096. Sword Duel

When Lingyu reached the Little Sword Pool, there were already a hundred or so cultivators inside. Most of them were at the Qi Refining stage, and only five or six had reached Foundation Establishment. The Foundation Establishment cultivators all remained in the center of the pool, where the spiritual swords were thickest and where the swords with sword hearts were said to reside.

The layout of the Little Sword Pool was such that the nearer one drew to the inner ring, the stronger the sword force became. Disciples who had only just begun to walk the path of the sword could stay only at the outer edge; those with slightly deeper cultivation could move a little further in, and only after reaching Foundation Establishment were they permitted into the inner ring.

The moment Lingyu stepped into the Little Sword Pool, she drew in a sharp breath.

A frigid sword intent climbed up her calf in an instant and shot straight to the back of her head, making her shiver hard. It took her a long while to recover.

What a chilling sword intent. It had suppressed her so completely in a single breath that she could barely move. Compared with the sword intent she had felt from Xu Zheng that day in the array, it was only slightly weaker.

Lingyu stood at the edge of the pool and acclimated for a while before slowly stepping inside.

The sword intent was formidable, but there was not much of it. It had startled her at first, then receded. What flowed through the pool from every direction was sword qi.

Step by step, Lingyu walked inward, feeling the different sword qi that stirred in the pool. The places dense with metal, wood, and earth sword qi were not suitable for her. What she needed was a place where water and fire sword qi gathered.

Yet there were many Qi Refining disciples in the pool. After walking around once, she only barely found a spot that was somewhat suitable, and she sat down cross-legged as the others did.

A few people looked up when they saw her enter, but most remained unmoved.

Sword qi crisscrossed around her, every streak sharp as a blade. She had to circulate her true essence with all her strength just to withstand it. Only then could she slowly relax and feel the sword qi contained within each surge: some cold and cutting, some fierce and wild, some gentle and warm, some sturdy and tenacious.

Little by little, Lingyu’s mind sank entirely into it. It felt as though she had entered a wondrous world, a world made entirely of swords. Within that world were countless kinds of sword qi, and sword intent that faintly radiated majesty. The sword qi was icy and sinister; the sword intent was severe and piercing. It made her tremble, yet it also thrilled her beyond measure.

So there were so many strange forms of sword qi in this world. So sword qi could be cultivated in such a way...

Never having formally received the inheritance of a sword cultivator, she devoured this knowledge with ravenous hunger. This Little Sword Pool had laid bare the world of sword cultivation before her. It was richer than anything any sword manual could contain.

No one knew how long had passed when a sudden shout rang out by her ear.

"Hey, kid!"

Lingyu jolted back to her senses. Opening her eyes, she saw a pair of long legs shaking with brazen arrogance.

She looked up in confusion and found a face that could only be called alluring: red lips curved in a seductive line, powder-smooth skin, and a pair of peach blossom eyes cast with bewitching charm.

Lingyu paused for a moment, then lowered her gaze to the prominent Adam's apple and flat chest.

"Male?"

"Female?"

They spoke at the same time, both in tones of utter disbelief. Then they stared at each other.

The commotion drew the attention of the others. The Qi Refining disciples nearby stopped cultivating and looked over. Someone burst out laughing. "Qian Jiale, staring at this junior sister of yours like that, doesn’t it feel like you’re looking in a mirror?"

The alluring young man darkened his expression and snapped, "Get lost. I wasn’t talking to you!"

The other man made a zipping motion across his mouth and obediently fell silent.

Lingyu blinked. She felt that this Senior Brother Qian, despite his feminine looks, was probably not someone to provoke. His swagger, along with the others' restraint, all pointed to the same thing.

And now this hard-to-deal-with Senior Brother Qian was standing before her with that overbearing look on his face. No matter how she thought about it, this could not be good.

"What do you need, Senior Brother?" Lingyu rose and cupped her hands toward him.

"What do I need?" Qian Jiale sized her up from head to toe, displeased to discover that Lingyu was only a little shorter than he was. If one did not look carefully, she seemed even more manly than he, a genuine man through and through.

In truth, Lingyu did not look especially masculine. She was simply tall and lean, with no obvious feminine features, and because she had grown up without the least bit of feminine refinement, she lacked even a trace of softness. At first glance, it was easy to mistake her. As for seeming more manly than this Senior Brother Qian, that was only because he looked far too enchanting.

Of course, Senior Brother Qian would never think the problem lay with him. He only felt that Lingyu's presence had put him in a foul mood. "Kid, this is my spot. Understand?"

He lifted his chin, trying to make himself look much taller than Lingyu.

Lingyu arched a brow. "Isn't the Little Sword Pool the sect's property?"

"The place you live in is also the sect's property. Does that mean anyone can sleep in your bed?" Qian Jiale shot back the moment she finished.

"..."

Very well. Lingyu could see it now. This Senior Brother Qian had come looking for trouble.

"What do you want, Senior Brother? Just say it plainly. There's no need to waste each other's time." Faced with deliberate provocation, Lingyu returned it without the slightest politeness.

Qian Jiale only grew more displeased. So straightforward? Wasn't that even more manly?

"A duel!" He stepped forward and said savagely, "If you're a sword cultivator, then use your sword to speak. If you win, this spot is yours. If you lose, get out obediently!"

As soon as Qian Jiale said this, more Qi Refining disciples stopped cultivating and watched with interest.

Lingyu glanced around and saw that the several Foundation Establishment cultivators in the center of the pool did not move at all. They continued cultivating, utterly uninterested and clearly not intending to intervene.

"What, are you afraid?" Qian Jiale looked at her with contempt. "If you're afraid, then scram. Cultivating the sword is a man's business!"

