Annoyed by her senior brother’s smug, self-satisfied look, Gongsun Lin glared at him with undisguised disdain.
“It was just a single match; you can't tell anything from that,” she said, haughtily turning her head to the side.
Seeing his junior sister acting like this, Su Yi knew better than to keep praising Tantai Yunzhi. Otherwise, that “Adorable Lin Spirit” moniker might crop up a few years ahead of schedule.
“True, it doesn't prove much. But if she grows stronger in the future, wouldn't that make her a great help to you, Junior Sister?”
“What do you mean by that?” Gongsun Lin arched a brow.
“To share the burden of our Eldest Senior Sister, of course! From now on, she'll be your right hand.” Su Yi ruffled Gongsun Lin's hair.
In the original plot, Gongsun Lin had always been stubborn and constantly pushed herself. Later, when Tantai Yunzhi grew into her power, the people around them needed Gongsun Lin less and less, which ultimately caused her mindset to spiral.
Now, Su Yi was going to make her believe that she and Tantai Yunzhi were a team—both indispensable pillars of Divine Might Manor. As for that late-game “it’s either her or me” melodrama? Su Yi was having none of it; he wanted them both!
“Hmph, we'll talk about that once she actually grows up.” Gongsun Lin still looked away haughtily, but Su Yi could clearly see her furrowed brow relaxing.
“Right, right. In the future, your senior brother will be relying on you to manage Divine Might Manor for me.”
“Wh-what nonsense are you spouting?! It’s way too early for that!” Gongsun Lin’s voice dropped to a barely audible murmur, soft as the buzz of a mosquito.
Watching the two of them playfully bickering ahead of her, the newly returned Tantai Yunzhi felt rather out of place.
For now, she still regarded them with a mix of curiosity and confusion.
...
As time passed, an elder on the elevated platform cleared his throat, his booming voice echoing across the immortal terrace. “Silence! The disciple combat trials have concluded. Next, in accordance with tradition, disciples from the four great sects may spar with one another to demonstrate their Dao techniques, allowing our fellow Daoists below and the newly recruited disciples to observe and learn!”
Due to the vast disparity in strength, disciples from the four great sects had not participated in the earlier trials; instead, they sparred among themselves as a demonstration for the others to observe.
This was also one of the main highlights of the Ascendance Gathering: a chance for the four great sects to flex their muscles and attract standout talents to join their ranks.
Before the elder's voice had even faded, a sudden sword hum rang out from the west!
Murong Yue had long been unable to hold back. Her black-and-crimson robes billowed without any wind, and with a sharp buzz, an ancient sword on her back sprang half out of its scabbard. Her chilling sword intent locked straight onto Divine Might Manor's flying boat—or more precisely, onto Su Yi.
“Su Yi! Do you dare come down and fight?!” Murong Yue’s voice was icy, carrying an undisguised thirst for battle.
Seeing her aggressive stance, Gongsun Lin immediately stepped forward, placing herself in front of Su Yi as faint arcs of lightning crackled around her. “Senior Sister Murong, I am also a disciple of Divine Might Manor. If you wish to spar, Gongsun Lin will gladly oblige!”
Shang Shuqing casually flicked open his folding fan. In a blur, his figure shifted, seemingly by accident yet perfectly cutting off any path for Gongsun Lin to intervene. He offered a gentle smile. “Fellow Daoist Gongsun, Junior Sister Murong has harbored this knot in her heart for a long time. This battle concerns the clarity of her sword heart; it is truly improper for outsiders to interfere.”
“Besides, it is merely a friendly spar, stopping before serious harm is done. Young Manor Lord Su surely knows his limits.” Though his words were mild, he had completely blocked Gongsun Lin from interfering, forcing Su Yi to step forward himself.
He was equally curious. Back when Su Yi had barged into the Return to Origin Sect, Shang Shuqing hadn't been present. Now that Murong Yue was actively probing Su Yi, he naturally wouldn't let Gongsun Lin get in the way.
Seeing this, Gongsun Lin could only look toward Ming Xi, hoping she might smooth things over again.
Ming Xi, however, was gently stroking the feathers of her luan bird, looking on with an amused smile. Her golden eyes glittered; she clearly had no intention of stepping in, and was even quite happy to watch the show.
Knowing Ming Xi wouldn't intervene this time, Su Yi patted Gongsun Lin on the shoulder, signaling for her to stay calm.
Without a trace of nervousness on his face, he sighed instead, casually strolling forward. “If I don't fight, Junior Sister Murong will probably hold a grudge against me for the rest of her life. I might as well grant your wish today.”
