Before seeing Bai Yueli with her own eyes, Fu Yan had always thought the descriptions in the original novel were way too exaggerated. Now, however, she had no choice but to admit they were true.
This heroine, Bai Yueli, really was so beautiful it made one’s heart skip a beat—especially that cool, pure aura about her. It truly fit that line from the book: “As bright and spotless as the moon itself.”
By the time Fu Yan slowly came back to herself in the corner, Bai Yueli had already stepped onto the dueling platform. She lifted her eyes to look at her opponent—Yu Heng—and gave the slightest nod as greeting, her face still utterly calm, without a trace of extra expression.
“Junior Sister Yueli.”
Yu Heng smiled as he greeted her.
Although he had been firmly suppressed by Bai Yueli for the past two years and constantly dreamed of taking first place in the inner sect rankings from her, staring at the cold, white-robed beauty before him, he still felt his very soul being hooked.
But he wasn’t in a hurry. Bai Yueli would be his sooner or later.
Thinking of this, a hint of lust flickered through the warmth of Yu Heng’s gaze. He could already picture Bai Yueli beneath him; that flavor would no doubt be bone-meltingly intoxicating.
“We haven’t seen each other in two months. Junior Sister Yueli’s strength has surely grown even greater. There’s only a little over a month before the inner sect ranking tournament. Let’s just have a light spar today.”
Yu Heng smiled easily as he looked at Bai Yueli across from him and spoke.
Bai Yueli nodded, still showing no extra emotion. She only said coolly:
“Let’s begin.”
Yu Heng really disliked that look of hers, as if she didn’t take him seriously at all. He was at the late Kaiguang stage now as well and naturally wanted to defeat her completely—but none of that showed on his face.
“Then I must ask Junior Sister Yueli for your guidance.”
With the bearing of a refined young lord, Yu Heng cupped his hands politely to Bai Yueli.
Bai Yueli replied:
“Please.”
Outside the platform, everyone in the stands unconsciously straightened, spirits rising. They had been waiting for this battle for a long time.
“It’s starting, it’s starting!”
The moment someone shouted excitedly, the two who had just been exchanging such courteous words on the platform moved almost at the same time.
Yu Heng struck first. His palm shot straight toward the snow-white beauty across from him, only for Bai Yueli to dodge lightly, leaving behind nothing but a faint afterimage in place.
Within a single breath, Yu Heng spun and punched out, but in the end only sent dust spraying up from the floor.
Bai Yueli was like a ghost on the platform, her speed so great that all anyone could see was a trail of white afterimages.
“Heavens, how can Senior Sister Bai Yueli be this fast? I can’t even tell where her real body is—there’s only a blur of shadows.”
“Same here… No wonder she’s Senior Sister Bai; she’s terrifying. At that speed, if it were me, I probably wouldn’t even last one move.”
Fu Yan watched the scene on the platform, not particularly surprised, but her gaze burned hotter. This was what it meant for geniuses to clash. Her own strength, in front of them, wasn’t even worth mentioning.
“Looks like Junior Sister Yueli’s lightness skill has gotten even faster.”
Although Yu Heng had struck at empty air, he wasn’t particularly disappointed. He knew Bai Yueli was never easy to deal with. He just hadn’t expected her movement technique to have reached such a flawless level.
He hadn’t even had the chance to brush the hem of her robes.
Bai Yueli said calmly:
“Senior Brother Yu flatters me.”
Yu Heng’s smile remained, but his gentle gaze suddenly turned serious. With a twist of his body, he drew the soft sword at his waist. Holding the sword in one hand, his true yuan suddenly surged outward in a violent rush.
The long soft sword was like a traceless white serpent—flickering, ghostly, dazzling enough to make the audience’s eyes blur.
In a flash, Yu Heng’s figure closed in on Bai Yueli. The soft sword in his hand looked as if it would pierce straight through her waist in the very next instant.
Bai Yueli’s face was still unruffled. She could have dodged as easily as before, but this was a spar. If she just kept evading, that would defeat the purpose.
The next second, she reversed her grip on her Yueyao Sword. Not only did she directly block the soft sword’s strike, she followed along its path and successfully deflected its tip away.
Soft swords were notoriously impossible to guard against or evade—because they could freely bend and change direction, just like a snake, able to whip back at any moment and bite you without warning.
Yet that soft sword’s rhythm had been completely disrupted by Bai Yueli.
Yu Heng didn’t dare be careless. He released the hilt outright, spinning in midair with a rapid three-hundred-and-sixty-degree turn. At the same time, the soft sword resting against the tip of Bai Yueli’s Yueyao Sword spun just as quickly, then fell neatly back into Yu Heng’s own hand.
Bai Yueli, forced by the blazing sword aura, had to twist and lean back, her entire body arching slightly away.
Seeing this, Yu Heng of course wouldn’t let such a good chance slip by. While Bai Yueli had yet to fully regain her footing, he exploded his true yuan again, his toes tapping the ground lightly like a dragonfly skimming water as he circled behind her and slammed a palm out.
