Zhuo Zhenru stood upon the stage, her brows slightly knitted as she felt a deep sense of disappointment.
The battle with Song Lian moments ago had truly failed to satisfy her. Song Lian's strength was far weaker than she had imagined; she had merely executed a single counterattack, and Song Lian went down.
Such an effortless victory left Zhuo Zhenru's fighting spirit unfulfilled. She swept her gaze across the crowd below the stage and issued a challenge once more: "Senior brothers, is there anyone else willing to step up and fight me?"
The cultivators of the Tandao Sect already held a certain fear of Zhuo Zhenru. Having now witnessed her chilling strength firsthand, not a single person dared to take even a half-step forward.
Observing the reaction of the crowd below, Zhuo Zhenru's look of disappointment grew even heavier. She let out a slight sigh, parted her rosy lips, and muttered a phrase: "Are there really no sword cultivators left in the Tandao Sect?"
Originally, she had intended this remark to express the sentiment, "Are there no sword cultivators in the Tandao Sect willing to come up and fight me?" However, because she spoke a bit too quickly, it inadvertently turned into a sentence brimming with provocation.
As soon as these words left her mouth, the expressions of the Tandao Sect cultivators shifted instantly. Among them, Gu Lingbo was so infuriated that she gnashed her teeth, muttering under her breath, "How arrogant is this woman!"
She then turned her gaze toward Kou Xingwei and said, "Senior Brother Kou, go teach her a lesson and show her what you're made of."
Kou Xingwei was slightly startled. He pointed at himself and asked in puzzlement, "Me?"
Gu Lingbo frowned and said, "What? Aren't you a sword cultivator?"
Kou Xingwei pondered inwardly. His own strength was on par with Song Lian's; since Song Lian was no match for Zhuo Zhenru, he would likely find it difficult to secure a victory himself.
That was precisely why he hadn't stepped up to accept the challenge just now. However, being goaded by Gu Lingbo like this, his mind began to race. He suddenly realized that Zhuo Zhenru had just been through a grueling fight, and her stamina and spiritual power must have been severely depleted—perhaps he could take advantage of the situation and reap the rewards.
The moment he thought of the immense glory that defeating Zhuo Zhenru would bring, Kou Xingwei's heart surged with excitement.
Straightening his back with a grandiose and heroic air, he said, "Alright! Junior Sister Gu, just wait and see how I win back the Tandao Sect's dignity."
Kou Xingwei shouted toward the stage, "Miss Zhuo, I'll be your opponent."
With a flash of his figure, he leaped up and landed right in front of Zhuo Zhenru.
Gazing at the dashing and handsome Kou Xingwei, Zhuo Zhenru asked curiously, "May I ask which senior brother you are?"
Kou Xingwei puffed out his chest with an air of arrogance and declared, "I am Kou Xingwei, the third disciple of the Tandao Sect's Sect Master, widely known by the moniker of the Phantom Sword Master."
Hearing this, Zhuo Zhenru beamed with delight and said excitedly, "So Senior Brother is the renowned Phantom Sword Master! I have never sparred with a sword cultivator who specializes in the Phantom Sword Technique. Please enlighten me, Senior Brother."
Although the sword styles of Kou Xingwei and Song Lian differed, both relied on relentless suppression. Therefore, even though he had just witnessed Zhuo Zhenru use a defensive counterattack strategy to defeat Song Lian, he still launched a fierce onslaught right from the start, taking absolute control of the battle's rhythm.
Kou Xingwei's long sword danced through the air, conjuring countless sword shadows that enveloped Zhuo Zhenru.
This time, Zhuo Zhenru did not simply play defense. Fully utilizing the advantage of the Mingxia Sword's broad attack range, she swept her blade and instantly dispersed the countless overlapping sword shadows.
The clashing of steel rang out in a series of harsh, grating echoes. Their figures crossed and flickered across the arena. Kou Xingwei's Phantom Sword Technique was bizarre, shifting unpredictably between illusion and reality; he had fully expected to seize the initiative, yet Zhuo Zhenru's single Mingxia Sword completely and utterly kept him in check.
Left with no choice, Kou Xingwei altered his strategy, pulling back into a tight defense in an attempt to drain Zhuo Zhenru's spiritual power.
Unfortunately, Kou Xingwei's Phantom Sword Technique excelled at offense rather than defense. Before he could wear Zhuo Zhenru down for long, a fatal opening exposed itself.
