds grew rapidly, with more appearing on Chen Zholan owing to the extra bamboo leaf Chen Gutian had under his control.

Even with their growing injuries, none of them stopped as they increased the tempo. Chen Zholan with a decisive glint flashing in his eyes, pulled his sword back like he was knocking an arrow, and in the process left his chest exposed to be sliced apart by two of the leaves that had been targeting him.

"You're not the only one who can put their life on the line.." he muttered. In his gaze, he saw Chen Gutian's thrust slowly approaching his heart. It was like time had slowed down.

"Will my sword ever reach you.." he thought as he saw the silhouette of a young handsome man with eyebrows that were shaped like a sword and clear serene eyes appear behind Chen Gutian.

"Four leaves return into one.."

The four leaves that had been floating above him instantly combined at the tip of his blade forming a clover, and with it, a silent sword hum was produced along with a gentle cyan light that covered the entire sword and Chen Zholan.

He gently thrust his sword forward. It moved slowly just like Chen Gutian's sword and his leaves were moving. In its slow speed, it caught up with Chen Gutian's sword but ignored it as it moved past it, inching ever so closer to Chen Gutian's chest, whereupon contact, the leaves slowly melted into Chen Gutian's chest as the light that had covered the sword and Chen Zholan blended into it.

Chen Gutian's chest disintegrated inch by inch, with blood and bone being melted away by the green light that had invaded his chest and it wasn't long before a massive watermelon-sized hole was created in Chen Gutian's chest, and Chen Zholan's hand passed through that cavity while on his end, Chen Gutian's blade had already reached his body with Chen Zholan apathetically looking on as his chest was slowly being run through.

"Good fight.."