"This place isn't fun at all; you have to take me to see the handsome brother..." With a single sweep, three lives were extinguished, yet Hei Ming Shixuan possessed no instinct for killing. Her guileless, large eyes fixed on Xue Hengzhi before her, she stated this with utter innocence...

Yet, for some inexplicable reason, facing this voice brimming with childlike purity instilled an undeniable sense of obligation in everyone present...

"Die..." Xue Hengzhi tightened his grip on the short blade, his gaze locked on Hei Ming Shixuan’s flickering purple pupils. Seizing the moment, he lunged toward her. This little girl exuded too much oppressive might; he couldn't afford to waste any more time...

Seeing Xue Hengzhi rush straight at her, Hei Ming Shixuan remained utterly still. The Purple Moon Saber in her hand flashed, and another arc of blade light flared to life...

Xue Hengzhi had already reached Hei Ming Shixuan, his short blade thrusting out. In the mere span of a breath, the blade was poised at her neck. At this precise instant, a pure, innocent smile still graced Hei Ming Shixuan’s face. But just as his blade was about to pierce her neck, a streak of purple blade light had already grazed the surface of his skin...

Shock...

Astonishment...

Profound, utter shock...

He had attacked first, so why did her blade light strike him ahead of his own?

How could such speed exist in this world? Even a Martial Saint couldn't move this quickly?

Had this little girl’s strength already surpassed that of a Martial Saint? This... this was impossible?

However, Xue Hengzhi was, after all, a master of the Grandmaster realm. At this moment of life or death, he suppressed the shock raging within him and retreated rapidly. This retreat spanned dozens of zhang, propelling him directly against the back wall. That terrifying blade light had merely scraped his surface, leaving only a faint, bloody trace...

But he took the opportunity to hurl the short blade in his hand. The target remained Hei Ming Shixuan’s neck...

What rendered Xue Hengzhi dumbfounded was that Hei Ming Shixuan had appeared before him at some unknown moment, while the dagger he had thrown was still slicing through the air...

"Ugly thing, you’re so slow..." A sweet, delicate voice drifted from Hei Ming Shixuan’s lips. Yet, the Purple Moon Saber in her hand swept upward without hesitation...

Another brilliant arc of blade light ignited, resembling a vertical half-moon, cleaving toward Xue Hengzhi. If this strike connected, his entire body would be cleaved in two...

At this instant, his Grandmaster realm cultivation manifested to its extreme. True Essence energy surged within him, and his body shifted sideways by several dozen paces. Nevertheless, the corner of his left sleeve was sheared away by the attack...

The blazing blade light left a long gash etched into the stone wall behind him...

A bead of cold sweat traced a path down Xue Hengzhi’s forehead. Gazing at Hei Ming Shixuan, whose face held the same innocent smile not far away, he felt an urge to weep...

Was the world truly insane? He himself had once been recognized as a genius across the entire martial world, and only now had he barely stepped into the Grandmaster realm after so many years. Yet, he was being forced into repeated retreats by this girl barely ten years old. What was this?

"Oh, you actually dodged it?" Seeing Xue Hengzhi evade her strike, a look of strange curiosity crossed Hei Ming Shixuan’s face...

Hearing Hei Ming Shixuan’s words, Xue Hengzhi felt his breath catch in his throat. What did she mean, 'actually dodged it'? Was it truly so surprising that he, a dignified Grandmaster, managed to evade one of her attacks?

Xue Hengzhi was incandescent with rage. He was truly furious...

The True Essence energy within him continuously condensed. Gradually, a translucent longsword materialized above his left hand—a sword forged entirely from condensed True Essence energy. Only supreme experts who had reached the Grandmaster realm could materialize their internal True Essence thusly...

"Little girl, die..." Xue Hengzhi let out a cold snort. The longsword shaped from his True Essence trembled lightly, and in an instant, a blinding radiance erupted. Several razor-sharp sword qi blasts tore through the void, slashing directly toward Hei Ming Shixuan...

"Sssshhh... sssshhh... sssshhh..." The air was constantly rent by the sound of sword qi tearing through space. Innumerable streaks of qi passed straight through Hei Ming Shixuan’s form, yet no blood sprayed forth. This... this was merely an illusion...

The moment the illusion vanished, Hei Ming Shixuan’s figure materialized directly in front of Xue Hengzhi. The innocent smile remained on her face, but the Purple Moon Saber in her hand swung down mercilessly toward him...

"Heaven Shattering Sword..." Xue Hengzhi had been waiting for this moment. The longsword in his hand shook, and a massive blade projection instantly flared to life, releasing a terrifying aura that charged fiercely to meet Hei Ming Shixuan’s blade light...

The colossal sword projection instantly swallowed the purple blade light. A look of confident triumph crossed Xue Hengzhi’s face. He was certain that beneath this single strike, his opponent would either be dead or grievously wounded...

"Clang..." A crisp resonance sounded—the collision of the Purple Moon Saber against the sword body condensed from Xue Hengzhi’s True Essence...

Immediately following, the sound of cracking echoed: Kacha, kacha, kacha...

It was the sound of the True Essence longsword shattering. Xue Hengzhi’s expression changed drastically...

This sword was composed entirely of condensed True Essence. Just how terrifying was the energy contained within it?

"Rumble..." Before Xue Hengzhi could retreat, a dazzling light exploded before him, and a terrifying surge of power erupted instantly...

Violent energy swept away everything nearby. Xue Hengzhi desperately poured out True Essence, weaving layer upon layer of energy shields before him to resist the furious onslaught...

His body retreated backward at high speed...

The savage energy ruthlessly annihilated everything in its path. Even the hardened men standing dozens of meters away, their faces etched with horror, were enveloped by this energy. The strongest among them was only at the Innate realm; how could they possibly withstand the True Essence sword condensed by a Grandmaster?

Their bodies were instantly pierced through and then ripped into fragments...

In the blink of an eye, the vast cavern fell into silence. A thick stench of blood permeated the air, and even the campfires were utterly destroyed. The entire mountain cave plunged into darkness and stillness...

Xue Hengzhi retreated an immeasurable distance. His clothes had long been shredded to dust by the rampant energy, and his body was covered in wounds large and small. A long gash even marred his cheek. The left hand holding the sword trembled incessantly, the web between his thumb and forefinger completely split open...

That girl must be dead by now?

Sensing the endless darkness and stillness surrounding him, Xue Hengzhi forcefully suppressed the shock in his heart and thought to himself...

But just then, he suddenly noticed two points of purple light flickering in the distance...