The phantom of a giant sword behind him, which had condensed a massive amount of sword intent and frost, let out a low, dragon-like hum and crashed down!
Its speed didn't seem fast, but it carried a heavy momentum that could crush everything.
Bai Luan looked at the giant blade getting closer and closer, his eyes narrowing slightly; by breaking a point to shatter a surface, it wasn't necessarily impossible to break this move.
However, the timing, angle, and strength had to be precise to the extreme; any slight error would lead to a broken sword and injury.
It didn't matter if he got hurt; the Blessing of Abundance would take effect.
As for the sword breaking... I won't fail.
He raised his arm slightly, a faint light flowing over unwhite's blade. The divided sword shadows merged back into unwhite itself, and a peerless sword intent began to converge at the tip of the sword.
However, at the very moment the blade was about to be thrust out, Bai Luan saw not white trembling in his hand.
Ah... I've been using it like the not white from the Little Black Room.
Bai Luan knew that the sword not white had a sword spirit.
Since it had a sword spirit, it naturally had its own thoughts. If it were the not white sword spirit that had accompanied him for decades in the Little Black Room, it would naturally trust its master and take this move head-on.
But the not white in his hand wasn't the one from the Little Black Room; he had only spent a few days with this sword.
In such a short time, even if he could use not white masterfully based on his experience in the Little Black Room...
...the trust between a sword and its master that takes decades to cultivate can never be realized in reality.
Asking a newborn sword spirit to face this move—it's only natural for it to be afraid.
Bringing it to fight Yanqing was already pushing it too far; it was as absurd as asking a newborn baby to fight Mike Tyson.
Now, asking it to trust a master it had only met for a few days and take Yanqing's move without breaking was even more impossible.
It was already good enough that not white hadn't run away.
『Maybe it's just because you're holding it too tightly and it can't escape?』
Bai Luan:...System, shut up!
The sword's heart was already timid; this move could no longer be broken with skill.
A bit... a pity.
The thought of putting away not white, activating his nano-mecha, and breaking the move with brute force flashed through Bai Luan's mind in an instant.
But the next second after this thought emerged, the not white sword in Bai Luan's hand stopped trembling.
The sense of cowardice coming from the blade vanished, replaced by an incredibly familiar feeling.
Hmm?
This feeling is... the not white from the Little Black Room?
The not white in his hand now seemed to be saying—
Me, avoid his edge?
『I talked to it about the situation, and it said if I didn't let it out soon, it would attack me』
Isn't time stopped in the Little Black Room when I'm not there?
『If you think I can't even solve a small problem like this, then I'm really disappointed in you (¬`‸´¬)』
Heh, thanks.
『I still prefer your unruly look from earlier』
Oh.
Then System, shut up!
『Forget it, I won't argue with you. Watch that giant blade』
Bai Luan's attention was pulled back to the giant blade by the System, but the System's voice still rang in his ears.
『Grip not white tightly, and then break the move.
It says your title of genius cannot be broken by it』
Hearing this, the corners of Bai Luan's mouth curled up slightly.
Of course.
The not white in his hand began to condense an incredibly sharp sword intent.
With decades of skill in this one strike, how could I possibly fail to break this move?
Don't underestimate the bond between not white and me over these decades!
The giant blade loomed overhead, the frost biting to the bone.
At the perfect moment, Bai Luan thrust his sword forward.
The movement was concise to the extreme, with no dazzling light or earth-shattering momentum, only a highly condensed black sword light.
This strike accurately hit the core of the azure giant sword's phantom, the very point through which power had to flow!
Tit for tat.
The tiny black dot and the massive ice-blue blade collided violently!
Time seemed to freeze for an instant.
Immediately after—
"Crack... Crackle—!"
Centered on the point of contact, countless fine and clear cracks spread across the entire giant ice sword like rapidly growing icy vines!
A chaotic azure light leaked through the cracks, accompanied by a tooth-grating sound of disintegration.
Boom!!!
The massive sword phantom exploded completely!
Turning into a fluttering, dazzling rain of ice crystals that swept across the entire arena.
The biting wind carried fine ice particles, making it almost impossible for people to open their eyes.
The rain of ice crystals slowly dissipated.
Bai Luan's figure, standing with his sword, clearly emerged.
Not a single speck of frost or snow touched his black clothes. The not white in his hand glowed faintly, as calm as ever.
Even this move... couldn't do anything to him?
Yanqing slowly descended from mid-air, his toes lightly touching the stage, looking at Bai Luan with a complex expression.
Now that things had come to this,
Yanqing felt he could already admit defeat.
His strongest ultimate move had been used, yet it failed to achieve anything.
Continuing the fight would only result in him losing the match once his stamina was exhausted.
Should he really admit defeat?
A bit... unwilling.
I want to win!
I want to win!
In an instant, a stunning figure that seemed capable of cutting through the galaxy flashed through his mind, along with a glimpse of a sword light that was branded into the depths of his soul.
That was the General's master, Jingliu, demonstrating a sword strike before him that surpassed his understanding at the time.
If... if I could deliver a strike like that... perhaps,
I could win!
Yanqing slowly closed his eyes.
The cold wind on the arena and the lingering sound of ice crystals falling after the giant blade collapsed seemed to gradually fade away.
In his mind, only that cold and solitary moonlight remained, along with the trajectory under the moonlight that cut through everything.
Then, he opened his eyes again and looked at Bai Luan. There were no more stray thoughts in his eyes, only a crystal-clear determination.
At this moment, he only wanted to deliver that strike.
"Mr. Bai Luan... I have one more strike. If you can take it, then Yanqing will be completely convinced."
Bai Luan originally wanted to call for a stop,
The footage recorded was already sufficient.
But seeing Yanqing's eyes and feeling that surging sword intent that was almost about to break through its shackles, he swallowed the words that were on the tip of his tongue.
He simply raised not white in his hand,
The tip of the sword pointing at the young man before him.
"Just swing your sword."
"Thank you."
The next moment, a chill far more intense and pure than when he performed the "Celestial Queller" burst forth from Yanqing's body!
With him as the center, a layer of crystal-clear ice over a foot thick instantly froze on the arena floor and spread outward at a visible speed.
Water vapor in the air froze into small icicles that fell one after another, and the weapon in Yanqing's hand was also covered in a layer of frost.
Bai Luan:?
Isn't this move reserved for Hoolay!?
Why are you using it to slash me!?
At the very moment Bai Luan was slightly dazed by this unexpected development—
Yanqing moved.
There was no earth-shattering momentum, only a cold, moon-like, lightning-fast, and highly condensed arc of sword light that flowed from his blade, silently slicing through space toward Bai Luan.
This strike could not be taken head-on with not white; whether he could block it or not, the sword would break.
Bai Luan put away not white, then donned his mecha at light speed, clenched his fist, and threw a punch toward the sword light in front of him.
The power belonging to an Emanator surged out instantly, directly shattering the sword light from the middle.
Seeing his newly comprehended strike blocked by Bai Luan again, Yanqing smiled.
This smile naturally contained some relief at his own progress, but it was mostly about letting go.
With this strike blocked again, he really had no more moves left.
...
A: Look at how crazy the new honkai: star rail PV is, let's see who still says the memes in my writing are excessive.
T: Yeah that was Really Elation!