The experiential learning on Grand Cloud Mountain was not long, but to Wang Lu, it has brought an unusually rich harvest.
With his cultivation base soaring to Xudan Stage, the supposedly difficult to achieve next stage that was the Non-Phase Diamond Sword was accidentally achieved because he had overdrafted his life force—one by one defeating Silver Back, Chi Hou, cat girl, A Xia and even Tiger King Lei Zhen. In addition to that, when he returned to the mountain, he also wrote that impassioned article. All of these combined made his prestige points unmatched by any of his peers… Of course, the biggest harvest was the fully transformed immortal beast Bai Shixuan.
It was just that, Wang Lu had never thought that the arrival of Bai Shixuan would bring him all kinds of trouble. Proving himself innocent in Lady Boss’s eyes alone had taken a considerable amount of his energy. As for the rumors and gossips that spread inside Spirit Sword Sect about him, Wang Lu simply ignored them all.
The important reason why it took him so hard to prove his innocence was the absence of the concerned party, Bai Shixuan. After she arrived at the mountain, she was shortly awarded a sword seal personally by Sect Leader, which let her enjoy the same rights and treatments befitting a Jindan Stage cultivator. However, soon after, urged by the master of Clear Sky Peak Ao Guanhai, she took a closed-door training.
Actually, this was the luck of Bai Shixuan. The girl was full of curiosity as she wandered around the mountain. When she took a random turn, she happened to accidentally pass by Ao Guanhai...The old man, who has always been close to nature and familiar with all things spiritual, saw that there was a great hidden danger in Bai Shixuan.
She was magically formed by the moonlight of Grand Cloud Mountain, and after absorbing the Emperor Essence, she obtained an independent life and, at the same time, changed into a delicate and peerless outstandingly beautiful young girl… However, in fact, according to the standard biological term, Bai Shixuan was just a newborn baby. The previous sixty years when she occasionally appeared on the mountain in the form of a white spirit dog was just like a baby who would occasionally roll inside its mother’s womb, displaying its existence.
As a newborn, Bai Shixuan was immediately taken away from home. Though she has the physique of an immortal beast, which has a very strong environmental adaptability, even if she was not in the Grand Cloud Mountain, it would not be a hindrance for her. However, the spiritual energy at the Spirit Sword Mountain was far richer than that of Grand Cloud Mountain, and as the headquarters of an Immortal Cultivation Sect, the spiritual energy change and agitation at Spirit Sword Mountain was relatively intense. This made it difficult for the fragile Bai Shixuan to adapt.
On the mountain, the girl’s face would always appear ravishingly flushed, making it look as if the young girl was in love, too beautiful to behold. However, the fact was that, it was the sign of auto-rejection reaction from her body… Although Bai Shixuan was born with innate spirituality, able to penetrate other people’s heart, she was unable to see her own crisis. Fortunately, Ao Guanhai saw this in time. In light of this, he immediately created a tranquil pocket realm for her to slowly nurse back her health, which would eliminate the crisis.
Bai Shixuan’s stay in that pocket realm to nurse her health back was not long. It was around ten days to half a month long. As an Elder, Ao Guanhai was rarely seen in the sect, and his work rarely forced him to interact with the disciples. Therefore, when the Spirit Sword Sect cultivators found out that Bai Shixuan had suddenly disappeared, they immediately accused Wang Lu of hiding her somewhere else, which turned the chaotic public opinion to become even worse.
Within this chaos, the only one that could give Wang Lu the peace of mind was Liu Li. Though she also went through a lot at the experiential learning at Grand Cloud Mountain, the girl was so naive that it was like a muddy red dust inside a clear spring.
While many people have different expectations for the true love between Wang Lu and Bai Shixuan, gossiping about it in secret, Liu Li actually didn’t care. When asked, the young girl frankly said, "Isn’t it good that everyone loves each other? I also love Little White, and hope that Little White also loves me!"
"…"
"Then, what does pledging to be married means?" she asked back.
Wang Lu lovingly stroked the girl’s head, pondered for a moment, and then explained, "It means that the relationship is particularly intimate."
Liu Li lit up with a smile, bounced up and eagerly asked, "Then that means we have also pledged to marry, right?"
While inwardly sighing that Liu Li was indeed Liu Li, Wang Lu actually could not bear to disappoint the hopefulness in the girl’s eyes. "I even bought that luxurious Cloud Wave 2000 flying boat, why care so much?"
"... Right."
"Hehehe, I know that you’re the best, Senior Brother."
Agreeing that marriage pledge with Liu Li naturally wouldn’t cause Wang Lu to be lustful for her. In Wang Lu’s eyes, although the girl’s figure was luscious and enchanting, and her was also gradually turning more feminine, as long as he saw that naive and pure smile of her, Wang Lu would inadvertently think that anyone who has a lustful desire for her was really a pervert...
After that joke about marriage pledge, the two quickly restored their passionate and warm life rhythm before they went down the mountain for the experiential learning.
Clang! Clank! Clack!
A series of crisp metal against metal sound continuously spread on the practice field of Brilliant Peak. Although there were about ten silencer stone pillars by the practice field, which dampen most of the noise, the remaining aftershocks were still like claps of thunder and earthquakes.
In the middle of the practice field, Liu Li’s more than ten flying swords encircled around her body, dancing along with the girl’s figure as if it was a gorgeous rainbow. However, Wang Lu’s feet stuck to the ground, and his Sword of Mount Kun was as heavy as a mountain, combining into a barrier that could never be routed.
