Why did Lu Mo swing her sword?
What did she want to obtain?
In the end… what did she want to face?
Sometimes, Selina would think about these questions.
But she didn’t know the answers either.
She simply watched Lu Mo practice her sword from a distance. The shadows of the blade rose and fell, and the girl’s figure seemed to dance in the wind.
In that moment, she felt Lu Mo was beautiful to the extreme.
Selina always liked reading novels. In those stories, a youth destined to be a hero would meet a young girl.
The boy and girl would embrace, and then the boy would turn around for her, facing the thousands of troops and horses pressing down on them alone.
For some reason, watching Lu Mo practice, she would always be reminded of that hero from the stories.
Lonely and powerful, carrying some sort of heavy fate.
And Lu Mo… seemed even more stunning than the figure in her imagination.
There were several times when her heart started beating uncontrollably as she watched.
‘Selina, oh Selina, what are you thinking!’
‘She is your Junior Sister!’
‘She is just a girl, and you are a full 12 years older than her!’
Realizing what she was thinking, Selina shook her head repeatedly.
She made up her mind to stop fantasizing and to stop watching Lu Mo practice.
But after only one or two weeks, she couldn’t help herself again. Her heart felt itchy, like ants were crawling all over her body.
Thus, her figure would appear once again near the training grounds the very next day.
Lu Mo seemed to have grown accustomed to her presence. Sometimes, she would take the initiative to smile and greet her.
At those times, Selina would put on the air of a Senior Sister, puff her chest out, and show a prideful expression.
Deep down, however, she felt a bit like a guilty thief.
Even though her feelings for this Junior Sister were a bit strange…
Selina felt that just watching Lu Mo practice from afar was actually quite nice.
The days passed slowly, and she felt like this life would continue forever.
Until… today.
In the early morning, her father, Audenary, took the initiative to call her into his study.
“Father,” Selina said.
“Selina, once Lady Mo has finished her practice, bring her to the courtyard,” Audenary said. “I will be waiting for both of you there.”
The old man’s voice was usually easygoing.
But today, Selina actually heard a hint of seriousness in his tone.
Her heart suddenly skipped a beat.
She understood what it meant when her father spoke with that kind of tone.
“…Alright,” she answered, unexpectedly stuttering for a moment.
“Go on.”
As Audenary spoke, Selina quickly left the study and headed toward Lu Mo’s location.
***
The old man watched Selina’s receding back, seemingly noticing her abnormality.
Back to the present.
*Whish — *
Lu Mo finally brought down her final sword strike.
She stopped her movements and slowly sheathed the blade.
“Senior Sister Selina?”
Turning around, she saw the familiar figure.
“Junior Sister Mo.” Selina snapped back to her senses, lifting her head with a bit of pride as she walked toward Lu Mo in the role of the Eldest Senior Sister.
“What a coincidence. Junior Sister Mo is practicing her sword here again today,” Selina said.
“Yes,” Lu Mo replied with a smile.
“I can see that your swordsmanship has become much stronger during this period,” Selina critiqued.
“Thank you for the praise, Senior Sister.”
To keep Lu Mo from finding out that she came here almost every day to peek, Selina would always find excuses.
For instance, that she was just a Senior Sister passing by, or that she had come out of the goodness of her heart to give pointers, or that she was worried about her Junior Sister being bullied by other disciples. All sorts of things.
Anyway, she definitely didn’t come specifically to see Lu Mo.
The two chatted for a bit, and Selina soon explained her purpose: “Come with me, Junior Sister Mo.”
“Eh?”
“Father is waiting for you in the courtyard,” she added.
“Master is waiting for me?” Lu Mo was stunned.
“I suppose he wants to check the results of your practice during this time,” Selina said. “Father is very strict when it comes to swordsmanship. You’d better not be teased until you cry later.”
She tried to scare Lu Mo a little.
“Understood. I’ll try my best not to cry,” Lu Mo nodded, pretending to be serious.
Seeing how serious Lu Mo was, Selina immediately laughed.
But she quickly composed herself, returning to her Senior Sister persona, and spoke earnestly, “So, do your best.”
The two soon returned to the courtyard.
The old man had already been waiting for a long time.
He sat in his wheelchair, and across his knees lay an unsheathed sword.
“Father, I’ve brought Junior Sister Mo… Eh?!”
Seeing the sword on the old man’s knees, Selina was instantly dumbfounded.
She recognized that sword!
It was the sword her father used most often!
Rain Breaker!
Usually, her father would basically just ask her to call the disciples over to demonstrate their swordsmanship.
But now, what did it mean for her father to be sitting there with a sword on his lap?
To clear out the sect?
Had her father discovered her strange feelings for Lu Mo?
No, no, no…
Those two things clearly couldn’t be connected.
Instead of suspecting that, it would be more reasonable to suspect Junior Sister Mo wanted to betray the master and destroy the sect.
However, even though the old man had brought out Rain Breaker, the atmosphere in the courtyard wasn’t that oppressive or heavy.
“You’re here?”
Seeing the two arrive, the old man smiled and greeted them.
“Father.”
