One Sword Calls Sister

Qing Prefecture, the wild forest on the north side of Screen Mountain.

As night fell across the sky, mountain mist began to rise in the dense forest, drifting between the peaks like a thin veil.

In a wild lake nearby, frog croaks began to sound, an anxious, restless chorus.

Just then, a convoy of four horse-drawn carriages was making its way through the dense forest under the cover of night. The people on the carriages seemed to be wearing black cloaks, appearing incredibly mysterious.

And on the cliff face to the side of the convoy's path, the twenty-seven Spirit Sword Mountain disciples who had been lying in wait were suddenly invigorated, all sleepiness vanishing.

Several days prior, a group of outer sect disciples from Qing Prefecture had gone missing without a trace.

Zhuo Wanqiu had received a secret order from the mountain sect and rushed to this location. After investigating, she finally uncovered some clues pointing to this very forest.

Shortly after, Song Ziheng, a junior brother from the Outer Court, arrived in a hurry and joined them. The group had been lying in ambush here for three days, and now they had finally found a lead.

However, at this very moment, Zhuo Wanqiu noticed her junior brother, Song Ziheng, quietly drawing his long sword.

"Junior Brother, what are you doing?"

"It's a golden opportunity. Of course, I'm going to stop them and find out where they took the missing disciples."

Song Ziheng was already condensing his sword energy, his eyes gleaming with cold light.

Zhuo Wanqiu frowned. "Anyone capable of abducting thirteen outer sect disciples must be a master in the upper five realms. The secret order from the mountain sect is for us to keep a close watch here and not alert the enemy!"

"We just need to subdue one of them, and perhaps we can extract useful information."

"I am in charge of this mission. Are you refusing to obey orders, Junior Brother?"

Song Ziheng looked at Zhuo Wanqiu when he heard her. After a long silence, he loosened his grip on his sword hilt.

However, as the carriages drew closer to the cliff, and their presence became discernible, he couldn't help but continue to secretly condense his sword energy.

This was because he realized that the five people accompanying the carriages were only in the Nirvana Realm, one realm below his own Perfection of the Lower Three Realms.

He turned to look at Zhuo Wanqiu, his sword energy continuing to gather.

This senior sister might not know that he was the most talented disciple in Spirit Sword Mountain's outer sect.

Since joining the mountain, he had already passed through the Forest of Ancient Sword Intent and had now gathered three strands of mystic light. The upper five realms were within his grasp, and a spot in the Inner Court was as good as his.

But the Inner Court was merely a stepping stone. What Song Ziheng truly desired was to become a personal disciple of one of the Three Great Peak Masters.

When he came to Qing Prefecture, he had already inquired. It was said that this operation was personally overseen by a significant figure from the mountain. He needed an opportunity to be noticed by a Peak Master.

Just five Nirvana Realm cultivators...

Song Ziheng gripped his sword hilt tightly. In the end, at the very last moment before the convoy passed, he suddenly lunged out. Sword energy descended from the sky, and a flash of sword light, as dazzling as lightning, instantly tore through the night.

The blade swept through, its hum echoing, and a head flew through the air.

Success!

Song Ziheng immediately flew back towards his sword, but unexpectedly, four gleaming long sabers lunged towards him at incredible speed.

Spiritual energy surged beneath his feet, and he dodged with a roar, then laughed and charged forward with his sword.

Amidst the clash of sabers and swords, killing intent erupted.

The four bladesmen moved with astonishing speed, their saber lights weaving into a dense net that pressed forward. Saber energy splashed out, as if capable of cleaving mountains.

Song Ziheng's eyes widened in fury. He met the four sabers with his long sword, sword energy crisscrossing and sparks flying, the clang of metal on metal incessant.

But after this exchange, the smile on Song Ziheng's lips gradually froze.

The lower three realms were known as the Essence Realm. Advancement in these realms was essentially an improvement in speed and strength.

But at this moment, these four Nirvana Realm cultivators displayed extraordinary power. Each saber strike carried a tearing force, their wind like a formidable pressure.

