The Deciding Game: Silence Fell Upon Everyone

The elders fell into silence, each seeing a trace of horror in the other's eyes.

The Qingyuan Sect already had Shang Wu, a born combat prodigy, which was headache enough.

If a second one were to emerge...

Hiss...

The elders collectively leaned back in their seats.

The only consolation was that while Li Mo was formidable in battle, his temperament was usually mild and amiable. This time, he had only struck hard because the other party had provoked him first.

"Old Xue, this boy is your disciple's descendant, isn't he?" Qian Bufan said gravely.

"Mm... Li Dalong was once my personal disciple," Xue Jing replied with a complicated look.

"But after he was injured, he requested to return home."

"In that case, you should visit the Autumn Water Pavilion more often from now on."

"Indeed, the ideological education of disciples is of utmost importance."

The elders were already planning a moral cultivation course for Li Mo.

"He's my disciple!" Shang Wu wrinkled her delicate nose and snorted. "A bunch of old fools—just moments ago, you were questioning my teaching abilities."

The elders: "..."

His body-refining techniques and swordsmanship—what part of those had even the slightest connection to you?

This was purely the result of his own innate genius, wasn’t it?

Hmm.

The fact that he had reached such a level under Shang Wu’s tutelage only highlighted Li Mo’s raw potential.

It was a pity that his initial talent had left them all stumped back then.

Who knew if taking Shang Wu as his master had been a fortunate accident...

"He obtained the Red Sky Sword, so his swordsmanship must be impressive as well."

"If his body-refining skills are on par... then his match against Little Bing might truly give us a clash of titans."

"Hahaha, our Qingyuan Sect has birthed a true phoenix, and now a hidden dragon is emerging!"

Given the skill Li Mo had displayed on the stage—

At just sixteen years old—

If he also possessed considerable mastery in the sword, he would undoubtedly rank among the elite geniuses!

The elders cast amused glances at the representatives of the smaller sects.

Thought the Qingyuan Sect was in decline?

Came to test our foundation?

Sweating bullets now, aren’t you?

"By the way, Old Qian, why don’t you go up and call for a stop?"

"Oh, I meant to do that earlier. Age makes one forgetful."

......

The match came to an end.

The outcome went without saying, and it left an indelible impression—after all, this was the first time in the current Nine Peaks Tournament that someone had to be carried off on a stretcher.

If not for Wang Hao’s twitching limbs as he was taken away, everyone would have thought he was dead.

Many turned their eyes to Ying Bing.

Yet the young maiden remained composed, sipping her tea as if this were no surprise at all.

She had personally instructed Li Mo in swordsmanship, so she knew.

To someone of his caliber in the sword path, body-refining was merely the icing on the cake.

Upon reflection, the crowd understood.

Since the two lived together, they must have had some insight into each other’s strength. It would be stranger if she were surprised.

The only question was...

Which of them held the upper hand now?

......

The Nine Peaks Tournament continued.

But the subsequent matches were uneventful.

Ying Bing’s battles could be summarized as:

"I moved, one strike, it’s over."

However... someone else didn’t even need to strike.

In the semifinals, Li Mo faced a familiar opponent—

A disciple of Dan Ding Peak’s Elder Xue, the same attendant who had once received Li Mo and Ying Bing at the medical hall.

"Heh, Junior Brother Li, we meet again," the attendant said with a smile, his eyes filled with emotion.

"Back when I first saw you, you hadn’t even opened your meridians, while I was already at the Jade Liquid Realm."

"Who would’ve thought you’d now be standing across from me in this arena?"

His true age was much older than his youthful appearance suggested, a result of an illness that stunted his growth.

"Senior Brother," Li Mo nodded.

"Hm?"

"If you want to say ‘standing across,’ you should probably step onto the stage first."

Seeing the attendant still loitering below the platform, Li Mo sighed in exasperation.

"Ah, right, I just remembered there’s a batch of pills refining back at Dan Ding Peak."

"I’ll take my leave now. Wouldn’t want to disturb."

The attendant scurried off in haste.

