Ying Zhuochen replied, “I was asking her to view the sword.”
Ji Lingyao’s smile remained unchanged. “Is that so?”
He remembered that sword cultivators treated their lifebound swords like their lives. They never showed them easily, let alone allowed others to touch them.
Of course, he would never voice such thoughts aloud.
As his mind raced through countless turns, the girl beside him suddenly smiled gracefully. “Ji Little Dao Lord, so you know Fellow Daoist Ying.”
“We often spar together.” Ji Lingyao kindly reminded her again. “Little Junior Sister, a sword cultivator’s sword qi is sharp. You should still be careful when touching it. It wouldn’t be good if you got hurt by mistake.”
Hearing this, the girl surprisingly turned her gaze to ask, “Will your sword qi hurt me?”
Before the black-clothed sword cultivator could answer, she continued on her own. “I don’t think so. After all, Little Dao Lord Ying is my lifesaver.”
After she spoke, Ying Zhuochen felt puzzled once more.
Because his friend was looking at him with that inexplicable gaze again.
However, his friend’s reminder did make sense. Sword qi was sharp, and it wouldn’t be good if she got hurt.
Ying Zhuochen sheathed his sword, preventing her from touching it, and said as he did so, “It was a small effort, not worth mentioning.”
In just a few words, it became clear that there was some connection between the black-clothed sword cultivator and the girl.
Ji Lingyao maintained his smile. “I never expected that a sword cultivator who practices the emotionless sword would have such a chivalrous heart. It was narrow-minded of me.”
Before his words even finished, Li Yin indeed looked toward him, slightly surprised. “Emotionless sword?”
The girl walked between the two young men. For a moment, she turned her head to look at the black-clothed sword cultivator on her right, and then she turned to look at the azure-robed spell cultivator on her left.
Ji Lingyao lowered his gaze, looking at her as well. “Yes, the chief disciple of Hidden Sword Mountain has always practiced the emotionless sword.”
He seemed to mention it casually, but the reputation of the emotionless sword was enough to make any ordinary girl with intentions back off.
Li Yin instinctively glanced toward the black-clothed sword cultivator on her other side.
Ying Zhuochen met her gaze. His expression unchanged, his eyes were clear and pure like spring water—yet they were two pools of still water, as always: undisturbed, emotionless, and calmly serene.
She heard Ji Little Dao Lord continue. “My friend here was born without a heart like others. He doesn’t understand romance. Hearing this, the Sword Venerable taught him the emotionless sword dao according to his nature.”
He paused deliberately, and sure enough, the girl turned back to look at him, waiting for what came next.
Only then did Ji Lingyao continue. “‘Even the Joyous Union Sect looks down on this blockhead chief disciple of Hidden Sword Mountain.’ That’s what those junior disciples say.”
Li Yin showed a surprised expression, as if to say, “Such a thing actually happened?”
Even though the anecdote involved him, Ying Zhuochen merely nodded at his friend’s revelation. “It seems that did happen.”
Whether it was his friend’s inexplicable gazes or his current words, the emotionless sword cultivator paid them little mind.
Yet he had willingly drawn his lifebound sword, acting on instinct to let the girl see it. That was truly strange.
Ji Lingyao looked at him and suddenly let out a light chuckle. “With your personality, you should be careful. Those female cultivators from the Joyous Union Sect are flighty and even more unrestrained than I am. Who knows, one day they might just supplement you.”
“After all, with no heart and no emotions, you don’t seem like someone who would care about his primordial yang or chastity.”
His words seemed loaded with meaning, pointed yet casual, as if an offhand remark.
Li Yin’s heart skipped a beat, then another. She didn’t dare respond.
Stop probing already!
She hadn’t planned to make a move yet!
This Ji Little Dao Lord kept testing her, and earlier she had tested him right back—conveniently using the emotionless sword blockhead beside her to gauge his intentions.
Li Yin thought that her max-level charm was indeed effective.
But this young man was naturally suspicious. Even if he felt some fondness for her, he still kept probing endlessly.
The player was exhausted, but the player didn’t say it.
She raised her eyes to look at Ji Little Dao Lord, her gaze clear and innocent, as if she didn’t quite understand the meaning behind his words.
What was supplementation? What was primordial yang? Little Junior Sister had no idea.
She was like this, and so was the black-clothed sword cultivator on her other side.
Both had dark eyes, their gazes remarkably similar as they turned toward the azure-robed spell cultivator in unison.
The light breeze around Ji Lingyao stagnated for a moment.
His smile unchanged, he shifted his gaze away. After a while, he silently raised a hand and gently touched the corner of his eye.
His eyes were gray.
The two young men stood one on each side of her, making it easy to compare their cultivation bases, heights, and builds…
No need to mention cultivation—their heights were almost equal, and their builds similar…
Gray eyes should complement black ones just as well.
In that moment, the conversation ended, and silence fell—just as they arrived at the Martial Field. The three of them ascended the plaza along the steps.
With the mountain opening approaching, Hidden Sword Mountain’s disciples were intensifying their training. The Martial Field was crowded with sword cultivator disciples, all diligently practicing.
Li Yin didn’t spot the Sword Venerable at first glance, but she did see a valiant and heroic female cultivator.
That female cultivator stood at the front of the group, leading the disciples in sword practice.
