Trying the Sword

Facing the cultivator kneeling and begging for mercy, Zhu Qiniang wore an expression of indifference. She glanced at Gao Xian and said, "You do it."

Gao Xian hurriedly declined, "You do it, you do it."

The cultivator looked dark and gaunt, his short, coarse clothes ragged and torn; he really couldn't bring himself to strike.

Zhu Qiniang understood now: Gao Xian was the passive type. He needed a sufficient reason before he was willing to kill.

She said, "Do not be soft-hearted just because he looks pathetic."

"The Red Snake Gang is notorious. They love hunting other cultivators in the mountains. Every single one of them deserves to die."

"Killing them is purely acting on behalf of Heaven and ridding the people of a scourge."

Gao Xian knew that Qiniang wouldn't lie to him, but he just couldn't get past the mental hurdle of attacking someone who was kneeling and begging for his life.

"You..."

Zhu Qiniang felt a bit helpless. She said to the kneeling cultivator, "You don't need to pretend to be pitiful."

She pointed at Gao Xian, "If you can last ten moves against him, I will let you go."

The dark, gaunt cultivator looked up at Gao Xian—a young, fair-skinned man with bright yet gentle eyes, dressed in clean clothes, his hands unstained by even a speck of dust.

Judging by his appearance, he was merely at the early stage of Qi Refining.

Everything about this person was labeled with two words: harmless.

The dark, gaunt cultivator turned to look at Zhu Qiniang, "For real?"

Zhu Qiniang had crushed them the moment they met; she was clearly a late-stage Qi Refining cultivator, possessing not only powerful spells and sword techniques but also rich combat experience.

What was even more terrifying was that this woman was ruthless and never hesitated when striking.

In front of her, he had no chance at all.

But if he fought this fair-skinned youth, he was confident he could kill him within ten moves.

Zhu Qiniang smiled. She said to Gao Xian, "See that? You think of him as a life, but he doesn't take you seriously at all."

Gao Xian didn't care much about that; he had never liked being in the spotlight, and it was better if others didn't notice him.

Zhu Qiniang said calmly to the dark, gaunt cultivator, "I keep my word."

The dark, gaunt cultivator stopped pretending to be pitiful. He stood up, carefully retreated a few steps, and drew his long sword, simultaneously pulling out a Wood Shield talisman and activating it.

In front of the cultivator's left hand, a half-person-high light shield instantly condensed from green light.

Tiny runes shimmered on the circular light shield, which was translucent and clear. It floated in front of the cultivator, looking exceptionally agile.

"Look, he's quite wealthy to be able to afford a Wood Shield."

Zhu Qiniang reminded Gao Xian, "War is dangerous; one slip and you could die. Even with me watching, I might not be able to save you in time."

"You must use your full strength to finish your opponent. Any hesitation or soft-heartedness is a lack of responsibility toward your own life."

Gao Xian's expression turned solemn, and he remained silent.

Indeed, the corpses of the four cultivators lay all around, the ground covered in flesh and blood.

He felt this was a sparring match, but his opponent certainly didn't think so.

To be cautious, Gao Xian also activated a Wood Shield. He didn't use a talisman, but rather the Wood Shield inherent to his Azure Wood Armor.

The Azure Wood Armor was a high-grade Tier 1 magical artifact, capable of manifesting four Wood Shields at once.

Dealing with a mid-stage Qi Refining cultivator, Gao Xian felt that was unnecessary, so he only manifested one.

Compared to the same Wood Shield, Gao Xian's light shield was clearly more solid and had more texture than his opponent's.

The opponent's was just a patch of green light, while his shield looked like a pane of green glass.

Seeing Gao Xian's Wood Shield, the dark, gaunt cultivator was both surprised and jealous. This fair-skinned youth had poor cultivation, yet his magical artifact was so high-end.

However, having a magical artifact was useless; in terms of combat, this kid was far behind!

The dark, gaunt cultivator drew his sword and charged. His pouncing posture was exceptionally fierce, his sword thrusting violently toward Gao Xian's chest.

In Gao Xian's eyes, the opponent's movements were too slow. He thought for a moment and didn't use his sword, instead blocking with the Wood Shield.

The circular Wood Shield was quite large, and once placed there, it blocked most of his body.

Controlling the Wood Shield was also easy; it could be controlled by hand or by divine sense.

Controlling it with divine sense was more flexible, but a Qi Refining cultivator's divine sense was limited and hard to sustain.

Gao Xian had tried it a few times in private, and with Sister Lan's help, he found controlling the Wood Shield with his divine sense to be effortless.

Seeing the Wood Shield protecting Gao Xian, the dark, gaunt cultivator withdrew his sword and slammed his own Wood Shield forward with his left hand.

