Nangong Jie didn’t sense the sword at the back of his head at all.

To a Starburst Realm cultivator like him, it was either that the newcomer was an expert manipulator of True Energy who didn’t leak any of his energy or that the sword behind him was a high-level weapon. Level 1 was a Taoist object while Level 2 would make it a spiritual object. This sword was at the level of Spirit Sword at the minimum.

The gurgling sound of running water rang next to Nangong Jie’s ears. He lifted his hands. Sweat was forming on his forehead and he dared not to make any movement.

He could feel the skin on the back of his neck tremble from the ice-cold sensation coming from the tip of the sword. Without turning his head, he asked cautiously, “Who are you?”

“I’m nobody,” Ye Que replied indifferently.

“You wield a Spirit Sword and even ambush someone from behind?” Nangong Jie continued, innuendo lacing his words.

“That’s the way I like it. Mind your business.” Ye Que chuckled.

“Not playing by the rules?” Seeing that Ye Que didn’t fall for his trick, Nangong Jie began to panic. No matter how high his cultivation was, he was powerless in such a tight space. Once the sword pierced his head, his death was all but certain.

“My sword is stronger than yours, so that makes me the rule. Don’t you understand this logic? What did your master teach you? Is this your first time leaving your sect?” Ye Que said mockingly. These words were somewhat familiar.

“Are you from the Qingqiu Sword Sect?” After carefully racking his brain, Nangong Jie realized that those words were what he said earlier.

“What do you think?” Ye Que neither denied nor confirmed his assumption.

Nangong Jie was so irritated with their conversation that he nearly blew a fuse. This man was clearly wasting his time.

“Let’s not take this seriously and give each other some leeway. There’s no need to humiliate anyone.” Nangong Jie’s expression was so dark that his face was almost stiff. “I’m Nangong Jie, the Young Chamber Lord of the Chamber of the Rainy Duel. You need to consider the consequences of killing me. You can’t even imagine the price you’ll have to pay for that.”

Ye Que leaned forward and whispered into his ear, “Do you think that I’m humiliating you?”

“Aren’t you?” Nangong Jie asked in a nasal voice.

Ye Que was momentarily silent before asking, “You’re unsatisfied, aren’t you? You think I’m bullying you?”

“You have the clear advantage with your Spirit Sword!” Nangong Jie retorted loudly without a second thought. He even lifted his hand by several inches. “If you’re that capable, I dare you to fight me face-to-face.”

“What if the outcome is still the same?” Ye Que’s tone was tranquil as if he was stating a fact.

“I’ll obey your orders without objection,” Nangong Jie replied decisively.

Silence shrouded the place as no one spoke. Nangong Jie’s sword was suspended in front of Nalan Rongruo’s midbrows while Ye Que’s sword halted behind Nangong Jie’s head. The disciples wanted to warn Ye Que to be careful of Nangong Jie’s trickery. They might be strangers who met by chance but this was after all a junction between life and death. However, they felt like whatever they say would be superfluous instead.

Moments later, Ye Que named his condition. “Retrieve your sword first.”

“Retrieve your sword first.” Nangong Jie had the exact same words to say. His sword was his sole bargaining chip now. After all, he had already killed two Qingqiu Sword Sect disciples and even used a dirty trick to ambush one of them. If Ye Que was truly connected with that sect, retrieving his sword might just spell his death.

“You’re the Young Chamber Lord of the Chamber of the Rainy Duel. Your life is more precious but unfortunately, you don’t have a choice.”

Ye Que threw the option back to Nangong Jie.

“You can only gamble.”

“Gamble on the fact that I’m not immoral.”

No less than ten seconds elapsed. With a tight frown and trembling fingers, Nangong Jie finally clenched his teeth and swung his finger-sword to the side. The sword pointed at Nalan Rongruo’s midbrows instantly returned to his side, with its sword hilt pointed outward and tip pointed inward.

Simultaneously, the True Energy inside Nangong Jie rose to its peak. If Ye Que was immoral, he didn’t mind dragging Ye Que to hell with him at the final moment. He had long estimated their distance and locked onto Ye Que’s position.

If worse came to worst, he would just drag Ye Que to the Underworld with him!

