Chapter Ten Flowing Years Three

  In the blink of an eye, another month has passed. Ji Ruocheng and Han Yan have twice watched the sunrise over the East Sea from Eagle's Beak Peak. Both times were very brief, so brief that from the moment they stepped out into the dew until the sun rose, it was less than the time it takes to burn a single incense stick. During both viewings of the sunrise, the two people did not exchange a word, but simply sat shoulder to shoulder, watching as the clouds surged and the sun rose.

  Ji Ruochen suddenly felt that if he could stay in Daodezong like this all the time, it would actually be pretty good.

  After great noise comes great silence.

  After the age examination, Dao Zong returned to his busy, orderly and peaceful days. In the warm spring season, everyone becomes lazy. Although the Taishang Dao De Palace isolated the influence of heaven and earth with its mysterious methods, many of the palace's Dao leaders have profound cultivation, but can human power measure the mystery of heaven and earth? Therefore, during this period, most cultivators are not much different from ordinary people, and their mood becomes more comfortable.

  At this time, on the top of Taixuan Peak, Jingxiao Zhenren was strolling shoulder to shoulder with **Lan, admiring the strange scenery on the peak. At this moment, a sudden and urgent footstep sound came, Zhang Yin was dressed in a strong suit, carrying a wooden sword on his back, and he rushed out of the brocade flower cluster, rushing past Jingxiao Zhenren and his wife as if they were invisible.

  "Come on! Have dinner with us tonight!" Blue shouted.

  Zhang Yin suddenly threw out a sentence "Not going! I just finished practicing my sword, and now I'm going to cultivate!", then disappeared at the end of the stone path.

  Looking in the direction where Zhang Yin had disappeared, Jing Xiao Zhen Ren simply stroked his beard and smiled, seemingly very pleased. It seems that this year's annual examination, Zhang Yin's achievements will certainly be good, at that time he, Zhang Da Zhen Ren, will have taught his daughter well, and naturally his face will shine brightly.

  Lan Xiang's expression changed, and she paused for a moment before scolding: "This child Yin! Every time I see her in the past few months, she's either cultivating or on her way to cultivate. What kind of diligence is this?"

  Jing Xiao and her husband didn't know the reason why Zhang Yin suddenly became so diligent, but Ji Ruochen soon felt the result of her hard work for several months.

  "What? You dare to come and compare swords?" Ji Ruochen was shocked, sizing up Zhang Yinyin with a mixture of surprise and suspicion.

  Zhang Yin naturally understood Ji Ruochen's implied meaning, and her face couldn't help but flush slightly red, but she immediately calmed down and said: "Don't worry, this time I'm not here to fight you to the death. We're just sparring."

  Although she is a rogue, but thinking of her past misdeeds, Ji Ruochen would not believe her no matter what. He thought that the severe beating last time was enough to make Zhang Yin retreat, but unexpectedly she came back again after a few months.

  "Sparring?" Ji Ruo Chen shook his head and said, "Which one of our sparring sessions didn't end in bloodshed? No..."

  Zhang Yin's delicate eyebrows stood up at once, and her slender hand had already grasped the hilt of the wooden sword.

  Ji Ruocheng saw the situation and smiled bitterly, immediately changing his tone: "......However, it seems that not comparing is also not an option. But if you lose again, you still can't escape a severe beating."

  "Alright! But if I win, you'll have to repay me double what you owed before." Zhang Yin replied calmly. This time when it came to comparing swords, she was no longer easily provoked by Ji Ruofa like in the past, apparently her internal energy skills had improved. Ji Rufeng took all of this in and secretly made a mental note.

  He nodded and said, "That's right, you have to give me three days' preparation time. Three days later, in the evening, we will meet again at the Houshan Foundry Sword Platform. This time, when we compare swords, we won't hold back, each relying on our own abilities!"

  Zhang Yin listened and nodded slightly before turning around and leaving. This carefree attitude also surprised Ji Ruochen a little.

  Three days later, it was a moonless night. But under the bright lights of the Taishang Dao De Palace, the surroundings on the sword-casting platform could still be vaguely discerned. For cultivators, this light was already sufficient.

  When Ji Ruoxuan arrived at the Sword Casting Platform, Zhang Yin had already been waiting there. The two of them had fought several times before, and this time was no exception, with no unnecessary pleasantries exchanged before they began to fight. Zhang Yin's slender fingers grasped the wooden sword hilt, her left hand forming a seal, slowly raising the wooden sword. As she moved, the wooden sword hummed softly, suddenly releasing a faint blue glow.

