Xia Yu narrowed his eyes and forced two words through gritted teeth.
"For real?"
An Qing lifted her chin. "This princess always keeps her word!"
"Fine, I believe you!" Xia Yu nodded firmly.
The next moment, a thunderous crash erupted beneath Xia Yu's feet.
Xia Yu shot into the sky like an arrow loosed from a bow.
In an instant, an utterly wild aura burst from his body.
At the same time, powerful battle intent enveloped him.
His battle intent boiled!
This time, he had activated not only three strands of Ancestral Dragon power, but also Divine Dragon Movement.
His speed reached its absolute limit.
A cold gleam flashed!
Xia Yu thrust his spear!
The spear lunged like a dragon, setting off a series of sonic booms.
Wherever its cold gleam passed, even the space around it trembled and buckled slightly.
Heaven-Splitting Three Forms: Heaven-Breaking!
In midair, An Qing's gaze instantly sharpened.
The next moment, without hesitation, she wielded her longsword and swiftly laid down several curtains of sword light before her.
At the same time, sword light blazed from the ring beneath her feet.
Countless streaks of sword light interwove within the ring at blinding speed.
This ring was a domain unique to cultivators at the King Realm and above.
A king's domain.
Within a domain, a cultivator's combat strength could be greatly enhanced.
An Qing's king's domain was a sword domain, focused on offense.
Yet at this moment, her first instinct was not to attack, but to block.
Clang!
Countless metallic clashes rang out as one.
An Qing's expression changed drastically. Her sword domain and sword curtains had actually failed to stop Xia Yu.
They had not even held him back for a single breath.
She stared at the Sin Dragon Spear halted before her throat, a drop of blood slowly falling from its tip.
Xia Yu's chest heaved as he panted heavily, his body trembling slightly.
His eyes were bloodshot, his face faintly purple, and veins bulged along his neck.
Only the hand gripping the Sin Dragon Spear remained perfectly still.
"You lost!"
At that moment, An Qing was utterly stunned.
She simply could not believe she had lost.
And in a single move!
Even less could she accept that the person who had defeated her in one move was merely a Spirit Origin Realm cultivator.
Her aptitude had once astonished all of Great Xia.
She was the Seventh Princess whom everyone hailed as a peerless talent.
"I lost!"
Only after a long while did she utter those words, somewhat dazed.
All her life, she had been invincible among her peers, never suffering a defeat.
But today, she had lost!
She had lost to someone two major realms below her, someone younger than her.
Unable to describe what she felt, An Qing slowly closed her eyes.
She was not afraid of failure!
Nor did she lack the courage to admit defeat!
But this defeat had made her begin to doubt herself!
At that moment, even her sword heart trembled.
"You're strong. You won!"
Her lips moved as An Qing struggled to utter her second sentence.
"For my sister, I can put my life on the line! And that's all I can do!"
Put my life on the line!
In an instant, those words echoed in An Qing's ears like a thunderclap.
Nothing but staking my life!
At that moment, her heart was stirred.
As a sword cultivator, I should advance fearlessly, without questioning the outcome, without questioning life or death!
In my heart...
Only the sword!
Clang!
Suddenly, a ringing sword cry soared into the sky.
The sword cry lingered in the air, refusing to fade!
The king's domain beneath An Qing's feet abruptly contracted, then swelled violently.
Within the domain, countless streaks of sword light wove together.
Xia Yu's expression changed, and he hurriedly retreated, landing on the ground.
In midair, An Qing's figure had vanished from sight.
Only countless streaks of sword light remained, interweaving in the air and shining ever brighter.
Like a blazing sun descending!
And this sun formed of sword light was still slowly expanding.
Two point one zhang, two point two, two point three...
Three zhang!
Third level of the King Realm!
Xia Yu stared blankly for a long while before saying in disbelief, "She can break through from this? Wasn't I the one who won?"
Clang!
Another exquisitely clear sword cry rang out.
