Chapter 23

...

The evil spirit walked calmly.

He never imagined that a twenty-year-old, who seemed no different from a child to him, could split him in two with a single sword strike, making his two eyes see the other half of his face.

The brilliance of that sword strike surpassed even the meteors in the sky, so powerful it was unbelievable!

One strike, and decades of his hard cultivation were utterly destroyed.

"Why did I provoke him?"

This was the evil spirit's last thought before his consciousness completely dissipated.

...

No one on the street noticed this, because the evil spirit was a spiritual entity, invisible to ordinary people. Only those with a certain level of mental cultivation could see it.

Only the soul that had been devoured of an arm by the evil spirit knelt down and kowtowed toward Ye Xiao's retreating back.

And on the belly of the yellow ox behind him, there was an additional two-finger-long black hole.

When Ye Xiao arrived at the library, his colleagues were enthusiastically discussing something.

"Have you heard? Recently, a swordsmanship prodigy from Hanzhou is coming to challenge the young swordsmen of our Jiuzhou region."

"Who doesn't know? The forums are almost exploding. His name is Park Jeong-saeng, the last disciple of Hanzhou's generation of sword saints, Liu Chengxun."

"Wow! It's actually Liu Chengxun! He's said to be the top swordsman in Hanzhou in nearly a hundred years! His sword skills can rank in the top ten of the world's swordsmanship!"

"His overall combat power can also rank 47th on the Dragon List in the world!"

"The disciple he taught is no ordinary person. It's said that the geniuses of Jingzhou have already been completely defeated. Our Zhongzhou is his second stop in challenging the nine regions, and Jianghai City is the gateway of Zhongzhou facing Jingzhou. He probably has no good intentions."

"The geniuses of Jingzhou have already been defeated, and our Jianghai City will likely not be able to withstand it either."

...

Hearing this, Ye Xiao's face showed a slight surprise.

Even the swordsmanship geniuses of Jingzhou have been defeated, it seems that this Park Jeong-saeng is indeed extraordinary.

Upon careful consideration, it makes sense. His master, Liu Chengxun, is ranked in the top ten swordsmen in the world, and his overall combat power can even make it to the Dragon List. It's not surprising that he could teach a disciple of this level.

Ye Xiao often reads books and has some understanding of the rankings in this world.

This world has a Dragon List and a Tiger List, which record the top 100 martial artists outside the front-line forces. The top 50 are collectively known as the Dragon List, and the bottom 50 are collectively known as the Tiger List.

Beyond these, there seems to be a Phoenix List, which specifically records the cultivation levels of female martial artists!

In short, anyone who can make it onto these lists is no ordinary person!

After all, to stand out from billions of people worldwide is itself a demonstration of extremely strong power!

However, what does this have to do with him?

He is just a small librarian.

Clock in for work, eat after work, sleep at night, and that's it.

Upstairs, Ye Xiao started reading again.

Sword techniques, knife techniques, and mental techniques have all been synthesized into top-level techniques, cultivated by the divine soul golden book on its own.

Next, he should consider learning some new skills, and mental power as well, so that he can successfully integrate more techniques.

In the morning, while Ye Xiao was reading, a wave of gardenia fragrance entered his nose, and he slightly raised his head, meeting Qin Yuyan's gaze.

"Sorry to disturb you, I'm here to return a book."

Ye Xiao nodded and took the book to check it.

"There's no problem, I'll upload it later."

"Thank you. By the way, I have some matters these next few days and won't be able to come. If the library gets any new knife techniques, please let me know."

Ye Xiao nodded.

His sharp mind quickly figured out what Qin Yuyan was going to do.

Her grandfather is the most renowned swordsman in Jianghai City, and she is the one with the deepest swordsmanship skills among the young generation.

With Park Jeong-saeng coming to Jianghai to challenge, she will undoubtedly be his opponent!

However, if she participates, she will likely be defeated as well.

Although Ye Xiao hasn't seen Park Jeong-saeng, he knows that Park Jeong-saeng's sword skills are extraordinary, otherwise, he wouldn't have swept through all the young swordsmanship geniuses of Jingzhou.

Qin Yuyan's sword skills, in Jianghai City, are somewhat noteworthy, but in Zhongzhou, they are not enough to stand out.

Moreover, she has been secretly learning knife techniques recently, and her sword skills have regressed instead of advancing. It would be a miracle if she could win.

I wonder how her knife technique cultivation is going.

The knife intent he left for her, if fully comprehended, should also give her a deep understanding of knife techniques.

Unfortunately, the competition is for sword skills, not knife techniques.

Even if Qin Yuyan's knife techniques are the best, they probably won't be of much use.

She didn't even dare to tell her grandfather about her knife technique cultivation, let alone use it in public.

"Is this your cat?"

Qin Yuyan noticed the cat form of Illusory Lapis and immediately picked it up from the ground.

"So cute! So soft!"

She stroked Illusory Lapis's fur, and her tender white hand made Illusory Lapis very comfortable. Not only did it not resist, but it also obediently lay in her arms, enjoying the moment.

The place where it lay was so refreshing and comfortable, even better than a sofa.

Soft and warm.

If only I could sleep here every time.

Ye Xiao glanced at her and nodded slightly.

Qin Yuyan's face rubbed against Illusory Lapis's fur, her eyes showing a hint of warmth and envy.

"I really envy you, being able to do what you want."

"You can too."

Qin Yuyan's face showed a bitter smile as she continued to pet the cat.

"Actually, our Qin family is a swordsmanship family. The Qin family's sword techniques have been passed down for over 200 years, and in my generation, it's a single lineage. So, my grandfather only allows me to cultivate sword techniques."

Ye Xiao didn't respond, just quietly listening.

Qin Yuyan continued as if talking to herself.

"That Park Jeong-saeng from Hanzhou, I don't know if you know, but he has already issued a challenge to me.

If I use sword techniques to face Park Jeong-saeng this time, I will definitely be defeated, and might not even last two moves!

But if I can use knife techniques to face him..."

At this point, a strong fighting spirit appeared in Qin Yuyan's eyes, but it was mixed with a hint of hesitation.

It was clear that she wanted to use knife techniques to challenge Park Jeong-saeng and test how strong her knife skills were!

However, she was also very wary of her grandfather, fearing that using knife techniques would make it difficult to explain to him.

Ye Xiao simply said,

"Whether it's knife techniques or sword techniques, they require a resolute belief to achieve success.

If you are hesitant and want to consider your grandfather's feelings while also wanting to cultivate knife techniques, you might as well go back and cultivate sword techniques.

Even if you don't like it, your sword skills might not be much worse than your knife skills!"