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The three-story pavilion had long since been reduced to rubble.
When they heard Su Yi’s voice, the onlookers saw a delicate figure standing amidst the wreckage.
She was tall and slender, with a squeezable waist, straight, jade-like legs, and a simple but elegant high-waisted white dress. Her black hair was shone with faint hints of purple, and she wore it up in a casual bun, revealing her long, snowy neck.
This was a beautiful woman, a stunner.
She looked only eighteen or nineteen, with clear, shiny skin. Her eyes were imposingly spirited, and her lips were red and moist. Her unmatched good looks were enough to topple the masses.
However, she looked a bit haggard, and quite a bit of dust had landed on her hair and clothes.
“Little Martial Aunt!” Qing Ya’s eyes lit up. She whooped for joy, charged up, and pulled the woman into an embrace. She stood on the tips of her toes and kissed the woman on the cheek, then giggled. “You smell just as good as before!”
A hint of awkwardness appeared on the woman’s beautiful face. She reached out, grabbed Qing Ya by the lapels, and shifted her to the side. “How old are you? Why are you still acting like a child?”
Her voice was melodious, as pleasant to the ear as a warbler singing in an empty valley.
“Junior Apprentice Sister Wen, long time no see.” Not far away, Ling Yunhe clasped his fist in greeting.
This peerless beauty of her generation was the woman the Great Xia knew as the Little Sword Demon, Wen Xinzhao. She was a legendary figure of Cloudsky Divine Palace’s younger generation, an immortal goddess in the hearts of countless young cultivators.
“Senior Apprentice Brother Ling, it really has been a while.” Wen Xinzhao smiled, showing her pearly white teeth. It was a smile that could topple cities; her disposition and good looks were enough to make any man’s heart race.
Yes, even Su Yi's. When he saw Wen Xinzhao, his eyes lit up. When he had first heard about her, he had wondered if she was really as dazzling as the rumors made her out to be. Now that he saw her in person, her looks and charm unquestionably far surpassed his initial estimates.
“Senior Apprentice Sister Wen, this is no time to reminisce,” said Ren Youyou. As she spoke, she glanced at the nearby Zhang Yuntao.
Zhang Yuntao sat on the ground, dazed and miserable. He was a lofty elder of Cloudsky Divine Palace, yet now, his dignity was in shambles. This blow was unquestionably far too heavy for him to bear.
“I saw everything that happened earlier.” Wen Xinzhao sighed. “I didn’t expect that Martial Uncle Zhang would lose either.”
Ren Youyou was stunned, but she had nothing to say to that. It wasn’t just Wen Xinzhao; she wouldn’t have expected someone as strong as Zhang Yuntao to lose so quickly.
“Martial Uncle Zhang, victory has already been decided, and I can tell that you didn’t lose unfairly. I hope you won’t let this loss influence your mental state.” Wen Xinzhao walked over and tried to encourage him.
Zhang Yuntao smiled bitterly, then sighed. “I indeed thought too highly of myself. Now, I understand the difference between a firefly and the radiance of the full moon.”
He struggled to his feet, shot Su Yi a complicated look, then turned and left. This elder of Cloudsky Palace couldn’t bear to stay here any longer.
“Junior Apprentice Sister Ren, go talk to Martial Uncle Zhang,” ordered Wen Xinzhao.
Ren Youyou hurriedly chased after him.
“Little Martial Aunt, don’t get the wrong idea! Were Big Brother Su Yi anyone else, that Martial Uncle Zhang of yours would have already viciously beaten him!” said Qing Ya in that clear, crisp voice of hers.
Wen Xinzhao smiled and twirled her hair. “You’re wrong. Even if Martial Uncle Zhang were far more contemptuous and disdainful, any other Grain Avoidance cultivator would have endured in silence. They wouldn’t have dared fight back.”
She thought for a moment, then summarized the situation. “At the end of the day, if he hadn’t encountered someone like Fellow Daoist Su, today’s incident would never have happened.”
