Volume 2, Chapter 15 – Beheading

Bai Xiang entered the arena, her distinctive outfit and bright styling drawing a wave of cheers from the crowd.

Many who had been prejudiced against her found their lingering displeasure easing the moment they saw what she actually looked like, and began to feel a different kind of anticipation for this Sword Dao duel.

Up above, in the largest box, quite a few people were whispering about her outfit and look.

On closer look, there were eighteen or nineteen people in the box. Half were dressed in Western style—suits and ties—occasionally pointing toward the center of the floor, brows creased with faint displeasure.

The other half wore uniform antique robes; most spoke with smiles, and they nodded repeatedly at the white-haired girl on the screen.

Fang Xiaochun pushed the door open, saw the scene, and immediately grinned.

That unexpected piece I slipped onto the board—looks like it was the right move after all?

Cao Chuan did well; mark him down for credit.

He made his way in, greeting the other officials as he went. Most of them took the initiative to bend at the waist and salute Fang Xiaochun; he only needed to nod slightly in return.

Only when he reached the very middle did he put on a proper expression and give a formal cupped-fist salute to a long-bearded man in the same antiquated robe as himself: “Lord Xu.”

“Lord Fang, there’s no need!” Xu Shilin, who had been squinting at the big screen, hurriedly stood to steady him. “I’m only here to observe and pay my respects. Qizhou is still for Lord Fang to decide. If people see this… they’ll say I’m overstepping my bounds.”

“As the Imperial House’s roving inspector, you carry the Heavenly Family’s will—how could ordinary rules constrain you?” Fang Xiaochun insisted on bowing all the same. After a round of polite demurrals, the two finally took their seats.

A servant immediately came to pour tea for Fang Xiaochun, but he barely touched it, instead lifting his gaze to the left of Xu Shilin.

There stood a short-haired, middle‑aged man in a black suit, gold‑rimmed glasses on his nose, a tablet computer in hand.

Top‑shelf stuff.

Ordinary folk—not to mention buying one—would hardly even get the chance to see one.

Fang Xiaochun craned his neck to glance at the man’s chest. Sure enough, pinned there was a Black Collar badge—marking him as an employee sent by Black Collar Co., likely assigned to brief the VIPs.

“Lord Fang.” The man noticed his gaze and bowed deeply. “I’m our company’s product analyst. My name is Qi Wang.”

“I’ll now introduce our company’s products to you, my lords.”

At last, they were showing their hand.

Fang Xiaochun smiled and nodded, but inwardly he was grumbling about the New Affairs camp’s lack of decorum.

Both sides already had their pieces and horses out in the open, yet they still had to keep things under wraps until now—as if revealing them earlier would have left their side at a huge disadvantage.

It’s just human augmentation and new gear, isn’t it?

Everyone sitting here knows the inside story. Go ask around—who couldn’t have guessed it ahead of time?

Meanwhile, Bai Xiang had already stepped onto the platform, sizing up the opponent she’d face in the first bout.

This reform wasn’t as simple as adding another match; otherwise there’d be no need for formal filings—it could have been billed as a pre‑fight, an extra match, or an exhibition.

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In essence, the format had been changed into a ring format.

The winner of the first bout, so long as they wished, could continue on to challenge the opposing side’s Dao Lord.

Seven days had passed; Jiang Haojing’s injuries looked healed. Her black hair was tied back; she wore an ultra‑formfitting, pure‑white high‑tech combat suit shot through with flowing golden tracery.

She not only had two long swords strapped across her back, but also wore a V‑shaped, pure‑white metal browguard on her forehead—looking even more high‑end than the Blackwatersnake Max.

A two‑minute countdown began on the giant screen—time for both sides to exchange greetings and settle their on‑the‑spot state.

Jiang Haojing seemed not to need any adjustment. She stood and sneered at Bai Xiang: “You never should’ve come here!”

Bai Xiang only looked at her quietly and said nothing.

“You dare wear that on a life‑and‑death ring? I’ll strip you clean and let them all admire your ‘insides’!” Jiang Haojing snapped, enraged.

