Nanyu Lake

Strictly speaking, Li Haowen wasn't a true Sword Cultivator.

Of Empty Mountain Sect's Three Mountains Four Peaks, Yibai Peak had the greatest number of Sword Cultivators.

After all, Yibai Peak was renowned throughout the world for its swordsmanship.

Among Li Haowen, Bai Jinye, and their contemporaries, Empty Mountain Sect's finest Sword Cultivator was Jiang Ling of Yibai Peak.

However, that female Sword Cultivator hadn't achieved a good enough result at the first Du Cang Mountain Dao Discussion to earn the right to cultivate at Du Cang Mountain.

It wasn't until five years later, at the second Du Cang Mountain Dao Discussion, that Jiang Ling finally earned the right to ascend Du Cang Mountain and become a Guardian of the Dao there.

Jiang Ling's cultivation talent had always lagged behind that of the most outstanding disciples of Empty Mountain Sect's current generation, such as Chu Xiyao and Li Haowen.

Now, the gap had clearly grown wider still.

Jiang Ling was currently at the peak of the Spirit 통 Realm, while Li Haowen and the others were all in the late Wanhua Realm.

They were already nearly a whole major realm ahead of her.

Jiang Ling had even lost the right to compare herself with Li Haowen and the others.

Of course, compared with the gap between Jiang Ling and Li Haowen, the distance between Qin Qingyu and the exceptional talents who had once been considered her peers was far greater.

Qin Qingyu was now a Dao Integration Realm cultivator, the ninth realm of the Nine Realms Below Ascension.

She had left Li Haowen, Bai Jinye, Chu Xiyao, and the others—who were still in the sixth realm—three major realms behind.

Yet among the Guardians of the Dao at Du Cang Mountain, Qin Qingyu was already in a league of her own.

She