Centre of the battle arena.
Jian Wuji and Lan Yuer were only five or six metres apart, each able to sense the other’s presence.
Jian Wuji remained calm, as if bathed in a spring breeze.
Lan Yuer, however, felt as though she stood beneath a sharp, menacing sword, her entire body uneasy.
Yet, having often sparred with Ling Xiao in private, she quickly adapted to the piercing threat Jian Wuji exuded.
The trace of fear in her eyes swiftly vanished.
Seeing this, Jian Wuji was momentarily stunned. Many who faced his formidable aura would crumble without a fight, but Lan Yuer showed no fear, clearly no ordinary person.
“Brother Jian, your aura is indeed impressive, but I’ve encountered stronger sword qi, so this won’t affect me. Let’s settle this with our skills!”
Lan Yuer gave a gentle smile.
She believed that without her frequent sparring with Ling Xiao, she would have collapsed under Jian Wuji’s pressure, perhaps even conceding without a fight.
But now, though she knew victory was unlikely, she felt no fear whatsoever.
Her body began to glow with a faint blue light, beautiful and ethereal, like moonlight.
“The Moonlight Scripture! How did she cultivate the Moonlight Scripture?”
Chang Yueli stared at Lan Yuer in shock, unable to accept it.
As Lan Yuer’s master, she was unaware that her disciple had cultivated the Moonlight Sect’s treasured *Moonlight Scripture*.
“About that, I should explain. Senior Sister Lan took Sister Moon Lady as her master, and it was Sister Moon Lady who taught her the *Moonlight Scripture*.”
Ling Xiao explained with a smile.
In truth, he was the first to see the *Moonlight Scripture*, but as it was clearly more suited for women to cultivate, he had not touched it.
“Moon Lady!”
Chang Yueli gritted her teeth and fell silent.
It was understandable that Lan Yuer had distanced herself. After all, Chang Yueli had treated her poorly, and it was already generous of Lan Yuer not to abandon her as a master.
As they spoke, the arena shifted.
Lan Yuer’s body was bathed in moonlight, and a faint silhouette of a Moonlight Heavenly Maiden appeared behind her.
Among the many disciples, Lan Yuer had been chosen as the fortunate one to inherit the Moonlight Heavenly Maiden’s teachings.
Of course, Dai Yuling’s Primordial Gourd Vine martial soul inheritance was no less impressive, which might have been one reason the Moonlight Heavenly Maiden ultimately chose Lan Yuer.
After all, among the many disciples, Lan Yuer stood out in gender, talent, character, and connections.
Moon Shadow Slash!
In an instant, the Sword Pavilion seemed to plunge into darkness. Lan Yuer’s figure vanished from its spot, and a crescent-shaped blade, like a scythe, swiftly passed through Jian Wuji’s form.
The move was simple.
Just an ordinary true essence qi blade.
But combined with the *Moonlight Scripture*’s inheritance, it was faster, stronger, and far more elusive.
In that moment, Chen Meng let out a scream, believing Jian Wuji had been effortlessly sliced in two by the scythe-like crescent.
Yet, after her cry, Chen Meng realised Jian Wuji hadn’t moved at all.
He stood there, unmoved.
Though the Moon Shadow Slash passed through his body, it was the slash itself that shattered, not his body!
“Bladeless Sword Body!”
Upon closer inspection, Jian Wuji’s body, even his clothes, shimmered with a strange metallic sheen.
It was as if he were a weapon himself.
Yet this weapon was unsharpened.
A heavy sword without an edge, yet capable of cutting whatever he wished.
“What a terrifying Bladeless Sword Body! Jian Wuji has cultivated the *Sword King Scripture* to such a level!”
Some had doubted Jian Wuji’s mastery of the *Sword King Scripture*, but this display forced even the sceptics to believe.
The Bladeless Sword Body was the ultimate defensive technique of the *Sword King Scripture*!
“Remarkable. The Bladeless Sword Body perfectly blends defence and offence. Who could possibly defeat him?”
The *Sword King Scripture*, *Moonlight Scripture*, *Beast King Scripture*, and others were part of a complete martial arts system passed down by the sect’s founders.
They encompassed defence, techniques, movement, and more.
You could call them inheritances or martial arts; it was the same, as inheritances and martial arts were inherently intertwined.
Each contained the other!
“Truly remarkable. The *Sword King Scripture* is quite something. I should get my hands on it to play with sometime.”
Ling Xiao’s perspective was, as always, unique.
While others were awed by Jian Wuji’s masterful skills, Ling Xiao’s first thought was to seize the scripture for himself.
And not to cultivate it earnestly, but merely to toy with it.
This fellow had seen so many treasures that even such a classic martial art held little allure for him.
Yet, in his playful mindset, Ling Xiao gleaned some insights from Jian Wuji’s Iron Profound Truth.
Profound truths were mysterious, each worthy of a lifetime of exploration by a martial artist.
To gain even a sliver of understanding from another’s profound truth was a significant achievement.
Lan Yuer’s Moon Shadow Slash was a mere glimpse of what she had learned from the *Moonlight Scripture*.
Had she fully mastered it, she might not have lost to Jian Wuji.
“I concede!”
Lan Yuer did not continue.
The Moon Shadow Slash was her strongest move, unmatched in power, speed, and technique.
If it couldn’t harm Jian Wuji, there was no point in continuing.
Too strong!
Utterly shocking!
Ling Xiao had defeated Ba Tianhu before, but it took time and effort. Jian Wuji, however, hadn’t even moved, and Lan Yuer conceded.
Such was the strength of Jian Wuji, one of the Six Young Masters!
Chen Meng’s eyes sparkled with infatuation.
She had always harboured a secret love for Jian Wuji, and now she was even more smitten.
Chen Nanxing nodded in satisfaction. Jian Wuji was his adopted son, and such an outstanding heir dulled the pain of losing his biological son.
Meanwhile, the Beast King Palace and Moonlight Sect fell into silence once more.
With Jian Wuji’s performance, Ba Tianhu stood no chance of winning; it would merely be a spar.
Ling Xiao, too, seemed to have no hope of victory!
That was the consensus.
Ba Tianhu leapt into the arena.
“Jian Wuji, I know I’ll lose, but I still want to test your depths.”
With that, he transformed directly into his human-tiger form.
He knew Jian Wuji’s fearsome power. Fighting in human form would guarantee defeat.
Nine Forms of the Tyrant Tiger: Roar of the Deep Mountains!
For his first strike, Ba Tianhu unleashed his strongest attack, charging like a ferocious tiger, causing the Sword Pavilion to tremble, the buildings to shake, and the air to crackle.
“Second form?”
Ling Xiao smiled faintly.
It seemed that after their battle, Ba Tianhu had made further progress in his fusion.
