Inside the mountain gate.
A gentle figure with dignified features stood leaning on her sword, her clear, bright eyes filled with astonishment.
"Qin... Junior Brother?"
"Senior Sister Zhou."
After a brief moment of shock, Qin Jiu cupped his fists to Zhou Yingxue in greeting.
At the same time, he asked, "You're one of the examiners too?"
"..."
Zhou Yingxue looked utterly bewildered.
At his words, she composed herself. The longsword in her hand gave a trembling hum, and a streak of azure sword light began to flicker from its blade.
"Zzzzt—"
The azure gleam stretched nearly ten feet long.
Like Sword Qi, it swept across the ground, carving a deep sword mark behind it.
"Junior Brother, care to give it a try?"
Zhou Yingxue smiled with her eyes.
At this point, she simply stopped dwelling on it.
Her longsword pointed diagonally at the ground, mischief glinting in her eyes as she asked Qin Jiu.
The corner of his eye twitched.
In the end, he could only sigh helplessly and turn to leave.
After all, he was not yet confident of a certain victory against an Internal Strengthening cultivator at major completion who had cultivated Mystic Power, much less a Willow Tendon cultivator whose inner force had already transformed into qi.
It was not that he was weak.
The gap in their realms was simply far too great.
"Junior Brother Qin, why don't you wait here for a while? I think someone should be coming up soon."
Zhou Yingxue spoke.
Though she could not understand why the person who had reached the summit was merely a junior brother at Three Refinements, no matter what—
Since he had reached the summit, it meant he had already fought his way through the White Jade Stairway. Such a major event would surely shake the