Mount Tai Sect, back mountain, midnight.
Zuo Lishan walked along the path, the glove he wore on his right hand during the day had been removed, revealing his dark fingernails, tightly gripping the hilt of his sword. His thumb rubbed the hilt continuously.
Beneath his clothes, living things slithered, leaving trails on his garments.
He licked his dry lips, feeling his internal energy surging and his blood boiling, and couldn't help but reveal a sinister smile.
Since earning the title of "Zhenyue Sword" at the Five Mountains Alliance Meeting at the age of twenty-five, he hadn't experienced this feeling in over a decade.
Excitement, elation, uncontrollable.
Li Miao was right, and Zuo Lishan himself was well aware that the foundation of his swordplay was indeed "arrogance."
Arrogance gained from defeating fellow disciples, slaying Western Region evil demons, single-handedly challenging assassin organizations, and triumphing over Five Mountains masters!
However, his swordplay had not progressed for several years.
No matter how hard he practiced, waking before dawn, regardless of bitter cold or scorching heat, never slacking for a single day. Yet, he made no progress.
He knew the reason—he needed an opponent, an opponent whose defeat would be enough to fuel his arrogance.
After reaching the pinnacle, there were only a few people in the world who could fight him, and all of them were leaders and honored guests of major forces. Rashly challenging them, regardless of victory or defeat, would affect his plan to integrate the Five Mountains.
His swordplay was a swordplay forged through victory. But there was no one left for him to defeat.
And tonight, he would defeat his last opponent.
"Li Miao…"
Zuo Lishan chewed on the name, savoring it.
He even suddenly had a thought: should he let Li Miao go?
He had already crossed the pinnacle, ascending to an uninhabited peak. Killing this sole audience, how uninteresting would the martial arts world be to him in the future?
After killing the Jinyiwei Commander, the Mount Tai Sect would likely be unable to preserve itself. But with his martial arts, he could go anywhere in the world; why bother with a small Mount Tai Sect?
But Zuo Lishan immediately shook his head, rejecting his idea.
The Mount Tai Sect was not important, and the Five Mountains Sword Sect was not important either. What was important was that he had to hand over the Five Mountains Sword Sect to the Ming Cult in exchange for more insanity worms.
The insanity worms the Ming Cult gave him were not enough to fully transform his body, leaving him with a weakness. If Li Miao were to escape, he might not even wait for the Five Mountains Alliance Meeting before the Jinyiwei (Imperial Guards) would launch a full-scale invasion, and then he would have no leverage to trade with the Ming Cult.
He had to kill Li Miao.
Zuo Lishan actually felt a little sad.
A moment later, he arrived at the private residence's gate.
"Creak—"
Zuo Lishan pushed open the door and saw Li Miao standing in the small courtyard with his hands behind his back, leisurely looking at a tree in the yard. Through the branches, moonlight spilled onto the ground, light and shadows shifting.
"Lord Li."
Zuo Lishan was not in a hurry to draw his sword. He walked forward and greeted Li Miao, like a friend arriving for an appointment.
"Master Zuo, you're here."
Li Miao replied casually without turning his head.
"What is Lord Li looking at?"
"Oh," Li Miao said, "I'm looking at which branch would be most suitable to whip you with."
"You!"
This single sentence completely shattered the mood and atmosphere Zuo Lishan had cultivated, that of "masters challenging each other, cherishing each other, and after tonight, no more opponents."
"After I defeat you, I will definitely dig out that tongue of yours," Zuo Lishan said angrily, drawing his sword from its sheath.
Li Miao reached out and broke off a branch from the tree, about a foot long. He held it in his hand, stripped off the leaves, tapped it in his palm, and nodded.
Only then did he smile and say to Zuo Lishan, "That's right, Master Zuo."
"You're here for revenge and to silence me; don't put on an act of cherishing each other, making it seem like I invited you to admire the moon."
"Those who don't know might think you have a preference for men."
Zuo Lishan sneered, "Don't tell me you think I'm still the same as before?"
"I have already crossed the pinnacle. My name will be in the legends of future martial arts, mentioned alongside Sanfeng Zhenren and Damo Ancestor."
"I don't know how you cultivated to this realm, but after tonight—only I will be invincible in the world."
"Hmph—" Li Miao seemed to hold back a laugh, letting out a slight sound.
"You got the Ming Cult's cultivation method and insanity worms, took a shortcut up the mountain, and now you really think you're something?"
"Master Zuo, if the pinnacle was so easy to cross, there wouldn't have been only Ji Tianrui in these past few decades. If the cultivation method he created was really that effective, the Ming Cult would have all masters at the pinnacle, and everyone would be a grandmaster; why would they need to win you over?"
"Sanfeng Zhenren and Damo Ancestor weren't as cheap as you."
"Fine, today I'll give you another lesson, and the tuition fee will be paid with your beloved Five Mountains Sword Sect."
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"Come."
Li Miao raised his palm and beckoned to Zuo Lishan.
Zuo Lishan gritted his teeth, looking at Li Miao, and said with a sinister smile, "Good!"
"Today, we will decide life and death, to see who is the boastful joke!"
In an instant, he charged forward with his sword!
It was still that move, "Dai Zong He Ru He"!
As this sword thrust out, internal energy surged, bringing with it a sharp shriek. The sword wind blew, causing the branches and leaves in the courtyard to sway, and leaves to fall.
As if! The! Sky! Was! Falling!
In a flash, it reached Li Miao's chest!
Li Miao's arm traced an afterimage in the air, the branch striking a weak point in Zuo Lishan's sword, actually dispersing the force of that sword and pushing it aside in mid-air!
"Yan Returns To The Morning Sun!" Zuo Lishan frowned, "Hua Mountain Swordplay… Are you a Jinyiwei (Imperial Guards), or an unrevealed senior from the Mount Hua Sect?"
Li Miao smiled, "This is just the beginning; why don't you try again and see?"
Zuo Lishan immediately shut up. After cultivating the evil art, his temperament became erratic, but his verbal skills were still those of the Mount Tai Sect master. In terms of provoking others, he was no match for Li Miao, something he had already experienced at noon.
He immediately stepped forward, executing a series of "Five Grand Masters Swords." This swordplay was ancient in its moves, yet contained subtle variations. Five consecutive swords, perfectly suited for probing.
However, Li Miao's figure flitted about, his strength moving as he pleased, the branch tracing afterimages in the air, constantly striking the weakest points of Zuo Lishan's sword, actually breaking five swords in a row and completely disrupting his stance.
Thump, thump, thump, thump—
Zuo Lishan retreated a few steps, looked up, and angrily shouted at Li Miao, "Who exactly are you?"
"'Heavy Sword Subdues Ox,' 'Thirteen Forms of Ever-Changing Heng Mountain Clouds and Mist,' 'Heaven and Earth Crane Soaring,' 'Yan Returns To The Morning Sun,' and even my Mount Tai Sect's 'Stone Pass Turning Horse'!"
"You actually used one move from each of the Five Mountains sects to break my five swords!?
"What evil art are you cultivating!?
To force Zuo Lishan, who cultivated insanity worms within his body, to call something "evil art," Li Miao was truly unique.
When masters at the pinnacle fight, if one forcibly uses martial arts that do not align with their temperament, it will leave a flaw that the opponent cannot ignore.
But the Five Mountains Sword Sects were located north and south of the great river, and their respective mental cultivation methods and artistic conceptions were different. How could Li Miao use the swordplay of the Five Mountains with such divine skill!? He could actually break his self-created swordplay!?
What kind of temperament did he have, that he could accommodate any swordplay!?