Within the Secret Realm.
Ti flew by quickly.
As Lin Xiao mimicked the swing of his sword, he executed a series of sword flourishes suffused with Mysterious Sword Rhy, which naturally ford their own pattern.
He was utterly stunned!
"Heavens, Master..." he stamred. "It seems I’ve learned your sword technique!"
Lin Xiao looked at the broken sword in his hand, his face a mask of disbelief.
He had initially just been going through the motions to appease his beautiful Master, deliberately reciting the verbal formulas incorrectly. He never expected...
Yet, after a few tries, he had actually grasped it!
"HEH HEH, see? See?" Xiao Hongling sat on the swing, her long, slender legs elegantly crossed, a captivating smile playing on her lips. "As your Master, I told you that you are a prodigy of the Sword Dao, the likes of which are rarely seen in millennia. No one can question that!
"Moreover, I had already determined this fourteen years ago, when I first saw you in that little tavern in Taoyuan Village!"
Hmph, as if, Lin Xiao grumbled inwardly. Given that my character in the original story was just an unremarkable minor villain, where would I get any heaven-defying talent for the Sword Dao?
Outwardly, however, he forced a smile. "Thank you, Master, for bestowing this sword technique upon ! Can this sword technique truly defeat Ye Chen’s Five Elents Sword Art?"
"HUMPH, you brat!" Upon hearing this, Xiao Hongling’s brow furrowed slightly, a hint of displeasure on her face. "To devise a counter to that Five Elents Sword Art, I, your Master, ditated on Fairy Cliff for ten years. Are you questioning my capability?"
"Ten years?" Lin Xiao seed to have found sothing suspicious. "Master, Ye Chen only just arrived at the mountain. Why were you studying this sword technique ten years ago?"
"COUGH, COUGH, COUGH... That’s none of your concern!" Xiao Hongling arched an eyebrow. "Look, the Five Branches Martial Competition is only half a month away. In these few days, you must morize this sword technique and practice it diligently. Then, when that little thief Ye Chen uses his Five Elents Extinguishing Sword, you must use this thod to defeat him in a single stroke!
"Xiao’er, you mustn’t disappoint my ten years of hard work, sigh~" As she said this, a wistful expression crossed her stunning face.
"Your Disciple... I’ll try my best!" Lin Xiao quickly changed the subject. "By the way, Master! What is the na of this sword technique?"
"Uh, well..." Xiao Hongling paused for a mont, then said pensively, "Speaking of which, the prototype for this sword technique ca to in a flash of inspiration while I was watching you tend to the garden and arrange flowers for . I haven’t really thought of a na for it..."
"I see." Upon hearing this, although Lin Xiao appeared calm on the surface, his heart tightened considerably.
He had watched a movie called "The Butterfly Effect" in his previous life. The movie profoundly demonstrated the cause-and-effect relationship between the present and the future.
In short, every tiny change in the present can unleash a massive storm of variables in the uncertain future!
He had transmigrated into this life from birth. Strictly speaking, he only began to rigorously play the villain’s part after his several junior martial sisters had grown up! Before that, this beautiful woman had brought him to the Qinglan Sect. He had regarded her as both master and mother, and consequently, had done many heartwarming little things the Lin Xiao of the original story would never have done!
I’m dood. Utterly dood, he thought. It seems these inconspicuous daily trifles are what caused my Master’s and junior martial sisters’ personalities to change again and again! In other words, the lousy system might not have done anything at all; the plot unraveled like this entirely because of my own actions!
At this thought, Lin Xiao’s heart couldn’t help but clench with a sharp pain.
What’s past is past. At least, up to this point, the lousy system’s approval of my adherence to the previous plot points has been one hundred percent. All I need to do now is ensure my part of the plot is perfectly restored and see it through to the end!
Upon this reflection, Lin Xiao felt slightly relieved.
Seeing his beautiful Master looking at him with a puzzled expression, he quickly let out a dry laugh and said, "Master, since you ca up with this sword technique while watching arrange flowers, why not call it... the Flower Arrangent and Jade Playing Sword Technique!"
"Flower Arrangent and Jade Playing Sword Technique...?" Xiao Hongling sipped her spirit wine thoughtfully. "It sounds strange... and... it’s too crude! It doesn’t match the divine might of my sword technique at all!"
"Well... maybe a little," Lin Xiao didn’t want to dwell on the topic, so, going with the flow, he said, "Then what is your esteed opinion, Master?"
"In my esteed opinion..." Xiao Hongling’s phoenix-like eyes darted about playfully. She let out a wine-scented burp and said, "Hmm, it needs a na that evokes flowers and plants, sothing refined yet not lacking in dominance."
"I’ve got it!" she exclaid. "How about we call it... the Great Mighty Beautiful Divine Sword Technique!?"
PFFT—
Lin Xiao, who was drinking tea with his head bowed, imdiately spat it out.
