291: Chapter 291 Delivering the Knife

A sword shadow broke through her defense and struck her golden Source Armor.

Hua Caili was sent flying backward, performing several flips in the air before stabilizing herself.

A faint white mark had appeared on her Source Armor.

Hua Caili gritted her teeth and charged toward Lin Yun.

Blade light poured down like a torrential rain, each strike carrying the full power of the Sixth Order Completion level.

The ground collapsed, the crater shattered, and the gray surface was torn apart by the blade light, revealing the bedrock beneath.

Lin Yun remained calm, unfolding his Phantom Corridor Steps to merge himself into the spatial corridors; his true position was always offset by one grid from where Hua Caili perceived him.

She saw him on the left, but he was on the right.

She saw him in front, but he was behind.

Every attack missed by a hair's breadth, each strike hitting only empty air.

Another sword shadow slashed out.

Unable to dodge in time, Hua Caili was struck and sent flying backward once more.

This time, she flew even further, crashing into the edge of a crater and leaving a massive indentation.

Hua Caili flew out of the indentation, her golden Source Armor covered in gray dust.

She looked at Lin Yun, panting heavily.

Thirty-six small swords rotated slowly in the air, Sword Intent surging and space folding.

The Mirror Corridor Sword Formation operated steadily, with hundreds of spatial corridors interwoven within the sword formation like a precisely running machine—incapable of error, fatigue, or mercy.

Hua Caili knew she had lost again.

Over the past two months, she and Lin Yun had fought many matches.

Lin Yun progressed at a divine speed, and her defeats came faster and faster.

Hua Caili withdrew her long blade and dispersed her Gold Element Domain.

"I'm done fighting."

"I can't win."

Her voice rang out, carrying a hint of helplessness and some indescribable emotion.

Lin Yun also withdrew the thirty-six small swords and dispersed the Mirror Corridor Sword Formation.

Both of them retracted their Source Armor simultaneously.

Hua Caili's stunningly beautiful Face appeared under the starlight.

Hua Caili said, "I feel like even if you didn't wear Source Armor or use the Void Dao Treasury, you could still win against me with just your sword techniques and Movement Techniques."

Lin Yun shook his head. "The Princess overpraises me. Your blade techniques are exquisite; I only won by a narrow margin."

Hua Caili gave him a sidelong glance.

That glance was full of charm and elegance.

"Stop calling me Princess. Call me Caili. You've won so many times; calling me Princess sounds so distant."

Lin Yun smiled. "Alright, Caili."

Hua Caili looked at his smile, a strange feeling rising in her heart.

She had lived for over a thousand years, met countless people, and heard endless flattery, but no one had ever made her feel this way.

"From ancient times to the present, when a Martial Artist Breakthroughs to the fifth stage to condense an Elemental Golden Core, most are basic elements. A higher-order element like space is something I've only seen in ancient legends."

"You cultivated a space Elemental Golden Core at the fifth stage. It's simply Heaven-Defying."

Lin Yun gave a faint smile and replied perfunctorily, "It was just a stroke of luck that I gained an insight into the Space Element during my fourth-stage Breakthrough. Just good fortune."

Hua Caili rolled her eyes at him again.

This glance was even more beautiful than the previous one.

Her eyes sparkled with charm, playful and lively.

She lacked any of the cold dignity of a royal princess, clearly not believing a single word he said.

"Luck? Why don't you say your seventh-stage Source Armor, seventh-stage weapons, and sixth-stage spaceship are also luck?"

Lin Yun spread his hands. "That's also luck."

Hua Caili was speechless.

She looked at him, wanting to say something but finding herself unable to speak.

This guy had too many good things.

Her weapon was only sixth-stage, and her Source Armor was only fifth-stage.

And what about Lin Yun's?

His weapon was seventh-stage, his Source Armor was seventh-stage, and even his spaceship was forged from sixth-stage metal, with a value likely higher than seventh-stage Source Armor.

A seventh-stage Source Armor.

Even if Lin Yun stood still and let her attack, she wouldn't be able to break his defense.

A seventh-stage Source Armor could weaken the attacks of a seventh-stage Martial Artist by ninety-nine percent.

The remaining zero point one percent hitting the armor wouldn't even leave a scratch.

As for her, she couldn't even manage to hit him.

His Movement Technique was too bizarre. Once the Phantom Corridor Steps were active, his true position was always offset by one grid.

She could never land a hit on him.

Hua Caili thought of the royal family's heirloom.

A seventh-stage spear that the Hua family's ancestor had brought back from the Lingyuan Empire.

That was the Hua family's final trump card, the Qilin Kingdom's last resort.

As for a seventh-stage Source Armor, even draining the entire royal treasury wouldn't be enough to buy one.

Her gaze fell on Lin Yun, filled with curiosity, envy, and something else she couldn't quite identify herself.

"Lin Yun, exactly which expert is your Master?"

Hua Caili finally asked the question she had been harboring in her heart for a long time.

Having lived for over a thousand years, she had long since stopped caring about things like saving Face.

Besides, she was so familiar with Lin Yun now that there was no harm in asking.

Lin Yun had long expected her to ask.

He smiled and said, "I don't know my Master's identity either. Every time, Master comes to find me; I can't find Master."

Hua Caili raised an eyebrow. "You don't know?"

Lin Yun nodded. "I don't. However, every time my cultivation progresses, Master gives me some... small toys."

Hua Caili's voice rose slightly:

"Seventh-stage Source Armor and seventh-stage Origin weapons are 'small toys'?"

"And that new spaceship of yours, forged entirely of sixth-stage metal, which is likely more valuable than seventh-stage Source Armor, is also a 'small toy'?"

Lin Yun spread his hands. "Perhaps to a big shot at Master's level, these really are just small toys."

Hua Caili fell silent.

She thought about it and felt it seemed to make sense.

In the eyes of a true powerhouse, seventh-stage items were indeed just small toys.

It was just that she was too poor, and the Qilin Kingdom was too poor.

Lin Yun looked at her thoughtful expression.

He took out a blade from his Space Ring.

The blade was long, about one and a half meters. The body of the blade was as black as ink, and the edge was as sharp as frost.

Profound patterns were carved into the hilt, with a faint light flowing through them.

The entire weapon emitted an aura that made one's heart tremble.

Hua Caili's eyes were instantly drawn to it.

She was a blade user after all.

She could tell at a glance that this was a seventh-stage Origin weapon.

It was countless times stronger than her sixth-stage long blade.

Lin Yun handed the blade to her. "This is for you."

Hua Caili was stunned.

She looked at the blade and then at Lin Yun, her voice trembling slightly. "For me?"

Lin Yun nodded. "Yes. As a thank you for being my sparring partner these past days."

Hua Caili shook her head and pushed the blade back.

"No, it's too precious."

"By sparring with you, I've also gained a lot. My blade techniques have improved significantly."

She was telling the truth.

During this period, her blade techniques had indeed improved a lot.

Lin Yun's Mirror Corridor Sword Formation was too strong; it was impossible for a Martial Artist who could hold their own within it not to improve their blade skills.

But her gaze still couldn't help but fall on that blade.

It was so beautiful.

She picked up the blade and gently stroked its body.

The black blade was as cold as jade, and the edge was sharp enough to slice through light.

She gripped the hilt, and the patterns on it fit her palm perfectly, as if it were custom-made for her.

She swung the blade; the blade light flashed through the air silently, without even disturbing the atmosphere.

She liked this blade.

She liked it very much.