Selfishness Under the Guise of Righteousness

Compared to the crude mountain forest where Xu Yuan was, the place where Tianyan and Ran Qingmo were to duel lay atop a subsidiary peak of the Heaven Origin Mountain Range. Hidden amid dense woodland, a ruined jade pavilion spoke of the mountain's former glory.

This was where the Heaven Sword of the Sword Sect's Thirteen Peaks had once stood.

Yet Heaven Sword Peak had long since been swallowed by the torrent of history.

Under the arrangements of past Tianyuan Grand Competitions, a duel as world-renowned as one between the Heavenly Oversight Pavilion Holy Maiden and the Sword Sect's chief disciple should have drawn countless sect masters to watch. Yet today, only a sparse few spectators stood at the dueling grounds.

A gentleman does not stand beneath a crumbling wall.

The Prime Minister's Mansion's military edge had made these Sect Alliance higher-ups unwilling to risk their lives. They had merely sent a few sect elders to attend the ceremony.

But none of that was what concerned Ran Qingmo.

Heaven and earth were silent. The crisp breeze after the winter rain brushed through the girl's long hair, carrying a bleak chill, while Tianyan's words from earlier continued to echo by her ears.

[Use your Dao Essence and kill him with me.]

As she waited quietly for Tianyan's arrival, Ran Qingmo stood alone upon the mountaintop, her slender raised hand feeling the currents of air sweeping over the peak.

The air after the rain was thick with moisture. Such weather could allow her spell arts and sword techniques to exert greater might, but Ran Qingmo knew full well that even with the favor of the heavens, she could not possibly be Tianyan's opponent.

This was the chasm between Origin Beginning and Mortal Shedding.

Yet in response to the bargain Tianyan had proposed,