Gu Jinzhi grew increasingly alarmed the longer the spar in the Training Ground went on.
This woman's speed was bafflingly fast, and her training sword always managed to strike from angles he never expected, ruthlessly tricky.
What frustrated him even more was that every time their blades clashed, a small fraction of the vital energy he channeled into his saber simply vanished into thin air.
It felt as though it had been chewed away by a dog, patchy and uneven.
His saber technique suffered for it, barely able to maintain sixty or seventy percent of its power.
What kind of ability was this?
Gu Jinzhi's cold, stern brow furrowed, his gaze laced with doubt.
On the other side, Li Wei might have looked like she held the absolute upper hand, but her consumption was actually immense.
Maintaining such high-speed movement and dense attacks was an extremely heavy burden for a First-Order Martial Artist like her.
Taking advantage of a momentary dodge and shift, she quickly glanced at her status panel.
Vital Energy (Special Effect: Purification): 243/500.1
Hisssss—!
Less than half left!
She secretly bit down on her pearly whites, flicked her wrist, and the sword light surged once more. Her sword momentum was like an antelope hanging its horns by the branches, piercing straight toward the opening at Gu Jinzhi's lower back.
The Fire Whirlwind flared up again, and the searing blade light forced her to retreat.
Damn it, I'm almost out of mana...
Fine beads of sweat had already seeped onto her temples, and her breathing gradually grew ragged.
Yet she still gritted her teeth and pressed on.
She couldn't lose! Absolutely not!
Forcefully suppressing the exhaustion in her body, her sword forms remained fierce.
Gu Jinzhi likewise couldn't sustain Blade Storm indefinitely. Under Li Wei's abruptly accelerated offensive, he was forced back step by step, his figure seemingly swallowed by the sword light.
He had never imagined that he, a dignified Third-order Martial Artist, would be suppressed to such a wretched state by someone who had just broken into the First Order.
A fierce reluctance and an even more blazing fighting spirit churned and rose within his chest.
If he couldn't even cross this threshold...
His focus reached an unprecedented level, every ounce of his potential squeezed out.
Amidst the fierce battle, his comprehension of Blazing Sun Heavenly Saber deepened at a rapid pace. Some points that had previously felt sluggish during cultivation now felt like a sudden divine enlightenment, clearing up instantly.
Silently and imperceptibly, his saber momentum grew more rounded and incandescent!
Suddenly, Gu Jinzhi's entire aura shifted abruptly, and the ordinary training sword in his hand abruptly radiated a majestic, overpowering pressure!
He slashed downward, and the air seemed to ignite.
Li Wei narrowed her eyes, actually generating the illusion of a great sun hanging in the sky, illuminating the entire world with nowhere to hide!
Blazing Sun Heavenly Saber—Great Accomplishment!
Locked down by the saber intent, Li Wei's speed advantage was drastically diminished, making it hard to rely on footwork to evade anymore.
She had no choice but to repeatedly raise her sword to parry.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
Every collision numbed her arms and forced her figure to retreat again and again.
This was the first time she had fallen into a disadvantage since the fight began!
The Gu siblings watching from the sidelines were once again dumbfounded.
Gu Jinwen rubbed his eyes hard, then grabbed his sister's arm:
"Did I see that right? Eldest Brother... is this... has Blazing Sun Heavenly Saber reached Great Accomplishment?"
Gu Jinyi's delicate face was also filled with tension and worry, her eyes fixed tightly on the pale blue figure in the arena being forced back somewhat wretchedly by the sword light:
"Will Sister-in-law be all right?"
Gu Jinwen had no mind to pay attention to Gu Jinyi right now. He stared blankly at his eldest brother in the arena, whose momentum had soared and whose every strike carried an unmatched presence, and then at Li Wei, who was retreating step by step with danger at every turn, merely murmuring to himself:
"Before the Spirit Refining Realm... how is it possible to comprehend such strong saber intent? The gap between me and Eldest Brother... is it actually... actually this large..."
At the center of the Training Ground.
With another heavy blow, Li Wei was struck off-balance, her footing unsteady as she almost tumbled to the ground.
Damn it! This guy actually broke through mid-combat?! Is he cheating?
No wait, this script is wrong! This kind of trope of breaking through mid-combat to turn the tables—wasn't that supposed to be the protagonist's privilege? But I'm the protagonist here!
Li Wei's stubborn streak flared up instantly!
Fine, you're awesome, you're amazing!
But this old lady isn't some pushover either!
She steadied her footing, no longer rushing to counterattack, and instead slowly adjusted her breathing, sinking her mind into the sea of consciousness between her brows.
There, the boundless pool of water was calm and ripple-free, a single white lotus swaying gracefully.
The airflow inside the Training Ground seemed to freeze for a split second at that moment.
An indescribable, cold yet vast aura began to emanate quietly outward from Li Wei as the center, like ripples on water.
Gu Jinzhi, who was preparing to press his advantage and completely defeat Li Wei in one go, abruptly halted his movements.
He keenly sensed the change in Li Wei's aura.
It was a feeling... that made his heart palpitate.
It felt as though he were facing some incomprehensible, higher-level existence.
What is this?
Gu Jinzhi's heart shook violently, but with his rich experience, he didn't stop his attack because of it.