The first thing Nalan Rongruo did after being rescued was yelling. “Kill him as revenge for Senior Brothers!” However, the Junior Brothers next to her immediately stopped her and even clasped a hand over her mouth.

In their opinion, Ye Que wasn’t a Qingqiu Sword Sect disciple. He had gone above and beyond in rescuing them. How could they ask him to kill Nangong Jie?

Nangong Jie was right. He was the Young Chamber Lord of the Chamber of the Rainy Duel, after all. Whoever who killed him would be inviting countless trouble upon himself.

“Please retrieve your sword lest people look down on you,” Nangong Jie said coolly. Even though his voice was cold, everyone could detect his anxiety and attempt at reverse psychology.

Ye Que acted as if he didn’t hear him. He slowly walked away from Nangong Jie and walked toward Nalan Rongruo. However, he didn’t move the sword pointed at the back of Nangong Jie’s head.

Nangong Jie’s forehead was drenched with sweat. The sweat was even trailing down his cheek toward his lower jaw before falling drop by drop to the ground. The only thing he could was adjusting the angle of the sword to point at Ye Que. It was the little initiative that he could strive for.

“Can I borrow your sword?”

After walking up to Nalan Rongruo, Ye Que made his request in a quiet voice while pointing.

“Are you really going to fight him? This is a Qi practitioner in the Starburst Realm; he uses Qi to wield his sword. His power is boundless,” Nalan Rongruo said softly, looking anxious. However, she didn’t know how to persuade this man. She couldn’t ask him to be a lowly character and break his promise, could she?

The greatest cultivating taboos were being disloyal, breaking one’s promise, and turning back on agreements.

Finally, the young lady clenched her teeth and handed Ye Que her sword. Her face was filled with worry.

Ye Que gently gripped her sword and patted her on the shoulder with a smile. “Rest assured.”

“Since he said that Qingqiu Sword Sect swordsmanship is overrated and using swords to manipulate Qi is a laughable idea, I won’t allow him an easy death. I need him to witness what true swordsmanship means.”

“He has no right to humiliate the Qingqiu Sword Sect swordsmanship.”

Ye Que turned around to look at Nangong Jie. With a swipe of his hand, the sword that had remained stagnant behind Nangong Jie’s head flew back into the door of his heart in an instant.

Nangong Jie narrowed his eyes. “Sure enough, it’s a Level 2 Spirit Sword!”

He carefully observed Ye Que. “How dare you be so arrogant when you’re a Psychic Realm cultivator! Now that you lost the chance to ambush me, stay put and wait for your death!”

Vapor from the waterfall beneath the Grass-pecking Cliff rose upward and hit everyone on their faces. The wind swept them, gently lifting the lapel of their clothing. Nangong Jie stared fixedly at the nearby Ye Que. He took a deep breath before pouring all of his True Energy into the blade of his sword. He didn’t hold back any of his Starburst Realm strength. He was ready to go all out to recover his dignity.

His sword, suspended in midair, began to tremble violently. The foggy rain condensed out of True Energy slowly but surely spread to all corners of the place. White flowers blossomed in the rain one after another. It was a sword skill of the Chamber of the Rainy Duel, Pear Blossom Suppressing Crabapple!

The wind at the cliff, the water in the waterfall, as well as the Spiritual Qi in the air, were stirring. It was as if they were going to explode.

By contrast, Ye Que appeared completely calm. He lifted the sword ever so slightly while placing his left foot forward and his right foot behind. His knees were bent. Unexpectedly, he was using the starting stance of the nine entry-level sword skills of the Qingqiu Sword Sect!

Nalan Rongruo and the other five widened their eyes. They nearly cried out in surprise.

Out of nowhere, a golden dot appeared in the sky above the Grass-pecking Cliff. The dot gradually came close. Very soon, it was a hundred meters away from everyone. Surprisingly, it was a four-finned flying fish. The fish was an incomparably massive and healthy goldfish with four fins that resembled the wings of a dragonfly. Seated above the fish was a young lady.

The blooming of pear blossom flowers spelled the arrival of fine rain.

Nangong Jie’s sword rain exploded and looked like it was about to envelop everything.

Ye Que finally made his move. He shifted his wrist ever so slightly and tapped lightly on the tip of his foot while bending his body. He moved like a burst of wind sticking close to the ground, evading and erasing the sword rain with his Wind-slicing sword style.

