chapter 20
Cultivation Novel Translation – Chapters 17-20
17. A Cultivation Love Triangle?
“So, what exactly did you do when you were pursuing Han Xiangjun before? Now you need to do even better than that!” Bai Zhiqing said with a huff.
Since they’d already signed the contract and payment was made, Lin Dongming couldn’t openly confront her, so he could only roll his eyes internally:
—This Junior Sister Bai definitely doesn’t just dislike Junior Sister Lin. There’s probably some bad blood between them for her to act like this.
Sometimes Lin Dongming felt she was already quite mature, especially since Elder Tuoba’s support for her was limited and she had to rely on herself. But other times she seemed like a spoiled child who treated money like dirt.
Lin Dongming calculated for a moment and said, “It wasn’t really much. Just protecting her, sometimes cooking and bringing food over, occasionally…”
Bai Zhiqing raised an eyebrow: “Occasionally what? Don’t tell me you were warming her bed?”
Lin Dongming smiled bitterly: “That wouldn’t be being a simp anymore, that would be being a slave. Occasionally taking the blame for her.”
Bai Zhiqing’s smile froze for a moment, then her teasing tone became even stronger: “That good? She could even get you to take the blame? So I can cause trouble however I want from now on?”
“That’s exactly why I didn’t want to say this!” Lin Dongming looked completely unhappy.
“Alright then.” Bai Zhiqing showed an auntie-like smile while waving her hand: “Since you were honest, I won’t make you take the blame for me for now.”
“For now…” Lin Dongming’s response was complicated: “Your word choice fills me with unease.”
“It’s fine, I’m paying so as long as I’m satisfied.” Bai Zhiqing waved her hand as she walked: “That’s it for today. Remember to make lunch and bring it over tomorrow.”
Bai Zhiqing cast a lightness technique on herself and bounced down the path in good spirits until she reached Han Xiangjun: “Lin Dongming is my person now.”
Han Xiangjun: “????”
Seeing Han Xiangjun’s incredibly surprised expression filled Bai Zhiqing with great pleasure, feeling her money was finally well spent.
Han Xiangjun said displeasedly: “What did you do to him?”
“Senior Sister Han, why do you think so badly of people? I didn’t do anything?” Bai Zhiqing showed a mocking expression: “It’s just that Senior Brother Lin is deeply infatuated and has fallen for me.”
Han Xiangjun was so angry her head nearly exploded, yet she was helpless against Bai Zhiqing. She could only watch as Bai Zhiqing left triumphantly.
Only after Bai Zhiqing had gone far did Han Xiangjun stomp the ground hard: “Damn it! So infuriating! That brat has such a terrible personality! She doesn’t put anyone in her eyes!”
Lin Dongming watched this scene from afar, both puzzled and sighing.
He was puzzled about why Han Xiangjun would care about this matter. After all, she should have quite a few simps—no, pursuers—like Lin Dongming around her. Lin Dongming could only explain it as her being unable to tolerate her possessions becoming someone else’s, so having her pursuer go chase someone else was unacceptable.
His sigh was one of helplessness. These two girls were both first-rate in the Heavenly Pole Sword Sect in terms of appearance, figure, and cultivation talent. Why would they act like children in matters like this?
“It’s probably because the pressure from cultivation is too great, which has actually stunted their growth in other areas.” Lin Dongming walked down the mountain following Bai Zhiqing’s route, passing near Han Xiangjun.
There were quite a few people like this in his previous life too, especially among the programmers and academic elites Lin Dongming had encountered. Even in university or after starting work, some were completely clueless about romance and interpersonal relationships.
“Junior Brother Lin.” Han Xiangjun seemed quite unhappy, but she actually controlled her anger and spoke in as calm a voice as possible: “Are you together with Junior Sister Bai?”
If it were the Han Xiangjun of the past, she would probably be shouting angrily: “Lin! Dong! Ming!” and then demanding he explain.
“Is that what she said?” Lin Dongming asked back.
“…Not exactly. Something like that though.” Han Xiangjun thought for a moment.
“Then don’t overthink it. Focus on your cultivation.” Lin Dongming smiled lightly and quickly left.
“Wait!” Han Xiangjun couldn’t keep Lin Dongming there, and was infuriated again: “Don’t always say such inexplicable and ambiguous things!”
