Chen Yuyang reached out and waved his hand lightly in front of Yan Luo, whose expression was frozen in shock.
Only then did she snap out of it, abruptly coming back to her senses.
“You… what did you just do?”
Yan Luo stared at the young man in astonishment, her voice trembling slightly as she asked.
Chen Yuyang said calmly, “I just wanted to experience your sword technique firsthand.”
Yan Luo rolled her eyes inwardly at that.
‘Of course I know you were testing me, but what I really want to ask is how you deflected my strike so easily with a broken branch.’
“Then… did you find any problems?”
Yan Luo took a deep breath, thought it over, and asked instead.
Chen Yuyang nodded seriously.
“Yes. You’re not suited for a sword.”
“Or rather, for you, the sword you’re using now is too small.”
He continued, “You have plenty of strength and explosive power, but this type of longsword limits the maximum damage you can output.”
As he spoke, Chen Yuyang raised his hand.
Spiritual energy rippled, and a pitch-black greatsword appeared in his grip.
The sword was enormous—fully eight feet long, with a blade nearly a foot wide and a thickness of two fingers.
The blade was covered in strange patterns that Chen Yuyang had designed specifically—not just for looks.
When swung, infusing it with spiritual energy would cause the energy to flow along the patterns, making the sword’s strikes even heavier and harder to block.
“Try this one.”
Chen Yuyang patted the greatsword’s blade and handed it to Yan Luo.
Her eyes lit up immediately as she reached out to take it.
The sword was extremely heavy—at least a thousand jin—but for a Nascent Soul cultivator like Yan Luo, that was nothing.
She could swing it easily with one hand.
The feel of the sword in her hand was remarkably steady, and oddly, it gave her a strange sense of affinity.
Even though she had trained with a longsword for over a decade, holding this greatsword now felt more natural.
Her battle intent surged.
Yan Luo gripped the hilt, raised the greatsword high toward the sky, and then infused it with a little spiritual energy before slashing down at the ground.
Boom!
A thunderous roar erupted.
The ground trembled violently, and several wide cracks burst open, with blazing flames surging from within them.
“What a sword!”
After that single strike, Yan Luo was astonished.
The feel of this sword in her hand… it was strangely… comfortable?
“Try it out. No spiritual energy—just you and Yun Lian sparring again.”
Chen Yuyang stepped back and made a gesture of invitation.
Yan Luo nodded lightly, anticipation shining in her eyes.
Off to the side, Yun Lian watched the scene with a hint of jealousy.
Her lips pouted slightly.
‘Why is my senior brother being so good to this Yan Luo? First he gives pointers, then a weapon. I’ve been with him so long, and he’s never given me a weapon like this.’
‘Well, he did give me that soft armor and a bunch of talismans… but I want his big sword too!’ Thinking this, Yun Lian took her stance opposite Yan Luo.
The battle erupted in the next instant.
Yan Luo stomped the ground, shattering it and sending debris flying.
Like a volcanic eruption, she charged at Yun Lian with unstoppable momentum, swinging the greatsword.
Whoosh!
The greatsword cut through the air with a dull roar.
That heavy, powerful strike came down, tearing the air apart.
Yun Lian wanted to block it with her sword technique like before, but when she sensed the terrifying force behind the blow, her expression shifted.
She didn’t dare meet it head-on.
With a flicker, Yun Lian dodged the attack.
Boom!
The greatsword slammed into the ground, instantly creating a huge crater.
Debris mixed with dust shot into the air.
Yan Luo didn’t pause after missing.
She kept swinging the greatsword with undiminished speed.
The sheer weight and power were enough to deal damage on their own.
Boom!
Boom!
Boom!
Boom!
The greatsword rained down like a furious storm.
The entire ground trembled violently under the onslaught.
Yun Lian was forced to retreat repeatedly, not daring to clash directly with Yan Luo’s greatsword.
What she could have easily deflected earlier was now impossible to even think of blocking with this sword’s boost.
But although Yun Lian was suppressed and driven back, she never took any real damage.
She remained calm, her eyes locked on every move Yan Luo made.
Meanwhile, her own sword intent was restrained, her edge hidden, waiting for the perfect counter.
Finally, after several dozen exchanges, Yan Luo’s heavy swing missed, and for a moment, her momentum waned.
Yun Lian moved!
Like an arrow released from a drawn bow, she thrust her sword in one swift motion.
Fast, precise, ruthless!
Before Yan Luo could adjust her breathing, dodge, or defend, Yun Lian’s sword had breached her defenses and stopped steadily at the girl’s throat.
