Chapter 1999: White Ruanqing Challenges the Core (Part 1)

Just as he stepped forward, Cao Chengli turned to the girl and said, "I hope you will forgive me, Senior Sister, but please use your right foot when stepping over the threshold!"

Bai Ruanqing was perplexed.

"This is a rule set by our young master; please excuse us," Cao Chengli explained sincerely.

Frowning, Bai Ruanqing thought for a moment and, not daring to disobey, stepped over the threshold with her right foot and entered.

As soon as she entered the courtyard, she immediately saw a young man practicing swordplay, his head glistening with sweat, indicating he had been training for a long time.

"This sword art..."

After watching from her spot for a while, Bai Ruanqing's body stiffened, and cold sweat broke out on her back.

The person before her was only sixteen or seventeen years old, and his cultivation was merely at the Ancient Saint second level, which was quite ordinary. Yet, his swordplay was continuous, simple in its moves but profound, ancient, and seasoned, as if he had been immersed in swordsmanship for at least several decades.

In fact, some of his moves were more refined and mysterious than those performed by Elder Feng.

A teenager performing sword moves and intentions comparable to a powerful figure like her grandfather—she, who had practiced swordsmanship for so many years, felt like a childish doll in front of him!

"Is he... Shan Xiaotian?" Her lips pale, she asked.

"Yes, he is Young Master Xiaotian," Cao Chengli nodded.

"How long has he been learning swordsmanship from Junior Martial Brother Zhang?" she couldn't help but ask, looking at him intently.

Such exquisite swordsmanship—surely he hadn't been studying with Martial Uncle Zhang since birth!

"How long?" Cao Chengli counted on his fingers for a long time, held up five fingers, paused, and then tucked two back, saying, "About this long!"

"Three years? He's that good in just three years?" Bai Ruanqing's pupils contracted, startled.

She had started practicing swordsmanship at the age of three and had been training for nearly twenty years now! During this time, her grandfather and Elder Feng had personally guided her, and she had used countless precious medicines to achieve her current level. Yet, this person, after only three years of guidance, seemed more powerful than her?

How was that possible?

"Three years?" Cao Chengli was momentarily stunned. "No, three hours!" The young master was very busy every day. Although the young master was his student, the time spent on direct instruction wasn't long. Typically, he would point out problems in cultivation and then give a jade token for self-study. Therefore, in more than ten days since becoming a disciple, the actual instruction time, by a generous estimate, didn't exceed three hours!

"...Hours?" Bai Ruanqing swayed, nearly fainting.

After learning for only three hours, his swordsmanship was that brilliant? Her mouth agape, she felt she was going mad!

While she was too stunned to speak, Shan Xiaotian, seeing the guests not far away, smiled slightly and stopped. He explained, "Actually, my teacher... has only truly guided me for a little over an hour... Butler Cao exaggerated by saying three hours!" Since they could find this place and knew who he was, it meant they already understood his identity, so there was nothing to hide.

"One..."

Shock had numbed her somewhat. After a long moment, Bai Ruanqing finally spoke again, "May I have a sword sparring match with you?"

"Of course!" Shan Xiaotian nodded quickly. He had always practiced alone, and having someone to spar with would be ideal!

"Let's begin!"

Suppressing her cultivation to the early stage of Ancient Saint second level, the same as his, Bai Ruanqing drew her long sword. Her lithe body moved, thrusting forward. Having just witnessed his sword practice and knowing its profound mysteries, she dared not be careless. With her first move, she unleashed her strongest technique, moving with lightning speed.

Just as she thought she could defeat him, Shan Xiaotian suddenly struck. Her eyes blurred, and then...

And then... a sword appeared above her head, she didn't know when! Her face turned pale. No longer daring to suppress her cultivation, her power instantly reverted to the True Immortal realm. Under the surge of her protective true qi, the long sword was flung away! If not for her quick recovery of cultivation, her head might already have been pierced.

Dripping with cold sweat, Bai Ruanqing's body was rigid. How the sword had shot from his hand and reached above her head... she hadn't seen it at all! In other words, if they were truly at the same cultivation level, she would have... already died!

Terrifying! She looked at him, filled with terror. She had thought the sword art he practiced earlier was impressive, but she never dreamed that this flying sword technique would be even more formidable!

At the same level, an instant kill with one move!

"I've been practicing for so long, but I've never fought anyone before, so I don't know my own strength, and I can't control it freely. I'm really sorry..." Shan Xiaotian scratched his head. He had intended to stop the long sword after thrusting it, but he hadn't expected his understanding of swordsmanship to be too weak to halt it at all. Fortunately, she reacted quickly, and her protective true qi blocked it. Otherwise, a newly arrived guest meeting his teacher with a sword stuck in her head... he would surely be scolded to death!

"After learning for one hour, someone at my same level couldn't block it..."

Swallowing, Bai Ruanqing remembered something. "I also studied with Martial Uncle Zhang for a while, and he taught me how to use the 'Horizontal Sword' technique... Although I practiced it haphazardly and didn't grasp its essence, how powerful is this move?" Although she knew this Horizontal Sword technique was very powerful, she had never tested it or sparred with anyone using it. Should she try it? Thinking this, she glanced at Shan Xiaotian before her and ultimately shook her head. She certainly didn't want to be stabbed in the head by his sword again. Her quick reaction just now had saved her, but if she had been momentarily distracted, she might already be a corpse.

