Chapter 45

Chapter 45: Unmatched Talent!

Jiang Yun Ge glanced at Li Shuang in surprise, thinking: [Sword Domain? What is that? I have never even heard of it, but Li Shuang and Steward Lin clearly know. Whatever this Sword Domain is, it is enough to make the steady Steward Lin this excited.]

Li Shuang’s face stayed calm.

During those ten years, her cultivation could not rise. On one hand, she never gave up. Day after day, she trained her spiritual power, hoping for a miracle.

On the other hand, she sank deeper into training in the Way of the Sword.

For ten full years, her cultivation did not increase.

But her understanding of the Way of the Sword kept growing.

Until the last time, when she opened the Legacy Space.

Senior Su Mu was a true teacher.

Ten days of harsh training pushed her sword insight to a critical point.

After five days to settle, she finally took that step and grasped her own Sword Dao Domain.

For a true expert, mastering a Sword Domain is the real first step of a sword cultivator.

She had finally taken that step.

Steward Lin muttered while staring at the Memory Stone: “Let me see, let me see.”

Ye Zhao Zhao felt a sudden chill of dread, thinking: [What is a Sword Domain? With the System’s help I can steal Li Shuang’s cultivation, but I cannot steal her own understanding of the Way of the Sword. Ten years have passed. I am a cultivator at the Nascent Soul Stage, yet when it comes to sword skills, I still know nothing.]

She stared hard at the image, but she could not make sense of it. Then she jolted, thinking: [No… wait!]

After the image was enlarged, everyone saw it too.

While walking through the rain of swords, Li Shuang’s eyes were closed. With that dense storm of blades, the corner of her lips still held a faint smile. She moved forward as if strolling through a garden.

Li Shuang reached Shi Chu Yun with ease, then with one strike knocked the Spring Rain Sword from her hand.

Chang Le An pointed at the image and shouted: “Look! A sword cultivator who cannot even hold her own sword. If that is not acting, what is it? This proves the fight between Li Shuang and Shi Chu Yun had a problem!”

He glared at Li Shuang, vowing inside: [This time I will make sure to repay those twenty strokes on my junior sister’s behalf.]

He raised his voice and said: “Steward Lin, you can announce the result now! They fixed the match. Both should be punished!”

Steward Lin kept watching the recording.

It was not long. After he finished once, he replayed it from the start.

This time he watched even more closely, his focus razor sharp.

“Steward Lin, you…” Chang Le An tried to speak again.

Steward Lin waved impatiently, and Chang Le An’s mouth was sealed by a layer of spiritual power.

Chang Le An’s face twisted. He tried hard to talk, but not a single word came out.

Steward Lin turned to Li Shuang and asked, barely holding back his excitement: “When did this happen?”

Li Shuang answered: “At dawn today.”

Steward Lin slapped the desk and said: “Good, good! Good!”

Good? Why good?

Everyone stared, confused.

“This match has no problem at all,” Steward Lin said quickly. He shot a look at Chang Le An and added: “Spend more time on your own cultivation. Do not always think of attacking others. I will keep this Memory Stone for now. You may all leave.”

He spoke so firmly that the room fell quiet.

Many people were stunned.

Chang Le An was furious. If he could make a sound, he would have argued on and on.

Steward Lin looked at Li Shuang with real warmth and said: “Li Shuang, train well. Tomorrow I will be waiting to watch your next match.”

Li Shuang nodded.

People could not help glancing between them. Steward Lin was at the Divine Transformation Stage, while Li Shuang was now only at the Qi Refining Stage.

Yet as he spoke to Li Shuang, there seemed to be a hint of envy in his eyes.

Envy of what?

Could it be… the Sword Domain she spoke of?

The crowd still did not understand, but Steward Lin cradled the Memory Stone like a treasure and hurried away.

The others could only scatter.

Still, the words Sword Domain started to spread among the sect’s disciples.

At the same time.

Steward Lin rushed the Memory Stone to Pang Zhi Xue.

Pang Zhi Xue watched it carefully, then hurried to the Sect Master.

Their sect was the Sword Sect. They carried the sword in their name and had unique methods to raise Sword Spirits.

But when it came to the sharpness of sword arts, they did not rank high among the six sects.

Right now, the top of the six was the Cangyuan Sect. In their current young generation, they had a peerless genius, Yan Fan.

He had entered the Divine Transformation Stage before the age of fifty. His sword skills were superb, and he had even formed a Sword Domain. He was believed to be without question the number one among the six sects’ younger generation.

But now.

The Sword Sect also had a Way of the Sword genius who had formed a Sword Domain.

In age, Li Shuang was even younger than Yan Fan. In sword understanding alone, she was no worse than any genius in the six sects.

Meng Yi Fei watched the recording, his eyes shining. Then he remembered something, and regret slid across his face.

Li Shuang was indeed a genius in the Way of the Sword.

But her cultivation was now only at the Qi Refining Stage.

Also, no one knew whether her old problem would return, the one where her cultivation stopped moving after she reached the Nascent Soul Stage.

If that flaw came back, then no matter how high her sword insight was, her future would be limited.

“If she had not gone quiet for ten years, Li Shuang might already be at the Divine Transformation Stage now. The top of the young generation should have come from our Sword Sect,” Pang Zhi Xue said.

Back when Li Shuang first joined the sect, her cultivation had soared. They truly saw hope for the sect’s rise.

Sadly, her glory was short. Then she fell silent for ten full years, and their eyes turned toward the next promising disciple.

Who could have guessed?

Ten years later, Li Shuang would give them a surprise like this.

“No one knows the true use of the Supreme Emotionless Art,” Meng Yi Fei said quickly. “After switching arts, she may break the Nascent Soul Stage bottleneck. Arrange this: move Li Shuang’s match tomorrow to the Central Arena. I want to see her level with my own eyes.”

Pang Zhi Xue agreed at once.

As the Disciplinary Hall Master, he was also the Sect Master’s trusted aide. No one knew better than him how shaky the Sword Sect’s standing was, and how much effort the Sect Master had spent to keep their seat among the top six.

If the Sword Sect did not improve soon, another sect might replace them.

What the Sword Sect lacked now was a true peerless genius.

A genius who could lead the sect to the peak.

For that goal, the sect had long poured resources into gifted disciples. Li Shuang had always been one of their key focuses.

If, in tomorrow’s match, they could confirm she had already mastered a Sword Domain, and if she could soon break through the Nascent Soul Stage barrier,

then the Sword Sect would truly have a peerless genius.

“Li Shuang…” Meng Yi Fei murmured, a dark light flashing in his eyes.

Many in the sect thought he kept the peace on the surface and did not act with full justice.

He knew the talk, but he did not care.

Right now, what the Sword Sect needed most was stability.

But if Li Shuang could show enough value,

he would not mind showing favor from now on.