“Master.”
The two spoke respectively.
The old man gestured for Selina to stand to the side, and then he looked at Lu Mo again.
The girl had grown up.
Two years ago, when she first came back with him, her entire being carried a cold and sharp temperament. She was extreme and dangerous, as if she were a sword that would never stop.
But now, the girl seemed to have restrained herself a lot, no longer making people feel so afraid.
Standing there, she was simply a girl with a cool temperament and devastating beauty.
No one would think of her in a crazy or extreme way anymore.
Was it because the girl had changed her nature?
Actually, no.
The current girl was a sword inside a sheath.
A sword would eventually be drawn, and when that time really came —
Exactly how far had Lu Mo progressed?
Actually, even the old man wasn’t very sure anymore.
A year ago, he could still barely see what stage Lu Mo had reached.
More than half a year ago, it was already difficult for him to directly judge her swordsmanship attainments.
Now, another half a year had passed.
“Maybe I’m just getting old… I feel like time is passing exceptionally fast — “
The old man lamented, “It feels as if bringing Lady Mo here happened only yesterday. But I never expected that two years have already passed.”
“Lady Mo… is truly a genius on the path of the sword,” the old man added.
This was the truth.
He had never seen an existence with such monstrous comprehension.
She learned a sword technique the moment it was taught, and could master it after practicing just a few times.
When it came to other disciples, he would be somewhat strict when teaching them, and those with poor mentalities would even be reduced to tears on the spot.
But with Lu Mo…
Sometimes, he even felt a sense of suffocation.
“My talent is dull; it is actually because Master teaches so well,” Lu Mo replied with a smile.
“…” The corner of Selina’s mouth suddenly twitched.
For some reason, she really wanted to curse at Lu Mo.
“Lady Mo doesn’t need to be humble.” The old man gave a bitter smile and shook his head.
“And I didn’t call Lady Mo here because of your talent.”
Soon, he moved on to the main topic. “Today, I called Lady Mo over because I want to inspect the results of your cultivation. This is a tradition of our sect. Every two years, I inspect my disciples’ cultivation results to judge whether they are practicing seriously and if their path is correct. Usually, they only need to fully demonstrate their strength and perform a sword routine in front of me. But in Lady Mo’s case, I actually have an unkind request — “
“Please speak, Master.”
The old man looked up at Lu Mo. His withered hand pressed against the scabbard, and in that moment, a flicker of battle intent passed through his eyes.
“I want to have a sword discussion with Lady Mo,” he said.
Lu Mo didn’t have much of a reaction.
But Selina, after a brief daze, nearly jumped up in fright the next second.
What did her father want to do?
He wanted… to duel with Junior Sister Mo???
Had he really discovered her secret and wanted to kill Junior Sister Mo here?
The Indestructible Sword!
The ruthless character who had killed Grand Duke-level existences back in the day!
Even if his realm was damaged now and he was heavily injured, fighting an 18-year-old girl would surely be like child’s play, right?
Selina seriously suspected that her father was showing signs of senile dementia in his late years.
‘Junior Sister Mo, don’t answer! Don’t answer! Don’t answer!’
Standing behind the old man, Selina shook her head like a rattle, signaling for Lu Mo to stay calm.
Lu Mo was also stunned for a moment.
But looking into the old man’s eyes, she realized he was very sober.
He truly wanted to have a duel with her.
He truly wanted to see how far she had come.
Whether she could… fulfill the ultimate ideal belonging to him and The Madman.
“Alright.”
As Selina’s heart skipped a beat, Lu Mo answered the old man.
Her spatial ring flashed, and a sword slowly appeared before Lu Mo, which she then gripped.
This was the sword she had carried when she left her family.
This sword had accompanied her through all her wanderings.
From age 13 until 18.
From the starting point of her long journey until now, near the end.
It was time to face the old man.
To face the Indestructible Sword.
To face a powerhouse of that era.
Many years later, she would eventually face an even more terrifying existence.
She couldn’t stop at this moment.
“Thank you for your understanding, Lady Mo.” Seeing Lu Mo agree, the old man finally let out a sigh of relief.
He smiled again, a smile from the heart, like that of a child.
“But how will Master discuss the sword with me?”
Looking at the old man in the wheelchair, Lu Mo asked.
It was impossible for the old man to fight her while sitting in a wheelchair, right?
Was he trying to be Polnareff?
“There is no need to worry,” the old man said.
In the next second, to Lu Mo’s surprise, the old man actually rose and stood up from the wheelchair.
The power in his entire body was forcibly awakened.
Lu Mo even heard the sound of muscles stretching and bones popping.
*Hum — *
There was even a faint sword hum that rose from his spine at that moment, piercing toward the sky.
Rain Breaker resonated with his body.
The indomitable aura erupted with the old man as the center.
At this moment, he was the Indestructible Sword!
Selina couldn’t quite bear this aura; she retreated several steps, trembling.
And then she saw…
Lu Mo not only didn’t retreat, but instead walked toward her father step by step.
The girl seemed to be a peerless sword of heaven and earth herself.
And now —
The sword was unsheathed!