Song Ziheng frantically circulated his spiritual energy into his sword, which erupted with a fierce light as he met the attack again.

The moment the sparks flew, his heart trembled.

Because he noticed that as the four opponents swung their sabers, a thick malevolent energy began to spread. The sabers, which had seemed to cleave mountains, became heavier with each strike, eventually weighing as much as a thousand pounds, threatening to shatter his bones.

I'm going to die...

If this continues, I will surely die.

Fear began to show on Song Ziheng's face as he grew increasingly timid with every exchange.

One saber, two sabers, three sabers... eight sabers!

Seeing that the sabers before him were now as heavy as mountains, Song Ziheng knew he wouldn't be able to withstand another blow.

In a moment of panic, he suddenly unleashed a fierce burst of sword energy, then turned and rapidly fled back towards the cliff where everyone was hidden.

Zhuo Wanqiu watched the scene unfold, furious, but she couldn't spare the time to reprimand him. She immediately drew her sword and moved.

"Damn it!"

"All disciples, follow me to rescue him!"

The twenty-seven disciples immediately controlled their energy to fly, descending like flashing cold light.

The four bladesmen were indeed strange; their physical strength was far beyond that of ordinary Nirvana Realm cultivators.

But even so, under the disadvantage of numbers, the bladesmen had no chance to build up their power. Amidst the clanging of swords and sabers colliding, they were forced to retreat step by step by the Spirit Sword Mountain disciples.

Zhuo Wanqiu's suspended heart relaxed slightly. She thought to herself that although they hadn't followed the sect's orders, the situation still seemed controllable.

But just then, she vaguely saw a dazzling golden light shoot up into the sky, like a giant golden wheel in the void, melting away even the surrounding night.

At this moment, the groom in the first carriage had already floated into the air, spiritual energy radiating from his body.

"There's someone else?!"

"Senior Sister, it's a Dao Integration Realm cultivator..."

In the dark mountain forest, everyone looked up, their faces turning ashen with disbelief.

They never dreamed that such a small convoy would have a Dao Integration Realm expert as its groom.

A trap?

No, impossible.

No one knew they were lurking here. If Song Ziheng hadn't been in a hurry to claim merit, they wouldn't have been exposed like this.

Moreover, if a Dao Integration Realm cultivator wanted to kill them, would they need a trap?

The only possibility was that this Dao Integration Realm cultivator was genuinely just a groom. What kind of convoy was this?

As she pondered this, Zhuo Wanqiu's face turned deathly pale from the blinding golden light before her. She felt a fierce wind strike her, and killing intent danced wildly in the night.

With a boom, a whistling fist intent suddenly descended. The five disciples at the forefront had their long swords instantly shattered, and they were sent flying.

The Dao Integration Realm cultivator, cloaked in a robe, then gathered another punch, as if holding thunder and fire in his hands, like a celestial being.

"Go, hurry!"

"Senior Sister..."

"Leave quickly and report to the sect."

Zhuo Wanqiu swung her sword up, gritting her teeth as she resisted the pressure before her, then moved her sword horizontally.

This was undoubtedly suicidal. Zhuo Wanqiu understood, and the disciples behind her did too, but there was no other choice.

However, at this very moment, an even more powerful pressure suddenly rose from the distant mountains, causing the Dao Integration Realm cultivator's body to stiffen abruptly.

The next moment, winds and waves howled in the distant mountains, withered trees bent over, and a massive sword intent rose into the air under the moonlight.

With a clear sword cry, the sword intent in the air shot out, directly sending the Dao Integration Realm cultivator flying and cleaving a deep sword mark into the mountain wall, churning up waves of earth.

When the dust settled, everyone discovered that the Dao Integration Realm cultivator had lost an arm but was still alive, panting heavily.

The Spirit Sword Mountain disciples turned in shock and saw a woman gliding through the air, enveloped in spiritual light, as ethereal as an immortal.

She had reached perfection at ten and entered the upper five realms the following year. No one had ever dared to call her cute because her attacks were always the sharpest swords of Spirit Sword Mountain.

