Elder Yu had always felt that Song Zhizhi's Heavenly Profound Sword Art carried a familiar air. Whether it was her opening habit or the angles and directions of her attacks, it was as though he had seen it somewhere before.
Where?
Elder Yu had remained at the Sword Sect's Teaching Peak for several centuries and had taught countless students over the years. For the moment, he could not recall whom Song Zhizhi's Heavenly Profound Sword Art resembled, but a faint unease stirred in his heart.
The situation on the Martial Arena changed in the blink of an eye. Song Zhizhi's sword moves were too swift. Feng Yulong hurriedly withdrew to defend on instinct, and Song Zhizhi threw off his rhythm. The instant he adjusted his sword stance, she seized the flaw he exposed and knocked his sword flying once more. The standard-issue longsword of the sect's disciples lay across Feng Yulong's throat.
"You lost." This was the second time Song Zhizhi had said those three words to Feng Yulong. If there had still been room for dispute the first time, with people believing Song Zhizhi had won through a trick, then this time, her victory was beyond dispute.
Song Zhizhi was stronger than Feng Yulong.
Feng Yulong's face went ashen as he stared blankly at Song Zhizhi, unable to believe that he had lost to someone in Qi Refining.
"I... lost?" How could that be? How could he lose? How could he lose to Song Zhizhi? No, impossible...
Elder Yu gave Song Zhizhi a complicated look. "Song Zhizhi wins this match."
"Song Zhizhi, who did you learn this set of Heavenly Profound Sword Art from?"
After turning the matter over and over in his mind, Elder Yu first ruled out Qingyu. Qingyu's talent in the sword path was not high enough for her to teach a disciple so astonishingly gifted in swordsmanship. Could it have been another elder from the inner sect?
A vague figure surfaced in Elder Yu's mind, yet he felt it could not be that person. That man spent most of the year atop Red Cloud Peak. How could this little girl possibly know him, much less gain his favor?
Song Zhizhi turned toward Elder Yu and was about to answer when she saw Liu Changfei entering through the entrance to the Martial Grounds. Following closely behind Liu Changfei was that familiar figure in white.
Song Zhizhi immediately looked like a child holding up a perfect test paper for her parents to sign, a proud and triumphant smile blooming on her face as she prepared to answer Elder Yu's question.
Then, suddenly, she saw Liu Changfei pointing behind her, her mouth moving anxiously and fearfully as she said something.
"Ah!" She heard cries from below the stage. "Watch out!"
Song Zhizhi sensed a bone-chilling killing intent behind her. She raised her sword behind her back to defend. After a crisp clash of weapons, the crudely made standard-issue longsword in her hand snapped in two. Song Zhizhi turned and saw Feng Yulong with bloodshot eyes and a crazed expression, driving the sharp point of his sword toward the center of her back.
At that moment, time seemed to slow. Song Zhizhi clearly felt the stabbing pain as the sword tip cut through her skin, heard the sound of flesh being sliced open—and then a bone-chilling flash of sword light arrived in an instant. Feng Yulong's entire arm was severed by the sword light. Blood sprayed everywhere as he let out a shrill scream.
An embrace filled with icy coldness blocked Song Zhizhi's vision. She looked up and saw the man staring at the wound on her back, his expression taut as an endless stream of chill and killing intent radiated from him.
Song Zhizhi turned to look at her wound, but his cool palm covered her eyes. "Be good. Don't look."
His other hand covered the wound at the center of Song Zhizhi's back. Cool spiritual power flowed into it, and Song Zhizhi instantly could not feel the slightest pain.
Sword Venerable Mingxiao stared at the wound on Song Zhizhi's back, his fingertips trembling faintly. He pulled her tightly into his arms and said in a muffled voice, "I'm sorry. I came too late."
If he had arrived one step sooner, Song Zhizhi would not have been hurt.
The wound had stopped bleeding under the covering of spiritual power, but the scarlet blotch on her snow-white disciple robes still pierced the heart. Sword Venerable Mingxiao pressed his lips together. "Does it hurt badly?"
Song Zhizhi shook her head. After Xie Xiuji transferred spiritual power to her, it no longer hurt. Her body, especially her lower abdomen, felt pleasantly warm and extremely comfortable.
Liu Changfei hurried onto the stage. At this point, she was no longer afraid of the terrifyingly cold aura around Sword Venerable Mingxiao. Her mind was filled only with treating Song Zhizhi's injuries. She pulled Song Zhizhi from Sword Venerable Mingxiao's embrace. "I used to be a Healing Cultivator. Hurry, let me treat Zhizhi."
"Zhizhi, how do you feel? Does it hurt badly? Don't be afraid, I..." Liu Changfei lowered her head to look at the wound on Song Zhizhi's back, then abruptly fell silent.
Song Zhizhi was confused. "How is my injury?" Was she badly hurt? That should not be the case. She felt that Feng Yulong's sword had only just broken her skin when Xie Xiuji arrived. Logically, the injury should not have been serious.
Liu Changfei put away the grief on her face. "Oh, your injury is fine. If I had come any later, this wound of yours would have healed."
Just now, Sword Venerable Mingxiao's expression had been so dreadful that she thought Song Zhizhi was seriously injured. In the end, it was only a superficial wound. Even without medicine, with a cultivator's physique, the wound would heal within three days, leaving not even a trace behind.
Honestly, when Liu Changfei had gone gathering herbs with her grandfather at the age of seven and accidentally fell, smashing her head against a rock, she had been more badly hurt than Song Zhizhi was now. At least she had broken a bone that time and needed a week of rest to recover.
Song Zhizhi: ...
The wound was at the center of her back, so she could not see it. But since Liu Changfei said so, it proved that she truly was not badly hurt. Seeing the self-reproach in Xie Xiuji's eyes, she tugged lightly on his sleeve and said slowly, "Don't make that expression. This injury wasn't caused by you. I was too careless. Changfei already said I'm only lightly hurt. What Sword Cultivator never gets injured? This tiny wound doesn't hurt at all."
Liu Changfei nodded and stood, saying to Sword Venerable Mingxiao, "If you're still worried, apply some medicine after you return. It'll be fine by tonight."
Sword Venerable Mingxiao nodded. He coldly swept his gaze over Feng Yulong, who was wailing on the ground, then turned to the elder who had rushed over to oversee the Martial Grounds. "This person attempted to murder a fellow disciple. Take him to the Enforcement Hall. I hope you will give me a satisfactory answer regarding this matter."
After saying that, he picked Song Zhizhi up and flew back to Clear Snow Peak on his sword.
As Elder Yu watched Sword Venerable Mingxiao's figure depart, stormy waves surged through his heart, while his face turned slightly pale. How could it be that man? If he had known Song Zhizhi was under that man's protection, he would never have...
```