The next moment, the countless streaks of sword light vanished at once.
Xia Yu raised his head...
In midair, An Qing held her sword in one hand, her expression composed, her long hair streaming and her skirt fluttering.
Xia Yu frowned slightly. He could not put the feeling into words, but something about An Qing seemed different.
Little did he know that his remark about having no choice but to stake his life had granted An Qing an epiphany, bringing her to the state of clear sword heart.
Not only had she broken through to the third level of the King Realm, but more importantly, An Qing, who had long since comprehended elementary sword intent, had taken another step forward in her sword cultivation.
Intermediate sword intent!
Elementary and intermediate appeared to be only one rank apart, but in reality, that was far from the case.
An Qing had gained immensely from this battle.
"Ming Yue was right. Fighting to the limit is the best way to advance one's cultivation."
An Qing gazed into the distance, murmuring to herself.
"Hey, haven't you admired the scenery long enough? You lost. Don't forget what you promised!"
Xia Yu was rather speechless. She had already finished her breakthrough, so why was she still standing up in the sky?
He could not help shouting up at her.
A streak of sword light answered him.
"Take one more strike from me!"
Xia Yu flickered away, appearing several zhang off.
"An Qing, you're breaking your word! You're going too far!"
Swish!
Another streak of sword light came.
Xia Yu dodged.
Swish!
Sword light came again.
Xia Yu dodged once more.
Streak after streak of sword light poured forth without end.
She looked determined not to stop until she landed a strike on him.
Xia Yu was utterly speechless. Women.
Seeing another streak of sword light flying toward him, Xia Yu thrust out his chest and stood his ground.
The sword light whistled straight into his lower abdomen.
Immediately afterward, several more streaks pierced into him, one on the heels of another.
"Why didn't you dodge?"
An Qing slowly landed, unable to help asking.
She had never expected her sword light to hit Xia Yu.
But the more Xia Yu dodged, the more unwilling she was to accept it.
She refused to believe she could not land even a single strike.
Yet seeing Xia Yu take several of her strikes instead gave her a fright.
"Are you all right? Are you an idiot? Why didn't you dodge?" An Qing asked again.
Xia Yu remained silent!
That feels good!
At that moment, a stream of exceptionally pure spiritual energy flowed back from the Heaven-Incinerating Furnace.
His entire body felt warm and wonderfully comfortable.
So much so that Xia Yu did not even respond to An Qing.
"Hey, are you all right? Say something! I didn't mean it. Are you hurt? I have spirit pills here!"
An Qing began to panic!
Looking at the jade vial in An Qing's hand, Xia Yu did not take it.
He stared fixedly into An Qing's eyes and said, stressing every word, "Honor the wager and accept your loss. Tell me how to save my sister."
An Qing paused, then said, "I don't know the exact method."
Xia Yu's expression immediately darkened.
"But I know someone who does," An Qing hurriedly added. "I think your sister's constitution is very unusual. It closely resembles the water-fire coexistence body, also called the water-fire dao body."
"Ming Yue mentioned it to me before. She'll definitely know a way."
"Ming Yue? Where is she?"
"Capital City."
Xia Yu turned and left.
He did not want to wait another moment. His sister had suffered for over a decade, and he did not want to see her endure even a little more pain.
An Qing froze.
Wait, you're just leaving like that?
"Xia Yu, stop right there!" An Qing could not help shouting.
"No time!" Xia Yu's voice drifted back from the distance.
An Qing darted forward, swiftly catching up.
"Hey, do you know how to find her once you get to Capital City?" An Qing asked irritably.
Screech!
Xia Yu stopped in his tracks, turned around, and stared straight at An Qing.
After a brief silence, An Qing took out a jade pendant and tossed it over.
"This is my jade pendant. Take it to the Martial Saint Academy in Capital City. Ming Yue will definitely help."
Xia Yu caught the jade pendant and paused.
Before you continue