Sword Demon Seeking Defeat

With a heart full of uncertainty and alarm, Tang Hao quickly got out of bed and quietly left the blacksmith shop.

After getting far away from the blacksmith shop, he soon took to the air and headed straight for the forest on the Back Mountain.

Meanwhile, in the forest on the Back Mountain.

Having sensed Dugu Qiubai's avatar's breakthrough, Bai Luo stopped cultivating, his face filled with delight as he prepared to wait for Dugu Qiubai's avatar to emerge.

Although Dugu Qiubai's avatar had been cultivating in seclusion, he had not done so to refine the Nine Orifices Golden Elixir within his body.

The Nine Orifices Golden Elixir was different from ordinary pills.

The Nine Orifices Golden Elixir was not meant to be consumed orally, but placed inside the heart.

With the circulation of blood, blood continuously flowed through the heart, naturally drawing out the Nine Orifices Golden Elixir's medicinal power and carrying it throughout the body.

Through this method, the Nine Orifices Golden Elixir would naturally be refined.

Therefore, there was no need to deliberately refine the Nine Orifices Golden Elixir.

The Nine Orifices Golden Elixir was more like a cheat-code accelerator.

As long as one cultivated each day, its medicinal power would naturally be refined.

The reason Dugu Qiubai's avatar had entered seclusion was actually to comprehend the sword dao realms of the Intent Sword Body Great Art.

The first realm of the Intent Sword Body Great Art was divided into three levels: Refuting Sword, Controlling Sword, and Sword Control.

Refuting Sword was manageable.

But Controlling Sword and Sword Control were progressively harder to comprehend!

To master Controlling Sword, one first needed sufficiently profound cultivation.

This was not the so-called profound cultivation of the Jin Yong Wuxia World, but the profound cultivation of the fantasy After Ascension World.

Sword Control in particular involved spiritual power and the soul, making it even more difficult to master.

Yet in just over two months, Dugu Qiubai had already mastered Sword Control.

This was proof enough that Dugu Qiubai's avatar possessed peerless talent in the sword dao.

After mastering all three levels of the first realm of the Intent Sword Body Great Art.

Along with the cultivation gained from absorbing three Blood Bodhi and digesting most of the Nine Orifices Golden Elixir's medicinal power.

Bai Luo had asked the system, and Dugu Qiubai's cultivation was now no weaker than that of a Titled Douluo in the Douluo Continent world.

As for combat strength, it had certainly already surpassed one!

So once Dugu Qiubai's avatar emerged.

Bai Luo planned to have Dugu Qiubai's avatar challenge Sword Douluo Chen Xin of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect and play his role in the script Bai Luo had devised.

But before Dugu Qiubai's avatar could emerge from the cave.

A figure suddenly came whistling through the distant sky.

"Who goes there?!"

Seeing someone actually flying through the air, Bai Luo was immediately startled.

Very soon, the figure flying over from afar arrived above a hillside not far from Bai Luo and landed with a "whoosh!"

Only then did Bai Luo finally get a clear look at the newcomer.

The man flying through the air was middle-aged, dressed in a tattered grayish-brown robe. His hair was a tangled mess like a bird's nest, and although his square face was fairly proper, his unkempt appearance made him look utterly slovenly. Combined with the smell of alcohol wafting from him, he looked just like a drunken vagrant.

But upon seeing the middle-aged man's face, Bai Luo froze and recognized him at once.

Wasn't this Tang Hao?

But the place where he and Dugu Qiubai's avatar were located was very far from Holy Soul Village.

There was no way anyone in Holy Soul Village could have seen the disturbance here.

How had Tang Hao discovered them and rushed over?

Bai Luo's heart filled with uncertainty.

"Xiao Luo, why are you here?"

Tang Hao was also stunned to see Bai Luo here and could not help asking.

"Uncle Tang Hao, you..."

Hearing Tang Hao's question, Bai Luo put on an equally incredulous expression, as though he were seeing Tang Hao for the first time.

As he acted with Tang Hao, Bai Luo's mind raced, and he quickly came up with how to explain things to him.

With Tang Hao's arrival, Bai Luo immediately sent word to Dugu Qiubai's avatar.

Upon receiving the message, Dugu Qiubai's avatar finally stopped practicing Sword Control within the cave. Grasping a Three-Foot Green Edge, he walked out of the cave.

Hearing a commotion nearby, Tang Hao turned to look.

A tall, black-clad young man with a cold expression and a longsword in hand slowly emerged from the cave.

Although the black-clad young man did not appear particularly remarkable.

Tang Hao instantly sensed an intense feeling of danger from him, causing his eyes to narrow.

As someone equally skilled at concealment, Tang Hao could tell the moment he saw Dugu Qiubai's avatar.

This was definitely an expert no weaker than himself!

"Was that sudden burst of Sword Intent from you?"

Tang Hao narrowed his eyes and asked in a deep voice.

"It was."

Dugu Qiubai replied calmly.

"Who are you? To possess such powerful Sword Intent, you cannot possibly be an ordinary person. Yet I have never heard of you. Why have you appeared here?"

As a wanted criminal of Spirit Hall, Tang Hao was extremely wary of an expert like Dugu Qiubai appearing near Holy Soul Village and immediately questioned him.

But this time, Dugu Qiubai's avatar did not answer Tang Hao's question. He merely slowly raised the Three-Foot Green Edge in his hand, and intense fighting spirit surfaced in his eyes as he looked at Tang Hao.

As the existence known as the Sword Demon in the Jin Yong Wuxia World, Dugu Qiubai was obsessed with the sword. All his life, he had challenged all manner of experts, seeking only a single defeat.

That was also the origin of the name Dugu Qiubai.

After being created as an avatar, Dugu Qiubai had remained in seclusion cultivating.

Now that he had encountered an expert like Tang Hao, Dugu Qiubai was immediately thrilled. His competitive spirit was roused, and he wanted to test himself against Tang Hao.

"Defeat me! If you can defeat me, I will tell you everything!"

Pointing the Three-Foot Green Edge diagonally at Tang Hao, Dugu Qiubai suppressed the excitement and agitation in his heart as he spoke in a calm voice. Then his body flashed, and he instantly charged at Tang Hao.

Faced with Dugu Qiubai's avatar's attack, Tang Hao's expression immediately darkened.

Just as Dugu Qiubai's avatar leaped through the air and brought his sword down at Tang Hao.

Tang Hao moved at once, swiftly retreating.

At the same time, a flash of black light appeared in his hand, and a small black hammer materialized in Tang Hao's grasp.

Beneath Tang Hao's feet, nine Soul Rings—yellow, yellow, purple, purple, black, black, black, black, red—rose one after another, circling around him.

As Tang Hao retreated rapidly, Dugu Qiubai closed in again and swung his sword.

Tang Hao immediately raised the Clear Sky Hammer in his hand, blocking Dugu Qiubai's Three-Foot Green Edge.

Sword and hammer collided, producing a crisp clang of metal.

Clang!

After blocking Dugu Qiubai's sword with the Clear Sky Hammer, Tang Hao swiftly kicked at Dugu Qiubai.

After Dugu Qiubai blocked with a kick of his own, Tang Hao leaped into the air and lashed out with a whip kick from his other leg, forcibly driving Dugu Qiubai back.

Then, holding the Clear Sky Hammer martial soul, Tang Hao flipped through the air and swung the Clear Sky Hammer in his hand in a wide arc. With the force of Mount Tai bearing down, amid a shrill howl, he let out an angry roar and smashed it down at Dugu Qiubai with all his strength.