  Ji Ruocheng's expression turned solemn, and at this moment, he saw Zhang Yin suddenly raise her hand to operate the Wu Xing sword technique. He couldn't help but immediately add a layer of caution. It wasn't that he was afraid of Zhang Yin's powerful Wu Xing sword technique, but rather that he feared it would lose control. From past experiences, when the Wu Xing sword technique lost control, it wasn't necessarily a bad thing for the wielder; they might just lose strength and need to rest for a few days. However, as an opponent, one would have to face a sudden increase in power from that single sword. After fighting Zhang Yin several times, Ji Ruocheng even began to suspect that the loss of control might be another powerful move of the Wu Xing sword technique.

  Ji Ruocheng suddenly wielded his wooden sword and directly unsheathed the Lieque Sword, carefully fighting with Zhang Yinyin in one place.

  As soon as they started fighting, Ji Ruochen immediately discovered Zhang Yin's difference. The cyan mang on her wooden sword was weak, but it was extremely stable, without any sign of loss of control. Moreover, she was the opposite of her usual anxiety and impatience, with a calm and steady hand, fighting very patiently. Ji Ruochen's Tao was originally one level lower than hers, although he had an advantage in sword techniques, but he still fought very hard.

  The two of them tumbled and rolled for a full minute, but Zhang Yin still didn't show any signs of anxiety. It seemed she had made up her mind to drag things out with Ji Ruochen. Her skills were far superior to Ji Ruochen's, so if they kept dragging things out like this, the first one to be exhausted would likely be Ji Ruochen.

  Ji Ruochen was a bit too young and vigorous, and Ya didn't want to be defeated by her. At this time, seeing that the battle was unfavorable, he immediately retreated, inserted his wooden sword into the ground, and with two fingers of his right hand together, shouted loudly, and a faint true fire had already ignited on his finger.

  Zhang Yin-yin knew at a glance that Ji Ruochen was going to use talismans. She didn't show any weakness either, first using the yin wood sword energy to protect her entire body, and then taking out three protective talisman papers with different effects, coldly staring at Ji Ruochen. Before this battle, she had made thorough preparations, vowing to win this time, wash away the shame of consecutive defeats, and avenge her great enemy.

  However, with Ji Ruochen's actions, Zhang Yin's smile on her face was completely lost. She opened her mouth wide in disbelief as she stared at the stack of yellow talismans that Ji Ruochen took out from his bosom! This stack of yellow talismans was thick like a book, probably nearly a hundred sheets! In comparison, Zhang Yin's three protective talismans looked incredibly thin, as if they could be blown away by a gust of wind.

  The disciples of the Dao De Sect often competed with each other, mainly through sword fighting. When their skills improved, they would also use strange and unusual magical tools to fight. In sword fights, using talismans was an important tactic, but the orthodox tradition of the Dao De Sect emphasized using powerful talismans that could turn the tide of battle in one move. Such talismans were usually limited to two or three uses, after which a disciple's true energy would be depleted by half. Therefore, it was rare to see more than three talismans used in a single match within the sect. For example, Zhang Yin had already reached her limit with just three talismans; using one more would leave her without enough true energy to control the wooden sword energy.

  She had never seen a situation where someone took out a talisman as thick as a book like Ji Yufei did.

  With Ji Ruochen's cultivation, taking out so many talismans can only mean that these talismans are the weakest and are only used for disciples to practice their skills. Moreover, to activate so many talismans, Ji Ruochen would need a special method to ensure quick activation, otherwise it would give his opponent an opportunity to get close. But even if these talismans were to land on Zhang Yin's body, with her cultivation level, they wouldn't be effective at all, and she wouldn't be afraid of them.

  Zhang Yin got both right. Ji Ruochen indeed held the simplest talismans in his hand, and he also had a unique mantra given by Taiwei Zhenren, which could quickly catalyze the talismans.

  She never thought of what would happen when all these talismans were activated at the same time.

  Ji Ruocheng's left hand swept out, dozens of talismans unfolded like a fan, then with a whooshing sound, the top one flew out on its own and floated in front of him. He shouted loudly, his right hand's index and middle fingers burning with true fire had already pierced through the talisman, the flame on his fingers quickly burning through the talisman, a fierce gust of wind suddenly rose from the ground and rapidly rushed towards Zhang Yin.

  Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh! One by one, the talismans flew out of Ji Ruochen's left hand in sequence and burned to ashes on his right. A strong gust of wind, flying sand, dark clouds, and a chill swept in one after another, enveloping Zhang Yinyin and swirling around her. It seemed that Ji Ruochen had been prepared all along, even arranging the order of the talismans in advance.

