Chapter 140 - Blood-Ink Jade, Waltz

In the Splendorbloom Secret Realm, on an endless stretch of grassland, two figures could faintly be seen. One stood in the air. The other lay in a great crater in the ground. For several thousand feet around them, everything was a complete mess left behind by battle.

Xu Yuan gripped Jing He’s jade sword, Thousand Thorns, and slowly dragged himself out of the pit. He looked up at the young woman in the sky, who seemed untouched by even a speck of dust. With the light of the dome behind her, her palace dress fluttered like that of an exiled immortal. The golden halo around her made her look like a fairy descending to the mortal world.

Xu Yuan tightened his grip on the jade sword. He could not beat her. He could not beat her at all.

Ever since Tian Yan had broken through to third rank Grandmaster, her battles against him had turned into one-sided beatdowns. They had already been fighting for fifteen minutes. He was practically a sandbag by now, while she had not even had the corner of her dress brushed by him.

Tian Yan looked down at him from above, her light, airy voice carrying a trace of disdain.

“Only fifteen minutes and you’re already done? How disappointing. I thought you might actually surprise me today.”

“Hmph.” Xu Yuan rolled his eyes.

Ever since she had reached the third rank, this woman had started talking more and more trash whenever they sparred. Not only did she attack him physically, she had developed a taste for psychological mockery too. After swallowing her anger for an entire summer, she had clearly built up quite a bit of resentment. Now their positions had reversed, and the two of them had returned to how they were in the outside world.

The only pity was that Tian Yan’s insults lacked bite. At the very least, compared to the keyboard warriors from his previous life, she was still far too mild. Her moral quality still had plenty of room to deteriorate.

Holding Thousand Thorns, Xu Yuan sighed and shook his head. “Little girl, beating someone who hasn’t even cultivated for half a year is enough to make you this smug? I really don’t know where you found the face for it. Is this all your Heavenwatch Pavilion Master taught you after all these years? Tsk, tsk.”

The young woman in the sky instantly clenched her fists. She stared at him below for several breaths, exhaled, then suddenly smiled. “Keep acting tough.”

With that, she uttered a single word. “Instant.”

A ripple of source qi spread out.

The distance of more than a hundred feet vanished in an instant, and the girl’s slender figure abruptly appeared right in front of Xu Yuan.

Tian Yan’s Instant mantra was somewhat similar to his Void Step Slash, but her one character mantra produced a faint fluctuation of source qi.

Xu Yuan’s gaze sharpened. This was exactly what he had been waiting for when he started talking trash. He had wanted Tian Yan to close in. This was her habit. When she could not win the argument, she chose to solve the problem with her fists.

And Tian Yan, who cultivated the Heaven Deriving Art, was without question the most traditional kind of spellcaster. Close combat was undoubtedly where she was weakest. But hitting him with her fists was the most satisfying way to vent.

His cultivation art began to circulate, and fiery-red patterns immediately appeared across Xu Yuan’s body.

Yang Restoration Art, Six-Yang Aura.

The moment the technique took shape, fiery-red patterns spread outward from Xu Yuan, mingled with waves of scorching heat that seemed capable of burning all things to ash.

Tian Yan, however, merely stood where she was and calmly uttered a single word. “Seal.”

Now that she had returned to the third rank, she no longer needed hand seals to cast the Heaven mantras.

The instant the word left her lips, Xu Yuan felt the source qi flowing freely through his body suddenly disrupted and clogged by an invisible force. If he did not stop circulating it, he would suffer cultivation deviation. He hurriedly halted the technique, and the fiery patterns that had just spread out shattered with a crisp pop, dissolving into source qi that filled the air.

At the same time, Tian Yan swiftly extended one fair, delicate hand and struck toward Xu Yuan’s chest, only for him to block it with the jade sword.

He might be weak, but no matter how one looked at it, his current cultivation still made him one of the stronger figures among third rank cultivators.

Xu Yuan stared at Tian Yan and smiled. “Men and women shouldn’t be touching so casually, Tian Yan.”

