Watching the Mountain

Senior Sister Yue had only recently joined the Sect back then. She was so exceptional that he never had a chance to repay the debt for saving his life and guiding him onto the path of cultivation.

His master had told him that for a Sword Cultivator, a favor and a promise were ten thousand times more important than life itself.

Now he finally had the chance to repay Senior Sister Yue’s kindness. Therefore, he absolutely could not back down. He had to win. He couldn’t let anyone disturb Senior Sister Yue.

After Chen Chang’an and Zhao Wuyang stared at each other for a long time, Zhao Wuyang nodded at him and said, "Very well. Since Fellow Daoist Chen puts it that way, we will grant your wish. I hope you can do as you say and keep on winning."

"I will." Chen Chang’an nodded, his expression calm, then made a gesture of invitation toward Zhao Wuyang.

Unexpectedly, Zhao Wuyang waved his hand dismissively. "You’re not worthy of fighting me yet. You’d better prove yourself first."

After speaking, he looked at the crowd behind him and said flatly, "Who among you is willing to ’exchange some pointers’ with Fellow Daoist Chen?"

A moment later, someone stepped forward.

*

*

*

The disciples of the Profound Pure Sect had never understood, upon seeing Chen Chang’an, how this person who had almost no presence in the Sect and looked so ordinary could be ranked alongside the likes of Senior Sister Yue.

He truly gave off an ordinary impression. Even though they knew he was the pride of their Sect, they still couldn’t picture him being powerful.

Until today, they finally understood.

On the tournament stage, as a sky-piercing Sword Intent surged forth, all thoughts and emotions were driven from everyone’s minds. Only a single word remained: Blade!

No one knew from which direction that flash of the blade came. It was as if it had traversed time and space, embedding itself directly into the enemy’s body the instant Chen Chang’an swung his blade, before erupting from within.

His opponent didn’t even have time to react before all the protective Magical Treasures on his body shattered with a BOOM, and he was sent flying backward.

Many of the spectators hadn’t even had time to process what happened before the battle was already over.

The disciples of the Profound Pure Sect stared blankly at the scene. At this moment, they finally understood why the Deceitful Blade could be ranked alongside Senior Sister Yue and the others.

Strong.

Strong beyond imagination.

’And such a powerful person is actually from our own Sect.’

A sense of pride swelled involuntarily in the hearts of the Profound Pure Sect disciples present.

Meanwhile, the prodigies from the other sects also stared at Chen Chang’an on the stage, their faces filled with shock.

When Chen Chang’an had said he would "keep on winning," they had anticipated that his strength must have improved.

But they never expected him to be *this* powerful.

The people they had brought this time might not have been the absolute strongest of their respective sects’ younger generations, but they all definitely deserved the title of prodigy. Each and every one was a top-ranked cultivator among their peers.

And yet, a person like that was defeated by Chen Chang’an before he could even react.

That terrifying Sword Intent from a moment ago, along with that incredibly bizarre strike, caused the expressions of many present to change drastically as they wondered, ’If I were the one facing that attack, could I block it?’

Chen Chang’an held his blade horizontally before him, looked up at the Demon Sect representative Zhao Wuyang by the side of the stage, and said flatly, "Next."

Hearing this, Zhao Wuyang merely watched him in silence, saying nothing.

However, the representative from the Immortal Sects, Liu Yunge, spoke up from the other side. She offered a graceful smile and said to Chen Chang’an:

"Fellow Daoist Chen, it is already unfair for you to challenge so many of us alone. If we were to let you fight consecutively, wouldn’t that be even more disgraceful? There are twenty of us here, after all."

"Let’s wait until tomorrow for the next battle. From now on, one match per day."

She looked at Chen Chang’an’s expression, gave him a reassuring glance, and said, "Rest assured, I know what you’re worried about. I can promise you right now that we absolutely will not disturb Fellow Daoist Yue before you lose."

After speaking, she looked at Zhao Wuyang opposite her and asked with a smile, "Fellow Daoist Zhao, you have no objections, do you?"

Zhao Wuyang sneered, "Hypocritical."

He then waved his hand and said dismissively, "Whatever. What does it matter if he rests for a day? Or even three?"

"Alright, then we’ll fight again in three days," Liu Yunge said with a beaming smile.

*

*

*

When the Righteous and Demon Daos were together, conflict always seemed inevitable. So, to avoid such a situation, the Profound Pure Sect had arranged for the two factions to be housed on different main peaks when hosting them.