As he left, his gaze lingered between Ying Bing and Li Mo before giving Li Mo a thumbs-up:

"Go for it, Junior Brother Li."

"I’m rooting for you."

Li Mo: "?"

Well, at least he didn’t have to move.

Now, the final match.

Li Mo looked up to see Ying Bing at the foot of the steps, her slender frame wrapped in a pale blue robe that fluttered in the wind. The depths of her dark, tranquil eyes finally rippled with emotion.

She had never imagined—

That the person standing opposite her in the Nine Peaks Tournament would be Li Mo.

The same boy who, in her past life, had faded into obscurity almost instantly.

Yet in this life, he had fearlessly leaped into the Qingyuan Abyss with her, unhesitatingly yielded the Primordial Phoenix Marrow to her, and then revealed astonishing swordsmanship talent, nearly rivaling Jiang Chulong.

Because of him, her life had taken many unexpected turns.

Now, there were delicious meals every day, someone to discuss swordplay with, games of chess, and even the occasional amusing phrase that tumbled from his lips.

This feeling...

Wasn’t half bad.

"Thanks to you, I’ve grown much stronger."

"I won’t hold back," Li Mo said with a smile.

The rewards he’d gained from the "ice block" were too numerous to count.

And through daily immersion, he had finally realized his dream—to become a dashing swordsman.

"No need to thank me. Thank your own hard work instead," Ying Bing replied, the corners of her lips curling into a faint, unconscious smile.

"Let me see how much you’ve improved."

"I’ll definitely surprise you," Li Mo grinned brightly.

As a swordsman, facing a true master—

This was exhilarating.

"If you’ve made great strides, I’ll be happy for you," Ying Bing murmured softly.

His swordplay was her teaching.

Naturally, she would take pride in his progress.

Victory or defeat?

That hardly mattered at all.

The audience: "?"

The elders: "?"

Wait, are you two going to fight or not?

Most competitors either trash-talked or at least exchanged cold glares. But here you are, being all supportive and proud of each other?

Should we just leave?

Fortunately, neither prolonged the conversation.

Li Mo tightened his grip on the Red Sky Sword, steadying his breath.

Ying Bing tied her dark hair into a high ponytail with one hand, then gave a slight nod.

The battle began.

Young Li struck first, the tip of his sword flickering as the killing aura of his blade condensed into near-tangible sharpness.

Like a volley of crane feathers, each strand carried the force to pierce metal and shatter stone.

He hadn’t wasted his time these past months.

To better navigate interactions between two "Destined Maidens," he had buried himself in the library, devouring every manual on sword techniques and principles, even investing a significant portion of his martial insights into them.

He had taken a giant leap toward the realm of "skill approaching the Dao."

"Using blade-killing aura in place of internal energy."

"Not bad," Ying Bing praised softly.

A frost-bright sword gleam flashed—she didn’t use internal energy either.

Yet her nimble swordplay dissolved each deadly feather of aura with precision, leaving room to counter.

The disintegrated feathers swirled back toward Li Mo in a reversed storm.

The next instant—

Li Mo vanished from his spot.

Wind Shadow Step.

"The Flower-Seeking Swordplay can be driven with the momentum of wind and rain."

"Constantly evading will only make my swordplay grow stronger," Ying Bing's clear voice rang out.

Li Mo fell into thought.

Both were using perfected sword techniques, so why...?

Suddenly, he stopped focusing on the "Fire Crane Thousand Feathers" and instead traced back to the original "Blazing Prairie Swordplay."

Wildfire sweeping the prairie?

The audience below fell silent.

Were these two strong?

Extremely so.

Whether it was Li Mo or Ying Bing, their swordsmanship had far surpassed anything the spectators could imagine.

But...

What the hell?

Where was the cutthroat intensity expected of a competition for the top martial rank?

Was this even a real fight?

They were practically sparring and feeding each other moves!

Elder Disciple Li, where was the brutality you showed when you crushed Wang Hao into the ground?

Elder Disciple Ying, where was your usual unstoppable dominance, ending battles in an instant?

You two weren’t like this before!

Are you kidding me?!