The old ape leaped towards the young woman, raising its arm and clenching its fist, bringing it down in a wide arc towards her head.

The young woman raised her green-sheathed narrow blade to parry, the blade’s edge aimed directly at the old ape’s wrist. Simultaneously, the long sword in her other hand swiftly and directly thrust towards the old ape’s chest, the tip targeting a specific point on its heart.

Unexpectedly, the old ape’s rough, sweeping descent of its long arm transformed into a skillful grip with all five fingers, firmly seizing the blade. At the same time, its other hand, perfectly in line with its nature and intent, tightly clenched the tip of the sword.

It was evident that the ferocious assault was a feint, intended to lure the young woman into a rash attack with her sword.

The Mountain Moving Ape, hailing from the swordplay haven of Eastern Treasure Bottle Continent, instantly recognized the sword’s extraordinary nature.

To this end, the old ape didn’t hesitate to exchange a breath of its vital energy for a second time.

Even as the sword tip had already penetrated the old ape’s chest, with barely an inch remaining before piercing its heart.

Seeing the perilous situation, Ning Yao resolutely released the sword hilt, while forcefully pulling back her narrow blade. The blade slid across the old ape’s palm, emitting a metallic shriek that pierced the eardrums.

After withdrawing the blade, the young woman leaned back, her feet moving ceaselessly, quickly retreating backwards.

As expected, the old ape turned sideways, flinging the sword held in its hand dozens of feet away.

It then launched a kick towards the young woman.

The young woman raised her right hand, which had held the sword, only to be struck squarely by the old ape’s kick. With a thunderous boom, the young woman was sent flying seven or eight yards, her back slamming heavily against the ground. She tumbled several times before using the tip of her blade to brace herself. The blade plunged a foot deep into the road, forcefully halting her sliding body. Fortunately, the soil of the streamside path was soft, and the occasional stones were round and not sharp, preventing the young woman’s back from suffering a bloody fate.

Without giving the young woman any chance to catch her breath, the massive form descended from the sky.

This time, the young woman didn’t even attempt to draw her narrow blade, instead retreating further and further.

The old ape didn’t pursue the young woman. Upon landing, it stood in place, one foot raised high, stepping onto the hilt of the blade embedded in the road. Once the young woman knelt on one knee and looked up, the old ape increased the pressure on its foot, sinking the entire narrow blade deep into the ground until the hilt was level with the surface.

Wisps of purplish-gold energy slowly flowed across the old ape’s face, appearing particularly dazzling in the deep night. It sneered, “Practicing both the blade and the sword, neither donkey nor horse, neither fish nor fowl, this is your pathetic end!”

The young woman stood up, forcibly swallowing a mouthful of blood. “Is this all you’ve got?”

The old ape shook its head and chuckled. “I was merely giving you another chance.”

Ning Yao took a deep breath and said in a deep voice, “In my hometown, battles of life and death are not about who your parents are. As long as you have the ability to kill me fair and square, it simply means I am not skilled enough. If my parents find out the reason and process in the future, they will at most come to Eastern Treasure Bottle Continent to make trouble for you, and will never involve Zheng Yang Mountain. So you can rest assured and fight freely…”

This was the first time the old ape had heard the young woman being so loquacious, a far cry from the reticent, veiled girl it had known.

Therefore, the moment the old ape felt a chill on the back of its neck, it abruptly turned its head.

A streak of white light grazed past its neck, the sword’s edge leaving a shallow wound.

If it hadn’t turned its head, even if it couldn’t have pierced the old ape’s neck in one go, it would have definitely been a serious injury. By then, it would have truly capsized in the gutter, one wrong step leading to another. The thought that if it were to reveal its true form too early, it would lose the moral high ground, leaving no room to bargain with Qi Jingchun and Ruan Xiu, and might even implicate its young mistress, causing her to face all kinds of dangers alone in this world, caused the Zheng Yang Mountain old ape to finally feel anger for the third time.

