Wei Zhuang didn't dare hold back. The girl's aura rivaled his own in depth, so he went all out from the start—against a true master, any hesitation could spell death.
Xue Nu drew her sword to parry, but realizing Wei Zhuang meant business, she dropped all pretense. Think I'm just a pretty ornament? Yi Swordsmanship surged forth, each strike anticipating his blade's path, while the Daoist Chong Xu Sword Arts flowed ceaselessly.
Ge Nie watched from the sidelines. At first, Xue Nu seemed half-hearted, driven back step by step by Wei Zhuang. But once that uncanny swordplay unfolded, she reversed the tide in an instant, forcing him on the defensive. The two traded blows evenly now, yet this Daoist woman moved with even greater ease. At this rate, Wei Zhuang would lose.
Wei Zhuang sensed the shift too—his sword paths laid bare, and her Chong Xu Sword Arts gaining the upper hand. Gritting his teeth, he abandoned restraint entirely.
Xue Nu felt the change; Yi Swordsmanship couldn't keep pace anymore. She pivoted to Chong Xu as her mainstay, weaving in Yi as support to counter his Heng Swordsmanship. Their duel dragged on, inseparable, but Wei Zhuang seethed inwardly. Call Ge Nie for help? I couldn't stomach the shame. She was younger than him, after all—teaming up would make him a laughingstock.
"The fish in the Northern Sea!" Spotting no quick end to Wei Zhuang, with Ge Nie looming nearby, Xue Nu unleashed her ultimate technique.
Wei Zhuang's eyes widened. He knew this—one of the Daoists' mightiest sword arts. He countered instantly with his Heng clan's pinnacle move: Piercing Eight Directions.
A strange whale's cry echoed—"Mooo~"—as a colossal whale erupted from the earth, surging straight into Wei Zhuang's Eight Directions Blood Sword Strike.
Boom!
The thunderous clash sank the Northern Sea Fish, but the whale's tail launched Wei Zhuang skyward.
Trouble! Ge Nie's heart sank. In Qin, he'd occasionally sparred swordplay with Xiaoyao Zi and knew the Daoists' Northern Sea Fish led into follow-ups. The key to breaking it? Never let that whale fling you airborne—combo guaranteed to land. Wei Zhuang, airborne now, cursed his carelessness; he shouldn't have been tossed like that.
"Ride the Void on Winds!" Xue Nu called out crisply, her sword slicing forth. She ascended on nothing but air, gales coiling around Wei Zhuang, sealing his qi from gathering.
Clang!
Swords met with a ring—Ge Nie had intervened, shattering Xue Nu's Ride the Void on Winds. Without it, Wei Zhuang would've been crippled or worse.
With Ge Nie joining in, Xue Nu grew warier still. She unleashed Ride the Void on Winds anew, splintering a gale toward him. Ge Nie's blade swept vertically, dispersing the wind. Must force her down. Aerial duels against Daoists' Ride the Void? Suicide, even for Ghost Valley's Zong and Heng. Across all the Hundred Schools, none had clashed with Daoists in the skies and lived unscathed.
See? Told you I didn't spoil her rotten! From his hiding spot afar, Li Hai Mo watched the trio clash, muttering under his breath.
Ge Nie's entry let Wei Zhuang fall back to catch his breath. Tag-teaming was unfair enough; ganging up outright? Beyond the pale. But he'd lost—careless as it was.
Xue Nu knew the skies favored her, so she stayed aloft, staring down Ge Nie. He touched down on a treetop, then lunged again, determined to drag her earthbound.
"The fish in the Northern Sea!" Xue Nu cried.
Ge Nie recoiled in alarm—only to realize the feint. No Northern Sea Fish at all; this was the Daoist clan's grandmaster sword: Snow After the First Clear. It needed a feint to build momentum. He'd fallen for it, retreating and granting her the setup time.
Brilliant—even Ge Nie got duped! Li Hai Mo stared, slack-jawed. The Sword Saint himself, snared by such a simple ruse.
Countless runes bloomed around Xue Nu, a vast Taiji Eight Trigrams array unfurling beneath her feet.
Ge Nie retreated further, refusing to step into that diagram. Once inside, all his cultivation would funnel through it into her blade. That was Snow After the First Clear's essence: siphoning foes' power amid the setup, like snow falling to steal the world's moisture and warmth—why fresh snow feels mild. Then the strike lands, sun breaking through: instant plunge into bone-chilling winter.
"Xiao Zhuang—together!" Ge Nie couldn't tank this Snow After the First Clear alone, especially after the trick had already leeched some of his inner force.
Wei Zhuang knew its terror too; the feint had lured him into the diagram earlier.
"Zong Heng's Thresholds Unfettered!"
Ge Nie and Wei Zhuang struck as one: Hundred-Step Flying Sword from the former, Piercing Eight Directions from the latter. One white, one black—twin ink dragons roared toward Xue Nu in the sky. She gripped her golden Dao sword, channeling the Eight Trigrams' might to meet the pair head-on.
Going this big? Li Hai Mo jolted. Without intervention, all three would end up gravely hurt.
"World in Black and White!"
Li Hai Mo drew Ling Xu, turning heaven and earth to monochrome. His sword flicked up, deflecting the duo's blades skyward, while he seized Xue Nu's hand, slapping her Dao-sword Jian Jia toward the ground.
Boom!
The Dao sword detonated earthward; Zong Heng's Thresholds Unfettered raged above.
The three tumbled to the dirt. Under World in Black and White, none could muster their cultivation anymore.
