"Ah excellent! I have tried all the finest wines from both north and south across the entire land and the one in your hand is absolutely the strongest and most mellow I have encountered. It is a true gem among wines..."
The moonlight shone bright and clear overhead. The Drunken Sword Immortal had shamelessly begged for a bottle of fine wine from Alex and after taking his first satisfying sip he laughed heartily with pure joy.
"Old man please stop drinking for a moment. Ling'er has been missing for quite a while now. Do you have any special way or method to find her?" Seeing the Drunken Sword Immortal thoroughly enjoying his wine, Li Xiaoyao asked with an anxious and desperately hopeful expression on his face.
He had absolute blind faith in the Drunken Sword Immortal's abilities. Perhaps the old master possessed some special magical treasure or secret technique that could help him locate and find Ling'er?
"Oh? Ling'er is actually missing? Well that is not necessarily such a bad thing..."
Upon hearing Li Xiaoyao's worried words the Drunken Sword Immortal appeared genuinely surprised but then he nodded thoughtfully and whispered cryptically.
The Drunken Sword Immortal knew perfectly well that Senior Sword Saint had personally descended from Mount Shu with the express purpose of taking Zhao Ling'er away. Now that Zhao Ling'er was conveniently missing, even if Senior Sword Saint desperately wanted to find her it would probably prove to be quite a struggle.
Being stuck in the middle of this conflict would not be particularly difficult to navigate. His original purpose in seeking out Li Xiaoyao and the others had been to keep them safely hidden away from the Sword Saint's attention.
"Hey what are you saying you stinky old man? Ling'er is gone and you are actually calling it a good thing?" Li Xiaoyao naturally had absolutely no idea what the Drunken Sword Immortal was secretly thinking. He had been practically going insane searching desperately for Ling'er these past several days and this irritating old man was actually calling her disappearance a good thing while seeming to gloat over it.
"Hahaha how about some of this excellent wine? It will definitely make you forget your troubles very quickly."
The Drunken Sword Immortal did not care at all about Li Xiaoyao's justified anger. He simply raised his wine bottle higher and smiled with obvious amusement.
"No I absolutely do not want to become a worthless drunkard like you" Li Xiaoyao said firmly while shaking his head in refusal.
"I was merely saying that casually anyway. Giving you this exquisite wine would be like giving a cow a beautiful peony to appreciate" the Drunken Sword Immortal said with an amused chuckle while carefully observing Li Xiaoyao's changing expression.
Alex and the others who stood nearby did not dare interrupt the conversation between master and disciple so they remained quiet.
After chatting casually with Li Xiaoyao for several minutes and learning about both his and Zhao Ling'er's current complicated situation, the Drunken Sword Immortal finally felt somewhat relieved. His sharp gaze then settled directly on Alex with obvious interest.
He paused for a thoughtful moment while examining the magnificent Wushuang Sword strapped to Alex's back and then said "Young Alex you seem to be a swordsman as well based on your bearing. Since we are all free today how about engaging in a friendly sparring match?"
"It seems he is still quite concerned and curious about what Li Xiaoyao and the others told him regarding my supposed defeat of the Moon Worshiping Sect Leader" Alex thought silently to himself upon hearing the Drunken Sword Immortal suddenly expressing his desire to spar with him.
His mind raced rapidly through various possibilities but Alex reacted quickly without showing hesitation. He extended his hand deliberately and the Wushuang Sword automatically leaped into his waiting palm as if called by his will.
He nodded respectfully while saying "I have always deeply admired the legendary swordsmanship techniques of Mount Shushan. Since Master Mo is graciously willing to teach me today I am truly honored beyond measure."
"Alright enough with all this flowery nonsense and empty formalities. Let us get to work" the Drunken Sword Immortal seemed completely unimpressed by Alex's polite and respectful words.
Nodding in acknowledgment Alex said nothing more. With a sharp flick of his Wushuang Sword he unleashed the exquisitely refined techniques of the Nine Swords of Dugu while striking directly at the Drunken Sword Immortal's body with precise intent.
"Well your sword movements are certainly exquisite and well-practiced but they are still merely at the basic stage of controlling the sword with internal energy. How could such techniques possibly have injured someone like the Moon Worshiper?" The instant Alex drew his sword and attacked the Drunken Sword Immortal immediately discerned a great deal of information from his movements and techniques. This became a source of genuine surprise.
