Chapter 25: Whoever Trespasses Against Me or Mine, Shall Be Annihilated!

Qu Ziyao’s silver pupils trembled.

How could it be? He was merely in the Qi Condensation stage; how could he possibly suppress her spiritual energy?

Qu Ziyao bit her lip, forcing herself to stop these thoughts. This was no time for distraction! In a duel, even the slightest lapse in focus could lead to disaster. Less than half a breath was enough to decide the outcome. She did not dare to fully exert her spiritual energy to break through that invisible barrier, as she was unsure if she could succeed, and there simply wasn't enough time. Xiao Lin, wielding the sword "Immortal Annihilator," was already upon her.

In an instant, the silver light in Qu Ziyao’s eyes dimmed. If that was the case, she would fight without spiritual energy. Xiao Lin had only caught her off guard earlier. She did not believe her mastery of the sword was in any way inferior to his.

Qu Ziyao shifted her body an inch to the side. Xiao Lin thrust his sword forward. This inch was a perfect distance, calculated by Qu Ziyao to negate most of the power of his strike without hindering her own counterattack.

The next moment.

"Ha!"

Qu Ziyao gave a light shout, and the silver light in her eyes erupted with dazzling brilliance. She did not move, nor did her sword, yet Xiao Lin felt an unprecedented sense of crisis; his skin stung. It was the sharp intent radiating from her sword—eighteen distinct auras! Her sword speed was so fast that eighteen strikes had converged into a single instant. This time, it was truly an inescapable onslaught from all directions.

Xiao Lin, however, suddenly smiled and switched his thrust into a slash.

Just as Qu Ziyao was about to catch her breath, she was forced to dodge in a hurry, seemingly having never expected that Xiao Lin would not even consider blocking a single one of her sword auras.

*Rip!*

Her green robes were shredded into dust, revealing a patch of porcelain-white skin, which, in a fleeting moment, bloomed with a jarring crimson. Qu Ziyao had dodged with extreme speed, yet she was still grazed by that strike, wounding her Foundation Establishment body!

Ignoring the pain, Qu Ziyao looked up at Xiao Lin. This pain meant nothing to her; she was consumed by shock and rage. Was he insane? He had ignored her lethal strike, neither blocking nor evading. Was he counting on the elders to save him at the last moment? Or was he willing to risk defeat just to wound someone at the Foundation Establishment stage?

As she thought this, she heard the sound of metal clashing. Upon regaining her senses, her pupils contracted. Xiao Lin had not used his sword to block the eighteen auras; he had taken them with his physical body!

"Are you cra—"

Her words were cut short. Xiao Lin’s sword attire was in tatters, revealing his sturdy, well-defined frame, yet there wasn't a single scratch to be seen. Qu Ziyao didn't even bother to swallow her words; they simply dissipated into the air.

"What am I crazy about?"

While speaking, Xiao Lin flipped his hand, retrieved a black robe from his storage ring, and draped it over himself. Although it only covered his back, it was better than nothing.

Qu Ziyao asked in disbelief, "How are you... unscathed?"

"Why would I be?" Xiao Lin replied calmly. "Senior Sister, since you didn't use your spiritual energy and relied only on sword intent, how could you possibly wound a junior brother whose body has been tempered in the Sword Pool?"

"Nonsense!" Qu Ziyao retorted coldly. "Which inner sect disciple of the Sword Mountain hasn't been tempered in the Sword Pool? Yet I have never seen anyone block my sword with their bare skin alone."

"Is that so?" Xiao Lin pondered for a moment. "Then let Junior Brother think of another reason."

Qu Ziyao gripped her sword even tighter. *Is he actually brushing me off?*

Xiao Lin continued slowly, "Quantity, speed, force... how can these three coexist? Eighteen swords in an instant must have consumed all of your focus; for it to have even twenty percent of the power of a normal strike is already quite rare."

Qu Ziyao frowned. "But my master can do it."

"Your master?"

Xiao Lin’s tone was peculiar, causing Yue Suxian, who was watching from afar, to narrow her eyes slightly.

"That is only from our perspective. In the eyes of a true powerhouse of the same realm, for every thousands of swords she strikes in an instant, the power of each must surely be less than a single, focused strike. There is no such thing as perfection in this world. To gain something, one must lose something. The only one who might possess all these traits... perhaps it is my master."

As he spoke the final sentence, a hint of melancholy flashed in Xiao Lin’s eyes. Qu Ziyao couldn't decipher it. Why did he sound as if the Sect Master had already passed away?

"Then what did you use to cut off my spiritual energy..."

Xiao Lin raised an eyebrow and laughed. "Would you like Junior Brother to tell you his birth date and time as well, Senior Sister?"

As soon as these words were spoken, Qu Ziyao realized they were in the middle of a sparring match; how could he reveal his trump cards? Yet the remark was somewhat flippant, causing both Tang Qianxue and Qu Ziyao to frown. *How insolent, with all the elders present. Where did this little Qilin learn such talk?*

Qu Ziyao steadied her heart. The chat had been a ruse to wait for her spiritual energy to circulate again. She finally felt her power returning. But what if Xiao Lin used that move again?

"Since my power isn't enough..."

Qu Ziyao bit her tongue, her expression unchanged. Then, she parted her lips and spat a drop of heart-blood onto her blade. The elders were watching, her master’s reputation was at stake, and she had boasted so loudly... she could not lose!

"I said..."

*As expected!*

Qu Ziyao’s heart tightened. She decided not to draw on her spiritual energy, instead pouring all her focus and sword intent into this one strike.

"You think I will fall for the same trick twice?"

Qu Ziyao flicked her wrist, and the tip of her sword hummed. Xiao Lin watched this subtle movement closely. Last time, she had unleashed eighteen strikes after a half-breath delay.

Half a breath. This was the moment.

"...Whoever dares to trespass upon me, perish!"

Qu Ziyao was dazed for an instant, but relying on instinct, the eighteen sword auras emerged simultaneously. They did not scatter into a starry sky, but condensed into a single point, aiming to shatter him with one blow!

However, even as Qu Ziyao watched the sword reach Xiao Lin, who could only take it head-on, she felt no sense of impending victory. Instead, an internal alarm sounded, and she stepped back, retreating. She looked up and saw that the strike, which had consumed all her focus, had reached half an inch before Xiao Lin when it melted away like snow meeting fire, vanishing without a trace...

This scene transcended Qu Ziyao’s understanding, causing her heart to skip a beat. She instinctively blinked—and suddenly, Xiao Lin was right in front of her, his black hair flying, looking like a reaper from the underworld!

Qu Ziyao nearly screamed, biting her lip hard to suppress the embarrassing sound. She channeled her techniques, attempting to deflect Xiao Lin's sword. But while the path of space was astonishing, it required profound innate talent. One needed at least a basic understanding of the object being manipulated. Yet, Xiao Lin’s sword contained too many things she could not comprehend!

In an instant, Qu Ziyao’s mind went blank, and countless images flashed by, as if she were reliving her life. Until a flash of white appeared in her peripheral vision.

Her immortal robes fluttering, Yue Suxian arrived, intending to block Xiao Lin’s strike. But Xiao Lin took a step forward with his right foot. It looked like an aggressive advance, but he actually used the momentum to pivot, flying backward, rotating several times in the air, and landing gracefully.

"Since this is a sparring match, how could Junior Brother not know when to stop?"

Xiao Lin smiled faintly, then sheathed his sword and cupped his hands. "Senior Sister, you have conceded."

A sudden silence fell over the Sword Palace. Only the black robe behind Xiao Lin stirred in the wind.