Ling Yunhe agreed completely. “Junior Apprentice Sister, you’re absolutely right.”
Wen Xinzhao then whirled around to look at Su Yi, who was already seated back in his wicker chair. She gently clasped her fist and said, “My name is Wen Xinzhao. Greetings, Fellow Daoist.”
She had a moving, graceful figure. Beneath the light of the heavens, her black hair shone with faint purple light, adding an additional charm to her nation-toppling good looks.
Su Yi nodded, and his eyes shone with admiration. “What did you think of my sword just now?”
Wen Xinzhao paused to think for a moment, then said, “Unless my eyes mistake me, your attainments in the Dao of the Sword have already reached perfection, but it isn’t possible to discern their subtleties merely by watching from afar.”
Reading between the lines, she was saying that even she could only catch a tiny portion of that strike’s essence, not the full picture.
Su Yi asked again, “Were you my opponent, could you have blocked that attack?”
Wen Xinzhao couldn’t help but laugh, but her eyes shone with a hint of self-confidence. “Fellow Daoist, do you wish to spar with me?”
“I heard that you’re infatuated with the sword, and that your talent for the Dao of the Sword is extraordinary,” said Su Yi. “They call you a stand-out genius of the younger generation. I can’t help but want to witness your abilities for myself.”
Wen Xinzhao nodded, her shiny red lips curling into a proud smile. “Sure. How could I possibly refuse?”
As she spoke, she stretched out her pristine, fair right hand and twirled it in the air.
Chhh!
A streak of purple lightning condensed, forming a nine-inch sword. It was gorgeous and as thin as a weaver’s shuttle.
A shockingly destructive aura emanated from the nine-inch blade, permeating the air.
Ling Yunhe visibly reacted. Tiny as it was, the little sword’s aura was even more imposing than the Goldenflame Supreme Yang Saber Zhang Yuntao had just used!
Whoosh!
Under Wen Xinzhao’s guidance, the nine-inch sword shot through the air, surging into the clouds ten thousand feet overhead. The cloud cover burst apart, scattering wisplike threads of mist.
“Wah!” Qing Ya cried out. “It’s so pretty!”
Pretty? Ling Yunhe couldn’t help but laugh bitterly. How is that pretty? It’s obviously shockingly destructive!
“Fellow Daoist Su, what do you think of my Dao of the Sword?” Wen Xinzhao smiled at Su Yi. She was extremely beautiful to begin with, with moist red lips and shiny white teeth. When she smiled, she was even more moving.
“Did you hold anything in reserve?” asked Su Yi.
“That was perhaps seventy percent of my power.”
Su Yi said casually, “In this mundane place, to have such attainments in the Dao of the Sword with your peak Grain Avoidance cultivation is impressive. Defeating your Martial Uncle Zhang in a direct confrontation is well within the realm of possibility.”
It can be hard to make great work when its stolen from bit.ly/3iBfjkV.
Ling Yunhe and Qing Ya couldn’t help but gasp.
A peak Grain Avoidance cultivator, yet she could defeat the mid-stage Gathering Stars Realm Zhang Yuntao?
This was unquestionable proof that the current Wen Xinzhao was an absolute monster; she was nowhere near comparable to her past self!
Especially since Zhang Yuntao was no ordinary Gathering Stars expert.
They were two realms apart, yet her attainments in the Dao of the Sword were enough to defeat someone like him. If this wasn’t monstrous, what was it?
Wen Xinzhao smiled faintly. “Fellow Daoist, you flatter me.”
Su Yi shook his head. “I’m not flattering you. I haven’t finished talking yet.”
Wen Xinzhao’s smile froze; she was somewhat flabbergasted.
Before she could react, Su Yi continued, “What I said is only true of the mundane world. In my eyes, your current attainments in the Dao of the Sword are just ordinary, with numerous weaknesses. If you encountered a true expert of the Dao of the Sword, they could take your life in a single attack.”
Ling Yunhe and Qing Ya almost dared not believe their ears. How could such swordsmanship possibly be ordinary?
