June 6, 2018, Sunny

In June, Heaven-Reaching City was immersed in a season of bright sunshine, with the midday sun hanging high, casting rays carrying a touch of fiery heat.

However, standing in the arena, Xiao Bai found herself feeling as if she was seeing ghosts in broad daylight!

On that sword prison path covered with thorns, she had set up 72 layers of challenges, each capable of stumping a generation of Sword Dao geniuses, with 12 Sword Dao puzzles remaining unsolved to this day!

Even for herself to traverse this path would take at least three to five hours. Considering that the opponent was someone favored by the Sect Leader of the Saint Sect, even if his talent and aptitude were better than hers, it shouldn’t be less than an hour. Yet with just a blink of an eye, Wang Jiu was right in front of her, reaching out to close the Lifeless Sword Manual!

Xiao Bai felt as if her worldview had completely shattered, the inconceivable scene before her and the decades of common sense she had built forming a contradiction, leaving her at a loss. Nevertheless, years of practical cultivation at Wuxiang Sword Academy made her instinctively take the only correct action.

Xiao Bai raised her hand high and said, "Hold on!"

Wang Jiu, who was ready to claim victory, paused at her words and asked, "What’s up?"

In Wang Jiu’s typical battle mode, he wouldn’t stop just because anyone yelled to halt, but Xiao Bai seemed like a very special talent to him, deserving different treatment. Besides, Xiao Bai had made the only correct response.

At this moment, the only way to avoid defeat is to hold up your hand and call for a stop.

The Lifeless Sword Manual’s sword prison was indeed an extremely powerful divine technique, but for someone whose talent and aptitude had reached the peak realm, it felt like an obstacle-free, straight path—Xiao Bai might as well use the Five Elements technique to erect a dirt wall for a better blocking effect.

Utilizing this opportunity, Xiao Bai took a difficult breath and said, "I suspect there might be an issue with my Lifeless Sword Manual. I need to troubleshoot it first to ensure I’m in optimal condition for battle."

As soon as she said this, before Wang Jiu could speak, Wang Xiao outside the arena stomped his feet in anger: "Xiao Bai! Get out here! Wuxiang Sword Academy has never seen anyone unable to admit defeat acting up on the spot like this! You’re making history, about to disgrace the Academy beyond repair!"

Xiao Bai said righteously, "I’m not acting up! My ace is the Lifeless Sword Manual, but if the manual has a fault and I still have to fight, isn’t it blatantly putting my opponent in a dishonorable position?"

"What’s dishonorable about it!? You jumped out yourself to join the battle, yet can’t even sort out your own magical treasure, who else would you blame for your defeat!?"

Xiao Bai replied, "Blame you for not telling me earlier! If you had told me a few days ago how handsome the new Dean Cyan Lotus is, I would have snatched the Celestial Deformed Sword title and prepared in advance! How could I have this situation of discovering a magical treasure fault during battle?"

"You, you dare to slander me with your shameless words!?" Wang Xiao held his chest, feeling as though this dignified Great Cultivator of the Mountain-Overturning Realm was about to have a heart attack out of anger, "I think it’s because I’ve spoiled you too much over the years, allowing you to become so unruly! I’m declaring this match as Cyan Lotus Academy’s win! You don’t need to compete!"

Xiao Bai jumped up on the spot: "What are you doing!? What are you trying to do!? Are you abusing your power as a judge!? The reason people agreed to let you be the judge was due to great trust in you, and this is how you repay that trust?! The Dean of Cyan Lotus Academy has come here personally for sword fighting, not just to win those tens of thousands of spirit stones! Doesn’t the exploration of Sword Dao mysteries with an equal opponent mean more than mere victory or defeat to a Sword Cultivator?!"

Wang Xiao was gasping for air from heart pain, and was also dumbstruck: "I’ve never seen anyone who can be so shameless openly! Junior sister, where has your sense of shame gone?!"

Xiao Bai said, "For Sword Dao, I’ve already abandoned everything! Senior brother, haven’t you considered that your insufficient Sword Dao cultivation is because you care too much about these vanities?"

Wang Xiao was almost about to spit blood, and looking around, he saw that the spectators surrounding the arena had already very consciously dispersed to a great extent.