"Shizun, you set me up!" Xue Nu wailed inwardly, near tears. Tricked into sparring Zong and Heng—nearly got myself killed!
Li Hai Mo offered an awkward grin. Who asked you to play helpless? Broke my heart, cost me my hair—aged me into middle age overnight.
"Greetings, Daoist senior!" Ge Nie and Wei Zhuang sheathed their swords and bowed.
"No need for formalities. This time, I owe you two a favor," Li Hai Mo replied.
How could Ge Nie and Wei Zhuang not see they'd been roped in as fodder for the girl? The embarrassment stung—they hadn't even won.
"This young lady has rare talent and profound cultivation. Our bout benefited us brothers greatly," Ge Nie said.
No kidding. Can't trust pretty women—especially not to go easy. Who'd expect such a lovely girl to play dirty, yelling "Northern Sea Fish" while brewing Snow After the First Clear? Where was the damn fish? Fall for that, and you'd be filleted on the board.
"It's only because you're unfamiliar with Daoist arts that it worked. Otherwise, one-on-one, she couldn't match either of you," Li Hai Mo explained. Xue Nu's edge came from their ignorance—never dreaming she'd wield the clan's grandmaster blade, Snow After the First Clear.
"A loss is a loss. We can take it," Wei Zhuang said coolly.
"Xue Nu, come greet your two Shixiong," Li Hai Mo said, mischief stirring. Technically correct—she could call them Shixiong—but to Wei Zhuang's ears? Loaded.
Wei Zhuang's face darkened like a storm cloud; Ge Nie, unfazed.
"Xue Nu greets Shixiong Ge Nie and Shixiong Wei Zhuang," she stepped forward, curtsying. We'll settle scores later—face first.
"Greetings, Shimei Xue Nu." They returned the courtesy—Wei Zhuang through gritted teeth.
"Ge Nie, you've touched half-step Tian Ren He Yi, haven't you?" Li Hai Mo asked. Otherwise, he couldn't have escaped Snow After the First Clear so swiftly.
"A few months back, at the Daoist mountains, I witnessed a senior merge with the Dao and caught a wisp of its legacy. Luck carried me to half-step," Ge Nie replied.
Wei Zhuang blanked. Why don't I get breaks like that? Shixiong, how do you waltz into Tai Yi Mountain daily? It's sealed—yet you slip in? Your connections that wild now? And Daoist seniors merging with the Dao... letting you spectate? How in are you?
Li Hai Mo pieced it: Must've been Xiao Meng's merge at Guan Miao Terrace. Otherwise, no legacy for Ge Nie. The terrace aided mergers in grasping the Dao—and broadcast its leavings across Tai Yi, to disciples of Tian and Ren sects alike. No way they'd let an outsider watch Xiao Meng's rite; Bei Ming Zi Shishu would've stood guard, barring even Tian sect kin. But Li Hai Mo wouldn't spill it was Xiao Meng.
"I'm still far off. Shixiong Xiaoyao Zi of Ren sect broke through to full Tian Ren He Yi on that legacy, and Shixiong Bai Yun Zi hit half-step too," Ge Nie added.
Li Hai Mo chuckled. Need that full Tian Ren He Yi, huh? If Xiao Meng learns I gifted the Confucians two... the washboard won't cut it. He glanced at Xue Nu. Such a slacker—not even half-step. Jun Longyang? Nah, path's gone astray—unsalvageable. And too much contact? Risk getting turned.
"Xiao Zhuang—mind if I really call you that?" Li Hai Mo eyed Wei Zhuang.
Black lines creased Wei Zhuang's brow anew, but what could he do? Senior's privilege.
"Senior, speak freely," he conceded. Must have words for me.
"Xiao Zhuang, your swordsmanship's flawless. But your mindset lags. I don't know Ghost Valley's heart arts, but on mental cultivation, I've some insight. You're too fixated—strength and flaw both. Your obsessions run deep. When you shed that need to dominate, to outshine... that's when Tian Ren He Yi opens for you."
Wei Zhuang's fixation—to save Han, save Korea, best Ge Nie—drove his blades forward without retreat. Only after Han's death, Korea's fall, in utter despair, did he reach Tian Ren He Yi. Always a step behind Ge Nie.
"Shedding it? Simple in theory, brutal in practice. Try opening your heart—let someone in. Since you won't step out... invite one inside. That'll carry you to half-step Tian Ren," Li Hai Mo added. A shortcut, sure—but once the heart-door cracks, slamming it shut? Tricky.
"Let someone in?" Wei Zhuang gazed at him, murmuring low. Unbidden, her face and voice flooded his mind—that girl.
Wei Zhuang sat lost in a daze, thoughts consumed by her. Unwittingly, he slipped into half-step Tian Ren.
Li Hai Mo and the others backed off, leaving him to his reverie.
"My thanks for the guidance, Senior." Ge Nie noted Wei Zhuang's breakthrough and bowed deeply.
"All his own culmination—my words just sparked it. Otherwise, like her: eat, sleep, repeat. Even Dao infusion wouldn't push her to Tian Ren He Yi, let alone guidance!" Li Hai Mo jabbed a thumb at Xue Nu.
Xue Nu flushed, sticking out her tongue. Guilty—infused the most, yet Fu Nian and Yan Lu both advanced. Me? Not even half-step.
"Shimei Xue Nu's still young. Hit Tian Ren He Yi this quick, and us Shixiong'd be lost," Ge Nie said with a smile.
"Exactly!" Xue Nu beamed. Ge Nie's even handsomer now. Words like honey—unlike this Shizun, who tricked his own disciple!
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