Han Xiangjun’s mood immediately became a tangled mess. She stormed off angrily and flew on her sword toward her room.
A streak of light caught up with Han Xiangjun: “Senior Sister Han! Please wait!”
Han Xiangjun stopped in midair and saw a small girl with hair in buns quickly catching up.
“Little Junior Sister?” Han Xiangjun quickly recognized the approaching figure. This was the youngest disciple under the Sword-Wielding Elder, even younger than Bai Zhiqing, yet already at Core Formation with cultivation speed that could be called advancing a thousand li in a day.
Little Junior Sister cupped her hands slightly toward Han Xiangjun: “Senior Sister Han, the Grand Elder requests your presence! She says people from the Scholarly Heart Heavenly Sect have arrived.”
“…I don’t really want to go.” Han Xiangjun was currently a mess inside: “Just say I’m not feeling well.”
Little Junior Sister looked troubled: “Senior Sister Han, many people from the Scholarly Heart Heavenly Sect have come. The Sword-Wielding Elder, Grand Elder, and Sect Master are all there. If you don’t go, the Grand Elder will be angry again.”
The Heavenly Pole Sword Sect had quite a few Integration stage elders, but the Grand Elder and Sword-Wielding Elder were the two strongest. Nobody wanted to provoke them.
“Let her be angry then, she’s angry all the time anyway.” Han Xiangjun was even more unhappy: “I’m not going anyway.”
“What’s wrong? Who made our Xiangjun upset?” Another streak of light gracefully arrived, and a scholarly girl landed before the two of them.
“Qingxue? You came too?” Han Xiangjun was somewhat surprised: “Looks like today’s lineup is really something.”
Mo Qingxue was the daughter of the Scholarly Heart Heavenly Sect’s sect master, but in previous years she was often restricted from traveling due to insufficient cultivation. Only after reaching Core Formation was this gradually relaxed.
“Then you should know that missing this kind of occasion will make the Grand Elder angry, right?” Mo Qingxue took Han Xiangjun’s hand and tried to persuade her.
“…” Han Xiangjun fell into silence and internal struggle.
“I give up on you.” Mo Qingxue took out a spirit brush from her storage ring and quickly wrote several large characters: Heal, Cure, Joy.
These large characters glowed faintly as they flowed into Han Xiangjun’s body, and the melancholy emotions on her quickly swept away completely.
“I feel much better.” Han Xiangjun said in surprise: “Has your cultivation advanced again? Late Core Formation?”
“Just a stroke of luck.” Mo Qingxue pulled Han Xiangjun toward the Weiyang Hall: “The demonic path has started becoming rampant again recently. The elders of the Heavenly Pole Sword Sect and Scholarly Heart Heavenly Sect are preparing to cooperate. We juniors are just going to show our faces. It doesn’t really concern us much.”
The demonic path’s troublesome ones were generally great cultivators at the Spirit Transformation stage and above. Young generation cultivators at most took on demon-purging missions, dealing with Foundation Establishment or Core Formation stage demonic cultivators, which wouldn’t be too much trouble.
“We’ll show our faces at Weiyang Hall later, then we can leave.” Mo Qingxue comforted Han Xiangjun: “Then you can tell me who bullied you, and I’ll help you figure something out.”
Little Junior Sister beside them let out a long sigh of relief: “Phew, thank goodness Senior Sister Mo helped. Being caught in the middle was too uncomfortable.”
—But is that the Scholarly Heart Heavenly Sect’s [Literature as Martial Arts]? It looks really impressive.
18. Rich Ladies’ Boudoir Secrets
After returning from Weiyang Hall, Han Xiangjun and Mo Qingxue chatted in their room.
Han Xiangjun was pacing back and forth anxiously by the bed, while Mo Qingxue lay on a rocking chair hugging a pillow.
“It sounds like nothing really happened between you and that Lin Dongming? Why are you so angry at him?” Mo Qingxue said after listening to Han Xiangjun’s complaints.
“But without him around, there’s no one to cook for me, no one to drive away people who bother me, and no one to speak up for me or take the blame in front of the elders.”
Mo Qingxue was somewhat stunned after hearing this: “What else did he help you with?”
