23: Chapter 23 Harvest and Sword Intent

[Wait... Qingyu...]

[Lin Bufan paused his movements.]

["Teacher, don't you think this woman bears some resemblance to Qingyu?"]

["Does she?"]

[The Ring Old Man's tone carried suspicion; after all, the aura he sensed from you was completely different from before.]

["You don't understand!"]

[Lin Bufan shook his head. Having spent many wonderful nights with you, he was far too familiar with your body.]

[You noticed his suspicious gaze, but ignored it. Right now, taking all the benefits was the key.]

["Whoosh~"]

[Suddenly, a burst of spiritual energy struck from behind.]

[You were prepared. With a thought, light swirled across your xuanyu skirt, immediately activating its defense and easily blocking the attack.]

["Fellow Daoist, what is the meaning of this?"]

[You looked at Lin Bufan with an unfriendly gaze.]

[There were not many storage pouches left in the field.]

[You estimated that about two hundred Late Qi Refining Stage cultivators had entered the secret realm, and nearly two-thirds were gathered here.]

[Meanwhile, the number of storage pouches inside your system space was already close to a hundred, leaving very few behind.]

[You intended to bow out—at least you had to leave some soup for others.]

[However, before that...]

["My mistake, my mistake."]

[Lin Bufan waved his hand with a silly smile, but secretly communicated with the Ring Old Man again in his mind.]

["Teacher, how is it?"]

["Fourth level of Qi Refining. It is definitely a cultivation technique of the Hehuan Sect."]

[After saying that, the old man added:]

["At the Middle Qi Refining Stage, she doesn't have spiritual sense. Since you have doubts, this old man will just directly probe her appearance."]

[As he spoke, a majestic spiritual sense force approached you.]

[If you hadn't consumed the Spirit Nurturing Fruit, you naturally wouldn't have sensed it. Of course, with your current spiritual sense, you couldn't block his probing either.]

[However...]

[In the next moment, the blood jade in your hand shone brightly, and points of spiritual light flickered in your eyes.]

["If Your Excellency continues to probe, we shall fight to the death!"]

[The Ring Old Man was startled. Who could have known this female cultivator had unlocked her spiritual sense as early as the Middle Qi Refining Stage? She must have consumed some heavenly material or earthly treasure. If he had known, he would have done it more subtly...]

[Lin Bufan was instantly terrified—he was facing the pressure of a Nascent Soul!]

["Fellow Daoist, it's a misunderstanding! All a misunderstanding!"]

[He rubbed his hands together and said with a pained look on his face:]

["You've taken more than half of the storage pouches here. How about I give you the rest, and we call it even?"]

["No need."]

[You shook your head.]

["The rest are all yours."]

[Under Lin Bufan's pleasantly surprised gaze, a trace of banter surfaced in your eyes.]

["I only want the storage pouch of the person at the bottom of the lake."]

[The smile on his face froze, and his mouth hung open. That Feng Yuan held a top-grade flying sword, clearly possessing immense wealth.]

[Yet, looking at the blood jade floating in front of you that emitted a terrifying aura, he yielded and nodded.]

[A tinge of laughter welled in your eyes as you leaped into the lake.]

[A moment later, you dragged a figure out of the water, took his storage pouch, and threw him toward the shore.]

[Meeting Lin Bufan's dazzled eyes, you winked playfully.]

["Giggle~ Kind little brother, I look forward to meeting you next time~"]

["You just wait! Sooner or later, you'll pay back this debt!"]

[He abruptly turned his face away, suppressing his mind, not daring to look any longer at your bewitching figure clinging to wet clothes under the moonlight, and growled through grit teeth.]

["Teehee~ I look forward to it very much~"]

[Your figure gradually faded into the mist, leaving behind only a string of bell-like laughter echoing endlessly in the night.]

[Lin Bufan curled his lip, collected the remaining storage pouches, and quickly fled the crime scene.]

[Thus, another strange case was added to the Tianxuan Sword Sect.]

[However, since there were no casualties and no natal flying swords were lost, the sect didn't bother to investigate. Instead, the victims were publicly mocked by the elders, truly suffering a double loss.]

[Meanwhile, on the other hand...]

[After leaving the central lake, holding the secret realm map, you headed straight for the Sword Intent inheritance site without looking back.]

[You changed back into your original attire, and your cultivation technique transition was complete.]

[As for the spoils, you hadn't had time to inspect them closely yet, but in Feng Yuan's storage pouch alone, there were thousands of spirit stones, and even a few medium-grade spirit stones.]

[That kid was definitely a second-generation cultivator!]

[You didn't go to extremes either; you didn't take a single one of their swords, leaving them capital for a comeback.]

[Sigh~ It wasn't out of fear of causing a bigger scene, but mostly because you were just too beautiful and kind-hearted.]

[Thinking like this, a faint outline of a massive structure appeared at the end of your sight.]

[It was said that Qingfeng Valley was a martial arts field fragment of an Ancient Sword Sect, and the place with the densest Sword Intent within it was the Sword Testing Stone before you.]

[A sky-reaching stone stele standing in the middle of the plain, crisscrossed with sword marks, still retaining endless residual Sword Intent.]

[At this moment, many figures were already sitting cross-legged around the stele. Seeing you arrive alone caused a bit of commotion, but no one stepped forward to initiate a conversation.]

[This was all because the Peak Master had explicit rules prohibiting attacks near the Sword Testing Stone.]

[Otherwise, if recorded by a Shadow Recording Stone, light offenders would be demoted to the Sword Prison, while severe ones would have their cultivation crippled and be expelled from the sect.]

[Only a day and a half had passed since entering the secret realm, and you intended to use all the remaining time here to comprehend Sword Intent.]

[You found a spot beside the stone stele, sat cross-legged, and slowly extended your spiritual sense to lightly touch the surface of the stele.]

[In the next moment, the scene before your eyes changed drastically!]

[A fierce slash came chopping down right at your head, as the breath of death swept over like a tide.]

[Your heart jolted violently as you dodged in haste, but before you could catch your breath, a second slash was already at your face.]

[Immediately followed by the third, the fourth...]

[Damn it! Impossible to dodge!]

[However, after being struck several times, you realized you were completely unharmed, finally understanding that everything before you was an illusion—likely the stone stele's way of helping sword cultivators comprehend Sword Intent.]

[You no longer wasted energy dodging, choosing instead to face the breath of death and the incoming sword lights head-on.]

[Time passed bit by bit.]

[Under repeated pressure of death and the washing over of various Sword Intents, your sword technique—already perfected to the peak—actually gave birth to a subtle, unprecedented sharpness.]

["Buzz~"]

[After facing death once more, you subconsciously used your palm as a sword and swung your fair hand.]

[Silently and soundlessly, only a streak of azure light flashed across, and the illusion shattered upon impact.]

["Clang!"]

[You looked up and found that everything before you had returned to normal, leaving a shallow new mark on the stone stele in front of you.]

[This meant you had successfully stepped into the first realm of Sword Dao: Embryonic Sword Intent.]

[From then on, the power of your sword moves would increase greatly, even attaching a faint mind force to intimidate opponents.]

["Congratulations, Qingyu."]

[Lin Bufan's voice suddenly sounded in your ear. You skillfully pretended to have just noticed him, and as you turned around, the excited smile from your breakthrough carried a hint of pleasant surprise.]

["Brother Lin, you're here!"]

[Seeing your bright, pure smile, most of Lin Bufan's suspicions instantly vanished.]

[How could his Qingyu possibly be an enchantress of the Hehuan Sect?]

...