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Clang!!!

When the young man blocked the Frost Chant sword with lightning-fast reflexes, Yuyan who had been gritting her teeth with killing intent in her brow finally widened her eyes.

The familiar sword-crossing stance, the familiar crisp sound of clashing blades, even the masked youth’s almost instinctive reaction speed.

All of this felt familiar to Yuyan.

"Heh... hehehe..."

The thrill of crossing swords with the young man involuntarily brought a smile to her.

She could hardly explain why she was smiling, but she was simply happy. Since Yino had been recovering at Ranmo Peak these past three months, it had been a very long time since she had enjoyed such an exhilarating sword match with him.

During that time, Yuyan had thought Yino was ill and had always been cautious when practicing swordplay with him.

But now in Western Province City, as Yuyan fought with all her might against the once-sickly youth whose identity she didn’t know, she truly experienced firsthand the terrifying, inexhaustible foundation he possessed.

Yino, how many more secrets are you hiding from me...

From your fake identity as a pampered young master, to the tacit agreement between the Grand Tutor’s Mansion and the Sect Leader, and now seemingly becoming the successor to the Holy Church’s Sacred Sword owner as if guided by fate...

Amidst the flashing blades, Yuyan’s body instinctively engaged in passionate swordplay with the young man, while deep in her heart, she kept making connections as she watched his skilled movements.

As time passed, Yuyan realized she couldn’t gain the upper hand in her duel with Yino.

Each time Yuyan’s sword was about to strike Yino’s blind spot, he would avoid the crisis with terrifyingly quick reactions.

And every time, when Yuyan’s attack rhythm faltered, Yino’s counterattack methods always far exceeded her expectations.

His basic sword techniques were indeed what Yuyan had taught him.

But beyond the basics, Yino was always creative, constantly finding all sorts of tricky angles to attack Yuyan’s weak points.

It was almost as if... Yuyan felt like he had known her weak points from the very beginning.

It seemed as if he could completely predict each of Yuyan’s sword combinations. Whenever Yuyan had an idea, with just a footstep or a raising of her hand, Yino could instinctively make an evasive movement in a split second.

If this were merely due to Yino’s learning ability at Ranmo Peak, Yuyan could understand it, after all, she had crossed swords with the young man countless nights over the past half year.

But what if... What if he could also make corresponding evasive moves the instant Yuyan raised her hand, even with sword techniques she had never demonstrated in front of him?

That was truly terrifying!

Having cultivated swordsmanship at Wuji Sect for many years, Yuyan, as the head senior sister of the sword division, naturally had mastered many trump cards she took pride in.

These self-developed sword techniques were ones Yuyan wouldn’t easily use under normal circumstances, but once she decided to use them, she would determine the outcome with one strike within three moves.

Over the years, countless challenging prodigies had fallen under these unique sword techniques of Yuyan’s.

By all rights... How could Yino, merely at Core Formation stage, see through Yuyan’s depths?

But reality was bizarre.

Yuyan felt as if her most prized sword techniques were like a fist hitting cotton.

The black-clothed youth showed absolutely no fear.

His effortless movements and unexpected evasion angles all gave Yuyan a deep sense of powerlessness.

She had strength, but couldn’t hit the young man. Even when Yuyan used all her might to land a blow, it would often be neutralized by the youth’s flexible sword technique...

During their duel, Yuyan even wondered if she had unconsciously suppressed her own cultivation level, which would explain why her every move was easily anticipated by the young man.

But soon, after a self-inspection, Yuyan confirmed that her current cultivation level was operating at least at the peak of the Nascent Soul stage.

Indeed, Yuyan was holding back, as she had no intention of overwhelming Yino with absolute brute force.

But that didn’t mean Yuyan should be unable to defeat Yino with technique, did it?

This was simply impossible!

It defied logic!

Yuyan had never taught her secret techniques to Yino, yet it seemed as if every inch of Yuyan’s capabilities and limitations had been thoroughly studied by him.

Yuyan couldn’t make sense of it.

Her attitude had shifted from initial smugness to a cycle of frustration at having nowhere to direct her strength during the duel with the young man.

Yuyan was truly becoming irritated by Yino.

When she couldn’t hit Yino, she would grow anxious, and the more anxious she became, the more Yuyan’s sword techniques would be seen through. The more her trump cards were exposed, the more Yuyan felt a surge of impotent rage pouring out...

Gradually. Yuyan’s fighting style became more chaotic, while Yino’s became more and more skilled.

Eventually, Yuyan didn’t even want to continue dueling with Yino anymore.

She felt that this duel was making her extremely upset.

Unless Yuyan completely lost her composure and unfairly used her superior cultivation to crush Yino, she simply couldn’t hit him with her technique alone!

Moreover, almost every time Yuyan revealed an opening in her initial stance, Yino would seize the opportunity to interrupt her with a sword clash.

This feeling of having strength but being unable to use it, of having powerful moves repeatedly disrupted at the beginning stages, was as torturous as constipation.

Never in her life had Yuyan been so humiliated in sword technique. Many times when her charged-up sword techniques were cleverly interrupted by the youth’s blade clashes, even Yuyan didn’t realize her prized finishing moves had so many vulnerabilities.

