Zanghua was a terrifying powerhouse from the era of the Heavenly God.
Her prowess had ranked among the notable even during the Divine Court era.
Of course, what people remembered most about her was her love-hate entanglement with the Heavenly God.
Even among the topmost powerhouses, gossip and spectatorship were alive and well.
"Xiao Jia, step back!"
Qi Yuan gripped his precious sword and moved forward to meet her.
This time, he did not fuse with Xiao Jia, choosing instead to battle alone.
To be honest, this was his first time fighting an intelligent being inside the game.
"Your talent is decent, but isn't your current achievement merely due to what the Heavenly God left behind?"
As Zanghua spoke, her eyes reddened.
In the distance, Tong and the rest of the Divine Domain powerhouses watched the battle.
What Zanghua said found agreement among several of them.
Some also understood that Zanghua harbored resentment in her heart.
Zanghua had always adored the Heavenly God, campaigning north and south for his sake.
Alas, the position of the Heavenly God's empress had gone to the Bridal Gown Imperial Princess.
As proud as Zanghua was, she had even been willing to bow her head and become the Heavenly God's imperial concubine.
Yet in the end, she had still been rejected by the Heavenly God.
Zanghua harbored complex feelings toward both the Heavenly God and the Bridal Gown Imperial Princess.
And now, the Master of the Robe Division—the Bridal Gown Imperial Princess's husband—had suddenly risen to prominence.
Surely this was due to the numerous gifts the Heavenly God had left for the Robe Division; perhaps there was even a supreme treasure that enhanced innate talent.
Moreover, Zanghua had never liked the Robe Division in the first place, and she harbored a certain distaste toward the new Bridal Gown Imperial Princess, the daughter of the Heavenly God and that woman.
Thus, even though Long Pan had beaten Tong into submission and everyone else had fallen silent, she still stepped forward.
"Aside from talent, what else do you have?"
"Have you lived through the Turmoil of the Western Sea?"
"Have you ever fought against three Divine Domains single-handedly?"
"Without having survived grand wars, you are forever a fledgling eagle, entirely incapable of defeating the extraterrestrial demons!"
Zanghua shouted loudly, "Let me show you what the Ten Generals of the Divine Court are made of!"
Zanghua was one of the former Ten Generals of the Divine Court!
In the Divine Court, they were beings second only to the Heavenly God and the masters of the four divisions.
In her lifetime she had fought countless battles, undergoing tens of thousands of conflicts, both great and small.
She was a woman who had crawled out from a sea of blood, standing atop a mountain of corpses.
The moment she struck, it was an endlessly ferocious offensive.
Everywhere Qi Yuan looked, Zanghua's figures appeared.
What Zanghua unleashed was her strongest martial divine ability.
Boundless Sea of Flowers!
Petals danced across the sky, and over a hundred Zanghuas darted among them, launching different attacks at Qi Yuan.
Unless one's martial mind and spirit far surpassed Zanghua's, it was impossible to tell which was the true body and which were illusions.
This technique was exceedingly effective against combat novices.
Qi Yuan held his sword before him in defense.
In the Xuanyuan Forbidden Ground, the Robe and Crown Forbidden Ground, and the Five Elements Forbidden Ground, Qi Yuan had slain tens of thousands of monsters, and he had been through plenty of battles as well.
His combat experience was definitely richer than that of the disciples—and even elders—of the Divine Light Sect.
However, those he had fought were ultimately monsters with almost no intellect.
How could they compare to Zanghua?
In other words, their combat experience was on entirely different scales.
Qi Yuan thrust his sword forward with unyielding ferocity.
Amidst the myriad afterimages, he locked onto Zanghua's true body.
Because his eyes could see prompts.
As the sword stabbed out, a flash of astonishment crossed Zanghua's eyes.
Unable to dodge in time, she thrust her palm straight out.
*Slash!*
A collision between sword and flesh palm ought to have been the sword's victory.
Yet a sly smile appeared in Zanghua's eyes. "You are still too young."
A massive force penetrated through the sword and bored straight into Qi Yuan's chest.
Even though Qi Yuan had defenses covering his entire body,
he was still slightly injured by this piercing, tremendous force.
