"Yes. I haven't drawn my sword in a hundred years. If I unleash it now, even if you're at the Golden Core perfection stage, you'll still lose some flesh."
Jian Huiyin spoke, staring at Tian Zhu, with her hands still on the sword, ready to draw and strike.
Tian Zhu lifted his chin slightly and looked at her.
"Sorry, you don't stand a chance…" he said indifferently, opened his mouth, and spat out a golden orb.
The golden orb glowed crimson, and a vibrant explosion erupted as a sea of flames surged around, flooding the area.
Boom!!
The explosion and sea of flames swallowed Tian Zhu's figure, making him vanish from her sight in an instant.
"You dare!!" she shouted coldly, and her sword began to slide from her waist as an oppressive aura erupted from her, along with a gray, heavy energy emanating from the silver blade emerging from the hilt and bamboo sheath.
But the sword came no further. She couldn't sense where Tian Zhu was within the immense sea of flames that had appeared so suddenly, and his aura had completely vanished from her senses.
She was completely blind to his presence. In normal times, this would be troublesome, but not as much as now—when she had only a single attack and couldn't afford to miss.
Of course, she could attack at random, but if she missed, it would be her defeat.
The flames began to close in, and she quickly retreated, giving no room for approach.
But then, just as her delicate bare feet lifted from the ground and she started flying back, a figure suddenly and extremely swiftly emerged from the earth. He reached out and grabbed both her sword and its sheath, closing the small gap that had been opened.
Jian Huiyin's eyes widened at the sudden presence, but her hands weren't slow at all. As the figure reached for her sheath, she had already abandoned the idea of drawing her sword due to lack of time. Her left hand's index and middle fingers extended straight, exuding a fierce sword aura as she stabbed forward without mercy—as if they were a real sword.
Tian Zhu's right hand, which had gripped the sheath, let go, and was engulfed in a blue flame, blocking the finger sword of Jian Huiyin. The flame trembled violently, showing the strength behind her strike.
As for Tian Zhu's left hand, it wasn't gripping the sword hilt directly, but rather her right hand—the one struggling to draw the sword and end her opponent.
That hand didn't stay idle either, and Tian Zhu's spiritual energy began invading her roots through their physical contact.
"Insolent!" she growled at him, trying to attack again with her left hand, launching kicks, and even forming energy-based strikes. After all, hands weren't the only things that could manipulate energy for attacks.
But as a swordswoman, her greatest strength lay in her sword, and with her primary weapon restrained, she could only summon some backup Founder-Tier swords from her ring and control them in flight to attack, alongside conjuring some energy swords.
However, swords of that quality, combined with the fact that her focus was on resisting his spiritual invasion, stood no chance against Tian Zhu and his synthesized defensive spell.
And him? Was he also losing focus, unable to skillfully defend himself against her attacks?
Aotian couldn't help but chuckle at the thought with his hundreds of minds.
So, as Jian Huiyin gritted her teeth at him, breaking her stoic expression and attacking with everything she could, Tian Zhu calmly focused on the roots in her right arm while his energy poured in.
Her roots were all gray, with a sharp aura, and some complex and natural spiritual energy patterns flowed through them.
'What is this? Her affinity is clearly metal, but those patterns... they don't exist in normal roots! Actually, it reminds me a little of the abilities of my elders when they're activated… how interesting. Could this be a special physique, like the ones I read about in my past life? If so, maybe my avatars don't have abilities in themselves, but rather special physiques? Or is it something else? This is so interesting!'
These thoughts began circling Aotian's mind, and he couldn't help but get excited at seeing such a thing. Though he didn't get any concrete answers, at least he got a hint, and that made him very excited.
As his energy spread through her arm, Jian Huiyin's struggle grew more frantic, and cold sweat began dripping from her forehead.
Tian Zhu's energy couldn't go much farther beyond her arm in a short time, as the closer it got to her core, the harder it became to invade her roots.
But her desperation came from the fact that his energy was already inside her arm. If he chose to, Tian Zhu could implode that energy in her roots and cripple her arm.
So she was doing everything possible to force him back and sever the connection, preventing that from happening.
