The place for the sword match was set at the side of Guanye Lake.
There was a Willow Grove by the lake, the trees being Spirit Trees; even in winter, their verdant branches would droop along both banks.
Yet on the small island in the center of the lake, there stood only a single, sturdy Oil Tung Tree. Its leaves would turn yellow in autumn, and in winter, only bare branches remained.
At this time, it was late autumn. The willows were still lush and green, making the yellowed Oil Tung Tree in the center of the lake all the more conspicuous.
Though beautiful, there were few visitors. One reason was that disciples were busy cultivating and had no time; another was that cultivators lived long lives—after seeing the four seasons every year, year after year, they naturally grew weary of it.
Jiang Tong had once heard from an Elder that the trees around this lake were all planted by his master, Jiang Yue Liu.
So much time had passed that hardly anyone paid attention anymore to who had planted these trees.
On a clearing within the Willow Grove, Jiang Tong and Ji Nianxue each held their swords, facing each other from several meters apart.
“A pure contest of sword techniques.” Jiang Tong revealed the aura of Qi Condensation Sixth Layer, repeating the rules once more, “No use of spiritual power, only comparing sword techniques and skill. Stop at a touch.”
Actually, he was quite confident in his physique. During these years when his cultivation was stagnant, Jiang Tong had secretly practiced several Body Refining Methods. Paired with Body Refining Pills he made himself, his physical body was by no means weak—under Foundation Establishment, it would be hard for anyone to seriously injure him.
But Jiang Tong felt there was no need to go all out. He deliberately decided to hold back, so that Ji Nianxue would underestimate him in tomorrow’s Competition.
Heh, though he taught that “A Sword Cultivator must always charge ahead,” in essence, he was still a crafty man.
“Alright.”
Ji Nianxue drew her sword and spoke softly, “Then let us begin, Senior Brother Jiang.”
As soon as her words fell, her blue dress vanished from sight, thrusting toward Jiang Tong’s back.
Jiang Tong didn’t even turn around. Casually, he swung his sword behind him and parried Ji Nianxue’s attack.
Ji Nianxue paused in surprise. Her figure flashed again, the next sword thrusting straight for Jiang Tong’s face.
Jiang Tong still stood in place. In his eyes, Ji Nianxue’s speed without spiritual power was painfully slow.
“No helping it…”
He sighed and effortlessly parried the next strike.
His sword embryo was simply monstrous—fighting with only sword techniques, Ji Nianxue was like a child challenging a grown man.
Ji Nianxue said nothing. The next second, her figure flashed again.
“Hm.”
In his vision, more and more images of blue dresses began to appear, dazzling to the eye.
“This move is interesting.”
Jiang Tong praised her as he raised his sword overhead. With a clang, he blocked Ji Nianxue’s descending attack from above.
Ji Nianxue landed, her face somewhat pale. The tip of the sword hovered less than an inch from her throat, stopping steadily.
“I win.”
Jiang Tong beckoned to her, meaning, a hundred high-grade spirit stones.
“Here you go.”
Ji Nianxue was straightforward, tossing over a Storage Ring. Jiang Tong scanned it with his Divine Sense—inside, there were actually more than a hundred stones.
“You’re giving me all of them?”
Just when he needed money, Jiang Tong looked up in delight, about to give her some pointers, only to see Ji Nianxue’s gaze fall low.
“Senior Brother Jiang,” she called to him softly.
Only then did Jiang Tong sense something amiss.
Normally, when Ji Nianxue sought him out, she would call him Jiang Tong directly. Today, she was unusually formal.
Sure enough, Ji Nianxue puffed out her cheeks, slowly exhaled, and lifted her clear eyes:
“This might… be the last time I come to see you.”
Jiang Tong looked at her, puzzled.
He had always treated Ji Nianxue as a friend—what did she mean? Was she breaking off with him?
“Would you come sit with me by the lakeside?” Ji Nianxue smiled, hiding her sorrow well.
Jiang Tong nodded. The two of them, one after the other, left the Willow Grove and sat on the grass by the lake, gazing at the large Oil Tung Tree in the center.
“Jiang Tong.” Now she began calling his name again. “Can a sword really decide what kind of Sword Style it unleashes?”
Jiang Tong glanced at her profile, a guess rising in his heart. “How could it?”
“I want to unleash my own Sword Style too. But no matter how I swing my sword, it seems I can’t touch you.” Ji Nianxue turned back and smiled at him.