His face turned pale, but looking at Zanghua, whose hand was dripping with blood, his expression remained calm. "You're right."
In the distance, the Divine Domain titans watching the fight spoke, eyes filled with admiration.
"To think he could actually wound Zanghua."
"It seems we all underestimated him. He isn't one of those prodigies who only knows how to cultivate!"
"The Boundless Sea of Flowers—even this old man cannot determine Zanghua's true body. How did he do it?"
"He is still too young and was taken in by Zanghua's trick."
"A pity, he is still too green. Three hundred years... too short, far too short," Yu spoke with an inscrutable expression.
The Master of the Robe Division had appeared and achieved Five Elements perfection in just a few days. Such talent was unprecedented and unrepeatable.
If he were given sufficient time, it would likely be... unimaginable.
Everyone watched Zanghua, and watched Qi Yuan.
At this moment, Qi Yuan closed his eyes.
His combat skills had all been honed from grinding monsters; against ordinary opponents, they were sufficient.
Against extraterrestrial demons, they fell far short.
However, Qi Yuan was not alone.
Keeping his eyes closed, he said in Zanghua's direction, "Thank you. Let's go again."
At that moment, the burly man's experiences and cultivation insights gradually surfaced in Qi Yuan's mind.
That burly man who had idled away his youth and suddenly attained enlightenment after reading a book in middle age had actually been a mighty swordsman.
Qi Yuan wielded a sword, so the burly man's swordsmanship experience suited him best.
At this moment, he forgot his own skills.
He seemed to transform into that burly man.
Grasping the sword, he had fought a vicious flood dragon in the Eastern Sea for seven days, skinning and sinewing the creature that stirred up waves.
With his sword, he had cleaved open the Earth Gate, slaying a demonic monstrosity in Dijue.
Qi Yuan gripped his sword as an aura belonging to the sword diffused, brewing and accumulating like dark storm clouds.
"Qingpingzi challenges you to battle!" Qi Yuan opened his eyes, and in an instant, a sword's edge soared straight toward the clouds, piercing through the dark storm as a beam of ultimate brilliance appeared in the mortal realm.
A smile curved at the corners of Zanghua's lips, her expression scornful, as if saying: *Skinny dog, is that all?*
At the same time, in the Five Elements Forbidden Ground, a coffin lid was shoved aside.
The burly man looked somewhat pale. His eyes turned toward the Yin Yang Forbidden Ground, displaying an admiring expression. "Not bad, kid. You've got three-tenths of my former demeanor. Too bad your looks and elegance still fall short of mine—not seasoned by the years yet. You need to nurture more poise.
*Hrk... ptui!*"
Habitually, he spat outside the coffin.
...
Exiting the game, Qi Yuan didn't read his books, but closed his eyes.
He recalled the battle against Zanghua in the Yin-Yang Forbidden Ground.
Zanghua truly was one of the Ten Generals of the Divine Court; her combat prowess was astonishing, and her combat techniques and methods were beyond what the previous Qi Yuan could match.
Immersing himself in Senior Qingpingzi's combat experience, he had fought Zanghua.
He had assimilated a portion of Qingpingzi's combat experience.
Moreover, his eyes countered Zanghua's strongest divine ability, the Boundless Sea of Flowers, most effectively.
Zanghua had thus stopped using that technique.
Her strength was greatly reduced.
Thus, Qi Yuan had gradually gained the upper hand; with his deepening comprehension of Qingpingzi's sword dao, he fought with ever-greater valor.
Zanghua was defeated.
As desired, he received the Divine Reflections of many powerhouses in the Yin Yang Forbidden Ground.
Having expended too much energy, he had no choice but to log off.
As for how to take control of the Yin Yang Forbidden Ground, he would consider that the next time he logged in.
*Sword dao... can the current me be considered a true sword cultivator?* Qi Yuan mused.
However, thinking further, there were still major differences between him and sword cultivators.
Sword cultivators in the Great Shang state possessed a dharma sword invested with their entire mind and spirit.
If the sword broke, the person was injured.
He had none; he was not one.
His knife was strong, but it was not a sword; furthermore, Qi Yuan had no desire to entrust his life and fortune to a single treasure.
