This little padded jacket kept the cold out

"Slap!"

With the crack of a resounding slap, the girl in the purple dress was sent flying. Five bright red fingerprints instantly appeared on her flawless, white-jade cheek, and half her face swelled up. She had not even seen how Han Yuyao had struck.

"Who gave you the courage?" Han Yuyao's voice was cool as mist.

Han Yuyao had not intended to fight a fellow disciple of the Purple Firmament Holy Land, but this woman's mouth was too foul. Han Yuyao would not indulge her!

The girl in purple instinctively touched her swollen cheek and felt half her face burning as though it were on fire. Stunned by the slap, she said in disbelief, "You dared to slap my face?"

"With such a foul mouth, you clearly lack discipline! Since your elders won't discipline you, I'll have to do it for them! Don't be so arrogant!" Han Yuyao shook her head lightly and turned to leave.

"Stop!"

The girl in purple shouted coldly, transforming into a streak of light to block Han Yuyao's path.

Behind her, a peach tree suddenly appeared, blotting out the sky and sun. Its trunk twisted like a mighty horned dragon, and its branches were laden with crystalline pink petals. As it swayed gently, peach blossoms danced through the sky, forming a peach blossom domain spanning a hundred li, like a secluded paradise beyond the mortal world.

Vast divine radiance of life flowed from the sky-shrouding peach tree into the girl in purple, and the swelling and redness of her cheek subsided at a speed visible to the naked eye.

In the blink of an eye, her cheek returned to normal, and a noble, aloof bearing naturally emanated from her.

"I am Xia Yuwei, the seventh true disciple of the Purple Firmament Holy Land! My grandfather is a supreme elder of the Purple Firmament Holy Land! No one has ever dared to slap my face in my entire life! Unless I kill you today, the hatred in my heart will never subside!"

The girl in purple regained her noble, aloof bearing. Standing in the air, with crystalline petals swirling around her, she looked down at Han Yuyao from above, biting killing intent suffusing her icy voice.

Among the younger generation of the Purple Firmament Holy Land, the one with the highest standing was naturally the Purple Firmament Holy Son.

Below the Holy Son were ten true disciples. Every one possessed outstanding talent and immense potential, and all had reached the peak of the Marquis realm.

If anything befell the Purple Firmament Holy Son, a new Dao Child would be selected from these ten true disciples.

If any of these ten true disciples encountered a fortuitous opportunity and advanced by leaps and bounds, they could also challenge the Purple Firmament Holy Son. If they won, they could become the new Purple Firmament Holy Son or Holy Maiden.

In other words, the ten true disciples of the Purple Firmament Holy Land were reserve Dao Children, each possessing numerous trump cards and ultimate techniques.

As the seventh-ranked of the ten true disciples, Xia Yuwei stood among the best of the younger generation. Accustomed to being overbearing and arrogant, how could she endure the humiliation of being slapped?

Even now, she still believed Han Yuyao had only succeeded because she had been careless.

"Clang!"

The moment Xia Yuwei finished speaking, a sword cry rang beside her ears, as though it had come from beyond the heavens, yet also as though it had sounded within her heart.

At that moment, a peerless immortal sword that blotted out the sky and sun abruptly appeared in the purple-dressed girl's consciousness. Beneath its sword light, the sun, moon, and stars seemed as insignificant as dust. It came across myriad worlds, majestic and resplendent, surging forward without hesitation.

It seemed that this sword was all that remained between heaven and earth, filling her with the despair of an ant facing a giant dragon. She could not muster even a single thought of resistance.

Sword Cry Through the Ages!

"Rustle..."

Sword Qi surged across every peach blossom within the hundred-li peach blossom domain, breaking them apart petal by petal. The peach tree that blotted out the sky and sun shattered like an illusory bubble and scattered on the wind, vanishing from the world in the blink of an eye.

Xia Yuwei's figure reappeared in the air. Her face was deathly pale, her hair disheveled, and her eyes filled with terror. That supremely domineering sword strike and world-shaking sword cry seemed to keep echoing in her mind.

Her Dao heart had already been cleaved, leaving cracks.

Han Yuyao knew how far to go when she struck. In that Sword Cry Through the Ages just now, she had held back a full ninety-nine percent of its power.

Had she struck with all her strength, that single sword cry would have been enough to slash this woman's soul into nothingness!

Even with Han Yuyao holding back the vast majority of its power, Sword Cry Through the Ages was not something Xia Yuwei could withstand.

