Martial Cultivator

Autumn remained expressionless and softly said, “Sword Immortal?”

The young sword cultivator shook his head, smiling as he replied, “Close, but not quite.”

Autumn made a noncommittal "oh" and said, “So you're here to die together with her?"

The young sword cultivator seemed to find this notion interesting but quickly replied with a smile, “We don't adhere to any martial chivalry, there's no one-on-one rule.”

Hearing this, Autumn glanced over at Ye Zhihua and calmly asked, “Do you think she still has the guts to make a move?”

“I don't see why not. After all, coming from the Infatuation Daoist Temple and being one of the Twin Pillars of Daoism, she probably wouldn't refuse to act even if heavily injured, right?” The young sword cultivator looked at Autumn and asked with a smile, “Moreover, your battle hasn't reached a dead end yet. Don't you both still have many hidden cards up your sleeves?”

Autumn said nothing in response, merely reaching out to pull out another snow sword and looking at the young sword cultivator.

The young sword cultivator sighed and said, “In that case, let's have a fight.”

Before the words had finished, his figure had already rushed forward. Meanwhile, that flying sword which was entirely green fell into his hand. He struck out with the sword, and a vast sword qi instantly tore open a gap in the wind and snow.

The sword qi spread across the heavens and the earth, covering everything like a storm. But every strand of sword qi scattered outward, quickly forming what seemed to be a cage in this world.

Ye Zhihua paused briefly, then formed seals with her hands once again. She paid no mind to the blood trickling from the corner of her mouth and continued to create another lightning pool in the clouds.

Young cultivators all had their pride. They would never join forces unless absolutely necessary. However, given the urgency of the situation, staying idle and observing from the sidelines would indeed be overly foolish.

While dealing with the endless sword qi, Autumn also took the opportunity to glance at the heavenly lightning in the clouds that was accumulating once again.

In the previous battle, she had maintained the upper hand and thus sustained little injury. It would not be an exaggeration to say she was still at her peak now. Faced with the joint efforts of two Great Beyond Realm cultivators, she was not afraid and was confident she could retreat at any time.

Avoiding the dazzling strike, Autumn faced the young sword cultivator with her own sword. Their long swords clashed, and the snow sword in Autumn's hand immediately developed a crack. Yet, she remained unmoved, pulling her sword downward. At that moment, her snow sword appeared like a genuine flying sword, giving off sparks as it collided with the young sword cultivator's sword.

The young sword cultivator looked at Autumn in surprise, but before he could act, a torrent of berserk sword qi surged towards him.

The young sword cultivator withdrew his sword and used sword qi to slice through the incoming sword qi at the same time. In an instant, with the two of them as the center, the tumultuous qi spread outwards. On the snow-covered desolate northern plains, countless layers of snow seemed to be blown away by a fierce wind, creating a magnificent scene.

The world was covered in white.

Within the snowstorm, the young sword cultivator slashed open a gap with his sword and closed in on Autumn again. However, this time Autumn was unwilling to tangle with him, leaping backward. At the same moment, the long-accumulated heavenly lightning finally descended.

It was a bolt of heavenly lightning as thick as a water barrel, roaring down from above Autumn's head.

The might of the heavens startled the wind and snow into a frenzy.

It was as if an avalanche had suddenly occurred between heaven and earth.

Autumn's expression remained unchanged as the overwhelming demonic qi from her body surged upwards, intertwining with the wind and snow. When the two forces collided in mid-air, a thunderous roar erupted, and a wildly turbulent wave of energy spread outwards.

The young sword cultivator watched this scene, muttering silently as a talisman appeared in front of him out of thin air.

Streams of sword qi poured out from the talisman; vast and boundless.

Autumn detected the sword qi, turned to glance at the young sword cultivator, and without hesitation, she retreated swiftly. Soon, she vanished into the storm.

The young sword cultivator's face changed slightly. He spat out a mouthful of blood and quickly grasped the talisman, taking it back.

