Yun Qianyue.
A flicker of surprise crossed Qin Jue's eyes.
"Seventh on the Outer Prefecture Battle Rankings. You certainly live up to your reputation. That bearing of yours is truly rare."
He nodded to himself, but quickly composed his thoughts. She was beautiful, but as an old soul who had lived two lifetimes, he was long past the age of being bewitched by beauty. The martial path was the true way; everything else was fleeting as clouds and smoke.
Yun Qianyue had been watching for quite some time. Her cool eyes were filled with undisguised admiration.
"Your foundations are solid, and your force flows through every strike. No wonder you can fight above your level." Yun Qianyue walked to a spot ten paces from Qin Jue and stopped, her voice cool. "Junior Brother Qin, your sword is quite interesting."
Qin Jue returned his sword to its sheath, his expression calm. "You flatter me, Senior Sister Yun. May I ask what brings you here?"
She got straight to the point, without a word of preamble. "The Tide Rising Sword Technique you used on the Martial Stage is only Mortal Tier Mid-grade, but its sword momentum flows without end, and the transitions between moves are as smooth as flowing clouds and running water, without the slightest hitch. That level of mastery is hardly what one would expect from a seventeen-year-old boy."
"That is a realm only seasoned swordsmen, steeped in the sword for decades, can comprehend." She looked into Qin Jue's eyes, hoping to see through the secret within him. "I'm curious. How did a teenager like you manage it?"
Qin Jue looked unruffled. "Practice makes perfect, that's all."
"Practice makes perfect?" A meaningful glint passed through Yun Qianyue's eyes. She clearly didn't believe him, but she didn't press the matter. Instead, she changed the subject.
"I looked into your background. You're a collateral branch of the Qin Family, with no one to rely on. That Jade Bone Realm cultivation of yours was probably built up with resources you bought with your life, wasn't it?"
Her tone was calm, but her words struck straight to the heart.
Qin Jue didn't deny it. "So what?"
Yun Qianyue began walking, slowly making her way to the edge of the pool. She gazed at the lonely figure reflected in the water and spoke softly. "On the martial path, you need wealth, companions, techniques, and a place to cultivate. You come from a collateral branch of the Qin Family, with scant resources. I don't know what you found at Silver Moon Bay that let you break through to the Hundred Refinements Fourth Layer, but the road ahead will grow exponentially harder."
"Bone Penetrating Force at the Hundred Refinements Fifth Layer, Muscle and Bone Unity at the Sixth—each step requires a mountain of resources. Without your family's support, those few academy missions you take won't be enough. Even if you risk your life, you'll never fill that bottomless pit. Your talent will eventually be worn away by these trivial concerns."
She turned around and met Qin Jue's gaze.
"Join the Yun Family and become my follower."
Qin Jue said nothing, simply watching her in silence as he waited for her to continue.
"I know you've got some pride. All geniuses do." Yun Qianyue smiled with the confidence of someone in power. "But pride won't put food on the table, and it's no substitute for resources."
"I can petition my family to provide you with three times the resources of an ordinary collateral-branch disciple each month. The Yun Family's library will be open to you, and even..."
Yun Qianyue paused, then slowly revealed a tempting bargaining chip. "One of my ancestors was a peerless genius who studied the Ultimate Form in depth. He came within half a step of comprehending the legendary Ultimate Form. His cultivation insights are a secret passed down only within the Yun Family. If you agree, and later render meritorious service, I can make an exception and let you study them."
"Ultimate Form!"
Qin Jue's heart jolted.
The Ultimate Form was a finishing strike born when a martial art was cultivated to its absolute limit, breaking through its shackles and ascending to a higher level! It was a realm countless martial artists dreamed of reaching. At Qingcang Academy, insights into the Ultimate Form were kept on the second or even third floor of the Myriad Scrolls Pavilion. With his current Battle Merit, there was no way he could access them.
There was no denying that Yun Qianyue was a shrewd negotiator. She didn't offer empty promises; instead, she laid the bare benefits on the table, each one striking precisely at a martial artist's weak point.