If the cracks in her Dao heart could not be repaired, she would feel fear whenever she saw Han Yuyao.

"It seems you've been spoiled since childhood, threatening to kill at the slightest provocation. Quite a temper you have! You should know that beyond every person stands someone greater, and beyond every heaven lies another! Even a holy land's supreme elder is no more than an ant in the eyes of certain mighty figures! Don't act so arrogantly in the future, lest you bring a great calamity upon the Purple Firmament Holy Land!"

Han Yuyao's tone was indifferent as mist. Looking at the distraught Xia Yuwei, she shook her head lightly and drifted away.

This time, Xia Yuwei did not dare speak up to stop her again.

That sword strike had already frightened her out of her wits.

Although she still had her ultimate divine abilities and secret arts unused, and could even crush her life-saving jade talisman to summon her grandfather, she did not do so.

That sword cry seemed to have brought her to her senses. Since this mysterious girl could casually unleash such a terrifying sword divine ability, how could she have no backing?

Moreover, judging by the mysterious girl's tone, she did not even regard a holy land's supreme elder as significant. If Xia Yuwei really summoned her grandfather, she might well drag him into a pit!

Most importantly, she could sense that this mysterious girl had held back.

Had it been someone more bloodthirsty, her head would probably have already been separated from her body!

Xia Yuwei watched Han Yuyao drift into the distance with hollow eyes. Suddenly, a glimmer flashed through them, and she called out, "Thank you for showing mercy, Fairy! May I ask your name?"

"Han Yuyao."

Han Yuyao's calm voice carried back from afar.

She had descended the mountain this time to seek revenge on the Innate Dao Fetus at the Cold Moon Holy Land, and also to temper her sword Dao.

From the moment she descended the mountain, she had never intended to conceal her true name!

"Han Yuyao? Why does that name sound so familiar..." Xia Yuwei's delicate brows furrowed slightly as she murmured to herself.

After pondering for a long time, an extraordinarily brilliant light suddenly burst from Xia Yuwei's eyes, and she cried out involuntarily, "Han Yuyao?! That was the name of the sword Dao prodigy who burst onto the scene in the Sword Ruins of Creation! Could she be the person Senior Sister Mu of Seeking Sword Peak mentioned?"

With the dawn of the golden age, true disciples like them had spontaneously formed a small circle and often held small gatherings to exchange insights.

Now that Divine Spirit ruins were about to emerge above the Chaotic Cloud Sea, their exchanges had become even more frequent.

Just a few days ago, they had held one such gathering.

At the gathering, besides discussing those Divine Spirit ruins, they had also mentioned the many prodigies emerging in the golden age.

The most dazzling among them was the sword Dao prodigy Senior Sister Mu of Seeking Sword Peak had mentioned: Han Yuyao!

She had burst onto the scene in the Sword Ruins of Creation, successively unraveled twelve Immortal Sword Intent creations, including the Void Sword River, and challenged the Cold Moon Holy Maiden from afar. Though her Supreme Sword Bone had been dug out, she had risen stronger through nirvana, created the Chaos Sword Sea, and drawn myriad Immortal Sword Intents to pay homage. Her story was steeped in legend.

Even though Han Yuyao had declared her origins, the patriarchs of the many factions had been unable to deduce where her inheritance lay. Layers of mist shrouded her.

"The direction she's heading in seems to be toward the Cold Moon Holy Dynasty!"

Gazing at Han Yuyao's disappearing figure, Xia Yuwei's eyes gleamed brightly.

Although many people in the Three Thousand Great Worlds shared the same name, Xia Yuwei had just experienced that sword strike herself. She could all but conclude that this was the sword Dao prodigy who had burst onto the scene in the Sword Ruins of Creation!

"What a pity I don't specialize in the sword Dao. Otherwise, I could follow at her side! I'm sure Senior Sister Mu will be interested in her!" Xia Yuwei shook her head lightly. Her expression shifted slightly, and she sent Senior Sister Mu a message.

After sending the message, Xia Yuwei gazed in the direction Han Yuyao had left, puzzlement surfacing in her eyes. "Why did she appear here? So many Divine Spirit patriarchs couldn't deduce her inheritance. Where exactly did she learn all these abilities?"

Suddenly, Xia Yuwei whipped her head around and looked in the direction completely opposite the Cold Moon Holy Dynasty, her eyes filled with shock.

That was precisely the direction of the Purple Firmament Holy Land!