The joined palms were slowly pulled apart, revealing the icy purple-blue blade.
Boundless sword intent erupted once more.
He Qiu’s entire figure seemed possessed by some terrifying specter, as if he stood in a frozen wasteland as the Sword Demon.
Even for another sword cultivator of the Fine Snow Sword Manual, An Lingran had never seen such fearsome sword intent.
Though they cultivated the same technique, her intent leaned toward clarity and snow, while He Qiu’s was filled with cruelty and bone-chilling cold.
This was completely unlike the gentle, scholarly Junior Brother she knew.
Hidden inside He Qiu was a terrifying Sword Demon.
Although his sword intent was not yet mature, the newborn calf fears no tiger—the inherent ferocity of his Sword Spirit was enough to make even An Lingran, a Spirit Realm Seventh Stage cultivator, flinch.
She could sense that He Qiu’s Sword Spirit had just been forged not long ago.
It was born savage and craved a bloody slaughter, eager to prove to its creator host that it was a handy, world-shaking Demon Sword.
Such a Sword Spirit was universally called an Evil Root in the way of the sword—a great taboo for sword cultivators!
A Sword Spirit with an Evil Root was incredibly sharp but bloodthirsty by nature.
It wanted to cut down everyone except the one who forged it.
Such a trait could easily cause a cultivator with weak roots to fall into demonic obsession and become a Sword Demon drunk on blood.
It was hard to imagine that He Qiu’s first forged Sword Spirit was an Evil Root…
As the saying goes, the Sword Spirit follows the heart; sword intent returns to the root.
Could it be that Junior Brother’s gentle, scholarly appearance had all been an act? Had he been hiding his true strength and inner evil all along?
Had he even deceived Senior Sister An Lingran’s eyes?
But why would he do that?
An Lingran couldn’t understand.
But as she watched He Qiu slowly summon his Sword Spirit into the world, she—as the Saintess and Senior Sister—could no longer sit idly by.
She subtly stirred her Spiritual Energy, ready to act at any moment.
No matter what secrets Junior Brother He Qiu was hiding, a Sword Spirit summoned for the first time that was an Evil Root was extremely unstable and prone to losing control and going berserk.
And as He Qiu’s Senior Sister, An Lingran had to be prepared to take responsibility.
If her junior brother could not tame such a ferocious evil Sword Spirit, then it would be up to her to step in and prevent a bloody tragedy that might erupt.
She turned her head.
On one side, Fairy Nan’s beautiful eyes had also darkened.
Her thoughts were likely the same as An Lingran’s—ready to circulate Spiritual Energy and act to stop a rampage.
An Lingran stepped forward, hand on her sword, and requested:
“Elder Nan, if an accident occurs today, please allow this disciple to handle it personally.”
In other words, she hoped Fairy Nan would not interfere.
An Lingran knew her own limits.
She didn’t trust others.
What if they struck too hard and injured He Qiu?
After all, he was her own Junior Brother, and also… her fiancé by Marriage Contract.
Besides, He Qiu remained stable in every aspect right now, with no signs of going berserk.
An Lingran couldn’t let Elder Nan be too wary.
What if the Grand Elder didn’t trust He Qiu at all and directly interrupted his match?
In short, though An Lingran rationally was uneasy about He Qiu’s Sword Spirit, emotionally she wanted to protect her junior brother.
Rather than judging a person’s evil or goodness through their Sword Spirit, An Lingran trusted the Junior Brother she knew.
She believed in the promise he had made to An Daosheng last night—the boy’s precious resolve had not been a lie in the slightest.
So An Lingran believed He Qiu could control his Sword Spirit.
“So this was also part of your and An Daosheng’s plan?”
Watching He Qiu on the arena, his sword intent surging, Nangong Qiongxiao’s beautiful eyes flickered.
The mystery surrounding He Qiu weighed even heavier on her mind.
She simply couldn’t imagine that An Daosheng’s little disciple, who had joined the Sect not long ago and was so young, had already comprehended the Fine Snow Sword Manual and the Thousand Snow Sword Heart, and had even privately forged a demonic Sword Spirit!
What terrifying talent…
Even if he were the reincarnation of an Immortal Venerable, his comprehension could hardly reach such a level.
And despite all this, An Lingran actually advised her not to intervene—meaning she had absolute trust in He Qiu’s Sword Spirit!
The Sword Spirit in He Qiu’s palm, along with his cultivation of a Seven-rank Sword Art, were very likely taught to him in private by both An Lingran and An Daosheng!
The father and daughter of the Xueyin Lineage had secretly fostered He Qiu—this Junior Brother with a Divine Vein—behind everyone’s backs.
What scheme were An Lingran and An Daosheng plotting by doing all this?
She couldn’t see through it.
The matter was too surreal, more and more incomprehensible…
Waves of doubt churned inside Nangong Qiongxiao, but for now she said nothing more.