The flying sword didn’t return to its sheath, but rather circled around the young woman, spinning rapidly, trying to win praise from its master.

Upon seeing this scene, the old ape laughed in fury. “Good, good, good! I wasn’t satisfied with that fight with Song Changjing, so I’ll have a good time with you next! But do you know if your few pounds of flesh and bone can withstand a few heavy blows?!”

The young woman carefully observed the purplish-gold energy on the old ape’s face, her brows furrowed slightly. Contrary to her expectations that things wouldn’t happen more than three times, the old ape, even after using its supernatural powers three times, clearly still had some reserve power. It wasn’t about to cause the collapse of the dams of its major acupoints and be forced to display its true form. Moreover, shortening one’s lifespan was extremely fatal to human cultivators below the fifth realm. It was certainly painful for a Mountain Moving Ape, but not as deadly as it would be for other “people”.

The young woman’s fingers twitched slightly, and the long sword spun nimbly with her movements. She smiled. “No wonder my dad said that your Zheng Yang Mountain in Eastern Treasure Bottle Continent is not worth mentioning. You’re always all talk, with low swordsmanship, stupid courage, and shallow sword qi.”

The old ape’s beard and hair stood on end. It roared, “Courting death!”

It charged towards the reckless young woman, intending to kill her.

Ning Yao didn’t engage in prolonged combat, instead fleeing north.

The journey was fraught with danger. If not for the flying sword’s possession of two characters from the “Qi Chong Dou Niu” plaque, causing its sword qi and divine intent to surge, and its connection with the young woman allowing it to act according to her thoughts, the sword itself seemed to disregard the rules. This allowed the old ape’s thunderous attacks to be repeatedly thwarted, helping its master narrowly escape time and again.

If it were a natal artifact painstakingly nurtured by a sword cultivator, such harmony with its master’s will wouldn’t have surprised the old ape. However, the old ape clearly sensed that the unsheathed long sword was not the strange young woman’s natal flying sword.

She was more like those ordinary martial artists roaming the martial world, carrying a handy “divine weapon,” only requiring the edge to be sharp enough. She hadn’t embarked on the path of nurturing a sword heart or giving birth to a sword spirit, the true path of the sword cultivator. But the strangeness of the young woman lay in the fact that she wasn’t entirely a martial artist either. For martial arts masters who focused on tempering their bodies, they pursued “Heaven and earth may collapse, but my body shall endure.” If they were dominated by weapons, they would become a kind of unorthodox path.

Throughout the fighting, the reason the old ape had been unable to capture the young woman, besides the flying sword’s interference, was that the young woman’s learning was very diverse, encompassing sword cultivator, martial artist, and Qi refiner. Her aura was pure and long-lasting. The old ape couldn’t fathom which sect in Eastern Treasure Bottle Continent could train such a bizarre junior, so it became increasingly cautious in its attacks, trying to determine her background and origins.

As long as it didn’t approach the small town, no matter how mixed the people there were, the old ape would not have any worries here.

The fleeing young woman’s face grew increasingly pale.

“At the end of her rope!”

The old ape grinned fiercely. “Let’s not talk about whether you can hold out until you escape back to the small town. Even if you succeed by chance, and someone comes to your aid, do you really think I can’t kill you?”

The old ape suddenly leaped into the air, not bothering with the flying sword, and landed ahead of her, blocking her path north. With a punch, it sent the flying sword flying hundreds of feet away. However, the persistent flying sword returned in an instant, piercing towards the old ape’s head again. When the old ape tried to seize the opportunity to grip the flying sword and imprison it in its palm, it cunningly retreated as if it could predict the future, never lingering in battle. The flying sword came and went like the wind, making it difficult to defend against. No matter how thick-skinned the old ape was and how unafraid of injury it was, it was still slightly embarrassed.

Unwilling to confront the old ape head-on, the young woman skewed her path, running northeast.