Wen Xinzhao was stunned too.
She’d displayed a dazzling talent for the Dao of the Sword from a young age. At fourteen years of age, she became the “Little Sword Demon” of the Great Qi, a household name. At fifteen, Cloudsky Divine Palace broke its rules and accepted her, and she took the Spirit Dao expert, Daoist Coldsmoke, as her master.
Now, she was an illustrious figure of the Great Xia’s younger generation. Countless experts of prior generations paled in comparison to her.
Yet now, Su Yi was saying that she was full of openings? And that she was only ordinary
?
How could someone as prideful as Wen Xinzhao possibly accept that?
After a while, she said, “Fellow Daoist, if by ‘true experts of the Dao of the Sword’, you mean Spirit Dao cultivators, then it’s true; I couldn’t possibly block a single one of their attacks.”
It was obvious that she thought that no one in the Three Realms of the Origin Dao could kill her in a single strike.
“I’m referring to those still in the Grain Avoidance Realm,” said Su Yi.
Wen Xinzhao was stunned, and her pretty eyebrows arched upward. “Should I take that as you talking about yourself, Fellow Daoist?”
How could Su Yi miss that Wen Xinzhao wasn’t at all convinced?
He smiled and said, “Not just me; there are quite a few others out there who could do the same.”
Wen Xinzhao obviously didn’t believe it. “Then I’ll really have to request your guidance as to what’s so ‘ordinary’ about my swordsmanship.”
The Little Sword Demon, a picture-perfect peerless beauty of her generation, was starting to get a bit angry.
Su Yi rose from his wicker chair and walked toward her, a tranquil smile on his face. “As a sword cultivator, it’s good that you’re not convinced. Go ahead and see if you can block this sword of mine.”
As he spoke, he stretched out his finger and pointed it between Wen Xinzhao’s eyes, as if he were about to stab her.
The gesture was casual and understated, relaxed and ordinary, and it wasn’t particularly speedy.
This sword didn’t call upon the power of his cultivation; it was a pure display of his Sword Dao.
In Wen Xinzhao’s eyes, this sword finger initially seemed full of openings.
However, when she prepared to neutralize it, she realized that every “opening” was in fact a trap, giving her the sense that no matter how she tried to counter it, she’d wind up suppressed instead.
If she used her cultivation base, Wen Xinzhao was certain she could overpower him through brute force, disregarding the ambushes hiding in Su Yi’s apparent weaknesses.
However, Su Yi wasn’t using his cultivation; her pride and dignity wouldn’t allow her to use hers.
As her thoughts raced, Wen Xinzhao was flabbergasted to discover that Su Yi had already lowered his sword finger.
“Could you block it?” As he asked this, Su Yi turned and sat back in his chair.
Wen Xinzhao was silent. Her fair, beautiful face filled with uncertainty, and her starlike eyes alternated between a trance and a daze.
Ling Yunhe and Qing Ya glanced at each other; they had no idea what was going on.
When Su Yi “attacked”, it seemed as if all he’d done was point at Wen Lingzhao. Neither master nor apprentice saw any secrets hidden in their exchange at all.
However, Wen Xinzhao was reacting as if she’d encountered an extremely difficult problem!
The most surprising part was that, a moment later, Wen Xinzhao took a deep breath, walked up to Su Yi, and bowed slightly. “Many thanks for your guidance, Fellow Daoist. I now understand that when it comes to the Dao of the Sword, there’s a heaven beyond the heavens, and that there’s always someone stronger.”
Her tone carried three parts awkwardness, three parts shame, and a faint, nigh-indiscernible hint of alarm.
Earlier, she had thought that Su Yi was deliberately slandering her swordsmanship, which left her inwardly furious.
However, upon witnessing the miraculousness of Su Yi’s sword finger, a chill coursed down her spine, and her heart shook. She pondered bitterly for a long time, and in the end, there was one thing she knew for sure—
If they had competed purely in terms of swordsmanship, she
 couldn’t possibly have blocked that strike!