An Lingran similarly did not answer Fairy Nan’s rhetorical question, because she hadn’t even understood what the latter meant by “plan.”
Besides, He Qiu’s Sword Spirit was about to be fully summoned; she had no time to ponder Fairy Nan’s implication.
On the martial arts arena,
He Qiu’s originally joined palms had slowly been pulled apart a certain distance.
Between his palms, the icy purple-blue blade lengthened, its sword light dazzling.
Finally, He Qiu exerted force in his arms and yanked his palms apart.
A purple nether ice sword burst out from the bones of his right palm, flung straight into the blue sky by the momentum of his arm.
The ice sword spun in the air, tracing an elegant purple arc.
Then, as if sensing its host’s call, it accurately looped back and settled into the youth’s hand.
Sword and man became one, firmly locked together.
Blade in hand, He Qiu gently closed his eyes, a serene confidence curving at the corners of his mouth.
Then, facing Zhou Hang’s shocked and terrified gaze, he swept the ice sword horizontally to the side.
Within a hundred miles, the martial arts arena began to drift with fine falling snow, as if winter had descended.
“Ice Sword Spirit, its name… Can Xue.”
“Senior Zhou Hang, please enlighten me.”
The boy clasped his fists and bowed, signaling that the match had officially begun.
The atmosphere solidified for a long time.
Zhou Hang stood frozen, not daring to move rashly.
Finally, the referee beside him snapped out of his daze and announced the start of the match in a trembling voice.
“Second Round Match, officially begin!”
“Wait! Hold on—!”
As the whistle fell, Zhou Hang shuddered all over.
Staring at the ice sword in He Qiu’s hand, he felt as if he were trapped in a thousand-year icy peak secret realm, locked onto as prey by a ferocious beast dwelling in an ancient frozen land.
So he panicked. He wanted to flee before the fight.
But unfortunately, the match had already begun, and He Qiu had already taken a step into motion.
“Fine Snow Sword Manual, Zixue First Form…”
“Falling Shadow!”
He rotated his wrist, lowered his posture, and his figure split into several afterimages, silently vanishing from where he stood.
In an instant, an immense murderous intent loomed over Zhou Hang’s head.
Zhou Hang hurriedly drew the sword at his waist, erupting with all his Spiritual Energy.
He summoned bolts of lightning that coiled around his blade, readying himself for battle.
The match had started.
Everyone was watching him.
There was no chance to retreat now.
Zhou Hang had no choice but to fight!
“Damn it! Come on, what’s there to be afraid of!”
Shouting to boost his own morale, Zhou Hang explosively swung his right arm, spinning his stance and releasing a ring of Lightning Sword Arrays in all directions.
Because he couldn’t track He Qiu’s steps and there were too many afterimages before his eyes, he could only resort to such AOE omnidirectional sword techniques.
It was clever and conservative.
By surrounding every direction with lightning Sword Qi, He Qiu’s true form would inevitably be exposed.
At least it would help Zhou Hang escape the disadvantageous situation of “the enemy hidden, himself exposed.”
However, Zhou Hang still overlooked one point—
“Damn! From above!”
Boom!!!
In an instant, dangerous Sword Cold crashed down from directly overhead.
Zhou Hang hastily rolled out of the way, but the shockwave from the Sword Qi hitting the ground still blasted him several meters away, sending him sprawling.
“Huff… hah…”
He panted heavily, propping himself up to climb to his feet, only to see that the spot where he had just stood was now covered in countless Ice Thorns.
The ground had instantly exploded into a crystalline “small mountain of ice spikes.”
At the top of that little ice mountain stood a white-robed youth, sword in hand.
The purple nether ice sword was held behind his back, resting against his arm.
He had the bearing of an immortal—though his cultivation was only at Spirit Realm Third Stage, he radiated the aloof aura of an Ice Sword Immortal.
With a stomp, the youth leaped down from the ice mountain in a single bound, pulling the ice sword from behind his back with a shing.
“Fine Snow Sword Manual, Zixue Second Form…”
Boundless sword intent exploded once more.
He Qiu’s gaze turned a shade colder in an instant.
The ice sword in his hand hummed, flickering with several phantom images.
By now, Zhou Hang had just climbed to his feet, raising his lightning sword on trembling legs.
“Wait, let’s suspe—!”
“Splashing Feathers!”
Before Zhou Hang could finish speaking, He Qiu had already announced the name of the second sword technique.
Zhou Hang’s heart sank.
He could only instinctively raise his sword again, wrapping his body in lightning armor.
Because if he didn’t defend against this next move, his lower half would likely be finished right here!
“Damn it all!!!”
With a desperate roar, Zhou Hang met the thousands of Flying Snow Sword Feathers hurtling toward him.
To keep the fight flowing for everyone, this weekend I promised three updates, and three updates it is!
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