“Mm, there’s more.” Han Xiangjun counted on her fingers: “Helped me cultivate, sparred with me, made spiritual meals for me, helped me fight, ran errands and did tasks for me, oh and he knows a bit of alchemy too!”
Mo Qingxue’s expression was now shocked beyond belief: “Wait, sister, is he some kind of universal butler? He can do everything? You’ve never even held hands with him and of course he’s going to leave! Rather, it’s already remarkable that he could persist in simping for you for several years. If you wanted to hire such a universal butler outside, it would cost at least tens of thousands of spirit stones per month.”
Han Xiangjun said helplessly: “I know I’ve wronged him, so I usually try to give him more spirit stones. That’s why I feel so unaccustomed to him not being around.”
“Especially since he went to simp for your rival Bai Zhiqing, that makes you even more unhappy, right?” Mo Qingxue raised an eyebrow.
“Exactly. Extremely unhappy.” Han Xiangjun said angrily: “So infuriating! This young miss wasn’t bad to him either! That Bai Zhiqing doesn’t look much better either!”
Mo Qingxue thought for a moment: “This anger definitely needs to be vented, we can’t let our Xiangjun be bullied for nothing, right?”
“But,” Mo Qingxue paused, then said: “Xiangjun, do you… like him?”
Han Xiangjun was stunned: “Ah? This… probably doesn’t count as liking.”
Mo Qingxue sighed: “I thought so. You’ve been treating him a bit too much like a tool. Even giving him lots of spirit stones is still somewhat…”
“Oh well.” Mo Qingxue shrugged: “Then don’t delay him. Vent your anger if you need to, but after venting don’t go looking for him anymore. Maybe he and your Junior Sister Bai are a good match.”
Han Xiangjun was both angry and annoyed: “Mo Qingxue! Whose side are you on anyway!”
“Calm down, calm down,” Mo Qingxue stood up and hugged Han Xiangjun’s soft, fragrant body from behind: “I’m definitely on Xiangjun’s side. But since you weren’t planning to be with him, you shouldn’t have accepted all that devotion, wasting several years of his time.”
“…You’re right.” Despite her anger, Han Xiangjun could still recognize reason: “It’s just when you say it like that, I feel inexplicably uncomfortable.”
Mo Qingxue nuzzled her delicate cheek with some confusion: “…You wouldn’t actually be interested in him, would you?”
Han Xiangjun shook her head: “How could that be? Mother wouldn’t agree. He’s not even a core disciple.”
Mo Qingxue lifted Han Xiangjun’s chin: “Wow, you’re already considering the Grand Elder’s opinion.”
“I already said it’s not like that,” Han Xiangjun said with feigned anger: “Didn’t I tell you what type I like?”
“I know, I know,” Mo Qingxue helplessly spread her hands: “A peerless hero. The kind that rides on seven-colored clouds. Whose sword can shatter the long sky and whose feet can break the earth, right?”
“Exactly.” Han Xiangjun said: “Actually Lin Dongming looks quite good, pretty refined and scholarly. His swordsmanship is decent too, and he knows various cultivation arts. But he’s nothing like a peerless hero at all.”
“What about Senior Brother Yuan Jianyi then? He’s more like a peerless hero, right? His swordsmanship has few rivals in all of Eastern Domain Cangzhou, among peers of course.” Mo Qingxue mentioned casually.
“Don’t mention him.” Han Xiangjun said: “He’s useless at everything except swordsmanship. And he’s particularly arrogant. He thinks everything belongs to him—that Heavenly Sword Peak will be his, that the Heavenly Pole Sword Sect will be his, even that I will be his. This kind of person never really considers others’ feelings, arrogant and proud of his talents. Many elders don’t like him either.”
“But the Heavenly Pole Sword Sect’s reputation still depends on him to maintain.” Mo Qingxue said: “Your relationship with the Azure Sea Blade Sect isn’t good lately, right? Every so often there are either competitions or they come to provoke you, and it’s all up to Senior Brother Yuan Jianyi to beat them back.”
The talent pipeline gap between the Heavenly Pole Sword Sect and Azure Sea Blade Sect was quite large.
