The blind girl is called a saint with a sword!

Although this kind of struggle is not as dangerous as physical combat, it is much more exhausting.

An Qingwan and the Palace Master of the Holy Palace engaged in a fierce intellectual battle for more than five hours, exchanging words back and forth.

When the outcome was finally decided, An Qingwan bent down to check herself and was shocked to find that her limbs were weak and her whole body was soaked, as if she had been soaking in water. Her clothes were sticking to her body and she felt extremely uncomfortable.

"Is this the skill of a martial arts theory genius in this world? No wonder she dared to challenge me even though she knew I was far stronger than her and probably knew more martial arts than she did."

An Qingwan slightly raised her head, her mental focus locking onto the Holy Palace Master on the opposite ship, who was now even more limp.

She ultimately won this battle.

But her victory was not easy.

The Palace Master of the Holy Palace possesses unparalleled resourcefulness; no matter how her moves are countered, she always manages to find a new path through any narrow opening.

In An Qingwan's words—even a python couldn't be as entangled as you!

However, even though the Palace Master of the Holy Palace was so difficult to deal with, she was ultimately no match for An Qingwan.

Firstly, An Qingwan has a much wider range of martial arts skills than her.

Having a strong technical foundation naturally gives one an advantage in academic competition. Secondly, An Qingwan's learning ability is also exceptional.

While she was firmly entangled by the Palace Master of the Holy Palace, she quickly gleaned valuable lessons from him. She rapidly absorbed these lessons, transforming them into projectiles in her hand, which she then fired back at the Palace Master of the Holy Palace.

Faced with such a highly skilled opponent who grew stronger with each battle, even the Holy Palace Master, with his exceptional endurance, could only ultimately succumb to defeat.

But she can be considered to have lost with honor.

If it were any other opponent, such as Yu Miaozhen, they would probably be taken down by An Qingwan in one round. Sikong Tingxue and Leng Qingyou could last a little longer, but they definitely wouldn't last five hours, not even one hour.

Moreover, although the Holy Palace was defeated, her gains were surprisingly great. This is evident from her current performance.

Although she collapsed on the boat, her sweat-drenched face was full of a happy smile.

An Qingwan drew much nourishment from her, and she, in turn, reaped much sweetness from An Qingwan.

The Palace Master of the Holy Palace felt that not only had her knowledge broadened, but her mental and physical will had also become more flexible and adaptable.

She vividly remembers the strange experience she had during the most intense moment of her confrontation with An Qingwan.

At that time, she even thought that her soul had left her body and merged with An Qingwan's soul, that the two of them were no longer separate, but had become a being called "Nature".

Tao follows nature.

She could clearly feel everything about herself.

She could also clearly sense everything about An Qingwan.

She also felt as if she had the world at her fingertips.

This is of course an illusion, but it is the most wonderful thing in the world.

The Palace Master of the Holy Palace has become obsessed with this illusion.

"I came to the Central Plains this time just to find an opponent to verify my thoughts. I didn't expect that I would not only verify my thoughts, but also make further progress. It's really a fortunate thing, hahahaha."

Laughter rippled across the lake, blending with the spring sunshine.

An Qingwan cupped her hands in greeting: "It is wonderful that the Palace Master has gained something. I have also gained a lot from this martial arts competition. Normally, I would definitely treat the Palace Master to a good drink, but I have other things on my mind right now, so please forgive me for not being able to accompany you."

The Palace Master of the Holy Palace said, "My name is Bianchengyue. My dreams linger on the moonlit border town, and my heart flies to the towers of my homeland. My mother came from the Central Plains. She missed her homeland, so she gave me this name."

An Qingwan: "?"

I didn't ask for your name. Never mind.

Go ahead and say it.

An Qingwan cupped her hands in greeting again, and then she channeled her inner strength, propelled by it...

Below, the boat beneath their feet cleaved through the waves like a great white shark, heading straight for the lake shore.

But before the ship had sailed very far, she suddenly received a new system notification.

[Successfully captured the heart of Bian Chengyue, the mastermind behind the lawless Nine Nether Island, and obtained a Martial Arts Treasure Chest*1]

The sudden notification startled An Qingwan, causing the boat to stop abruptly and nearly throwing her into the lake.

Is this...this hint correct?

Shouldn't she be the one who wins the debate against Bian Chengyue, and then be rewarded?

