In the fiery-red maple forest, crimson leaves drifted through the air, tingeing the scene with the bleak chill of autumn.
Coupled with the saber intent Qin Ming unleashed, which swept through and sheared the ground's wild grasses, a bone-piercing frost permeated the killing air.
He was genuinely astonished. His opponent had parried several of his strikes in succession and had even withstood two of his trump cards head-on. Her strength was absurdly high.
Clearly, both of them were startled, each finding the other's display far beyond expectations!
Qin Ming wondered about her identity. Was she an immortal seed from the real world? He had never seen her, nor had he ever heard of her.
Judging by her words and conduct, she resembled someone from antiquity!
Yet the woman's conscious spiritual light was far too tangible, completely unlike the people he had encountered earlier.
In that case, he would hold nothing back and test her thoroughly to see whether she was a person of the present world or a ghost of the past. Exactly how high her level was would become clear with a single bout.
Qin Ming harnessed the five qi, and the five-colored light wheel outside his body spun at high speed. It made even his fluttering hair turn lustrous and translucent. The five-colored saber in his grip droned and roared, seemingly eager to tear through the air and take flight.
Indeed, an instant later, he rose from the ground. Executing the Saber Control Technique, his physical body seemed to merge into one with the five-colored saber, and five-colored divine haze illuminated the fiery-red maple woods.
The night vanished, and the clearing turned bright as day. Every leaf and every branch was illuminated so vividly that its veins were clearly visible, with saber light omnipresent.
Qin Ming traveled with the saber like a streak of five-colored lightning, charging forward in a flash. With such speed and such peerless saber light, his advance was utterly unstoppable.
Along the way, anything in his path—century-old trees, outstretched boughs, and drifting red leaves—disintegrated within the saber light, cleaved in two before exploding apart.
Her wide purple sleeves carrying conscious spiritual light, the purple-clad maiden parried repeatedly as if wielding a pure yang immortal sword. Endless crimson leaves danced across the woods before bursting to dust.
Qin Ming in green and the stunning maiden in purple became entangled, moving like two bolts of lightning. They continually clashed and traded blows, brushing past each other in the blink of an eye.
"Who is that? How dare they fight in the maple forest? Don't they know that's a forbidden ground—the place where Senior Sister Chu rests her mind? Ordinary disciples wouldn't dare set foot there!"
Many ancient disciples in this region were alarmed. They found it unbelievable that someone would actually damage the maple woods.
Soon, shock overtook them, for someone was wielding a saber—not just cutting down the trees, but trading blows with the legendary Senior Sister Chu!
"Senior Sister Chu Pianran has rarely appeared over these years. Today she came here to entrust her mind, only to be offended by someone?"
"A newcomer is rising! He has held out for so long without being defeated!"
Qin Ming faintly caught the discussions of the disciples in the distance, and waves surged through his heart. This woman was clearly an ancient figure, so why wasn't she illusory?
He had previously tested her through spiritual resonance.
"Are ancient drudges this absurd? How could he be so powerful! But why do I feel... he's more like an Outer Sage?"
"Could he be from the present world like us? He's actually a Newborn, yet he dares challenge the ancient fairy who rests her mind here!"
More figures appeared. Their remarks and perceptions were entirely different from those of the ancient disciples before them.
Qin Ming understood that these were disciples of the immortal path—people of the present world who, like him, had stepped into the play.
Such people could likely discern his background.
After entering the play, he was currently an inner disciple here, and almost none of the ancient disciples found anything amiss with him, never once regarding him as a drudge.
He seemed to have exploited some sort of loophole.
Only the purple-clad maiden believed he was a drudge, seeing through him at a glance.
*The living can discern my roots, while those deceased ancients cannot see through my identity?!* Guessing this possibility, he felt a chill run down his spine.
Could this woman's true body still exist? Was she still alive?
The purple-clad maiden's features were picture-perfect. Her every move possessed graceful elegance, like a light, fluttering dance, yet the power behind her strikes was astonishingly unmatched.
After an intense round of combat, Qin Ming sheathed his saber and stood still.
His expression was more solemn than ever. He had truly met an extraordinary opponent, leaving him no room for the slightest carelessness.
Outside his body, beyond the five-colored light wheel, a three-hued divine haze circulated. His eight extraordinary arts resonated together, all manifesting abnormal phenomena that formed a protective barrier of light.
At this moment, Qin Ming appeared exceptionally ethereal and transcendent, untainted by a speck of dust. His flesh resembled divine glass radiating precious radiance, with the aura of the Dao lingering at the corners of his eyes and brows.
"What a surprise. I once tested my sword against the world. Among my peers, how many could withstand my full strength? Yet you are merely a drudge, and you have reached this level."
Chu Pianran's purple robes fluttered in the fiery-red maple woods. Though formed from spiritual light of a pure yang nature, she looked no different from an actual flesh-and-blood body.
"What is Senior Sister Chu saying? Isn't he an inner disciple? How did he become a drudge? My head is spinning!"
These were the words of the ancient disciples. They were bewildered, for as actors in the play, this surpassed their comprehension, leaving them all frowning.
"Hiss, this defies the heavens! A Newborn from our present world, entering the play to reach the dao arena of the ancient immortal realm, can actually rival the most renowned Fairy Chu here?"
"Well, he's rivaling a strand of her conscious spiritual light, but both seem to be at the same level. This is utterly absurd!"
These were unquestionably the discussions of the people from the present world.
Qin Ming even swept his gaze across them and recognized several acquaintances, such as Chen Bingyan and Lu Zhenyi, whom he had met back when he was Cui Chonghe.
