Come on, hit me!

Under the big tree.

Shen Zhou sat in the reclining chair, looking at Qin Mingyue with a faint, inscrutable smile.

Qin Mingyue turned to look at Shen Zhou, her expression complicated. "You really were testing me. When did you start suspecting me?"

Shen Zhou replied blandly, "Would you believe me if I said I'd suspected you from the very beginning?"

Qin Mingyue's pupils contracted. Her expression shifted several times, but soon she steeled herself. "It doesn't matter. Whenever you started suspecting me, it makes no difference, because... the sword is in my hands now. I don't need to be afraid of you anymore!"

Shen Zhou smiled without comment. "You think that just because you're holding the Taixuan Sword, there's nothing I can do to you?"

Qin Mingyue's heart tightened.

Just then, the Sword Spirit's voice rang out again. She snapped angrily at Shen Zhou, "You despicable villain... I was still sealed back then, and you forcibly pulled me out! Big sister, help me beat him up! Hit him!"

"..."

Shen Zhou's face darkened.

Ever since he'd drawn the sword, the Sword Spirit had played dead so he couldn't wield her. He hadn't expected her to pop out now.

After hearing the Sword Spirit's words, Qin Mingyue was astonished. "You forcibly drew the sword? Could it be that the Taixuan Sword never recognized you in the first place?"

Shen Zhou looked up at the sky, pretending he hadn't heard.

The Sword Spirit continued her tirade, even telling Qin Mingyue how Shen Zhou had threatened to suppress her in a latrine back on the arena, forcing her to submit.

The Sword Spirit finished with a pitiful whimper. "Big sister, I never acknowledged him as my master, and he isn't my master either. As long as you rescue me from him, I'll teach you the Qin Family's ancient cultivation techniques. I'll also give you lots and lots of good things. Hurry and teach him a lesson!"

After hearing the Sword Spirit out, Qin Mingyue was stunned.

She had never imagined that the truth would be like this.

The Sword Spirit hadn't acknowledged Shen Zhou as her master.

Back then, he'd drawn the Taixuan Sword by threatening her.

So Shen Zhou wasn't the Heaven's Chosen from the Qin Family after all?

After sorting out the logic, Qin Mingyue looked at him angrily. "So you weren't the Heaven's Chosen in the prophecy of my Qin Family's ancestors at all. You actually deceived us for so long."

Shen Zhou spread his hands. "Come on, I never said I was your Qin Family's Heaven's Chosen. You were the ones who decided I was. What was I supposed to do?"

"..."

Qin Mingyue faltered, then continued, "Fine. Since you aren't my Qin Family's Heaven's Chosen, then today I'll take back the Taixuan Sword on behalf of my family."

Shen Zhou shook his head. "I'm used to this sword. Maybe I'll return it to you when I find a suitable one someday. But not now!"

Qin Mingyue's phoenix brows shot up. "I'm not asking you."

"Neither am I."

"The Taixuan Sword is in my hands now. Do you think you're still in a position to bargain with me?"

"I'm not bargaining with you. I'm giving you a chance. If you hand over the Taixuan Sword now, I can pretend none of this ever happened."

Qin Mingyue had no idea where Shen Zhou got his confidence. She shouted, "In your dreams!"

The Sword Spirit fanned the flames again. "Big sister, don't waste your breath! Hit him! Hit him!"

Shen Zhou laughed, then shook his head as though helpless. "Fine. A tree won't grow straight unless it's pruned, and a person won't behave unless they're beaten. Since you two little traitors insist on acting up today, I might as well stretch my muscles and play with you."

Shen Zhou reached up to his head and pulled out a miniature wooden hairpin sword, barely a handspan long.

He had prepared it earlier, when he'd planned to "test the waters" with Qin Mingyue, just in case something like this happened.

With the wooden sword in hand, he activated its Entry.

Shen Zhou pointed the Little Wooden Sword at Qin Mingyue and tilted its tip toward her. "Come on, hit me!"

Qin Mingyue: "..."

Staring at the Little Wooden Sword in his hand, Qin Mingyue looked completely bewildered.

Was he... serious?

The Sword Spirit seized the opportunity. "Don't be afraid, big sister! I'll help you. Beat him up!"

Those words were just what Qin Mingyue needed to steady her nerves. Her eyes narrowed. "Fine! You asked for this!"

Qin Mingyue jolted her long sword, and her yuan power burst forth. She instantly pushed her Transformation Yuan Second Realm peak strength to its limit, then transformed into a blur and charged at Shen Zhou.

Swish, swish, swish...

Qin Mingyue truly was the foremost talent among the Qin Family's younger generation. In the blink of an eye, she thrust thirteen times, every strike exquisite and swift. Sword Qi surged across the sky, and she had grown considerably stronger since Shen Zhou had swept through the Qin Family.

But she still held on to a shred of kindness. She kept her attacks restrained, using no lethal moves and aiming nowhere vital.

Perhaps she didn't consider Shen Zhou a bad person, so she hadn't gone all out.

Seeing this, Shen Zhou's lips curled. He stood perfectly still and casually swung the Little Wooden Sword twice, yet happened to parry every one of Qin Mingyue's attacks. "Since you still have a conscience, I'll show you some mercy too!"