"The qi of the five elements is still converting. Wood should be next," Qi Yuan pondered, wondering if it would deliver another small shock to the Divine Light Sect.
This conversion was linked to the order in which the Five Ancestors had merged.
He left the courtyard and stood on the mountainside of Seven Colors Peak, breathing and refining qi; what he exhaled was astonishingly a golden glow.
"Thank goodness I'm not breathing fire, or else I'd become a Calabash Brother."
Just then, a flying crane appeared in Qi Yuan's field of view.
In its beak, the crane carried a calling card.
The crane flew straight toward Qi Yuan, and the card landed in his hand.
"Myriad Methods Peak, Dong Xian? Visiting me?"
Qi Yuan searched his memory, but couldn't recall who this Dong Xian was.
"Might as well see him, then." Qi Yuan found it novel.
After all, he was used to being a salted fish; many in the Divine Light Sect knew of him, but someone paying him a visit was rare.
"Permitted." He wrote his reply on the calling card.
The white crane took up the card in its beak, flapped its wings, and flew away from Seven Colors Peak once more.
About a quarter of an hour passed before a youth clad in black appeared in Qi Yuan's sight.
Seeing the youth, Qi Yuan paused.
"You're Dong Xian? Isn't your name Xiao Yan?"
Dong Xian: "...Senior Brother, this disciple is not named Xiao Yan. You may have mistaken me for someone else."
Hearing this, Qi Yuan felt rather helpless.
Had he known it was him, he wouldn't have agreed to meet.
"What did you come to see me for?" Since they had already met, Qi Yuan naturally wouldn't drive Dong Xian away.
If he offended this fellow and prompted a furious "never bully a poor young man" before he stormed off down the mountain, Qi Yuan felt he wouldn't be able to sleep at night.
An eager smile appeared on Dong Xian's face. "Senior Brother, I have long heard that you are obsessed with games. I have a few collector's editions here."
As Dong Xian spoke, he produced several game jade slips.
This time, he had bled heavily to take out his treasured games just to bond with Qi Yuan.
Once they grew familiar, he could invite Senior Brother Qi Yuan to participate in the Dragon Contention.
Qi Yuan took the jade slips. The moment his hand touched them, a scene instantly sprang into his mind.
"Tsk, tsk, tsk." Qi Yuan held the jade slip; this was his first time coming across contraband from another world.
This game even used real people as NPCs—though, of course, merely projections.
Certain plotlines had an extreme degree of explicitness.
Moreover, it captured the essence of roleplay.
Among the female cultivators inside, some were charming and seductive fox demons, some were affectionate neighboring cave abode older sisters, some were haughty and arrogant young mistresses, and some were cold, aloof female sword immortals.
Of course, among these game jade slips, aside from this kind, there were also combat-type games that could simulate duels between Foundation Establishment cultivators to increase their combat experience.
"Is Senior Brother satisfied?" Dong Xian lowered his voice, putting on a look shared between fellow connoisseurs.
Qi Yuan cast a sidelong glance at Dong Xian. "I'm currently in sage mode and have no interest in these. Speak up—what did you come to see me for?"
Qi Yuan handed the game jade slips back to Dong Xian.
Then, thinking that doing so might not be polite, he casually kept one—the one with the female sword immortal. A pure coincidence.
Dong Xian was somewhat dazed at first.
This Senior Brother Qi Yuan truly spoke in bizarre ways.
Fortunately, however, Qi Yuan had accepted one jade slip, which meant a friendship could be established.
And sometimes, a good way to build friendship was to seek advice from the other party while allowing them to show off their extraordinary skills.
After all, many people loved acting as teachers.
"I heard Senior Brother's saber technique is quite remarkable, so I came specifically to ask for guidance..." Halfway through his sentence, Dong Xian paused.
In his mind, Elder Qi's urgent voice sounded:
"Swordsmanship! Ask about swordsmanship!"
Dong Xian didn't understand, but he followed Elder Qi's instructions anyway: "...ask Senior Brother for guidance on swordsmanship."
*My saber technique is remarkable, so you're asking about swordsmanship?*
*Is there something wrong with me, or is there something wrong with you?*
Qi Yuan looked at Dong Xian, feeling that this guy possessed the destiny of a protagonist in vain, as his head didn't seem quite right.
