Xiao Yi carefully walked through the forest.
Her expression was vigilant, and her spiritual sense spread out like a radar, alert to any movement. Normally, her spiritual sense could cover almost a hundred feet, but now it was limited to less than ten feet.
This restriction made Xiao Yi feel uncomfortable, like her hands were tied, and it frustrated her greatly.
With a resentful expression, Xiao Yi muttered, "Damn that second senior brother! A suppression array that limits my spiritual sense, a trap array filled with pitfalls, and an illusion array to confuse me—does he want me dead?"
"Isn't this supposed to be about understanding sword intent? Why does it feel like I'm running for my life? How am I supposed to meditate and comprehend anything when I'm constantly on the move?"
"Ugh, so annoying!"
As Xiao Yi vented her frustrations about Lü Shaoqing, she occasionally glanced back, as if some terrifying entity was chasing her.
Suddenly!
A sharp bird call pierced the air.
Xiao Yi's expression changed. "Stupid Xiaohong, here you come again?"
A small bird appeared—one that looked identical to the one outside, the bird her second senior brother called "Dumb Bird." But she knew this was Lü Shaoqing's sword intent taking form.
The bird resembled Xiaohong in appearance and size, but it was far more menacing.
It hovered above, and as soon as it spotted Xiao Yi, it screeched and lunged, looking ready for a fight.
It swooped overhead, opened its beak, and screeched, unleashing a torrent of sword beams like a rainstorm.
"Damn you, Xiaohong!"
Xiao Yi cried out as she dodged frantically.
She had tried standing her ground before and found that she could resist its attacks.
But that was only once. To fend off Xiaohong's attacks, she had used the only two magical treasures she had on her. In the end, she barely managed to block the sword intent's attack, but her treasures were destroyed in the process.
From that point on, she realized that even though her second senior brother had restrained his power, the sword intent he unleashed was still beyond her ability to withstand.
Since then, she had been running for her life, dodging and fleeing.
It had been several days already.
During this time, she had been chased like a dog. Every time she tried to rest, the sword-intent Xiaohong would appear right on time.
Dodging swiftly, Xiao Yi managed to evade most of the sword beams. The remaining few were easily deflected by her defenses.
"Xiaohong, can we take a break?"
Xiao Yi pleaded, "I'll buy you spirit beans once we're out, okay?"
However, the sword intent Xiaohong wasn't the real bird. No matter what Xiao Yi said, it ignored her.
With another screech, it launched another wave of attacks.
Spreading its wings, it flapped them toward Xiao Yi.
This time, even more sword beams fell, fiercer than before.
Seeing this, Xiao Yi didn't look back and ran off immediately.
"Boom, boom, boom!"
Explosions sounded behind her.
Xiao Yi glanced back and picked up her pace.
It felt like countless explosion talismans were going off behind her, and the continuous explosions sent soil and debris flying everywhere.
The ground turned black, and the trees were blown to pieces, scattering splinters and dirt through the air.
"Xiaohong, you're ruthless. You just wait."
Xiao Yi continued to flee, not daring to turn back and face the sword intent head-on.
She kept running as the sword intent chased her, bombarding the area with attacks.
Countless sword beams, filled with intense sword energy, rained down.
Though she dodged most of them, some still landed close enough to force her to defend herself.
This relentless pursuit left her battered and exhausted.
After about three hours of this cat-and-mouse chase, the sword intent finally halted its assault.
Xiao Yi breathed a sigh of relief.
She knew this was the break her second senior brother had allotted her.
However, she knew this break wouldn't last long, probably only an hour or so.
Collapsing to the ground, she lay down without any semblance of dignity.
She was utterly worn out. "Damn that second senior brother, so despicable."
The sword cave set up by Lü Shaoqing was far more complicated than the one set up by Ji Yan.
Ji Yan's cave, like the man himself, was straightforward—direct and without deception.
Lü Shaoqing, on the other hand, employed all sorts of formations, turning the terrain into a maze.
It was designed to torment anyone who entered.
Xiao Yi sighed helplessly, "I should have known. A sword cave set up by the second senior brother wouldn't be easy."
"This place is just as nasty as he is."
Thinking about how sneaky and despicable her second senior brother was, Xiao Yi felt hopeless.
Can I really understand sword intent by going through all this?
For a moment, Xiao Yi felt a wave of despair.
"Forget it, I don't have the talent to grasp sword intent."
"Maybe I should just endure this for a month. After a month, second senior brother should let me out, right?"
But she quickly shook off her feelings of discouragement.
Sitting up, determination flashed in her eyes.
"No, I can't be so defeated."
"Senior brother is so strong, and second senior brother is also powerful. As their junior sister, how can I fall behind?"
"I must keep going."
But soon, Xiao Yi lay down again, sighing dejectedly.
"At least senior brother's sword cave had a small wooden hut to rest in, even if it wasn't entirely safe. But there was still a place to hide."
"Second senior brother, though, didn't even leave me a safe spot."
But as she finished her complaint, Xiao Yi noticed something in the tree above her.
"Huh!"
She climbed up to check, and when she saw what was hidden there, she was speechless.
For a moment, she even felt an urge to give Lü Shaoqing a good beating.
Up in the tree was a small wooden hut.
Carved on the hut were three words: "Safe House."
The hut was built on a tree dozens of feet high, hidden by dense branches and leaves.
If she hadn't been lying on the ground and caught a glimpse of it through the leaves, she would never have known a safe house was up there.
"So despicable."
Xiao Yi was speechless for a long time before muttering those words.
Only her second senior brother could come up with something so sneaky.
"I should've known. With second senior brother's personality, there's no way he'd build a safe resting spot on the ground."
"So despicable."
She grumbled again.
At that moment, the screech of the sword intent Xiaohong echoed again.
Soon, the fiery figure appeared.
Without hesitation, Xiao Yi grinned triumphantly and darted into the safe house.
"Xiaohong, you can stay out there. I'm going to rest for a bit."
But as she stepped into the hut, her face went pale, and her smile froze.