He gently swung his fingers casually like sword blades and several incredibly sharp threads of sword energy emanated from his elegant movements. The sword energy appeared as delicate as silk thread yet possessed devastating sharpness.
Several soft-looking threads of pure sword energy gracefully entwined themselves around Alex's approaching form.
The originally sharp sword energy had been deliberately softened within the Drunken Sword Immortal's expert hand. This demonstration revealed his absolutely exquisite control over sword energy manipulation. This represented the very first time Alex had ever personally witnessed such impossibly soft yet deadly sword energy in actual combat.
Ding ding ding!
As the Wushuang Sword made contact with the seemingly harmless soft sword energy threads, a tremendously powerful hidden force suddenly surged from the blade's surface. This caused Alex to completely lose control of the Wushuang Sword and it went flying from his grip.
Judging purely from their crystal point measurements, the Drunken Sword Immortal's internal energy was approximately three times greater than Alex's current level.
However Alex had never once considered himself someone who relied purely on overwhelming strength alone. He had only used his initial sword strike to carefully test the true power and nature of the legendary sword energy techniques.
Whoosh!
Although Alex's Wushuang Sword had been sent flying away from his grasp, under the precise control of his magnetic manipulation power it suddenly changed direction mid-flight. It transformed into a stream resembling a swimming fish and shot directly toward the Drunken Sword Immortal with renewed speed.
Simultaneously Alex extended his protected left hand which was clad in the vibranium glove and boldly grasped several dangerous strands of sword energy directly in front of him without fear.
"Huh? Sword control technique? No wait that is not traditional sword control at all. Then how exactly did this sword manage to fly and change direction?" The Drunken Sword Immortal's eyes narrowed with genuine surprise as the Wushuang Sword suddenly shot toward him with unexpected control.
Seeing that his deadly sword energy could actually be caught and held safely in Alex's protected hand, the Drunken Sword Immortal took a long penetrating look at the mysterious glove with growing interest.
"Although this young man's overall cultivation level is not particularly high, his various abilities are extremely strange and unusual. Moreover he clearly possesses rare treasures on his person" the Drunken Sword Immortal thought with secret surprise. He became genuinely interested in learning more about Alex's unique abilities.
Seeing Alex controlling his flying sword with such precision, the Drunken Sword Immortal also stretched out his own fingers and formed a traditional sword gesture with practiced ease.
Then the sword that had been resting behind his back suddenly flew upward into the air. He also employed the advanced power of proper sword control technique to engage Alex in aerial combat.
Relatively speaking the Drunken Sword Immortal's true sword control technique was considerably much more flexible and responsive. His focused mind led his consciousness to wherever the sword naturally pointed...
However Alex's available abilities were practically endless in variety so how could they possibly be compared to simply controlling one flying sword through traditional methods?
Seeing that the expertly controlled sword technique was flexibly suppressing his Wushuang Sword in the air, Alex suddenly stomped his legs against the ground dozens of times in rapid succession. He unleashed his Shave ability and instantly closed the distance while approaching the Drunken Sword Immortal at blinding speed.
What incredibly fast speed!
Seeing Alex appear directly before him in a mere flash of movement, the Drunken Sword Immortal felt secretly startled by this unexpected technique. He quickly extended his finger forward and a sharp concentrated thread of sword energy pointed directly toward Alex with lethal precision.
"Thunder Fist!"
Alex shouted out the technique name with a distinct hint of playful mischief in his voice. His powerful left fist which was clad securely in the vibranium glove became wrapped in crackling violent lightning as he punched directly toward the Drunken Sword Immortal.
The brilliant lightning dispersed and scattered under the devastating impact of the sharp sword energy strike. But Alex's tremendously powerful punch also completely shattered the incoming sword energy attack into nothing.
Then with his momentum completely undiminished he struck the Drunken Sword Immortal's shoulder solidly with his charged fist.
The vibranium glove not only perfectly protected Alex from the Drunken Sword Immortal's counterattack power but also dramatically amplified his own striking force by approximately three times its normal strength.
"Thank you very much for the instruction!" After successfully punching the Drunken Sword Immortal's shoulder and knocking him backward several stumbling steps, Alex did not wait for the Drunken Sword Immortal to recover and continue fighting. He hastily called an immediate end to their exchange.
Well it was definitely best to stop right here. If the fight continued much longer and the Drunken Sword Immortal decided to get truly serious about winning, the final outcome would become completely unpredictable and dangerous.
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