Barely after taking a step forward, Cao Chengli turned to Bai Ruanqing and said, "Senior, please forgive me. Please use your right foot when you step through the doorframe!"
"???" Bai Ruanqing was taken aback.
"This is a rule set by our Young Master, so please forgive me."
Cao Chengli replied earnestly.
Bai Ruanqing pondered for a moment, but in the end, she decided not to disobey him. Thus, she crossed the doorframe with her right foot and walked in.
As soon as she entered the courtyard, she saw a young man practicing swordsmanship. His forehead was drenched in sweat, indicating that he had been practicing swordsmanship for a very long time.
"This swordsmanship …"
Bai Ruanqing's body stiffened as cold sweat trickled down her back.
The young man before her seemed to be around sixteen or seventeen, and his cultivation was only at Ancient Sage 2-dan. However, his swordsmanship seemed endless. His moves were simple, but they harnessed the essence of the world. It was as if he had immersed himself in swordsmanship for several decades.
In fact, some of his moves were even more profound than Grandpa Feng's!
To think that a young man in his teens was able to execute swordsmanship on par with experts like her grandfather. Even though she had practiced swordsmanship for so many years, she still felt like she was nothing more than a child before him!
"He … is Dan Xiaotian?"
Bai Ruanqing asked with pale lips.
"Un. He's Young Master Xiaotian …" Cao Chengli nodded.
"How long has he been practicing swordsmanship with … Brother Zhang Shi?" Bai Ruanqing asked.
Could it be that this fellow had been learning swordsmanship from Uncle Zhang Shi ever since he was born?
"How long?" Cao Chengli counted with his fingers for a very long time before stretching out five fingers. After a moment of hesitation, he retracted two more. "Roughly this long."
"Three years? He's already so formidable in just three years? "
Bai Ruanqing narrowed her eyes in shock.
She had been practicing swordsmanship since she was three, and she had been practicing swordsmanship for nearly twenty years now.
During this period of time, her grandfather and Grandpa Feng had guided her step by step, and she had used countless precious medicinal herbs to reach her current level. Yet, the young man was already stronger than her in just three years?
How in the world did he do it?
"Three years?" Cao Chengli was taken aback. "No, three hours!"
The Young Master was busy every single day. Even though the Young Master was his student, the time he spent guiding the Young Master in his cultivation was not long. Most of the time, he would just point out the problems that the Young Master faced in his cultivation and give him a jade token to study on his own … As such, even though the Young Master had acknowledged the Young Master as his teacher for more than ten days, the time he spent guiding the Young Master did not even exceed six hours!
"… Time?"
Bai Ruanqing nearly fainted on the spot.
After learning for six hours, his swordsmanship was already so brilliant?
His mouth opened wide. He was about to go crazy!
While Zhang Xuan was shocked speechless, Dan Xiaotian, who was standing not too far away, noticed that a guest had arrived. With a smile, he came to a halt and explained, "Actually, the time that my teacher spent on me was only two hours … Six hours, Butler Cao is exaggerating!"
For the other party to be able to find this place and know of him, it meant that the other party had already figured out his identity.
"One …"
It took Bai Ruanqing quite some time before she finally spoke up once more, "May I have a swordsmanship duel with you?"
"Of course!"
Dan Xiaotian hurriedly nodded.
He had always been cultivating by himself, so it was great that someone could spar with him!
"Begin!"
Bai Ruanqing suppressed her cultivation to Ancient Sage 2-dan primary stage before drawing her sword.
Hu!
Her slender body moved and stabbed forward.
He had seen the other party practicing his swordsmanship earlier, so he knew that there were many profound mysteries to it. Not daring to get careless, he executed his strongest move right from the start.
Buzz!
Just as she thought that she would be able to defeat Dan Xiaotian, Dan Xiaotian suddenly made a move. Her vision blurred for an instant, and then …
Then … at some point in time, a sword appeared above his head!
With a pale face, Zhang Xuan dared not suppress his cultivation anymore. In the blink of an eye, his cultivation had returned to the True Immortal realm. Under the assault of his protective zhenqi, his sword was knocked away!
If it wasn't for the fact that he was fast enough to decipher the cultivation, his head might have been pierced through.
Bai Ruanqing's body stiffened in cold sweat.
How did the sword in the other party's hand shoot out, how did it arrive above her head … She actually didn't see it at all!
In other words, if they were at the same cultivation realm, they would have long been dead!
Terrifying!
He looked over in horror.
He had thought that the swordsmanship that the other party had cultivated earlier was already formidable, but who could have thought that the flying sword would be even more formidable!
To defeat someone at the same cultivation realm as him in a single move!
"I have practiced swordsmanship for so long, but I have never fought with anyone before, so I have no idea how strong I am. On top of that, I can't control it freely. I'm really sorry …" Dan Xiaotian scratched his head.
He had intended to stop the sword right after piercing it, but who could have known that his comprehension of swordsmanship was still too weak?
It was fortunate that she had reacted swiftly and blocked the sword with her protective zhenqi. Otherwise, if a guest who had just arrived had a sword in his head, he would surely be scolded to death!
"Even though I am at the same cultivation realm as you, I am still unable to withstand it …"
Bai Ruanqing gulped down a mouthful of saliva. "I have learned from Uncle Zhang Shi for a while now, and he imparted me the way to use the horizontal sword. Even though I haven't grasped the essence of the horizontal sword yet, I wonder how powerful the horizontal sword is?"
