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"It seems these two are still too weak."
Zhou Yan sighed softly, tapped his Broken Worry Sword, and two streams of sword qi shot out, twirled twice in the air, and with two "swish" sounds, sliced off the heads of the two men.
The men's screams stopped abruptly in that instant.
By the lakeside, there was no sound, only the rustle of the wind blowing through dried leaves.
After a moment, the Broken Worry Sword, which danced and spiraled in the void around Zhou Yan, let out a "clang" before naturally returning to its scabbard.
Zhou Yan looked at the two dead men, blood still gushing from their necks, a slight smile appeared at his lips, "I didn't intend to kill you, but when you knew my identity, despite your fear, you still had the heart to eliminate me. You weren't planning to let me go after all.
So, I had no choice but to strike first."
"For a lifetime, my sensing power for killing intent has far surpassed that of a general sword cultivator, so I would rather err on the side of caution than put myself in a crisis."
Zhou Yan seemed to be talking to himself, or perhaps explaining to the two dead men. Whatever the case, anyone witnessing such a scene would feel their scalp tingling, either thinking this person had turned evil or had gone mad.
...
"Eh, Sister, it seems the person you fancy indeed has some skills. So quickly, he truly understands sword qi; someone who can comprehend sword qi at the Sword Beginning First Layer Realm is quite impressive.
Given this, his realm should have reached the Second Level of Sword Beginning. Hmm, with the baptism of such spiritual energy, he also has the capacity to battle those in the Sword Beginning Three Realms, which is rather decent."
The woman in the white gauze dress smiled as she spoke to the woman beside her in the purple spirit clothing long dress.
The woman with closed eyes, surrounded by twelve sword qi, gently opened her eyes. In them, two Cold Ice Sword shadows flickered like frost and did not extinguish as her eyes opened, still pulsing, appearing extraordinarily mysterious.
"With his talent, he may have already reached the Sword Beginning Three Realms. His combat power should be stronger than you imagine.
The foundation Green Water Sword Technique you taught, among so many in his family, only he has cultivated to the Ninth Form's Great Perfection. Do you think his talent is just that?"
The woman in the purple dress said softly.
"No... really? Is he really that formidable?"
The woman in the white gauze dress obviously found it hard to believe.
The purple-dress woman didn't speak but was very confident in her judgment.
"Unfortunately, the Holy Sword can no longer be used. Otherwise, I would indeed want to break the barrier of heaven and earth again to see that boy."
The woman in the white gauze dress said with a mischievous smile.
The purple-dress woman glanced at her, her expression still relatively cold, fairly indifferent.
"Sigh, Holy Daughter, we are sisters privately, can't you be a little nicer? Look at how well you treat him. Can't you at least smile at your sister? I took care of him according to your instructions, you know!"
The woman in the white gauze dress felt a bit 'displeased.'
"I just want to quiet myself down, focus on cultivation. I don't want to become a puppet controlled by others."
The purple spirit-clothed girl remained silent for a moment, then spoke softly.
"Sigh... Forget it, let's not talk about this, let's talk about your beloved. Not openly admitting your relationship with him saved my face, otherwise, Guardian Jiu would find it troublesome.
But... that boy seems a bit lecherous, he's probably not someone with single-minded devotion, given his looks, he's more like a dashing figure."
The white-clad woman seemed to recall the scene of Zhou Yan hesitating to speak, and immediately added fuel to the fire in her remark.
Upon hearing this, the purple-dress woman couldn't help but show a tender smile and said softly, "What does it matter whether he treats me well or I treat him well?"
"....."
Hearing these words, the woman in the white gauze dress's pretty face became somewhat brilliant, then she could only bitterly smile and shake her head.
A woman in love wouldn't listen to any bad word about her beloved. Even now, the Holy Daughter Ning'er was the same.
Besides sighing, she had nothing else to say.
"Does the shackle of the Extreme Cold Sword Body inevitably need the Extreme Cold Ice Soul Stone to break?"
The girl in the purple dress remained silent as if lost in a moment of blissful reminiscence, even adding a few traces of blush to her pale cheeks.
It took a while before she raised her voice to ask.
Seeing this scene, the woman in the white gauze dress also felt somewhat shocked and confused about what charm that unremarkable Zhou Yan had that enchanted the soul of this Holy Daughter. How should she explain this to the Domain Master?
She looked deeply at Ning'er, saw her blushing, enticing face, and couldn't help but 'thump' in her heart. If she couldn't sense that Ning'er was still a virgin, she would have suspected the boy had already succeeded...
She thought a lot, but in the end, she took a deep breath and suppressed her endless thoughts, only sighing deeply, "Yes, besides that, there is no other way. The Domain Master cares for you, which is why he reached an agreement with Wangchuan Mansion.
You know, today's Bixue Palace is quite fragile. We have no choice but to take this opportunity to strengthen our power.
