Learning the Truth

"If you don't believe me, Hall Master Mu, you can send a message to ask. Yingxiong may have concealed himself and kept his identity hidden, but Spirit Radiance Commandery should already have received the Heavenly Extreme Sword."

Ye Xiuyun spoke with absolute conviction.

Clearly, she had great faith in how Ye Yingxiong handled matters.

Meanwhile, hearing Mu Xingchui ask again, along with Ye Xiuyun's claim that "Ye Yingxiong may have concealed himself," Song Huangting gradually came to his senses.

Ye Yingxiong had concealed his movements and delivered the Heavenly Extreme Sword in person?

Song Huangting was not surprised that he would conceal himself.

After all, Ten Thousand Swords Manor now depended entirely on him.

If he carelessly revealed his whereabouts and drew someone's attention, Ten Thousand Swords Manor would lose its trump card for dealing with Chunyang and even the others watching covetously from the shadows.

But...

Just as Ye Yingxiong concealed his identity to deliver the Heavenly Extreme Sword, news had happened to emerge from Spirit Radiance Commandery that someone suspected to be "Jiang Heng" had attacked Grandmaster Qin, only to be driven back by Grandmaster Qin in a desperate fight!?

Yet the real Jiang Heng...

Was at Ten Thousand Swords Manor!?

Didn't that mean...

The person Qin Lian had truly driven back in that desperate fight was not Jiang Heng, but Ye Yingxiong!?

Ye Yingxiong, a peak second-grade expert whom he alone in the entire Pure Yang Sword Sect was confident he could kill!?

An expert like that...

Had actually been driven back by Qin Lian!?

Then his true combat strength...

Was absolutely no weaker than that of any second-grade expert.

At this critical moment, with storm clouds gathering outside and great turmoil approaching, Chunyang had actually gained someone with second-grade combat strength. This was truly heartening news!

Song Huangting immediately stopped wasting words with Ye Xiuyun.

"Since you claim the Heavenly Extreme Sword has already been delivered to Spirit Radiance Commandery, I'll trust you this once. I'll set out for Spirit Radiance Commandery to verify it right now."

Song Huangting swept his hand sharply. "If I don't find the Heavenly Extreme Sword there, don't blame me for coming back to Ten Thousand Swords Manor. And when I do, this won't be resolved so easily."

"Ten Thousand Swords Manor will certainly keep its word. I also ask Supreme Elder Song and everyone from Chunyang to honor your promise and stop interfering in Ten Thousand Swords Manor's internal affairs."

Ye Xiuyun thumped her cane heavily against the ground.

"Chunyang never intended to intervene in Ten Thousand Swords Manor's internal strife. We simply couldn't bear to watch the manor decline and see our Twelve Sects lose another arm."

Mu Xingchui offered a polite reply.

With their primary objective achieved, they had no wish to become further entangled.

The group promptly departed.

On the way, Song Huangting could not help remarking, "Xingchui... that message from Spirit Radiance-what do you think..."

"Supreme Elder, it's only a day or two away anyway. We'll know once we get there and ask."

Mu Xingchui smiled as he spoke.

Hearing this, Song Huangting smiled and nodded.

With the two of them leading Chunyang's many experts along the road in eager haste, barely two days after Qin Lian condensed his divine intent, the party of over a dozen rode up Heavenly Splendor Mountain.

As soon as they reached Heavenly Splendor Mountain, Xiao Hong, who had been waiting at its foot, hurried forward to greet them.

"Supreme Elder? You've come in person?"

"Where is Qin Lian?"

Song Huangting asked urgently.

"Grandmaster Qin used the [Blood Burning] secret art to unleash thirty-seven consecutive sword strikes, severely depleting his vital energy. He's been regulating his breathing on the mountain these past two days."

Xiao Hong answered as he led the way.

"Severely depleted his vital energy? Were there any lingering complications?"

Mu Xingchui asked at once.

"He took a Nine Suns Returning Heaven Pill immediately. He should recover after resting for a while."

Xiao Hong replied.

"Good!"

Mu Xingchui nodded.

The party moved extremely quickly and soon reached the mountaintop.

On the mountain...

Since Qin Lian's vital energy had yet to recover fully, he was quietly meditating and condensing his divine sense, so much so that he never noticed their arrival.

Xiao Hong was about to speak, but Song Huangting raised a hand to stop him.

Then...

Despite his exalted status as a supreme elder who had attained the first grade, he and Mu Xingchui, the master of the Merit Hall, actually waited obediently at a distance for Qin Lian to finish cultivating.

The sight immediately moved Xiao Hong, as well as Liu Xu and Xiao Qing, who had come after hearing the commotion.

Fortunately, Qin Lian's cultivation of divine sense also gave him keen awareness of his surroundings.

After noticing the arrival of distinguished visitors, he gathered his thoughts and soon ended his cultivation.

