Chapter 43: Grandmaster’s Sword Intent Shapes Martial Form

Description

The bloody incident of the young woman slaughtering six lives at Zhou Ji Tianbao Pawnshop was stirring up quite the commotion in Chenfeng City.

Everyone knew that a ruthless, arrogant young demonic woman had come to the city.

Yet the uproar outside was ultimately kept at bay by the walls of the Chenfeng Escort Agency, unable to penetrate the compound that housed one of the three Hundred Refinements Grandmasters.

At the western side courtyard of the agency, Zhou Wangchuan led Bai Yao to the courtyard gate and made a gesture of invitation.

“Brother Zhou isn’t going in?” Bai Yao asked curiously.

“I’m not going in. Grandmaster Lin is there, and so is the ‘item.'”

Zhou Wangchuan’s reply was succinct, clearly not intending to elaborate further.

Bai Yao understood in an instant.

Zhou Wangchuan’s meaning was plain: endure the Blade King Lin Que’s Sword Intent test for one incense stick’s time, and she would earn the right to know the truth behind this mission.

Bai Yao gave a slight nod and stepped into the side courtyard.

The moment her foot touched the ground, an invisible blade pressure crashed down on her shoulders and back like a mountain, surging in from all directions at once.

The Refined Iron Short Sword at Bai Yao’s waist let out a mournful whimper, its blade trembling incessantly within the scabbard like a cat with its tail stepped on, emitting a faint hum.

“Sword Intent fused with heaven and earth, unleashed at will. So this is the strength of a Grandmaster Realm expert outside the Cangjie Grotto-Heaven? It truly is nothing like what’s inside the Cave Heaven.”

Bai Yao’s thoughts raced.

Inside the Cangjie Grotto-Heaven, her Righteous Qi had been amplified to the extreme, and with the fully unleashed Evil Force, she had barely won by half a move against the already severely injured Mu Jingyue.

Now, compared to Mu Jingyue who also wielded the Evil Force of the Pixiu, this Grandmaster Lin’s blade was clearly somewhat inferior, yet still not something the current Bai Yao could contend with.

At most, she could take three strikes from this man—that was the conclusion Bai Yao reached after taking nine steps forward.

But as long as she wouldn’t be cleaved in two by a single strike, then if she revealed [Sky Devourer], she wouldn’t be entirely without a fighting chance.

She looked up.

Before the pavilion in the courtyard stood a white-haired elder with a blade at his waist, his figure like an old pine that had been struck by lightning yet still stood proudly atop a mountain peak.

Beside the elder, a lit incense stick was planted in a bronze censer, its green smoke twisted and warped by the Sword Intent as it rose lazily.

The Sword Intent belonging to a Grandmaster followed that wisp of smoke and struck in an instant.

“Hm?”

Just three breaths later, Grandmaster Lin’s eyes opened slightly, his brows twitching as he let out a soft exclamation.

For the young woman before him, dressed in a sky-blue wide-sleeved gauze robe, showed no sign of strain from bearing his Sword Intent.

Instead, she sat down cross-legged right in front of him with extreme relaxation, as if engaged in some sort of comprehension.

“Senior, your Sword Intent can’t be all there is, right?”

Though not said outright, the implication of “Did you old-timer not eat enough?” was practically written all over Bai Yao’s face.

The old blade master, who had initially been gazing at her with appreciation for discovering a genius, quickly had a vein bulge on his forehead as he muttered inwardly: ‘Where did this little girl come from, acting so arrogant? Hmph… when she gets crushed by this old man’s Sword Intent and wets her pants, don’t blame me for bullying the young.’

The next instant, the elder’s Sword Intent suddenly intensified.

The fallen leaves in the courtyard were swept up by the invisible force, then shredded to powder in midair by the fierce blade pressure.

Yet Bai Yao’s ink-black long hair merely swayed gently, as if caressed by a river breeze, with no further reaction.

In truth, for Bai Yao, such Sword Intent was ultimately still the intent of a mortal.

With [Sky Devourer] alone, she could devour it all completely.

However, Bai Yao had no intention of using [Sky Devourer], because the moment she received Lin Que’s Sword Intent, the Heart Sword Martial Form above the Purple Sun over her Heart Lake—which had been drawn half an inch from its sheath—actually pulled out another fraction further.