You also understand that the Ji family of Wangchuan Mansion is a true great family, ruling over Wangchuan Mansion, and the Young Master of Wangchuan Mansion is truly a once-in-a-million-year genius, a dragon among men... and his demeanor is extremely free and easy, unlike pampered scions..."
"I know, but when it comes to Daoist couples, it's not about these things but about the spiritual compatibility between two people. My heart is set on Zhou Yan, so no matter how excellent or perfect others are, they won't catch my eye."
The girl in a purple dress, Ning'er, expressed her heartfelt feelings.
"Sigh... alright, then I will try to help you. Just delay this matter as much as you can, though explaining it to the Domain Master isn't easy, and it's best to use cultivation as an excuse to temporarily delay it! Also, never let the Domain Master know about your matter with Zhou Yan."
The Palace Master of Bixue Palace couldn't help but say.
"Mm, I understand. This time, thank you, Sister."
Ning'er hesitated for a moment, finally calling her 'Sister,' which almost made the Palace Master of Bixue Palace so happy as to forget herself.
"Good, good, this is my duty to help you. In the future, if you have anything to deal with, feel free to tell me, and I'll help you come up with a plan.
Besides, the girl you brought along, I've started focusing on training her. In just half a day, she has already entered the Second Level of Sword Beginning Realm. She's not yet fifteen, so stepping into the Sword Intent Realm before sixteen shouldn't be difficult with our secret technique."
The Palace Master of Bixue Palace was extremely delighted as she relayed everything she had done to Ning'er.
Ning'er nodded, feeling comforted knowing these things.
Her only regret was that the secret techniques of Bixue Palace could only be used on women; otherwise, she would spare no effort to prevent Zhou Yan from facing difficulties.
...
Tianji Mountain.
He retrieved the Qiankun Rings from the Evil Ghosts, and Zhou Yan, after sensing them, felt somewhat disappointed. Apart from some mid-grade mortal crystals, there were only over a hundred Qi Condensing Pills and a set of dull gray-black spirit armor in the Qiankun Rings.
Zhou Yan reached out and retrieved the spirit armor. His expression of disappointment suddenly shifted slightly to a quizzical smile.
During his sensing, a piece of information had suddenly transferred into his brain, which was the unique data carried by the armor itself—this indicated that the armor had never been used.
"Turns out, their wealth was used to purchase a brand new outfit, which seems to be the famous 'Gale Boots Guardian Armor' from Wan Jian Mansion, valued close to a thousand low-grade spirit crystals."
Zhou Yan scrutinized it, then laughed silently.
He initially had the thought of acquiring something like this because of being well-off with spirit crystals, but now it felt like the right pillow was brought when he needed sleep. So without hesitation, he donned this brand new Gale Boots Guardian Armor.
With a mere thought, his original clothing was dispersed by the sword qi within his body, completely shattered, and fell to the ground beneath him.
Such spirit armor had certain spatial characteristics and could autonomously change size and style, also dust-proof, to avoid becoming very dirty, which were its basic functions.
Apart from these, the clothing also offered reasonable protection against hot and cold, a certain degree of defense and strong self-repair capabilities, making it truly desirable among cultivators on the Sword Dao continent.
However, even in small towns, not many cultivators could afford to wear such armor. After all, not everyone can easily shell out a thousand low-grade spirit crystals.
In Cang Lan City, even the highly talented Zhou Lingyi hadn't acquired a spirit armor like this over the years, which showed how significant of a fortune Zhou Yan received from Bixue Palace.
Small cities like Cang Lan City generally use mortal crystals as trade units, crystals containing the energy of heaven and earth, comparable in purchasing power to a yuan in the world where the Grandmaster resided on Earth.
These crystals were divided into low-grade, mid-grade, high-grade, and top-grade, with each tier scaled at ten.
In other words, one top-grade mortal crystal was equivalent to a thousand low-grade mortal crystals.
A thousand low-grade spirit crystals equaled ten million low-grade mortal crystals. Clothing worth ten million in the Zhou family could be worn, but the Zhou family wouldn't pay such a heavy price for a piece of spirit armor.
Zhou Yan, having obtained this item and experiencing it closely on himself, felt exceedingly comfortable.
Wearing such clothing eliminated any desire for ordinary attire.
After evaluating it for a moment, he finally nodded in satisfaction. Then, tossing the Broken Worry Sword in his hand, it turned into a streak of sword light, circled around him, and with a "clang," settled into the scabbard affixed to the back of his Gale Boots Guardian Armor.
There, the scabbard for the Broken Worry Sword had been perfectly secured.
He wore the Gale Boots left by his father, donned a set of black spiritual spirit armor, and his black waterfall-like long hair fluttered from time to time.
Carrying the slaughter famous sword Broken Worry, he looked like a sword unsheathed, high-spirited, possessing an extraordinary aura.
He had finally assumed a persona that was truly impressive.
...
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