A moment later, the twelve flying swords converged into one and, like a heaven punishment that struck the earth, directly clashed head-on with Wang Lu’s Sword of Mount Kun.
The edge of the practice field suddenly flashed out a ray of blue light, resisting and converging the scattered energy. The suppression array was almost overloaded as it tried to absorb the magical power and sword intent that were scattered after that astonishing collision.
After a long time, along with the slowly falling dust that was previously surged up because of that collision, the confrontation between Brilliant Sword Heart and Non-Phase Sword has finally come to an end.
Liu Li mustered up an incomparably candid smile and, while wiping away the blood from her nose, put up a victory gesture. "I won."
As soon as she said that, one of her front teeth fell, making the girl’s smile look particularly funny.
On the other side, Wang Lu could not help but feel angry and funny at the same time. "Won your ass! Unable to break through with your flying swords, so you use your face to hit me? Look at your funny face, what does it look like!?"
Liu Li righteously boasted, "Senior Brother, you said that as long as I can leave a trace on you, the victory is mine. Look at your chest!"
Without looking at it, Wang Lu had also known that the white part of his red and white robe had been stained with a trace of blood from Liu Li’s nose! And, in accordance with their prior agreement, he has indeed lost.
This girl… The Brilliant Sword Heart’s ability to grasp the fight situation was indeed unique. Since their experiential learning at the Grand Cloud Mountain, the difference in their cultivation base has indeed widened a bit. Coupled with Wang Lu’s small attainment in Non-Phase Diamond Sword, if they were to fight normally, Liu Li has no way to break his Non-Phase Sword Defense. This time, prior to the fight, it was agreed that as long as she could leave a trace on Wang Lu, she would be the winner. However, even so, Wang Lu had calculated that his winning chance was more than eighty percent.
During the fight, relying on her Brilliant Sword Heart and Imperial Sword, Liu Li indeed could not break Wang Lu’s defense. She could not even touch the tip of Wang Lu’s robe. However, when victory was within Wang Lu’s grasp, she gathered all her magical power and staked it all in single strike as her twelve flying swords jointly attacked together. Though it could not hurt her opponent, they managed to swing the Sword of Mount Kun to the side. The next moment, the girl used her pretty face to smash her opponent.
It was a seriously incomparably desperate move!
"Fine, I lost. As per the agreement, this is your monthly package of candy."
"Ooo, Senior Brother is the best!"
"... Fix your tooth first before you smile again."
—
The previous scene was not unusual for Wang Lu and Liu Li. Almost everyday, they routinely fought each other in a serious sparring match.
During their experiential learning at Grand Cloud Mountain, they both advanced to Xudan Stage in that Green Lake. When cultivation base suddenly skyrocketed, they needed to consolidate their progress, and the best way to do that was by this serious sparring match.
Actually, this fighting each other habit has occurred for a long time. Five years ago at the two sects competition, Wang Lu produced a surprise win against Liu Li. At that time, the controversy was quite big. However, as the concerned party, Liu Li actually didn’t care whether Wang Lu’s method was frank and above board or otherwise. She only thought that, as an opponent with significantly lower cultivation base than her, it was really a great thing that he could overcome her. Moreover, she also has a keen interest with Non-Phase Sword’s amazing defense. Shortly after the two sects competition ended, she took the initiative to seek for a fight.
Thereupon, the friendship of the two people began with this, which deepened along with their advancement in the way of the sword. After five years, the two had become each other’s best friends, but also the best opponent. With her dedication to the Immortal Path, as well as possessing a relatively simple character, once she stepped on the practice field, the ice cold sword intent froze all of her warm feelings. However, once the winner and loser were decided, her initial sword intent melted like snow, replaced by a warm and loving atmosphere.
For many people, this was actually inconceivable. The two of them fought almost daily for five years, severely hurting each other, and even occasionally disturbing the Heavenly Sword Hall Elders to save their lives… If they were friends, how could they hurt each other like that? And after hurting each other severely like that, how could they be friends?
Nevertheless, these two rare and unique personalities were actually able to achieve that!
After this round of fight, Wang Lu conceded his lost and, while using a spell to remove the blood trace on his robe, fished out a bag of expensive high-end candy.
It was the product of Mysterious Sky Mansion. Each candy contained a special spirit object, carefully handcrafted by master artisans of Immortal Path, and more expensive than top grade spirit stones of the same weight. That bag of candy that Wang Lu just gave was enough to make his Master go crazy.
Liu Li was overjoyed and flung herself into Wang Lu’s arms. She then joyfully tasted the candy. However, after only eating one of them, the young girl put on a sad face. "Alas, Senior Brother, your cultivation base is advancing faster and faster. Later on, I’m afraid it would be increasingly more difficult for me to have the opportunity to win against you."
This time, she gained victory by striking the opponent with her face, catching the opponent off guard. However, the same trick would not work on a professional adventurer for the second time, which made Liu Li worry. After a moment, the young girl faintly sighed. "If only I am as powerful as Senior Sister Zhu Shiyao, that would be great."
The speaker was not really serious, but the listener was. Hearing these words, Wang Lu couldn’t help but be startled.
Liu Li, this person was very interesting. Though on the surface she looked silly and naive, she was not really retarded. Many of her words that she seemed to casually spout actually has a lot of profound meaning.
The previous sentence was one such example. Looking from another point of view, if Liu Li was as powerful as Zhu Shiyao… would she really won against him?
And just at this time, a message came into Wang Lu’s ears.
Zhu Shiyao, the first Successor Disciple of Spirit Sword Sect, has just arrived on the mountain after coming back from her experiential learning at the Southern Heaven Region.