135: Chapter 135 Combat

Meanwhile, on the other side of the valley, on a creek bed filled with jagged rocks.

A streak of silvery-white light descended from the sky, landing in the center of the creek bed.

The light dissipated, revealing a slender figure.

It was a young woman, roughly seventeen or eighteen years old, with cold and clear features and a posture as upright as a pine tree. She wore a moon-white martial outfit, and a long sword with a green edge hung at her waist. It was none other than Teng Yuzhi.

The moment she landed, she fully unleashed her Divine Sense, scanning her surroundings vigilantly.

The creek gurgled, rocks were scattered everywhere, and in the distance, undulating mountains were shrouded in mist.

"A Small World." Teng Yuzhi whispered, her expression growing a bit graver.

She had seen a Small World before. The Immortal Cave of the Grand Elder at Bibo Pool was exactly such an independent space.

But that was forged from the lifelong efforts of a powerhouse in the Dongxuan Realm, and it was incomparably precious.

That the Dragon Slaying True Person had actually built his meditation cave within a Small World showed just how profound the heritage of the Innate One Qi Sect had been back then.

She reined in her thoughts and was just about to step forward to investigate—

Ten zhang away in front of her, behind a giant boulder, a faint sound of footsteps suddenly emerged.

Teng Yuzhi's eyes narrowed, and her right hand was already pressed against the hilt of her sword.

A figure turned out from behind the boulder. It was a youth, roughly fourteen or fifteen years old, wearing a washed-out blue cloth gown. His face was delicate, and his brows and eyes were gentle; he looked harmless to both humans and animals.

But he held a sword in his hand. A real sword, with a long, slender blade and a faint, cold glint.

The youth saw Teng Yuzhi, paused slightly, and then revealed a gentle smile.

"Big sister, are you also here to seek an Opportunity?"

His voice was clear and bright, carrying a bit of the childishness unique to a young person.

Teng Yuzhi did not answer. Her gaze fell upon the youth, sensing his Aura—

Viscera Burning Realm. Early Stage. A full major Realm lower than her.

But she did not lower her guard. This Immortal Cave only allowed entry to those below the Dragon Fetus Realm, but with so many major powers, how could they possibly let someone in the Viscera Burning Realm enter? Something was strange!

The youth saw that she did not respond, but he was not annoyed; he simply smiled and raised the sword in his hand.

"If big sister doesn't want to talk, then let's speak with swords." He raised his sword.

In that instant, Teng Yuzhi's pupils constricted. The youth's Aura changed.

It was still the Aura of the Early Stage of the Viscera Burning Realm, and it was still that delicate and gentle face, but that posture of raising the sword—she had seen it before.

It was in the Sword Collection Pavilion of the Dragon Abyss Palace, in the records of an ancient fragmentary scroll. That was the opening stance of the Innate One Qi Sect.

"You are…" Before she could finish, the youth had already thrust his sword at her. The sword light was like snow, shockingly fast. Teng Yuzhi drew her sword.

— — Deeper in the valley. At the edge of a quiet bamboo forest.

Yi Qianfan, a True Disciple from the Heavenly Evil Cult, stood with his hands behind his back, watching the figure slowly coalescing before him.

It was a young Daoist, about fifteen years old, wearing a green Daoist robe and holding a horsetail whisk.

The Daoist's Aura was not strong. It was the Early Stage of the Primal Form Realm, equivalent to his current cultivation. But Yi Qianfan did not act rashly.

Because he recognized this face. He was considered an oddity in the Heavenly Evil Cult; he did not like martial arts, preferring books instead. He had seen this face in the book "Where There Are Dragons, Slay the Dragons."

Dragon Slaying True Person. Although he was much younger, and although he wore a Daoist robe instead of the sword-wielder attire from the rumors, those brows, those eyes, that bearing—it couldn't be wrong.

"Interesting." A smile of ambiguous meaning curled at the corners of Yi Qianfan's lips. "The Dragon Slaying True Person is here to welcome me personally? I am truly flattered."

The Daoist did not answer. He simply stood there quietly, his gaze deep, as if he were looking at something, yet as if he were looking at nothing at all. Then, he raised his horsetail whisk.

— — Jiang Hanzhou passed through the valley and stepped into a bamboo forest. The bamboo shadows swayed, a clear breeze came, and the leaves rustled.

He did not slow his pace, his Divine Sense always fully extended, perceiving everything around him. Another bead. Another memory. He needed more. The faster, the better.

From deep within the bamboo forest, a very faint sound of a flute suddenly came. The flute sound was melodious and winding, carrying a hint of faint sorrow, like a person traveling far away, missing their homeland on a moonlit night in a foreign land.

Jiang Hanzhou's footsteps paused. Amidst the flute music, a figure walked slowly out from the depths of the bamboo forest.

It was a young man, about twenty years old, wearing a moon-white long gown, holding a green bamboo vertical flute. His face was handsome, his brows and eyes gentle, and his Aura was as calm as water.

But Jiang Hanzhou knew that this was not a living person. It was another memory fragment.

The young man lowered the flute, looked at Jiang Hanzhou, and smiled slightly. The smile was clean and gentle, like the breeze in the mountains, without a single trace of Impurities.

"Hello." He spoke, his voice clear and bright. "That you were able to come here means you have already obtained my first memory."

Jiang Hanzhou's eyes narrowed slightly. "My first memory… Are you the Dragon Slaying True Person?"

The young man shook his head. "I am him, and I am also not him." He raised the flute in his hand and gently stroked the bamboo nodes on the body of the flute.

"I am his memory from the year he was seventeen, when he first entered the Innate One Qi Sect." "That year, my Revered Master bestowed this flute upon me and taught me to cultivate my sword heart with the sound of the flute." "That was the happiest time of my life."

He put away his smile, his gaze falling on Jiang Hanzhou. "Do you want to obtain this memory?"

Jiang Hanzhou did not answer. He simply watched the gentle, jade-like young man before him quietly, sensing the other's Aura—Primal Form Realm. Middle Stage. One small Realm higher than him.

But that was not the point. The point was—seventeen years old. First entering the Innate One Qi Sect. Cultivating the sword heart with the sound of the flute. What did that mean?

It meant that this memory very likely contained the introductory Cultivation Technique of the Innate One Qi Sect, enlightenment in the Dao of the sword, and even… the teachings that the Dragon Slaying True Person had received back then.

Jiang Hanzhou took a deep breath. Then, he smiled. "I do." He gripped his tiger soul saber tightly. "Of course I do."

The young man nodded, tucked the flute back into his waist, and reached out with his right hand—a long sword condensed out of thin air and fell into his palm.

The sword blade was long and slender, the sword light cold and clear, and on the edge of the blade, bamboo shadows faintly rippled. He raised his sword.

In that instant, the young man's Aura changed completely. It was still a gentle, jade-like face, and still an Aura as calm as water. But that posture of raising the sword—it was the Dao of the sword.

It was the true Dao of the sword. It was the first sword technique that the Dragon Slaying True Person had learned when he was seventeen, upon first entering the Innate One Qi Sect.

Jiang Hanzhou's eyes lit up suddenly. He did not wait any longer. The tiger soul saber left its sheath! The dark, blood-colored blade cut through the bamboo shadows, slashing toward the sword-wielding youth. The saber and sword collided. Boom—the bamboo forest trembled, and bamboo leaves flew everywhere like rain.