It was midsummer, and the scorching sun blazed overhead, its fiery rays beating down on Dan Peak, leaving the flowers, grass, and trees listless and wilted.
Yet, under this very sun, on the grassy shore of Sword Washing Lake, a beautiful woman in a red dress practiced her swordplay. Each of her strikes was powerful and precise, her footwork agile and swift—so fast that ordinary eyes could barely keep up. Her vibrant, energetic demeanor stood in stark contrast to the languid creatures around her, all withered by the relentless heat.
Her fiery phoenix-like figure had the convalescing soldiers on the opposite shore nearly dropping their jaws in awe.
Even while recovering from her injuries, Li Shiyin never ceased her contemplation of the sword.
"A sword practiced a thousand times reveals its essence."
Her master had told her that no matter how great one’s talent, without diligence to fully realize it, that talent would be wasted.
So she trained daily. Rain, thunder, snow, or frost—nothing could deter her. Unshakable as the thunder itself.
Her relentless effort stemmed partly from a refusal to squander her gifts, and partly because, within the Dao Sword Sect—or indeed, the entire Land of Immortal Legacy—every swordsman lived under the shadow of Lu Junxing. Until she surpassed him, there would be no end to her path in the sword.
She began by meticulously rehearsing the fundamental sword techniques—thrusts, slashes, points, and cuts—executing each with flawless precision. Only then did she move on to the few sword forms she had created herself.
Her master had said that no matter how intricate a sword technique might be—even if it were as complex as Lu Junxing’s single stroke painting mountains and rivers—or how mighty—whether reaching the heavens to pluck the moon or diving into the abyss to slay the Kunpeng—as long as it remained a sword technique, it could never escape the confines of the basic movements a sword could perform.
Swordplay had infinite variations, but all those variations were built upon the finite foundation of fundamental sword techniques.
Her master placed great emphasis on the basics. He said that to master profound swordplay, one must first master the fundamental techniques.
She heeded his words faithfully, always beginning her practice with a thorough drill of the basics.
The recent sect defense battles had given her two major fights—one a direct confrontation with the Nascent Soul cultivator Zhang Wei, and another where she led the sect’s Golden Core disciples against those of the Hengduan Mountain Alliance. Both battles had taught her much.
She had wanted to create new sword techniques based on these insights, but her master stopped her.
He said, "Better to master a few than to dabble in many."
What use was knowing a thousand sword techniques? In battle, the best choice was always the one you wielded with utmost skill.
A single foundational sword style, so long as it contained four key elements—a high-damage single-target strike, an area-of-effect attack, a technique targeting mana, and one targeting the soul—was more than enough.
She already had four self-created techniques. Rather than expending effort on new ones, it was better to refine the existing ones with her deepened understanding of the sword.
Though she suspected her master simply didn’t want to bother naming any more techniques and was using this reasoning to brush her off, she had no proof to refute him. So she followed his advice, polishing her existing forms.
The first was "Celestial Descent," her master’s so-called high-damage single-target strike. The second was "Sealed Dust, Severed Thought," a soul-slashing technique. The third, "Dreamlike Stars," was an AOE attack with devastating power but heavy mana consumption. The fourth, "Myriad Swords Return," was another AOE, but its mana cost was far more controlled.
From the first to the fourth, Li Shiyin practiced each with painstaking care.
When she finished, she sheathed her sword, closed her eyes, and stood still, absorbing the insights from her training.
But before she could fully digest them, someone suddenly wrapped their arms around her shoulders from behind, resting their chin on her shoulder and pressing their nose against her ear. Their breath was deep and slow—clearly savoring her scent—yet they remained silent.
She knew who it was. Ignoring him at first, she waited until she had fully absorbed her reflections before opening her eyes.
Her gaze was bright with amusement, her lips curled in a smile, yet her tone was exasperated as she said, "Sect Leader Qin, could you mind your image a little? There are plenty of people watching over there. Don’t corrupt the youngsters."
Dan Peak still housed many wounded, gathered by Sword Washing Lake near the medicinal herb greenhouses. Another makeshift shelter had been erected there, offering meager protection from sun and rain.
Today was clear, and many of the injured were strolling by the lake. Thus, they witnessed both the mesmerizing sword dance of the woman in red and the less dignified side of Dan Peak’s sect leader.
"What youngsters?" Qin Ran’s voice was lazy as he tightened his embrace, showing no intention of letting go. "Even if there were any, what’s wrong with hugging my own wife? I’m teaching them a valuable lesson—parents should be affectionate, and husbands should dote on their wives. That’s how you build a happy family. It’s lawful, and it’s righteous."
Li Shiyin was no match for his silver tongue.
She changed the subject, teasing, "Who’s your wife? I’m your disciple—is this really appropriate?"
"Disciple?" Qin Ran’s voice dropped, then heated up. "That just makes it more exciting."
"Ugh—!" Li Shiyin jabbed a finger backward into his ribs. "Sect Leader Qin, have you no shame at all?"
"Shame? Can shame fill your stomach?" Qin Ran retorted. "If I had any shame, I wouldn’t have shamelessly seduced my own disciple in the first place."
"Tch…"
The fearless Li Shiyin of her youth—who had dared to beat up a crown prince in the mortal world and even forced herself on her master at Dan Peak—had, as a married woman, grown a touch of bashfulness and feminine reserve.