Among the direct disciples of the Seven Great Immortal Sects, she was the only one who wielded a lineage sacred artifact before even becoming a Sect Master.

This was because everyone knew that she represented the rise and fall of Spirit Sword Mountain for the next hundred years.

She had come from Shengjing tonight, taking advantage of the opportunity, and her first sword strike had directly severed a Dao Integration Realm cultivator.

The twenty-two Spirit Sword Mountain disciples, frozen in place, quickly realized her identity and immediately knelt on one knee, though their faces were still filled with fear.

Everyone knew that a major figure from the inner sect of Spirit Sword Mountain was coming, but no one had expected the Young Master Jian, who resided in Cloud Top Hall, to come in person.

"Stop kneeling, go save people first."

"Go check if those four are completely dead. If they are, give them a few more sword strikes. If they're not, lock them up."

"Other disciples, go see what's in the carriages."

Yan Shuyi walked through the dust and sand, glanced at the Dao Integration Realm cultivator embedded in the mountain wall, still breathing, and pulled him down with a wave of her hand.

His cloak had been shattered, revealing a relatively young face.

Upon seeing this face, Zhuo Wanqiu's complexion turned even paler: "It's Chen Qinghe..."

Yan Shuyi turned to look at her. "You know him?"

"Reporting to Young Master Jian, he is an Outer Court disciple of the Chen Clan Immortal Family. I saw him at Spirit Sword Mountain's Sword Seeking Gathering two years ago, but... he was only at Perfection of the Lower Three Realms back then."

"Two years to break through from Profound Comprehension to Dao Integration?"

Yan Shuyi's brow furrowed, finding it hard to believe.

She was considered the fastest in the current generation, but even so, it had taken her five years to break through from Profound Comprehension to Dao Integration.

Zhuo Wanqiu looked at Chen Qinghe and found him struggling wildly, seemingly without fear. "Young Master Jian, he... he seems a little off."

"Lock him up, then notify the Chen Clan Immortal Family. I will go to ask the mountain tomorrow."

"Ask the mountain..."

Zhuo Wanqiu held her breath and immediately cupped her hands in agreement. She then arranged for disciples to send the heavily injured senior and junior brothers back to the mountain, ordered people to lock up Chen Qinghe, who was now like a wild beast, arranged for him to be sent to the Chen Clan Immortal Family overnight, and then had people inspect the carriages.

The carriages were loaded with spiritual herbs, all of which were rather obscure.

Obscure meant they had no effect on a cultivator's realm advancement and were not on the cultivation lists of the Seven Great Immortal Sects.

Some of them were even highly toxic, such as Flowing Spring Grass and Sacred Yin Flower.

These clues were not enough for them to find out where their missing disciples had gone. The only lead still pointed to the Chen Clan Immortal Family.

Yan Shuyi ordered her people to record all the medicinal herbs on the carriage. Then, she saw someone rushing over. It was Song Ziheng, who had just protected everyone in front of her, running back.

"Outer Court disciple Song Ziheng greets the Young Master. This disciple just killed someone."

"Oh? But I saw you retreat."

"This disciple... This disciple was following Senior Sister Zhuo's orders. I wanted to quickly return to the sect to report to the Young Master."

Yan Shuyi had entered the upper five realms at the age of ten. She had already forgotten how weak the Perfection of the Lower Three Realms was. They were so weak that she could kill them with a wave of her hand.

But that guy was also only at the Perfection of the Lower Three Realms. How dare he pinch her face and even brazenly call her cute?

She really should have let him see that sword strike just now. She wished he would have called her "sister" out of fear.

"Guards, take Song Ziheng's jade token."

"Young Master, wait! Young Master, you might not know, but I am currently the most talented disciple in the Outer Court."

"You?"

Yan Shuyi looked at him for two seconds, her brow furrowed. "Then isn't our Spirit Sword Mountain far inferior to the Celestial Academy?"

(The follow-up reads have surged. I bow to all of you. I happily wrote an extra thousand words... or2)