42: Chapter 42 A Narrow Victory

[ With your current spiritual power cultivation and accumulated foundation, the match was naturally a complete sweep all the way. ]

[ The final opponent was no surprise; it was precisely your genius Senior Brother, Feng Yuan! ]

[ "Junior Sister Lin, please enlighten me!" ]

[ The man standing opposite you had not a shred of emotion in his eyes, only a pure desire for battle. ]

[ You nodded with a serious expression; this person was a formidable enemy, and the Second Realm sword cultivation brought a very strong sense of oppression to you. ]

[ With no intention of hiding your strength, your figure flickered, splitting into two figures that simultaneously attacked toward Feng Yuan. ]

[ "Clones?" ]

[ Feng Yuan's brows furrowed slightly. ]

[ No! They weren't simple clones; he sensed substantive killing intent from all three figures. ]

[ The next moment, without any fancy tricks, he slashed out with a single sword, and the overwhelmingly domineering golden sword qi seemed to sweep across everything. ]

[ "Hiss!" ]

[ After a soft sound, the two illusions were annihilated, but your figure had already leaped up in advance, slashing down directly at Feng Yuan's head. ]

[ "Clang!" ]

[ As the longswords collided, Feng Yuan, who had originally wanted to force you back with a single strike, suddenly constricted his pupils. His body trembled slightly, and his longsword almost slipped from his hand. ]

[ Such great force! ]

[ Before he could counterattack, a scorching wave of air suddenly rushed toward his face. ]

[ Fireball Technique! ]

[ Such fast casting speed! An uproar broke out below the stage. ]

[ "Too underhanded!" ]

[ "How can cultivators of our generation act like this?" ]

[ Someone held your methods in disdain. ]

[ "Nonsense, Senior Sister Lin is fighting the Second Realm with the sword cultivation of the First Realm; are you expecting her to face him head-on?" ]

[ "That's right, sword cultivators of our generation need to use our brains a bit too." ]

[ "Exactly, exactly." ]

[ Feng Yuan, however, had no mood to pay attention to the commotion below the stage. His gaze narrowed, and he completely put away the casualness in his heart, his longsword emitting wave after wave of buzzing. ]

[ The spiritual power within his body transformed into sword qi, rising up as he slashed out with a sword. ]

[ "Whoosh!" ]

[ The formidable Fireball Technique was easily shattered, but the fierce sword qi showed no sign of dissipating at all, continuing to slash toward you. ]

[ You sighed inwardly. ]

[ Your Fireball Technique had already broken through to Great Accomplishment and could achieve instantaneous casting, but against a sword cultivator with Feng Yuan's level of offensive power, it clearly couldn't play a major role. ]

[ Several more fireballs appeared out of thin air, suddenly falling forward, while your figure retreated violently, leaving behind continuous afterimages. ]

[ Right at this moment, Feng Yuan, who had remained standing quietly in place, suddenly closed in. The golden light on the longsword in his hand split the air, and several fierce slashing attacks arrived cutting through the wind, tearing apart the fireballs while also sealing off all your paths of retreat completely. ]

[ "She's going to lose." ]

[ Lin Bufan, watching from the side of the field, sighed softly. ]

[ These two were people he could currently never possibly defeat, but there was not the slightest bit of fear in his eyes; instead, a trace of fighting spirit rose in his heart. ]

[ "That's not necessarily the case." ]

[ The voice of the Ring Old Man sounded in his heart. ]

[ "Teacher?" ]

[ Lin Bufan was somewhat surprised. Teacher had always disdained such competitions; why would he speak up today? ]

[ "The footwork used by that little girl looks somewhat familiar to this old man. Looking closely, it is actually a secret technique of Zhongzhou's Liuying Pavilion. I don't know how she obtained it, and she even cultivated it to the Minor Accomplishment realm." ]

[ Surprise and doubt arose in the old man's heart. ]

[ "Then this Senior Sister?" ]

[ Hearing this, Lin Bufan's gaze closely locked onto the slender figure surrounded and besieged by slashing attacks in the arena. ]

[ "Just watch! If the secret technique of Liuying Pavilion only had this level, it wouldn't have become Zhongzhou's number one assassin organization." ]

[ Sure enough, the moment the Ring Old Man's voice fell, the figure on the stage was hit by several sword qi. ]

[ The Foundation Establishment referee at the side of the field had no intention of intervening at all, and even Ling Shuanghua remained indifferent. Amidst the worried gazes of the observing disciples, that figure actually slowly dissipated once more. ]

