Snow covered the Golden Top of Vast Ocean Peak while the wind blew wildly.
Two people stood in the midst of the pure white snow. They stood still like trees with their swords pointing at each other.
Those who were good at observing would notice that these two people were starring at each other dumbfoundedly.
Those two were none other than Li Zhanlu, the Vast Ocean Swordmaster, and his son, Li Hanguang.
By just exchanging a single blow, they were both completely overwhelmed.
Li Zhanlu was completely shocked since he was sure he'd parried his son's attack and the latter would not have the chance to launch another strike.
Yet, unbelievably, Li Hanguang did manage to perform another attack.
The second attack was faster and way more dangerous than the first one. Li Hanguang had managed to absorb the generated force when his father parried his sword and turned that energy into his own.
It was something similar to borrowing an enemy's power.
In that instance, Li Zhanlu did not see any special effects or glamourous Sword Technique. All he saw was the path of the sword that seemed to have merged with its surroundings.
Even though the sword hadn't swung in a straight line, it moved faster than one.
The next second, the sword was already on his throat.
It was true that Li Zhanlu was careless, but he also admitted that even if he were to defend the attack seriously, he might not be able to block all of it.
The reason was that Li Hanguang's attack had already branched out from the Long River Sword Technique by evolving the Long River Falling Sun into a much better skill.
While everyone was still studying sword illusions and stealth attacks of the Long River Falling Sun, Li Hanguang had already discarded the idea of launching a surprise attack with the skill and instead focused on the 'sun' aspect of it.
He was able to exhibit the unique trait of the Water Element, the ability to take any form, into the Sword Technique.
The mastery that Li Hanguang had shown over the technique was almost impeccable to the point where one would feel a chill down their spines if they saw it.
So, his was the legendary Mortal Regression? It definitely lived up to its name!
...
Li Zhanlu was also shocked by his son's improvement.
They did a lot of sparring before Li Zhanlu went into Closed Cultivation three years ago.
Throughout all those sparring sessions, Li Zhanlu had already been satisfied with his son's talent with a sword.
However, Li Hanguang was completely different now. The difference was literally day and night.
Just as I suspected, this son of mine must've trained with some famed swordsman for the past three years. There's no other explanation for his sudden improvement! I'll have to test him more. If I can force him to use some of the secret sword techniques of Taicang Holy Land, then I can be certain that he has become the apprentice of the Righteous Hero Sword Sage and has learned the Taicang Sword Technique behind my back.
Li Hanguang had no idea what his father was actually planning.
The truth was that he was completely surprised by the outcome as well.
What just happened? And here I was, thinking, how am I supposed to withstand a hundred of my father moves without embarrassing him too much... How did my sword end up by his throat? Did he lock himself up for so long that his body's gone stiff?
Li Hanguang began to think to himself.
Or was it because he had been at the Soul Formation stage for too long and was used to waving a hundred-meter-long broadsword around instead of performing such precise attacks? What should I do now? Should I move my blade back like nothing happened?
Li Hanguang frowned. He knew that his father would not forgive him easily, especially not when his mother was not around.
The boy could feel the danger that was lurking around him.
...
As time slowly passed, the two people continued to stare at each other at the top of the snowy mountain.
Li Hanguang's sword was only a millimeter away from his father's throat.
"My apologies, Father, I didn't control my power well and unintentionally raised it to the Foundation Establishment stage," the son finally broke the ice as he pulled his sword back. "Please forgive me for my rudeness."
Li Zhanlu looked at his soon with hints of satisfaction and coughed lightly. "Don't worry about it. It's perfectly normal for that to happen to people your age. You'll need to focus on training your control over your inner energy."
"I will." Li Hanguang nodded.
Li Zhanlu glanced at his son again before moving back until they were ten feet apart.
With his left arm still behind him, he pointed his sword at his son again. "Another one. Attack me with all you got!"
Li Hanguang looked at his father, who stood tall and mighty and felt pressured.
It wasn't as if Li Zhanlu had gotten more powerful after he became serious about the fight, at least not to the point where Li Hanguang felt like he would lose, but he couldn't help but feel how weak his father was now that they were at the same level.
It was a difficult task for the boy to complete as he not only had to make sure that he did not defeat his father but also not lose either. All the boy could do was make sure his attacks were just a tad weaker than his father's.
It was like how Li Hanguang used to play table tennis with his company's higher-ups in his past life.
The challenge was not to win but to let the higher-ups know that you were strong, but they were slightly better than you.
Only then would the higher-ups be satisfied.
It was a task that only a few could do properly.
...
"What are you spacing out for? Come on!" Li Zhanlu roared, not giving his son any time to think. Seeing that his son wasn't going to make the first strike, the father decided to attack first.
Li Hanguang had to admit that Li Zhanlu's mastery over a sword was unbelievably high.
Even though Li Zhanlu's power was limited to level 3 of the Spiritual Qi Refinement stage, the pressure exerted from his sword could be felt clearly by Li Hanguang.
It was proof that his Sword Aura had reached an even higher grade.
Even if it had been three years since Li Zhanlu released his Sword Aura, it still retained its terrifying pressure that was enough to make most kneel in front of him.
Ironclad Horses Over Frozen Rivers!
Chilling Sword Aura immediately gathered around Li Zhanlu's sword as if they were horses running past frozen rivers.
It was the strongest attacking skill among the Long River Sword Technique, a skill that could put its user a level above their peers.
Yet, in Li Hanguang's eyes, the perfected skill had a lot of flaws.
After being forced by the Bronze Mark to learn about the Long River Sword Technique for the past three years, Li Hanguang had achieved a complete understanding of this Sword Technique.
Even if he was facing the creator of the technique, Li Hanguang was confident he could defeat his opponent.
He didn't even need to use Omniscient Observation to know that his father's attack had more than ten flaws. If Li Hanguang wished to, he could overpower his father easily, just like he did with the last attack.
What pained Li Hanguang the most was the fact that he had to hold himself back. Not only did he have to ignore all the flaws and openings, he also had to avoid the attacks as naturally as possible.
The most important part was that he had to make sure he was fighting at the same level as his father.
Because of all these restrictions, Li Hanguang was drenched in sweat after defending against a dozen attacks.
...
On the other hand, Li Zhanlu felt completely embarrassed by the fact that he almost got defeated by his son in one strike because he had looked down on the boy.
To regain his pride, he decided to use the strongest technique he knew and attacked his son without holding back.
It was safe to say that Li Zhanlu had never swung his sword as powerfully as he did now.
Yet, to make matters worse, he was still unable to overpower the boy even after giving all that he had. At most, he was only in a slightly more favorable situation.
It was true that he was forcing his son back little by little, which was obvious from the sweat on Li Hanguang's forehead.
However, that wasn't what Li Zhanlu had been aiming for. What he wanted was for his son to use the Taicang Sword Technique so that he could crush it with his own.
After seconds of hesitation, Li Zhanlu secretly raised his power to level 5 of the Spiritual Qi Refinement stage.
In just an instant, his attack became much fiercer.