If you can't find the book title by searching, try searching for the author instead—maybe it just got a name change!
His combat intuition screamed frantic warnings, telling him that he must immediately! Right now! End this battle! Delays would bring complications!
He drove his newly achieved Great Accomplishment saber intent to its absolute limit, the crimson blade light surging wildly with the momentum to sever everything as it chopped straight down toward Li Wei's head!
Faced with this earth-shattering slash, Li Wei slowly raised her head, not a trace of panic on her face.
The corners of her lips even curled into a faint curve, carrying a hint of mockery and absolute confidence.
Let me show you what '99+1' is all about!
The next instant, her aura changed abruptly!
Everything around her became incomparably clear in her perception.
The trajectory of the airflow, the subtle fluctuations of energy, the nervous expressions of Gu Jinwen and Gu Jinyi on the sidelines, and even every tiny node of vital energy circulation within Gu Jinzhi's body, along with every twitch of his muscles.
Everything, down to the smallest detail, lay crystal clear and understood in her heart, as though completely within her grasp.
With a slight shift of her will, the surrounding airflow naturally cushioned her body, letting her move like a fish in water, skillfully defusing a portion of the force from Gu Jinzhi's blade edge while simultaneously injecting extra thrust into her own sword.
Meanwhile, Gu Jinzhi watched in horror as he found himself seemingly fighting the entire Training Ground!
The saber he slashed out would be slightly deflected by an inexplicable current of air, creating a minute deviation in angle; whereas the sword Li Wei thrust out was flawless in speed and angle, further imbued with an overwhelming "momentum" that made his response exceptionally grueling and restricted him hand and foot!
This... this is? Unity of Heaven and Man!
That expression she had earlier, that certain look in her eyes—was it as if... she had entered the state of Unity of Heaven and Man on purpose?!
Gu Jinzhi felt entirely unwell, his worldview subjected to an unprecedented shock.
Could that legendary state of Unity of Heaven and Man even be entered actively?
For a martial artist, wanting to stumble into a state of communion with heaven and earth—commonly referred to as "epiphany"—by sheer coincidence was already unimaginably difficult, requiring immense luck.
That was precisely why the ability to actively enter communion with heaven and earth, which came bundled with the Proximity to the Dao Body, appeared so heaven-defying and precious.
As for the "Unity of Heaven and Man," that was practically a myth in the martial arts world!
This woman... instead of using it to comprehend the Dao, she was using such a blessing of heaven and earth to fight him???
Li Wei couldn't care less about how thoroughly shattered Gu Jinzhi's worldview was.
Bolstered by her self-proclaimed "99+1" invincible state, her figure became even more erratic.
Her sword techniques no longer merely pursued ultimate speed and tricky angles; instead, they contained a profound and mystical rhythm.
Every sword thrust and every shifting step was handled with effortless ease, light and relaxed.
On her invisible attribute panel, the progress bar for her combat method was jumping rapidly.
Combat Method: First String · Cold Pool Sinking Jade Minor Accomplishment 0/1000(+)
Combat Method: First String · Cold Pool Sinking Jade Minor Accomplishment 100/1000(+)
Combat Method: First String · Cold Pool Sinking Jade Minor Accomplishment 600/1000(+)
And as the state of Unity of Heaven and Man persisted, that lifelike little white lotus between her brows actually began to emit a faint, soft, and holy glow.
Faintly, a white lotus phantom emerged and rotated, as if crowning her with a floral wreath.
There was even the Natal Lotus Flower phenomenon belonging solely to the Jiang Family's Spirit Refining Realm cultivators!
Was that thing on her forehead for real?
Gu Jinzhi was completely numb.
He felt as though his emotional fluctuations over the past dozen years combined didn't match a single day of this...
Still, with the precedent of the Unity of Heaven and Man already set, his reaction to the appearance of the Natal Lotus Flower was, bizarrely enough, quite calm.
His face was somewhat pale, growing more passive the longer they fought.
Gu Jinzhi knew he couldn't drag this out any longer!
He was going all out!
He poured the remaining vital energy in his body into the blade without holding anything back!
Hum—!
The blade vibrated violently, and the searing saber light, carrying an indomitable and resolute momentum, savagely slashed toward Li Wei!
Li Wei was equally unyielding.
She gathered all of her vital energy, along with the momentum of heaven and earth, into the tip of her sword!
Meeting that miniature "sun" head-on, she thrust her sword forward!
Clang—!!!
A clear metallic chime echoed with a deafening explosion!
Crack! Crack!
Starting from the point of impact between saber and sword, fractures spread inch by inch, transforming into countless iron-gray fragments that scattered and flew in all directions!
Thud! Thud!
Both figures were sent flying backward, then heavily crashed to the ground.
Yet Gu Jinzhi's condition was clearly much better than Li Wei's.
At least he could still prop himself up into a half-sitting posture, whereas Li Wei was reduced to lying like a corpse.
At this moment, their gazes met in mid-air, neither willing to back down.
Unexpectedly, the shrill cries of the two youngsters suddenly rang out from the sidelines.
"Ah—! Eldest Brother's saber technique reached Great Accomplishment, I'm going to tell Dad!"
"Second Brother, wait for me, I'm going to tell Mom!"
Li Wei: "..."
Gu Jinzhi: "..."
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