“Heavens, isn’t Senior Sister Bai Yueli in a bit of trouble?”
“Shh, don’t talk, I don’t even dare breathe. But… have you noticed? Senior Sister still hasn’t actually drawn her Yueyao Sword.”
As that voice fell, Bai Yueli on the platform suddenly reversed her grip and stabbed the Yueyao Sword straight into the floor. Using the hilt as a pivot, she flipped her entire body up in one smooth motion.
Then, just as Yu Heng’s palm slammed out, Bai Yueli had already flipped behind him. She didn’t hesitate in the slightest and struck back with a palm of her own.
Yu Heng no longer had time to dodge. He could only urgently circulate his true yuan for protection. In an instant, a violent blast of energy erupted between them, sending dust billowing in all directions. Through the haze, the spectators could only make out two blurred white figures.
“Junior Sister Yueli really is as fierce as ever. Then take another of my sword strikes!”
Yu Heng clearly had no intention of dragging this out exchange by exchange. His entire body’s true yuan suddenly condensed.
“Serpent Shadow Splits Bamboo!”
At once, an oppressive pressure swept across the entire dueling platform. As the flying dust finally settled, Yu Heng leaped into the air. A terrifying blade of sword light rose with him, shooting straight up as if to dye the entire sky white.
Feeling the horror of that strike, the inner sect disciples below couldn’t help showing looks of fear.
“What sword art is this? I can feel that terrifying aura from here. This sword is insane. Looks like Senior Sister Bai will have to go all out.”
“If you ask me, this sword art should be high-tier Human-rank.”
“High-tier Human-rank sword art? No wonder it’s so terrifying. If it were me, I wouldn’t even have the power to fight back. I’d just have to wait for death.”
In this world, all cultivation methods and martial skills were divided into ranks: Human, Earth, and Heaven. Each rank was further split into low-tier, mid-tier, and high-tier.
The most common were low and mid-tier Human-rank techniques. High-tier ones were already extremely rare. As for Earth-rank, an entire sect might only have a single manual. Heaven-rank was a legendary pinnacle—there might not be a single copy in the entire Minbei Region.
This strike of Yu Heng’s really was frightening. Thinking of the Thunderclap Sword that Liu Chuanhan had used that day, Fu Yan couldn’t help but shake her head. Faced with Yu Heng right now, she would probably have only one outcome—death.
She was still far too weak. She had to raise her cultivation level as soon as possible.
Fu Yan looked at Yu Heng’s sword on the stage, surprised but not shocked. After all, he was the only son of the Shui Ling Sect’s sect master and likely the future heir to the sect. The techniques he cultivated would naturally be among the very best.
For some reason, Fu Yan still felt that Bai Yueli would win, even though things didn’t look favorable for her at the moment—and this was only a spar, after all.
Fu Yan was sure both Yu Heng and Bai Yueli had their own trump cards. But in this kind of spar, if you casually revealed your trump card, there was no point.
However, Fu Yan clearly didn’t have more time to keep thinking about it, because Bai Yueli on the platform finally reached out and drew the Yueyao Sword.
Her right hand lightly pinched the hilt. Facing Yu Heng’s terrifying sword, she naturally did not dare be careless and could only use her strongest sword art—the third layer of the Water Lotus Sword Art.
“Lotus Blooms With Every Step.”
The next moment, Yu Heng descended from midair with his unstoppable sword, attacking straight toward her. Bai Yueli also leaped up, her white skirts fluttering in the wind. Sword in hand, she met him head-on, step for step.
Two streaks of sword light collided fiercely in midair. Sword aura exploded outward in a blinding flash that forced the audience to raise their sleeves to shield their eyes.
As the booming echoes in the air slowly faded, the two figures within that white radiance finally appeared again. Both stood straight on the dueling platform.
“They… actually tied?”
Someone cried out, and in an instant, the previously silent stands erupted into heated discussion.
On the platform, however, Yu Heng’s face looked rather unpleasant. It wasn’t because he was injured, but because he had actually only managed to reach a draw with Bai Yueli.
They were both at the late Kaiguang stage, but his sword art was high-tier Human-rank, whereas Bai Yueli’s was only mid-tier Human-rank—yet the result was still a tie.
He found that hard to accept.
So this was the power of a Pure Yin constitution? Yu Heng’s gaze fell on Bai Yueli, his eyes turning dark and unreadable.
The spar ended there. Though both of them clearly had hidden strength left, with the ranking tournament just around the corner, this was already the best possible outcome.
Since the match had concluded, Fu Yan had no reason to stay any longer. While everyone else was still immersed in the shock of what they’d just witnessed, Fu Yan stood up in her corner.
But just as she turned to leave, something suddenly flashed through her mind. In that instant, Fu Yan’s face filled with disbelief, and she snapped her head back.
Her eyes locked tightly onto the Yueyao Sword in Bai Yueli’s hand.
Why did that sword feel so familiar?
It was as if she’d seen it somewhere very recently.
