Xiao An could not expose her powers from the Path of White Bone and Great Beauty, so originally, it should have been impossible for her to contend against a tenth layer Qi Practitioner like Mind Enlightenment. The Guardian King’s pearl that the One Thought master had bestowed upon her played a critical role right now.
Supreme grade spiritual artifacts were not items that Qi Practitioners could completely control. Only Foundation Establishment cultivators could unleash their true power. However, Xiao An could use the Guardian King’s pearl the moment it entered her hands. When she reached the first layer with the Guardian King’s Scripture of Demon Subdual, she could unleash its full power. It no longer paled in comparison to when the One Thought master used it.
In Li Qingshan’s hands, even the Cursive Sword Calligraphy that could barely be regarded as a supreme grade spiritual artifact already possessed so much power even without being refined. On the other hand, all of the power of a true supreme grade spiritual artifact was being unleashed right now.
And, the huge vajra sword was like an embroidery needle in Xiao An’s hands, swinging downwards, thrusting forwards, flicking downwards, swinging upwards, sweeping high, and sweeping low.
When she swung down, it was enough to cleave mountains in two. Li Qingshan could not help but think about the heavy, inky vertical stroke in the Cursive Sword Calligraphy. When she swept low, it was similar to the light and nonchalant horizontal stroke. She had completely digested and absorbed all the sword intent within the three fragments of the Cursive Sword Calligraphy. The vajra sword turned into a flurry of golden light.
Many of the school leaders had a thorough understanding of the sword, and Liu Zhangqing was one of the best among them. He carried a sword on his waist right now. It was not an ornament, but an actual weapon for killing.
The confucian disciples of this world were not those pedantic, physically weak scholars. Apart from being educated in literature and etiquette, swordsmanship was a core subject too. On many formal occasions, carrying a sword with them was the norm.
He stared at the Watermirror disc and subconsciously gripped the hilt of his sword. The sword intent that was as light as clouds yet as powerful as dragons startled him. Suddenly, he noticed how all the school leaders were looking at him and realised he had lost his composure. He smiled bitterly. “This isn’t the swordsmanship a child should possess.”
She was only ten years old, so just how did she comprehend and achieve something so profound with the sword? Even if she was a genius of the sword, how was she supposed to explain the startling, heavy, and fierce aura of slaughter?
Mind Enlightenment was skilled with martial arts, but how was he supposed to rival her? His combat experience was nowhere near as rich as hers. Against Xiao An, who had a much lower cultivation than him, he actually failed to gain the upper hand at all. Instead, he became more startled as he fought.
Why? Why? What is going on? Namo Amitābha. Namo Amitābha. Something must be wrong, right?
Originally, Li Qingshan wanted to assist Xiao An, but he stopped worrying when he saw this. He just stood aside and watched on.
In the battle of the past when he worked with Xiao An, she played the role of an assassin most of the time. He was responsible for attracting the attention of the enemy and creating an opportunity, while she was responsible for grasping this opportunity to deal a killing strike. If she bided her time, then she bided her time, but once she struck, she would definitely be able to heavily injure the opponent. Rarely had she ever engaged in a fair, one-on-one battle like this. This was quite a rare opportunity for her to practise her swordsmanship.
Without Li Qingshan, Xiao An naturally adapted her battle tactics, no longer striving for a single killing strike where she unleashed everything that she had. Instead, she was like a renowned calligraphist practising calligraphy, wielding the sword in an orderly manner. She did not halt at all. She would form a character with a few strokes, and a hundred characters would form a piece of literature.
Even Li Qingshan felt surprised over how much Xiao An had improved. Aside from his joy for her, he sighed slightly too. He felt like even if the ox demon, tiger demon, and spiritual turtle were combined, they did not seem to be as impressive as the Path of White Bone and Great Beauty.
Sure, his cultivation might have been low, unable to unleash the power of these three cultivation methods, but Xiao An had not even reached the first layer of the Path of White Bone and Great Beauty. Right now, she had barely mastered the basics and was still fumbling around. Her room for future improvements was unimaginable.
As it seemed, he really had to work hard on cultivation once he got back. He could not fall behind her. Perhaps it was due to his fragile pride as a man, but he wanted to possess the power to take care of her at all times.
Just what did brother ox have in mind? He had no idea. Perhaps he would only get an answer the moment he opened the sumeru ring.
“The child’s sword is about to triumph. Mind Enlightenment is going to lose,” said Han Anjun. His understanding of the path of the sword might not have been as deep as Liu Zhangqing, but he had extremely sharp senses over the tides of war.
Yes, the tides of war. In his eyes, the clash between two people was like the clash between two armies.
The army led by Mind Enlightenment possessed a vast number of soldiers, but their morale was unstable, and their movements were disorderly. On the other hand, Xiao An’s army advanced step by step. With the scheming waves of storming, sneak attacks, and ambushes, their morale increased, while Mind Enlightenment’s army gradually became exhausted…
It was a different perspective, but they saw the same outcome in the end. Once the piece of literature was complete, it would be ambushes from all directions, resulting in certain death.
Xiao An raised her hand, but the vajra sword slowed down, as if it had suddenly become a thousand tonnes heavier. It would pause with every inch it moved.
Every single movement would leave behind a clear image visible to the naked eye. She completely pushed the power of the Guardian King’s Method of Demon Subdual and the Cursive Sword Calligraphy to the limit.