Moreover... The young man dueling with her now was only at Core Formation stage, and also her own junior brother—one whom Yuyan had personally brought to Ranmo Peak and taught swordplay to strengthen his foundation.

He was sixteen years old, at early Core Formation stage, yet already able to torment Yuyan technically.

If after a few more years, Yuyan passed on her unique sword techniques to him as well, the youth’s boundless potential would grow to heights she could hardly imagine!

Clang!!!

Another crisp sound of clashing swords, and Yuyan’s sword swing was interrupted.

This time, however, she abandoned fair play and relied on her Divine Transformation cultivation to brutally use her raw power advantage to send the young man flying.

"Yino, you forced me to do this—!"

After being interrupted countless times, Yuyan’s patience had finally reached its limit.

As soon as she spoke, without waiting for the blown-away boy to steady himself, she took advantage of his disrupted stance, leaping up and summoning back her Frost Chant sword that gleamed with silvery light.

...

Meanwhile, on the other side, Yino had stabbed his demonic blade into the ground to barely stabilize himself after being sent flying.

Why are you using me like this again —

In the sea of divine consciousness, a certain sword spirit, feeling the blade edge scraping against the floor, couldn’t help but curse.

But this time, having experienced an excellent sword duel in the young man’s hands for half an hour, the sword spirit seemed to think of something as the words reached her lips, and softened her attitude toward the young man.

See... seeing as your swordsmanship is so good...

When we get back, you must thoroughly polish me again!

The sword spirit puffed up her cheeks, unable to hide her tsundere nature as she snorted.

In the real world, Yino wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth and looked up at the white-robed sword woman now hovering in the sky—

Don’t worry, Wangziu. If I can escape from Senior Sister’s sword today, I’ll serve you properly with a blood offering when we return.

Speaking casually, Yino pulled the pitch-black demonic blade out of the ground crack.

Wait, what’s Wangziu... are you talking about me?

Why, why are you suddenly giving me a name...

It sounds nice, doesn’t it? My deer spirit has white fur and is called Wangxue (Snow-Gazing)... and since your blade has a moon imprint, and we met in autumn, how about calling you Wangziu (Autumn-Gazing) from now on?

Yino explained the meaning of the name with a faint smile, not directly answering the question.

For some reason, the little sword spirit suddenly fell silent.

But the real world waits for no one. Facing the terrifying sword intent from above, Yino grasped the sword with his left hand while joining two fingers of his right hand inside his sleeve, gently stroking the demonic patterns on the blade, and imperceptibly using the sword edge to cut his fingertip, smearing a thin layer of blood on the sword.

Wangziu, let me give you something good...

This blood comes from the lineage of the true phoenix clan of the Western Region.

While wiping blood to feed the sword, Yino also started making up nonsense with a straight face.

After all, the sword spirit was a bully to the weak but feared the strong—a classic tsundere—so Yino naturally had to use some intimidating high-level terminology to frighten her.

True... phoenix bloodline...

In the sea of divine consciousness, the sword spirit widened her eyes, and in reality, her blade eagerly absorbed the layer of blood.

Seconds later, Yino looked up at the white-robed woman in the sky.

After that brief interval, Yuyan had now fully charged her most prized finishing move.

She bathed in terrifying extreme cold sword intent, her hands crossed in front of her chest forming a seal, surrounded by dragon-headed clouds circling the sky.

The Frost Chant sword with its ninth month inscription emitted a piercingly cold silver light, like a pillar stabilizing the sea, suspended behind the white-robed immortal—

"Today, your Senior Sister will open your eyes!!!"

Under the magnificent presence, Yuyan finally opened her golden eyes.

The corner of her brow raised slightly. Having been interrupted countless times, her finishing move could finally be unleashed. Yuyan now felt her entire body flowing smoothly with energy, and her mood was equally refreshed.

She knew that using her brute force to send Yino flying and then taking the opportunity to charge her power was quite unfair.

But it didn’t matter... Yuyan was a sword genius, but also a proud and arrogant sword fanatic.

She had been tormented by Yino for too long. If she couldn’t unleash this finishing move today, she would feel uncomfortable all over, and if she couldn’t vent this energy, she would be too frustrated to sleep all night.

"Yino, if you can withstand this strike, your Senior can overlook your three months of faking illness!"

As the sword technique reached its final moment, Yuyan confidently declared with a smug smile.

As soon as her words fell, without waiting for Yino to respond, Yuyan suddenly mobilized her hand seals.

The next second, she grabbed the long Frost Chant sword behind her and charged horizontally down toward Yino’s position on the ground.

In an instant, Yuyan’s figure was majestic, like a heaven-sent angel wielding a long spear.

Rumble!!!

The terrifying sword technique descended from the sky, the sword shadows left in mid-air transformed into several arcs that lingered.

Dust flew everywhere, and everyone was unable to keep their eyes open in the face of the terrifying sword intent.

But minutes later, they never heard the sound of clashing blades between the two again—

"???"

Everyone looked closely and saw the white-robed woman holding her long sword, breathing heavily with spiritual energy-infused breaths, standing alone amidst the wreckage of sword shadows, searching in vain with her Divine Transformation level violent sword draw.

She looked around, gazing at the few peach blossom petals scattered on the ground, her cold eyes unable to find the black-clothed youth who had just been dueling with her.

"He... ran..."

"HE RAN AWAY?!!!"