40: Chi Ling is a treasure; she broke through three realms in succession. (White Deer Trials the Dao)

"Master, what are you thinking about?"

Cao Meng had been there for a while, but Xuanyuan Baizhi completely ignored him. Her face was bare, she stood alone, a faint, shy smile on her face, gazing at the bright moon in the sky, as if competing with it in beauty.

Left with no choice, Cao Meng spoke first.

"Ah, oh, you're here ~" Xuanyuan Baizhi shivered, a hint of surprise flashing in her beautiful eyes.

When did this boy arrive? She hadn't even noticed. With her Realm, even if she was distracted, she shouldn't have been completely unaware.

Looking at Cao Meng again, he was still the same person, his face still the same, but the feeling he gave off seemed to have been sublimated.

For a fleeting moment, Xuanyuan Baizhi even had the illusion that the person standing before her was not a Pill Realm Master, but an existence who had stepped into the Saint Domain many years ago.

"Did you have some kind of fortuitous encounter these past two days?" Xuanyuan Baizhi asked curiously.

"Fortuitous encounter?"

Cao Meng smiled faintly.

He hadn't had any fortuitous encounters himself, but he had certainly snatched quite a few from others.

Xuanyuan Baizhi: "Draw your sword, let me see your length."

"Alright," Cao Meng didn't hesitate, placing one hand on the divine abyss sword at his waist.

Grasping the hilt, Cao Meng froze ~

In his mind, a magnificent scene involuntarily emerged.

Under the azure starry sky, a peerless Demon Empress in a black dress, her long sword rising, the boundless starry river transforming into a single sword, sweeping across thousands of miles of sky, with vast Sword Qi, reaching to the heavens.

This scene was precisely the one Demon Empress Chi Ling had shared with him through her Demonic Path supreme secret art during their "Dao discussion" — this was a single sword strike from when Demon Empress Chi Ling battled immortals and demons back then.

"Yes, just like that, this feeling..."

Cao Meng's eyes gradually brightened, and his Sword Intent grew stronger and stronger.

"This ~ this is..." The moment Cao Meng gripped the sword, Xuanyuan Baizhi felt something was amiss.

The sword rose.

Misty Qi surged over Jingpo Lake, and the mountain breeze blew swiftly.

The speed of the sword strike seemed slow, but Xuanyuan Baizhi could see that this sword was very fast, yet it gave the illusion of being slow.

The flow of time around them seemed to have slowed down.

A sword strike emerged ~

Like a spark rising in an eternal night, though weak, it illuminated eternity and ignited hope.

Sword shadows layered, transforming into a single sword, carrying the wind and rain gathered over the ten-mile flat lake, instantly arriving before Xuanyuan Baizhi.

"Break!"

Xuanyuan Baizhi's three-foot green blade unsheathed.

"Time, Fifteen Years!"

Boom ~

The wind and rain over the lake dispersed, and cold arrow-like rain drenched Xuanyuan Baizhi's white immortal dress.

"I was careless ~"

Xuanyuan Baizhi blinked, raindrops falling from her fair cheeks, her charming big eyes unblinkingly watching Cao Meng.

"Breaking three Realms in one night ~"

"And, from the Fourteenth Realm of the Sword Dao to the Fifteenth Realm? What a joke..."

Just now, Xuanyuan Baizhi had suppressed her cultivation to be roughly similar to Cao Meng's, not going all out at all.

Cao Meng's sword strike, though clearly only at the Fourteenth Realm of the Sword Dao, its power could actually break through the Fifteenth Realm?

One must know that in the Nineteenth Realm of the Sword Dao, after the tenth Realm, the gap between each Realm is enormous.

The difference between the Fourteenth Realm and the Fifteenth Realm of the Sword Dao was no less than the difference between Golden Core and Dragon Elephant.

And Cao Meng, he actually defied it!

"The wind and rain of the entire lake transforming into a single sword, this Dao rhyme... the sword is still at the Fourteenth Realm, but it seems to have incorporated something that shouldn't exist at his current Realm..."

Xuanyuan Baizhi was somewhat enlightened.

Looking at Cao Meng again, he also seemed to be in a daze, apparently not believing that this sword strike was something he had unleashed.

"What a Demon Empress Chi Ling, I truly found a treasure this time."

"But it's also fortunate that I snatched this woman, otherwise, if she had stayed by Xu Tian's side..." Cao Meng recovered, looking at his Holy Empress Master, seeing her immortal dress clinging to her immortal body.