"Senior Brother Kou, your Phantom Sword Technique is indeed exquisite, but regrettably, its power falls short of Senior Brother Song's." Acting as though victory was already within her grasp, Zhuo Zhenru delivered a teasing remark before suddenly surging with power, her sword intent turning drastically fiercer.
The Mingxia Sword darted back and forth through Kou Xingwei's sword shadows like a swimming dragon. Completely reduced to a passive state, Kou Xingwei's forms began to crumble into chaos.
Finally, under a ferocious assault from Zhuo Zhenru, the long sword was knocked straight out of Kou Xingwei's hand.
He staggered backward a few steps, a look of sheer disbelief plastered across his face. He had lost—Zhuo Zhenru had actually defeated the two strongest sword cultivators of the Tandao Sect back-to-back.
Retracting her treasured sword, Zhuo Zhenru offered a polite remark: "You flatter me, Senior Brother Kou."
"Miss Zhuo, you are truly formidable. I accept this defeat wholeheartedly." It took Kou Xingwei quite a long time to snap out of his daze; he let out a heavy sigh and stepped down from the stage in resignation.
Having been through two consecutive fights yet still feeling entirely unfulfilled, Zhuo Zhenru cast her gaze around the perimeter and once again asked in a clear voice, "Is there still any senior brother willing to spar with me?"
Hearing this, Yun Zi'an's right hand restlessly twitched against her sword hilt, a powerful impulse welling up inside her as she desperately yearned to trade blows with Zhuo Zhenru. Yet, reason repeatedly warned her that she was undoubtedly no match for Zhuo Zhenru.
After wrestling with herself for a while, Yun Zi'an helplessly abandoned the thought.
"Is no one willing to step up?" A clear note of disappointment bled through Zhuo Zhenru's voice. Standing quietly upon the stage, she waited for a long while, yet still received no response.
With a soft sigh, she slowly slid the Mingxia Sword back into its scabbard and reflected emotionally, "I once heard that the late Senior Sword God Zeng Xing often harbored the lifelong regret of searching in vain for a worthy opponent. Though I fall far short of Senior Zeng, I can now begin to understand his lonely state of mind."
"Sigh!" Letting out a long breath, Zhuo Zhenru gripped the Mingxia Sword and walked down from the stage.
Just as she was growing utterly disillusioned with the Tandao Sect, she suddenly spotted a familiar figure amidst the crowd.
"It's you!" Instantly lighting up with joy, Zhuo Zhenru hurried over to Zhang Jingyun and looked him up and down with intense scrutiny.
Though Zhang Jingyun possessed handsome features, he was entirely unlike Kou Xingwei's dashing charm; an aura of utter detachment emanated from him, as though nothing in this mortal world could ever capture his interest.
Unable to hold back any longer, Zhuo Zhenru blurted out, "I remember you—you're the one who came to my home to deliver a message that day. You're a sword cultivator as well, aren't you? Why didn't you step onto the stage to spar with me?"
With an unperturbed expression and a voice completely devoid of ripples, Zhang Jingyun replied, "I used to be. But I am no longer."
"No longer? Why did you give up the sword in your hand?" Staring intently at Zhang Jingyun with utter bewilderment, Zhuo Zhenru waited for his reply.
Silence hung in the air for a moment before Zhang Jingyun slowly opened his mouth and said, "Because... because I killed a demon."
"What kind of demon?" Zhuo Zhenru pressed on.
"A wicked demon, yet she was the only one who treated me with genuine kindness." A flash of agony crossed Zhang Jingyun's face as he closed his eyes, conjuring the memory of the demon's harrowing yet breathtaking visage once more within his mind.
"Zhang Jingyun, you actually drew your sword against me just because I killed a few humans."
"A few? To cultivate your evil arts, you slaughtered an entire village."
"So what? What do those people have to do with you?"Don't forget that the Soul-Seizing Demon Sword in your hands is the supreme treasure of my Mystic Fox clan. To help you steal this sword, I did not hesitate to betray my own kind."
"You say I kill people? That's right—demons are meant to kill people. Did you only just realize this now?"Not only do I kill outsiders, but I even murdered my own uncle with my own hands, simply because he was the guardian of the Soul-seizing.""
"After everything I've done for you, you could still harden your heart and kill me."
"I must have been blind to fall in love with such a heartless, unfeeling man, pouring out my entire heart and soul for you."
"Even if I wronged the entire world, I never once wronged you."