Jiang Ke’er’s hand was already on the hilt of her sword.
“Don’t rush.”
Yuchi Benzhin, however, supported his old back and sat down on the ground.
He flipped his hand, and two small wine cups appeared in it.
Yuchi Benzhin placed one cup in front of himself and the other in Jiang Ke’er’s direction.
“When you’re old, if you don’t drink a little, your muscles and bones won’t stretch out,” Yuchi Benzhin sighed, shaking his head, then pulled out his wine gourd and filled both cups.
“Sit?”
“No thanks.”
Having just been ambushed by Ma Qi, she dared not trust anyone now.
Yuchi Benzhin took a small sip of wine, shivered, and then a hint of color appeared on his old, wrinkled face.
He looked at Jiang Ke’er and sighed, “There’s resentment in your brows.”
“Anyone who reincarnated as a demon here wouldn’t have the good temper to listen to your grand truth… If you’re going to talk about putting down the butcher’s knife and becoming a Buddha, you’d better save your breath, old man,” Jiang Ke’er sneered.
Yuchi Benzhin smiled, drank another cup of wine, and asked, “Alright then, why have you come?”
“I want to learn swordsmanship,” Jiang Ke’er said without any concealment.
“Did you learn it?”
“I learned it, but I’m very disappointed,” Jiang Ke’er said, a little lost.
“The way of the sword in my heart shouldn’t be like this…”
“A sword is just a weapon of killing; what kind of ‘way’ can it have?” Yuchi Benzhin retorted.
It wasn’t that Jiang Ke’er hadn’t thought about this question.
It was just her childhood romantic sentiments at play that had endowed the sword with too much meaning it shouldn’t inherently possess.
To put it plainly, it was all her own imagination at work.
“What does a swordsman in your heart look like?” Yuchi Benzhin asked again.
Looking at the wine gourd in Yuchi Benzhin’s hand, Jiang Ke’er almost without thinking, a sentence instantly surged into her mind:
“Wine enters the heroic gut, seven parts brewed into moonlight, the remaining three parts roar into sword energy… A poetic utterance, and half the glorious Tang Dynasty unfolds.”
The wine gourd in Yuchi Benzhin’s hand dropped to the ground with a clatter, most of the wine spilling out, but he was completely oblivious.
He raised his head, revealing his thin neck, his wrinkled old face turned towards the sky, lost in thought.
Although he didn’t know what the glorious Tang Dynasty was, he could feel the grandeur in Jiang Ke’er’s words.
That sharp, “who else but me” pride was so captivating.
This was the charm of the way of the sword!
His perception of swordsmanship had not been shaken for decades, but just now, a single sentence from the girl gave him a completely new understanding of it.
His sword skills had long been honed to their peak.
For decades, he had grumbled and complained about his poor cultivation talent, stopping at the San Cai realm, and had spent a lot of time seeking methods for breakthroughs, thus wasting a lot of time.
If he had heard these words earlier, abandoned the shortcomings of his cultivation, and directly tried to challenge the “Sword Intent” realm…
Although the possibility of success was extremely low, at least he would have failed gloriously, instead of struggling to survive until now, with no energy left to feel the sword intent.
The old man put away his wine cups, bowed deeply to Jiang Ke’er, performing the disciple’s etiquette.
“Thank you.”
Unexpectedly, Jiang Ke’er also returned the same disciple’s etiquette, responding, “Thank you, Senior, for dispelling my doubts. This junior has benefited greatly.”
Sometimes, the answer is already in one’s heart; it just lacks that one question.
When someone asks that question, the thoughts become clear.
What was her goal?
In fact, she didn’t have any grand dreams; she just hoped to live freely, and if possible, find a soulmate to spend the rest of her life with, which would naturally be even better.
But ever since she transmigrated, her life had lacked a certain straightforwardness.
From now on, no more holding back!
Those who want to kill me, come kill me; those who want to fight me, come fight me…
Bring your skills!
I’m going to high-profilely challenge all the sword cultivation holy lands in Wanrenzhou! So what if I die!
I’m going to make everyone who looks down on demons watch as demons completely overpower them in every field! So what if I die!
Always being afraid of death, what can you achieve?
“Come on.”
The old man’s walking stick struck the ground heavily, its outer skin cracking in pieces to reveal the gleaming, cold light beneath.
“Old friend, it’s been thirty years.”
The old man grasped the sword hilt, flicked the blade, and his hunched body suddenly straightened.
He looked at Jiang Ke’er and declared, “Wude Sword Hall, Yuchi Benzhin!“
Jiang Ke’er also began to convert her spiritual energy into Swift Wind Sword Intent, responding, “Demon Race, Jiang Ke’er!“
No sooner had their voices faded than they charged directly at each other.