Internally within the Sword Academy, no cultivator didn’t know what kind of nature Xiao Bai had, and her little shows with Dean Wang Xiao were not being performed for the first time... so to maintain the Dean’s dignity, it seemed best to leave outright. Only a few spectators from the Outer Courtyard stood there confused.

At this point, the only one Wang Xiao could turn to for help was naturally Wang Jiu.

"Dean Wang Jiu, our academy’s failure to manage her is truly embarrassing, perhaps it’s best to end today’s sword fighting tournament..."

Objectively speaking, Wang Xiao’s suggestion was quite reasonable, at this moment any conscientious person should follow the trend and end this suffocating match for Wang Xiao.

Yet Wang Jiu shook his head: "It’s okay, let’s give her another chance."

With surprise, Wang Xiao watched as Xiao Bai joyfully replied, "I knew you would agree! Wait, I’ll finish checking now."

After saying this, Xiao Bai began earnestly flipping through the Sword Manual again, meticulously confirming all divine techniques within were functioning normally.

In the end, the words she used to stump Wang Xiao were more than 80 percent sincere.

Compared to a mere tens of thousands of spirit stones and nominal victory, an exhilarating sword fight is undoubtedly more valuable, so there’s no way she would allow the battle to end abruptly.

The anomaly in the Lifeless Sword Manual must be due to internal malfunctioning; once resolved, both sides could truly enjoy a genuine battle.

Yet where the issue lay, Xiao Bai truly had no clue.

The creation of the Lifeless Sword Manual involved many coincidences. Initially, she simply tossed everything she commonly used together, and heaven knows why these magical treasures, divine techniques, sword intent, etc., fused spontaneously! Existing Immortal Dao theory couldn’t explain this miracle, so all along, she maintained and enhanced the Sword Manual based on intuition, unable to rationally analyze the divine techniques constantly brewing within.

So after earnestly persisting once more, Xiao Bai felt very unwilling but had to admit, the Sword Manual’s function was entirely normal, with no signs of malfunction, thus...

"Is it you?"

Xiao Bai tilted her head to look at Wang Jiu, her gaze filled with incredulity, and even more so with delight: "Was it you causing my Sword Manual’s loss of control? You understand my Lifeless Sword Manual?"

Wang Jiu smiled slightly, then reached out to turn to the manual’s last page.

Initially confused, Xiao Bai then directed her gaze to the last page, her expression instantly growing solemn.

The last page contained notes on Sword Dao puzzles she had encountered recently.

Maintaining this habit through decades of cultivation, she noted problems on the last page, marking them off if solved, yet her collection of puzzles had never exceeded one page.

But on this page, a puzzle that troubled her for over ten years still remained.

Encountering unsolvable problems throughout one’s life is common in Immortal Dao cultivation, and Xiao Bai didn’t expect to ever see its answer.

But now, the answer was written there.

Before Xiao Bai could speak, Wang Jiu preemptively said: "A brilliant construction ability. Your designed swordsmanship perfectly fills all Wuxiang Swordsmanship system flaws, seamlessly complete without any flaws, only lacking a vital coefficient for a perfect sword intent cycle. Alas, this surpasses the era, and until Xiangzhou Continent sees sword cultivators beyond Earth Split Realm, this swordsmanship is bound to remain theoretical, and without practice, the critical coefficient in the formula cannot be tested."

Xiao Bai nodded blankly, unable to regain composure for a long time, until Wang Jiu spoke sincerely: "Your Sword Dao talent crowns this era; I hope you’ll truly utilize your talent, not waste it."

Upon hearing this, Xiao Bai’s cheeks blushed, and she nodded: "I, I understand."

Outside, Wang Xiao’s eyes were practically bulging.

"Xiao Bai, you scoundrel, how many times I’ve told you this over the decades! Have you ever responded without spitting on me!? How does this first-time acquaintance tell you this, and you show a bashful appearance!?"

Wang Xiao was ready to storm into the arena and force a showdown with his junior sister but was held back by Wang Zhao: "Brother, let’s be realistic here, this world is judgmental by appearance."

"It’s not like I haven’t tried to fix it!"

"If you could achieve Dean Cyan Lotus’s level, Junior sister might change her view of us, but you also know that’s simply impossible."

"...This Immortal Cultivation realm is too cruel!"