The old ape followed, shifting sideways, constantly causing her to feel threatened.

The old ape slapped away the flying sword that was rushing from the side, hitting it like a fly, driving the flying sword two feet into the ground. The flying sword twisted its body like a woman swaying her waist, finally managing to pull itself out of the mud. It hovered in the air, the sword tip trembling violently, like an angry wild kitten, and soon swooped towards the old ape again with great ferocity.

The old ape grew impatient and couldn’t help but ask, “Why can this flying sword ignore the laws here? What is your relationship with Qi Jingchun or Ruan Xiu?!”

Ning Yao was almost pressed onto her forehead by the old ape’s palm. As her body leaned back, she reached out and grabbed the hilt of the flying sword. Then, she was forcibly pulled out of the old ape’s palm range. The whole person was like being dragged by her arm, sliding backwards.

After being pulled a distance by the flying sword, the young woman, for some reason, did not take the opportunity to retreat into the small town, but stopped, stood up straight, tilted her head, and spat out a mouthful of blood. The flying sword hovered beside the young woman, buzzing, like an ignorant child, chattering endlessly to its elders.

The young woman held her left shoulder with her right hand.

The old ape suddenly slowed down and laughed loudly, “Sure enough, this flying sword that recognizes you as its master can indeed ignore the rules, but a flying sword is just a flying sword after all. No matter how profound and spiritual it is, it is still not as good as you, little girl, to command it. Unfortunately, your body and soul have been severely injured in the small town and have not healed. As a result, you can’t bear to control it at all. Therefore, it has been intermittent, and the attack is carried out by it autonomously. Anyway, you never thought about really hurting me. The defensive moves used to save your life have to be controlled by your heart.”

The young woman finally spoke again, “You talk too much.”

Her lips were scarlet, her face was snow-white, and she wore an ink-green robe.

In the middle of the night, the young woman looked like a female ghost from the countryside.

The old ape walked forward step by step, tsk-tsking, “You have a good sword, but your body is weak. A weak trunk with strong branches, what a pity! You and the young man in the alley tried your best to make me change my breath, so as to attract the backlash of this world. Little girl, now you might as well guess, when I use this third breath and change to the next new breath, will it anger the heavens and earth? And can I withstand the seawater pouring back?”

The young woman suddenly smiled playfully, tapping her toes and jumping back, no more than a yard high, no more than half a yard far.

The old ape, which wanted to chase, was a little confused. Fearing fraud, it continued to walk slowly, determined to wait and see.

Then, the young woman in the air tapped her toes again. This time, the force of her toes was slightly greater, and her ankle was also twisted, so she did not jump straight back, but jumped to the right.

It turned out that before the young woman’s body fell, the flying sword swept to the sole of the young woman’s foot at the highest point in the air, so the young woman accurately borrowed strength each time, continuing to dodge backwards and upwards.

Even the battle-hardened old ape was a little stunned. The scene in front of it was strange and ridiculous.

The young woman looked like a little fawn playing hopscotch, jumping and skipping, full of lightness and agility, and soon disappeared into the night sky.

Probably worried that the old ape would launch a sneak attack halfway, the young woman’s jumps seemed extremely disorganized, sometimes left and sometimes right, sometimes high and sometimes low, sometimes forward and sometimes backward.

The old ape twitched the corner of its mouth, its eyes complex, “What a羚羊掛角 (a skillful but elusive maneuver).”

However, the old ape did not just watch the young woman flee. With a flick of its toes, it casually picked up a stone, held it in its hand, and smashed it swiftly towards the air.

One by one, the stones were quickly picked out of the ground by the old ape, and finally shot out in the old ape’s hand with the momentum of wind and thunder.

Although most of the stones missed, there were still seven or eight stones that posed a great threat to the young woman, forcing her to control the flying sword to shatter the flying stones.

There was a roar in the night sky, like spring thunder blooming.

