Holding the Sword to Carry Away Senior Sister (Transmigration) - Chapter 25

Perhaps because the battle with Bai Yueli had been so hearty and uninhibited, Fu Yan was able to break through to the Middle Opening Light stage so smoothly.

As she slowly stood up from the ground, Fu Yan sensed the power of the Middle Opening Light stage. She felt that if she had faced Zhou Zhenlie with this same level of cultivation back then, she definitely wouldn’t have been as disheveled as she was.

Sensing that Fu Yan’s aura had stabilized, Bai Yueli looked over, her gaze calm and indifferent.

“Thank you for your guidance, Senior Sister. I have stabilized; let us continue,” Fu Yan said, looking up at Bai Yueli with a clear, indescribable smile in her eyes.

Bai Yueli nodded, saying nothing more.

And so, the match—which had almost exhausted the patience of the spectators—began once again. On the arena stage, the two stood opposite each other with swords drawn, allowing the warm sunlight to drench them.

“It’s finally starting. This match is truly the most sluggish I’ve ever seen. If it weren’t for Senior Sister Bai, I would have stopped watching long ago.”

“Who hasn’t? Does Fu Yan really think that just because she broke through to the Middle stage, she can actually compete with Senior Sister Bai? If she truly has that mindset, I can only say she’s too naive.”

“Can Junior Sister Fu Yan’s strength enter the top sixty now that she’s at the Middle Opening Light stage?”

“Unlikely, but hard to say. We’ll know once the finals are over.”

“Quick, the match is officially restarting. It looks like Fu Yan has decided to strike first again!”

With the same logic as before, Fu Yan knew she couldn’t afford to be passive. Once suppressed, she would never have another chance to move. She blurred forward, an explosive step bringing her right in front of Bai Yueli.

With her Middle-stage cultivation, Fu Yan’s speed had increased once again. This time, she swung her sword with rapid aggression.

Seeing this, Bai Yueli pivoted on her toes. Her elegant robes left a perfect arc in the air. Her right hand lightly maneuvered the Moon-Sway Sword to intercept the Ling Long broken sword.

The sound of metal scraping against metal echoed in their ears.

The air currents on the stage collided violently once more. As their blades frictioned against each other, their long black hair billowed in the wind, and their eyes met over the edges of their swords.

For a split second, Fu Yan felt her heart skip a beat again. Everything around her seemed to turn into a void; the world fell silent, leaving only her and Bai Yueli in the vast expanse of time.

Fu Yan: “…”

The feeling came suddenly and vanished just as fast. By the time she reacted, they had already pulled apart. As her hair fell back into place, Fu Yan didn’t stop; she spun around instantly.

“Illusionless Sword First Form: Phantom Shadow!”

She murmured the name of her technique. Following Bai Yueli’s earlier advice, she no longer chased raw speed alone. Instead, she ghosted past Bai Yueli’s perimeter.

Bai Yueli remained still, seemingly waiting for the real strike.

Fu Yan moved with intent, lunging forward as her True Essence exploded. She gripped her broken sword, the sharp blade seemingly ready to tear the air as it lunged straight at Bai Yueli.

Bai Yueli raised the Moon-Sway Sword, her True Essence moving with her fingers, intending to break Fu Yan’s sword form with a single strike. But just as they were about to collide, Fu Yan’s figure shifted abruptly.

The previously powerful and aggressive sword technique dissolved into nothingness the moment Bai Yueli met it, and Fu Yan ghosted directly to Bai Yueli’s right side.

Everyone saw it now—that strike was a feint. Fu Yan’s true intention was to attack from the right.

The crowd erupted.

“I feel like Senior Sister Bai is intentionally guiding Fu Yan’s swordplay. Since the start, she hasn’t used her full strength.”

“Exactly! And when their swords scraped past each other just now, I swear I saw a hint of flirting… woo… I’m a sinner!”

“What the hell?”

“Look, Fu Yan is using Phantom Shadow again. It’s even more fierce than before. Breaking through a stage really boosted her strength significantly.”

“Wait, something’s wrong. That strike just now was fake? Fu Yan wanted to attack from the right? But how can she withdraw a sword technique so easily after launching it?”

“That’s where you’re wrong. the Illusionless Sword is unpredictable. What you see isn’t necessarily real; otherwise, why would it be called ‘Illusionless’?”

Everyone held their breath, watching every move as if afraid to miss a second.