However, he didn't fuss over it.
Why should he bicker with someone whose head was not right?
"Swordsmanship... I happen to know a bit," Qi Yuan said.
His swordsmanship was indeed quite good.
Leaving aside the Heaven-Cleaving Sword-Drawing Technique he already knew, the swordsmanship in Qingpingzi's memories was exceptionally formidable.
"Which aspect do you want to learn about?" Qi Yuan asked.
Elder Qi sent no further transmissions. He simply wanted to see what Qi Yuan's swordsmanship was like.
After all, rumors had it that the Black Mountain Sect had been annihilated, and for some reason, he constantly felt an inexplicable connection between that and this Qi Yuan.
Or perhaps it was related to whoever stood behind Qi Yuan.
He wanted to find clues from Qi Yuan's swordsmanship.
Dong Xian lowered his head in thought, then said, "Currently, I am only in Qi Refinement and cannot nurture a dharma sword like a sword cultivator. Yet I also wish to bring down flying birds with a single stroke of the sword like they do. Are there any good sword techniques that can accomplish this?"
Dong Xian fabricated on the spot, concluding with an inquiry about sword techniques.
Hearing this, Qi Yuan looked at Dong Xian with slight surprise. "You really aren't bad, kid; you have the caliber of Xiao Yan. Sword cultivators are strong because of their dharma swords. Unfortunately, it is virtually impossible for a Qi Refinement cultivator to possess a dharma sword."
First, dharma swords were too precious for Qi Refinement cultivators to afford; second, Qi Refinement cultivators lacked dharmic power and could not project their divine sense outward, making it completely impossible to maneuver a flying sword.
Therefore, the combat prowess of a Qi Refinement sword cultivator was actually quite mediocre.
Only upon reaching Foundation Establishment did the might of a sword cultivator truly become evident.
Qi Yuan continued, "We might not have a dharma sword, but we can have... a qi sword!"
"A qi sword? What is that?" Dong Xian was taken aback.
"What does a Qi Refinement cultivator refine? A breath of innate qi, a breath of spiritual qi! Since the qi is present, one can transform qi into a sword, projecting sword qi outward to slay enemies without a trace!" Qi Yuan expounded with ease.
Qingpingzi's sword dao, cultivated to the utmost, was to transform qi into a sword—with no sword in hand, qi itself was the sword.
An even higher realm was to make oneself the sword.
This bore some resemblance to how certain sword cultivators forged themselves into dharma swords, reaching the same destination through different paths.
"Transforming qi into a sword is indeed fine, but you must be careful never to stray onto the wrong path. Transforming qi into a horse is by no means a good thing," Qi Yuan said earnestly.
Dong Xian: "???"
He was utterly dumbfounded.
Why did he understand every single word Senior Brother Qi Yuan said, yet had no idea what they meant when strung together?
"Senior Brother Qi Yuan, what do you mean by transforming qi into a sword during Qi Refinement? And what do you mean by not transforming qi into a horse?" Dong Xian was utterly confused now.
He couldn't fathom it: didn't Qi Refinement cultivators simply refine spiritual qi into dharmic power? How did it suddenly become transforming qi into a sword?
"This junior brother is dull-witted. Senior Brother, please enlighten me."
"It seems I'll have to demonstrate in person what it means to transform qi into a sword. Once you watch it, you'll probably understand. It's not very difficult," Qi Yuan said.
As for Qingpingzi's sword dao, Qi Yuan had understood it after seeing it just once.
Beside him, Dong Xian was completely flabbergasted.
Senior Brother Qi Yuan wasn't spouting nonsense—did he truly know how to transform qi into a sword?
Or did he mean doing what Origin Core cultivators did, condensing the spiritual qi of heaven and earth into a giant hand to seize lower-realm cultivators?
He had witnessed such a scene before.
Yet Senior Brother Qi Yuan was only at Qi Refinement perfection; lacking sufficient dharmic power, he likely couldn't pull it off.
Even if he managed it with great effort, its might would probably be "astounding."
"Junior Brother Dong Xian, watch closely!"
Qi Yuan took on a solemn expression, extending his hand and forming a sword finger.
A wisp of golden light burst from his fingers.
Chapter 65