This is indeed a capture, but this kind of capture seems reasonable, yet it also seems unreasonable.

Forget it.

A reward is better than no reward at all.

An Qingwan opened the system to see what martial arts skills she could obtain.

Congratulations on acquiring the sword technique: Ten Thousand Swords Return to One.

The golden characters that appeared in her mind made An Qingwan's breath catch in her throat.

The Ten Thousand Swords Return to One is the ultimate technique of the Sword Sect. Normally, one must first cripple one's martial arts before one can generate a sword aura within one's body and master this technique.

This is similar to the principle that once you've mastered the Wedding Dress Divine Skill to six or seven tenths of its potential, you must destroy all the skills you've acquired and start practicing from scratch.

An Qingwan obtained her martial arts skills directly from the system, so she didn't need to go through the process of self-abandoning her martial arts skills.

Once the Ten Thousand Swords Return to One technique is mastered, it can unleash the sword energy contained within the body, attacking the enemy like a torrential rain. This is somewhat similar to the effect of the Formless Divine Needle, but the power is naturally not on the same level.

In addition, Wan Jian Gui Zong can also wield real swords and absorb the internal energy of others to heal himself.

Of course, for An Qingwan now, the most important thing is neither the sword energy of Ten Thousand Swords Returning to One nor its healing ability, but the martial art itself.

She is currently at a crucial moment of enlightenment, and the arrival of the Myriad Swords Return to the Origin will greatly benefit her, allowing her to view swords from a new perspective and, in turn, to understand the principles of heaven and earth through swords.

"What a pity, what a pity. The Moon Lord of the Border City didn't learn swordsmanship. If she had, let alone just five hours, I could have endured five days and five nights of debate. At worst, I would have just collapsed from exhaustion."

An Qingwan sighed and shut down the system.

She continued navigating her boat, and soon she was back on shore.

Leng Qingyou and Lu Qinghui had been anxiously waiting on the shore for a long time. When they saw her return, with her clothes intact, they immediately breathed a sigh of relief.

"You won?"

An Qingwan smiled and said, "We won."

Leng Qingyou said, "I knew you would win!"

In fact, her back was already soaked with sweat. She was ultimately worried about An Qingwan.

She herself can endure hardship and even find joy in it, but she doesn't want to see An Qingwan suffer. Doing "that kind of thing" is another matter, as that is physically demanding.

Leng Qingyou said, "Now that we've finished our duel with the Palace Master of the Holy Palace, then we..."

An Qingwan said, "The Palace Master of the Holy Palace told me some bad news." She then explained Han Jing's current situation.

Upon hearing this, Leng Qingyou's face turned pale instantly.

"What? You're saying he might have already attained enlightenment?"

An Qingwan said, "It's hard to say the specifics. Let's go and tell Tianzong and the Sword God about this first."

"Okay, I'll go right away, I'll go right away." Leng Qingyou said anxiously.

If Han Jing truly attains enlightenment, then they will all face the risk of death. It would be better to quickly lead their people and run away to a place as far away from the Central Plains as possible, so that there might still be a sliver of a chance to survive.

Only half a day later, An Qingwan returned to the Sword Nunnery.

Upon learning of Han Jing's situation, both the Sword God and the Heavenly Sword wore solemn expressions. "An Qingwan, how far are you from achieving Dao?"

An Qingwan said, "It's just a fine line, but it's hard to say when we can cross that line."

The Sword God said, "There's only one way left." An Qingwan asked, "What way?"

The Sword God said, "Go to the Jinglun Heavenly Palace!"

An Qingwan asked in surprise, "Does the Jinglun Heavenly Palace have a method for attaining enlightenment?"

The Sword God said, "No, but the Dao Master has indeed reached that realm. I think you should go and see where the Dao Master recuperated before his death; perhaps you will find something there."

An Qingwan nodded; that was indeed a good idea. "Then let's go take a look."

If this method doesn't work, she has other options. Regardless of the consequences, she can just hunt down and kill those heinous criminals in the martial arts world, racking up rewards. Maybe she'll get an epiphany while she's killing them all?

The situation was urgent, and no one dared to delay, so they immediately left the Sword Nunnery.

On their way to the Jinglun Heavenly Palace, they received a message—

Han Jing returned to the Qing Shuang Sect and spread the word that the Jiu You Holy Palace, in conjunction with the Heavenly Venerable, had murdered Mo Zhi Chou of the Qi Xia Sword Sect, Xu Zhong of the Xu family, and the Cang Ming Holy Master.

