Chapter 120: Testing the Blade on Human Subjects

"Hand over the Villain's Token, and I will spare your life."

In a tone of uncompromising firmness, Jiang Min flicked her wrist. Within the blade of her sword, thunder faintly flickered, and flames began to ignite.

Her refusal was well within Qin Tianming's expectations. He showed no surprise or anger, yet he persisted, "You are only at the Sword Qi realm, aren't you? It is only through powerful sword techniques that you can easily slaughter these newly Foundation-established cultivators. But what about those with higher martial arts cultivation than you? Or combined gangs and alliances?"

"Unless..." Qin Tianming took in Jiang Min's impassive expression, his interest piqued. "You didn't come for the Villain's Token at all."

"I simply think you aren't worth cooperating with," Jiang Min retorted with a mocking smile.

The moment the words left her lips, she tapped her toes against the ground. Wind and thunder roared; as swift as a lightning bolt, she lunged at Qin Tianming with her sword. The blade, trailing a long tail of flowing thunder and crimson flames, lashed out.

A cultivator comparable to a late-stage Foundation establishment master—one capable of holding their own—choosing to gather a group of loosely organized early or mid-stage Foundation-establishment cultivators into a rogue alliance, lacking rules and acting with total freedom... this behavior alone would warrant caution from Jiang Min, let alone in the slaughter-filled City of Villains.

Having practiced for many years, Jiang Min trusted no one. She preferred to be overly suspicious than to be easily deceived. She had long suspected that Qin Tianming intended to wipe everyone out the moment his rogue alliance grew to a certain point.

As Jiang Min struck, Qin Tianming immediately pulled out a jade-ribbed fan and snapped it open. With a crisp, metallic chime, sharp bone needles shot out from the tips of the fan, glistening with a cold, pale light. He had the confidence to remain here and converse with Jiang Min for a reason.

If the invitation failed, then he would fight!

The Villain's Tokens Jiang Min had harvested earlier were numerous, and he coveted them greatly. Since they could not cooperate, he would simply take them by force.

Though Jiang Min's sword path was strong, she was, after all, only an early-stage Foundation-establishment cultivator who had yet to even grasp Sword Intent.

And he?

He was a long-time practitioner of the Confucian "Nurturing" realm at its peak—comparable to the late-stage Foundation establishment of a Daoist cultivator!

Jiang Min took the initiative, raising her wrist to arc her blade. It seemed as though no extra sword energy had been produced, but Qin Tianming’s pupils suddenly constricted. He leaped backward, and in the very spot where he had stood a moment before, a cluster of thunder-fire sword energy exploded, ravaging the surroundings.

Boom!

Had Qin Tianming retreated even a second later, he would have been swept into the storm of thunder-fire sword energy. His eyes grew cold and sharp. He raised his fan and waved it, sending a fierce gust of wind carrying sharp blades toward Jiang Min.

Whoosh!

The wind howled with menacing force. Jiang Min whirled her blade, turning countless strands of thunder-fire energy into a vortex that met the gale head-on. Riding the wind and thunder, she darted toward a towering ancient tree, stepped upon it, and circled around to strike at Qin Tianming’s flank. She moved with such velocity that she blasted a charred, gaping hole into the massive trunk.

Seeing her close in, Qin Tianming had no time to cast spells or dodge. He raised his jade-ribbed fan to meet her. The sharp fan ribs, charged with the force of the gale, clashed against her thunder-fire-infused blade with a series of crisp, clanging sounds.

Clang, clang, clang, clang, clang!

In the blink of an eye, they exchanged several blows. Neither could gain the upper hand. Qin Tianming swung his arm hard, channeling the magical power of his jade-ribbed fan to whip up a tornado, which slammed toward Jiang Min.

Whoosh!

The tornado, several zhang high and carrying wind blades that could tear through the air, descended upon her at point-blank range. Jiang Min could not evade it in time and was instantly swept into the swirling funnel, lifted into the air as countless sharp blades lashed against her body.

Qin Tianming sneered.

Any early-stage Foundation-establishment cultivator caught in that vortex would be waiting to be shredded into dust by the wind blades.

But the curve of his lips had barely formed before it froze.

Jiang Min, caught in the vortex, was protected by a simple blue robe that shimmered with magical light—clearly a treasure of significant grade. She remained completely unharmed; the powerful wind blades, capable of slicing through the flesh of a Foundation-establishment cultivator, could not even leave a white mark on her skin.

Qin Tianming realized instantly that she had trained in body-refining techniques.

"What a formidable level of body-refining!"

As he raised his fan to cast another spell, Jiang Min had already regained her balance, following the upward momentum of the tornado. With a raise of her hand, accompanied by the sound of wind and thunder clashing, a majestic vortex of sword energy blasted toward him.

Boom!

Qin Tianming’s eyes darkened.