On the Heavenly Pole Sword Sect side, Yuan Jianyi had a cliff-like lead, while the following Han Xiangjun, Bai Zhiqing and others all had considerable gaps. But the Azure Sea Blade Sect’s side was much more even. Their leader Qin Feng was slightly inferior to Yuan Jianyi, but their second and third ranked were both somewhat stronger than Han Xiangjun, forming a neat pyramid-shaped talent pipeline.
In other words, if not for Yuan Jianyi, this generation of Heavenly Pole Sword Sect disciples would probably be unable to hold their heads up in front of the Azure Sea Blade Sect.
“He just relies on this to swagger around the sect.” Han Xiangjun said: “Let’s not talk about him. The Grand Elder also said we need to spar with you all this time, to prepare for the competition with the Azure Sea Blade Sect.”
Mo Qingxue also smiled bitterly: “I don’t want to mention this either. If it wasn’t for the sect master insisting on this, do you think I’d want to compete with Yuan Jianyi? I can’t beat him anyway, it’s just demoralizing. Compared to that, you facing my junior sister is much better.”
This was the current state of the Heavenly Pole Sword Sect. Many people disliked Yuan Jianyi, but there were few peers in all of Cangzhou who could match him, so many people depended on him too.
“Let’s not talk about him.” Han Xiangjun said: “Tonight we should be able to see the thunder dragon’s night tour. I’ll take you to see it. It’s very beautiful, and helpful for cultivation too.”
“You mean the Thunder Dragon Xuanlei you mentioned before?” Mo Qingxue said: “Is it okay? Taking me, someone from the Scholarly Heart Heavenly Sect, to see it.”
“It’s fine, it’s fine, you’re not from the Azure Sea Blade Sect.” Han Xiangjun didn’t mind: “Your sect master and our sect master have a good relationship too, they won’t mind.”
“Then I’ll respectfully accept your kind offer.” Mo Qingxue curved her lips in a gentle smile.
At the same time, that night was also when Bai Zhiqing planned to absorb thunder essence.
Bai Zhiqing discovered that Lin Dongming’s two-tailed demon cat was quite spirited and not afraid of strangers at all. As soon as she returned to her room, it came over to rub against her feet, and when sleeping it would come rub against her face. Its entire body was fluffy and very comfortable to touch.
She had helped other sisters care for spirit cats before. Some wouldn’t let you hold them and you had to use force to forcibly embrace them. Others were even worse—either running parkour in the house in the middle of the night knocking over everything, or suddenly doing a backflip and stomping hard on your stomach when you were lying down, nearly making you vomit up your previous dinner. Some could even relieve themselves on your bed, with such a strong smell it made you question life.
Compared to those, this cat was simply an angel cat. So well-behaved she wanted to steal it and keep it forever.
Lin Dongming naturally didn’t know Bai Zhiqing’s thoughts, or he’d probably be happy to give her the cat to raise. He was just following their agreement, preparing to protect her while she absorbed thunder.
19. Bai Zhiqing Absorbs Thunder
That night, Mo Qingxue and Han Xiangjun flew toward an ancient spring somewhere on Heavenly Sword Mountain.
“Not bad, the spiritual power is indeed abundant. Comparable to the Scholarly Heart Heavenly Sect’s spirit-gathering formation.” Mo Qingxue said: “Maybe I should cultivate here for a while too.”
She sat cross-legged and began regulating her breathing.
“Qingxue is too diligent.” Han Xiangjun complained while meditating: “Didn’t you always say you never seriously cultivated before? Actually you probably cultivate more diligently than anyone, right?”
“Can’t help it, who told me I’m the senior sister?” Mo Qingxue said helplessly: “I don’t have a senior brother like Yuan Jianyi to carry the load above me. Now my strength not only can’t compare to Yuan Jianyi, it’s even somewhat lacking compared to the Azure Sea Blade Sect’s Qin Feng. The elder who teaches us always says we’re the worst batch he’s ever taught.”
“And you still always say you don’t cultivate?” Han Xiangjun rolled her eyes at her irritably.
“Can’t help it, the Scholarly Heart Heavenly Sect’s atmosphere is like that. They take pride in never cultivating but still being far ahead. But where are there so many geniuses who can lead without cultivating? So most people are still desperately cultivating in secret.” Mo Qingxue harshly criticized: “They’re all hypocrites. They always say they don’t cultivate, then desperately cultivate in secret hoping to get a good ranking in sect competitions, then smugly say ‘sorry, I accidentally got first place again.’”
