Li Fengping had just opened his mouth to argue when a sharp pain shot through his shoulder. His vision went black, and he fainted on the spot.
"Take him away," the branch hall master said coolly.
Two Law Enforcement Hall disciples immediately entered, took Li Fengping by the arms, and carried him out.
"Alas, the Lin Family's inherited cultivation method still has such a serious flaw."
An old man leaning on a cane slowly walked in. He wore the Law Enforcement Hall uniform too, and a small golden sword emblem was pinned to his chest.
The Law Enforcement Hall's branch in Mystic Sword City had a hall master and two deputy hall masters. This old man was one of them.
"He has to let his thoughts wander for it to take effect. Besides, the flaw is serious, but it can also be minor. It can be remedied after Void Return. It's still better than the Great Void Sword Canon."
"True." The old man smiled. "Are you really planning to report this to the sect?"
If they didn't report it, the Little Martial Uncle Ancestor might not find out.
"What else can I do? This involves the Little Martial Uncle Ancestor. It's already beyond what I can shoulder." The hall master turned around. "I came to Mystic Sword City to earn some merit and return to the sect to exchange it for resources to reach Void Return, not to be the Lin Family's dog."
The old man frowned. "That's going a little too far."
The Lin Family wasn't overbearing, and they had a good reputation within the sect.
"Is it? Look at yourself now. Dare you say you don't regret it?"
High-level cultivators enjoyed long lifespans. At the Spirit Transformation realm, they could keep the appearance of their youth until death, if they wished.
Only a Dao injury that damaged their foundation could make them age in appearance as well.
The old man showed little reaction to the branch hall master's rather cutting words. "I was simply inferior."
"You're certainly taking it well."
The branch hall master stood with his hands behind his back. Earlier that day, three demonic cultivators had turned themselves in, claiming they'd been moved to reform by someone called "Chi Jiuyu."
What was more, they'd acted strangely, as though they'd only remembered that name after arriving at the Law Enforcement Hall—and only then realized it belonged to the Little Martial Uncle Ancestor.
He'd known right then that a cultivator of an even higher realm must be with the Little Martial Uncle Ancestor.
Keep this under wraps and not report it?
Ha. That would be asking for death.
Meanwhile, the Little Martial Uncle Ancestor, whom so many people had been thinking about, was carrying a fresh bowl of Duck Blood Vermicelli Soup and humming an unfamiliar little tune.
She'd bought this one after dropping Zhang Yunlu off at home, only to discover that the one she'd packed earlier had gone completely inedible.
After rounding several corners, she entered a secluded little lane.
But even after walking for quite a while, nothing happened. A few stray cats and rats scurried past, that was all.
"How come there isn't even a single mugger?" Chi Jiuyu muttered.
She'd deliberately chosen this dim, secluded lane so she could deliver a little righteous punishment to the ill-intentioned people hiding there.
Unfortunately, shortly after the ancient cultivator emerged from seclusion, the demonic cultivators attacked the city, and the Law Enforcement Hall launched a major crackdown.
The people she hoped to run into were all locked up in jail now.
Before long, she was back on a wide, brightly lit road.
Emm...
A streak of sword light shot into the sky and vanished into the distance.
Mostly because if she didn't hurry back, this freshly bought bowl would go inedible too.
A while later, the sword light dropped from the sky and slammed down in front of the villa.
Chi Jiuyu took the formation's control core Xu Xing had given her from her storage ring and opened a passage. She hurried inside and opened the door, only to find the room pitch-black.
"Martial Uncle! Martial Uncle, why haven't you turned on the lights? You haven't gone to bed already, have you?"
She slipped on her slippers and strode into the living room on her long legs.
Xu Xing sat on the sofa, with a rectangular light screen floating in front of him that looked a lot like a Mystic Light Mirror.
"Martial Uncle, are you watching a movie?" Chi Jiuyu approached, glancing at the screen as she set the Duck Blood Vermicelli Soup down in front of Xu Xing. "Here, I brought this for you."