Lingyu laughed, her voice calm and without the least trace of anger. "Senior Brother Qian, has no one ever told you that the Purple Firmament Sword Sect would suit you better?" Look at him. How much he resembled those self-important men of the Purple Firmament Sword Sect. From the disciple who registered newcomers, to Xu Zheng, that Sword Lord, their haughty, contemptuous air was nearly identical.

"What do you mean by that?" Qian Jiale was stunned for a moment and failed to catch her meaning.

Lingyu spread her hands. "Nothing at all."

Then she turned and stepped out of the pool.

Qian Jiale had not expected her to be so decisive. For a moment he did not react. Was she really giving him the spot? Good! He knew it. Though she looked like a man, at heart she was still a woman!

Before he could rejoice for long, Lingyu had already stopped at the side of the pool, drawn the Kan-Li Sword, and lifted a brow at him. "Senior Brother Qian, weren't you the one who wanted to speak with swords?"

Qian Jiale had not expected her to dare draw her blade, and he flew into a rage at once. He drew his own sword with a flick of the wrist and stepped out of the pool. "Good. Then let Senior Brother properly instruct you!"

The instant the words left his mouth, his sword was already out.

Lingyu saw sword light flare as countless streaks burst from Qian Jiale's spirit sword, flying toward her with the speed of wind and thunder.

She was startled. She had not expected his attack to be so fierce the moment he moved. Qian Jiale's cultivation was slightly higher than hers; he was at the ninth level of Qi Refining. Moreover, he was a genuine sword cultivator, unlike her, whose path had been crookedly built from the start. The sword inheritance he had received was far more orthodox than hers, so it was almost certain that he was stronger.

But he had provoked her again and again. If she withdrew without a fight, would that not be humiliating? As the old saying went, one could lose in strength, but never in spirit. Even if she could not win, she still had to fight.

When it came to fighting, Cheng Lingyu had never feared anyone in her life. Back when she was in the Cheng family, when her eldest and second brothers teamed up to bully her third brother, she had dared to rush in alone and take on two at once. At first she could not beat them. Later, after fighting them enough times, the moment her eldest and second brothers saw her they became afraid and never dared bully her third brother again.

Lingyu drew a deep breath.

Beyond refusing to lose in spirit, there was something even more important: she needed to see her own strength. Just how large was the gap between a half-trained sword cultivator like her and an orthodox one like Qian Jiale?

Before the sword light even arrived, her spirit web had already spread out. The spirit web was Lingyu's greatest hidden card. Invisible and intangible, it could not be sensed by others, and it made up for the weakness of her insufficiently strong divine sense.

The sword light arrived, and the strands of spiritual energy within the spirit web trembled, transmitting the strength of each streak of sword light to her.

Lingyu shifted slightly. With a light sweep of the Kan-Li Sword, she blocked. Most of the sword light flew past her side, while the rest was completely deflected by the blade.

Even so, she still staggered back several steps before she could halt her retreat.

"Good strike!" someone nearby shouted. "Qian Jiale, your swordsmanship has improved again!"

Qian Jiale's expression, however, was not pleasant. On the surface it seemed as though he had merely made a casual strike and forced Lingyu back several steps, but in truth his sword qi had been transformed into sword light without harming her in the slightest. More importantly, Lingyu had not made a single unnecessary motion. She had simply shifted and blocked at the right moment. That judgment was astonishing; Qian Jiale knew he could not do the same.

When his spirit sword returned to his hand, Qian Jiale's expression turned grave. Since he could not win with sword light, then he would fight at close range. He did not believe that a female cultivator could beat him hand to hand.

With that thought, Qian Jiale acted at once. Sword in hand, he lunged forward in a charge. His spirit sword dragged a dazzling trail of light behind it, and waves of sword qi poured forth like a storm, crashing down on Lingyu.

Having just warded off Qian Jiale's sword light, Lingyu was attacked again at once. With no other choice, she pushed her spirit web to its limit and, together with her divine sense, raised her sword to meet him.

Qian Jiale's sword qi was even faster. Qi Refining sword cultivators lacked the true essence to sustain many sword qi at once, and he was no different. Yet the speed at which he could release his sword qi was far beyond others. Often, before the sword qi on one side had even faded, another wave was already being unleashed.

Lingyu felt as though she could scarcely breathe. Even with her spirit web working in concert with her divine sense, it was difficult to adapt to such speed. But adapt she had to. Qian Jiale was far stronger than she was, and if she could not match his rhythm, she would be crushed and defeated utterly.

Holding her breath, she drove all her senses to their fullest, searching for a path to survive through the oncoming sword qi.

On the open ground beside the Little Sword Pool, sword light flashed everywhere as the two of them fought into a blur, their figures no longer distinguishable.

Most of the Qi Refining disciples cultivating there had already stopped and were watching the duel.

"Isn't Senior Brother Qian just bullying her?" one of them said. "Who doesn't know his name for fast swordplay? This junior sister is lower in cultivation than he is, and her swordsmanship isn't anything special. How could she possibly beat him?"

Another disciple nearby joined in. "This junior sister is newly started, isn't she? If I'd seen someone like her before, I would definitely remember her!"

"Old Guo, you don't know the story. This Junior Sister Cheng is indeed a newcomer, but in just over a month she has already become a figure of great interest in the sect. She works in the Guardhouse, and every day quite a few junior sisters deliberately loiter near the mountain gate. Tsk, tsk. If she weren't a woman, she'd already have been taught a lesson by now!"

"Oh?" The man from before showed a look of sudden understanding and stroked his chin. "Now that you put it that way, I rather want to see what this junior sister would look like in women's clothes..."