’He wants to wear down my Sword Pill with Killing Power...’

Sensing something was wrong, Qiao Yu immediately retracted the sixteen streaks of sword light and merged them into one. The smoothly spinning Sword Pill transformed into a piercing long rainbow that stretched for miles!

Even from a great distance, Jiang Yi could feel a slight, needle-like stinging on his skin.

’The killing power of a Sword Cultivator truly is supreme.’

A sharp glint of Essence flashed in his eyes. ’The time is right,’ he thought. He immediately formed a seal with his hand and pointed, and the fiery dragon of Magical Power that had been previously slashed apart suddenly regenerated and transformed.

High in the sky, threads of flame lit up one by one, like tens of thousands of tangled balls of yarn pulling at each other as they densely enveloped the long rainbow of Sword Qi.

"Miss Xiaoqiao, why don’t you have a taste of my fire techniques as well?"

Jiang Yi circulated his Magical Power. The fiery net binding the long rainbow of Sword Qi abruptly expanded, splitting into thirty-six crisscrossing layers that stretched far and wide.

Qiao Yu’s Heart Spirit suddenly sank. Her bright eyes lit up, a look of amazement flashing within them.

’Combined Refining of Bingding, manipulating Yin and Yang... such mastery of fire techniques is already approaching the pinnacle of the Fire Element.’

The green-robed young woman formed a Sword Technique, and the long rainbow of Sword Qi trembled, breaking through layer after layer of the fiery net. Yet, no sooner were the flames scattered than the blazing streams of fire would immediately latch back on.

As long as a single wisp of fire remained, the blazing net could ignite once more, burning and melting away the cold, sharp metal qi.

If Qiao Yu continued to channel her Magical Power to brutally tear through the thirty-six dense layers of the fiery net, it would ultimately be futile as long as she couldn’t sever the fire’s source.

What’s more, she discovered that the more she exerted herself, the more the fiery intent would gradually seep into her Heart Spirit, stirring up distracting thoughts and even conjuring layers of illusions.

"Daoist Jiang, your techniques are a cut above."

Qiao Yu sighed softly and cupped her hands, admitting defeat.

Unless she could figure out a way to extinguish the fire or resort to her Slaying Sword techniques, there was no way she could break through these layered nets of fire.

"I was merely fortunate enough to have an advantage."

Jiang Yi raised a hand and grasped. The golden flames and red haze all rolled back toward him, and the blazing fire was extinguished.

This move was called "Three Yangs Refining True Fire," a technique he had developed by drawing parallels from the Five Fires and Seven Beasts Transformation.

Bing Fire is yang, and Ding Fire is yin. When the two are refined together into something true and then mixed with Killing Power, there is nothing it cannot incinerate.

Be it a Magical Treasure, a physical body, or even True Qi, it could never be washed away once a single speck latched on.

Unless one could extinguish both the Bing and Ding Fire in a single blow and sever the source, the fire would only burn hotter and hotter as long as Jiang Yi’s Magical Power remained.

"In my opinion, Daoist Jiang, once you ascend to the Flying Foundation Establishment Realm, I fear none of the True Inheritance disciples from the Innate Sect’s eight peaks will be a match for you."

Qiao Yu recalled her Sword Pill, absorbing it into the space between her eyebrows. Having been refined by the Bing Fire, the Sword Pill had, on the contrary, become even more lustrous and bright.

The small bit of discouragement she felt from losing to Jiang Yi vanished in an instant.

"My opponents have never been the many True Inheritance disciples of the Eight ruling Sects of the Nanzhan Continent."

Jiang Yi shook his head gently. Had anyone else heard these words, they would surely have deemed them arrogant—a mere practitioner at the Qi Cultivation Twelfth Layer, yet so dismissive of others, looking down on the True Inheritance disciples of the Ancestral Sects!

But Qiao Yu saw nothing wrong with it. Ji Fuyao, championed by the [Immortal Dao], had suppressed his peers for five thousand years and remained undefeated in the world.

With such a formidable enemy blocking his path, a tiger barring the road, Jiang Yi had to take every step with extreme caution, affording not the slightest complacency.

Therefore, he too needed to possess incredibly high aspirations, as well as the deep-seated foundation to support them.

Otherwise, how could he ever hope to face White Jade City?

"Miss Xiaoqiao, has your cultivation been proceeding smoothly?"

Jiang Yi felt he had benefited greatly from their recent spar.

The way of the Flying Sword often only reveals its full power at the Foundation Establishment Realm. Qiao Yu had deliberately suppressed her own Realm, using only the variations of the Separation and Reunion sword technique. Her true killing power had not been fully unleashed.

He had a premonition that if Miss Xiaoqiao were to unleash the "Creation Sword Dao" of the Sword Discussion Pavilion, the outcome of their Magical Combat would be uncertain even if he ascended to the Flying Foundation Establishment Realm.

"That Spiritual Truth Abode of yours is quite useful, Daoist. It’s helped me ’reclaim’ a great deal of my Cultivation."

The corners of Qiao Yu’s eyes curved like crescent moons as she said with a smile,

"But for a Sword Cultivator, arduous training alone is never enough. Has anyone in the Innate Sect been causing you trouble lately?"

Jiang Yi smiled. Miss Xiaoqiao was clearly itching for a fight, eager to draw her sword and slay some enemies.

"Ever since I took charge of the Ever-Bright Celestial Pool, everyone has their eyes on this last-rate Daoist. How could there not be trouble? But I’ve taken care of it all."

Qiao Yu looked slightly disappointed, but then she said,

"Next time something like this happens, feel free to leave it to me. Don’t worry, the Lord True Monarchs of the Innate Sect are magnanimous. They wouldn’t stoop to quarreling with a junior like me."

’It’s probably not that the Innate Sect’s True Monarchs are magnanimous,’ Jiang Yi thought. ’It’s that the reputation of the Sword Discussion Pavilion’s lineage carries enough weight.’

Admittedly, the Sword Dao Dharma Lineages of the Nanzhan Continent had withered and declined, leaving only a few insignificant practitioners behind.

But in all the Yanfu Vast Land, which Sword Cultivator with a clearly defined heritage could claim they didn’t owe a karmic favor to the Sword Discussion Pavilion?

Those few True Monarch Dongtians in the Innate Sect would indeed have to think twice before crossing the daughter of True Monarch Qiao Bu.

After all, there was a saying in the Yanfu Vast Land: a True Monarch can wait eight hundred years for revenge, but a sword fanatic seeks it from dawn till dusk.

Jiang Yi was certain that as soon as news of Qiao Yu’s presence in the Innate Sect spread, it wouldn’t be long before a titan of the Sword Dao came to escort the "Second Miss of the Sword Discussion Pavilion" home.

"I wouldn’t hesitate to ask for your help, Miss Xiaoqiao."

Jiang Yi smiled, then told Qiao Yu about [Juku Continent].

"A place like [Juku Continent] isn’t just accessible to the [Demon Dao]; the [Immortal Dao] has one too."

Qiao Yu furrowed her lovely brows.

"If you, the new lord of [Shao Yang], enter it, the Dongsheng Continent will be thrown into an uproar. Countless True Inheritance disciples from various Dharma Lineages will come after you, one after another, all to take your life and curry favor with [Tai Yang]."