Martial Cultivator

Chen Chao lowered his head and looked at the snowy-white blade of the broken saber. He extended his finger and gently touched the blade edge. Sure enough, a faint bloodstain appeared on his finger.

This was actually quite uncommon. Chen Chao's body had been tempered countless times. Although it might not be incomparably tough, he was among the top in the same realm. It was not as if any ordinary weapon could leave a wound with such a casual touch.

Before the black pieces fell off, Chen Chao had also tested the sharpness of the broken saber. However, it was clear that the current state of the sword was incomparable to before.

The current broken saber was likely far sharper and more durable.

The flying sword hovered in the distance and the woman glanced at the broken saber in Chen Chao's hand. Her mind stirred and the flying sword tore through the rain curtain again, releasing a silver light and bringing forth a surge of sword qi.

Chen Chao tightly gripped the broken saber and met her head-on.

The saber and sword clashed once again.

Chen Chao gripped the saber hilt with both hands and swung it forcefully, delivering another powerful strike.

The thick saber beam fissured the ground once again, causing the rainwater to scatter in all directions.

The woman's complexion turned pale, but she still controlled her flying sword. Silver Silk met the saber beam without fear of any storm.

Regardless of the woman's cultivation level, currently as a sword cultivator, she possessed an unyielding spirit.

Pressing forward with an indomitable will.

Clashing once again.

The saber and sword collided.

The woman's complexion quickly turned even pale.

Her body suddenly swayed, and then, she coughed up a mouthful of blood.

Within the rain curtain, the flying sword let out a mournful cry, filled with a sense of sorrow.

"Return!"

The woman shouted coldly.

The flying sword flew across half the alley, but compared to before, it stumbled and returned to her hand clumsily.

Suppressing the intense pain in her chest, the woman lowered her head and glanced at the flying sword called Silver Silk. Then, her expression became even uglier.

A visible chip had already appeared on the blade edge of that snowy-white flying sword under the previous collision. It was extremely fine, one could say that a negligible chip appeared on the blade.

The woman and this Silver Silk shared a mental connection. The damage to the flying sword was a tremendous blow to her as well.

It was just that she could not have imagined why the earth-shattering change took place in the broken saber after those black rust pieces fell off during the clash with Silver Silk, even though Silver Silk and that broken saber were still considered evenly matched during the previous clashes.

One had to know, her flying sword was acquired at a great cost from Sword Qi Mountain. Even if it was not the top-tier divine weapon from that mountain, it was still far superior to an unknown broken saber whose origins were unknown.

But what was the reality now?

The flying sword was on the verge of shattering.

This indicated a significant disparity.

Listening to the humming of the flying sword, the woman felt a twinge of heartache, followed by anger that surged within her.

However, Chen Chao did not leave her much time for anger.

By the time the woman reacted, Chen Chao had already leaped into the air. He moved like the most agile monkey in the mountains, yet possessed an immensely savage strength.

A saber light that was incomparably snow-white emanated from the broken saber in his hand.

That saber light was incredibly dazzling, as if it could illuminate the entire world!

The woman gripped the flying sword and held it horizontally in front of her chest.

The broken saber smashed downward!

A tremendously powerful aura instantly exploded in the air.

A thunderous sound!

A crackling noise.

The flying sword, which had been meticulously forged at great expense by Sword Qi Mountain, was snapped in half from the middle.

The tip of the sword fell and embedded deep into the ground.

Blood trickled from the corner of the woman's mouth, her face pale, and the webbing between her thumb and index finger split.

Chen Chao's saber came to a stop between her brows, its sharp edge already cut a gash at her glabella.

Blood streamed down between her brows.

Soon, a long bloodstain appeared on her once fairly pretty face.

Rainwater fell on her face, rendering it somewhat horrifying at this moment.

Chen Chao gripped the hilt of his saber and did not continue downward.

The woman was silent for a long time before finally speaking, "You are indeed very strong."

The sword was snapped in half by the saber, not because the saber was too sharp or the sword was too fragile, but due to other reasons.

It was because one person was stronger than the other.

