“Right. But right now I can only draw out a tenth of the Sacred Life Sword’s power.”
The words left her like mist under dawn light; even with the Sacred Life Sword swelling her strength like a rising tide, Qianji Sister still felt she couldn’t surpass Xinuo.
“With your age and power, awakening a tenth of the Sacred Life Sword is already solid. Come at me.”
Xinuo smiled, cool as moonlight touching ripples, and beckoned with a calm voice.
“Mm. Talk is wind. Let’s begin. Life-type Reinforcement Magic: Infinite Vitality!”
“Wind-type Reinforcement Magic: Wind’s Extreme Speed!”
“Ice-type Reinforcement Magic: Frost Cover!”
“Space-type Reinforcement Magic: Phantom!”
...
With the Sacred Life Sword feeding her like a spring that never runs dry, Qianji Sister didn’t fret over mana or stamina, and kept layering herself with buffs like leaves catching dew.
She only stopped when her body trembled at the edge, like a bowstring drawn to its limit.
“Even if I can’t strike you, Xinuo Miss, I must break your weapon this time!”
Resolve burned in her eyes like a steady lantern; Qianji Sister turned into a streak of light and flashed to Xinuo’s front.
“Life Sword: Energy Drain!”
She poured every reinforcement from her body into the Sacred Life Sword, and with a breath like a winter blade, unleashed her utmost against Xinuo.
“Oh dear, that’s troublesome.”
Her tone was lazy as drifting clouds, yet Xinuo raised her light-sword without hurry and met the blow head-on.
But—
At the instant steel met radiance, the light-sword thinned like frost under sun, fading at a speed you could see with the naked eye.
“Pity. You were a hair’s breadth from hitting me. Please, return the way you came.”
She pressed Qianji Sister back a few steps like a wave nudging a skiff, and Xinuo’s light-sword reached the end of its brief life, scattering into star-dust in a blink.
“Hah. Against a weapon on the level of the Sacred Life Sword, a regular energy sword is fragile as paper.” (Energy sword: a blade formed of pure energy.)
Even the hilt winked out like fireflies, and Xinuo laughed, bright as bells; this was likely the first time Qianji Sister had ever broken a weapon in her hand.
Still, though Xinuo’s blade had vanished, it was only a casual energy sword, condensed like breath in winter; she could call up more as easily as wind lifts leaves.
“Ugh… that doesn’t cheer me up.”
Knowing that breaking one energy sword was like breaking a wave out of a whole sea, Qianji Sister shook her head with a wry smile.
“No matter the blade, the fact you could destroy my weapon is something to be proud of. Mm, time for a higher-grade sword.”
As soon as she spoke, another sword formed in Xinuo’s hand—this time woven out of Sword Aura, a line of light sharp as a starfall.
Its contained energy and hardness were tens of times stronger, like iron compared to ice.
“Ah.”
Qianji Sister looked at the newborn blade in Xinuo’s grasp and sighed, a reed bending before a gale.
“Yumigawa Senki, what’s wrong? Don’t want to fight?”
Seeing her sigh, Xinuo tilted her head, curious as a sparrow.
“That’s not it. But if we keep going like this, even days of trading blows would just waste daylight. With my current self, hitting you, Xinuo Miss, is impossible.”
“A miracle might happen.”
“A miracle?”
Qianji Sister shook her head, firm as a mountain ridge: “To spark a miracle, you need power to match. Like an F-rank mage—no matter what—couldn’t topple a Holy Peak mage. In the end, miracles ride strength and luck.”
“Clear-eyed indeed. So, what now—surrender?”
“No. I can’t beat you, Xinuo Miss, but I want to unleash my strongest finisher with everything I have. In any battle, I don’t leave regrets behind.”
“Good. I’ll take your strongest head-on. Go all out.”
“Alright.”
Her voice steadied like still water, and Qianji Sister’s face hardened with focus, every line set like carved jade.
She kept stacking reinforcements again, yet this time only for stamina and mana, as if building a reservoir; clearly her ultimate would drink deep from her well.
Half a minute later…
A faint light bled from her skin like dawn edging the horizon, and her aura swelled so large we felt it even a hundred meters away, like thunder rumbling across plains.
Her hair tie had slipped loose at some point, and golden hair flowed like sunlight, lifting with the breeze in shimmering waves.
“Time-Space Sword: Obliterate Heaven and Earth!”
Qianji Sister swung the Sacred Life Sword with everything she had, carving out a towering Sword Aura tens of meters high, and that blade-storm was forged entirely from the laws of space and time—threads of night and clockwork fused.
The giant Sword Aura flew straight toward Xinuo with a sound like air tearing, an arrow aimed at the heart of the sky—
Where it passed, space crumbled like dry clay.
Where it passed, time tangled and stuttered like a broken reel.
We watched from afar, hearts hit like drums; beyond shock, we had no words.
“Uh… Qianji Sister is terrifying. Even if it borrows the Sacred Life Sword, that Sword Aura’s strike is at Divine Realm peak. That’s a full tier above the Holy Peak she just broke through!”
I glanced at Qianji Sister, then down at myself; my mood slumped like a leaf in rain. I almost wanted to go squat in a corner. Still, I’d been a Sword Wielder for less than a year; that thought evened me out a little, like warmth returning to fingers.
...
“Looks like I can’t take that casually.”
For some reason, faced with a Sword Aura that erased everything into nothingness like ink swallowing paper, Xinuo smiled, a spark of excitement glinting like a star.
“Mm, fair enough. You showed me your strongest. If I don’t show some real skill, that’d be shameful.”
Right then, the calm aura around Xinuo dropped away like a cloak, replaced by something utterly natural—like wind moving through pines, effortless and true.
“Could it be?!”
Feeling the shift ripple from her like a current, I understood in a heartbeat what she intended—
“The Ultimate of the Sword: World Sword!”
Yes. In that moment, the technique Xinuo called was the third realm of swordcraft: the ultimate—World Sword.
Faced with the oncoming giant Sword Aura, Xinuo only gave a light swing, a motion calm as lifting a cup.
But that simple swing—
Drew the power of the entire plane like rivers drawn to the sea, gathering into her blade; for a breath, the world felt emptied, leaving only this one sword.
“This… impossible!”
Qianji Sister, usually cool as moon in winter, stared wide-eyed, shock carving across her face like lightning.
“Nothing impossible.”
Xinuo’s blade met the gigantic Sword Aura.
No thunderclap shook the sky, no explosion bloomed like a fireflower; instead, the colossal Sword Aura was sliced open, then unraveled back into law and energy, returned to heaven and earth like rain returning to clouds.
It was quieter than a storm, yet more stunning, a sight that struck the heart harder than any blast.
We’d witnessed the World Sword months ago, felt it like standing inside a temple bell, but seeing it again still shook me to the core.
Everyone there—Qianji Sister, and all of us watching from afar—fell speechless, stunned like stones in a river.
A long moment passed…
“I lost.”
Qianji Sister yielded cleanly, like a blade laid flat. She slid the Sacred Life Sword back into the scabbard at her hip, then looked at Xinuo with gratitude shining like firelight.
“I never imagined swordcraft at its extreme would wield such power. I’ve been staring up from a well, mistaking a patch of sky for the world. Thank you, Xinuo Miss, for letting me witness a perfect strike.”