“If you haven’t found your own style, it just means your practice isn’t deep enough.” Jiang Tong looked straight into her eyes.
“If you want to wield your own style, then don’t be a sword—just be the one holding it.”
“Not being a sword…” Ji Nianxue felt the lakeside breeze, eyes narrowing in comfort. “How nice.”
She took off her Osmanthus Hairpin and handed it to Jiang Tong. “Remember this?”
Jiang Tong accepted it with a smile. “The ninth-birthday gift I gave you.”
It was made from a branch of the Osmanthus Tree in their courtyard. Jiang Tong had carved it for a long time and only gave it to her when he thought it looked just right.
Thinking back, he’d been a bit of a rascal as a child—he thought she was pretty, so he kept showering her with gifts.
“When I was little, I thought, for my tenth birthday I’d get a gift from you too, and for my eleventh, twelfth… I’d keep getting your gifts until I grew up.”
Ji Nianxue curved her lips. “But Master later forbade me from playing with you. I could only make trades with you.”
“You said the same thing when you were a child.” Jiang Tong recalled, but he didn’t ask why the gifts stopped when she came of age.
The two fell silent at the same time, as if they’d touched on an awkward memory.
“Jiang Tong.”
Ji Nianxue looked at the reflection of the willows on the lake. “You like Aunt Jiang, don’t you?”
She’d asked directly. With only the two of them present, there was nothing to hide.
“I do.” Jiang Tong lowered his head, rubbing the hairpin. “But I can’t figure out what she thinks. Sometimes she treats me well, sometimes she’s cold.”
He looked up and smiled. “But lately, she’s been really, really good to me.”
“Really?”
Ji Nianxue’s eyes lit up, but quickly dimmed again. “Actually, Aunt Jiang has always been good to you. Truly.”
—I wish I had such a master too.
Jiang Tong guessed this was what she thought, but she didn’t say it aloud.
“Jiang Tong, do you remember the year we first met?”
“The year we met… What about it?”
“I was five, you were six.”
“Oh, oh, back then.” Jiang Tong looked up at the sky, half-joking. “You almost wandered off to become a Human World child.”
The real situation was far worse.
At the time, it was a relatively safe mission assigned by the sect Elders, requiring disciples to bring a few Immortal Children to observe and learn.
Jiang Tong and Ji Nianxue were brought along by a few disciples at the Qi Condensation stage, plus one at Foundation Establishment.
There shouldn’t have been any danger. But that day, the mission became unexpectedly complicated. On their way back, night fell and heavy snow began.
A pack of Snow Wolf Demons surrounded them.
Senior Brothers and Senior Sisters fought desperately, allowing the children to escape one after another. Ji Nianxue was the youngest, the first to be sent away.
Jiang Tong, already somewhat cultivated, chose to stay behind and fight the Snow Wolves.
The battle lasted over an hour—a bitter victory.
Three disciples survived, along with Jiang Tong, who had been well protected.
They searched in the snow for a long time, their hands and faces numb with cold.
The Snow Wolves had been blocked, but the children who’d escaped couldn’t hold out—only a few frozen bodies were found.
The Senior Brothers and Sisters were all injured to varying degrees, one nearly unconscious from blood loss.
They had little hope that Ji Nianxue had survived and wanted to take Jiang Tong back.
But Jiang Tong shook his head, insisting on finding Ji Nianxue, who had once treated him as a rival, and urged them to return to the sect for treatment.
Reluctantly, the Senior Brothers and Sisters returned first, intending to send stronger help later.
Jiang Tong, after trekking through the snow for a long time, finally found faint footprints and followed them to a cave.
That cave had saved her life.
At that time, Ji Nianxue was barely breathing.
“When I opened my eyes, the first thing I saw was you using your spiritual power to keep me warm.”
Ji Nianxue pinned the wooden hairpin back into her hair, enjoying the lake breeze.
“But you nearly froze to death yourself.”
“Jiang Tong, why did you save me back then?”
Jiang Tong looked up at the sky, hands pressed into the grass.
“Maybe because you were pretty.”
“Liar.”
“Not lying.”
“Jiang Tong.”
Jiang Tong looked at her, confused.
“Do you like osmanthus?”
“I do, it’s very fragrant.”
“Do you… like blue dresses?”
“Blue is very nice.”
“If I hadn’t distanced myself from you back then,
Would you… have liked me?”