Cultivation Begins from Infancy - Chapter 452

Volume 3 - Chapter 134: Defeat and the Ninth Stage of Painting Dao - Part 1

The sword aura reflected within the 22-layer Dao Domain, slicing directly across Bian Ruxue's cheek, leaving a visible wound on her delicate face.

However, the injury healed in an instant. Bian Ruxue's body vanished into the void, evading the sharp edge of the sword in the very moment she was hurt.

When she reappeared, her expression had grown significantly more serious.

"Complete mastery of Supreme Soft Sword Intent!"

"Lin Qingying has actually perfected her sword intent. Could this breakthrough have been inspired by her battle with Dragon-Slaying Holy Son?"

On the holy platform, the numerous Holy Sons and Holy Daughters displayed somber expressions.

Many among them had yet to achieve perfection in their sword intent. Once sword intent is perfected, the next step is to integrate it into the Dao itself!

"Alas, it's only a minor path."

Haoyue Holy Son’s gaze revealed a hint of surprise, but he quickly shook his head. Compared to his own Great Dao of Sun and Moon, these were merely minor paths—not worth concern, even at their pinnacle.

"Lin Qingying, that child... Ever since her master’s accident, she has been comprehending swordsmanship alone every day, yet her cultivation hasn’t stagnated. It seems that incident didn’t affect her as much as I had feared," mused Yao Zu with a slight furrow of her brow.

To achieve complete mastery of sword intent at such a young age demonstrated astonishing talent in swordsmanship. Given a few hundred more years, she might well become a Sword Dao Semi-Saint.

But such prodigies often face intense competition and perilous journeys in their cultivation, making an early demise equally likely.

On the battle platform, Bian Ruxue realized that her opponent’s sword intent was at a level beyond her own, effectively negating her earlier attempts at suppression.

Taking a deep breath, she gathered her qi and focused it into her spinal sword bone. This innate Ice and Snow Sword Bone, though born latent and obscured, had awakened after meeting her Sword Saint master. Now, as her qi merged with the sword bone, an intense chill radiated from her entire being.

The surrounding temperature plummeted, and her momentum surged as her inner energy, transformed by the sword bone, became concentrated into sword qi.

Whoosh!

In an instant, she executed Void Teleportation.

To reach the pinnacle of the Void Extreme Realm requires the mastery of numerous object-manipulation techniques, pushing them to their utmost limits.

Bian Ruxue, benefiting from her master's guidance and inheritance of the complete Sword Saint's Heaven-Ruling Art, had cultivated this realm to perfection, opening up the Void Extreme Realm within just six months.

Thus, although her years of cultivation were short, she had already achieved mastery in nearly all the extreme realms she could access.

As she teleported before Lin Qingying, the vast sword qi within her condensed into a single slash, freezing the heavens and earth.

Lin Qingying's Dao Domain layers emerged one after another, revealing a total of 28 layers. Yet under the penetrating cold, her domain began to freeze. The laws of sword intent within the domain were immobilized, while Bian Ruxue's own domain further neutralized the defenses, shattering them entirely.

As the piercing sword qi swept forward, Lin Qingying twisted her sword light. Waves resembling flowing tides appeared, coiling around the sword qi, diverting its path to the side. In the next moment, the tide-like sword intent reversed direction, surging to envelop Bian Ruxue.

Startled, Bian Ruxue let out a sharp cry. Her sword intent erupted, spreading cold ice and freezing the tidal sword energy.

Clang!

The clash of their swords produced an explosive sound. The sharp sword qi resembled a giant axe, forcing Lin Qingying to retreat.

"Ice and Snow Sword Bone... No wonder the Sword Saint accepted her as a direct disciple. It’s said she was discovered by chance in the mortal world."

"Combining it with her sword cultivation makes for an impeccable match."

"Under the Sword Saint’s personal tutelage, there’s no room for mistakes—not a single misstep along her path."

The Holy Sons and Holy Daughters on the holy platform exchanged glances, their eyes flickering with complex emotions. They hadn’t expected that the youngest Holy Daughter could suppress Lin Qingying’s perfected sword intent and 28-layer Dao Domain with her Ice and Snow Sword Bone.

However, they could all discern that Lin Qingying had yet to unleash her true power.

Perfected sword intent was far more than what had been displayed thus far, and Lin Qingying herself also possessed a Dao Embryo, which she had yet to utilize.

“You’re not planning to use your Heaven and Earth Avatar?”

Bian Ruxue looked at Lin Qingying, her gaze calm.

Unlike the other Holy Sons and Holy Daughters, her greatest shortcoming was the absence of a Heaven and Earth Avatar.

While others had reached the Five Extremes Realm, she remained at the Four Extremes Realm. During the Soul Fusion Realm, her master Jian Wudao had taken her in and arranged for her to be sent to Qiandao Palace. There, she paid homage to a Dao Law Realm True Person to achieve Soul Fusion.

This resulted in her forever losing the opportunity to form a Heaven and Earth Avatar.

However, her current master, the Sword Saint, had once told her that when she reached the peak of her cultivation in this life, she could choose to reincarnate. He would safeguard her through her next life, which would be her true prime.

