A-Lian's pupils shook.
That kid's speed while practicing just now hadn't even been his limit?
Now that he was giving it his all, she could barely track his body!
But after a wisp of demonic energy flashed through her eyes, A-Lian still intercepted Li Qiming with perfect precision as he tried to flee through the doorway.
Seeing the boy drenched in sweat, A-Lian couldn't bring herself to smile.
The blade technique Li Qiming had just used stirred a long-familiar feeling in her.
It came from the memories of ancient martial artists...
"Limit-Breaking Technique?"
A-Lian remembered something, and couldn't help but feel surprised.
When martial arts reached a certain level, one would comprehend a finishing move.
A finishing move was the collective term for techniques that brought a martial art to the limits of its combat potential.
A "Limit-Breaking Technique," however, surpassed finishing moves and crossed those limits, allowing a martial artist to briefly wield terrifying power beyond their own realm.
A-Lian's gaze toward Li Qiming immediately turned extremely strange.
She realized she couldn't understand this boy.
His looks, his aptitude... from the inside out, he was utterly ordinary.
But how could a martial artist who'd comprehended a "Limit-Breaking Technique" possibly be ordinary?
Suddenly,
a glimmer of hope flashed in A-Lian's cold eyes.
Could the blade genius she'd been searching for so long be right in front of her?
If Chen Ajiu could do it, then Li Qiming... might be able to as well?!
With the long blade once again laid across his neck, cold sweat trickled down Li Qiming's temple.
He'd never imagined that even after giving it everything he had and unleashing his Flood Dragon Bloodline, the other party could still intercept him with such precision.
This Demoness, A-Lian, was terrifyingly powerful.
She was far beyond anything he could handle at his current level.
It was a pity that Pavilion Master Long Wuhui and the two elders were all away from the Martial Hall, tied up with other matters... Otherwise, there might have been a glimmer of hope.
Just as he lamented his rotten luck, the Demoness's voice rang out like a clear spring.
"I didn't expect you to have such Blade Dao Talent... How long have you been practicing the blade?"
"Ten... a little over ten days?"
Li Qiming thought it over carefully and answered honestly.
He felt the cold blade at his neck press a little harder, cutting his skin. If it pressed any further, he would bleed.
"If you dare try to fool me again, don't blame me for showing no mercy!"
A-Lian was irritated; she wasn't in the mood for jokes.
"I haven't told a single lie."
Li Qiming looked at her with a firm gaze.
He'd only first touched a blade after joining the Martial Hall, and he hadn't even been there for half a month... After subtracting the time he'd spent away on missions, he'd practiced properly for only ten days.
"Good, good, good... Still stubborn."
A-Lian nodded. Her instincts told her he was lying.
Her instincts were always accurate!
From never having touched a blade to mastering a Blade Dao "Limit-Breaking Technique" in a little over ten days...
Even in the ancient era she knew, such a thing was exceedingly rare.
Aside from the legendary prodigies and monsters from the great sacred grounds, no one could achieve this.
But what kind of backwater place was Dragon Spring City? Could it really produce a golden phoenix?
A-Lian suddenly raised her hand and pointed at Li Qiming.
Whoosh—
A streak of black light shot from her fingertip, entered Li Qiming's brow, and vanished.
Li Qiming felt as if his head were splitting apart. It was like a pair of invisible hands had forced open his skull, dug out his brain, and kneaded it relentlessly.
A vast sea of mysterious symbols and memories appeared out of nowhere in his mind.
These profound symbols were harder to understand than mathematics, and the torrent of information kept multiplying in his mind, growing at a geometric rate until his brain seemed ready to overload!
In an instant, cold sweat soaked through his clothes.
Fortunately, the pain came and went quickly.
The discomfort slowly faded away.
A simple, ancient-looking manual, entirely white, had appeared in Li Qiming's mind.
<Kunlun Mountain Demon Extermination Blade Technique General Outline · Volume One, Fragment>
What level of Blade Dao technique was this?!
Even as a mere fragment, the information it contained had nearly overwhelmed his brain.
"This Blade Technique General Outline has three volumes. The blade techniques within are unfathomably profound. Without exceptional Blade Dao Talent and Blade Dao Comprehension, you won't understand even the slightest bit."
"I'll give you a chance to live!"
"Comprehend this technique. If your Blade Dao Comprehension truly has some talent, I'll let you go."
"Otherwise, you die."
A-Lian's tone brooked no argument.
She wanted to see just how much of this divine art the ignorant boy, who couldn't stop lying, could comprehend.
The talent a divine art demanded was real. There were no shortcuts.
All empty words would fall apart on their own.
Li Qiming swallowed. He felt no joy at all about receiving a divine art.
Could this be some kind of plot?
He felt that everything happening now was incredibly strange.
Absurd.
A Demoness who looked innocent and lively but killed without blinking had given him a divine Blade Dao art...
And judging by its name, this art was meant for exterminating demons...
"I can try to comprehend it, but could you put the blade away first?"
Li Qiming said.
The blade at his neck slowly moved away.
Only then did he breathe a sigh of relief.
Comprehend a blade technique...
Whatever the Demoness was plotting, he had nothing to lose by giving it a try.
Well, he was still pretty confident in his Blade Dao Comprehension.
After all, apart from the founder, no one had ever comprehended One Blade Style, yet he had.
Dragon Roar Martial Hall hadn't seen Blade Dao Talent like his in at least three hundred years.
Li Qiming closed his eyes and focused his thoughts on the manual in his mind.
<Kunlun Mountain Demon Extermination Blade Technique General Outline · Volume One, Fragment> slowly opened in his Sea of Consciousness.
One glance, and his head began to buzz.
It was like looking at some kind of advanced mathematical equation.
Physics textbooks were available in bookstores, so why wasn't everyone a physicist?
Ultimately, it came down to differences in talent.
This divine Blade Dao art was like a top-tier physics textbook. At a glance, all he saw were "equations" of the highest order, impossible to solve.
Li Qiming's scalp prickled as he read.
Cold sweat began to flow.
He glanced at the Wuxie the Demoness beside him. Her big, sparkling eyes were fixed on him without so much as a blink.
"You told me to comprehend it. Why are you staring at me?"
"If you keep staring, I can't focus!"
The Demoness glared at him before slowly closing her eyes.
Her so obediently closing her eyes made Li Qiming feel a little unaccustomed.
Li Qiming closed his eyes too and focused on comprehending the technique.
With his current comprehension, he could just barely understand it.
But the chances of truly grasping anything were slim.
After studying it for a while, he felt a splitting headache.
He thought it over.
Li Qiming's thoughts shifted.
A panel appeared before his eyes:
[Unselected Entries: 1. Centennial Swordsman, 2. Feather Blade Momentum...] [Centennial Swordsman: A Blade Dao Talent truly rare even once in a hundred years, raising your blade technique comprehension to level fifteen.]
Li Qiming sighed inwardly.
So this was forcing him to use his cheat!
He'd originally wanted to save the two precious Entries he'd gotten from Chen Ajiu.
Now he really couldn't hold back anymore.
Fine...
A thought crossed his mind, and he selected the talent Entry: [Centennial Swordsman]
[Detecting that identical Entries can be combined to strengthen them. Combine?]
"Hm? Blade Dao Talent can be combined to strengthen it too?"
Li Qiming's eyes narrowed.
Before you continue