  Zhang Yin's face was cold and smiling, her whole body shrouded in a hazy green light. Although her hair danced wildly in the wind, under the protection of the Yumu sword energy and the triple protective charm, she had not suffered any harm at all.

  Ji Ruochen immediately ignited another talisman, and in the low sky, a dark cloud that had been floating suddenly let out a loud clap of thunder, and large raindrops poured down like a dragon, rushing into the whirlwind below.

  Zhang Yin's face turned pale in an instant, staring blankly at the rainwater swirling in the strong wind, mixing with the dust in the air, and then suddenly turning into large pieces of mud, pouring down on her head and face! Zhang Yin was born noble, had been pampered since childhood, and was a person who valued cleanliness extremely. At this moment, seeing the muddy water pouring down from the sky, she had nowhere to hide and no way to avoid it, which was a terrifying sight!

  She was so frightened that she couldn't move, and all she could do was let out a sharp scream!

  Splash! The muddy water poured down on Zhang Yin's head, drenching him completely.

  Zhang Yin almost cried out, throwing down the wooden sword and hurriedly wiping away the mud on her face. When she could see things with both eyes again, although she didn't make a sad sound, big drops of tears had already burst forth uncontrollably.

  Ji Ruochen stood three feet in front of her, also covered in mud, with a wooden sword pointing at Zhang Yin's throat, saying: "You lost."

  Zhang Yin wiped the mud off her face and angrily said: "You... you... shameless!"

  Ji Ruochen pretended he hadn't heard and said: "You lost."

  Zhang Yin listened and didn't say a word, wiping the mud off her face with a few rough strokes. With a cold expression, she said: "Good for you, Ji Ruochen! I hope you'll have such good luck next time too! This time, I admit defeat, go ahead and attack!"

  Ji Ruocheng grunted and shook out a black rope, ready to bind someone. Zhang Yinyin immediately took a step back and shouted: "This young lady's words are as good as gold, I won't deny what I've lost! You don't need to tie me up either, just come at me, I won't dodge!"

  Zhang Yin still had a bit of childishness that hadn't dissipated, but at this moment, her words were spoken with an air of maturity that left Ji Ruochen speechless. Since Zhang Yin had already put down her guard, he didn't hold back either, circling around to her side and raising his wooden sword high before bringing it down heavily on her leg. Zhang Yin's entire body trembled, her teeth clenched tightly, not making a sound.

  Crack! The wooden sword struck her buttocks again. Zhang Yin's face turned pale, but she still didn't make a sound.

  When Ji Ruoxue raised her wooden sword for the third time, the night sky suddenly cleared and a line of cold moonlight poured down, falling on Zhang Yin's body. Ji Ruoxue suddenly discovered that despite still being covered in mud, Zhang Yin's figure under the moonlight was elegant and ethereal, like an immortal. Although there were faint stains on her delicate face, they couldn't hide the nascent beauty that was beginning to emerge.

  Ji Ruoxuan's eyes saw the wooden sword in her hand fall onto her protruding buttocks, a surge of heat suddenly rushed up to her chest, and her hands involuntarily trembled.

  The wooden sword still fell on her, but the force was much lighter than the previous two. Zhang Yin's heart was puzzled, and she looked up at Ji Ruochen, just as he was looking over at her. The two of them locked eyes, both feeling like they had been struck by lightning. In an instant, Zhang Yin's face turned bright red, and Ji Ruochen hastily turned his head away.

  Silence.

  After a moment, Ji Ruochen finally coughed weakly and raised his wooden sword, shouting: "The fight isn't over yet!"

  Zhang Yin hung her head, her two hands clasped together, silently waiting for the wooden sword to fall. But she waited and waited, and in the end, she didn't wait for that one sword.

  Ji Ruocheng coughed for half a day, but the wooden sword he held high did not fall on Zhang Yin's body, instead it returned to his own back. However, he still stubbornly said: "Today I've already taught you a lesson, next time if you dare to come and bother me again, then...then I'll beat you even harder!"

  Zhang Yin seemed to have completely ignored it, and stood still for a moment. Seeing that Ji Ruochen had no intention of making another move, he suddenly sprinted down the mountain like a gust of wind, never looking back again.

  In a flash, her figure completely disappeared into the night. Ji Ruochen stood in the night wind for a moment before slowly descending the mountain.

  In the blink of an eye, summer went and autumn came, leaves fell and snow flew, until the second year's final exams were approaching, Zhang Yin had not appeared in front of Ji Ruochen again.

  Sometimes in the middle of the night, thinking back, Ji Ruoxuan also couldn't figure it out, whether his last sword was too light or too heavy.