It seemed extremely slow, yet Mind Enlightenment felt he was stuck in a hopeless situation with nowhere to escape to. Before so many monks, he would never accept an outcome like this, so he roared out in a hurry, and the guardian king avatar roared out too.
As the bells in the temple boomed, the monk’s spade rippled with layers of golden light. This was the first time he had used the powers of the spiritual artifact itself. It suddenly moved several times faster, cleaving down diagonally. “I’ll kill you, you monster!”
Li Qingshan suddenly stood up. He never imagined the counterattack of the primary disciple would be so startling.
The One Thought master called out, “Oh no!” He vanished.
However, neither of them could intercept in time. Xiao An’s body halted slightly from the tremor. Just when she was unable to dodge the attack, she remained unfazed, but the expression on her guardian king avatar underwent a slight change. It abruptly gave off indescribable fury and hatred.
The furious glares of guardian kings were for purging demons, a dignified fury of righteousness. However, the fury on Xiao An’s guardian king avatar was much deeper and more terrifying, as if it wanted to slaughter all living creatures.
Just what kind of fury was enough for an eminent monk of buddhism who had almost attained the fruit of bodhisattva to create the Path of White Bone and Great Beauty, swearing to slaughter all living creatures and slay buddhas? This was the first time she had sensed a fraction of it.
The light on the vajra sword sank, undergoing a change that no one managed to notice.
Under this boundless fury, it swung upwards from below.
Clang! There was a sharp sound within the roaring sounds of bells. The vajra monk’s spade had been forcefully chopped in half, dispersing as light. Mind Enlightenment stared at it in a daze, wondering whether he was dreaming or not. How was it possible for the vajra monk’s spade he had condensed off the basis of a high grade spiritual artifact to be chopped in half unless his master was here in person?
He could not help but look around, searching for the One Thought master’s figure. However, all he saw before him was the guardian king avatar with the sun behind its back, seemingly shining with golden radiance, wielding the vajra sword with two hands and raising it high into the air.
Xiao An said gently, “Die.”
The guardian king roared, “Die!”
The golden radiance condensed on the sword, falling towards Mind Enlightenment’s forehead.
The One Thought master had already arrived above Anāsravā? temple. Originally, he had come to save Xiao An, but for some reason, his first disciple, the primary disciple, had fallen into dire straits instead in just a split second. He wanted to save him, but it was already too late. He called out in the air, “Stop, Xiao An!”
However, how could his voice move faster than the vajra sword? Even if Xiao An heard him, she could not stop. She was filled with the tremendous fury of the eminent monk from the Path of White Bone and Great Beauty.
There was a flash of golden light. All the monks were stunned. Time seemed to stop. The entire temple fell silent.
This lasted until the appearance of a crack. From the tip of the vajra sword, it extended to over a hundred meters away, forming a terrifying, black crack. Mind Enlightenment’s courtyard that sat on the crack had been chopped in half, while the central cultivation hall stood for a while longer before collapsing loudly.
Mind Enlightenment collapsed to one side. The avatar around him had already vanished. His plump face was filled with fear as he stared at Li Qingshan. At that critical moment, Li Qingshan had kicked him aside, which was why he had managed to survive. Otherwise, his fate would be the same as the cultivation hall.
The One Thought master descended from above. “Xiao An, you…” However, he was at a loss as for what to say.
Xiao An dispersed the avatar and smiled sweetly at Li Qingshan. “You’ve come.”
Li Qingshan gave her a thumbs up. “Impressive!”
The surroundings were dead silent. The new disciple could contend against the primary disciple just on the second day of joining. This alone had already exceeded the imaginations of the monk. And, she had actually defeated the primary disciple. This made them all blank out as they wondered whether they were dreaming or not.
The One Thought master said furiously, “Mind Enlightenment, what’s this all about? Tell me everything.”
Li Qingshan frowned. He was afraid that this baldy would lie again.
Mind Enlightenment climbed up from the ground and knelt before the One Thought master. With three thumps, he prostrated himself three times and said, “Please understand, master. I was completely in the wrong about this. I became jealous of the care that master showed to junior sister Xiao An, so I purposefully made trouble for sir Li Qingshan, and I also broke the precept of anger, lashing out against sir Li Qingshan first. Please punish me, master.”
Originally, Li Qingshan thought that Mind Enlightenment would want to complain against him, so he prepared a rebuttal. He was immediately left speechless now.
The One Thought master was stunned too. “Mind Enlightenment, you…?”
“I’m willing to relinquish my position as primary disciple to junior sister Xiao An. Please forgive me, junior sister.” Then Mind Enlightenment said to Li Qingshan, “Thank you for saving my life, sir!”
Mind Enlightenment was pale, and his eyes were dull, but he no longer possessed any hatred anymore. He definitely was not hiding anything or biding his time. No matter how powerful the opponent was, he would always undergo self-imposed hardships to strengthen his resolve for revenge. He would be confident that there would be a day when he got his revenge. But now, the opponent he faced was a child, a child who began practising qi yesterday and defeated him today.
To be able to make it to the position of primary disciple, he clearly was a clever and capable person, but it was exactly because he was clever enough that he felt despair. Although Xiao An’s attack had failed to land, it had shattered his arrogance, jealousy, and anger. He was forced into achieving instantaneous comprehension.
Mind Enlightenment said, “I want to face the walls of Cliff Inscription cavern and reflect on myself for three years. Please give me permission, master.”