Seeing Qin Jue fall silent, Yun Qianyue was confident and pressed her advantage. "If you agree, I can choose a woman of exceptional talent and beauty from the family's collateral branches and arrange for her to marry you. In this world, you need wealth, companions, techniques, and a place to cultivate. My family can give you the first three. As for the last, if you're strong enough, the Yun Family will seize a place for you."
Resources, secret manuals, and a beautiful woman.
No martial artist from a collateral branch, starved of resources, could refuse such terms. In Yun Qianyue's eyes, this was the greatest sincerity she could offer—and Qin Jue's only chance to change his fate.
"Are you finished?"
Qin Jue looked at Yun Qianyue's confident face and suddenly let out a soft laugh.
"Senior Sister Yun, your offer is certainly tempting. Anyone else would probably already be on their knees thanking you."
"And you?" Yun Qianyue asked.
"I refuse."
The expression on Yun Qianyue's face froze for an instant. Her confident smile gradually faded, replaced by confusion. "Why? Is it that so-called self-respect? Or do you think it's shameful to live under someone else's roof?"
"No."
"Senior Sister Yun, you're right. The martial path is difficult and requires a vast amount of resources. But you've forgotten one thing."
Qin Jue raised his head, his gaze piercing Yun Qianyue's mind. "When a martial artist cultivates, he cultivates his body, but even more so, his heart. If the moment he encounters hardship, he thinks of depending on others and taking shortcuts, then a crack has already formed in his martial heart."
"Borrowed strength will never truly be your own."
"If I depend on the Yun Family for resources today, then tomorrow, when I encounter an even more powerful force, should I switch allegiances again? If I keep doing that, what exactly will I be training, Qin Jue—the sword in my hand, or the knees I bend in submission?"
Qin Jue's words rang out like pearls and jade, echoing through the bamboo grove.
Yun Qianyue looked at him, her expression complicated. "But you should know that without your family's support, your path will be arduous. The Ning Family won't let you go, and the Shen Family is watching you too. How long can you stand against them with just yourself and your sword?"
"The martial path is a struggle against heaven for the right to live," Qin Jue replied coolly, his gaze sharp. "If I feared death, I'd have gone home to farm long ago. Why bother practicing martial arts?"
"As for those insights into the Ultimate Form..." Qin Jue paused, his voice brimming with confidence. "The road of the past was carved out by those who came before. I, Qin Jue, will carve out my own path beneath my feet. Why should I borrow someone else's?"
Arrogant!
That was the first word that sprang into Yun Qianyue's mind. A boy who hadn't even reached the Hundred Refinements Fifth Layer dared to claim he would blaze a trail his ancestor had never completed?
Yet when she looked into Qin Jue's clear eyes, the judgment in her mind somehow turned into an inexplicable shock.
This boy's heart held neither profit nor life and death, but pure devotion to the martial path.
She had never seen eyes like those in any so-called genius. Instead, she had seen them in one of her family's elders.
That elder had been the same in his youth, with eyes fixed solely on the martial path, unmoved by anything else. It was just a pity...
After a long silence.
"Well said. Why borrow someone else's?"
Yun Qianyue showed no irritation at being rejected. Instead, she smiled faintly, thrilled to have found a worthy opponent.
"Qin Jue, I take back what I said earlier. You don't need to be my follower."
"But I hope your strength can match that arrogance of yours. I'll give it everything I have at the Outer Court Grand Competition. Let me see how far this sword of yours, one that refuses to bend, can go."
"If you can't even get past Ning Wuque and die halfway..."
Yun Qianyue flashed away, swiftly darting out of the bamboo grove. Only her cool words drifted away on the wind.
"Then I, Yun Qianyue, will have misjudged you."
Qin Jue gazed in the direction where she had disappeared, his expression calm, though a hint of admiration showed in his eyes.
Interesting.
Yun Qianyue was a true martial artist. She had none of the arrogance of a noble scion or the coy airs of a young woman. Everything she thought and cared about was the martial path.
"The Outer Court Grand Competition..." he murmured to himself, battle intent rising in his eyes.
Less than seven months remained before the competition. With his cultivation at the peak of the Hundred Refinements Fourth Layer, he was still far from strong enough to stand out among the gathered heroes.
Before the competition, he had to break through to the Hundred Refinements Sixth Layer, or even higher. Only then would he be qualified to fight these geniuses.
Before you continue