Chapter 37

Elder Yu had always felt that Song Zhizhi's Heavenly Profound Sword Art carried a familiar air. Whether it was the habit of her opening stance or the angles and directions of her attacks, it seemed as though he had seen it somewhere before.

Where had he seen it?

Elder Yu had remained on 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 within him.

The situation on the Martial Arena changed in the blink of an eye. Song Zhizhi's sword moves were too swift. Feng Yulong hurriedly defended on instinct, his rhythm thrown into disarray by Song Zhizhi. The moment he adjusted his sword technique, Song Zhizhi seized the flaw he exposed and knocked his sword away once more, leveling the standard-issue sect sword at Feng Yulong's throat.

"You lost." This was the second time Song Zhizhi had spoken those three words to Feng Yulong. If there had still been room for dispute the first time, with some believing Song Zhizhi had won through trickery, then this time, her victory was beyond all doubt.

Song Zhizhi was stronger than Feng Yulong.

Feng Yulong's face turned ashen as he stared blankly at Song Zhizhi, unable to believe that he had lost to a Qi Refining cultivator.

"I... lost?" How could that be? How could he have lost? 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 blurry figure surfaced in Elder Yu's mind, yet he felt it could not be that person. That man spent the overwhelming majority of every year on Red Cloud Peak. How could this little girl possibly know him, much less earn his favor?

Song Zhizhi turned toward Elder Yu, just about to answer, when she saw Liu Changfei entering from the Martial Grounds' entrance. Behind Liu Changfei followed that familiar figure in white.

Song Zhizhi immediately looked like a child who had scored a perfect hundred and was holding out her test paper for a parent's signature. A proud, smug smile bloomed across her face as she prepared to answer Elder Yu's question.

Then, all of a sudden, she saw Liu Changfei pointing behind her, her mouth opening anxiously and fearfully as she said something.

"Ah!" She heard startled cries from below the stage. "Watch out!"

Song Zhizhi felt an icy, bone-piercing killing intent behind her. She raised her sword behind her back to defend. After a crisp clash of weapons, the coarse standard-issue sword in her hand snapped in two. Song Zhizhi turned around to see Feng Yulong, his eyes bloodshot and expression crazed, driving a sharp sword tip toward the center of her back.

In that instant, time seemed to slow. Song Zhizhi clearly felt the stinging pain of the sword tip cutting her skin and heard the sound of flesh being torn open. Then an icy, bone-piercing flash of sword light arrived in an instant, severing Feng Yulong's entire arm. As blood sprayed everywhere, he let out a shrill scream.

An embrace filled with a freezing aura blocked Song Zhizhi's view. She looked up and saw the man staring at the wound on her back, his expression taut as endless coldness and killing intent poured from him.

Song Zhizhi turned, wanting to look at her own 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 even a trace of pain.

Sword Venerable Mingxiao stared at the wound on Song Zhizhi's back, his fingertips trembling slightly. He held Song Zhizhi tightly in his arms and said in a muffled voice, "I'm sorry. I came too late."

If he had arrived even one step earlier, Song Zhizhi would not have been hurt.

The wound had stopped bleeding beneath the cover of spiritual power, but the crimson patch of blood on her snow-white disciple robes still stabbed at the heart. Sword Venerable Mingxiao pressed his lips together and asked, "Does it hurt badly?"

Song Zhizhi shook her head. After Xie Xiuji had transferred spiritual power to her, it no longer hurt. Her body, especially her lower abdomen, felt warm and comfortable.

Liu Changfei rushed onto the stage. At that moment, she was no longer afraid of Sword Venerable Mingxiao's terrifyingly cold aura. All she could think about was treating Song Zhizhi's injuries. She pulled Song Zhizhi from Sword Venerable Mingxiao's arms. "I used to be a medical cultivator. Let me treat Zhizhi's wound, quickly."

"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 suddenly stopped speaking.

Song Zhizhi was puzzled. "How is my wound?" Had she been badly injured? That should not be the case. She had felt Feng Yulong's sword only pierce her skin before Xie Xiuji arrived. By all rights, it should not have been serious.

Liu Changfei put away the grief on her face. "Oh, your wound is fine. If I had come any later, it would have healed."

Sword Venerable Mingxiao's expression had looked so terrible just now that Liu Changfei had thought Song Zhizhi was gravely injured. In the end, it was merely a superficial wound. Even without medicine, with a cultivator's physique, it would heal within three days without leaving even a trace.

Honestly, when Liu Changfei had gone gathering herbs with her grandfather at the age of seven and accidentally fallen, smashing her head against a rock, she had been more badly hurt than Song Zhizhi. At least she had broken a bone then and needed a full 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 her injury really was not serious. Seeing the self-reproach in Xie Xiuji's eyes, she tugged at his sleeve and said slowly, "Don't look like that. This wound wasn't caused by you. I was just too careless. Feifei said it herself, it's only a light injury. What sword cultivator goes without getting hurt? This little wound does not hurt at all."

Liu Changfei nodded, rose to her feet, and said 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 swept a cold glance at Feng Yulong, who was wailing on the ground, then turned to the elder who had hurried over to oversee the Martial Grounds. "This man attempted to murder a fellow disciple. Take him to the Enforcement Hall. I hope you can give me a satisfactory explanation for this matter."

After saying that, he picked Song Zhizhi up and flew his sword back to Clear Snow Peak.

As Elder Yu watched Sword Venerable Mingxiao's figure depart, stormy waves surged through his heart, while his face turned faintly pale. How could it be that man? If he had known Song Zhizhi was under his protection, he would never have...

Rankings

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Transmigrated into a Book

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Time Travel and Rebirth Romance

Tu Yanyan

Amnesia Trope