Too, too powerful ~

No wonder the Great Liang Emperor doted on this Prodigy exclusively, even entrusting the Imperial Dynasty to her.

Anyone who encountered such a Prodigy would definitely choose beauty over an empire ~

"What are you looking at? Asking for a beating!"

Xuanyuan Baizhi also came back to her senses, true essence pouring in, instantly drying her immortal dress. At the same time, she waved her long sword, her immortal figure fluttering.

It was still the Fifteenth Realm of the Sword Dao, Fifteen Years!

However, this time Xuanyuan Baizhi controlled her cultivation to the early stage of Dragon Elephant.

"Master, you're cheating ~" Cao Meng waved his long sword, sword shadows layered, and the wind and clouds danced chaotically over the ten-mile flat lake.

"Cheating? This Master is helping you comprehend the fifteenth sword, not competing with you ~" Xuanyuan Baizhi's fair and charming cheeks carried a hint of playfulness, her Sword Intent like surging river water, crushing down.

Over the ten-mile Jingpo Lake, Sword Qi swept through.

Although Cao Meng cried foul, he ultimately did not use his formidable Immeasurable Golden Body, relying solely on his Golden Core true essence to barely hold on.

Having experienced the Demon Empress Chi Ling's long river of the Sword Dao, what Cao Meng needed most now was a hearty and exhilarating Sword Dao duel.

Under Xuanyuan Baizhi's relentless pressure, Cao Meng's Sword Dao became increasingly refined.

An hour later.

Xuanyuan Baizhi retracted her sword and stood, looking triumphantly at Cao Meng, who had been knocked to the ground by a single sword strike, "Boy, still trying to defy your Master at the last moment?"

"Hehe, I have to try, don't I? What if it works?" Cao Meng chuckled.

"Heh ~" Xuanyuan Baizhi chuckled, "Let's practice another day. Now, it's your turn to help your Master resolve the Profound Yin Ice Soul Poison ~"

"Alright, I'm willing to serve Master."

Cao Meng stepped forward, glancing around, "Master, my suggestion from last time, are you really not considering it..."

His words were cut short as Xuanyuan Baizhi's Phoenix eyes narrowed, anger subtly appearing.

"Uh, since Master is unwilling, then never mind..."

... The next day

The triennial Dao Trial Assembly was held as scheduled.

In front of the majestic White Deer Hall, on the thousand-zhang cloud platform square, nine colossal bronze tripods emitted purple smoke.

Three thousand Disciples of White Deer Academy, over ninety percent of whom came from the three Imperial Dynasties of Great Liang, Northern Wei, and Great Zhou. It could be said that it gathered over eighty percent of the Prodigies from these three Imperial Dynasties. Today, nine out of ten well-known and influential powerhouses from the three Imperial Dynasties were once Disciples of White Deer Academy.

This Dao Trial Assembly was merely a preliminary selection for the Nine Nations Qingyun Dao Trial Assembly.

Those who emerged victorious from the preliminary selection would represent the Academy to participate in the Qingyun Dao Trial Assembly jointly organized by Qingyun Mountain and the four great academies, establishing the Nine Nations qingyun immortal ranking.

The competition for the qingyun immortal ranking not only concerned the martial luck of the various Imperial Dynasties but also determined the distribution of benefits among them.

Therefore, both the Imperial Dynasties and the academies attached great importance to this grand event.

In front of the platform at the square, teachers and Disciples from various halls and academies had already gathered.

The three thousand Disciples were clearly divided.

Among the four palaces and twelve academies of the Academy, the foremost was the Sword Worship Palace, where Dean Void Sword Walker resided. The Dean favored the Li Imperial Clan, and ninety percent of the three hundred Li Clan remnants had entered the Sword Worship Palace and its three subordinate academies.

The other three halls were the Ganquan Palace of the Martial Zhou lineage, the Xuanyuan Palace presided over by the Holy Empress of Great Liang, and the Hegemonic Blade Palace presided over by King Pingshan of Northern Wei.

"Oh my, our Your Majesty is actually ranked fifth on the qingyun immortal ranking! Martial Empress Wu Feiyan of Great Zhou, once resisted the Profound Essence Sword Immortal for thirty moves in the Half-Saint Realm without defeat—and broke into the Saint Realm five days ago... Tsk tsk, our Dean, after fifteen years in the Saint Realm, is only ranked eleventh..."