In the deepest chamber of the Ancient Tomb Mansion.
Lin Xuan and Ling Qingzhu stood facing each other, with a phantom-like, refined man above the Stone Coffin to the side, sizing them up with a smile.
Ling Qingzhu held a cyan longsword, its blade already gathering an astonishing surge of Origin Power. Beneath her feet, the cyan lotus emitted waves of clear light.
Standing opposite her, Lin Xuan floated in the air, devoid of any discernible aura. Even the Nameless Longsword in his hand remained sheathed.
Yet, Ling Qingzhu dared not underestimate him. In her perception, Lin Xuan seemed to be riddled with openings, only for them to vanish an instant later. When she sensed them again, they seemed to have shifted to different locations.
This elusive, hard-to-pin-down feeling caused Ling Qingzhu's expression to gradually turn solemn.
"Buzz!"
Her Origin Power circulated continuously as she awaited the opportune moment to strike. Lin Xuan's eyes, meanwhile, had become an unfathomable, clear color. The flow of Origin Power within Ling Qingzhu was entirely within his grasp.
Suddenly, Lin Xuan's gaze sharpened, and in the next instant, his longsword flashed from its scabbard.
"Clang!"
The instant the sword rang out, Ling Qingzhu's eyes narrowed. She swung her sword to the side.
In the previously empty space, a sword's edge appeared in a flash. Ling Qingzhu's strike was decisive and fierce, without the slightest hesitation!
Just as her longsword sliced through the air, a pitch-black sword tip suddenly materialized, landing precisely on her blade.
"Ding!"
A powerful sword energy erupted from the sword tip, passing through the opposing blade and directly into Ling Qingzhu's body, causing her Origin Power to stagnate for a moment.
The Tomb Master, observing the battle from a short distance away, revealed a hint of shock in his eyes upon witnessing this strike.
Lin Xuan's sword had directly disrupted Ling Qingzhu's Origin Power, hindering its flow. Clearly, Ling Qingzhu must have suffered a hidden injury in the past, leading to this disruption.
However, what truly astonished the Tomb Master was Lin Xuan's perception.
Even he, a former Nirvana Realm peak expert's Nascent Soul, had failed to detect the anomaly in Ling Qingzhu's Origin Power. It was only after Lin Xuan's strike, which disrupted her Origin Power, that he noticed it.
This demonstrated just how acute the young man's perception was.
But then, a look of even greater astonishment flashed across the Tomb Master's face as he stared in horror at the tip of the sword in Lin Xuan's hand.
Under the urging of Lin Xuan's sword energy, the originally dark, bladeless tip was gradually turning a bright white. A sharp edge was even forming on the blunt tip.
What shocked the Tomb Master the most was the terrifying aura emanating from that edge, far surpassing any Heaven-Rank Spiritual Treasure he had ever possessed.
A Pure Origin Treasure!
Ling Qingzhu, on the other hand, felt the impact even more directly and intensely. She had never imagined that Lin Xuan would seize upon the weakness in her Origin Power's flow, leaving her defenseless for a brief moment with a single strike.
Lin Xuan looked up at the blade of the cyan longsword before him. In the next moment, he twisted his wrist and exerted his arm strength, disarming Ling Qingzhu of her sword.
Without giving Ling Qingzhu a chance to catch her breath, Lin Xuan thrust his longsword straight at the clear light rising from the Ancient Azure Sky Lotus.
"Crack!"
Beneath that exceptionally sharp sword tip, even the protective clear light of the Ancient Azure Sky Lotus shattered instantly.
Fortunately, the Ancient Azure Sky Lotus bought her a little time, allowing Ling Qingzhu to circulate her Origin Power once more and prepare to counterattack. However, she then dejectedly lowered her slender hand.
Because that sword tip had already silently stopped at Miss Ling Qingzhu's chest. On the sword tip, which had once again returned to its pitch-black color, Ling Qingzhu could vaguely feel a trace of sword energy's sharpness.
And it was this imperceptible trace of sharpness that made it difficult for Ling Qingzhu to even breathe, because the point of Lin Xuan's sword was aimed directly at the place where Ling Qingzhu's Origin Power circulated most slowly, which was also the location of her heart meridian.
As long as that sword energy was even a bit stronger, Ling Qingzhu would definitely suffer extremely severe internal injuries, and even the meridians in her body would be severed by the sword energy.
Looking up at the man whose pupils had once again transformed into an ink-like color, Ling Qingzhu only felt a burst of bitterness in her mouth. After hesitating for a moment, her vermilion lips, veiled by thin gauze, gently parted.
"I lost. How did you detect where my weakness lies?"
"Miss Ling, you are too kind!"
After Ling Qingzhu spoke, Lin Xuan also slowly sheathed the Divine Sword in his hand, cupped his fist in a salute to Ling Qingzhu, and then explained.
"The Sword Dao that Lin Xuan cultivates is quite sensitive to aura. Miss Ling must have encountered a mishap during her cultivation, which led to the not-so-smooth circulation of Origin Power within her body. Therefore, Lin Xuan was able to luckily defeat Miss Ling by one move. If not for this, today, Lin Xuan would probably have difficulty defeating Miss Ling."
After hearing Lin Xuan's response, Ling Qingzhu did not answer. She naturally knew her own situation. That little anomaly was not even obvious to herself during her usual cultivation. For an outsider to detect it, that level of insight would probably be comparable to her master's.
As for the luck that Lin Xuan mentioned, Ling Qingzhu didn't believe half a word of it now. This man's mouth was good at deceiving people.
You should know that this trace of abnormality in her body, according to her master, would hardly have any impact before breaking through to the Revolving Wheel Realm, as long as it didn't injure her heart meridian.
But Lin Xuan's First Sword grasped this point and directly used sword energy to injure her, causing her to be unable to resist. If it weren't for the Ancient Azure Sky Lotus, she would have been Defeated in Three Swords with the Second Sword.
"Since Qingzhu lost, then she lost. This Nirvana Heart now belongs to Sword Saint!"
Geniuses all have pride. Losing is losing. There's nothing they can't afford to lose. If they lose, they'll work hard to cultivate and win back in the future!
If one cannot accept one's own failure, how can one talk about becoming a strong person?
"Thank you, Miss Ling!"
After Lin Xuan cupped his fists at Ling Qingzhu, he turned his head to look at the vibrant, emerald green Nirvana Heart.
However, what made Ling Qingzhu a little strange was that Lin Xuan did not immediately take the Nirvana Heart, but instead turned his head again to look at the Tomb Master on the side. The latter, seeing this, also gave a strange laugh.
"Little fellow, your perception is very keen!"