Yuan Qian's Defeat

Yan Chihuo watched from the side, equally baffled. He was himself a master swordsman and naturally understood the ferocity of sword arts. But as White Elephant Ridge's direct disciple, Bai He should not have been ignorant of their power. He absolutely should not have allowed his opponent to attack without restraint.

In an instant, layers upon layers of sword fiends completely obscured Bai He's figure. Bai He paid them no heed, doing nothing but block and parry, never striking back.

Yan Chihuo watched for a while longer, then a surge of spiritual power flooded into his eyes. Golden light flickered within his pupils, and at once he saw every detail of Yuan Qian and Bai He's battle with perfect clarity.

He watched only briefly before detecting something amiss. The spiritual power in their dantians was evenly matched, and their purity was likewise neck and neck. Yet strangely, Bai He's spiritual power expenditure was lower than Yuan Qian's.

Yan Chihuo saw it clearly, but no one else could. In the eyes of the apes, Yuan Qian was displaying divine might, her sword fiends surging like ocean waves—mighty, unceasing—while Bai He was like a small boat adrift upon the sea, liable to be capsized at any moment. Yet after every attack, that little boat still held on.

At first, the apes were certain that if Yuan Qian exerted just a little more force, she would overturn Bai He. But more than two hours passed, and the scene remained unchanged: Yuan Qian still seemed to need only a little more effort to defeat Bai He.

At this point, all the apes sensed that something was wrong. The same thought surfaced in each of their hearts: "Could Princess Yuan Qian lose this time as well?"

Others did not know the true situation, but Yuan