"Thanks."
"No need to thank me, Martial Uncle. Just support me becoming sect master in the future."
Xu Xing fell silent.
Chi Jiuyu didn't mind. She sat down on the sofa beside him.
The screen wasn't showing a movie or some profound cultivation manual, as she'd expected. Instead, it showed two figures fighting in a gray, hazy space.
What kind of divine ability was this?
One of them was Zhang Yunlu.
"So this is how you've been helping her practice her swordsmanship, Martial Uncle." Chi Jiuyu took a handful of roasted beans from her pocket.
She'd just swiped them from the shop.
What kind of divine ability was this?
She tossed two beans into her mouth.
Zhang Yunlu couldn't hold on any longer. The sword cultivator's phantom, purple qi gathering across his face, sliced her head off with a single stroke.
"Are the sensations in here shared too?"
"Yes. Otherwise, it wouldn't be effective."
"Tsk! No wonder her swordsmanship is so vicious."
Anyone would turn vicious training like this.
"Senior Sister never trained you this way?"
"No. After I reached Foundation Establishment, Master tossed me onto a planet full of bugs." Chi Jiuyu answered casually.
It was her first time, and she didn't have much experience, so it took her three whole months to kill the leader of those bugs.
"Martial Uncle, this is pretty interesting."
In the scene, wisps of gray mist gathered, and Zhang Yunlu's head re-formed.
[Enemy: Ninth-layer Qi Refining sword cultivator, Flowing Cloud Sword Technique perfected, Purple Enclosure Qi Observation Method minor mastery]
[Objective: Kill!]
After recovering, Zhang Yunlu grabbed the pills beside her and swallowed them, then began to regulate her breathing.
She couldn't underestimate the Purple Enclosure Qi Observation Method, even at minor mastery.
Before, she'd been able to easily kill the sword cultivator phantom with its perfected Flowing Cloud Sword Technique. But after it gained the Purple Enclosure Qi Observation Method at minor mastery, she was no match for it at all!
So this was the advantage of anticipating the enemy's moves?
As her thoughts raced, her depleted spiritual energy recovered and even increased a little.
But the sword cultivator phantom's spiritual energy increased too.
"Again!"
Sword light flared once more. Zhang Yunlu raised her sword and charged at the phantom!
Purple qi surfaced across the phantom's blurred face. It charged straight at Zhang Yunlu without dodging.
Their swords clashed. This time, Zhang Yunlu's swordplay changed. It lost some of its ethereal grace and gained a touch more ferocity and killing intent.
Unlike the last round, when she'd been constrained at every turn, the sudden change in her swordplay caught the phantom off guard. For a while, the two were locked in a stalemate.
"That's more like it!" Chi Jiuyu nodded.
Looks like my pointers earlier really helped!
"Jiu Yu, if you were to fight him, how long do you think it'd take you to beat him?" Xu Xing suddenly asked.
"Emm... Martial Uncle, do you want the modest answer or the honest one?"
"Hm?"
"Modestly speaking, he wouldn't last one move."
"And the honest answer?"
"One hand would be enough."
She was pretty cocky, but she had the ability to back it up.
"Then... would you like to try?"
"Against him? Forget it. There's no challenge." Chi Jiuyu paused, then changed tack. "But if my opponent were you at the same level, Martial Uncle..."
"Oh?" Xu Xing looked at her and smiled. "You want to fight me?"
"Some things you have to try before you know." Chi Jiuyu blinked. "Right?"
"Then let's try." Xu Xing pointed a finger. A thread of light entered her brow. "If you can withstand three sword strikes without falling, I'll let you fight Senior Sister at the same level again."
Chi Jiuyu wasn't happy when she heard "three sword strikes," thinking her Martial Uncle looked down on her. But when she heard the rest, she brightened with excitement.
"Good! You said it, Martial Uncle!"
"A gentleman's word."
"Can't be taken back!!"
Before you continue