Chen Chao retracted his saber, and as blood dripped along the blade's edge, it soon fell off completely, and the blade was still snowy-white.

"I was always strong."

Chen Chao sheathed his saber and turned around, ready to leave.

The woman looked at the broken half of the sword on the ground, her eyes filled with pain as she said with unwillingness, "I really don't want to believe that it would end like this."

She let out a low roar and reached out to touch the wound between her brows. Her bleeding glabella was now gushing with even more blood.

Visible to the naked eye, a glimmer of golden light flashed, revealing a small golden sword within her glabella.

Sword qi was gradually born between heaven and earth.

Like the sound of cicadas in midsummer, it could be heard in the world!

Sword humming lingered incessantly, as if there was a peerlessly ferocious sword that was about to emerge from its sheathe.

Chen Chao furrowed his brow.

He gripped the hilt of his saber and his qi surged.

But in just a moment, the sword qi dissipated once again.

The tiny golden sword shattered with a resounding bang, and the sword qi dispersed like water from a pond.

It seemed as if the sound of cicadas echoed, but it was particularly mournful.

The woman's hands drooped dejectedly, tears streaming down her face.

She could not believe it, but more than that, she could not accept it.

She naturally still had a trump card, it was that tiny golden sword hidden within her glabella. Unfortunately, Chen Chao's final strike shattered her final trump card.

That final strike came to a halt right at her glabella, shattering the tiny golden sword hidden within it.

The young martial artist's thoughts were so meticulous that he did not give her the slightest chance of a comeback.

"How on earth did you know?!"

The woman appeared somewhat deranged. Her life force was rapidly fading away, but she still could not accept it.

Chen Chao did not want to speak. He simply walked toward the end of the alley.

With the woman's death, her aura would naturally dissipate, signifying the complete end of this confrontation that had been tacitly allowed by all the prominent figures.

Of course, the victor was still Chen Chao.

This young man who walked out of the borderlands once again proved one thing: his victory in the martial exam was absolutely not due to any so-called luck.

He was truly a young genius.

……

……

On the loft, a yellow bird descended.

The short man reached out and retrieved a paper ball.

He glanced at it a few times, then furrowed his brow and whispered, "A female sword cultivator, how rare. But she still died here."

The tall man smiled, "I don't deny the formidable killing power of a sword cultivator. But to say that a sword cultivator will definitely be invincible at the same level doesn't make sense. Besides, this sword cultivator is far from being an extraordinary existence."

"Speaking of female sword cultivators, that one in the academy is the one who truly has immeasurable potential."

Hearing this, the short man said, "Speaking of which, it's really strange. She's the Dean's final disciple, but instead of studying daoist techniques, she likes to train in the sword. Could it be that she's really going to become a female sword immortal?"

"Why not?" The tall man looked at the short man with a smile. "How many female sword immortals are there in the world? If there's one more, wouldn't it be even better?"

The short man changed the subject and asked, "That young man who won this battle, if he doesn't go to the Northern Frontier, he might really end up being confined to the Divine Capital for good."

It was a very reasonable speculation. After becoming the champion of the martial exam, Chen Chao had already earned the animosity of the foreign cultivators. If he did not go to the North but left the Divine Capital, he could very well die somewhere without anyone knowing the truth.

"If the one sitting on the emperor's throne was that deposed emperor, he would naturally remain in the Divine Capital for his entire life. But unfortunately, that's not the case."

The tall man looked at the rain that was about to stop, his gaze deep.

……

……

The Xie Family's ancestral hall.

The Xie Family's ancestor walked out and stood under the eaves, looking at the rain that was about to subside.

The old man who always sat in front of the ancestral hall, unshakable by any circumstances, glanced at him.

"That young man might really be able to make the Xie Family open our main entrance one day. But I'm afraid I won't live to see that day."

The Xie Family's ancestor looked at the memorial tablets placed inside the ancestral hall, his gaze kept moving downward until it landed on the empty spot.

It would not be long before a new memorial tablet would be placed there, bearing his name.

The old man sighed, "It seems like time has become anxious."

The Xie Family's ancestor replied, "Actually, it's not time that's anxious, it's us who have become anxious."