Chapter 40: Former Days, No Path Forward

Suppressing her excited emotions, Chi Jiuyu sat cross-legged, held her breath, and waited quietly.

Mm.

I don't feel any change at all…

"Why hasn't it started yet, Uncle?"

"You can start as soon as you lie down on the bed."

"That's such a hassle—can't it just start directly?"

"Starting directly… isn't impossible."

At that moment, Zhang Yunlu lost again in the screen; though she had gradually developed her own style, she still had a long way to go before perfection.

But it didn't matter—time was the one thing she had in abundance.

The next instant, the screen's imagery accelerated abruptly, so fast that even Chi Jiuyu couldn't make out what was happening.

After speeding up the footage, Xu Xing turned to look at her.

"Then let's begin."

A faint hum—嗡~—sounded beside her ear; her vision blurred, and in a daze, Chi Jiuyu felt her consciousness sinking, falling, every technique rendered useless in an instant.

After an unknown length of time, she felt she had finally "landed."

Her vision returned, revealing an endless expanse of gray mist—below her feet too—but she distinctly felt solid ground beneath her.

And she could clearly sense her body, magic power, soul, even her storage ring!

As if her true self had truly arrived in this space.

How vast might this place be? Gazing at the surrounding gray mist, she suddenly wondered.

As a doer, Chi Jiuyu didn't stand idle—she summoned a simple, ancient longsword woven with gold and blue hues.

It was her life-bound spirit sword; though it hadn't yet cultivated a sword spirit, its spiritual essence was already extremely rich.

Even the spiritual essence of her life-bound spirit sword could be simulated! Chi Jiuyu grew even more curious, immediately activating the Divine Art of Sword and Person United, dashing full speed in one direction.

Her speed shattered the sound barrier in an instant; continuous sonic booms erupted, leaving even Qi Condensation cultivators able to perceive only a faint, fleeting afterimage.

Even so, this wasn't her maximum speed.

In the real-world living room, Chi Jiuyu's physical body had collapsed onto the sofa, half her head dangling off the edge, looking as if she were fast asleep.

A screen of light rose, standing side by side with Zhang Yunlu's.

"Such a troublemaker," Xu Xing sighed lightly.

Whatever. Better to get it over with quickly.

Then, in the midst of her exploration of this space, Chi Jiuyu suddenly saw two lines of golden text appear.

【Enemy: Nascent Soul Fully Cultivated Xu Xing】

【Objective: Block three strikes and survive】

She immediately halted; the airwaves she'd stirred churned the surrounding gray mist, and the sword circled her once before returning to her hand.

Is it starting?! Chi Jiuyu drew a deep breath, suppressing her inner excitement.

She had always been confident—confident she wasn't inferior to anyone—but the opponent she was about to face was her uncle, who stood at the pinnacle of the Tai Xuan Realm, just like her master.

Tap. Tap. Footsteps echoed from afar; a phantom figure slowly emerged from the depths of the gray mist, strands of mist flowing into it, making it increasingly solid.

As the figure grew more solid, the churning gray mist gradually turned red.

Yet the red did not feel sinister or bloody—it radiated instead a majestic, righteous aura, like a beacon fire dispelling the night.

Red mist coalesced in the palm, forming a sword—its entire blade crimson, divine light swirling, as if a phantom red moon hovered within.

Moon… the moon?

Shouldn't it be the sun? But the sect didn't have any famous swords tied to the sun—though many were linked to the "moon."

Which sword is Uncle using?

As her thoughts turned, the figure had fully solidified—its form identical to Xu Xing's, yet… its face was nothing but swirling gray mist.

"Uncle, where's your face?" Chi Jiuyu blurted out.

No nonsense. If you don't draw your sword, he'll strike first.

"I was just asking," she muttered.

Then she turned to the distant Xu Xing phantom, her fighting spirit soaring, her eyes glowing with faint golden light.

Grand Void Penetrating Golden Gaze.

The Divine Art lived up to its name—revealing illusions, piercing falsehoods.

