Under the bright daylight.

"?"

Li Mo found himself passively stepping behind Ying Bing.

To be precise, it was the "ice block" who now stood in front of him. The small hand that had just been in his palm now gripped a sword. He opened his mouth to speak but was met with the frost-laden gaze in her eyes—her jade-like face was chillingly indifferent.

Suddenly, he recalled the moment yesterday when he had stood up for Princess Jiang Chulong.

Now, the "ice block" was standing up for him.

So Li Mo relaxed his grip. If Ying Bing was stepping forward for him, how could he not trust her?

"......"

Dan Hong, Qing Que, and the entourage they brought all fell into an uneasy silence.

A Viewing Divinity cultivator challenging an Inner Realm expert?

Those at the top of the Hidden Dragon Ranking might pull it off, but weren’t these two women once ranked there as well? And now, she was taking them on alone?

"Hmph, the 'Frost Immortal'... let’s see how much you live up to that title!"

Dan Hong narrowed her eyes. She despised that look—the same one that woman, Jiang Chulong’s mother, had given her master back then.

Without hesitation, she struck, her Inner Realm domain erupting.

"Be careful!" Qing Que shouted a warning.

She could sense it.

Though Ying Bing’s slender, pale fingers seemed to casually grip that dark-steeled sword, an overwhelming sword energy was gathering within.

Once she drew it, the strike would shake heaven and earth!

But Dan Hong was arrogant by nature. Believing the gap between their realms was insurmountable, she attacked with full force, convinced her opponent wouldn’t even have a chance to retaliate.

A celestial river of sword energy cascaded from the sky, vast and tyrannical, sweeping down like a flood.

This sword’s strength lay in its boundless grandeur.

An ordinary Viewing Divinity cultivator would tremble before such a technique—such was the spiritual suppression an Inner Realm expert could impose.

But for Ying Bing, who possessed two divine intents, both embodying the Great Dao’s forms?

It meant nothing.

In this world, aside from the future Jiang Chulong and the long-departed Sword God (if he even still existed), who could dare claim supremacy over Ying Bing in breadth and depth?

Bathed in moonlight, Ying Bing moved. The sword energy she had been accumulating erupted at last.

Another celestial river of sword energy surged forth!

"The Heavenly River Sword Art has profound meaning, but you will never master it."

A voice as cold as jade echoed from within the sword energy.

The soaring sword energy carried not just the force of a raging river but also a sense of all-encompassing unity—melding the divine intents she had drawn from the Jade Phoenix Deity into one seamless flow.

"!"

Li Mo’s eyes widened.

Since when had the "ice block" learned the first rule of combat—taunting the enemy?

And she wielded it so naturally, so effortlessly...

True to form, Dan Hong flew into a rage. Her focus wavered, and so did her domain. It wasn’t a glaring flaw—after some adjustments, it might have even gone unnoticed...

But her opponent was Ying Bing.

In an instant, the sword energy surged, pinpointing that infinitesimal fluctuation and tearing it apart without mercy, widening it into a full-blown opening.

The flaw was exposed.

Ying Bing’s sword light—unfathomably brilliant—flashed forward, reaching Dan Hong before the afterimage of her stance had even faded.

So fast!

Dan Hong’s pupils constricted.

Yet just as the sword energy seemed destined to strike, layers of net-like formations materialized around it, as though every strand of sword intent, every flicker of energy, was ensnared. No matter which direction it turned, it was trapped like a frantic fish in a net.

The Chessboard Sword Art.

This technique sought to scatter Ying Bing’s river of sword energy, reducing it to chaos before reeling it in like a catch.

It also patched the gaps in Dan Hong’s domain, leaving no room for counterattack.

"I think Elder Zeng mentioned this sword art back at the Sword Tower in the city," Li Mo recalled.

The elder who loved reading The Tyrannical Empress Falls for Me had spoken of it with both admiration and resentment.

Elder Zeng had called it a sword of excessive calculation—a technique that demanded too much wisdom, destined to harm its wielder.

Since its emergence, the Cloud-Crossing Sword City had declined, forever overshadowed by the Heavenly Mountain Sword Manor.

But when it came to clarity of mind...

Ying Bing stood unwavering, her sword gleaming like moonlight. Her figure blurred, as though veiled in lunar mist, yet her blade remained steadfast—aimed unerringly at Dan Hong’s brow, like an inescapable decree of fate drawing nearer by the second.

Dan Hong’s eyes widened.

In that moment, she met Ying Bing’s gaze from above—cold, transcendent, fathomless.

Like a celestial maiden glancing down at a mortal, freezing their soul and numbing their spirit.

She really would kill me.

She doesn’t care who I am.

Hum—

The sword tip halted a finger’s breadth from her forehead. The icy edge radiated a sliver of lingering energy, just enough to draw a thin line of blood down Dan Hong’s brow, splitting her face in two.

She collapsed to her knees, spirit broken.

"......"

A realization dawned on Li Mo, and he clicked his tongue in amazement.

The "ice block" had grown even stronger!

If she had a divine weapon, sparring with her would be... unpredictable.

Dan Hong looked unharmed—just a scratch. But...

"You! You’ve ruined her!"

Qing Que, who had remained expressionless until now, finally showed anger.

Ying Bing could have easily claimed that Dan Hong’s sword heart was fragile, her mentality unstable—that she had even held back.

But Ying Bing glanced back at Li Mo’s handsome face, then met the green-robed woman’s gaze squarely.

"She got off lightly."

Qing Que choked, her fury doused by the frost in Ying Bing’s eyes. A sense of powerlessness crept into her heart.

After a long silence, the Crown Prince’s sword-maiden spoke again.

"His Highness has a message for you."

"Stop teaching the little princess martial arts. If you don’t, he will kill you."

"Past grievances will be forgiven, and your merits in the Southern Border will offset your offenses. That he warns you at all shows he values your talent. You’d best—"

"That’s clearly more than one sentence," Li Mo interjected, matching Ying Bing’s icy tone.

Qing Que: "...The latter part was my own advice."

With that, she ordered her subordinates to carry the broken Dan Hong away, departing as grandly as they had arrived—leaving no trace behind.

Only then did the elders of the Qingyuan Sect descend.

Watching Qing Que and the Crown Prince’s entourage leave, the elders wore expressions of utter bewilderment—"We missed it?" "What just happened?"

Hadn’t Ouyang said there was a conflict?

Where was it?

Why were they leaving already?

"Didn’t they fight?" Elder Qian asked.

Li Mo coughed lightly. "It’s over."

"Oh..." The elders exhaled in relief.

"Ying Bing, at Viewing Divinity, fought two Inner Realm experts alone."

"What?"

Their hearts, just settled, leapt back into their throats.

"It’s fine. She won."

"......"

It was absurd, but then again, which of them hadn’t been shocked into questioning their own lives by Ying Bing before?

They had already developed a certain immunity to such shocks, so they weren’t easily rattled anymore.

"But..."

"No more 'buts'—Li Mo, just say it all at once! This old man’s heart can’t take much more!" Xue Jing’s heart was pounding so hard it might’ve shaved years off his life.

Li Mo nodded.

"That ice block Ying Bing somehow... more or less... accidentally crippled the Crown Prince’s sword attendant."

"?"

"As in, shattered the Sword Heart kind of crippled."

"???"

Tonight, the Qingyuan Sect was destined for a sleepless night.

The elders couldn’t rest at all—they’d be jolting awake in the dead of night, as if rising from their deathbeds.

.......