He slashed at the edge of the curtain of rain.

Before the Wind-slicing sword style landed, the Thorny Rain was already unleashed. The tip of the sword pierced the dazzling rain formation right in the middle with incredible precision.

There was a real sword lying in the heart of the formation!

Following an ear-piercing sound of friction, Ye Que unleashed the third and fourth sword styles: Crystalized Frost and Scattered Mist. The wind picked up and forcefully spiraled around Nangong Jie’s mythical sword. The ruptured True Energy on the body of the sword instantly shattered. The blooming flowers imploded into incomparably sharp petals.

Rather than stopping, Ye Que abruptly picked up speed. He used the fifth sword style Sudden Thunderclap to sweep along the ruptured True Energy in a perfectly straight manner and advanced by several meters. The moment the True Energy scattered its Spiritual Force, the sixth sword style Mountain-crushing and seventh sword style Water-ceasing immediately imploded the ruptured spiritual energy into half. It happened to slash both sides of Ye Que.

Nangong Jie’s illusory sword rain disappeared in a flash and the real sword hovered nakedly in the sky.

When one used Qi to manipulate one’s sword, one had speed and long-range attacks as advantages. However, the body of sword was ultimately a mythical one. No matter how nimble it was, it was no match for a sword firmly grasped in one’s hand.

Nangong Jie turned his two fingers and swiftly connected with his True Energy. The real but bare sword shook like a leaf. However, the tip of the sword had just risen when Ye Que’s sword tapped on it. It moved onto the edge of Nangong Jie’s sword, hilt, and finally the end of the blade. Ye Que’s sword pressed Nangong Jie’s sword to the ground. The eight sword style Cloud-reaching made four spins until Nangong Jie’s sword was no longer in the air.

In the split second, Nangong Jie completely lost all traces of his sword in his Spiritual Sea.

Without any hesitation, Ye Que swiftly followed up with the ninth sword style Burning Sun after the Cloud-reaching sword style. Nangong Jie rapidly retreated while hastily unleashing his Qi-sword. However, every Qi-sword he made was unable to come close within three feet of Ye Que. The Qi-swords were crushed each time through their weakest point: the part where they most easily tremble and become crooked.

Ye Que was like the blazing sun.

Silent.

Irresistible.

Moving at the speed of light.

He arrived in front of Nangong Jie with his sword and slashed the latter’s sleeves and shoulders. He even pierced Nangong Jie’s collarbones. He crisscrossed his swords and pressed them against Nangong Jie’s knee before finally pointing his sword-finger at the back of the latter’s head.

The ice-cold sensation returned.

The only difference was that in the spirit sword battle this time, Ye Que was using Nalan Rongruo’s Qingqiu Sword.

Right then, Nangong Jie’s mythical sword had just reached the ground. He himself no longer dared to transfer even the slightest bit of True Energy to his sword.

After three seconds, a resounding thud was heard as Nangong Jie fell to his knees. Blood trickled down from the corners of his mouth. He was no longer the distinguished gentleman he looked earlier. He was the very picture of misery, though the truth was that he suffered no internal injuries whatsoever. In fact, his True Energy was coursing steadily inside him.

From his arms, shoulders, collarbones, to knees, all of his injuries were external.

Within 10 meters.

Ye Que had used nine sword styles.

What he employed was the nine entry-level sword skills of the Qingqiu Sword Sect: Wind-slicing, Thorny Rain, Crystalized Frost, Scattered Mist, Sudden Thunderclap, Mountain-crushing, Water-ceasing, Cloud-reaching, Burning Sun. He used exactly nine swords, not one more and not one less. He even performed the sword styles in the exact same sequence as Nalan Rongruo.

The same sword skill performed by two people had produced outcomes that had a world of difference.

Nangong Jie’s pupils were filled with puzzlement and anxiety. What exactly had happened in the past few seconds? He was obviously a Starburst Realm expert while his opponent was merely in the Physic Realm. In terms of True Energy, he was clearly superior.

How did his opponent determine and pinpoint his real sword amid the rain so accurately? How did his opponent shatter his sword skill so cleanly? How did his opponent slash his real sword? More importantly, how did his opponent follow his footwork and hit his true body?!

Clearly, his realm was superior!

Clearly, it was a face-to-face confrontation!

