Chapter 47 - 22: The Fated Ending

Li Shuang remained as cold and aloof as ever.

Long Yan subconsciously looked at the Black Abyss hanging at her waist.

The Black Abyss still looked incredibly dull. For some reason, a wave of relief washed over Long Yan. He thought to himself that his choice wasn’t wrong. Leaving Li Shuang, he would have a better future. Without him, Li Shuang was reduced to using garbage like the Black Abyss.

The appearance of the Black Abyss paled in comparison to the meticulously crafted exterior of the Dragon Roar Sword!

"Zhaozhao, I will definitely perform well. You don’t need to do anything today; just let me control Dragon Roar," Long Yan suddenly declared loudly.

Ye Zhaozhao said gently, "Long Yan, I’ll leave it to you then. I’ve always believed that a Sword Cultivator and a Sword Spirit should bring out the best in each other. I’ve never seen you in action before, but now, you can finally unleash your full potential."

Long Yan nodded. "I won’t let you down."

While Ye Zhaozhao and Long Yan conversed, Li Shuang merely averted her gaze indifferently.

"Aren’t those two a bit too shameless?" Luo Mingyue couldn’t help but say. "They make it sound like you were suppressing Long Yan and not letting him show his true strength before!"

Li Shuang simply smiled. "Let them talk."

Her expression was unusually calm. It wasn’t that she didn’t want to settle the score. Rather, from the moment he left her, Long Yan was destined to fade into complete obscurity.

Li Shuang’s eyes were dark and profound. Over the past few days, Long Yan should have already started to sense that something was wrong, right? His Spiritual Body would grow increasingly dim, and the Dragon Roar Sword’s power would decline day by day. It wouldn’t be long before Dragon Roar completely lost its current power.

Given Ye Zhaozhao’s personality, once Long Yan and Dragon Roar lost their former glory, would she still treat him with such tenderness?

A hint of reminiscence flashed through Li Shuang’s eyes. Over ten years ago, she successfully achieved Core Formation, entered the Sword Pavilion, and obtained the sword embryo of the Dragon Roar Sword.

At that time, Long Yan was slumbering deep within the Dragon Roar Sword. After acquiring Dragon Roar, Li Shuang quickly discovered that there was a problem with its Sword Spirit.

Under normal circumstances, a Sword Spirit born with a sword should be inherently pure. However, Long Yan was born filled with Muddy Qi. In the words of the Sword Pavilion disciples, he was a Wasted Sword Spirit, and the most troublesome kind at that—a contaminated Wasted Sword Spirit.

At this stage, any disciple who found their Sword Spirit contaminated would choose to abandon the sword and seek another treasure sword.

But Li Shuang couldn’t bear to part with it. She pored over ancient tomes, searching far and wide for a way to cleanse the contamination. And she actually found a method utilizing Swordsmanship—using the sharp Sword Qi of a Sword Cultivator to continuously baptize the Sword Spirit.

Overjoyed upon discovering this method, she followed the instructions recorded in the texts and ceaselessly baptized Long Yan with her Sword Qi for forty-nine days and nights. Only then did Long Yan awaken.

After that, she carried Long Yan with her everywhere. Whenever she noticed the contamination showing signs of worsening, she would deal with it immediately. Not wanting Long Yan to know he was a Wasted Sword Spirit, she always lavished him with praise, telling him that he was truly worthy of being a Peerless Treasure Sword.

In the end, her efforts to protect his feelings only caused Long Yan’s ego to inflate entirely, leading him to believe that he genuinely possessed peerless aptitude.

Li Shuang chuckled.

Cultivating the Supreme Forget Emotion Technique didn’t mean she lacked normal human emotions. If Long Yan had told her frankly that he wanted to be by Ye Zhaozhao’s side, she would have granted his wish and even told him the truth. But he chose to betray her instead, even attempting to take her life.

In that case, when he finally arrived at Ye Zhaozhao’s side, it marked the beginning of his tragic fate.

The moment she abandoned the sword, Li Shuang had already meted out her punishment for Long Yan. She would wait patiently as they walked toward their ultimate downfall on their own.

Compared to that, Li Shuang didn’t even care about Ye Zhaozhao and Long Yan’s petty provocations at this moment.

