The opposing sword cultivator disciple was at early Nascent Soul, while she was at Golden Core Late Stage. But she was still a Player. Sword cultivators seemed advantaged, but who knew—maybe the Player would end up bullying the locals.
Everyone awaited her choice. Li Yin looked around, and the Player’s playful mood suddenly surged.
She didn’t notice that the dull gray sword had vanished, lurking somewhere to watch.
The girl suddenly beamed brightly and cupped her hands somewhat awkwardly. “In that case—”
They assumed she wanted spirit stone compensation. The sword cultivator disciple began calculating his assets. Then came her next words.
“Please advise me, Senior Brother.”
Her words rang clear, carried on the wind.
In an instant, all eyes turned to her.
An Shanyue paused briefly, then nodded, approving her spirit. The youth riding the wind high above showed no surprise. His smiling gray eyes simply lingered on the bright-eyed, smiling girl.
Surprised at first, the sword cultivator disciple quickly recovered. “Th-Then, Junior Sister, I offend.”
They saluted each other. The spar began.
The skills from Jade Ecstasy Myriad Methods belonged to demonic cultivators; she couldn’t use them in public. Hidden Sword Nine Styles was a Dao Sect sword art—using it would expose her.
The moves Li Yin could use were just footwork and the scattered skills from her contracted spirit beasts. Right now, the viable ones were Fire Control Technique from Little Golden Orange and the newly unlocked skill.
Meridian Acupoint Spectrum, which let her pinpoint meridians and acupoints at a glance.
Of course, she could also release the kitten and little rat to bite.
Imagining that scene was too absurd, so Li Yin chose to fight herself.
The sword cultivator disciple struck first. His sword thrust cleanly and directly at her vitals, aiming for a quick finish. To his surprise, though, the girl sidestepped just in time, dodging it.
He figured it was luck and flourished a flurry of sword flowers. Sword light dazzled the eyes, each strike aimed at her face—to mask the killing intent within.
Relying on her footwork, the girl dodged repeatedly. His sword strikes kept missing.
The killing thrust, aimed purely for surprise, ended up missing entirely as the girl bowed her head to dodge it.
Not only that, but as she ducked, she raised her hand and hurled a ball of flame straight at her opponent’s face.
The sword cultivator disciple leaned back, twisting his longsword to block her fire attack with the flat of the blade.
The distance between them briefly opened up. The two exchanged a glance before clashing once more.
The whole exchange was utterly bizarre—something outsiders couldn’t sense. But the sword cultivator disciple facing off against the girl knew it better than anyone.
It was too strange.
This girl fought just like one of their own junior sisters from Hidden Sword Mountain. In fact, she seemed even more proficient in their sword arts than he was.
How else could he explain it? Time and again, before his sword tip even reached her or his move fully formed, she dodged with uncanny foresight, evading perfectly every time.
Sweat beaded in his palms. So many people were watching, and who knew if the sect elders outside Sword Tomb were observing as well.
He couldn’t quickly dispatch a disciple from the Myriad Beasts Sect—a girl whose cultivation was even one minor realm below his. It was unheard of. A total embarrassment.
As his heart wavered, so did his sword. His once-fierce strikes grew erratic. And yet, the girl across from him smiled warmly, her eyes curved in gentle amusement, without a trace of mockery.
Seeing his swordwork fall into disorder, An Shanyue shook her head slightly and stroked the hilt at her waist. The red tassel swayed.
“Looks like this compatible sword qi isn’t meant for us,” Ji Lingyao said, scattering the gusts of wind with a wave of his hand before landing silently with Silent Step. “Better head back and practice more before trying again.”
An Shanyue wasn’t annoyed. “Win or lose is just part of the game. Sword qi is plentiful here anyway, and he really does need more practice.”
“Exactly. Besides, there’s sword qi everywhere in this place. I’d say head south—layers upon layers of it. Who knows, we might even stumble on some unexpected treasure.” Ji Lingyao flashed a knowing smile, as if he’d spotted something interesting.
An Shanyue’s expression remained unchanged. “Ji Little Dao Lord has a point. But disciples of Hidden Sword Mountain are only interested in sword qi like that one.”
Their brief exchange had just ended when the situation on the field shifted in an instant.
Somehow, the longsword slipped from the sword cultivator disciple’s grasp. Worse still, the moment it did, the girl snatched it away. She reversed the blade in a flash of white light and pointed it straight back at her defeated opponent.
A gentle breeze ruffled her cheeks, accentuating her fair, unblemished skin. Her bright eyes sparkled.
A pair of gray eyes took it all in, staring without blinking. Only after a moment did Ji Lingyao’s pupils shift, a soft smile tugging at his lips—one so gentle even he seemed unaware of it.
The scene fell deathly silent. It was the first time this sword cultivator disciple had his own lifebound sword pointed at him. He stood there, dazed and bewildered.
What made it even stranger was how it had happened. The girl had advanced instead of retreating to meet his charge. But in that instant, she’d raised her hand, her fingertip glowing with spiritual energy as she lightly pinched his wrist. In a heartbeat, all strength drained from it.
Whether in a friendly spar or a desperate fight to the death, the difference between victory and defeat often came down to millimeters.
Let alone a sudden lapse like that. His opponent had seized the opening perfectly. If it had been a deathmatch, his lifebound sword would have protected its master without harming him.
“My apologies,” the girl said with cupped fists, shattering the silence. “Senior Brother, if you really need this strand of sword qi, you can come find me after we leave this place.”
Her smile was frank and gentle as she extended the sword back to him. Only then did the disciple snap out of his daze and awkwardly take hold of his weapon.