Clearly, he was beyond familiar with the nine entry-level sword skills of the Qingqiu Sword Sect!

But why did the outcome turn out so differently? How did he lose? Nangong Jie’s face was deathly white and his eyes were filled with worry. Unmoving, he knelt on the ground with his head lowered. It was to the extent where he no longer paid the finger-sword pointed at the back of his brain any mind.

He looked like he had abandoned himself to despair.

“The victor has been determined. I was the one who said I will obey the victor without objection earlier. What can I do? Don’t tell me I’m really going to have to beg them for forgiveness! The Young Chamber Lord of the Chamber of the Rainy Duel begging for forgiveness? From Qingqiu Sword Sect disciples to boot? I might as well die. Even if I somehow survive by a fluke, my father will still personally kill me when I return.”

Nangong Jie’s eyes fluttered shut. He resigned himself to listen to the victor. In a genuine battle of swords, he wouldn’t begrudge his opponent for killing him after winning.

“You know what the Qingqiu Sword Sect swordsmanship is now, don’t you?” Ye Que patted Nangong Jie’s shoulder with the back of his sword. For a Starburst Realm expert like Nangong Jie, his current injuries weren’t enough to claim his life.

Nangong Jie frowned. He didn’t respond.

“Do you still believe that using swords to manipulate Qi is a laughable idea?” Ye Que patted him on the cheek with his sword.

Nangong Jie continued to keep mum and still.

Sometime later, he finally raised his head. “How did you do it?”

Ye Que was stunned.

“I’m asking you how you did it.” Nangong Jie turned his head and stared fixedly at Ye Que. “Have you already broken through the Physic Realm? Am I mistaken?”

Ye Que shrugged. “You’re not mistaken. I’m in the Physic Realm.”

“You’re not using the nine entry-level sword skills of the Qingqiu Sword Sect, are you?” Nangong Jie continued to ask.

Ye Que chuckled. “What you see is what you get. You should be able to tell.”

“Then what exactly is the reason?” Nangong Jie was like a child asking a million whys.

“It’s simple.”

Ye Que’s smirk deepened.

“Because using swords to manipulate Qi is the superior method. Because using Qi to manipulate swords is wrong. Because the Qingqiu Sword Sect is orthodox. Because your sect has gone down the wrong path. That’s all.”

The four reasons essentially boiled down to one answer. Nangong Jie felt like this explanation seemed to have answered all of his confusion but a huge earthquake was taking place in his mind. Even the True Energy inside his body was spiraling into chaos.

“It’s my loss!”

The three words finally left Nangong Jie’s mouth. His voice was hoarse and terribly dispirited.

“It’s your loss?”

Ye Que repeated his words. He gave it some thought and then looked at Nangong Jie. “Since you’ve lost.”

“Then scram!”

“Stop bothering us with your presence.”

The cold wind carried the splashed water from the waterfall and hit Nangong Jie on the face. It was ice-cold! He stopped kneeling and rose to his feet with great difficulty. A clean freak like him left with even wiping the mud off his clothing and tidying up his messy hair. He walked away with a bent waist and lowered head. From behind, he looked just like an old man.

He hadn’t walked far before a voice came from behind him.

“Remember this. I’m called Ye Que. ‘Ye’ from the word leaf and ‘Que’ from the idiom ‘better to have nothing than substandard choice’.”

Silence returned to the scene. In particular, Nalan Rongruo and her fellow Qingqiu Sword Sect disciples had their jaw hanging and eyes rounded. They looked as if they had seen a ghost.

Suddenly, a black shadow floated down from the sky.

It was the young woman riding a goldfish who stopped a hundred meters away from the battle scene. She wore tight black brocade and a head of beautiful jet-black waist-long hair. Her hair cascaded on her back as carefreely as the waterfall. Her bare feet were fair and tender. Her facial features were defined and her eyes were bright, though her gaze was somewhat burning. She was staring at the sword in Ye Que’s hand without blinking. Her little tongue was licking her lips as if she had encountered some delicacy.

Another burst of wind brushed past, causing her hair to flutter. Her beauty was so devastating that she could topple nations.

She narrowed her bright eyes as a faint smile appeared on her lips. She pointed to Ye Que’s sword. “Your sword is so strange; does it conquer minds or destroy bodies?”