Unfortunately, Tian Zhu's strength was far greater than hers.
In desperation, she resorted to a dirty move.
Her knee lifted and struck violently at Tian Zhu's lower regions, making even the indifferent leader of the Dao Infinito Sect's pupils dilate.
Blue flames emerged to block the blow from doing damage, but Aotian had to hold back to stop himself and his avatars from doubling over from the impact.
If that attack were categorized by Bao Hui, it would go like this:
[Jian Huiyin's Low Blow: Immoral-Tier
Physical Damage: 0
Psychological Damage: 1,000,000]
The elders of the Bamboo Sword Sect were beginning to notice their leader's desperation and were close to losing control, ready to break the barrier and risk their lives to help her against the enemy.
Aotian saw this through his other avatars' vision and knew it was time to end the fight.
"Enough!" Tian Zhu shouted, freezing the entire battlefield in place.
Jian Huiyin stared at him, panting, with sweat dripping down her forehead. Her gaze showed no fear, but it was still extremely solemn.
Tian Zhu looked back at her, his breathing still calm, unlike hers.
"I stopped you from drawing your sword not because I feared your attack, but because my intentions to acquire the techniques of your sect through a fair agreement—and without harming you—are sincere. That is your century-old trump card, and I know it would be unwise to waste it here. I could have attacked to kill from the start and would have succeeded—my strength far surpasses yours—but I didn't. I hope you understand that you lost this match, and that I have no intention of hurting you or your sect." he said diplomatically, releasing her sword and hand.
Jian Huiyin, now free, quickly retreated, and after putting some distance between them, once again positioned her hands on the sword and sheath while keeping her eyes fixed on Tian Zhu, who remained standing, now with his hands behind his back.
He had already made it clear that he did not fear her attack, which is why he stood so calmly.
Firstly, Aotian believed she wouldn't be foolish enough to attack after being defeated—especially after he had shown no ill will toward her or her sect.
Secondly, after this battle, he was confident she wouldn't be able to strike him before he could escape, and even if she did, it wouldn't cause serious harm.
Jian Huiyin clenched her fingers around the sword hilt for a few seconds, wrestling internally, before releasing it with a slightly bitter look.
She knew she had lost and couldn't allow her frustration to cloud her judgment.
If the fight continued, there was a high risk she would lose her life. And if the sect lost her, faced with such a powerful enemy, its fate would be sealed.
Taking a deep breath and regaining her composure, returning to her indifferent expression, she extended a hand over the hilt and bowed in salute.
"Very well. I admit defeat. You are the victor. Name your terms." she declared flatly, though her gaze remained attentive.
She didn't know what to expect, but as the defeated party, as long as it wasn't something that wounded her dignity or led to the ruin of her sect, she would have to accept it.
But his words surprised her.
"No, I haven't won yet. Do you remember our agreement? As long as your elders have more victories, you are still the winners." Tian Zhu shook his head, reminding her.
Jian Huiyin narrowed her eyes slightly at that, but eventually nodded in resignation.
She couldn't understand what he was planning, but at that moment, she didn't have many options.
As Jian Huiyin sighed inwardly, her mind filled with tangled thoughts as she tried to understand Tian Zhu's plans, Aotian overflowed with joy at the new sensation he had experienced.
'So this is what sword intent is! Incredible! And this sword intent is incredibly pure in the path of the sword. Every move is pure sword intent—razor sharp—without those effects like the ones I read about, no freezing, flames, or illusions, just a blade seeking to cut through everything. That's why each of her attacks was so strong, even though she's only at the 3rd level of the Golden Core. Sword intent plays a huge role in her ability to fight across realms.' Aotian was in awe.
And deeply satisfied. He felt amazing wielding a power he had only ever known through reading in his past life.
The intent he had acquired was precisely Jian Huiyin's sword intent—and how did he obtain it? Of course, through his external elders from the Sword Pavilion, who could copy up to four sword intents per day.
But Aotian's greed wasn't satisfied with just that.
No, he wanted more.
'Next target: sword intents of the Bamboo Sword Sect elders.'