Han Xiangjun’s mouth twitched: “I always feel like our Heavenly Pole Sword Sect has quite a few people like that too.”
This blessed land was indeed a blessed land. Han Xiangjun’s cultivation progress was indeed much faster because of it. Today was especially smooth—her spiritual power circulated through several cycles in her body without any feeling of fatigue.
—This is unusually smooth… and my spiritual power hasn’t reached its peak yet.
Han Xiangjun felt the spiritual power in her body gradually surging upward, gradually giving her a feeling of exceeding her usual limits. This feeling was very familiar to her.
“Thunder Dragon Xuanlei! It’s really here!” Han Xiangjun looked up and indeed saw the thunder dragon had caused spiritual power fluctuations around them, giving her a push.
“So beautiful! Is this the Integration stage thunder dragon’s true form? It’s as big as a small mountain.” Mo Qingxue was also amazed by the thunder dragon’s magnificence. She could even see the scales glittering under the lightning: “Xiangjun, shall we chase after it to get a better look?”
“No, you go ahead.” Han Xiangjun said: “I suddenly feel my cultivation is very smooth. I might be able to break through to late Core Formation in one go.”
“Really?” Mo Qingxue was somewhat delighted: “Then I’ll go by myself. Be careful.”
Before leaving, Mo Qingxue took out her spirit brush and wrote several characters in the air one after another, hoping to help Han Xiangjun.
[Advance] [Guard] [Protect] [Calm]—one large character after another fell into Han Xiangjun’s body or surroundings, forming a small barrier.
Then she rode the wind upward, chasing in the thunder dragon’s direction.
After passing through several cloud layers, two figures appeared in her field of view.
It was Bai Zhiqing and Lin Dongming.
She saw Bai Zhiqing carefully approaching the thunder dragon, with streaks of thunder essence passing by her, extremely dangerous.
—What are they trying to do? That’s Integration stage thunder essence! Let alone Core Formation stage, even Nascent Soul stage cultivators might lose their lives if they touch it.
Mo Qingxue was very surprised. For Thunder Dragon Xuanlei, night touring was just following his whims, and the thunder essence was just his spiritual energy overflowing as a byproduct. But the huge realm gap made his thunder essence extremely lethal to cultivators below Spirit Transformation stage, especially since dragon clans were naturally gifted. Though only Integration stage, his actual combat power should be at half-step Tribulation Transcendence.
Bai Zhiqing imitated Lin Dongming’s method from that day, layering as many shields as possible on herself and wearing her strongest defensive robes before trying to approach the weakest thunder essence.
“Junior Sister Bai… cultivation doesn’t necessarily require taking such great risks. Especially for you, there are many safe alternatives. Why not try other methods?”
“No,” Bai Zhiqing firmly shook her head: “It must be this way. I don’t want to wait that long, and I don’t like being powerless.”
She reached out her hand toward the weakest thunder essence.
A clear dragon roar came.
“Ah?” Bai Zhiqing was stunned, discovering the thunder essence before her had changed direction. She didn’t touch the weakest thunder essence, but instead a thick thunder essence nearby collided with her, and Bai Zhiqing could no longer dodge in time.
“This is bad!” Lin Dongming quickly flew over trying to knock her away, but it was too late.
The dozen-plus layers of magical shields in front of Bai Zhiqing were split like paper, and even her robes that could resist Nascent Soul stage attacks were charred black by the electricity.
“Damn it, this thunder essence’s power exceeds Core Formation stage!” Lin Dongming didn’t think twice, directly forming hand seals and grabbing Bai Zhiqing, drawing the thunder tribulation from her body to his own.
—You better not die. Otherwise my two hundred thousand spirit stones per month will be gone!
The violent electrical current ran wild through Bai Zhiqing’s body, almost destroying her physical form cultivated over many years. Though her talent was decent, she wasn’t a body cultivator after all, so her physical strength wasn’t outstanding. Fortunately Lin Dongming pulled in time, and the electrical current on her body immediately weakened by more than half.
Even so, both were still injured by the electricity. Bai Zhiqing couldn’t even control her spiritual power and fell from midair.