Tian Yan sighed. “Xu Changtian, if your strength were as hard as your mouth, I might actually save myself a lot of effort.”

“Have you tested my strength?” Xu Yuan asked.

The girl’s eyes filled with confusion. She did not bother saying more and simply spat out one word. “Break.”

Time seemed to freeze.

BUZZ! The powerful impact made the jade sword let out a shrill hum, nearly knocking it out of his hand.

Seeing this, Xu Yuan’s expression darkened, and he tried to retreat at once.

“Swift.” In a flash, Tian Yan had already appeared at his side.

BOOM! A tremendous crash erupted.

The ground instantly cracked like a spiderweb. The jade sword, glowing with fiery light, flew from his hand because he had not had time to exert enough force. A massive crater more than ten meters across collapsed beneath the two of them in an instant.

The thunderous roar rolled across the entire grassland. Dust and smoke burst in every direction, and in the next moment, a figure was sent flying backward.

After being blasted dozens of meters away, Xu Yuan steadied himself in midair and flipped over. Without the slightest pause, he reached out with one hand, and the sword that had flown from his grip was pulled back through the air and into his palm.

He landed steadily and was just about to move again.

“Cough, ah...” A large mouthful of scalding blood surged straight from his mouth. He stabbed the sword diagonally into the ground and forced himself to remain standing.

Only then did a cloud of dust slowly rise from the ground in the distance, where their clash had torn the earth apart.

Xu Yuan wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, pulled the sword from the ground, and stared with grave intensity at the drifting cloud of smoke not far away.

BUZZ! Tian Yan waved her sleeve. A burst of wind pressure spread from the center of the dust cloud, instantly scattering the sand and stones to reveal the girl standing in the middle, her pale-red dress still untouched by dust.

She looked at him and asked with a smile, “Are we continuing today? If we do, you may not be able to get out of bed tomorrow.”

Xu Yuan bared his teeth in a grin and held the jade sword level. “Don’t get impatient. The move I’m about to use is something I can’t fully control. One careless slip, and people really can die.”

“Is that so?” Tian Yan’s willow brows lifted slightly. Then, smiling sweetly, she crooked a finger at Xu Yuan.

Xu Yuan took a deep breath.

Tian Yan had just used her Seal mantra. There should be a gap of about ten breaths before she could use it again. This move should be able to hurt her.

With that thought, Xu Yuan finally played the trump card he had been preparing for a long time.

Void Step Slash!

Xu Yuan stomped down. The ground sank beneath his foot, and his figure vanished from the endless grassland in an instant.

At the sight, the pupils of Tian Yan’s golden eyes shrank slightly. He was gone. Even her heavenly eye could not detect the slightest trace of him. Although she looked down on Xu Yuan’s strength, the moment she saw this, Tian Yan instantly became alert.

“Shield!”

“Swift!”

The words fell, and Tian Yan was about to withdraw from where she stood.

But in the very next instant, the vanished Xu Yuan abruptly appeared right before her.

The fiery glow on the jade sword in his hand had already disappeared. In its place was a strange light of blood and ink.

The Void Step Slash had carried him a hundred meters. The instant Xu Yuan appeared, he turned the sword sideways and swept it in a full circle.

The blade carved an arc of blood-red and ink-black through the spotless air, rolling toward Tian Yan’s slender body like a vast net descending from the heavens.

It was one of the techniques from the only sword art recorded in the Blood Origin Heartfall Art.

Blood-Ink Jade, Waltz.

Where the Blood-Ink Jade Sword Art passed, the lush green grass instantly withered and died. It was as if heaven and earth themselves dimmed for a brief moment.

At the sight, Tian Yan’s breath caught.

The aura of death surged over her like a tide, covering every inch of her body.

In the past, even when Xu Yuan could shatter Tian Yan’s Shield mantra, the golden barrier light would break apart like scattered specks of radiance.

But this time, the instant the blood-ink sword arc intertwined with the golden shield light, layer after layer of golden defense was sliced open as easily as a knife cutting tofu.

