"Your swordsmanship is improving by leaps and bounds. The flaws I could see yesterday are nowhere to be found today... My chances of winning are getting smaller and smaller."
"But... you don't have to focus on defeating me. Your swordsmanship is already quite good among dark energy warriors. The enemy doesn't know your moves, and will generally die immediately after you take the initiative. Even if they have a way to protect themselves, they will be completely wiped out by the fierce rain of swords, and finally have their heads chopped off in an inadvertent moment."
"Senior Sister, what you mean is that I am already very strong in dark energy?" Xi Heng felt as if he was being praised.
"More than just strong, as a fellow dark energy warrior, most people would stay away from you when they see you fighting with your sword like this."
"hey-hey."
"It's not entirely a compliment to you." Hong Miao sighed softly.
Most people with such sword intent and sword power will not live long and are very likely to die in the wilderness.
Hong Miao doesn't want to see only her junior sister's corpse the next time they meet.
But she had said before that it would be best to slowly change this overly resolute sword intent, but Junior Sister had never heard of it...
She sighed again: "Perhaps it is really as the elder said, warriors like you and me who practice the sword of killing will never have a good end..."
"If it doesn't end well, then it won't end well."
Xi Heng has died an unexpected death more than once, so a few more times won't be a big deal.
Whether it is a good death or a violent death, the final result is to reload the game.
She doesn't care.
"Let's go, Senior Sister. Today seems to be the Mid-Autumn Festival. I heard from Junior Sister that the canteen will make some pies. If you go too late, they might all be gone."
Xi Heng sheathed the sword, walked forward, held his senior sister's finger, and naturally led her away from the sword training ground.
A moment later we arrived at the dining hall, where there was indeed pie available.
In this world, there are no neat and beautiful round mooncakes during the Mid-Autumn Festival, but there are small cakes containing a little sugar and crispy nuts.
Xi Heng took a small bite. The outside of the pancake was fried to a crisp, but the inside was crispy and sweet. It was not bad.
The sun had set outside, and the full moon was shining brightly. The orange-yellow light shone through the hollow wooden window of the dining hall and fell on the girl's face.
Senior Sister Hong Miao, who was standing by, was holding a shortbread. When she saw the girl enveloped in the bright moonlight, her heart froze for a moment.
Hong Miao had never seen such a strange temperament as Xi Heng in anyone else.
The other person did not have the slightest sense of being contaminated by the mundane world; he looked extremely pure and genuine.
This temperament is not the pure innocence and naivety often praised in poems, but a kind of pure and unmixed feeling... It makes people subconsciously yearn for it.
How did the other person develop such a temperament now?
Hong Miao stared at it quietly for a long time, and even took only one bite of the biscuit in her hand.
Xi Heng had already finished eating, clapped his hands and wanted another one.
Turning his head and seeing Hong Miao in a daze, he tilted his head and said softly:
"Sister?"
"Um……"
Hong Miao finally came back to her senses. After a moment's silence, she began to chat with Xi Heng as usual.
After chatting about some daily trivial matters, I deliberately acted naturally and asked what was on my mind: "We have talked so much since I came to the hospital, but Junior Sister has not told me some childhood stories, even though Senior Sister has already told me."
"Childhood..." Xi Heng had no memory of his childhood, so he just made up something without changing his expression:
"There's probably nothing much to say. Ever since I can remember, I went to the Mengyuan to study every day, and then I followed my aunt to practice martial arts. There's nothing special about it."
"Is this aunt the Senior Sister Qianqiu that the elders often mention?" Hong Miao continued.
"Well, I learned the Bloodline Sword Technique from her, and my aunt also left me a sword manual, telling me not to practice too much when I was young for fear of hindering my physical development..." Having said this, Xi Heng glanced down at his chest, feeling vaguely that he had deceived himself by telling a lie.
She held her forehead and exhaled:
"Afterwards, my aunt left the palace and went to serve in the northern border army. It is said that she won many battles as a general..."
"Then?"
"After that, I left the palace." Xi Heng spread his hands.
"Junior sister said earlier that she had a grudge against the current emperor... When did this happen?"
"Recently I wanted to go back to the palace to recognize my relatives, but I heard that the emperor had almost gone mad, and that he was looking for dragon sons from all over the world just to make elixirs and cultivate immortality, and that he wanted to achieve immortality by eating human flesh and blood. Now many dragon sons have been killed, so I hurriedly fled here."
Xi Heng made up a lie calmly: "Jinshi City is high up in the mountains and far away from the emperor. I'm hiding here. That madman shouldn't be able to catch me."
Hong Miao listened and felt that Xi Heng's story was a bit dull, and there must be something important hidden in it.
she wanted to know.
So he picked up the "aunt" Xi Heng mentioned and continued to ask: "Is this aunt still in the northern border army now?"
"He should no longer be alive..." Xi Heng shook his head:
"Zhao Qianyuan was afraid that she would come back to fight for the throne, so he devised a plan to send her into an enemy trap. It is said that they fought to the death."
"…My condolences." Senior Sister Hong Miao regretted asking such a question.
"My aunt and I have a relatively unfamiliar relationship, but I'm not that sad." Xi Heng acted indifferent.
While they were chatting, suddenly there was the sound of slow footsteps and a cane tapping on the ground approaching.
Then, a deep and hoarse voice fell into Xi Heng's ears:
"What did you say?"
The girl paused for a moment while biting the biscuit.
Looking back, it was the white-haired elder of the Sword Academy, Hong Lianzhan.
The other person frowned deeply, his eyes were solemn and serious, not at all as cloudy as when they met last time.
"No, it's nothing."
It was the first time that Xi Heng was stared at so seriously by this cheap master, and he was a little nervous.
"Just now, I heard you say that Senior Sister Qianqiu was killed by the current emperor?"