Lin Qingying, hearing her words, shook her head slightly and remained silent. Her qi gradually shifted, flowing into her Dao Embryo. She possessed the Innate Supreme Yin Dao Embryo, and as her energy spiraled around her abdomen, her entire being transformed into a flowing, water-like force.

Only Lin Qingying herself knew how powerful she truly was after achieving perfection in her Supreme Soft Sword Intent.

Combining it with her Innate Supreme Yin Dao Embryo allowed her to push her sword intent to its utmost. Originally, she had intended to reserve this strength for her stronger opponents later, but now, she was forced to draw upon it ahead of time.

As Lin Qingying's aura shifted, Bian Ruxue quickly detected the change. Her expression turned serious as she silently focused her Ice and Snow Sword Qi. Drawing upon her Sword Bone, she infused it with her Ice and Snow Sword Intent.

Raising her sword, she executed a technique that she had cultivated since childhood and had refined with her master’s guidance into a Dao-level sword art: Snow Realm.

Though the sword had yet to move, a piercing chill spread outward like fracturing ice.

With a sudden strike, Bian Ruxue unleashed a single slash—Snowfall.

In an instant, it seemed as though snow began falling across the entire battlefield.

Countless snowflakes transformed into tens of thousands of sword rays, all teleported directly in front of Lin Qingying.

This was equivalent to an instantaneous barrage of countless sword lights, aiming to freeze everything in their path.

Yet Lin Qingying stood unmoving. The snowflake-like sword lights converged upon her but passed through her body as though she were intangible.

Supreme Softness.

Softness that could not be touched.

Draped in her plain green robes, Lin Qingying stood amidst the swirling snowstorm. The surrounding sword qi, which should have been violent enough to rend flesh, did not even disturb her hair.

She simply stood there quietly, her sword in hand, watching Bian Ruxue.

This terrifying sight caused Bian Ruxue's composure to falter.

...

The spectators were equally shocked as they witnessed this scene.

“How is this possible?!”

“She’s completely unharmed—untouchable, untouchable!”

“Is this what perfected Supreme Soft Sword Intent can do?”

Even the Holy Sons and Holy Daughters on the holy platform were astounded. Lin Qingying’s display of power left many of them in awe, their scalps tingling.

“With the Innate Supreme Yin Dao Embryo combined with perfected Supreme Soft Sword Intent, this child Lin Qingying is already in a state half a step into the Dao.”

“Impressive. Shuiyue may have made mistakes, but she has certainly brought our holy land an excellent disciple.”

Yao Zu and several other Semi-Saints watched the scene unfold with expressions of admiration.

Standing in the center of the audience, the Sword Saint remained stoic, his face betraying no emotion.

On the stage, Lin Qingying stood in the midst of the storm for a moment before suddenly teleporting into the void, reappearing directly in front of Bian Ruxue.

Bian Ruxue reacted swiftly, unleashing her sword qi, which roared like a silver dragon as it slashed toward Lin Qingying.

However, the silver dragon-like sword qi phased through Lin Qingying’s body. She merely raised her hand and swung her sword.

Bian Ruxue felt a chill at her throat. She touched it with her fingers, and a trace of blood appeared. The wound on her jade-like neck had already healed, but she knew that if her opponent had aimed to kill, it would not have stopped at a mere scratch.

Stunned, Bian Ruxue felt the sword qi dissipate from her body, and the swirling snowstorm around her gradually faded.

“I’ve lost,” she said softly.

Her expression was tinged with complexity. The moment she recognized Lin Qingying’s perfected sword intent, she knew victory would be difficult. Lacking a Heaven and Earth Avatar, her chances were slim. But what truly shocked her was that Lin Qingying had defeated her without even utilizing her own Heaven and Earth Avatar—purely through swordsmanship.

Lin Qingying sheathed her sword without saying a word. She turned and glanced toward the floating seats.

If not for those three paintings that had helped her perfect her sword intent, this battle might have been far more challenging, with no clear victor.

Even if she had an additional Heaven and Earth Avatar, the suppressive effect of her opponent's sword intent would have rendered it less effective.

Noticing Lin Qingying’s gaze, Bian Ruxue followed her line of sight. When she saw Li Hao, a flicker of confusion crossed her face, but she did not dwell on it.

Bian Ruxue had heard some of the stories about Lin Qingying. She knew that Lin Qingying’s master had been imprisoned more than a decade ago due to a mistake, leaving Lin Qingying to train alone without guidance for all those years.

“Did you achieve your sword intent through self-study? I can’t compare to you.”

After a moment of silence, Bian Ruxue sighed softly. Coming to this place, she realized just how vast the heavens were and how her understanding of the world’s splendor fell short of this domain’s brilliance.

Lin Qingying withdrew her gaze. Hearing Bian Ruxue’s words, she replied calmly, “Someone practiced swords with me. I wouldn’t call it self-study.”

Sparring partner...

Bian Ruxue’s eyes flickered. At their level of mastery, they typically trained alone, relying on their own insights or their master’s guidance. A sparring partner would need to be of an equal level; otherwise, it would serve no purpose.

Bian Ruxue did not ask further about who had sparred with Lin Qingying. Such matters were private.

However, her mind wandered to a memory from long ago, of a courtyard she had once known.

It seemed that it had been a very, very long time since anyone had practiced swords with her.

If I returned to the mortal world... would he still practice swords with me?

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