The ethereal sword embryo phantom then condensed slightly more solid the next moment, letting out a clear, ringing sword cry that only Bai Yao herself could hear.

‘So it really is like this. Others’ intent can also nurture the sword hidden within my heart.’

Bai Yao was secretly delighted, hoping even more that this old senior Lin would increase his Sword Intent to help her complete the Hundred Refined Martial Form that remained unfinished.

‘Little girl, think about it. Originally, you forcibly refined the natural Sword Intent into your body on Black Stone Cliff. After all, what you cultivate is the [Violet Yang Grand Harmony Art]. Blade intent, Sword Intent, even killing intent—all are external intents that can be mirrored and referenced by you.’

Yunque Xinyin timely mentioned this to Bai Yao’s Heart Lake, dispelling the last trace of doubt within her.

This made Bai Yao even more certain that her approach was correct.

Her extraordinary meridians and hundred vessels unreservedly absorbed the Sword Intent into her body, where it was instantly absorbed and refined to strengthen the Hundred Refined Martial Form within her Heart Lake.

Yet time passed in the blink of an eye.

While she greedily absorbed the Sword Intent to further sculpt her Hundred Refined Martial Form, the incense stick on the other side had already burned to ashes.

Chief Escort Lin had long since begun to pant slightly, with beads of sweat the size of beans streaming down his forehead, dripping past his chin onto his collar and leaving spots of dampness.

“Eh? Senior, the Sword Intent is gone?”

Bai Yao opened her eyes with lingering reluctance, then blinked gently, looking at Chief Escort Lin with an innocent expression.

“Little girl… are you truly some young genius from the demonic sects of the Central Lands? Do you really feel nothing at all from this old man’s Sword Intent pressure?”

Though sweat still beaded on Chief Escort Lin’s forehead, as a Grandmaster, he managed to barely maintain his composure.

“It’s not that I feel nothing…”

Bai Yao rose and patted the dust off her clothes, tilting her head in thought.

Rather than addressing the identity question, she said: “It’s just that your Sword Intent isn’t pure enough. It lacks the conviction of a warrior who could cleave mountains and rivers apart with a single strike.”

Bai Yao had one more thing she didn’t say out loud—that the impure Sword Intent had affected her efficiency in shaping the Hundred Refined Martial Form.

Yet these words alone were enough to leave Chief Escort Lin frozen in place, lowering his head in contemplation.

Once, his physical body had approached the limits of mortality, and his blade technique had reached great perfection.

Yet he had witnessed a Blade Immortal sever a mountain with one strike and cut off a heavenly waterfall with another.

The blade of a Human Immortal, beyond all imagination, had instilled in him the stubborn belief that mortals could never sever mountains and seas with a blade in hand.

A full dozen breaths passed before he finally sighed and said: “Enough, enough. Little girl, you’re quite impressive. Though your cultivation is somewhat lacking, your comprehension of artistic conception far surpasses this old man’s.
Go on in. Inside, there are things you wish to know.”

Upon hearing this, Bai Yao smiled radiantly, casually offered a bow, then walked past the Hundred Refinements Grandmaster, pushed open the door, and entered the pavilion.

The interior of the pavilion was dimly lit.

A censer slowly emitted a high-grade agarwood fragrance unique to royalty.

Though this place wasn’t the Xuan Kingdom, having spent time at Xia Manor, Bai Yao was all too familiar with the scent.

On a Pou Tuan behind the curtain at the center sat a youth who appeared slightly younger than Bai Yao herself.

Yet the youth’s frame was thin and frail, like a leaf that could be blown away at any moment.

On the treasure shelf behind the youth lay coiled what appeared to be a bronze-cast True Dragon statue, slightly thicker than an adult’s arm.

In the dragon’s mouth was held a metallic dragon pearl gleaming with a faint, dark luster.

Seeing Bai Yao enter, the youth slowly raised his lowered head and spoke in a voice that was green yet deliberately steady: “The treasure behind this king is called the [Hundun Bronze Dragon], an object connected to the Hundun Emperor.
This is the item that you and the others are to escort alongside this king.”

Bai Yao’s pupils slightly contracted, and Yunque Xinyin, hidden within her shadow, unconsciously fluttered wings that had not manifested upon hearing the title of the Hundun Emperor.