At the center of Lan Ye City stood an enormous manor-like residence, as large as a small city, divided into five sections: east, west, south, north, and center. On the martial arts grounds in the southern estate, two young women were sparring.
One was Lan Xin'er. The other resembled Lan Xin'er somewhat, but her facial contours were sharper, making her look exceptionally cold and striking. She was Lan Xin'er's elder sister, Lan Xian'er, the genius ranked second among Firebird Star's Ten Prodigies.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
The sound of swords colliding rang out without end, sparks flying in all directions. As the shockwaves spread, profound ripples appeared around the martial arts grounds. These ripples absorbed the aftershocks, so although the spar looked incomparably fierce, the damage it caused was quite limited.
"Be careful, Sister—Illusory Dream!"
Blue misty rain erupted, shrouding Lan Xian'er. With a flick of her wrist, the pale-blue treasured sword in Lan Xin'er's hand became like a pool of flowing clear spring water, merging into the blue misty rain as it swept toward Lan Xian'er.
"Hmm?"
Lan Xian'er had already found it somewhat difficult to receive the previous Illusory Heart move. The reason she had managed to hold on was because Lan Xin'er's sword technique was still a little unpracticed and had not reached the state where the heart moved and the sword arrived. Even so, Lan Xian'er was immensely startled. Five years ago, in terms of sword skill alone, her younger sister Lan Xin'er had lagged far behind her. She had even helped the other party alter the Illusory Heart sword move. Could Lan Xin'er really have improved so much over these five years that her sword skills were gradually catching up to hers?
Illusory Heart suppressed her too greatly. Once Illusory Dream emerged, Lan Xian'er could no