“How was that, little girl?”
Song Yu smiled bitterly and shook her head.
“Are you really at the Qi Refining stage?”
“I’m already at the Peak of Qi Refining! This is the result of Qinghan’s special training!”
Xu Muxue lifted her chin toward Song Yu.
“Still want to keep fighting?”
“No more…” Song Yu sighed heavily and sheathed her sword.
“How can I keep fighting like this?”
However, before Song Yu’s sword could fully return to her waist, Xu Muxue’s pretty face suddenly turned cold.
“Only now you say you’re done? Too late!”
With a wave of her small hand, the sword light behind Xu Muxue poured down like a torrential rain of spirit swords.
Song Yu hurriedly drew her sword again, but under the overwhelming sword rain, she could only barely hold her ground.
She gripped the Sixth-Grade Spirit Sword bestowed by their Master, struggling to parry the continuous onslaught of spirit swords. Xu Muxue hovered midair, her eyes cold and indifferent like a celestial deity.
It wasn’t until Song Yu’s spiritual energy was completely exhausted that she knelt on one knee, panting and looking up at the sky, that Xu Muxue finally eased her attack.
“Despite bearing the mutual erosion from the Fusion of Spiritual Roots, you still managed to cultivate such Divine Power. I have to admit, you’re pretty impressive.”
Xu Muxue smiled.
“Why don’t you become my disciple instead?”
“Mu-Muxue, what are you—”
“Hmph, I didn’t give you permission to speak!”
Xu Muxue changed her hand seal. The spirit swords floating behind her suddenly surged with endless spiritual energy, converging into a giant sword that pointed straight at Song Yu.
“Go!”
With a wave of her hand, the giant sword crashed down with earth-shattering force, aiming directly at Song Yu.
Despair filled Song Yu’s eyes. She felt as if all the sword qi in the world had locked onto her—immense, magnificent, unstoppable.
It was unimaginable that such a terrifying power was generated by a mere Qi Refining cultivator.
Her body froze completely. She couldn’t even close her eyes, only staring helplessly as the sword tip grew larger and larger before her.
“No!” Qin Qin shouted from the stands and dashed toward the arena. But she was a moment too late. The giant sword swiftly descended, sending up a cloud of dust on the arena floor.
Silence fell over the entire crowd.
When the dust cleared, the crowd saw Song Yu still kneeling on the ground, the giant sword stuck straight into the floor behind her. The dust had soiled her jade-like delicate face.
Xu Muxue calmly stepped toward Song Yu. Song Yu looked pale, her chest rising and falling rapidly. The giant sword behind Xu Muxue shattered and fragmented back into countless spirit swords, piling on the ground like a small mountain.
Xu Muxue bent down to pick up the sword Song Yu had dropped and stood before her.
“What were you thinking in that moment just now?”
“I…”
Song Yu parted her lips but found her voice trembling beyond control.
“I-I wasn’t thinking anything. My mind was blank.”
“Of course. Life and death flash past so quickly, there’s no time for many thoughts.”
Xu Muxue placed the sword against Song Yu’s snow-white neck and applied slight pressure, immediately cutting a shallow bloodline. Song Yu’s heart pounded fiercely and she dared not move.
The Xu Muxue in front of her was no longer the Little Fox who once sulked while licking Jasmine Wine in the Zuo Wang Peak courtyard. Song Yu’s whole body stiffened.
Though Xu Muxue’s cultivation was not even at Foundation Establishment, to Song Yu’s senses, she was clearly a grandmaster of immense presence.
“If I sliced down this sword right now, your cultivation, your beauty, your Master, your status… all of it would be gone.”
Song Yu trembled all over.
“A person’s death is like a lamp going out; all worldly laws are illusions. At that moment, the Fusion of Spiritual Roots you so desperately pursue would vanish as well.”
Xu Muxue sighed.
“So why bother? Digging out someone’s spiritual root, taking it by force, will inevitably bring a stronger cultivator to place a sword at your throat.”
“I…” Song Yu’s voice quivered and was on the verge of tears.
“The other spiritual root power inside me was passed down by our Master. She entrusted me to carefully nurture it, saying it would greatly benefit my cultivation path in the future. As for forcibly taking others’ spiritual roots, I… I have never done such a thing.”
“Hm?”
Xu Muxue raised an eyebrow, about to press further when her sword was suddenly struck forcefully and sent flying.
She staggered to regain her balance and saw Qin Qin standing in front of Song Yu, sword raised, her eyes burning red.
“You brat, you’re asking for death!”
Qin Qin roared in anger, gathering all her strength into one strike. The power of a Jindan Pinnacle cultivator was extraordinary, cracking the hard arena floor beneath her like shattered ice.
Xu Muxue hurriedly turned and fled.
Picking on anyone below Golden Core was acceptable, but even if it was Xu Mu, she couldn’t possibly fight a Jindan Pinnacle cultivator head-on in her current body.
Qinghan! Qinghan! Save your Master!
Master will never act arrogant again!
Fortunately, Shen Qinghan was protective of her own. Almost at the same moment, she appeared on the arena to confront Qin Qin. Xu Muxue, as if granted a reprieve, immediately transformed into Little Fox and dove between Qinghan’s twin peaks, only her small head peeking out to observe the situation.
“Peak Master Qin, it’s normal for disciples to have victories and defeats during sparring. Don’t take losses so badly.”
“Victories and defeats?”
Qin Qin sneered in fury, wiping her hand across Song Yu’s neck to show the blood to Shen Qinghan.
“If I’d been a second later, that little beast would’ve wiped my disciple’s throat!”
“I didn’t! Don’t talk nonsense!”
Xu Muxue protested, stretching a paw out from Qinghan’s softness.
“Song Yu is so beautiful, I couldn’t bear to kill her…”
Actually, Xu Muxue was holding back the second half of her sentence, afraid if she said it, Qin Qin would explode completely.
Shen Qinghan silently pushed the fox’s head back into her warm embrace and calmly said, “Did you hear that? She said she didn’t.”
“Shen Qinghan!!”
Qin Qin’s face visibly flushed red. Shen Qinghan even drew the Qingyue Sword, ready in case Qin Qin suddenly attacked.
Unexpectedly, Qin Qin only took a few heavy breaths before regaining her calm, as still as a dead pond.
“…Hmph, forget it. Losing is losing. I, Qin Qin, am not so petty as to be unable to accept defeat. With greater enemies looming, I won’t oppose you.”
“As agreed, Zuo Wang Peak remains under your jurisdiction. But the resources the Sword Sect allocates to Zuo Wang Peak each year must be handed over.”
Shen Qinghan raised an eyebrow, somewhat surprised.
“I’ve never taken a single cent of the sect’s salary. Whether it’s given or not makes no difference.”
“Zuo Wang Peak can accommodate over a hundred disciples for cultivation. Now that only the two of you remain, the sect is simply reclaiming excess resources. We of the Sword Sect are one branch of the same tree. Don’t talk as if the sect is withholding your salary.”
Qin Qin snorted coldly and turned to pull Song Yu along.
“Yu’er, you were outmatched this time. When you return, reflect deeply and train harder. Strive to form your Golden Core soon so you won’t be bullied again.”
With that, she left without another word, taking Song Yu and the disciples of Jade Maiden Peak, disappearing grandly over the horizon.
Shen Qinghan looked down at her Thunder Storage. Inside, Little Fox looked up at her, and the two locked eyes.
“What’s she up to this time?”
Xu Muxue asked.
“Not telling you.”
Shen Qinghan replied.