Although she already had her answer in her heart, when Xiao Qingxuan said it out loud, Ye Luqing still felt a pang of pain.
Even though Xiao Qingxuan never explicitly stated it, Ye Luqing understood clearly—she was the so-called “at any cost.”
But she could also understand Xiao Qingxuan.
After all, the Original Host had spent six years with her, whereas Ye Luqing had only been around for two days.
The difference in importance was obvious.
At the same time, she felt a sense of relief.
“Since you think that way, don’t blame me if I push your blackening value…” she thought inwardly, the faint hope she once held now completely dissipated.
Just as Xiao Qingxuan wished for the Original Host’s return, Ye Luqing wished to go home.
She would serve as a substitute for Xiao Qingxuan, satisfying the needs of this Fated Female Protagonist, while also making good use of Xiao Qingxuan to complete her mission and return home.
“Alright, I get it,” Ye Luqing said with a sweet smile.
“Ah Qing, I—”
Xiao Qingxuan was about to say something more but was silenced by a finger pressing gently against her lips.
“It’s okay, I understand everything.”
As if savoring the sweetness at Ye Luqing’s fingertip, Xiao Qingxuan still couldn’t bring herself to feel happy.
She truly couldn’t guarantee how Ye Luqing would behave after losing her memory.
Although they had only spent two days together, she liked the current personality changes in Ye Luqing.
Sensing Xiao Qingxuan’s guilt, Ye Luqing had an idea and decided to make good use of it.
“Senior Sister Xiao, can you teach me some sword techniques?”
She had just skimmed through the Gongfa Link Diagram, reviewing the techniques and Array Decisions she had mastered so far.
Apart from the newly learned Mystic Yellow Mountain-Suppressing Art, she had almost no offensive abilities.
Even if she fully mastered the Dual Formation: Yin-Yang Meridian Array, her combination with Ying Qianqian still lacked attacking power.
Xiao Qingxuan was slightly surprised, then lowered her head and stroked her chin in thought.
Since Ah Qing had asked, she would definitely help.
But the problem was, in terms of swordsmanship, Ah Qing was not talented—in fact, she had almost no talent at all.
A few years ago, she had taught Ye Luqing some sword techniques, but all that resulted in were a few new wounds on her body and a pitiful expression as she endured the pain.
She hadn’t learned anything lethal.
“With Ah Qing’s talent, ordinary sword moves won’t do. We need to leverage her strengths,” Xiao Qingxuan thought.
“Using divine control of qi, the sword intent naturally forms, and it doesn’t require swordsmanship talent… this should work.”
Xiao Qingxuan took out a Spirit Sword and handed it to Ye Luqing.
“Ah Qing, what I’m about to teach you is a secret technique of Heavenly Sword Peak—the Yiqi Sword Formula.”
Now at the Half-Step Nascent Soul Realm, she was practically a half-elder of Heavenly Sword Peak, qualified to take personal disciples.
It was no problem to teach this secret technique to Ye Luqing alone.
“This sword formula does not require a Sword Heart or strong swordsmanship talent.”
“The only requirement is sword qi, which can be managed through arrays.”
Ye Luqing had a formation specifically for restoring sword qi.
Whenever she went on missions with Ye Luqing, she never had to worry about sword qi depletion.
Xiao Qingxuan summoned her Life-Bound Spirit Sword from her heart aperture, closed her eyes, and focused her primordial spirit to control the merciless sword qi.
In the next moment, a sharp sword intent shot up into the sky.
Xiao Qingxuan flicked her wrist, merging sword qi and sword intent into sharp white rays on the Spirit Sword’s blade.
Just looking directly at the white glow on the blade made Ye Luqing’s eyes sting.
“This is condensed sword qi.”
“The sword qi contains your sword intent. As long as you move in a way that feels natural to you, this sword formula will unleash its power.”
“Everyone’s understanding and perception of the sword differ, so the sword intent is unique to each person. How far you can push the Yiqi Sword Formula depends on your own comprehension.”
Ye Luqing’s heart stirred at Xiao Qingxuan’s words.
According to her, this formula didn’t require swordsmanship talent but emphasized sword intent.
Having crossed over from Earth, dreaming of becoming a sword cultivator in fantasy novels but never having wielded a real sword, she was curious what her own “sword intent” would be like.
“This sword formula is a high-grade Grandmaster Formation. It shouldn’t be too difficult for you.”
“But for the first time, I’ll guide your meridians.”
Xiao Qingxuan placed her hand on Ye Luqing’s back, gently transferring sword qi into her meridians, guiding the flow of True Qi.
Ye Luqing’s meridians weren’t accustomed to sword qi.
Even with Xiao Qingxuan’s careful guidance, Ye Luqing felt soreness and itchiness all over, along with occasional sharp pains.
Seeing Ye Luqing sweating profusely, Xiao Qingxuan comforted her softly:
“Ah Qing, don’t rush, take it slow.”
“The first time might hurt a bit, but it will get easier with practice.”
Ye Luqing smiled wryly; the gap in talent was truly vast.
She could learn Grandmaster Formations just by glancing at them, but even with Xiao Qingxuan’s guidance—half-step Nascent Soul realm herself—the same grade sword formula was difficult to learn.
Without the System and the “heartthrob” buff, she now realized how difficult cultivating techniques truly was.
Half an hour later, she finally ran the Yiqi Sword Formula through her meridians successfully.
“Phew…”
She let out a long breath.
Only now could this sword formula be considered an introduction.
“Ah Qing, give it a try,” Xiao Qingxuan said.
“You can use my sword qi directly. All you need to do is resonate your spirit with the Spirit Sword in your hand and awaken your own sword intent.”
The Yiqi Sword Formula required fusion of sword qi and sword intent, and the resulting “sword qi” differed from person to person.
What worried her now was whether Ye Luqing’s sword intent could support the sword formula.
Before losing her memory, Ye Luqing’s personality had been resilient but not outstanding, so her sword intent was probably mediocre, unable to condense powerful sword qi.
A sword formula that was originally high-grade might only achieve low-grade or even mid-grade Yellow realm power, ineffective against cultivators in the Golden Core or Nascent Soul realms.
“Sword intent…”
Ye Luqing felt the sword qi left by Xiao Qingxuan within her, somewhat awkwardly practicing the Yiqi Sword Formula.
As True Qi circulated and the sword formula ran, a sword diagram slowly appeared in her mind.
The sword diagram was carved atop a high platform, with a white figure resembling her by seventy to eighty percent, methodically performing some sword moves.
Strangely, although Ye Luqing had never practiced any sword techniques, she felt familiar with the swordplay the little figure was performing.
What was even stranger was that aside from the resemblance to herself, two or three parts seemed to resemble Xiao Qingxuan.
As she watched, a sudden realization dawned.
This white figure similar to her was actually her sword qi.
And the stiff sword moves being performed were her sword intent.
As for why there were parts resembling Xiao Qingxuan, Ye Luqing guessed it was related to Xiao Qingxuan’s teaching or perhaps the influence of the Original Host.
Looking at this slow-moving, awkward little white figure, Ye Luqing felt a little embarrassed.
After all, she wasn’t a native of this world and had never truly wielded a sword.
At most, as a child, she had swung tree branches around pretending they were swords, so it was natural she couldn’t condense a proper sword intent.
However, although she lacked real sword experience…
Would the “fake” experience work?
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