Bai Xiang narrowed her eyes, puzzled at first, then let her gaze drop to Jiang Haojing’s chest—still flat despite the tight suit—and couldn’t help the lift at the corner of her mouth.

“?!”

Jiang Haojing ground her teeth, her exposed face flushing red.

“First up is the first‑seat bout.”

Before the two even crossed blades, the analyst Qi Wang above had already slipped into his role.

No one even saw him move; the screen in his hands simply lit up, showing a pure‑white suit with golden filigree—the very one Jiang Haojing wore.

“This is the ‘power auxiliary.’ Your lordships can think of it as ‘pa’—a power‑assist exosuit.”

He spoke fast, fingers flying over the screen to zoom in on parts for explanation.

“By loading in sword‑art models, the pa can assist the wearer in adjusting posture and carry them through sword training, achieving twice the result for half the effort.”

“Through field collection and acquisition, we’ve already loaded over a thousand sword‑art models.”

“The wearer not only studies them via the onboard computer, but, when facing them in combat, also receives prompts on which model to use for better countering.”

“Most importantly, if an augmented human wears the pa, it can lift all limiters and provide true kinetic assistance, greatly increasing the power of each strike over the original baseline.”

“This is a prototype, yes?” Xu Shilin compared the schematic with the suit on Jiang Haojing and nodded slightly. “And the one below hasn’t even reached Forge the Sword?”

“Correct,” Qi Wang nodded. “Strictly speaking, she’s only just Entered the Dao.”

“Then she’s a complete beginner… and her opponent is a Condensing the Aspect swordsman. Isn’t the gap a bit too large?”

“In a field engagement, one‑on‑one, of course she can’t compare to a Condensing the Aspect swordsman,” Qi Wang conceded. “But in a ring standoff, we believe the picture may change.”

“You mean raw bodily strength?” Fang Xiaochun cut in. “The change you’re talking about is that in straight‑up, close‑quarters grappling, a suit like this alone can match a Condensing the Aspect swordsman?”

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“That’s right,” Qi Wang said without a flicker.

“Incidentally, the A1 ‘White Ape’ costs fifty million.”

Fifty million.

The officials who heard it fell one by one into thought.

Even reckoned in the highest‑denomination Great Yu Tongbao, fifty million for a suit that—on a Sword‑Track student who has only just Entered the Dao—lets her rival a Condensing the Aspect swordsman in close‑quarters.

If Black Collar Co. wasn’t bluffing, that price wasn’t bad.

Swordsmen at and above Condensing the Aspect had always been the battlefield’s deterrence units—fast and flexible, not only capable on their own of sweeping fire coverage, punching through and breaking lines, but also experts at infiltration and assassination, hard to counter even with precautions.

Xu Shilin was very pleased with the price. He knew it would drop further once mass‑produced. And if they were willing to spend more on single‑soldier heavy firepower modules, wouldn’t that be the equivalent of spending a few tens of millions to “buy” a Condensing the Aspect?

There was no better deal under heaven. At the same time, a sense of crisis rose in him: so the outside world’s tech had already gotten this far!?

All along, neighboring states had offered tribute to Great Yu only because they were crushed at the high end of force.

The threshold for that high‑end force was Condensing the Aspect. Now the New Affairs were already moving into that domain; if Great Yu didn’t keep pace, how could it not pay for it later?

While Xu Shilin was reading the signs and worrying, the countdown inside the arena was about to end.

Clangg…

Bai Xiang unhooked her scabbard from her waist and slowly drew Feixiang Heaven from it.

Clang!

Jiang Haojing reached both hands behind her back, and with a swish drew both swords.

The noise ebbed; everyone knew the real show was about to start.

The countdown hit zero. A green light came on.

Jiang Haojing lowered her body and charged straight at Bai Xiang.

Going for cold steel?

Bai Xiang tossed the scabbard aside and brought her left hand up to grip the hilt as well.

Jiang Haojing was blisteringly fast, in a way that didn’t match her cultivation realm. The distance between them vanished almost in a blink; she closed to near range and chopped down.

“Clang!”

Bai Xiang lifted her sword to block and frowned slightly—the force felt wrong.