A spark of anger flickered in Qin Mingyue's eyes. "You're still talking tough, even now!"

The next moment, Qin Mingyue's sword grew even faster.

At that moment, the Taixuan Sword also glimmered with dark light, releasing the might of a Divine Weapon. This made Qin Mingyue's attacks even fiercer and stronger, her Sword Qi surging.

And yet, even so, Qin Mingyue couldn't force Shen Zhou to move so much as a single step. He brushed aside every attack with ease.

He even had time to pick his earwax, acting like an absolute pest!

"Why? Why is this happening?"

"The Taixuan Sword isn't in your hands anymore. Why can you still block my attacks so easily?"

"How are you doing this?"

Qin Mingyue retreated in shock, then stood frozen in place, unable to believe it.

Why had she finally gotten the sword, yet she still couldn't beat that guy?

Shen Zhou flicked away the earwax he'd picked out, then said with an obnoxious grin, "Want to know? Hand over the Taixuan Sword and give me a proper apology, and I'll tell you!"

"You..."

Qin Mingyue was so angry she couldn't speak. She lowered her gaze to the Taixuan Sword, which glimmered with dark light in her hand, and said earnestly, "Sword Spirit, I need your help."

The Sword Spirit agreed without hesitation. "All right!"

The dark light on the Taixuan Sword brightened a little, and the Divine Weapon's power radiating from the blade grew stronger as well.

Qin Mingyue frowned when she saw this. "Sword Spirit, that alone isn't enough. I need you to help me increase my strength—preferably to the Celestial Firmament Realm in one go!"

The dark light on the Taixuan Sword flickered. It seemed the Sword Spirit couldn't believe what she'd just heard. Then she quietly confirmed, "You mean, you want me to help raise your strength to the Celestial Firmament Realm?"

Qin Mingyue felt something was off, but still nodded. "Mm!"

The Sword Spirit fell silent for a moment, then asked, "How?"

Qin Mingyue: "???"

You're asking me that?

Qin Mingyue stared at the Taixuan Sword strangely.

The Sword Spirit inside the Taixuan Sword was probably staring back at Qin Mingyue just as strangely.

The atmosphere grew awkward.

Beside them, Shen Zhou nearly lost it when he heard their conversation.

Even now, Qin Mingyue and everyone else were still being kept in the dark by Shen Zhou.

They all thought Shen Zhou had grown so powerful, and could even unleash the battle strength of the Celestial Firmament Realm, because of the Taixuan Sword. Little did they know, his strength had absolutely nothing to do with the sword.

Shen Zhou's power was purely the result of cheating.

After a long silence, Qin Mingyue seemed to finally realize something. She looked up at Shen Zhou in disbelief. "So the Taixuan Sword can't actually raise its wielder's strength to the Celestial Firmament Realm? Then how did you do it?"

Shen Zhou gave her another obnoxious grin. "Take a guess!"

Clutching the Taixuan Sword, Qin Mingyue felt a jumble of emotions.

She had wanted the Taixuan Sword because Shen Zhou had displayed such overwhelming strength while wielding it. So Qin Mingyue, who was determined to become stronger, had mistakenly believed she could become just as powerful if she got her hands on it.

But now she finally had the sword, only to discover, to her dismay, that it wasn't the sword that was powerful. It was the person wielding it.

It was like desperately yearning for a new outfit, convinced before buying it that it would look perfect on you, only to put it on and realize it wasn't as wonderful as you'd imagined.

That disappointment left Qin Mingyue feeling dejected, helpless, unwilling to accept it, and conflicted... The emotions tangled together, eventually turning into a nameless fury.

Nearly losing control, Qin Mingyue raised her sword again. She looked at Shen Zhou, her voice strained. "Now that things have come to this, go ahead and make your move. I want to see with my own eyes whether you're really that strong without the Taixuan Sword."

Hearing this, Shen Zhou slowly grew serious. "If that's what you want, I'll grant your wish!"

With that, Shen Zhou raised the Little Wooden Sword in his hand.

A blazing sword light gradually gathered on the wooden sword. Then the light surged, suddenly becoming a giant sword more than ten meters long.

In that moment, it was the only color in all of heaven and earth.

"So he really is that powerful!"

Gazing at the giant sword crashing down through the air, Qin Mingyue's heart turned to ash. She stood there resignedly, closed her eyes, and let it fall toward her head.

Whoosh...

After a long while.

Qin Mingyue slowly opened her eyes and discovered that she was still standing there, unharmed, and the Taixuan Sword was still in her hand.

Dumbfounded, Qin Mingyue looked up at that person.

He was toying with the Little Wooden Sword in his hand. Then he lay back down in the reclining chair and said nonchalantly, "I told you I'd return the Taixuan Sword once I found a suitable sword someday. Until then, it still belongs to me.

However... I can lend it to you temporarily each day.

If you manage to get any cultivation manuals, treasures, or divine pills out of that little girl, the Sword Spirit, remember to give me half.

And remember: return what you borrow, and you can borrow again. Besides, the sword can't leave my sight.

Understood?"

Hearing this, Qin Mingyue's mouth fell open. Several times, she tried to speak, but stopped herself.