He was still reeling when An Shanyue frowned slightly. “Junior Sister, that sword snatch of yours… it carried hints of Hidden Sword Mountain’s Nine Forms Sword Arts.”
She spoke without lowering her voice, and everyone around heard her clearly.
Li Yin thought to herself that she’d actually mixed in some moves from the Pill Cauldron Sect as well.
Unfortunately, the senior sister from Pill Cauldron Sect had been watching with dizzy eyes, and Li Yin had deliberately blocked her line of sight. So she hadn’t noticed.
It hadn’t escaped the eyes of Hidden Sword Mountain’s eldest senior sister, though. Facing the question, the girl put on an innocent, bewildered expression—even scratching her head. “I’ve probably just watched too much at the Martial Field these past few days. It’s nothing but clumsy imitation. Please don’t laugh, Senior Brothers and Sisters.”
The sword cultivator disciple she’d just beaten parted his lips as if to speak, but he held back.
This senior brother looked even more heartbroken now, clutching his sword in silence.
Watched a lot?
And mastered it just like that?
Her explanation was shocking, but it wasn’t impossible.
At first, only one sword cultivator disciple was heartbroken. Now, all of them from Hidden Sword Mountain were.
The disciples of Hidden Sword Mountain fell silent once more.
No need to spell out the heartbreak.
The only one spared was the chief disciple from Azure Profound Sect nearby—a truly infuriating fellow.
The young man actually let out a light chuckle. “Little Junior Sister really is a genius.”
Meeting his gaze, Li Yin looked back for a moment before her eyes flickered away—a rare occurrence.
That’s how players were.
But if this Little Dao Lord truly believed she was a genius, it might ease some of his suspicions about her rapid advancement.
With the spar in Sword Tomb concluded, voices rang out once more from the high pavilions where the elders watched.
“Truly… the young are formidable,” the Hidden Sword Mountain Sect Master said slowly, gazing at the tiny figure within the secret realm. “To think it’s a disciple from Myriad Beasts Sect.”
Her regret was plain to hear, and the other Hidden Sword Mountain elders wore the same expression.
With their high cultivation and keen eyesight, they’d seen the entire match from start to finish.
If that Myriad Beasts Sect disciple had never studied Hidden Sword Mountain’s sword arts before, then she must have an innate affinity for sword intent—something extraordinary.
【Even so, it seems she caught the Firmament Legacy’s attention the moment she entered.】 one elder transmitted.
The Firmament Legacy—or rather, that Dull Gray Sword—was Hidden Sword Mountain’s deepest secret, one even most inner disciples knew little about.
【What a pity, what a pity. Why did it have to be a Myriad Beasts Sect disciple…?】 The internal transmission was more blunt, laced with a hint of eagerness to poach her.
One Hidden Sword Mountain elder glanced at the Sword Venerable’s expression. He saw that Sword Venerable Yun Jian had opened his eyes at some point and was now solemnly watching the events below.
This elder figured he might as well ask the Sword Venerable to claim the disciple from Myriad Beasts Sect.
Before he could transmit his suggestion, the situation in the secret realm changed again.
A sudden surge of sword qi roiled the winds and threw the spiritual energy into chaos. From above, it looked like the eye of a storm forming—a hurricane that brewed in the blink of an eye.
It happened without warning. The much-watched Myriad Beasts Sect disciple, with her modest cultivation, was immediately swept into the storm. Other disciples were caught up in it too, trapped in the chaos.
Several elders shot to their feet, alarmed. In their haste, they failed to notice the Black-Clothed Sword Cultivator’s face suddenly change.
Sword Venerable Yun Jian shifted slightly, his dark eyes fixed on that ink-green figure.
Before he could act, a disciple from Pill Cauldron Sect in a pale yellow magic robe shot forward. She grabbed the girl, flashed with spiritual light, and the two vanished in an instant via a talisman escape.
The world spun wildly. Li Yin felt dizzy, her body plummeting straight down.
Beside her came the shrill scream of a female cultivator—Senior Sister Mo, it seemed.
Her vision hadn’t even cleared when she landed in an extraordinarily steady embrace.
The Black-Clothed Sword Cultivator looked mildly puzzled but gentle as he caught her. He then reached out in time to pull the quietly screaming Pill Cauldron Sect disciple along, guiding all three of them slowly to the ground.
“Yin… Junior Sister?” Ying Zhuochen asked, perplexed as to why she’d fallen from the sky again.
Fortunately, he’d caught her once more.
The Black-Clothed Sword Cultivator’s arm was around the girl’s waist. He pulled her in first, then the other—a bias he wasn’t even aware of.
Seeing the disciples escape danger one after another, the elders up high all breathed sighs of relief and sat back down.
A Hidden Sword Mountain elder stroked his beard with a smile. “If I recall correctly, Nephew Ying cultivates the Emotionless Sword?”
The Black-Clothed Sword Cultivator’s instinctive favoritism hadn’t escaped the elders’ sharp eyes.
“Looks like that missing piece in his heart is finally growing back,” the elder drawled.
It would be good if it grew. Then perhaps he’d form a dao companion bond with that Myriad Beasts Sect girl disciple and teach her Hidden Sword Mountain’s arts.
The Black-Clothed Sword Venerable fell silent for a few breaths before replying, “Yes.”
“She truly… has a fated connection with my disciple,” he said slowly.
She resembled his senior sister so much that he couldn’t help chasing echoes of the past in her. He even wondered if his senior sister had returned.
But his senior sister was long dead.
She wasn’t his.
He closed his eyes and looked away.
All he wanted was his senior sister.