The two light shields collided; Gao Xian's Wood Shield remained unmoved, while the dark, gaunt cultivator's shield rippled and dissipated like water, clearly losing a step.

The dark, gaunt cultivator had expected this; the Wood Shield activated by his talisman naturally couldn't compare to the other party's magical artifact.

Taking advantage of the collision, he ducked low and swung his sword, sweeping directly at Gao Xian's legs.

This move was both sinister and vicious, and it caught Gao Xian off guard.

However, it was the same problem: while the opponent's Qi Refining level was higher than his, his speed was far inferior.

The vicious, sweeping leg-sword attack slowed down again and again in Gao Xian's eyes; the way his opponent crouched and swept across the ground looked almost comical.

Gao Xian used his divine sense to sink the Wood Shield, simultaneously taking a step back.

His main priority was to prevent the Wood Shield from being shattered, while also maintaining a safe distance.

The Wood Shield was tough, hard, and slick; the dark, thin cultivator struck it with the full force of his sword, and the rebounding force nearly made him drop his weapon.

Only then did the dark, thin cultivator sense that something was wrong; this pretty boy's mastery over the Wood Shield using divine sense was quite troublesome.

He did not trust Zhu Qiniang at all, intending only to use this skirmish as an opportunity to ambush her; if he succeeded, he would not only save his life but also make a fortune!

Having missed his first strike, the dark, thin cultivator hurriedly rose to attack again. This time, he unleashed his full sword technique, launching a frenzied assault around Gao Xian.

His footwork shifted rapidly, and his sword strikes were tricky and vicious. Yet, Gao Xian's Wood Shield was so large that a simple turn was enough to block every one of his maneuvers.

The dark, thin cultivator attacked Gao Xian wildly for dozens of moves, but while Gao Xian remained unscathed, the man was already breathing heavily.

Exerting himself like this consumed a massive amount of stamina, yet he still hadn't broken through Gao Xian's Wood Shield, which left him feeling incredibly frustrated.

A fierce glint flashed in the dark, thin cultivator's eyes; if he dragged this out any longer, he would be exhausted to death by this brat even before Zhu Qiniang made a move.

As he raised his shield to collide once more, he slightly lifted his left hand, aiming the Sharp Metal Armor-Piercing Sleeve Arrow strapped to his wrist directly at Zhu Qiniang.

There was only one sleeve arrow, no more than seven inches long, but its triangular tip was forged from Cold Iron and etched with an Armor-Piercing Rune, designed specifically to shatter all kinds of armor and shields with extreme lethality.

To increase its killing power, he had even coated the arrowhead with the venom of a Five-Step Snake. A mere scratch would be enough to draw blood and claim a life instantly.

The moment the dark, thin cultivator raised his hand, Gao Xian sensed something was wrong and swept his sword over without a moment's hesitation.

Where the cold light passed, the dark, thin cultivator's Wood Shield shattered silently into fragments of flowing light; his wrist was severed along with it, and the sleeve arrow, which hadn't even been fired, was snapped in two by the blade.

"What a fast sword!"

The dark, thin cultivator was shocked; he hadn't even seen how Gao Xian drew his sword, only catching the flash of a chilling blade.

How could this early-stage Qi Refining cultivator be so formidable?

Before he could even process the thought, the Stone-Slicing Sword, which had been slashing downward, nimbly reversed and flicked upward, the edge sweeping across the dark, thin cultivator's neck and sending his head flying high into the air.

This move, Clear Wind Brushing Willow, was a technique from the Clear Wind Swordplay. The sword moved like a breeze, light and gentle, requiring no brute force.

Gao Xian had previously felt that this move was like child's play, completely useless for actual combat.

It wasn't until his Lightning Dragon Hand reached the grandmaster level that he grasped the essence of this move: it relied on the rapid, concealed exertion of force from the wrist and elbow.

Only then could one remain still, shoulders unmoving, presenting a composed and elegant posture while the blade delivered that sweeping, brushing sensation.

With one light flick of the sword, he had swept off the dark, thin cultivator's head.

Gao Xian hadn't thought much while killing the man; he simply found him vicious and hateful.

Seeing the gruesome scene, he felt a bit uncomfortable, and out of habit, he felt the need to explain: "Uh, I didn't mean to..."

The severed head landed on the ground and rolled quite a distance away, looking as if it had no intention of forgiving Gao Xian.

Zhu Qiniang patted Gao Xian's shoulder with a calm expression to comfort him: "It's fine, you'll get used to it once you've done it a few more times."

She then added with genuine praise: "What a fast sword. Look at this guy's neck, how cleanly it was severed, tsk tsk..."