“Damn! Are you okay!” Lin Dongming was angry enough to curse, not knowing what had gotten into the thunder dragon to suddenly roar and surge with spiritual power.
He grabbed Bai Zhiqing but was nearly dragged down from midair. Fortunately his daily cultivation was diligent and his willpower exceptionally firm, so he managed to stabilize his spiritual power.
“Wake up!” Lin Dongming took out a high-grade healing talisman and stuck it on Bai Zhiqing, then stuffed several Essence Nourishing Pills he’d obtained earlier into her mouth like they cost nothing.
“This is a huge loss.” Lin Dongming muttered: “You better earn it back for me.”
He hadn’t had time to check his own injuries yet and cast another healing spell on Bai Zhiqing. Only after her breathing stabilized did he breathe a sigh of relief.
“…This young miss is really troublesome.” Lin Dongming let out a long breath.
Thunder exploded again in the sky. Lin Dongming reflexively looked up and saw Thunder Dragon Xuanlei had left the protective sect barrier, letting out clear dragon roars. Brilliant lightning burst from his body with power completely incomparable to before—even Integration stage cultivators would probably have to retreat.
“…There’s only one situation where Thunder Dragon Xuanlei would make such a commotion.” Lin Dongming gritted his teeth: “Enemies outside.”
He’d probably sensed something wrong with the surroundings earlier, so he changed course and roared in warning. After truly confirming enemies existed, he entered combat mode.
“!?” A black light shot toward Lin Dongming. He reacted quickly, deflecting the black light with his sword, producing a clear ring of metal striking metal.
“Who!?” Lin Dongming shouted coldly.
20. Demonic Traces
Lin Dongming looked carefully and saw it was a black small sword that dissolved into smoke and dust after hitting the ground.
At the same time, a graceful figure fell from the sky, clearly having failed to completely avoid the sneak attack.
“…Purple clothes and white shirt, you’re from the Scholarly Heart Heavenly Sect?” Lin Dongming caught Mo Qingxue in one arm, noticing she still had some thunder power on her.
“I see, they used thunder essence to attack.” Lin Dongming glanced at the black figure in midair, who had quite a few of Thunder Dragon Xuanlei’s thunder essences floating around him.
Because of his thunder-absorbing cultivation, Lin Dongming’s research into thunder techniques had also improved. A modified version of his healing spell quickly restored Mo Qingxue’s mobility.
“How embarrassing.” After Mo Qingxue landed, she could barely move, clearly not as severely injured as Bai Zhiqing.
The feeling of soft jade in his arms just now was still quite memorable, but now obviously wasn’t the time for romance. Lin Dongming frowned: “Fellow daoist, you should be late Core Formation, right? How much strength can you still display?”
Mo Qingxue saw that even heavily injured, he remained very calm facing a strong enemy, and couldn’t help but secretly admire him: “Unfortunately, probably half at best.”
She’d just been simultaneously ambushed by countless hidden weapons, then crashed into thunder essence left by Thunder Dragon Xuanlei.
If she hadn’t seen Lin Dongming and Bai Zhiqing get badly electrocuted and been prepared, she’d probably be lying on the ground like Bai Zhiqing right now.
“The opponent is late Core Formation. Probably our chances tonight are grim.” A fifty percent strength late Core Formation stage cultivator plus a less than fifty percent strength early Core Formation cultivator trying to fight a full-strength Core Formation perfect stage—just thinking about it made Lin Dongming’s scalp tingle.
“Call for backup!” Mo Qingxue swept her long sleeve, and brilliant light flew from her sleeve, but before it could explode in the air, it was destroyed by black small swords and disappeared in the wind.
“Useless.” Lin Dongming shook his head, taking a sword-drawing stance: “The opponent probably won’t even give you time to write. I’ll hold the front, you look for opportunities to attack.”
Mo Qingxue was stunned: “But is it okay? Can your heavily injured body withstand his attacks?”
Core Formation perfect and Core Formation initial were at least two small realms apart.
“It’s fine, this isn’t my first time encountering thunder essence. My body has somewhat adapted.” Lin Dongming guarded beside Mo Qingxue, casually slashing out a sword wind.
“Overestimating yourself.” The black-clothed person’s black small swords in front of him quickly split into thousands of weapons, shooting toward the two like rain.