Perhaps because today is the Mid-Autumn Festival, this old elder, who usually seldom goes out, also came to the cafeteria to have dinner with the disciples.
Therefore, with his sensitive hearing as a warrior, he heard what Xi Heng said.
In particular, she would not miss a single detail regarding Senior Sister Qianqiu.
Xi Heng didn't know how to answer for a moment.
"Speak." The elder of the Sword Academy looked stern.
"...That's true." The girl hesitated for a moment, and finally nodded slightly in acknowledgement.
"really?"
"Yes."
After all, this matter was admitted by Zhao Qianyuan himself in Hua Manlou, and Xi Heng heard it with his own ears.
“Sister, is this the reason…” Elder Hong subconsciously clenched his crutch with his right hand, his eyes flashing with murderous intent.
"Zhao Qianyuan? Your Majesty... heh."
She no longer spoke to Xi Heng, grabbed the cane in her hand, turned around and walked towards the door.
Later, Xi Heng looked at Senior Sister Hong Miao, who was also at a loss as to what was going on, and saw a hint of panic in the other's eyes.
"what happened?"
Xi Heng felt that with Senior Sister Hong Miao's personality, she should not show such an expression.
"Something bad has happened." Hong Miao pursed her lips and said, "The elder only had that expression when he was about to kill someone..."
"Huh?" Xi Heng blinked.
"So, something bad has happened." Senior Sister Hong Miao stood up and touched her chest, and immediately followed the path the elder had taken: "I have to go see the elder."
"Nothing bad will happen, right?" Xi Heng stayed where he was and said in a low voice.
After all, Elder Hong is just an old warrior in the small city of Jinshi City. His energy and blood have passed their peak, and his life span is insufficient. His body will be exhausted after using two or three moves.
It’s okay if he shows some murderous intent...but he won’t really take action, right?
Xi Heng thought about it and felt a little unsure.
Given the Bloodline Sword Sect's extreme style of doing things, could something really go wrong?
The girl looked at the figure of Senior Sister Hong Miao walking quickly in the distance, then looked at the small biscuit in her hand. After hesitating for a moment, she decided to finish eating the biscuit first.
She has been through a lot, and there are few things in this world that can frighten her anymore.
……
Three days later.
In front of the Hongxian Sword Academy, there was a tall carriage pulled by two black horses.
Xi Heng had just finished lunch and was sitting in his attic room to rest. When he heard the sound of horses neighing outside, he stood up and looked out the window.
At the gate, Senior Sister Hong Miao was opening the door for the carriage that had stopped outside, and the elder of the Sword Academy was standing steadily in the pavilion.
The Hongxian Sword Academy is located in the outer city and rarely interacts with other martial arts schools in the city.
In Xi Heng's impression, outsiders rarely visit the Sword Academy for several months.
In previous lives, I had never seen this kind of vehicle coming, so I couldn't help but feel a little curious.
The door opened, and from the tall dark red carriage stepped down a woman wearing a red dress, a dark grey cloak, a sheathed sword in her hand, and a black gauze hat on her head.
The opponent's shuriken sheath was finely carved, and even the end of the hilt was carved with a delicate pattern of an evil beast's head.
Just by looking at him, one can feel that he is filled with murderous intent and has a cold temperament.
Senior Sister Hong Miao solemnly welcomed this person into the courtyard. The foreign swordsman came to the elder of the sword courtyard, clasped his fists and bowed in salute.
The elder nodded slightly, without saying any words of welcome, and led the other party directly to the main hall of the Sword Academy.
The figure walked past a place and gradually disappeared from sight.
Xi Heng felt vaguely uneasy...
"It's a little different from the previous lives? Why?"
She began to think back on her recent actions and figure out where the difference started.
"Looking at this person's posture and the respect he showed to the elders... maybe he was invited by the elders?"
Xi Heng talked to himself.
"Why did the elder's behavior change? Is it because of what I said about Princess Qianqiu a few days ago?"
"No way……"
Xi Heng wasn't quite sure, she even wanted to go to the Sword Academy's hall to eavesdrop.
"Forget it, let's rest first. I still have sword practice in the afternoon."
These changes and fluctuations should not disrupt her goal of collecting Hua Jin martial arts and searching for immortal traces or places to practice Qi.
She slowly cleared her mind and continued to sit cross-legged on the bed, circulating her energy and blood.
In less than half an hour, the female swordsman who was welcomed into the hospital returned to the carriage and slowly left.
……
Two days later, Xi Heng was concentrating on practicing sword as usual and not paying attention to external affairs. At this time, he heard the sound of tall horses neighing coming from the courtyard gate.
She glanced at it and paid no attention to it as before.
My purpose of coming to the Red Line Sword Academy is to practice sword, so I just need to concentrate on practicing.
The sword was like a white snake spitting out its tongue and hissing through the wind, and also like a swimming dragon moving around. Sometimes it was as light as a swallow and sometimes as fast as lightning. When Xi Heng danced to the last move, he suddenly paused with his wrist and the sword, causing the dust to fly and leaves to fall on the ground one meter away.
The red line sword energy that she had used to practice for so long was now covered with new sword marks on the sword-training stone in front of her.
If you measure it carefully, you will find that the overall thickness of the sword-training stone has been slightly thinner than before.
A lot of stone debris burst around. After Xi Heng finished a round of sword dance, he concentrated the dark energy on the sword blade in the palm of his hand. The long sword in his hand suddenly trembled and thrust, and another straight red line of sword energy chain appeared in the air.
The sword energy lasted for half a second before dissipating, and a deep nail hole was created on the surface of the stone, perhaps five or six centimeters deep.
The most obvious improvement in my sword practice over the past three months is that the concentration and strength of my sword energy have increased several times.
