"Rumble—"
Behind Tongtian Peak, Ancestor's Hall.
The resplendent golden sword intent collided with the dazzling white sword intent, instantly whipping up a fierce gale in the surrounding area!
Sword intent?
It was inherently an intangible thing!
Ordinary people could not see it with the naked eye at all. They could only feel a gust of wind sweeping over them, stinging their faces.
"Rumble!"
At that moment.
The youth stood calmly where he was.
His azure Daoist robe fluttered despite the absence of wind, his black hair casually tied behind his head. There was not the slightest emotion on his handsome face, and his deep eyes were as still as an ancient well. Brilliant golden light surged skyward from within them.
"Clang—"
The Sovereign Sword trembled slightly.
The Sovereign Sword Intent around him instantly manifested into countless swords of light, crashing toward Wan Jianyi before him as though they intended to swallow him whole.
At this sight.
Wan Jianyi's expression shifted slightly in surprise.
Sword intent taking form?
Being able to transform sword intent into all manner of forms!
That was enough to prove that Wang Quan Yan had already traveled an extremely long way on the path of the sword. He was a true swordsman, a true Sword Cultivator—
"Good!"
"Excellent!"
Wan Jianyi could not help but speak.
His heart, long since silent, suddenly stirred to life, as if he had encountered someone who truly understood him. He could not resist exchanging blows.
The truth was.
That was exactly the case.
Wan Jianyi seemed to see his own reflection in Wang Quan Yan?
Back then, he too had been so dazzling.
So radiant and eye-catching.
Only—
Time spared no one!
A trace of desolation flashed through Wan Jianyi's eyes.
Yet he pulled himself together in an instant. This was not the time to dwell on such things. What was past should remain in the past.
Now?
He only wanted a proper exchange of swordsmanship!
"Rumble!"
Wan Jianyi's sharpness was fully unleashed.
Brilliant light flickered in his calm eyes. An unstoppable aura radiated from him, and an incomparably wild, unyielding sword intent soared into the heavens.
The Dragon Slaying Sword that pressed ever onward!
All Swords Unite, Ghost Slaying God!
This was his sword intent, his sword Dao, his sword technique!
"Come!"
Wan Jianyi laughed loudly.
He took the initiative to release his sword intent and meet it head-on, seemingly intending to have a serious contest with Wang Quan Yan.
Seeing this.
Wang Quan Yan did not refuse either.
Because he also wanted to see his own strength.
If they relied solely on sword intent?
Just how strong was he?
"Rumble—"
The collision of sword against sword instantly stirred up a gale above Ancestor's Hall. The clouds nearby were blown apart, and traces of sword intent leaked outward.
"Alas."
"He really knows how to make people worry."
Hidden in the shadows, True Person Dao Xuan sighed softly.
He had sent Wang Quan Yan there to inherit Ghost Slaying God, so how had the two of them started fighting for no reason?!
Sure enough.
People who played with swords all had something wrong with their heads.
True Person Dao Xuan felt rather helpless. He took action to disperse the leaked sword intent, lest the Peak Masters of the other branches notice it...
After all.
Wan Jianyi's ever-forward sword intent.
The Peak Masters of the other branches knew it all too well.
If they discovered that Wan Jianyi was not dead, then the truth behind that old scandal would no longer remain hidden!
Three hundred years ago.
A supreme tyrant emerged from the Demon Sect, named Chou Wangyu. He rose step by step, unifying the Demon Sect, then led all its forces in a direct assault upon the Qingyun Sect...
At that time.
The Qingyun Sect had truly come within a hair's breadth of destruction.
The Peak Masters and elders of every branch had all died. Even Tian Chengzi, the Qingyun Sect's previous sect leader, perished after that battle—
However.
He had not died at the hands of the Demon Sect.
Rather,
he had died at the hands of Dao Xuan and Wan Jianyi.
Three hundred years ago.
Faced with the Demon Sect's invasion.
Tian Chengzi, the previous sect leader, had no choice but to summon the Immortal Slaying Sword with his cultivation at the Supreme Purity Realm. Though he had successfully repelled the Demon Sect's invasion and dealt them a severe blow...
Tian Chengzi himself suffered backlash from the Immortal Slaying Sword. The baleful aura within it silently eroded his mind, causing him to fall into madness.
Later.
The Qingyun Sect's twin prodigies of that generation, Dao Xuan and Wan Jianyi.
They had no choice. Forced by circumstance, they killed their benefactor and master.
In the end, Wan Jianyi bore the blame.
Dao Xuan, meanwhile, inherited the position of sect leader.
On the surface.
True Person Dao Xuan had "executed" Wan Jianyi.
But in truth, he had secretly saved Wan Jianyi and placed him inside Ancestor's Hall, effectively hiding a beauty in a golden house.
After such upheaval.
Wan Jianyi had survived.
But he had also died—
His heart had died.
From then on.
That peerless prodigy who had once been so high-spirited was gone. All that remained was an old man lingering on in Ancestor's Hall, sweeping the floors.
"Rumble!"
The two great sword intents collided and wore each other away.
An invisible gale swept through the surrounding area.
Wang Quan Yan's black hair flew wildly, and his Daoist robe billowed. He calmly looked toward Wan Jianyi before him.
Wan Jianyi happened to look back at him as well.
At that point.
Their exchange came to a brief end.
It was probably a draw in the end?
Wan Jianyi looked at Wang Quan Yan before him with a complicated expression. He felt that he had been wrong...
Wang Quan Yan resembled his former self?
No, no, no!
Wang Quan Yan was even more dazzling than he had been, even more peerless in bearing. He was one of a kind and could never resemble anyone else—
Because.
No one could be mentioned in the same breath as him!
Among all the Qingyun Sect's disciples throughout the generations, if anyone could perhaps be compared to Wang Quan Yan, it would only be Ancestor Qingye from a thousand years ago?
Beings like them could not be called prodigies!
Because they were true monsters, rare throughout history and utterly without equal!
"That sword just now."
"What was it called?"
Wan Jianyi could not help asking.
Hearing this.
The youth raised his eyes slightly.
He stood tall and straight, his aura sharp to the extreme, like a divine sword that had yet to leave its sheath.
"Sovereign."
"Sovereign Sword Intent."
Wang Quan Yan replied calmly.
He held the divine sword horizontally in his hand, revealing the two characters "Sovereign" on its guard for Wan Jianyi to see clearly.
"Alas."
Upon hearing that.
Wan Jianyi sighed softly and said, "I lost..."
In that exchange just now.
Though it had ended in a draw, what was his cultivation? And what was Wang Quan Yan's cultivation?
He, Wan Jianyi, had practiced the sword for centuries.
How old was Wang Quan Yan?
A draw.
Was already the worst possible outcome.
"No!"
Wang Quan Yan shook his head.
Looking at Wan Jianyi, he said, "Senior, it is only that your heart has died."
With that, he pointed to his own chest and continued, "A Sword Cultivator who has lost his Sword Heart is like someone who has lost hope in life. I do not know what happened to you, Senior, but..."
"I hope you can soon find your Sword Heart again."
Wang Quan Yan naturally knew of Wan Jianyi's past, but it was not something he could readily speak of...
Therefore.
This was the only way he could comfort Wan Jianyi.
Before you continue