“Tch.” Lin Dongming snorted coldly, his long sword dancing extremely fast, managing to defend a small area in front of Mo Qingxue without a single gap.
—Good swordsmanship. Seems he wasn’t just talking. His original strength probably isn’t much weaker than Xiangjun’s.
While Mo Qingxue marveled, her hands weren’t idle either. She quickly wrote a “slash” character with her brush, turning it into sword qi that shot toward the black-clothed person.
But the sword qi didn’t fly far before being worn down by the incoming sheets of black small swords.
“What impressive methods.” Mo Qingxue popped an Essence Nourishing Pill into her mouth: “In that case! Try this!”
She casually wrote a [Bind] character, shooting it toward the black-clothed person. But this time the bind character flew for even less time before hitting another sheet of black small swords.
However, the bind character didn’t get quickly worn down like the slash character. Instead, it transformed into golden ropes that tied up many of the black small swords, then continued flying toward the black-clothed person.
Like a golden net spreading across the sky.
“Interesting.” The black-clothed person gripped the black small sword’s main body in his right hand, slashing toward the golden net. The net stretched extremely long upon contact with the sword edge, but ultimately broke under the black small sword.
“Worthy of the Scholarly Heart Heavenly Sect…” Before he finished speaking, a figure dropped from the full moon, brilliant sword light shattering the darkness.
“Bastard!” The black-clothed person hurriedly raised his black small sword to block, sparks flying from the blade.
Lin Dongming curved his lips.
Another sword light came from nowhere, slashing across the black-clothed person’s chest.
“!?” The black-clothed person’s form explosively retreated, but from neck to waist he still bore a deep bloody wound, shocking to see.
If he’d retreated one step later, he’d probably be separated from his head by now.
“…Truly impressive.” The black-clothed person sighed: “So you use twin swords, that was quite a performance just now.”
Lin Dongming landed beside Mo Qingxue, sighing regretfully: “What a pity. Just a bit short.”
Mo Qingxue was extremely shocked: “…Were you really injured?”
That sword’s speed and decisiveness just now, the judgment of timing, the subtlety of the second sword—it didn’t seem like something an injured person could execute at all. If that was his injured level, then Lin Dongming at full strength wouldn’t have given the opponent any chance to escape.
“Of course I’m injured.” Lin Dongming rolled up his sleeve, showing the charred fabric and wounds still slightly seeping blood: “Otherwise what do you think this is?”
Mo Qingxue was dumbfounded: “Those are serious injuries.”
“Obviously.” Lin Dongming complained: “Otherwise I wouldn’t be getting pressed by such a small demon.”
“Oh right,” Lin Dongming seemed to suddenly remember something: “Help me keep the twin swords secret. I’m counting on it to win in the sect competition.”
“…Alright.” Mo Qingxue sighed. After all, in her view, this kind of surprise attack was fine against the demonic path, but using it against the righteous path and fellow disciples seemed somewhat underhanded and cunning.
“Your duel was truly spectacular. I didn’t expect such performance even while injured.” The black-clothed person lightly clapped: “If not for the divide between righteous and demonic paths, I’d really like to invite you both to visit my Blissful Union Sect.”
The black-clothed person paused: “No, even with the divide between righteous and demonic paths, you’re both welcome to visit the Blissful Union Sect. I’ll personally host you.”
Lin Dongming sneered: “Come on, hiding your identity is one thing, but now you’re even lying about your sect affiliation?”
The black-clothed person became interested: “Oh? Why does fellow daoist think I’m lying?”
“Your black sword.” Lin Dongming raised his chin: “It’s infused with Soul Devouring Valley’s Blood-Drinking Soul-Devouring Great Technique, which can simultaneously absorb blood and spiritual power. Blissful Union Sect people don’t know this move.”
“Oh? Fellow daoist seems quite knowledgeable about both Soul Devouring Valley and Blissful Union Sect. Could you also be from our demonic path?” The black-clothed person became interested.
Mo Qingxue looked over with some confusion as well.
Lin Dongming rolled his eyes: “Useless at everything else, but first-rate at making false accusations. The righteous and demonic paths have been fighting for so many years—if we didn’t even have this level of understanding, we’d probably have been ground to dust by you demons long ago.”
“Hahahaha!”