The cold blade tip pressed against her skin.
Yan Luo’s hand holding the greatsword froze mid-air, her chest heaving.
She had lost.
But this time, Yan Luo showed no frustration.
Instead, her face lit up with barely contained excitement.
She could clearly feel the change in her own swordplay.
The sensation of each heavy, powerful strike was almost addictive.
‘As expected of Yuyang—he saw my weakness at a glance. Just changing weapons boosted my combat power by at least thirty percent!’
Gripping the greatsword, Yan Luo turned to Chen Yuyang with gratitude.
“How does it feel?”
Chen Yuyang looked at her with a calm gaze.
“I feel… great! Really great!”
Yan Luo raised the sword, her voice trembling with excitement.
“This… this sword… Yuyang, can you sell it to me? I’ll pay any amount of spirit stones!”
Chen Yuyang just shook his head.
This was just a low-grade sixth-rank item, worth at most a few hundred thousand spirit stones.
He and Yan Luo were at least nominal master and disciple—if he charged her for something like this, it would make him look stingy. (Tai Lingxuan: ‘Spendthrift boy.’)
“It’s fine. It’s a gift.”
Chen Yuyang waved his hand casually.
“Really?”
Yan Luo was both shocked and delighted, but also a little nervous.
“This… this doesn’t seem right… It’s too precious… The Ten Thousand Flame Box you gave me earlier was already rare enough, and now I’m taking your sword… That’s really not okay…”
Yan Luo wasn’t so much excited about getting a free sixth-rank greatsword. What made her heart race was how generous Yuyang was with her, giving it directly.
This wasn’t some cheap street stall item—it was a sixth-rank spirit tool!
Only a refiner of the top three ranks could forge such equipment!
‘He’s so good to me… I… I’ll have to repay him with my body!’
Thinking this, Yan Luo’s ears turned crimson.
She couldn’t help sneaking a glance at Chen Yuyang before quickly looking down.
Yun Lian’s eyes nearly popped out.
The sour feeling in her heart spread.
‘What? This isn’t even the first treasure he’s given her? And it sounds like that ‘Ten Thousand Flame Box’ was even better than this greatsword! Senior brother is so biased!’
Seeing Yan Luo’s reaction, Chen Yuyang shook his head with a wry smile.
‘This girl, still fixated on that Ten Thousand Flame Box. That box was originally your grandfather’s—how can I count it as something I gave you? Besides, the most valuable thing I gave you is the Flame Control Technique and the Condensation Method. This sword is nothing.’
‘It’s just a mass-produced item I made during my earning phase, and a defective one at that. I actually feel a bit embarrassed giving it as a gift.’
Yun Lian’s jealousy burned even hotter.
Even though she had won, she couldn’t force a smile.
But she didn’t want Yuyang to think she was petty or jealous.
So she bit her lip and silently walked to an open space nearby, swinging her sword in practice.
Yan Luo, having received the greatsword from Chen Yuyang, immediately began practicing with it enthusiastically.
Chen Yuyang found a clean stone to sit on nearby, watching the two girls train with an air of leisure.
But in truth, his spiritual sense was spread out invisibly, carefully probing everything around them.
No one came to silence them.
No suspicious auras were following in the shadows.
‘How strange. I checked myself, my junior sister, and Yan Luo—no special tracking marks. In other words, if I take them a bit farther away, the other side will completely lose track of us. At this point, they still haven’t acted? Are they really not going to silence us? Or do they have absolute confidence that no one can uncover the truth? Or maybe their concealment technique is too profound for me to detect?’
Chen Yuyang frowned slightly, his face expressionless, but his mind churned with possibilities.
Just then, light footsteps approached.
Yun Lian sheathed her sword and came to stand before him.
“Senior brother, what are you thinking about? You’re so lost in thought.”
“Nothing.”
Chen Yuyang snapped out of it and said flatly.
Yun Lian didn’t believe that, but she didn’t press.
Instead, her eyes sparkled as she said, “Since there’s nothing going on, and you look bored sitting here, how about… sparring with me?”
“Alright.”
Chen Yuyang stood up from the stone, casually pulled out a third-rank sword, and faced Yun Lian.
Not far away, Yan Luo paused her greatsword practice, wiped the sweat from her forehead, and watched the two with a complicated expression.
‘When Yuyang guided me earlier, he only used an ordinary branch. But now, facing his junior sister, he draws a real sword. Does that mean… in his heart, I’m still not as important as his little junior sister?’
At that thought, Yan Luo felt a stone lodged in her chest, and a twinge of jealousy crept in.