She knew that the horizontal sword was a formidable technique, but she had never tried it before. Should she give it a try?
With such thoughts in mind, she turned to look at Dan Xiaotian and shook her head.
She did not want to have her head pierced by the other party's sword once more. If she had been distracted earlier, she might have already turned into a corpse.
"Is there a quiet room here? Can you arrange one for me?"
Bai Ruanqing asked.
"There's no one staying there. You can stay there for the time being. My teacher is currently in seclusion, so I'll call you when he's out," Dan Xiaotian said.
As inner disciples required servants to attend to them, their residences usually had more than a dozen rooms, making it extremely spacious.
Bai Ruanqing walked into the room and prepared herself. With a flick of her wrist, she took out an Ethereal Token.
It was the Ethereal Token of a core disciple!
With a thought, she dived into the Ethereal Token.
"The core disciple challenge is different from the inner disciples'. It's open and private. In the previous core disciple challenge, I was only ranked seventeenth. I wasn't a match for sixteenth place Wang Hao, so I should give it a try!"
A glint flashed across Bai Ruanqing's eyes as she stood in the Ethereal Hall.
She was extremely famous among the core disciples due to her grandfather, Elder Bai Ye. However, in terms of fighting prowess, she could not even make it into the top ten.
This was especially so for the top few freaks among the core disciples. Most elders would not necessarily be a match for them!
In the previous core disciple challenge, she had lost to sixteenth place Wang Hao, resulting in her being ranked seventeenth place. This was a good opportunity for her to test out the swordsmanship that Uncle Zhang Shi had imparted to her.
Thus, she walked up to the receptionist and said, "Help me send out an invitation. I would like to challenge sixteenth place Wang Hao!"
Not too long later, a disciple named Wang Hao arrived at the receptionist and asked with a smile, "Why do you suddenly want to challenge me? Could it be that you have learned some new swordsmanship that you think you can defeat me? There's no need for that. We just fought half a month ago, and you weren't a match for me. "
"I just learned a new swordsmanship, so I'd like to give it a try," Bai Ruanqing replied frankly. "Even if I lose, I'll just try again next time!"
She had only practiced Uncle Zhang Shi's horizontal swordsmanship on her own. She had never tried it with anyone before, so she had only challenged Wang Hao to test it out. She had no idea whether she would be able to defeat him or not.
"Since you don't mind, let's begin!"
Seeing Bai Ruanqing's attitude, Wang Hao chuckled softly. The two of them quickly found a private dueling ring and entered it.
Every single core disciple was the most dazzling existence in the sect. They wielded high standing and countless fans. As such, the dueling ring that was used by the inner disciples was not suitable for them.
After all, it would be a huge blow to their reputation if they were to lose.
As such, there were many people who would hold private duels in the Ethereal Hall. As for the results, only the participants would know.
Standing on the dueling ring, Wang Hao turned to Bai Ruanqing and said, "Let's begin!"
Hula!
As he spoke, he flicked his sword, and a sharp glint flashed down.
Even though Bai Ruanqing had been losing to him all this time, she was still Elder Bai's granddaughter, so he dared not let his guard down. Thus, he immediately executed his strongest move.
"A sharp glint?"
Bai Ruanqing was taken aback by Wang Hao's move.
The horizontal swordsmanship that she had learned was meant to counter such a move. Executing it at this very moment was truly a blessing in disguise.
Without any hesitation, Bai Ruanqing executed the horizontal swordsmanship that she had practiced dozens of times.
"Be careful. Even though I haven't perfected this move yet, it should be quite powerful …"
Bai Ruanqing chuckled softly as she raised her sword to warn Wang Hao. However, before she could finish her words, the figure before her suddenly blurred, and the strength in her hand suddenly loosened.
Kacha!
A head fell to the ground not too far away, and Wang Hao's corpse fell to the ground.
"Ah?"
Bai Ruanqing was astonished.
She had not perfected this move yet, and more importantly, she had not even executed it fully. Yet, Wang Hao, whom she had been unable to defeat all this while, had actually been beheaded.
"What's going on?"
While Bai Ruanqing was still in a state of disbelief, the decapitated Wang Hao returned with another Ethereal Token.
To be honest, he was dumbfounded as well.
The other party had never been a match for him, but this time, he had been decapitated in a single move. Even he could not help but feel frenzied.
"I don't know either …"
Bai Ruanqing was stunned.
She really had no idea what had happened. She had been executing the sword art that Uncle Zhang Shi had imparted to her, but who would have thought that the other party would lose his head before she could even execute it?
"Again! This time, I won't go easy on you. I'll use my strongest attack right from the start!"
Wang Hao thought that Bai Ruanqing was intentionally humiliating him, so he roared furiously as he charged forward with his sword once more.
Hu hu hu!
His sword qi was as swift as the wind, and his sword qi was as swift as water.
As the sixteenth rank of the core disciples, his understanding of swordsmanship was extremely profound. As soon as he made a move, he could strike despair into the hearts of others.
Bai Ruanqing knew that she would not be able to defeat the other party if she used the same move as before, so she gritted her teeth and executed the horizontal swordsmanship that Uncle Zhang Shi had imparted to her.
Padah!
Just like before, Wang Hao's head fell to the ground once more. This time, like a ball, it rolled even further away.
"This …"
Bai Ruanqing was completely stunned.
It seemed like Wang Hao's head was not very sturdy after learning the horizontal swordsmanship, and a casual slash was all it took to sever his head.
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