He said that the Palace Master of the Holy Palace and the Heavenly Venerable had indiscriminately started killing people, posing a great threat to the people of the Central Plains. He was standing up now to call on all people in the martial arts world to join him in attacking the Nine Nether Holy Palace.

He specifically mentioned An Qingwan, hoping that she would join hands with him to deal with the Palace Master of the Holy Palace and the Heavenly Venerable.

This news caused a huge sensation in the martial arts world. The deaths of Xu Chong and the Holy Master Cangming were, in a way, a good thing.

But now that the Palace Master and the Celestial Venerable have killed them, who will they target next?

For a time, people in the martial arts world were filled with unease.

The Sword God's face was ashen: "Since he dared to show himself, he must have already achieved something." An Qingwan said, "For now, we can only ignore him and continue to Jinglun Heavenly Palace, but we must hurry, he won't give us much time." No one had any objections.

Amidst the turmoil in the martial world, as masters from all walks of life rushed to the Qing Shuang Sect for a meeting, the group finally arrived at the Jing Lun Heavenly Palace.

"Two days ago, the Qing Shuang Sect sent people to the Jing Lun Heavenly Palace, saying that they were worried that the Dao Lord's body would be seized by the Holy Palace Master and the Heavenly Venerable, and asked me to hand over the Dao Lord's body to them for safekeeping. I refused with all my might. Although it delayed me for a while, given Han Jing's current strength, I'm afraid it won't last long."

"Actually, there are rumors in the martial arts world that Mo Zhichou and the others were killed by Han Jing, but the reputation of the Qing Shuang Sect is still too great, and Han Jing personally spoke out, so more people still believe that Mo Zhichou and the others were killed by the Palace Master of the Holy Palace and the Heavenly Venerable."

Master Xuanjing helplessly poured out his grievances to An Qingwan and the others. Tianjian patted him on the shoulder.

What can we do now?

Let's go and see.

The Way of the Sword Saint at 165! [5k]

The Dao Lord recuperated not in the Jinglun Heavenly Palace, but in the mountains near Shangluo.

This place has beautiful scenery and is a good place to live in seclusion.

"The Dao Master touched the Dao of Nature amidst these mountains and rivers. Since he left, I haven't touched anything. Whether you can see anything is entirely up to you."

Master Xuanjing didn't actually have much hope.

He had seen this place many times before and couldn't see any difference between it and other mountains and fields.

Inside that wooden house, the Daoist Master did leave some writings, but after careful examination, he realized that they were not insights into martial arts, but rather notes of daily trivialities written down in his spare time and then bound into a book.

"The Dao follows nature, and things happen naturally. The Dao is inherently present in this world, so where can we not comprehend it? We simply lack a pair of eyes, or rather, a special state of mind. The writings left behind by the Dao Master record his state of mind. If we can understand his state of mind, perhaps we can see the Dao that he saw. From this perspective, the writings left behind by the Dao Master are simply the most profound secrets in the world."

An Qingwan gently stroked the book handed to her by Master Xuanjing, her voice filled with joy.

Why is attaining enlightenment so difficult?

Because this is a road that cannot be seen or touched, but whose existence can only be vaguely felt.

Although those thorny paths are difficult to walk, at least the path is there, and no matter how difficult it is, you can take the time to think of a strategy to get through it.

But how do you walk a path that you can't see or touch? Nobody knows.

Everyone can only try their luck.

Some people may start in the right direction, but they don't even realize they're on the right track. Then, they take a wrong step and go astray.

This is naturally not their fault; they had nothing to refer to.

For example, the methods of the Qing Shuang school—has no one throughout history thought of a similar approach?

But just because you have an idea, does that mean you can actually do it?

Does execution guarantee a smooth process?

Does the smooth execution guarantee that there will be no more deviations? In fact, every step is fraught with the risk of failure.

Just like conducting an experiment, even if the experimental steps, equipment, and materials are all selected correctly, a small difference in the material ratio can lead to drastically different results.

The Dao Lord is undoubtedly a genius, and also an undeniably lucky genius.

Because he truly found the path to enlightenment, he found it without deliberately seeking it. Although he didn't manage to complete the journey, he solved a very important problem—

May I ask which way leads?

Pointing out the direction is extremely important.