A red cord tied her hair in a neat, high ponytail. The long sword in her hand also bore a red tassel, and with each swing, it unleashed a blaze of fiery sword intent.
Li Yin took a second look. The blockhead chief disciple from Hidden Sword Mountain said nothing, so it was the Azure Profound chief disciple who introduced her instead.
Ji Lingyao said, “The chief disciple of Hidden Sword Mountain practices the emotionless sword and ignores disciple affairs. The sword cultivator disciples naturally follow that senior sister, An Shanyue.”
As he spoke, a disturbance arose in the nearby sword hums, mixed with a few discordant notes.
Several spiritual swords buzzed erratically. One disciple, caught off guard, lost control of his long sword, which flew straight toward the people at the edge of the Martial Field.
More precisely, those two spiritual swords shot straight toward the girl in the ink-green dress.
Before she could react, the two dao lords beside her immediately struck—one intercepting each sword.
As Ying Zhuochen caught the long sword, he sensed something. “No malice.”
He turned to the girl behind him. “This sword likes you too.”
He extended the sword slightly toward her, but Li Yin didn’t dare take it.
She had unlocked Hidden Sword Mountain’s skills. Touching a sword might reveal traces of the Hidden Sword Nine Styles, and if these Hidden Sword Mountain people saw it, she wouldn’t be able to explain.
With the mishap, the leading senior sister flew over.
An Shanyue’s expression was peculiar as she gripped the spiritual sword in her hand.
Her own lifebound sword faintly conveyed a sense of affinity—but it was directed at this girl she had never met.
Out of curiosity, she gave Li Yin a few extra glances before cupping her hands. “My sect’s disciples were incompetent and had no intention of harming anyone. I hope Fellow Daoist can forgive us.”
Li Yin also looked apologetic. “It might be my problem. I disrupted your training.”
The swords that flew toward her must have gained some sentience, influenced by her abilities, causing them to lose control.
But the senior sister shook her head, beckoned the two disciples over, had them apologize to her first, then took the swords back for retraining.
She handled it smoothly and decisively, then turned to leave—but in her mind, she kept pondering.
How rare. An Shanyue glanced over again with her peripheral vision.
First at the girl, then at the two male cultivators.
The ink-green disciple robes—in that style, she was from the Myriad Beasts Sect.
To make her sword feel affinity—who knew her background or what rare talent she had.
After marveling at the girl, she turned her curiosity to the two male cultivators.
She knew her own sect’s chief disciple’s quirks all too well, and the Azure Profound chief disciple was no good either.
How could they stand together with such a fine little girl, smiling so warmly?
It was disgustingly sappy.
She shuddered and shook the red tassel on her lifebound sword.
The sudden interlude caused some disorder among the sword cultivator disciples.
Not just the senior sister—other disciples quietly sized them up too. Before they could discuss the three at the edge of the Martial Field, the atmosphere on the field shifted again.
“Elder Yun Jian!”
With the disciples’ startled cries, a golden rainbow suddenly appeared in the sky, brilliant as the blazing sun, tearing through the heavens and overshadowing all light.
Clanging sword cries poured down with the wind, echoing endlessly. In an instant, every long sword on the plaza trembled and fell silent, not daring to compete.
The golden rainbow scattered the clouds and winds, disrupting the noise on the plaza.
As it neared the Martial Field, the blazing sun descended. The arrival flew on his sword but landed silently, his steps light and agile.
He sheathed his sword, the golden rainbow vanishing cleanly without any flourish.
Once the fierce, clanging golden-red sword qi receded, it revealed a youth in black robes—like an ink-black crow bringing tidings of death, or a withered, extinguished sun.
As the wind died down, the stray hairs on his forehead fell across his jade-like face, cold and pale. His black eyes were clear, desolate, and sharp. Suddenly, his brows furrowed.
“What are you all standing around stunned for?” He swept his gaze over the disciples on the field and said coldly, “Train.”
With the Sword Venerable personally here to oversee, the disciples hurried back to their positions.
The Martial Field fell silent of extraneous noise, filled only with the sounds of disciples swinging swords or sparring.
Hidden Sword Mountain’s Martial Field was vast. The black-clothed Sword Venerable landed in the center of the plaza, while Li Yin stood at the edge.
Fortunately, the distance was far enough that she dared to stay here. For the moment, the girl paid no mind to the two beside her and quietly shifted her steps, retreating down two levels of stairs. She poked out just her head to peer at the plaza, feeling much safer.
The two dao lords beside her remained standing.
Though Hidden Sword Mountain’s chief disciple didn’t quite understand the meaning of her actions, this emotionless sword blockhead simply watched quietly without interfering.
As for the Azure Profound chief disciple, he watched Little Junior Sister’s every move with great interest.
She was probably frightened by the spiritual swords that had flown at her earlier.
Thanks to a cultivator’s sharp eyesight, Li Yin clearly observed the appearance of her former capture target.
He no longer had the spirited, even youthful air of his younger days. Now, his black pupils were deep and desolate, lacking the bright sparkle of his youth.
Only then did Li Yin suddenly realize that Ying Zhuochen hadn’t lied to her.
His master and disciple truly resembled each other—not flashy in dress or bearing.
Even as the Sword Venerable of Hidden Sword Mountain, he wore simple black robes with his hair tied back.