It couldn’t compare to her own—but this strength was about on par with someone like Cao Chuan at the threshold of Condensing the Aspect.

Die!

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Seeing both her blades pressed down and stopped by Bai Xiang, Jiang Haojing abruptly changed moves—dropping her height and ramming in toward Bai Xiang’s chest.

In a life‑and‑death fight, she had no interest in rules or forms.

Only, halfway in, she saw a flash ahead—Bai Xiang had slipped aside and, in passing, kicked at the supporting knee of her planted leg.

The kick landed solidly, but Jiang Haojing only stumbled forward a few steps, steadied herself, and, eyes red, charged Bai Xiang again.

Her technique was poor… as expected, trash.

Bai Xiang, parrying lazily, gauged her opponent’s combat power.

As it stood, the suit did give Jiang Haojing Condensing‑the‑Aspect‑level bodily strength in close‑quarter brawling. But her force generation and acceptance, posture adjustments, and sword movements were riddled with flaws.

Her defense was decent, but if she couldn’t land a hit, what good was that turtle shell?

Slipping aside again from Jiang Haojing’s heavy dual‑sword cleave, Bai Xiang’s eyes flashed cold. She slid to Jiang Haojing’s flank and aimed her blade at the only exposed part—her face.

[Posture habits and technical movement analysis complete.]

Just then, a synthesized electronic voice sounded in Jiang Haojing’s earpiece.

“Switch!” Jiang Haojing cried in a panic.

In an instant, the V‑shaped browguard dropped down like a tactical visor to cover her eyes.

The world before her went to a grid: Bai Xiang, the ring, the flow of air—everything displayed with precise numbers under computer assist. A readout dead center said that in 0.63 seconds, she would suffer fatal damage.

But she’d already said “switch.”

From the black seams of the white‑gold suit, the flowing golden lines instantly linked into a sheet, turning from gold to blood red. The suit seized control of movement, venting dry white vapor from collar, waist, and soles.

Hiss, hiss, hiss!

Using the assist, she shifted a few inches as if out of nowhere—almost enough to slip the edge.

Bai Xiang’s gaze went icy; a wisp of rose‑pink Qi burst from the forward third of her blade.

[Unknown energy signature.]

The visor display flashed the line in rapid text.

[Engage demonic aura reserves. Convert to photonic protection.]

“Aaaah!”

Jiang Haojing screamed in fear. Her body wouldn’t obey at all; the assist program forced her hands to cross the swords in front of her in an X, and a sheath of blue electrical current snapped over both edges.

Time seemed to slow. Calming her mind just a little, Jiang Haojing let her gaze creep upward and saw Bai Xiang’s face above.

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This angle again.

She remembered last time—when Bai Xiang threw her down the long steps and she looked up at her face—it had been this same view.

Only this time it was closer, clearer.

With computer assist, she could make out every inch of skin on Bai Xiang’s face and catch every shift in expression… including the slight lift of her mouth.

Huh?

Why is she smiling?

Boom!

The next instant, time seemed to lurch forward. Feixiang Heaven, shrouded in killing Qi, smashed into the two electrified longswords. Blue‑white arcs leapt from the point of impact, shrilling like a “Thousand Birds”!

What happened?

What on earth happened?

[Unknown vibration attack…]

[Adjusting posture…]

Warning icons began flashing everywhere on the display. The synthesized voice in her earpiece turned to static, as if hit by intense interference!

At the brink of life and death, she finally overcame her fear—pushing her center of gravity down, dropping to one knee in mid‑lunge, maintaining the crossed‑sword guard to hold back Bai Xiang’s blade with all she had.

“Aaaaaah!”

Screaming, she was driven by Bai Xiang’s sword, body pinned, scraping all the way to the edge of the ring.

[Warning! Warning!]

Shhk—

The noise cut out.

The roar, the clamor—

The world seemed to fall suddenly silent.

Two broken blade tips went clattering off the stage—clang‑clang—and not a second later came a heavy thud.

Xu Shilin shot to his feet.

He hurried to the glass, eyes locked on the floor of the arena… on a severed head still rolling.