259: Chapter 260 The Sword Saint drew his sword, and I countered with a Tai Chi move.

The door opened.

The person inside had opened the door voluntarily.

Instructor Su Qing crouched on the ground, frozen in place. She stared at the open door, then looked down at the words "Authorization Successful, Channel Opened" on her tablet screen.

The infiltration she had meticulously planned, the operation she had bet her life on, was considered worthless in the eyes of the other party.

Teacher knew everything.

An indescribable sense of embarrassment surged up, and her Face flushed red.

"He has been waiting for you."

Lin Qi's voice rang in her ear, his tone flat and calm. He then reached out to help the still-distracted Instructor Su Qing up, his eyes fixed on the crack in the door.

"Let's go. Since the host has extended an invitation, there is no reason not to enter."

Lin Qi pulled Instructor Su Qing and walked toward the large door.

Instructor Su Qing's body was still a bit stiff; she moved her feet mechanically as he pulled her, with only one thought remaining in her mind.

It's over. It's all over.

Teacher knew everything; her betrayal of the Longya Academy had been exposed, and only the harshest judgment awaited her.

But when she saw the back of Lin Qi walking in front, her panicked heart inexplicably calmed down.

The young man's back was not broad, even somewhat slender, but it carried a strength that seemed capable of holding up even if the sky were to fall.

"Teacher..."

Stepping into the large door, Instructor Su Qing called out in a strained voice as she looked at the old man standing in the center of the secret chamber.

Before them was a huge circular space, the surrounding walls covered in shimmering energy lines that all converged on a silver cube floating in the center of the room.

That was the main control core of the "Abyss Rift Simulator."

Standing beneath the main control core was an old man wearing a simple grey robe.

His hair was grey, his Face thin and refined, covered in the wrinkles of time; he looked just like an ordinary grandfather from next door.

But he was leaning on an ancient long sword that didn't even have a scabbard. Just by standing there, the aura of the entire space was suppressed by him alone.

The anchor of Longya Academy, a Peak Fourth-Turn powerhouse, the Sword Saint, Sword Saint Ye Qingtian.

Sword Saint Ye Qingtian did not look at Instructor Su Qing; from the moment Lin Qi stepped through the door, his gaze had been fixed on Lin Qi.

Those eyes were murky and aged, yet so deep one could not see the bottom.

Under his gaze, Lin Qi felt no killing intent or hostility, only a pure "scrutiny."

A top-tier artisan scrutinizing a material he had never seen before.

"You must be Lin Qi." Sword Saint Ye Qingtian spoke. His voice was not loud, yet it echoed in the secret chamber. "The young man making the most waves in the Federation recently."

Lin Qi did not respond, only watching him quietly.

"This child, Instructor Su Qing, has a cold temperament, but she is very stubborn at heart." Sword Saint Ye Qingtian sighed, his gaze finally shifting to his student, his eyes somewhat complex.

"For your sake, she went as far as to betray the Longya Academy and wagered everything she had. I am very curious, what exactly did you give her that could make her make such a choice?"

"Hope." Lin Qi finally spoke. "I gave her the hope to stand up again."

"Hope?" Sword Saint Ye Qingtian raised his eyebrows. "From you? A 'Blank Slate' who doesn't even have a System panel?"

Instructor Su Qing's Face turned pale.

Teacher really knew everything, even Lin Qi's biggest secret was clear to him.

"Although I am old, I am not blind." Sword Saint Ye Qingtian leaned on his sword and paced a few steps. "Ever since you made a name for yourself at the Prodigy Championship, I have been paying attention to you. All stats are 5, unable to level up, yet you can defeat one S-rank Genius after another with pure Physical Body and technique."

"You are walking a path that is incompatible with this world, a path abandoned by the era."

His gaze sharpened: "Zheng Wujiang wanted to walk this path back then, too. Unfortunately, he failed."

Lin Qi's eyes narrowed.

Zheng Wujiang.

That madman in the Northern Territory who used "Power" to fight against Void Realm beasts.

"It seems you know him." Sword Saint Ye Qingtian captured his reaction. "He was my only friend. Thirty years ago, he told me that data and Systems are all fake, that they are shackles, and only the human body itself is the true Treasure Trove. He wanted to go to the Northern Territory restricted zone to prove that his path was right with the purest Martial Dao."

"In the end, he died there, leaving not even a corpse."

Sword Saint Ye Qingtian's voice carried a hint of melancholy: "From that day on, I knew that path was a dead end. Walking against the rules of the whole world will only lead to being crushed in the end."

He looked at Lin Qi, his expression becoming serious.