Not only was this girl’s sword momentum growing more intense with every exchange, but her sword energy was also stronger than before. Earlier, while her techniques were powerful, they had been somewhat stiff and awkward, as if she had just learned them. But now, her thunder-fire sword moves changed with the flow, growing stronger against resistance, becoming increasingly fluid and natural.

"She is using me to test her sword!"

An absurd thought sprouted in Qin Tianming’s mind.

Martial practitioners needed to hone themselves through combat to grow stronger. Those on the martial path were almost all battle-crazed demons; perhaps this girl in the blue robe was no exception.

"It seems I must end this fight quickly."

Qin Tianming rotated his palm, and the jade-ribbed fan spun rapidly. Amidst a blaze of white jade light, the gale scattered and expanded into a circular wind wall a zhang wide, blocking all the thunder-fire sword energy.

Clang, clang, clang, clang, clang, clang!

The violent thunder-fire vortex battered the wind wall, creating thousands of crisp sounds in an instant. Qin Tianming immediately felt the pressure on his palm. After unleashing this strike, Jiang Min broke free from the wind vortex, riding the thunder and wind as she descended from the sky, her sword strike unstoppable.

*Sword Intent—what exactly is it? Is it this?* Jiang Min wondered in the heat of the moment.

Her sword now had sharpness, and it had momentum.

But the True Lord Guanqi had said it was still not enough.

He had said that her Sword Qi realm was still stuck at the level of technique—something that could be imitated and understood. A talented person could learn it just by reading manuals, practicing forms, and studying sword poetry. But it lacked a true "intent."

The true intent of the sword was unique to everyone, and it could only be realized through thousands of grueling battles.

For some, the sword intent was like fine rain and a gentle breeze.

For others, it was like a great river rushing to the sea.

Some sought a sword intent that feared no life or death, pressing forward to cut down all injustice in the world, leaving only a heroic name behind.

Others sought a sword intent that kept its edge hidden until the very last moment—unmoving until the strike that would shock the world.

Sword techniques could be copied.

But sword intent could only be grasped by oneself; no one else could help.

In the sect, while there were others to spar with her, that was merely child's play. Nothing could be truly grasped from it. That was why True Lord Guanqi had brought her to the City of Villains, letting her experience life-and-death struggles so she could undergo a transformation and find her own path of the sword.

"I'm done fighting!"

Faced with Jiang Min’s descending, ever-growing sword momentum, Qin Tianming suddenly conceded. He was thoroughly convinced, turned around, and fled, his figure dissolving into a wisp of green smoke and covering dozens of zhang in an instant.

Jiang Min’s sword slashed through empty air. As she landed, she glared and gave chase.

*We were having such a good fight, why are you running?*

She had just begun to grasp the true intent of the sword.

And now her sparring partner was running away?

Not to mention the fight itself, the Villain's Tokens on Qin Tianming were a significant sum. Since she had encountered him, she would not let him go.

Wind and thunder howled as Jiang Min pursued him at high speed.

In the night.

Two figures chased one another, neither willing to give up.

...

Two months passed, seeming to fly by amidst the constant, tension-filled battles.

On this day.

A voice resonated throughout the City of Villains.

"Seal the city! No more entrants for this Villain's War!"

Rumblings echoed. All the high city gates closed with a deafening roar.

This meant the final trial of the Villain's War had begun!

When the scroll in the sky showed that only one hundred people remained with tokens, the Villain's War would end.

The sun set.

Amidst a ruin of collapsed houses.

Jiang Min hid in the shadows, tilting her head back to swallow a high-grade healing pill. She lifted the hem of her damaged blue robe, revealing a bleeding wound on her waist and abdomen. She pointed her fingers at the injury, and faint black light gathered to treat the deep, bone-piercing knife wound.

Water-healing arts.

Two months ago, she had successfully caught up to Qin Tianming and plundered all the Villain's Tokens on him.

After that.

She embarked on a wandering life of looting tokens everywhere.

Common early or mid-stage Foundation-establishment cultivators could only surrender their tokens to her as payment for their lives in the face of her overwhelming sword techniques. Even when she encountered late-stage Foundation-establishment cultivators, she could trade blows with them.

But inevitably, she would meet those at the peak of Foundation establishment, or powerful gangs formed by dozens of cultivators. Since she had not yet grasped her sword intent, she couldn't win; she could only avoid their sharp edges or sustain injuries during the clashes.

The wound on her waist was one she had sustained just moments ago while exchanging blows with the Blood Gang.

She had been unlucky.

She was merely lingering on the edge of the City of Villains when, while fighting others, she ran into Yan Honggu, a peak Foundation-establishment master, who was sweeping through the area with a group of late-stage Foundation-establishment cultivators.

This knife wound, which had broken through her formidable defenses, was the work of the number one on the Villain's List, the leader of the Blood Gang, Yan Honggu!