Is *that* what you call refined yet imposing?
"Audacious! You... you... what are you laughing at!?" Seeing her Disciple laugh, Xiao Hongling’s cheeks reddened, and she glared at him fiercely. "Are you implying the na I chose isn’t imposing enough?"
"No, no! This na is absolutely fitting!" Lin Xiao quickly gave a thumbs up. "Master, that’s so like you!"
"Nonsense!" Xiao Hongling lifted her slender, bare legs and lightly kicked her Disciple’s knee, her face full of mock resentnt. "That look on your face just now was clearly disdainful!"
"Ah..." Lin Xiao chuckled bitterly and, for once, looked at the woman before him with genuine seriousness.
She had cascading long hair and a graceful figure. She should have possessed the alluring charm of a stunning young woman, yet she wore an expression of girlish, endearing naivety. The fusion of these two contrasting styles in such an peerless beauty was truly... too exquisite.
"Master, you really..." Lin Xiao gazed intently at the beautiful woman before him, the words slipping out uncontrollably, "are so adorable."
"Hmm?" Xiao Hongling was taken aback at first. Then, as if she realized sothing, though she had just been angry, a blush gradually crept up her cheeks.
"You brat! Stop with those sweet nothings, trying to muddle... your Master’s mind!" Xiao Hongling quickly turned around and cleared her throat. "Alright, you... perford well tonight. Not only did you master the ’Great Mighty Beautiful Divine Sword Technique’ I imparted to you, but your understanding of the true comprehension of the Sword Dao has also ascended to a new level!
"Well, that’s about it. Go back and rest early! Don’t be late for tomorrow’s morning class!"
With that, she habitually tossed the wine jar in her hand off the cliff. Her jade-like feet tapped lightly on the grass, and her figure transford into a streak of sword light, soaring across the sky and vanishing without a trace.
HUMPH, insolent brat, daring to disdain your Master! she thought as she flew. Never mind, I believe! One day... you will willingly call out the na ’Great Mighty Beautiful Divine Sword Technique’ before ! You definitely will!
***
「Tiandang Peak.」
At the edge of a steep cliff.
A young man in black, carrying a large black sword on his back, stood with his hands clasped behind him, gazing at the night sky. He exuded the aura of a peerless expert.
"Thank you, Old Shi," he murmured. "This Princely Heir has finally reclaid his long-lost warrior’s mindset! Now, less than a month after joining the sect, I have already crushed all the inner sect disciples of Tiandang Peak and risen to the rank of Chief Disciple. Next... this Princely Heir will sweep through the chief disciples of the other four branches, claim the top spot on the Qinglan Sect’s List of Prodigies, and utterly trample that bastard Lin Xiao underfoot! I’ll make his junior martial sisters and Master see that this Princely Heir is the man they should truly admire!
"Not only that! After winning the Five Branches Martial Competition, I will personally go to Dragon Head Peak and challenge Jiang Yuan, who is confined on Enlightennt Cliff!
"So damn legendary Chief Disciple, the strongest young Sword Cultivator in the Eastern Region... Hah! In the entire Eastern Region’s Cultivation World, there can only be one true prodigy, and that is I, Ye Wudi!
"Are you ready to witness this mont with ... Old Shi?" The young man’s tone was resolute and domineering as he looked at the ring on his hand.
However, before the mysterious old man in the ring could speak, an inner sect disciple of Tiandang Peak hurriedly approached and reported, "Chief Ye! Divine Phoenix Peak has accepted the letter of challenge! Not only that... word has now spread throughout all Five Branches! That Chief Lin of Divine Phoenix Peak said..."
"What did that cur say?" Ye Chen asked, his teeth gritted.
The disciple looked uncomfortable and hesitated before speaking. "He said he’s going to smash in Chief Ye’s... dog head!"
After he uttered the words "dog head," the people nearby couldn’t help but chuckle.
"Lin Xiao, that brute! He has bullied too far!" Ye Chen was furious. A sword light shot from him towards the night sky. That terrifying Sword Intent, fused with the power of the Five Elents of Heaven and Earth, made the surrounding Tiandang Peak disciples tremble in awe and fear!
He was still seething with anger when another disciple ca forward to report, "Chief Ye, this is terrible! The champion of the last Five Branches Martial Competition, Senior Sister Zhu from Phoenix Caw Peak, has also issued us a letter of challenge!"
"Zhu Wanning? She wants to get involved too?" Ye Chen’s expression shifted slightly. Just as he was about to say sothing, another disciple rushed over. "Reporting, Chief Ye! Junior Sister Lu Yingying from Divine Phoenix Peak has co to call! She says she wants... to fight you to the death!"
"What?!" Ye Chen exclaid. "I only issued a challenge to Lin Xiao! Is all this really necessary? Are these won... insane!?"
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