Jiang Ke’er activated her dynamic vision, preparing for a flank attack on Yuchi Benzhin.
But Yuchi Benzhin was unlike any swordsman she had ever seen.
This seasoned sword master was simply too familiar with the sword as a weapon.
He could exploit every strength and weakness of the sword to the fullest, effortlessly neutralizing Jiang Ke’er’s attacks and delivering the most efficient counterattacks.
After several clashes, Jiang Ke’er’s inferior magical sword was already full of nicks, and she had sustained many injuries, with shallow yet painful bloody gashes crisscrossing her body.
If it weren’t for the powerful effect of her Wind Wall, which could even block close-range attacks, she would have been much more severely injured.
“Swift Wind Sword Intent?” Upon seeing the Wind Wall, Yuchi Benzhin showed an expression of ecstatic joy and burst into laughter.
“So it’s truly possible to directly enter the ‘Intent’ realm! I was such an idiot back then, hahahaha… Oh well, if I hear the Way in the morning, I can die content in the evening!”
As he laughed, Yuchi Benzhin coughed up a mouthful of blood.
“I’m too old,” Yuchi Benzhen stopped, taking a gulp of strong liquor to suppress the metallic taste in his throat.
“Learn as much as you can from me. Once you’ve learned, just give me a swift end…”
He knew he would die after this battle.
Rather than dying in a sickbed, he preferred to die in a swordsman’s duel, under the very Sword Intent he had once dreamed of but narrowly missed.
“Don’t hold back,” Jiang Ke’er said, dissatisfied.
“I’m not holding back; you’re getting stronger,” Yuchi Benzhin exclaimed in surprise.
Jiang Ke’er was indeed constantly learning, studying the old swordsman Yuchi Benzhen’s methods of using the sword, secretly noting the different stress points of the sword and the varying lethality of attacks from different directions.
Before this, she had been fighting purely by relying on dynamic vision and a few basic sword techniques, but from this moment, her fighting style began to change…
She began to genuinely convert the knowledge and experience of this world into her own combat power.
In this battle, Yuchi Benzhin showed no mercy, his sword tip repeatedly pressing against Jiang Ke’er’s vital points.
However, Jiang Ke’er, who initially could only frantically dodge using dynamic vision, trading minor injuries for major ones, gradually became able to anticipate her opponent’s moves and react in advance to evade, and then to parry and counterattack.
Yuchi Benzhin would also occasionally flick his hand to use a few flying sword techniques, interspersing them with his combat skills, which greatly broadened Jiang Ke’er’s horizons.
Another killing move came, but this time Jiang Ke’er didn’t dodge.
She blocked Yuchi Benzhin’s sword, holding her ground, and asked, “Senior Yuchi, do you have any last wishes?”
“None,” Yuchi Benzhen smiled freely.
Jiang Ke’er didn’t hesitate.
Activating her dynamic vision, she gripped her sword in a reverse grip and performed a front flip, circling behind Yuchi Benzhin.
With a soft exhale of sword energy from her blade tip, it pierced the back of Yuchi Benzhin’s head, and he died without any pain.
He was a pure person, with only the way of the sword in his eyes, no distinction of race.
If he had been born a few decades later, or had chosen another path decades ago, he would have become a grandmaster.
But there are no “ifs.”
Jiang Ke’er bowed to the corpse, then stumbled away, covered in injuries.
Next stop, Feiyan Sword Sect.
The Feiyan Sword Sect was the closest gathering place for swordsmen, and Jiang Ke’er, adhering to the principle of efficiency, decided to walk directly to the Feiyan Sword Sect to check it out.
Although she was injured, the wounds weren’t severe and wouldn’t leave scars.
She could eat some medicinal dregs on the way to heal them.
The main thing was that she needed to change clothes; another fight and her clothes would be ripped off.
Moreover, in such a sect gathering place, the way of challenging would certainly change.
As the top violent organizations on the Divine Land, sects had their dignity.
She would have to start by clearing out the low-level grunts at the entrance, then progress through the outer disciples, before finally reaching the inner disciples and elite inner disciples.
So she needed to prepare more, at least buy a few more sets of clothes for switching.
After thinking for a moment, Jiang Ke’er discarded her tattered black robe.
Since she had decided to be straightforward, she would face the world in her most perfect form!
I am a fox demon, Jiang Ke’er, the fox demon! Not a dog, not a squirrel, and certainly not a koala!
“I won’t leave until I’ve smashed all the sect signboards in Wanrenzhou!”
“Fellow swordsmen, seniors, brothers, and sisters, I am Jiang Ke’er, a student of the sword.”
“I seek! Defeat!”
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