"The Sect Leader is here!"

"The five Peak Masters have arrived too!"

"And Master Pang!"

Bustling voices rang out. Sword Sect Leader Meng Yifei, along with the heads of the five peaks and one hall, had all arrived in full attendance this time. They took their seats on the high platform, their gazes uniformly directed toward the Central Arena.

A glimmer of concealed anticipation hid in Meng Yifei’s eyes.

Lin Qingling smiled flamboyantly, her brows raised so high they nearly flew into the sky.

Ling Xu’s face darkened slightly. He had also heard about the Sword Domain, but he remained skeptical! A mere visual recording was not enough to fully prove it!

Once they were all seated, a Steward stood up and announced, "The first round of the round-robin tournament is about to begin. All participating disciples, please step up to your respective arenas."

Ye Zhaozhao cast one last glance at Li Shuang before heading straight to her own arena. Chang Le’an scoffed coldly and temporarily left as well.

At the Central Arena, all eyes were focused on the stage.

Such intense scrutiny did not cause even the slightest ripple in Li Shuang’s emotions. Step by step, she calmly walked onto the arena.

Duan Ziyu stood opposite her, his expression grave. He had always ranked well in the screening matches, simply because he had stayed at the Foundation Establishment Stage for far, far too long. In terms of talent, he was miles away from being a true genius.

This time, however, he was unexpectedly assigned to the Central Arena. It couldn’t possibly be that the Sect Leader and the others suddenly thought highly of him! The only reason he was standing in the Central Arena was because his opponent was Li Shuang!

He realized, "The Sect Leader... wants to use me as a whetstone to sharpen the treasure sword that is Li Shuang!"

However, even if he was merely being treated as a whetstone, he was going to fully demonstrate his worth! It wouldn’t be that easy to get past him!

"Senior Sister Li, please!" Duan Ziyu said solemnly.

Li Shuang nodded calmly. The Black Abyss was unsheathed, still looking as pitch-black as ever.

Duan Ziyu didn’t dare to be negligent. Gripping the Rock Earth Sword, his Spiritual Power surged throughout his body, ready for battle.

After a brief moment of eye contact, Li Shuang and Duan Ziyu struck simultaneously.

One was at the Qi Refining Ninth Level.

The other was at the Late-stage Foundation Establishment.

This battle was unfair from the very beginning. Li Shuang’s sword could strike Duan Ziyu countless times to no avail. But if Duan Ziyu struck Li Shuang even once, he would secure the victory.

Meng Yifei looked at the arena in anticipation. He thought, "Come on, Li Shuang! Let me see just how astonishing your Talent truly is! With such a massive gap in Spiritual Power, only by controlling the Sword Domain can she have a sliver of hope for victory!!"

Duan Ziyu possessed Water and Earth Dual Spiritual Roots, but his primary focus was his Earth Attribute Spirit Root. At this moment, he executed the Solid Stone Sword Skill. This Swordsmanship integrated both offense and defense, with an emphasis on defense over offense.

As Duan Ziyu unleashed his Swordsmanship, he shielded his entire body immaculately. But if anyone thought he only knew how to defend, he would instantly switch from defense to offense, making him extremely difficult to deal with!

Li Shuang slowly closed her eyes.

The Sword Domain suddenly unfurled.

Within the confines of the Sword Domain, Duan Ziyu’s flaws were completely exposed. However, the gap in their Cultivation was simply too great. If she wanted to win, she only had one chance. She had to concentrate all her Spiritual Power and deliver a single, fatal blow. Otherwise, if she depleted her Spiritual Power prematurely, she probably wouldn’t be able to break through his defenses even if she found an opening.

"It really is... the Sword Domain..." Meng Yifei said slowly, his eyes shining brightly.

He marveled inwardly, "To have mastered the Sword Domain at such a young age... Could that peerless genius from the Cangyuan Sect have done the same? Looking solely at their age, Li Shuang is a full ten years younger than him when he mastered the Sword Domain! The Supreme Forget Emotion Technique... the Sword Domain... Could it be that the heavens truly intend for the Sword Sect to prosper?!"

Ling Xu stared at the arena, but his expression instantly darkened.