The old ape’s eyes were gloomy.

The young woman was either out of her mind or had a screw loose. She could have controlled the flying sword in one breath and raised herself to a high altitude where the flying stones were weaker.

However, she insisted on roughly maintaining a certain height, like light cavalry maneuvering on the edge of the battlefield, inducing the enemy archers to constantly consume arrows and strength.

Unknowingly, it was approaching the west side of the town.

The old ape roughly weighed the remaining breath, which was not much. It specifically picked out two stones as big as a child’s fist, one in each hand. One foot stepped forward, and one arm swung out. The bulging muscles bulged high, which was shocking. Where the flying stones broke through the air in its hand, there was a hissing sound, mixed with a long string of sparks, which was different from the past, like a slender fire dragon rising into the sky.

The old ape shouted, “Get down here!”

A dazzling electric light lit up in the high sky, followed by the sound of spring thunder.

The young woman groaned, and the whole person began to fall.

The flying sword, which was crooked like a drunk, kept wailing and whimpering, but still desperately rushed to its master.

The old ape did not look at the young woman and the flying sword, but narrowed its eyes and stared at the roof on the west side of the town. When a shadow moved out, the old ape heavily stepped out with the other foot, and the only stone left in its hand whistled away, and laughed happily, “Those who save people will die first!”

The young woman vomited blood and shouted, “Don’t come out!”

The young woman, who was already seriously injured, could not bear to look at it. At that moment, she felt a little desperate, and grasped the sword hilt with difficulty. When one arm could not support it, she quickly switched hands to hold the sword. In this way, she repeatedly reduced the speed of falling.

Ning Yao did not expect that it was her cleverness that killed the young man.

The young man wore straw sandals, carried a basket, and was tied with a fishing basket. Like the wind, he came and went in a hurry every day, busy making money and busy boiling medicine.

Ning Yao felt that it was not right for such a young man to die like this!

After the young woman landed staggeringly, she joined her two fingers as a sword and pointed them against her forehead. She gritted her teeth and said, “Come out! Cut through this world for me!”

There was a thin golden line at the young woman’s brow, gradually spreading from top to bottom.

Like an immortal opening the eye of heaven!

Under the ancient arch bridge, in the current corridor bridge.

There was a rusty old sword bar with the tip pointing at the water pool for thousands of years. Like a person waking up from a deep sleep, it yawned.

The rusty sword tip swayed gently.

So the corridor bridge swayed.

The whole stream also swayed.

The whole small world also swayed.

In a deep mountain, Qi Jingchun, who was covered in dust, and several people came out of the mountain together. The teacher, who was walking leisurely on the mountain road, raised one foot, just about to step down suddenly, smiled, and slowly landed.

Old Man Yang in the backyard of Yang’s shop was dozing off by the oil lamp. After waking up with a start, he tapped the table with his old pipe.

Song Changjing, the king of Dali, scolded his mother and jumped on his feet in the official office for no reason.

In a sword-making room in a blacksmith shop, Ruan Xiu, who was responsible for hammering, actually missed a hammer, and the ponytail girl holding the sword bar was shocked.

Ma Kuxuan, a young man from Xinghua Lane who was regarded as a fool by everyone, originally lay on the roof watching the night sky, but suddenly sat up, full of murderous intent.

At this moment, a familiar voice sounded anxiously, getting closer and closer, “Miss Ning, why are you standing there stupidly?! Run! I’m not dead, that’s a piece of clothing I took off! The old beast has a bad brain, why are you so stupid too?”

The young woman was already a little unconscious. Just as the edict ceremony was about to be completed, she suddenly felt as if she was riding in the clouds. She was carried on her shoulders and ran into the alleys of the town.

Ning Yao suddenly woke up, and her body kept bumping up and down with a young man’s shoulder, which was a little uncomfortable and even more embarrassing. She was completely stunned, “Huh?”