Zhang Yunlu rattled off Chi Jiuyu's achievements as if she were listing treasures.
Among the younger generation, Chi Jiuyu was truly a legendary figure. Across the entire Central Continent, only a handful of her peers could compare to her.
What's more, her origins were extremely mysterious. People only knew that she came from the Sword Sect and had extraordinary talent. No one knew who her master was.
Chi Jiuyu hadn't expected to find a fan here. She turned to Xu Xing, wanting to show off to her Martial Uncle.
"I didn't know you were so famous," Xu Xing said, playing along instead of spoiling the mood.
At that, she somehow produced a folding fan, snapped it open, and waved it gently. Then she said with a touch of "modesty," "There are plenty of talented people among my peers, but they're still a little behind me."
Her eyes were brimming with undisguised smugness.
She'd changed into a different outfit after returning: an orange T-shirt on top and denim shorts below. With her flip-flops and the way she was acting, she looked like a retired cadre. It was a pretty surreal sight.
Zhang Yunlu: "..."
Had she mistaken someone else for Chi Jiuyu?
"Then that's perfect. Why don't you spar with your fan?" Xu Xing said with a smile.
Mystic Sword City was too small. The reason he'd brought Chi Jiuyu down was to let Zhang Yunlu see what a true prodigy looked like.
"You even know the word 'fan.' You've adapted pretty quickly, Martial Uncle." Chi Jiuyu put away her fan and stood up. "But wouldn't I be bullying her? And this place is way too cramped."
"You don't need to worry about that."
Snap!
With a snap of his fingers, the scenery around them began to recede.
In the blink of an eye, Xu Xing had become a tiny dot in the distance. The extra space around them was pure white, as if it had been forcibly inserted into the world—or as if space itself had been stretched open.
Near and far, reversed?
Like the Innate One Qi Great Grasp, it was a famous great divine ability.
One of her opponents at the Immortal Sect Grand Competition had used it before, managing to stall her for over half an hour with Near and Far, Reversed.
But it could be used this way too? And Martial Uncle had made the area absurdly large.
"This should give you plenty of room to go wild." His voice sounded just as it had before, as though Xu Xing were still sitting in his original place. "As for your cultivation..."
The next instant, Chi Jiuyu felt her Nascent Soul magical power continuously regress and weaken. In the blink of an eye, it had fallen to Golden Core power. Even then, it didn't stop. Its special properties soon vanished, leaving only pure Foundation Establishment True Essence. Finally, that essence gradually thinned until it became the spiritual power of a ninth-level Qi Refiner.
Her physical strength fell along with her magical power, until it was no better than an ordinary person's—nowhere near the body of a Nascent Soul body cultivator.
"Ninth level. Just right."
Chi Jiuyu wasn't alarmed. If anything, she was curious.
What kind of divine ability was this?
Could it be that his words became law?
She clenched her fist, feeling a weakness she'd never experienced before. Then she looked at Zhang Yunlu, drew a sword, and waved it.
"Bring it on!"
They were really going to fight?
And against Chi Jiuyu, no less?!
Gulp.
Zhang Yunlu felt her heart beating faster than usual. But for some reason, she wasn't afraid at all. In fact, she was a little excited.
This kind of opportunity was incredibly rare.
After backing away a little, she took a sword from her storage ring. The chill seeping from its hilt helped calm her nerves.
Taking a deep breath, she said seriously, "Please, teach me."
"Come on, come on!" Chi Jiuyu said, perfectly at ease. "You strike first."
"Okay."
Almost as soon as the words left her mouth, Zhang Yunlu and her sword shot toward Chi Jiuyu. When she reached her, the blade suddenly vanished.
"That sword art is devious as hell. I should ask Martial Uncle to teach me it later."
Clang!
With a casual swing, Chi Jiuyu easily deflected the blade as it reappeared.
Zhang Yunlu didn't lose heart. She retreated and slashed out three sword beams, but Chi Jiuyu dodged them just as easily.
"My master once told me that every sword cultivator should have their own style. You can't blindly follow set moves. If you cling too tightly to rules and restrictions, you'll never become an excellent sword cultivator."
As she spoke, her sword continued to track Zhang Yunlu, its tip hovering three inches from her brow.
No matter how Zhang Yunlu retreated or dodged, the distance never changed.
She fell back dozens of meters. Every time she tried to swing her sword and knock Chi Jiuyu's aside, Chi Jiuyu seemed to know what she was about to do. A casual swipe was all it took to block her.
She couldn't even unleash a sword beam. The moment she channeled the slightest bit of spiritual power, Chi Jiuyu effortlessly disrupted it with an apparently casual strike.
At that moment, Zhang Yunlu understood the gap between them, even though Chi Jiuyu was only a few years older than she was.
Her thoughts churned, then quickly settled.
She couldn't keep this up. She had to risk it!
Having made up her mind, she thrust at Chi Jiuyu again. As expected, her sword was blocked.
But this time, Zhang Yunlu didn't retreat. Instead, she stepped forward, letting the sword sliding down the blade cut toward her shoulder.
Oh?
Zhang Yunlu's gaze was utterly calm, though a closer look revealed a trace of madness buried deep within.
Chi Jiuyu was a little surprised.
"That's enough. You really are suited to being a sword cultivator."
The words reached Zhang Yunlu's ears. Suddenly, her vision blurred and pain struck the back of her neck. She instantly lost consciousness and pitched forward.
Only then did Chi Jiuyu get serious. She circled behind Zhang Yunlu and knocked her out with the hilt of her sword.
She reached out and caught Zhang Yunlu before she could fall. "All right, Martial Uncle. We're done!"
At her shout, the white space began to contract. The scenery that had receded rushed back toward them, and everything returned to how it had been at the start.
Xu Xing tapped the tabletop with a finger. "Give me your assessment."
"Hmm..." Chi Jiuyu first helped the unconscious Zhang Yunlu lie down on a chair. "She really is suited to being a sword cultivator."
She was ruthless not only toward her enemies but toward herself as well.
According to that old man from the Sword Enforcement Hall, people like her were born killers. It was just that the world was too peaceful these days, so many talents like that went undiscovered.
"But once she reaches Foundation Establishment, send her to the Starry Sky Battlefield for some training. She'll become a fine sword cultivator."
Chi Jiuyu was serious about this sort of thing.
After all, her goal was to become the next Sword Sect Master. The more talented people she had under her, the better.
"Martial Uncle, you'll let her join the Sword Sect, right?"
"That's up to her."
Then there was no problem. Someone like Zhang Yunlu couldn't possibly refuse to join the Sword Sect.
"However, a Dao Integration cultivator from the Supreme Dao Sect seems interested in taking her as a disciple too."
Bang!
Chi Jiuyu slapped the table. She'd controlled her strength, but nearly knocked it over anyway.
"The Supreme Dao Sect? Which bastard dares try to snatch someone the Sword Sect has its eye on?"
She'd just had three accounts blocked. Hearing the words "Supreme Dao Sect" was enough to make her furious.
"What, are you planning to pick a fight with a Dao Integration cultivator?"
"Of course not." She wasn't so arrogant as to think she could take on someone like that. "But I have you, Martial Uncle. Are you really going to stand by and let a Dao Integration cultivator from another sect bully someone from ours?"
"The Supreme Dao Sect and the Sword Sect have been on friendly terms for generations. Do you think I'd bully one of their juniors?"
Of the six Immortal Sects of old, the Supreme Dao Sect and the Sword Sect had the best relationship.
Some cultivators within the two sects might have had their disagreements, but the friendship between the sects would never change.
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