The moment Fu Yan landed, she tapped her toes lightly and lunged at Bai Yueli again, her powerful blade-light sweeping across the stage. This happened in the blink of an eye. Bai Yueli, who had already moved her sword to block the wrong direction, seemingly had no way to turn in time. Even though the crowd knew she wouldn’t lose, everyone broke into a cold sweat.

At the critical moment, Bai Yueli didn’t panic. Instead of trying to turn her whole body, she simply flicked her hand behind her back. The Moon-Sway Sword followed the motion, blocking her flank perfectly.

As Fu Yan’s blade slid against the defensive guard, Bai Yueli stood her ground. With one hand, she steadily caught the attack, and in the next heartbeat, she blurred forward and gave a light flick, directly disarming Fu Yan.

Clang! The Ling Long broken sword hit the ground.

Fu Yan: “…”

“I lose,” Fu Yan said after a pause, looking up at the deacon elder.

The elder announced: “Bai Yueli wins, one point!”

Fu Yan didn’t say much. She bent down to pick up her sword and looked at Bai Yueli with a smile. “Thank you for your guidance, Senior Sister. I have gained much from this match.”

Fu Yan had always known the gap between them was huge. Even after breaking through, she didn’t overrate herself, so there was no disappointment—only a clearer understanding of her own shortcomings. She had also held back the second form of the Illusionless Sword; since the finals were coming, she didn’t want to reveal her full hand prematurely, especially since it wouldn’t have worked against Bai Yueli anyway.

Seeing Fu Yan’s smile, Bai Yueli was momentarily stunned. She was surprised by the girl’s Dao Heart. Most geniuses found failure hard to accept, but Fu Yan seemed completely unaffected. A person who is neither arrogant in victory nor despondent in defeat is destined to go far on the path of cultivation.

Bai Yueli nodded to her and left the stage, with Fu Yan following close behind.

As the five-day preliminaries concluded, Fu Yan listened to the arrangements for the finals.

The finals were divided into four groups. Those with a perfect winning streak were in Group 1; those with up to three losses were in Group 2, and so on. Because of her loss to Bai Yueli, Fu Yan was placed in Group 2. Bai Yueli was in Group 1.

Surprisingly, Tong Zhen was also in Group 1. Aside from her first match against the 98th-ranked Li Yanwei, Tong Zhen had run into disciples ranked outside the top 100, allowing her to keep her winning streak.

“Fu Yan, it’s so unfair! You only lost the last match because you ran into Senior Sister Bai. You should be in Group 1; you’re much stronger than me!” Tong Zhen complained over dinner.

Fu Yan laughed. “Group 2 is fine. The final rankings there will be between 100 and 200. Besides, I still have a chance to enter Group 1 if I make the top three in the Group 2 finals.”

The next day, while Group 4 was having its finals, Fu Yan visited the inner sect’s Mission Pavilion. Now that she had reached the Middle Opening Light stage and mastered two forms of her sword technique, she wanted to gain real-world experience.

The inner Mission Pavilion was grand and classified missions by difficulty: Blue, White, Green, Red, and Purple. Fu Yan skipped the Purple missions (reserved for the Great Circle stage) and looked at the Red ones.

She found a suitable team mission: Escort Squad.

Difficulty: Red

Requirement: Middle Opening Light or higher

Reward: 5,000 spirit stones, two True Qi Pills, and one Aura-Consolidating Pill (used to breakthrough to the Hedo Stage).

Details: Escort a shipment of goods from Luanjin Fort to Chaoyang City. Route includes the Shadow Forest (Level 3-4 beasts) and the Quicksand Gobi (horse bandits, potentially Great Circle stage).

Fu Yan accepted the mission. It was scheduled for May 10th, ten days away.

As she left, she didn’t notice a pair of eyes watching her. Soon, that person flew toward another residence.

In a house on the inner peak:

“What? Fu Yan finally took a mission to leave the mountain?” Shui Liuqing asked with a cold smile.

“Yes. I saw her take the Luanjin Fort Escort mission,” the informant replied.

“Good. I was afraid she’d hide in the sect forever. This makes things much easier.” Shui Liuqing intended to handle Fu Yan on behalf of her master, Elder Zhou.

“There are only three slots for our sect in that escort squad, right? Go and take the remaining two,” Shui Liuqing ordered.

“Senior Sister Shui,” the person hesitated, “there’s only one slot left. Someone already took the second one before Fu Yan.”

Shui Liuqing frowned. “Who?”

“The Great Senior Sister.”

Shui Liuqing’s brow furrowed tightly. “You mean… Bai Yueli?”