Before long.
A red-clad figure emerged with a sword in hand and landed steadily on the central platform.
"Xin Hongyi of the Sword Hall! Where is the person from the Cottage? Come up and fight!"
Not far away, Lu Changsheng froze at the sight. "Did Qiubai offend this girl? Why is she specifically calling him up?"
The Sword Hall elder beside him darkened and said irritably, "To be precise, you offended her."
"Huh?"
Lu Changsheng pointed at himself in bewilderment. "Surely not? I haven't even touched a woman's hand in my life. How could I have offended her?"
The Martial Hall elder covered his face and said irritably, "During disciple recruitment, Xin Hongyi specifically asked to join your Cottage. You dismissed her with a single remark that you weren't taking disciples."
"The crucial thing is, you actually took a disciple then, so she must want to prove she's stronger than Ye Qiubai."
Lu Changsheng's expression turned strange.
The others naturally recognized Xin Hongyi as well.
"Wasn't she the one the Cottage turned away?"
"So that's why she wants to challenge Ye Qiubai, the Cottage's disciple?"
"But Xin Hongyi is very strong too. Her record on the martial platform was even better than Ye Qiubai's."
Hearing the remarks around him, Ye Qiubai understood as well.
He picked up a wooden sword.
Then he leaped onto the platform.
At the sight, Xin Hongyi raised an eyebrow. Looking at the wooden sword in Ye Qiubai's hand, she said with some displeasure, "What, a wooden sword? Are you looking down on me?"
Ye Qiubai said calmly, "Master said that with a sword in your heart, a leaf, a piece of wood-anything can be a sword."
The Sword Hall elder looked at Lu Changsheng with a complicated gaze. "It seems your attainment in the Sword Dao is quite profound."
"Huh?"
Lu Changsheng scratched his head and thought carefully.
Did I say that?
On the platform.
Xin Hongyi murmured, "With a sword in your heart, anything can be a sword..."
At that, Xin Hongyi put away her Profound Rank treasured sword. She likewise took out an ordinary iron sword that gave off no presence whatsoever and said, "Fine, I won't take advantage of you either. Make your move."
They were at the same cultivation stage, both at the peak of the Golden Core Realm.
But Xin Hongyi was extremely confident. She wanted to defeat Ye Qiubai with overwhelming force, without relying on any external aids.
Only then could she prove to Lu Changsheng.
Just how wrong a choice it had been not to choose her.
At that thought, Xin Hongyi even shot Lu Changsheng a provocative glance.
Ye Qiubai shrugged and stepped lightly. Cracks actually spread across the ground in that instant as he hurtled forward!
Xin Hongyi's gaze sharpened slightly. She thrust her iron sword diagonally, and trails of flame actually sprang from it!
The flames burned, beginning to warp even the space around them as they slashed toward Ye Qiubai!
Unhurried, Ye Qiubai gripped his wooden sword with both hands and slashed at the whip of fire!
Wisps of black presence actually rose from the wooden sword!
They brimmed with demonic nature, as though they would make all the heavens submit!
"Oh? The Nine Swords of the Heavenly Demon?"
Below, a stubbled man stroked his chin and chuckled. "Interesting. He actually cultivated that incomplete manual."
Another man carrying a feather fan walked over. "Quite bold. The Nine Swords of the Heavenly Demon gets harder the further you progress, not to mention that it's incomplete."
Some of those around them saw the pair and cried out in surprise.
"Huo Qingming of the Martial Hall! Lin Ce of the Formation Hall!"
"Those two are among the top figures in their respective halls!"
"They're both at the middle stage of the Violet Palace Realm, yet they have the strength to slay those at the peak of the Violet Palace Realm!"
After Golden Core came Violet Palace.
Just then, a man walked up beside Huo Qingming and whispered, "Brother Huo, that's the Ye Qiubai I told you about."
"Oh?"
Huo Qingming stroked his chin, glanced at the man, and smiled inscrutably. "Ye Yan, are you sure you want me to cripple him? Whatever else he may be, he's still a member of your Ye Lineage. Your younger cousin, isn't he?"
Ferocity filled Ye Yan's eyes as he said viciously, "He must be destroyed!"
"All right."
Huo Qingming sighed inwardly. "I owe your Ye Lineage a favor from back then. Today, I'll repay it."
Staring at Ye Qiubai above, Ye Yan sneered. "Though I'd very much like to deal with you myself, I'll let Huo Qingming be your opponent to be safe. You should feel honored."
Meanwhile, atop the platform.
Ye Qiubai's wooden sword had already struck the whip of fire!
The flaming Sword-Ray did not burn the wooden sword to ashes. Instead, it began trembling violently, seemingly on the verge of dispersing!
"The Nine Swords of the Heavenly Demon?"
Opposite him, Xin Hongyi was startled. The iron sword in her hand began trembling wildly, and even her mind began to quiver!
The reason was the demonic presence now emanating from Ye Qiubai, which seemed poised to suppress all things!
This was also what made the Nine Swords of the Heavenly Demon terrifying.
Not only could it cleave all things, its sheer might could also force an opponent to submit!
Xin Hongyi immediately steadied her mind, gritted her teeth, and slashed out with her iron sword again.
The flaming Sword-Ray suddenly blazed brighter, and the entire platform seemed to begin burning!
The Sword Hall elder offered his assessment from the sidelines. "Xin Hongyi's flame Sword Qi is unique to her family's cultivation method. It can burn all things and is extremely overbearing.
"I just wonder how far Ye Qiubai has cultivated the Nine Swords of the Heavenly Demon. How many swords can he unleash?"
With that, he looked at Lu Changsheng, clearly asking him.
Lu Changsheng lay back in his reclining chair with his eyes closed and answered casually, "He only started practicing it two days ago, I think."
"Then I'm afraid... he's no match for Xin Hongyi's flame Sword Qi."
After all, the Sword Hall elder had also practiced the Nine Swords of the Heavenly Demon.
It had taken him a full month just to grasp the first sword.
Only after several years had he faintly touched the threshold of the third sword.
Seeing the Sword Qi blazing with fire, Ye Qiubai's gaze sharpened slightly.
"The second sword..."
Suddenly, a might that compelled submission emanated from Ye Qiubai's body!
Demonic Qi surged!
Xin Hongyi's expression changed drastically.
It was as though she no longer faced Ye Qiubai, but a towering great demon!
One that looked upon heaven and earth with contempt!
"The second sword!"
The Sword Hall elder abruptly rose to his feet!
It had only been two days!
Xin Hongyi gritted her teeth. She knew that her current means were no match whatsoever for this sword strike from Ye Qiubai.
She could not withstand it.
At that thought, Xin Hongyi bit open her finger, and drops of essence blood seeped out.
At the same time, she put away her iron sword and took out that Profound Rank treasured sword!
Then she forcefully smeared the blood across its blade!
"Sacrifice Blood to the Sword!"
Xin Hongyi's face immediately turned pale, but the increasingly condensed flame Sword Qi cast a blood-red glow over her pallid face!
She slashed!
Her blade crashed into Ye Qiubai's wooden sword, which radiated dark Demonic Qi!
Pfft!
The instant they made contact, Xin Hongyi spat out a mouthful of essence blood!
Before this dark Demonic Qi, the streams of flame Sword Qi actually collapsed outright.
Routed like a shattered army!
At that very moment, Xin Hongyi was sent flying backward and fell to the ground, her hand covered in blood.
Even her sword hand trembled incessantly. Clearly, she could no longer fight.
Ye Qiubai withdrew his sword, his expression calm, without the slightest surprise.
"Thank you for the bout."