Then, Tian Yan’s delicate body was instantly cut in two, before gradually dissolving into flecks of starlight that vanished into the air. Yet this terrifying sword technique did not damage the terrain in the slightest. The silent blood-ink arc lingered in the air for less than a breath before fading into nothing.

After using that strike, Xu Yuan’s entire body gave out. He collapsed flat on his back on the ground.

And in the next moment, Tian Yan’s figure appeared in midair, the source qi around her body thrown into complete disorder. Her qi had been pierced clean through.

Several breaths of silence passed.

Without a word, she landed beside Xu Yuan. She stared down at him, anger flickering in her eyes, and said each word through gritted teeth.

“Xu Changtian, are you insane?”

Xu Yuan gave a weak smile, his voice thick with exhaustion. “What’s wrong? Almost died? I did warn you to be careful.”

“Are you an idiot? That move of yours is strong, but it still can’t kill me.” Tian Yan looked half amused and half furious. Her chest rose and fell slightly as she scolded him in that delicate voice of hers. “If I had used a Heaven mantra to interfere with you just now, you would already be dead. Do you understand that?”

Just now, she had instinctively wanted to use a Heaven mantra to disrupt him, only to realize that if she did, this bastard would explode on the spot.

The mantra had already reached her lips, but she could only swallow it back down and switch to a death-substitution secret art from the Life and Death chapter of the Heaven Deriving Art.

After she finished scolding him, a trace of blood seeped from the corner of the girl’s lips. She wiped it away in silence, leaving her lips stained a vivid crimson.

Still furious, Tian Yan continued cursing him. “Practical combat training is for testing techniques, not for trying to get yourself killed. Are you stupid? You haven’t even mastered circulating your qi yet, and you already dare use it in a real fight?”

With that, she stomped directly on Xu Yuan’s thigh. Though Tian Yan was not wearing shoes, she had infused the kick with source qi, and the pain made him grimace and bare his teeth.

After a pause, however, he merely smiled and asked, “So? How was that set of moves? It should be able to kill a third rank cultivator, right?”

The Blood Origin Heartfall Art truly lived up to its blood tier. Even the Shield mantra among the Heaven mantras had been sliced apart like vegetables on a chopping board.

At his words, Tian Yan’s willow brows shot up. Her chest heaved again without producing the slightest ripple. “Heh. Yes, it can. But what if it doesn’t kill them? What then?”

Xu Yuan was utterly shameless. “What else can I do? Stretch out my neck and wait to be slaughtered.”

Tian Yan narrowed her eyes and sneered. “That is about the full extent of your ambition.”

Xu Yuan lifted his gaze to the vast blue sky stretching endlessly above them, his tone quite satisfied. “Little girl, I’m only a seventh rank cultivator. I haven’t even comprehended the Dao yet. Having a chance to kill a third rank cultivator across ranks is already more than enough for me.”

BANG! Tian Yan kicked him again.

“Stop calling me little girl.”

Xu Yuan smiled and shook his head, staring at Tian Yan’s cheeks as they gradually flushed red. “You should suppress the Beguiling Sakura Flower poison first. Judging by your complexion, it looks like it’s acting up again. And you still have the mind to fuss over what I call you?”

Tian Yan stared at Xu Yuan for several breaths. “Xu Changtian, your mouth really is the hardest thing about you.”

“Thanks for the compliment.”

BANG!

“Aghhhh...”

After a brief round of breath adjustment, Tian Yan used her source qi to carry Xu Yuan back to their courtyard residence.

Once Xu Yuan was lying on the bed, he swallowed several of the pills Bai Fan had given him. Only after adjusting his breathing for an hour did he barely regain the ability to get out of bed and walk.

There was an elegant pavilion in the courtyard. Borrowing the last light of the day, Xu Yuan sat inside the pavilion, reading through ancient texts. The young woman in palace dress busied herself in the courtyard, tending to the flowers and plants she had raised.

The sun slowly sank westward, and the sunset dyed everything red.

All was quiet and harmonious, just as it had been for the past several months.