Looking in the direction where Autumn had disappeared, the young sword cultivator's expression was ugly. He then used sword qi to create a barrier to block the residual impact of the heavenly lightning and demonic qi. Turning to Ye Zhihua, he said something that seemed out of place: "Hurry up and run."

Ye Zhihua was taken aback and a bit confused.

The young sword cultivator smiled bitterly and said, "Do you really think I can kill her?" "If we were both uninjured, we could probably give it a try. But as luck would have it, I've just been in a few fights, and I still have a pesky follower on my tail. If she doesn't leave, we'll both be in trouble."

Ye Zhihua belatedly glanced into the distance and then said calmly, "Yu Xiyi?"

Yu Xiyi nodded, replying with a smile, "Oh, you know me too?"

Ye Zhihua responded indifferently, "I just recognized Wild Grass."

Hearing this, Yu Xiyi looked disappointedly at the flying sword in his hand and sighed. What a situation, why is Your Father's flying sword more famous than Your Father?

"I'll remember this life-saving grace and repay it in the future."

After giving a polite bow, Ye Zhihua calmly walked into the storm and quickly disappeared from view.

Yu Xiyi was taken aback and somewhat lost in thought. Once Ye Zhihua was out of sight, he muttered, "Does this woman ever smile?"

As soon as he finished speaking, he quickly transformed into a streak of sword light and vanished. If he stayed any longer, he would probably be caught by those pursuers and remain in this icy wasteland forever.

Although he still had a great talisman from the Sword Sect, he could only use this bloody thing once, and Yu Xiyi could not bear to use it now.

……

……

After a moment, Xi Lu returned. This demon princess, aside from her powerful bloodline and high cultivation, was also exceptionally intelligent. She quickly realized that things might not be so simple so she turned back. When she returned, sure enough, she found that the pair of young cultivators had indeed escaped.

Xi Lu stood still, expressionless.

Soon, a few more auras approached, all belonging to young demon cultivators.

Upon seeing Xi Lu, the group was initially stunned, but then they noticed her snow-white eyes and quickly reacted, bowing respectfully with clasped hands, "Greetings, Princess."

Xi Lu was unwilling to waste time, asking directly, "Are you all pursuing that young sword cultivator?"

One of them nodded, "Reporting to Your Highness, we have been entangled with the young sword cultivator for several days, but we haven't been able to capture him. Did Your Highness encounter him?"

Xi Lu nodded slightly, "There was also a female daoist from Infatuation Daoist Temple whom I severely wounded. They might be traveling together, or they might not. You all can decide yourselves."

The group nodded, quickly taking their leave to continue searching for Yu Xiyi.

Xi Lu watched as the group departed, then slowly turned around. After taking a few steps, the demon princess suddenly stopped, looked toward the south, and smiled, "So-called daoist geniuses are nothing more than this. That sword cultivator is somewhat interesting, but that's all there is to it. As for you, will you dare to come? If you come, will you be able to leave?"

……

……

Everyone from the Divine Capital was attending a banquet at the General's Office. The Great General Ning Ping personally presided over it, offering some bland motivational speeches. He advised the youngsters to avoid recklessness and prioritize survival. Xie Nandu also could not miss the occasion, but she was seated at the same table as the academy students, with one seat beside her left vacant.

Many people kept glancing over at the empty seat as the banquet began. When they noticed the young martial artist was late, they took delight in his misfortune, eager to see how the Northern Frontier Army would make things difficult for him. However, as the banquet went on for quite some time, and the young martial artist still did not appear, the crowd began to sense something was amiss. Some young soldiers from the Northern Frontier Army wanted to raise the issue, but they were quickly stopped by the Great General, leaving many puzzled. Who would dare to act further under the Great General's intervention?

Xie Jingshan slowly walked to Xie Nandu's side. After sitting down, he introduced himself, "I'm also from the Divine Capital's Xie Family. In terms of seniority, you should address me as 'Elder Brother.'"