Among the twenty sects that came this time, thirteen were from the Righteous Dao and seven were from the Demon Dao. When the crowd dispersed, the two groups left in opposite directions.

Xu Ran, who had been squeezed into the crowd to watch, felt like the entire day had been a waste of time.

Teacher Qing Xuan had told him to come witness a battle between prodigies and learn from the experience.

’How am I supposed to learn from this?’

’The battle was over in the blink of an eye. I didn’t understand anything at all. The only thing I understood was that prodigies are incredibly strong.’

He actually found it easier to understand how Chen Chang’an had defeated his opponent in a single move. Ye Shan had once said that Xu Ran himself possessed fifty percent of his style, and Xu Ran believed him.

He had originally thought that Chen Chang’an would spend the next few days recuperating and preparing for future battles.

Who would have known that on the way back, he would be stopped by the man himself.

"Junior Brother Xu, what did you think of my strike just now?" Chen Chang’an stared directly at him.

Xu Ran was silent for a moment before answering truthfully, "I didn’t see it clearly."

’It wasn’t just me,’ he thought. ’The vast majority of people watching didn’t see it clearly either.’

Chen Chang’an fell silent. After a good while, he spoke in a heavy voice, "Then I will suppress my Cultivation. Junior Brother, you and I will have a match."

"So suddenly?" Xu Ran was a little taken aback.

Chen Chang’an tilted his head back slightly, his gaze flickering. "I don’t want to leave behind another regret."

He didn’t know if he could keep winning in this challenge. The others were one thing, but he had no confidence he could defeat Zhao Wuyang and Liu Yunge.

He didn’t know if he would still be alive after fighting them.

Ye Shan had already left him with one regret. He didn’t want to have another one when it came to Xu Ran.

Xu Ran looked at his reaction, hesitated for a moment, then said, "I can fight you, Senior Brother, but please be mentally prepared. I might not be as strong as you imagine."

He then waved his hand and corrected himself, "No, I should say, I’m much, much weaker than you imagine."

Chen Chang’an’s expression remained unchanged. After suppressing his Cultivation to the same level as Xu Ran’s—Foundation Establishment Middle Stage—he waved a hand at him and said, "Let’s begin."

Seeing this, Xu Ran no longer hesitated, summoning his longsword with a wave of his hand and gripping it tightly.

A moment later.

Chen Chang’an stared blankly at Xu Ran, who lay on the ground, his eyes filled with bewilderment.

Xu Ran sighed helplessly. The scene of his first meeting with Ye Shan, when he had demonstrated a Daoist Technique for him, surfaced in his mind.

Back then, Ye Shan had worn the same expression of uncomprehending disbelief.

Although he had made great progress in combat and was even a cut above the average disciple now, compared to a prodigy like Chen Chang’an, he was still leagues behind.

A long moment passed before Chen Chang’an came back to his senses. With a tone laced with incomprehension, he asked, "Junior Brother, you’ve clearly comprehended Sword Intent, so why is your Swordsmanship so terrible?"

Xu Ran quickly corrected him, "No, no, no, this is just a normal Death Realm, not Sword Intent. I’m just applying it to my Sword Dao."

"You saw my Swordsmanship. It’s pretty ordinary. Besides that one move, *Silent Sparrow*, the rest could even be described as clumsy."

Hearing this, Chen Chang’an pondered for a long time before nodding in agreement. He stared at Xu Ran, sizing him up for a moment, and said:

"I understand what Senior Brother Ye Shan meant now. From now on, I will be your sparring partner, until you can truly fight against me."

"Huh?" Xu Ran uttered in surprise. ’Was that what Ye Shan meant? Is he overthinking things?’

He was a little puzzled, but Chen Chang’an left immediately after speaking, giving him no chance to ask questions.

*

*

*

Since joining the Profound Pure Sect, aside from the incident with Wang Xingye and Hao Daniu over the Awakening Liquid and the inter-sect grand competition, he had never once stepped outside the Sect and thus had never encountered any real danger.

The closest he’d come to danger was when the old ancestor of the Flame Sun Sect attacked, but that was blocked. He hadn’t even seen the attacker, so in reality, he had never faced a crisis up close.

However, he never would have imagined that after coming to this world, the closest he would ever be to danger would be right in the vicinity of his own Cave Mansion. And it would be today.

And this time, it was real danger. One wrong move, and someone could die.