With Chi Jiuyu's mastery of this Divine Art, even a Soul Transformation cultivator across from her would reveal some flaw.

Yet this once-unfailingly effective technique seemed useless now—she couldn't detect even the faintest imperfection.

The Xu Xing phantom didn't wait indefinitely.

"First strike."

In a voice utterly devoid of emotion, the crimson sword slowly rose.

Fuck! Chi Jiuyu's scalp prickled, her heart gripped by intense dread—extreme danger made every fiber of her flesh and soul tremble.

Without hesitation, she activated the Divine Art of Sword and Person United and fled as far as possible. Tactical retreat first!

"Slash."

Crimson light engulfed heaven and earth—unavoidable, unstoppable; every technique, every ability appeared laughably feeble before this single strike.

As if a sun had fallen, Chi Jiuyu, fleeing into the distance, was instantly drowned in boundless radiance; in the instant before her body vaporized, only one thought remained in her mind.

This can't possibly be Nascent Soul? …………

In the real world, Xu Xing held the duck blood vermicelli soup, watching Chi Jiuyu swallowed by the light—and he laughed.

Why pick Nascent Soul? Of all cultivations, why this one?

When he was at the Nascent Soul realm, he reorganized everything he had learned and created the embryonic form of the "Grand Void Sword Canon."

It could be said that among all Nascent Soul cultivators past and present, none could surpass him.

…………

A few dozen seconds later, the grey mist reconvened into Chi Jiuyu, and she was beginning to question her entire existence.

"Martial Uncle! You must be cheating — how could this possibly be Nascent Soul realm!"

This is way too outrageously strong; even a weaker Soul Transformation cultivator probably couldn't block it, right?

【Try once more, this time I'll let you feel it clearly】

"Alright!"

Since it wasn't a real death anyway, this time she'd see exactly how Martial Uncle used Nascent Soul realm magic power to deliver such an exaggerated strike.

She strode to stand before Xu Xing's phantom.

Without any warning, she suddenly thrust her sword straight forward — and the blade vanished.

The Flowing Cloud Sword Art! In truth, when she had crossed blades with Zhang Yunlu, she had already learned this sword art.

Facing the sudden attack, Xu Xing's phantom merely tilted his body slightly and dodged it.

"First sword."

Again came that calm, indifferent voice from before.

Chi Jiuyu, who had still been preparing her follow-up, suddenly realized she couldn't execute her second move. Black and white spread outward with the two of them at the center, as if everything had frozen — only that sword remained dazzlingly red.

She also genuinely felt the magic power aura of Xu Xing's phantom.

Perfect Nascent Soul.

It hadn't surpassed her.

So this really was Nascent Soul! Just as Chi Jiuyu thought she was about to die again, that crimson sword finally stopped before her brow and did not pierce through.

Not only that, but the spreading black and white slowly withdrew.

Whoosh~ Xu Xing's phantom dissolved into a wisp of mist.

【How did it feel】

How else could it feel — badass, obviously!

Chi Jiuyu was a bit deflated; she had always thought she was pretty badass herself!

"Are there many Nascent Soul cultivators as powerful as you, Martial Uncle?"

【No, I'm the most powerful】

"……Martial Uncle, you really don't hold back."

【Just stating facts】

【But you don't need to be discouraged — after all, the me who just sparred with you is already over two hundred years old】

Huh?!

Over two hundred years old!

"No way — how could your talent be so poor, Martial Uncle?"

A Nascent Soul cultivator over two hundred years old, in the present day, probably couldn't even enter the inner sect of the Sword Sect.

Uh……

Martial Uncle's exaggerated combat power couldn't be measured by realm alone either.

Wait!

"What realm was Master at back then?"

【Same as me — Perfect Nascent Soul】

Chi Jiuyu was stunned.

"Why?"

Surely it couldn't be that both Master and Martial Uncle had poor talent — that would be too absurd.

【The cultivation system back then was still incomplete; Nascent Soul was the highest】

【With no path forward, we could only keep trying】

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