[ "Not good!" ]

[ Feng Yuan's pupils contracted slightly, but the sound of the air being torn apart behind him was already close at hand. ]

[ It was too late; he could only temporarily set up a layer of spiritual power barrier around his body. ]

[ "Bang!" ]

[ The barrier shattered in response, and a fair, delicate fist carrying a strong gale slammed fiercely into Feng Yuan's back. ]

[ His figure stumbled as he lunged forward, a fishy sweetness rising in his throat. Before he could recover his wits, that figure had already wound around to his side like a ghost, fingers like cold stars directly pointing at the vital acupuncture point under his ribs. ]

[ Feng Yuan's heart gave a jolt; she hadn't even used swordsmanship! ]

[ No wonder he hadn't sensed even a trace of Sword Intent. What was even more alarming was that the opponent's spiritual sense strength was probably far superior to his; otherwise, how could he not capture even the slightest trace of her? ]

[ He couldn't dodge it! ]

[ Seeing this, Feng Yuan stopped his momentum and slashed out with a sword toward his side. ]

[ Your gaze flickered slightly, and your figure swayed slightly as the slashing attack swept across your body once more, leaving behind only an afterimage about to dissipate. ]

[ "Ngh!" ]

[ A heart-piercing stabbing pain assaulted him from the wrist holding the sword. Feng Yuan gave a muffled grunt, and the longsword dropped to the ground. ]

[ "Clang~" ]

[ The crisp sound of metal collision resounded through the entire Doujian Hall, also proclaiming that this battle, which should have been a landslide, had ended. ]

[ This personal disciple, who had just entered the sect a year ago, actually defeated the genius known as the number one under Foundation Establishment on Doujian Peak for a thousand years. ]

[ Although it wasn't a life-and-death duel and Feng Yuan still held back during the battle, this kind of battle record was enough to look down on everyone with pride. ]

[ "Senior Sister Lin!" ]

[ "Senior Sister Lin!" ]

[ Cheers rang out from the side of the field. You slowly straightened your body and smiled slightly toward those below the stage, but in your heart, you were not satisfied. ]

[ Winning was far too difficult. Continuously executing advanced secret techniques like "Mirror Image Water Moon" had nearly exhausted the spiritual power within your body, and the result was only taking advantage of a loophole in his spiritual sense and a formidable physical body to launch a surprise sneak attack and succeed. ]

[ In reality, you were bound to turn this into a crushing victory and cement your identity as a proud son of heaven! ]

[ "Junior Sister Lin!" ]

[ You raised your eyes to look and discovered that Feng Yuan was looking at you with burning eyes. ]

[ "Please fight with me once more!" ]

[ "Bang!" ]

[ Suddenly, a fair and beautiful leg burst into your field of vision, and Feng Yuan had already been kicked off the stage. ]

[ Ling Shuanghua slowly retracted her long legs and smiled slightly: ]

[ "Let's go, Junior Sister, Senior Sister will take you to see some spirit beasts that can do backflips." ]

[ ... ]

[ Four years later. ]

[ Dressed in a moon-white ruqun, you sat quietly in the courtyard, your jet-black long hair draped loosely over your shoulders. ]

[ Under the moonlight, your skin was like a piece of fine mutton-fat jade, shimmering with a warm and clear halo. Your brows and eyes were picturesque, and your gaze shone like stars. ]

[ The whole person was as if an elf who had mistakenly fallen into the mortal world, glowing all over and untainted by worldly dust. ]

[ Your body-refining cultivation had already reached the high stage of the First Layer. You found that your figure had become increasingly condensed and well-proportioned, your tendons, bones, skin, and flesh seeming to be sculpted by an invisible hand, slowly transforming toward a certain natural state of perfection. ]

[ The only pity was that your sword path had no obvious breakthrough, and you could never quite grasp that ethereal spirituality. ]

[ According to Feng Yuan, there were generally two ways to break through in the sword path. ]

[ The first was relying on transcendental comprehension and diligent practice to steadily improve. ]

[ The second: kill! ]

[ The sword path was a natural path of slaughter and conquest; as long as you killed enough, you could naturally step upon the bones of the geniuses of the world and tower above all swords. ]

[ "Junior Sister, get ready to set out." ]

[ Hearing Ling Shuanghua's voice transmission, your gaze lit up slightly. ]

[ Right now, the opportunity had come! ]

...