The Crystal Blade

“You’re not defending your own arena today, yet you’ve come to watch me defend mine. What’s the meaning of this?”

Clad in her dark scale armor, Chi Qiu had just stepped out when she noticed Su Hanxing wasn’t heading in his usual direction. Instead, he was following close behind her. Seeing this, Chi Qiu had asked out of curiosity. Su Hanxing, however, had explained that he intended to watch her fight from the spectator stands today, which prompted her initial question.

“Otherwise, Little Chi, what do you think I fought three consecutive battles for three days ago? Wasn’t it precisely so I could be here to watch you compete?” Su Hanxing replied with a smile, following Chi Qiu with an air of profound leisure. He seemed utterly at ease.

“If you wish to watch, then watch.” Chi Qiu raised an eyebrow, then said no more, walking directly towards the arena.

“I’ll be cheering for you from below, Little Chi.” Su Hanxing chuckled.

Chi Qiu offered no reply, simply continuing her steady pace toward the fighting grounds.

The arena was a sea of people, yet a vast section of it was uniformly filled with cultivators clad in white robes emblazoned with golden sword patterns. Each of them carried a longsword on their back, and their entire being exuded an incredibly sharp aura. Should a cultivator attempt to probe this area with their divine sense, they might well mistake the figures before them not for people, but for countless gleaming, razor-sharp blades.

Chi Qiu stood firm on the arena stage, her body wreathed in dark energy. The scale armor she wore seemed to sense the solemn atmosphere of the platform; its individual scales slowly rose and fell, exhaling a deep, inky black malevolent aura.

On the opposite side of the arena, a young cultivator, dressed in a long robe interwoven with white and gold, slowly ascended the stage. He appeared remarkably youthful, his face suggesting he was only slightly older than Chi Qiu, perhaps around twenty years of age. This was none other than Ye Shi of Myriad Sword Villa.

Despite his youthful appearance, Chi Qiu knew that he was actually over forty. Ye Shi had already made a name for himself more than a decade ago, widely regarded as the most likely candidate to become the next Manor Lord of the Array Sword Manor. Myriad Sword Villa was an immense organization, housing six great sword manors within its gates. Array Sword Manor was one of them, specializing in sword formations and renowned for its mastery over countless flying swords.

All this information about Ye Shi had been relayed to Chi Qiu by Su Hanxing. The two stood opposite each other on the stage, their gazes meeting across the distance, yet no words were exchanged. The surrounding audience gradually quieted. Su Hanxing sat in the front row of the spectator stands, close to Chi Qiu’s side of the platform, a confident expression on his face.

“Challenger: Ye Shi of Myriad Sword Villa! Defender: Chi Qiu!”

The black-robed middle-aged man, standing at the center of the platform, clapped his hands together. “The battle begins!”

The moment the bell chimed, Chi Qiu made her move. The crevices of her scale armor erupted with a torrent of true qi, interwoven with wisps of Dao energy. This quickly coalesced into a colossal blue-black palm print, which she then launched towards Ye Shi. After such a long period of integration, Chi Qiu could now fully control the black scale armor, a spiritual treasure she wore. Whether for offense or defense, she wielded it with the same effortless precision as an extension of her own arm.

Ye Shi lifted his gaze to the rapidly approaching blue-black palm print. With a flick of his hand, a brilliant azure glow flashed forth, effortlessly piercing through the massive palm print.

What was that?

Chi Qiu was slightly taken aback to see her palm print so easily shattered. She focused her mind, meticulously observing the azure glow, yet could discern nothing remarkable about it. A continuous whistling rent the air. The azure glow moved with such incredible speed that both Chi Qiu and the entire audience found their eyes dizzied, unable to pinpoint its true location.

Suddenly, a streak of blue light flashed past. Chi Qiu’s hairs immediately stood on end. Her feet moved, and she instantly darted to the right, simultaneously activating her true qi to envelop her body in a protective shield.

Clang!

A metallic clash rang out. Chi Qiu felt an incredibly strong force push against her left shoulder, and then realized that the true qi and surging lightning covering it were slowly being cut through. A jolt of alarm ran through Chi Qiu. Not only could this azure glow cut through true qi, but it could even slice through surging lightning—a phenomenon she had never encountered before.

Chi Qiu immediately struck out with her palm, infusing it with several of the powers she commanded. Judging by the sensation on her right shoulder just now, the force behind this azure glow wasn’t particularly strong, so Chi Qiu intended to simply swat it away.

With a sharp shiiiing—, Chi Qiu felt a chill spread through her palm. Then, she witnessed the azure glow take a heavy blow, sent flying backward to hover in mid-air not far away.

It was only then that Chi Qiu, along with everyone in the spectator stands, finally saw what this azure glow truly was. It was, astonishingly, a brilliant azure, transparent flying sword, seemingly crafted from crystal. Yet, it wasn’t a complete sword; its hilt was mysteriously gone, leaving only half a blade suspended in the air.

No wonder this flying sword is so incredibly fast; it’s merely a blade fragment then…

Chi Qiu felt an inexplicable chill in her palm, yet her eyes remained fixed on the azure blade, unable to spare a glance for her right hand which had struck it away.

Drip, drip.

On the silent arena, the sound of dripping blood suddenly emerged. Chi Qiu felt the inexplicable chill in her right palm gradually fade, replaced by a searing, burning pain.

“My sword isn’t something one can simply touch, you know.”

Ye Shi smiled, his eyebrows sharp as swords, his complexion fair, and his lips red. When he smiled now, he exuded the charm of a dashing young master.

Chi Qiu raised her hand, revealing a wound about an inch long in her right palm. The injury had pierced straight through her hand; Chi Qiu could even see several severed metacarpal bones through the opening in her palm.

“What a sharp sword.” Chi Qiu remarked, her expression unwavering despite the intense pain radiating from her palm. After offering a calm compliment, she lowered her hand, preparing for her next attack.

“The spiritual energy on this sword is astonishing. Even though it’s broken, its grade is at least that of a mid-grade Primordial Spirit Treasure.” A young man in a Tianyan Sect robe, seated beside Su Hanxing, commented as he watched the arena.

“Little Chi can handle it.” Su Hanxing said, his gaze fixed on Chi Qiu’s injured right hand, a slightly unnatural expression on his face.

“I also believe in Senior Sister Chi Qiu.” The young cultivator in the Tianyan Sect robe nodded, though his tone lacked full confidence.

Chi Qiu shook her hand, then channeled her true qi to seal the wound, stopping the bleeding. She looked at Ye Shi with an impassive face, her aura shifting once more. Blood-red lotuses blossomed beneath her feet, releasing a sweet, pungent fragrance. Simultaneously, jade-like white spirit flowers bloomed across Chi Qiu’s body, with true qi and spiritual energy slowly gathering within their pistils.

“Interesting…”

Ye Shi nodded slightly at the sight. Then, with a sweep of his hand, several more azure glows appeared out of thin air, weaving across the arena.

“One, two, three, four… nine! He has nine more flying swords like that?” The cultivator in the Tianyan Sect robe exclaimed in shock.

Witnessing this, Su Hanxing could no longer maintain his calm composure. A worried expression, impossible to conceal, appeared on his face.