The old ape darted forward in a blur, raising a clenched fist high above the girl's head and swinging it down in a crushing arc. She responded instantly, lifting her narrow green-sheathed blade to parry, the edge aimed at the ape's wrist, while simultaneously thrusting her longsword straight toward his heart, the tip targeting a precise point on his chest. Unexpectedly, the ape's descending brute force shifted mid-motion—his fingers deftly seized the blade, while his other hand, in perfect harmony with his primal instincts, clamped down on the sword tip.
Clearly, the murderous momentum had been a feint—its true purpose to provoke a reckless strike from the girl. Hailing from the sacred land of swordsmanship in Eastern Baoping Continent, the Mountain-Moving Ape instantly recognized the uniqueness of her weapon. He even went so far as to subtly shift his internal flow of breath a second time to accommodate this realization, despite the sword tip already piercing his chest, a mere inch from his heart.
Sensing the trap too late, Ning Yao decisively released her grip on the sword hilt. At the same time, she yanked the narrow blade free, its edge screeching against his palm like metal scraping against stone. As the blade slid clear, she leaned back, retreating swiftly, her feet skimming the ground in rapid withdrawal. As expected, the ape twisted aside and flung the seized sword dozens of yards away. Then, with a thunderous stomp, he launched a kick.
The kick struck her raised right arm with explosive force, sending her hurtling backward seven or eight yards. She crashed to the ground with a heavy thud, tumbling several times before stabbing the tip of her blade into the earth, anchoring herself with desperate strength. The blade sank a full foot deep into the road, halting her momentum. Thankfully, the soft, loamy soil of the riverside path, scattered only with smooth, blunt stones, spared her from a bloody, mangled fate.
The colossal figure gave her no respite, plummeting from the sky above. This time, the girl didn't even waste the effort to draw her narrow blade—she retreated, step after step. The old ape didn't pursue. Landing with a heavy crash, he remained where he stood, lifting one foot and bringing it down on the embedded blade's hilt. When the girl looked up from her kneeling position, he pressed down, driving the weapon deep into the earth until its hilt lay flush with the ground.
Strands of violet-gold aura slowly drifted across the ape's face, glowing brilliantly against the deep night. With a mocking sneer, he said, "Practicing both sword and blade? Neither fish nor fowl—what a pitiful end."
The girl rose and forcibly swallowed the blood pooling in her mouth. "Is that all you've got?"
The ape shook his head with a chuckle. "That was merely me offering you one more chance."
Ning Yao inhaled deeply and said in a low, steady voice, "Where I come from, in battles of life and death, no one cares who your parents are. If you have the skill to kill me honorably, then I simply wasn't strong enough. Should my parents learn the truth, at most, they'll trouble you in Eastern Baoping Continent—but they would never drag Zhengyang Mountain into it. So rest easy. Fight without restraint."
It was the first time the ape had heard the girl speak at such length, her voice flowing with eloquence. She was nothing like the taciturn, veiled young woman he remembered. And at the very instant a chill raced down the back of his neck, he sharply turned his head.
A silver arc flashed past, grazing his neck and leaving a shallow cut. Had he not turned, the sword might not have pierced his throat clean through, but the injury would've been grievous all the same. One misstep could lead to another. If forced to prematurely reveal his true form, he would lose all moral leverage—leaving no room to bargain with Qi Jingchun or Ruan Shu. Worse still, his young mistress might be left to face countless dangers alone.
This realization made the old ape furious for the third time.
The flying sword did not return to its sheath but instead circled the girl at high speed, whirling like an eager servant vying for praise. Witnessing this, the ape laughed in rage. "Well, well, just what I needed! I didn't get to enjoy my fight with Song Changjing—now I'll have some real fun with you! But do you really think that fragile body of yours can withstand a few heavy blows?"
The girl's brows knit together as she scrutinized the purple-gold energy glowing on the ape's face. He had invoked his divine arts thrice already, and though her knowledge warned her that "thrice is the limit," the ape clearly held back some power. His major spiritual gates remained intact, and he hadn't yet been forced into his true form.
While life-shortening consequences were devastating for mortal cultivators below the Fifth Realm, they weren't quite as fatal for a Mountain-Moving Ape—though still painful.
The girl flexed her fingers slightly, prompting the longsword to twirl gracefully. She smiled faintly. "No wonder my father said Zhengyang Mountain in Eastern Baoping Continent isn't worth mentioning. All talk, no swordsmanship. Bold fools with shallow blades."
The ape's hair stood on end. With a furious roar, he bellowed, "You seek death!"
He lunged at her.
But Ning Yao had no intention of engaging. She turned and bolted northward. Danger loomed at every step, but had it not been for the flying sword—empowered by two characters from the "Qi Chong Dou Niu" plaque, its sword energy and spirit in perfect sync with her—it would've been impossible to survive the ape's overwhelming onslaught. The sword, a force unto itself, seemed to act without rules, responding precisely to her thoughts and guiding her to escape by the narrowest margins.
If the sword had been her life-bound spiritual weapon, nurtured over years of cultivation, the ape wouldn't have found it strange. But he could clearly sense it was no such thing. It was more like an exceptional weapon wielded by a wandering martial artist—sharp enough to suffice, nothing more.
And yet, she didn't fit the mold of a typical warrior either. For a true martial grandmaster, whose pursuit was to forge an indestructible body amid the chaos of heaven and earth, relying too heavily on a weapon was the mark of a lesser path.
Their battle raged on. The ape struggled to capture the girl not only because of the sword's interference, but also due to the girl's eclectic skills—swordplay, martial arts, and spiritual cultivation merged into one. Her breath was refined and enduring, her techniques unpredictable. He couldn't begin to guess which sect in Eastern Baoping Continent had trained such an odd and versatile prodigy. As such, he grew increasingly cautious, seeking to uncover her origins.
So long as she didn't reach that small town, he had no concerns—no matter how chaotic things were on the other side, nothing would threaten him here.
The girl's face grew paler with each step.
"A spent arrow," the ape sneered. "Even if you make it back to town alive—do you really think anyone there could save you from me?"
With a single bound, he soared overhead, ignoring the flying sword. Landing in front of her, he blocked her path northward. With one punch, he sent the sword flying a hundred yards. But the persistent blade whooshed back in an instant, aiming straight for his head.
Each time he tried to seize it, it slipped away with uncanny foresight—never lingering long enough to be caught. Its movements were fluid as wind and just as elusive. Though his thick skin and tough flesh made him hard to injure, even he was beginning to look disheveled.
Unwilling to clash head-on, the girl veered northeast. The ape shifted sideways, never letting up the pressure.
He swatted the flying sword from the side like swatting a fly, embedding it two feet into the earth. The sword writhed, twisting like a woman's waist, and finally pried itself free, hovering again in midair. Its tip trembled violently, like a furious young wildcat, before darting back toward him with renewed fury.
The ape, losing patience, finally asked, "Why can this sword ignore the laws of this place? What is your relationship with Qi Jingchun—or Ruan Qiong?!"
Ning Yao nearly found herself crushed by the ape's palm as she—