There were also Ren Yiping and Sun Jingtian, both holding aloof status as core disciples of the outer pure lands, whom he had seen at the Luofu Immortal Mountain ruins.
They found it hard to believe that a Newborn from the present world could match the most legendary fairy of an ancient immortal dao arena!
One had to understand that she was the first in line of succession to become the sect master of this dao arena.
"Are you an ancient person who has lived to the present age?" Qin Ming asked.
However, she gave no answer.
A flicker of unusual light crossed Chu Pianran's beautiful eyes as she scrutinized him carefully.
Qin Ming stood motionless. Eight colors swirled around him, making him look like a youthful deity standing in a pure land, appearing all the more sacred and transcendent.
His eight extraordinary arts resonated together, yet he was not worried about being recognized. Once he stepped into the second realm, he would need to refine "heterogeneous substances" and the like, so the outward manifestation of his heavenly light would constantly change.
Right now, bathed in divine haze, he resembled an immortal or a god, bearing no resemblance whatsoever to the drudge the purple-clad maiden spoke of.
At that instant, Qin Ming's entire being resonated with the hum of a saber. Like a heavenly blade descending from beyond the skies, accompanied by eight wondrous scenes, he slashed forward.
Merging into one with the eight-colored heavenly blade, he traveled with the weapon, briefly crossing the sky to crash down.
In a flash, nine colors blossomed between Chu Pianran's brows. Immortal sword after immortal sword materialized, assembling into a pure yang sword formation that flowed with radiance like a blazing sun.
All the pure yang swords arrayed around her, then unfurled in midair like a phoenix spreading its wings, transforming into a brilliantly colored forest of pure yang swords. Sacred and terrifying, they struck toward the eight-colored heavenly blade.
Instantly, the two clashed fiercely, exchanging strikes that erupted into dazzling splendor. Pure yang spiritual light and heavenly light force like a scorching sun splattered everywhere, seemingly setting the entire maple forest ablaze.
If it were an ordinary disciple of the immortal path, Qin Ming's heavenly light force would quickly incinerate their conscious spiritual light. Against this maiden, however, doing so proved difficult.
Presently, Qin Ming was no longer restricted to saber techniques. He seamlessly integrated his extraordinary arts with various martial skills, freely drawing upon the Lieyang Sword Technique, the Wind-Thunder Saber Control Technique, the Overlord Lance, and more.
The scriptures of the silk book emphasized harmony and mastery over all methods. He was gradually unifying his core combat techniques, growing stronger by the moment.
Amidst the ringing clashes and reflected saber light, saber intent permeated in every direction. One eight-colored blade after another swept past, illuminating the purple-clad maiden's fair face, with each blade edge coming perilously close to her.
The ancient disciples were dumbfounded. A youth could actually fight Senior Sister Chu to this extent? It felt completely surreal!
Ultimately, as the pure yang conscious spiritual light fractured, two of Chu Pianran's pure yang immortal swords, arrayed like phoenix wings, snapped, and she retreated at extreme speed.
Everyone saw that a corner of her purple sleeve had been sliced off. Furthermore, a streak of blood appeared on her fair cheek, trickles of crimson flowing down, and a lock of fine hair drifted to the ground.
This was her pure yang body; bleeding signified an injury, looking no different from genuine blood.
Chu Pianran had a slender, graceful figure. Standing tall and elegant, her stunning face was flecked with spots of blood—a wound that added a battle-worn air to her beauty.
In the distance, the ancient disciples were dazed, and absolute silence fell.
Chu Pianran murmured to herself, "He actually injured me. Well, this is merely where my mind rests; my true body is not here, only a strand of conscious spiritual light. It is somewhat understandable."
The people of the present world were horrified. A single strand of pure yang conscious spiritual light was far from her full strength, let alone the arrival of her true body, yet she was already this terrifying.
Chu Pianran revealed a strange expression and said, "Even so, among drudges at the same level, you should be considered foremost. In my era, there was never a drudge like you. If at the same realm, you might very well contend against the strongest disciple of a sect."
She dissolved into a shower of light and departed into the distance, lingering no longer in the maple forest, leaving behind only countless crimson leaves fluttering down.
The ancient disciples felt their minds spinning. As actors within the play, they could not tell what was real, failing to understand why Senior Sister Chu spoke that way. Was that familiar inner disciple truly a drudge?
Meanwhile, the people of the present world were thoroughly shaken. This Newborn had actually received such high praise from the successor of an immortal heritage—the strongest young drudge?!
To them, this was truly explosive news.
Could the present world really harbor an Outer Sage with such terrifying potential?!
"It wouldn't be our old friend, would it?" Chen Bingyan sent a secret voice transmission, looking uncertain.
Lu Zhenyi shook his head and said, "Definitely not. Although he once had dazzling displays and possessed exceedingly high talent on the Newborn path, he shouldn't be able to reach this stage."
In the deepest part of this vast immortal dao arena, within a crystal coffin, Chu Pianran fully awoke and spoke: "Master, the undying gum in the coffin has grown thin, and changes have occurred in Kunling. We should seize this opportunity to alter our original trajectory—it is time to break our way out!"
Immortal mist drifted. In this place, several crystal coffins surprisingly lay, each housing a living entity stirring back to life.
Qin Ming pondered that if his status here rose once more, he would have to make the most of the opportunity. By utilizing the resources of this immortal dao arena, he could verify his own methods and test paths forward. Perhaps this place held some extraordinary heterogeneous substances?
Chapter 231