"Young man, you are more brilliant than he was, you have even reached a height he never reached, but the outcome will not be any different."

"Go back to where you belong, and stop moving forward. For the sake of Instructor Su Qing, I can pretend that nothing happened tonight."

This was both advice and an ultimatum.

A glimmer of hope appeared on Instructor Su Qing's Face. She looked at Lin Qi, hoping he would listen to her teacher.

She did not want to see Lin Qi and her teacher fight.

However, Lin Qi smiled.

"Whether a path is right or wrong is not for others to decide." He looked at Sword Saint Ye Qingtian, his gaze firm. "Zheng Wujiang failed, but that doesn't mean I will. Perhaps it is just because he didn't go far enough."

"As for going back?"

Lin Qi shook his head: "The word 'retreat' does not exist in my dictionary."

He raised his hand and pointed at the silver cube floating in mid-air.

"Today, I must take this thing away."

The air in the secret chamber suddenly froze.

The last bit of gentleness on Sword Saint Ye Qingtian's Face vanished completely, leaving only a coldness like the edge of a sword.

"Then there is nothing to talk about."

The ancient long sword in his hand emitted a faint hum.

"Instructor Su Qing, step back."

Instructor Su Qing's body trembled. She looked at her teacher and then at Lin Qi, her lips moving, but nothing came out.

This battle could not be avoided.

She gritted her teeth and retreated to the edge of the secret chamber.

"Young man, I will give you one last chance to strike." Sword Saint Ye Qingtian stood in place, leaning on his sword, his Grandmaster aura fully displayed. "Let me see, what is the source of your confidence to stand before me."

He didn't even adopt any stance.

But Lin Qi could feel an invisible "momentum" centered on Sword Saint Ye Qingtian, enveloping the entire secret chamber.

Pure "Sword Momentum."

Under this "momentum," the space became viscous, and the air was filled with invisible Sword Qi, cutting into one's skin.

Lin Qi knew that if he made the slightest move, he would be met with a storm-like attack.

But he didn't move.

He just watched Sword Saint Ye Qingtian and suddenly asked an unrelated question.

"Do you think the sword is faster, or the fist?"

Sword Saint Ye Qingtian was stunned, clearly not expecting him to ask this.

"The sword is an extension of the arm. The speed of the sword lies in the heart, in the intent." He replied in a deep voice.

"Wrong."

Lin Qi shook his head.

"No matter how fast the sword is, it still needs to be drawn from the scabbard and swung."

"And my fist..."

He didn't finish his sentence.

Lin Qi's figure disappeared.

Ghost Shadow Yu Step.

He ignored the pressure of the Sword Momentum, crossed a distance of more than ten meters in one step, and appeared in front of Sword Saint Ye Qingtian.

Fast to the extreme.

Sword Saint Ye Qingtian didn't see Lin Qi's movement at all, but his instinct as a Sword Saint allowed him to make the fastest and most correct reaction.

The long sword in his hand remained sheathed; he didn't even lift it, just lightly flicked it upward using the hilt as an axis.

"Ding!"

A crisp sound of metal clashing rang out.

Lin Qi's fist, which was powerful enough to crack stone, was precisely blocked by the ancient hilt.

Force erupted from the fist, and the alloy floor under Sword Saint Ye Qingtian's feet cracked, the fissures spreading several meters.

But he himself remained motionless.

He only used the force from the hilt to let his body drift back several meters, reopening the distance.

"What fast movement, what overbearing fist."

Sword Saint Ye Qingtian looked at his numb wrist, and for the first time, there was real gravity in those murky old eyes.

"But having just these is not enough."

As the words fell, the ancient long sword in his hand finally left its sheath.

"Zheng."

A clear sword hum resonated through the secret chamber.

The blade was clean, without any flashy enchanted light effects, only the purest edge.

Once the sword was drawn, the temperature in the secret chamber dropped by several degrees.

Sword Saint Ye Qingtian flicked his wrist, and the long sword drew a simple trajectory, stabbing straight at the center of Lin Qi's eyebrows.

This sword strike looked ordinary, without Sword Qi, without strange phenomena.

But in Lin Qi's eyes, this sword strike locked all his evasion space; no matter which direction he dodged, the tip of the sword would eventually point to his vital points.

A sword strike that returned to the basics after cultivating "Sword Principles" to the extreme.

Facing this unavoidable sword strike, Lin Qi did not dodge or evade.

He took a deep breath, his chest heaving.

He stepped on the ground with both feet, his body sank, and he assumed an ancient horse stance.

Taiji, the opening move.