He had his reasons. The little kid he had playfully teased in the past had turned out to be one of the story's major characters. If he refused again and caused an inner demon to take root in her, derailing the plot, the consequences would far outweigh the trouble.
Opposite him, a cold glint flashed in Murong Yue’s crimson pupils. “Hold a grudge against you for life? You certainly flatter yourself. Today, we will not use cultivation—I challenge you purely in sword technique! I'd like to see if, without your cultivation, your sword is still as ‘sharp-tongued’ as it was back then!”
The moment she spoke, a wave of low gasps and admiring whispers rippled through the crowd below. Suppressing one's cultivation to compete solely on foundational sword techniques was without doubt the ultimate display of pride and confidence for a sword cultivator.
“Fine! Junior Sister Murong is indeed open and upright! Then let it be as you wish—purely sword technique, regardless of cultivation.”
Compared to these individuals single-mindedly devoted to the Dao, Su Yi never considered himself a gentleman. Back when playing the game, he had mostly relied on cheese strategies and exploiting mechanics to clear content, and later relied on stat advantages. Yet Murong Yue was willing to voluntarily forfeit her cultivation advantage.
In that case, he couldn't let an inner demon sprout in her even more. The more fiercely competitive a person was, the stronger their inner demon would become.
Flipping his wrist, a standard green-steel longsword appeared in his grip.
Both of them leapt down onto the martial stage.
“Take this!” Murong Yue wasted no more words. With a sharp cry, her figure shot forward! It was still that same Cloud Piercing Form, but even with her cultivation suppressed to the great perfection of Qi Condensation, the speed, precision, and indomitable sword intent of this thrust far surpassed that of any cultivator in the same realm!
‘So fast!’ Su Yi was inwardly astonished.
His dynamic vision and physical reaction time were actually no better than Murong Yue’s, perhaps even a fraction slower. Yet the moment her shoulder and neck shifted and her spiritual power first coalesced, he had already anticipated her startup animation and trajectory!
This was not mere reflex; it was rooted in an intimate understanding of the wind-up frames for the “skill” known as Ancient Sword Mountain Basic Sword Technique!
Thus, to the onlookers, Su Yi moved at the exact same instant Murong Yue did.
Instead of retreating, he stepped half a pace forward at an angle. The green-steel sword in his hand did not parry; rather, he slashed upward on a diagonal in advance, the tip of his blade aimed squarely at the most fragile “point” where Murong Yue’s strike was on the verge of discharging its force!
Clang!
Parry successful.
Murong Yue’s fiercely razor-sharp thrust was actually knocked off course by Su Yi's seemingly casual, perfectly timed flick. The tip of her blade whizzed past his ear, the draft it kicked up stinging his cheek.
‘With my cultivation regressed, my physical conditioning isn't what it used to be either.’
Her strike having missed, Murong Yue’s posture hitched for a fraction of a second. Just as Su Yi moved to punish this recovery frame, she twisted her supple frame and struck again without a moment's pause. Her sword momentum unfolded like mercury spilling over the ground: Drifting Wind Form, Mountain Cleaving Form, Wave Chasing Form...
Strike followed strike in an unbroken torrent, weaving a web of sword light that engulfed Su Yi.
‘Canceling recovery frames with startup animations—how did I never realize this character was such a dirty player back then?!’
In an instant, Su Yi was forced into an intensely defensive position.
His footwork was far from graceful—in fact, it looked clumsy and flustered. Every single dodge seemed terrifyingly close, as if the sword light might swallow him whole at any moment.
Nor were his blocks effortless. Every time their blades collided, his arm trembled slightly, making it obvious he held no advantage in raw physical strength either.
Yet while he seemed perpetually on the verge of collapse, he always managed at the critical juncture to shift his body by the barest fraction of an inch, or tap the tip or spine of his blade against the most awkward, uncomfortable pivot of Murong Yue’s attack, barely deflecting or dampening her offensive momentum.
Fine beads of sweat broke out across his forehead, and his breathing grew slightly ragged. This was purely a high-intensity battle of wits and mental focus!
He was not relying on speed, but on immaculate anticipation and an encyclopedic mastery of skill cooldowns, wind-ups, and recovery frames.
His brain was working at full throttle, constantly putting himself in her shoes to calculate the cooldowns on Murong Yue's resources—namely, her breath-regulation intervals—along with her most probable next move and optimal angle of attack, reacting a fraction of a second ahead of time. It was utterly exhausting on his mental stamina.
Yet in the eyes of Murong Yue and most of the audience below, Su Yi was merely clinging on through sheer luck and slippery evasiveness; his defeat was only a matter of time.
Rate on N.U.