Xie Nandu glanced at him but remained silent.

Although Xie Jingshan's background was not widely known before, it didn't matter much. The Xie Family, despite being incredibly influential in Great Liang, had no real influence in the Northern Frontier Army. What people paid more attention to was actually Xie Jingshan's master, the cavalry commander Li Changling.

Li Changling, a renowned and valiant general who wielded a large spear and earned the title of "Equal to Ten Thousand" in the army, had been famous for his bravery long before Qiu Yulin. He had accumulated numerous achievements over the years, slaying many demons and amassing great military merit. As a disciple of this mighty general, Xie Jingshan naturally received considerable attention.

And he indeed lived up to his master's reputation, having learned about fifty to sixty percent of Li Changling's abilities. His mastery of the halberd was also considered proficient. Although he was ranked among the top three in combat strength among the younger generation, people still often regarded him as third place.

But compared to Qiu Yulin, Xie Jingshan's skills in commanding troops were much stronger. Overall, only Qi Yuanjia could consistently suppress him.

Hence, he had quite a number of supporters in the frontier army.

Despite having a bit of a reputation in the frontier army, when facing Xie Nandu, this genius girl from the academy merely nodded slightly and fell silent.

Xie Jingshan who had been snubbed furrowed his brows in irritation. Just as he was about to lose his temper, a figure appeared in the distance, holding a wine bowl and approaching with a smile. “Miss Xie, I'm Gao Xuan. I've heard many things about Miss Xie in the Northern Frontier. It's a great honor to meet you today.”

Xie Jingshan had expected Gao Xuan's outcome to be similar to his own. But to his surprise, Xie Nandu quickly stood up, looking at Gao Xuan as she asked, “Are you the Gao Xuan who wrote Essentials of Military Strategy?”

Gao Xuan was taken aback and asked curiously, “Miss Xie has read it?”

Although Essentials of Military Strategy was written by him, in reality, it had not circulated widely. Even among the Northern Frontier army, not many had read it. He had not expected that this young woman, who had never been to the Northern Frontier, would have read it.

Xie Nandu nodded and said, “It can be considered one of the finest military strategy books in the world, but it still has its flaws. I believe you'll write even better ones in the future.”

Gao Xuan laughed heartily and said, “Well said, Miss Xie. That military strategy book indeed has many shortcomings. I've already started revising it, but the finished product might not be ready for outsiders to read for many years. After all, some things can't be learned from books alone, I need to test them personally.”

Xie Nandu said calmly, “When the time comes, may I have a look at it?”

Gao Xuan smiled and said, “Of course. It seems like Miss Xie has read quite a few military strategy books too?"

"There are quite a few in the academy, I've read them"

Xie Nandu looked at Gao Xuan. Before coming to the Northern Frontier, she had gained a considerable understanding of it. As for Gao Xuan, she held him in high regard.

Gao Xuan said with vicissitudes of emotion, “The academy is indeed a good place. I just don’t know if I'll ever have the chance to visit.”

Xie Nandu remained silent.

Gao Xuan then smiled and asked, “I suppose Commander Chen has already left the city by now? I was hoping to meet him, perhaps make a friend, but it seems now is not the right time.”

Xie Nandu did not answer this question, she just said, “I have some questions about military strategy. May I ask you about it? If you have any questions, you may ask me as well. I should be able to provide satisfactory answers.”

Gao Xuan raised an eyebrow, “Has Miss Xie made up your mind to become a female general? I heard that Miss Xie is a female sword cultivator, aren't you?”

Xie Nandu smiled faintly.

Before Gao Xuan could continue, Xie Jingshan, who had been ignored this entire time, left with a dark expression. Gao Xuan sighed inwardly. He originally just wanted to help this fellow, that was why he took the initiative to walk up. But looking at it now, he made matters worse instead.

However, Gao Xuan could not be bothered to dwell on it. Turning to Xie Nandu, he smiled and said, “Then I shall certainly answer all your questions to the best of my ability.”