Hearing Qin Ran’s brazen words, her cheeks flushed. She glanced across the lake at the many pairs of eyes watching them, then turned back and whispered, "Qin Ran, behave yourself!"
Where was the woman who once "defied the heavens" now?
Qin Ran tilted his head against her shoulder, admiring the blush on her face from behind—like delicate strokes of rouge on pristine porcelain. The sight of shyness and femininity on a tomboy like Li Shiyin only made her more enchanting.
His heart itched. Leaning in, he planted a kiss on her cheek.
"Oh? Blushing, are we?" he teased.
Li Shiyin huffed. "This sword immortal doesn’t blush!"
"Then turn around and let your master see." He released her, gripping her shoulders to spin her toward him.
Face to face now, under Qin Ran’s shameless gaze, Li Shiyin’s heart melted. She lowered her eyes, murmuring, "Shameless master…"
Then, her body softened, and she buried herself in his arms, unwilling to meet his eyes.
Qin Ran held his pliant wife close, smirking triumphantly at the onlookers across the lake before bending to whisper in her ear:
"Sweetheart, do you know what ‘daylight debauchery’ means?"
Li Shiyin didn’t answer, instead responding with a punch to his ribs.
Seemed she already knew.
Qin Ran endured the pain and pressed on, "Should we have a baby?"
"Really?" Li Shiyin immediately lifted her head, her eyes sparkling. "Are we having a baby?"
"That’s up to you…" Qin Ran reached out and gently pinched her nose.
"Of course we are!" Li Shiyin declared loudly.
"A boy or a girl?"
"A boy! I can teach him swordsmanship!"
"Can’t a girl learn swordsmanship too?" Qin Ran stared at her in surprise.
Li Shiyin grew shy again, avoiding his gaze. "Girls wielding swords aren’t very gentle…"
"Says who?" Qin Ran tapped her cheek playfully. "Her mother is plenty gentle!"
"Hmph!"
Li Shiyin couldn’t bring herself to admit she was gentle.
ut it can buy an entire year of absolutely perfect training results! Su Yu stared at his empty wallet and decisively opened up various online loan platforms. “Borrow a thousand bucks! Recharge my vitality!” Boom! His vitality broke a hundred points, shattering the limits of the human body! “Borrow ten thousand bucks! Recharge my combat skills!” Boom! A basic punching technique so common it was everywhere instantly maxed out, revealing the ultimate assassination technique of Five Elements Unity—Inner Force! When a rich kid hired assassins for a midnight ambush, aiming to break both of his legs, they instead ran headfirst into a monster—a human-shaped tyrannosaur, brimming with dragon-like vitality. With just two fingers, Su Yu snapped a steel staff reinforced with alloy. Staring at the killer’s stash of stolen cash—a staggering quarter-million dollars—he showed a corporate-sincere smile: “Thanks for the pre-exam gift pack, Mr. Zhao! I’m gonna go re-invest this!” Three days later, at the National Martial Arts College Entrance Exam, while everyone else struggled just to reach the passing line, Su Yu threw a single punch—and more than a thousand vitality points literally detonated the entire arena!
ing gift was a patch of barren land, and disciples were all picked up along the way. He spent fifty years diligently building three "ramshackle little sects," thinking he could finally live a carefree life relying on his disciples. But right at the fifty-year mark, he was suddenly swept away by a spatial rift and exiled to the Chaos Desolation, the Disorderly Ruins. There was no spiritual energy there, only slaughter. Relying on the cultivation feedback from his disciples, Gu Changyuan hacked his way through a sea of blood for eleven hundred years. When the system finally fished him back out, he discovered the ramshackle little sects he'd built back then had developed a rather... unusual style. Hold on... I vanished for a thousand years, so how did my ramshackle little sects become holy lands?!
ine. During your journey, you save an abandoned baby girl and become her elder brother】 【You rely on each other, becoming each other's support】 【At the end of the simulation, you shield the now-grown girl with your life, sacrificing yourself to block numerous demonic cultivators. You die, and the light in the girl's eyes fades】 …… 【Second Simulation: You are transported to a world where steam and magic coexist】 【You immerse yourself in the study of magic, obsessed with its research. One day, while out, you encounter a half-blooded demon girl wandering the streets. You take her in as your student】 【You teach the demoness what it means to be human, show her the beauty of the world, and nurture her into a miracle that surpasses even the gods】 【At the end of the simulation, you die of old age in front of the nearly immortal demoness due to your mortal lifespan】 …… One simulation after another, one encounter after another. Xu Xi suddenly felt something was off: "Wait, you said you're coming to the real world to find me?"
with countless casualties. As a top-tier gamer, Liu Xuan volunteered to join the fight, intending to dominate with his skills, but instead he obtained the hidden class: [Pacifist]. Unable to attack. Unable to use active skills. Fortunately, with each level gained, he acquired a new passive skill. And so, armed with a body full of passives, Liu Xuan slaughtered his way through the battlefield of ten thousand races! [You attacked Liu Xuan] [You gained the debuffs: 'Poison', 'Fear', 'Burning', 'Bleeding', 'Freeze', 'Silence', etc.] [Your attack speed has been reduced by 99%] [Your armor and magic resistance have been reduced by 99%] Warriors of the Ten Thousand Races: How the hell am I supposed to fight this?!
