Chronicles of Heaven's Chosen - Chapter 58

When Yuan Yao said nothing, Ying Wuji lowered the branch. “Not convinced?”

“I’m so thoroughly convinced that I have nothing to say.” Yuan Yao sighed deeply. She felt utterly pathetic. How had Youngest Senior Brother defeated her with nothing but a branch when he had suppressed his cultivation to the same realm as hers?

“What? Did I crush your confidence?”

“Yes,” Yuan Yao admitted. “But I absolutely refuse to be discouraged!”

She took a deep breath and silently rallied herself. Then, with a flick of her sword, she pointed the blade at Ying Wuji.

“Come on. I refuse to believe I can’t beat you.”

Ying Wuji merely smiled.

He continued sparring with her, though almost every bout ended in Yuan Yao’s crushing defeat.

Ying Wuji looked at her. “Do you know why I can beat you so easily?”

“Because you’re stronger than me.”

Ying Wuji slowly shook his head. “No. It’s because I know every move and form of the Xiaoyao Sword Art. I can predict exactly how you’ll attack. Sometimes, you can’t fixate solely on winning. You also need to consider why you lost. Only then can you keep improving.”

Understanding dawned on Yuan Yao, and she nodded.

In the bouts that followed, she began weaving the Xiaoyao Sword Art and Qianshan Sword Art together, springing surprise attacks on Ying Wuji whenever she saw an opening.

After three more rounds, she finally severed the battered branch in his hand and leveled her sword at his chest.

“You won one.” Ying Wuji lowered his gaze to the multicolored sword in her hand.

“Again!”

Yuan Yao was growing more excited by the moment.

Ying Wuji looked up at the darkening sky. “It’s nightfall. We’ll continue tomorrow.”

Yuan Yao glanced around. Many disciples had been training there earlier, but now only a handful of senior brothers and sisters remained.

“We’re going back.” Ying Wuji seized the back of her collar and forcibly dragged her away.

Remembering that she could still train her mental power once she returned, Yuan Yao did not resist.

Before long, Ying Wuji personally escorted her to her door.

“Rest well,” he said. “I’ll come for you tomorrow.”

“All right.” Yuan Yao yawned and nodded.

But the moment she stepped inside and shut the door, she cast the Dust-Cleansing Spell on herself, scrambled onto her bed, and took out the legacy key.

She threw herself back into training her mental power.

Yuan Yao did not want to waste a single moment.

She wanted to become stronger.

Elsewhere, Lu Xiangxiang remained wholly absorbed in her cultivation, her concentration unbroken.

She knew time was running out and that she had to raise her cultivation as quickly as possible. Only then would she possess enough strength to break into the Xiaoyao Sect’s forbidden grounds and seize the secret treasure before the approaching Grand Sect Tournament on the Ninth Continent. The moment she obtained it, she would leave the Xiaoyao Sect without hesitation.

Once she became powerful, she would return and annihilate the entire sect!

Fortunately, she had the memories and experience of her previous life. That night, her cultivation successfully advanced to the mid Foundation Establishment Realm.

…

For three days straight, Yuan Yao practiced swordsmanship by day and secretly trained her mental power by night.

Under Youngest Senior Brother’s guidance, her swordsmanship improved by leaps and bounds.

Ever since Ying Wuji was old enough to understand the world, he had known that his Little Junior Sister possessed exceptional talent. He had never imagined it could be this terrifying.

On the first day, when he fought her at the same cultivation level, he could suppress her with ease, leaving her no room to fight back. At times, he completely overwhelmed her.

Yet as Little Junior Sister’s command and understanding of sword techniques deepened, she gradually became capable of fighting him on equal terms. Their bouts grew so close and intense that victory was difficult to determine.

Ying Wuji decided it was time to teach her a new sword art.

“Today, I’ll teach you the most domineering and ruthless sword art—the Taihuang Sword Art.”

“All right!” Yuan Yao answered delightedly.

Ying Wuji drew a wooden sword and turned toward her. “I’ll begin with the Taihuang Sword Art’s first form—Cross Cut!”

Yuan Yao was still wondering why the first form bore that name when Youngest Senior Brother picked up a stone from the ground and tossed it into the air.

The next instant, his wooden sword moved.

Before she could see what he had done, the stone split into four pieces.

Yuan Yao hurried over, picked up the fragments, and fitted them back together. Two trails of sword qi marked the stone’s surface.

One vertical.

One horizontal.

Together, they formed a perfect cross.

She turned to Ying Wuji. “That’s the Cross Cut?”

“Yes.” Ying Wuji nodded. “If you want to kill someone, use this move.”

It would cleave a person into four pieces.

Yuan Yao walked up to him, determination written across her face.

“I want to learn it!”

Ying Wuji said nothing more. As he demonstrated, he taught her the mnemonic and mental formula needed to practice the Taihuang Sword Art.

Yuan Yao learned quickly.

…

News that Little Junior Sister had begun cultivating diligently swept through the Xiaoyao Sect like a whirlwind, causing an uproar.

Everyone in the sect was stunned.

“Little Junior Sister showed up at the rear mountain on time again today?”

“You have no idea how quickly she picks up sword arts!”

“Do you think something happened to upset her?”

“Could it be because she’s someone else’s senior sister now? Maybe she thinks she should set an example for Junior Sister Lu.”

“How many days do you think she’ll last?”

“…”

Meanwhile, a figure suddenly appeared at the rear mountain of Heavenly Martial Peak.

The silver-haired man stood on a rocky slope beneath the waterfall, his gaze resting on the two figures not far away.

Sharp-eyed disciples of Heavenly Martial Peak spotted him at once. Their expressions changed, and they hurried forward to salute him.

“Greetings, Immortal Lord.”

The commotion quickly caught Ying Wuji and Yuan Yao’s attention. They turned toward him.

“Master!” Yuan Yao called out with a smile.

The two hurried over to the silver-haired man.

His expression was cool and aloof. “Why didn’t you ask me to teach you personally?”

Yuan Yao explained, “Youngest Senior Brother had too much time on his hands, so I asked him to practice with me! Besides, having you teach me personally would be using a great talent for a trivial task. If Youngest Senior Brother teaches me, that’s using a little talent for a great task!”

Ying Wuji stared at her. “Who taught you to use idioms like that?”

Without a flicker of emotion, Qian Jueshan said, “I have not been busy lately. Starting tomorrow, you will all report to the Heavenly Stairway Training Ground and wait for me there.”

After a brief pause, he added, “Remember to bring Ah Li and your Seventh Junior Sister.”

Yuan Yao’s expression changed.

Oh no. She had planned to sneak out of the Xiaoyao Sect in another two days…

“Master, I…”

“You what?”

“May I slack off?” Yuan Yao blinked.

Qian Jueshan froze. “Did you not become diligent?”

Yuan Yao was speechless.

The next day, Yuan Yao, Cang Li, Ying Wuji, and Lu Xiangxiang appeared together at the Heavenly Stairway Training Ground.

The so-called Heavenly Stairway was a flight of steps up a mountain. Because a Gravity Formation had been laid over it, however, the burden on a climber increased with every step.

One thousand steps wound steeply along a sheer cliff face, twisting upward in a path that looked perilous beyond measure.

Ying Wuji and the others had been climbing the Heavenly Stairway since childhood, yet even they had only ever made it as far as the eight-hundredth step.