"Are there any quiet rooms here? Could you arrange one for me?" she asked, looking up.

"That one's empty; you can stay there for now. Teacher is in seclusion, and I'll call you when he comes out!" Shan Xiaotian pointed. Inner disciples, requiring servants, typically had compounds with a dozen or more rooms, which were very spacious.

Without another word, Bai Ruanqing entered the room. Once settled, she flipped her wrist and took out a Spirit-Connecting Jade Talisman. A Spirit-Connecting Jade Talisman belonging to a core disciple! With a thought, she entered it.

"Core disciple challenge matches are different from those for inner disciples; they can be public or private... In the last core disciple competition, I only ranked seventeenth, and Wang Hao, who was sixteenth, was not my match... Now, I can try!" Standing inside the Spirit-Connecting Hall, Bai Ruanqing's eyes gleamed. Among the core disciples, she was very famous and widely respected, but this was due to her grandfather, Elder Bai Ye. In reality, her true strength wouldn't even place her in the top ten. Especially among the top few "monsters" in the core, many elders might not even be their match! In the last core disciple grand competition, she had been defeated by Wang Hao, who ranked sixteenth, ultimately placing seventeenth. This was the perfect opportunity to use him to test the swordsmanship Martial Uncle Zhang had taught her.

With a thought, she went to the front desk. "Please send out a challenge invitation for me. I want to challenge Wang Hao, who is ranked sixteenth!"

Before long, the disciple named Wang Hao arrived, a slight smirk on his lips. "Why do you suddenly want to spar with me? Don't tell me you've learned a new sword move and think you can beat me? No need to try; we just sparred half a month ago, and you weren't my match..."

"I did learn a new sword move and want to test it," Bai Ruanqing didn't deny. "If I lose, no big deal; I'll just come back next time!" How powerful Martial Uncle Zhang's Horizontal Sword technique truly was, she only knew from solo practice, never having tested it with others. Challenging Wang Hao was merely an experiment; as for whether she could win, she had no idea.

"Since you don't mind, let's begin!" Seeing her attitude, Wang Hao chuckled softly. The two found a private sparring arena and entered it. Each core disciple was the sect's most brilliant existence, possessing extremely high status and countless admirers. Therefore, the public matches used by inner disciples were not suitable for them. After all, a defeat could have significant repercussions. For this reason, many would hold private matches in the Spirit-Connecting Hall, and as for the results... only the combatants themselves would know.

Standing firm on the sparring platform, Wang Hao looked at her. "Let's begin!"

*Whoosh!* As he spoke, his long sword trembled, and a sword light slashed down. Although she had always lost to him, she was, after all, Elder Bai's granddaughter and exceptionally strong. He dared not be careless and unleashed his strongest move from the start.

"A slashing sword light?" Seeing him use this move, Bai Ruanqing was momentarily surprised. The Horizontal Sword technique she had learned was precisely designed for such moves. Performing it now was like receiving a pillow when sleepy...

Without hesitation, she executed the Horizontal Sword technique, which she had practiced dozens of times, sweeping it forward.

"Be careful, this move of mine, although I haven't mastered it yet, should be quite powerful..." With a faint smile, her long sword swept horizontally. Just as she was about to warn him, she felt a blur before her eyes, and the strength in her hand relaxed...

*Thud!* A head fell near her feet, and then Wang Hao's body lay on the ground.

"Huh?" Bai Ruanqing was startled. She hadn't even mastered this move, and more importantly, hadn't even fully executed it... yet Wang Hao, whom she had never been able to defeat, had lost his head...

"You... what happened?" Still in disbelief, Wang Hao, who had been "killed," appeared before her using another Spirit-Connecting Jade Talisman. To be honest, he was dumbfounded too. His opponent had never been his match, yet this time she had decapitated him in just one move... Experiencing it firsthand, he felt somewhat frantic.

"I don't know either..." Bai Ruanqing replied blankly. She truly didn't know. She had simply executed the sword move taught by Martial Uncle Zhang step by step, and she never dreamed that his head would fall off before she even finished the technique.

"Again... This time I won't hold back. I'll use my strongest attack from the very first move..." Seeing her expression, Wang Hao thought she was intentionally humiliating him. Enraged, he roared and charged forward again with his long sword.

*Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!* Sword qi flowed like wind, and sword light like water. To be ranked sixteenth among core disciples, his understanding of swordsmanship was exceptionally strong, and his initial move instilled despair. Knowing that he was using his full power and that her previous move wouldn't suffice to win, Bai Ruanqing gritted her teeth and once again executed the Horizontal Sword technique taught by Martial Uncle Zhang.

*Plop!* The move wasn't even completed, yet Wang Hao's head fell off again, this time rolling even further away like a ball.

"This..." Bai Ruanqing was utterly stunned.

It seemed that with this move, the opponent's head wasn't very secure; a casual slash would just make it fall off...