Seeing that Song Huangting and Mu Xingchui had actually arrived, he hurried forward to greet them. "Supreme Elder, Hall Master Mu."

Song Huangting motioned for Liu Xu, Xiao Hong, and the people from Chunyang who had accompanied him to wait where they were, while he and Mu Xingchui strode forward.

"Grandmaster Qin, did you truly defeat a second-grade grandmaster two days ago?"

"I wouldn't call it a defeat."

Qin Lian considered his words. "That Black-Robed Man suspected to be Jiang Heng was wary of our numbers on Cloudmist Peak. Seeing that he couldn't defeat me quickly, he withdrew."

He shook his head after speaking. "In fact, if we'd fought on much longer, I would certainly have exhausted my blood and qi, like a lamp burning through its last drop of oil. He, on the other hand... should have been able to hold out a while longer. So I was the one who lost that duel."

Hearing Qin Lian's words, Mu Xingchui and Song Huangting exchanged a glance, then both burst out laughing.

Qin Lian was somewhat bewildered by their laughter.

But he had not forgotten that there was another important matter.

"Supreme Elder, Hall Master Mu, before Jiang Heng left, he actually threw something out to stop me from pursuing him. But when I thought it over afterward, he seemed to have another purpose in throwing it, as though he had deliberately left it for me. And that treasure..."

Qin Lian paused, his expression solemn. "It should be the Heavenly Extreme Demon Sword that nearly brought Ten Thousand Swords Manor to ruin."

"Not 'should be.' It is the Heavenly Extreme Sword."

Song Huangting smiled. "Ten Thousand Swords Manor offered the Heavenly Extreme Sword as a gift in exchange for our Chunyang withdrawing its forces and no longer interfering in the manor's internal strife..."

Then he paused. "Of course, Ten Thousand Swords Manor's internal strife had actually already been quelled by the time we arrived. That Third Manor Lord had quite some nerve, daring to use our hands to show everyone in Ten Thousand Swords Manor who was truly qualified to lead it back to prosperity..."

"It really was the Heavenly Extreme Sword!? Then Jiang Heng... actually came to deliver it?"

Understanding began to dawn on Qin Lian.

No wonder he had chosen to retreat when he only needed to hold out a little longer to win.

"There's no hurry to look at the Heavenly Extreme Sword."

Song Huangting smiled. "Qin Lian, do you really think the Black-Robed Man who delivered the Heavenly Extreme Sword and fought you was Jiang Heng?"

"Hmm?"

Qin Lian looked a little surprised. "Wasn't he? There are only a handful of second-grade grandmasters in Ten Thousand Swords Manor. If it wasn't Jiang Heng, then..."

"It was Ye Yingxiong!"

Song Huangting did not keep him guessing and gave him the answer directly.

"Ye Yingxiong!?"

Qin Lian's pupils contracted slightly. "The man second only to Ye Hui in Ten Thousand Swords Manor... no, he should be its strongest expert now. Ye Yingxiong, who practices inner and outer cultivation and stands at the peak of the second grade!?"

"That's him."

Song Huangting smiled. "You exchanged thirty-seven sword strikes with him, leaving him unable to do anything to you and forcing him to retreat. That level of actual combat ability is truly surprising."

"It was actually... him!"

Receiving confirmation from Song Huangting, Qin Lian could not help drawing in a sharp breath.

Then...

Came the fear after the fact.

That was a divine intent grandmaster at the peak of the second grade.

An existence at the strongest level beneath first-grade experts like Song Huangting.

For an ordinary second-grade expert facing him, never mind victory-even escaping unscathed was in question.

Yet he, a third-grade expert who had not even condensed divine intent...

Had actually fought such an expert head-on for thirty-seven sword strikes two days ago!?

Far too bold!

"Why did I run into an expert like that the moment I came down the mountain? This... the way these enemies match up their opponents... it's simply unreasonable."

Were they throwing away even the unspoken rule of soldiers facing soldiers and generals facing generals?

"Hahaha! Second-grade grandmasters command divine intent, with keen awareness outwardly and absolute control inwardly. Their combat strength surpasses the third grade by a considerable margin. For you to challenge a second-grade expert as a third-grade one-such combat strength is exceedingly rare even throughout the history of our Pure Yang Sword Sect."

Song Huangting smiled. "Especially since, according to Martial Uncle, you've already glimpsed the direction of divine intent. It presumably won't take you many years to break through to the second grade. I hardly dare imagine how formidable your combat strength will be once you condense divine intent and enter the second grade yourself."

"As for divine intent..."

Qin Lian deliberated for a moment, but ultimately chose to tell the truth rather than conceal it.

"Thanks to Supreme Elder Shanhui's guidance, I had already reached the point where all I lacked was sufficient tempering. During this battle, I was fortunate enough to find the opportunity and comprehend divine intent."