The righteous path punishes Heaven

Chapter 44 The Cold Light of Swords

"This is your cave dwelling. You can enter and exit at any time with your identity jade slip. No one else can enter without your permission." An inner disciple led Zhang Yunling to a cave in the inner mountain range of the Quanzhen Sect. After giving him some instructions, he turned and left.

The jade slip at his waist shimmered with a faint light, and the stone door to the cave slowly opened, revealing familiar stone tables and chairs. Zhang Yunling shook his head helplessly.

"Why must cultivators cultivate in such a rudimentary and bizarre place? When they were mortals, they could sleep in soft beds and live in luxurious houses, but now that they have become powerful cultivators, they have to be cooped up in this primitive cave every day... Sigh..."

After a brief outburst, Zhang Yunling didn't really care about those things; his main priority was still improving his own strength.

He had encountered countless powerful figures on his journey, each one ten or a hundred times stronger than him. The Vajra Bracelet, the immortal artifact he used to save his life, had also been taken by Ming Shan. As for his desire to stay peacefully in the Quanzhen Sect, he knew he would never get the Vajra Bracelet back.

"I've been stuck in the late Foundation Establishment stage for a long time. If I don't quickly reach the Perfect Foundation Establishment stage and break through to the Golden Core stage, it will be extremely difficult for me to even survive in this Quanzhen Sect." Zhang Yunling thought to himself and began to sit cross-legged and cultivate.

Several days and nights passed quietly like this. Zhang Yunling was in a deep meditative state, ignoring the noise and chaos of the outside world. He calmly absorbed the spiritual energy contained in the mountains, gradually moving closer to the next level of cultivation.

Inner Gate, Martial Arts Arena.

This is a training ground provided by the Quanzhen School for its inner disciples to practice sparring. It consists of one large arena and eight smaller arenas, with the nine arenas arranged in a circular pattern.

Today marks the monthly sect event, spontaneously organized by the inner disciples: a martial arts contest to find a spouse.

Half a year ago, after joining the Quanzhen Sect, the Ice Lotus Fairy came to the martial arts arena and declared herself invincible. After defeating all the disciples who had challenged her with her own strength, the Ice Lotus Fairy set up the following competition:

Whoever can defeat other opponents through the elimination-style competition and ultimately emerge victorious will be qualified to challenge her.

If the Ice Lotus Fairy is defeated, the victorious disciple can become her Daoist partner, and the hero will win the heart of the beauty.

Because the sect does not interfere with such competitions between disciples, but rather believes that such competitions will enhance the strength and teamwork among disciples, which is beneficial to the future development of the sect.

Furthermore, the elders held Ice Lotus Fairy in high regard, bestowing upon her the title of Holy Maiden of the Quanzhen Sect, and thus turned a blind eye to her occasional accidental killing of other disciples during competitions.

Although those who challenged the Ice Lotus Fairy either failed and were forced to retreat or died at her hands, her stunning beauty and promise to become the winner's lifelong lover still made these inner disciples, who considered themselves exceptionally talented, eager to try.

Today marks the fifth martial arts contest for marriage held by the Ice Lotus Fairy. Disciples continue to flock to observe and participate, as the Ice Lotus Fairy rarely leaves her cave to cultivate, making it difficult to see her true appearance.

It was a rare treat to see the Ice Lotus Fairy appear and admire her fighting prowess. The disciples were already filled with longing and high spirits.

Such a scene would naturally include Ren Jixing, a young master who is known for his womanizing, dashing demeanor, and is the direct grandson of the sect's Grand Elder, Ren Tianxiong. At only nineteen years old, he has already reached the early stage of the Golden Core realm.

Because of the cursed rune on his abdomen, Ren Jixing needs to find a woman to have sexual intercourse with every once in a while in order to maintain the stability of his qi and blood.

This person of the opposite sex could be an ordinary person, but if they were also a cultivator, then this stable power could be maintained for a longer time, and they would also improve their cultivation level from it.

This is also the secret to his reaching the Golden Core stage at a young age without relying on elixirs.

Even though he had seen countless women, Ren Jixing still coveted the Ice Lotus Fairy. As far as he knew, this female cultivator had already reached the Great Perfection of the Golden Core stage, making her the number one inner disciple.

If she takes another step, she will reach the Nascent Soul realm, which is enough for her to become a sect elder.

Despite this, many disciples still went all out when facing the Ice Lotus Fairy, revealing all their trump cards, just to gain that sliver of hope and become the Daoist partner of this stunning beauty.

Ren Jixing was different from them; he was much more pragmatic and wasn't blinded by beauty. Although he coveted her greatly, he understood that the gap in strength between himself and that woman was still too vast.

Judging from the martial arts contest for marriage held in the past few months, the Ice Lotus Fairy's methods, while not exactly insidious, are certainly not ordinary.

On the surface, every time she makes a move, she seems to be gracefully dancing with a long sword, as elegant as a bewitching butterfly. But every time she strikes, she aims for a vital point; this is the essence of a smile hiding a dagger.

Before long, the martial arts contest to find a husband began as usual. One by one, the disciples rushed forward and fought fiercely. They probably hadn't fought so desperately even when fighting in battles outside. It was truly a case of heroes getting angry for the sake of a woman.

Ignoring these brutes, Ren Jixing quietly admired the Ice Lotus Fairy sitting gracefully in the central martial arts arena.

"The so-called lotus is only meant to be admired from afar and not to be trifled with. Among the hundreds of people here, I guess only I can view it with this mindset." Ren Jixing flicked his folding fan, ignoring the fighting around him, and looked at the Ice Lotus Fairy in the distance with a playful expression.

In the end, one disciple after another was eliminated, leaving only a burly man who emerged victorious. Turning to look at the disciples who were jealous of him, the burly man's face showed even more pride.

The burly man was already at the late Golden Core stage. He possessed a magic weapon called the Taiwu Ring. After wearing this ring, its owner could transform spiritual power into physical forms, turning it into various weapons to deal with different combat situations.

Furthermore, he also cultivated his body. Although he was not as proficient in immortal techniques as others, his strong physique and the unpredictable Taiwu Ring were enough to give him the strength to sweep away all the inner disciples.

The moment he stepped onto the grand martial arts arena, his eyes met those of the Ice Lotus Fairy. Whether it was the allure of her stunning beauty or the unbearable loneliness he felt from not having found a lover for so many years, a single glance stirred his emotions, and his strength surged within him. He charged straight toward the Ice Lotus Fairy.

The Ice Lotus Fairy, sitting calmly in her chair opposite, remained unperturbed as this brute charged towards her. She gracefully took out her longsword from her storage bag again, her cultivation gathering as she brought it down, forcefully blocking the burly man's punch.

"Junior Sister, I was a little too rough with my punch. If I accidentally hurt you, please don't blame me, hahaha!" The burly man was not discouraged when he saw that his punch was easily blocked. Instead, he began to care about his opponent, put away his fist, and continued to launch an even more ferocious attack.

Seeing this, Fairy Ice Lotus simply covered her mouth and smiled, then nodded slightly before engaging the burly man in a fierce battle. The two exchanged blows, combining offense and defense. Unlike the disciples who used magic as their means of attack, this burly man's physical strength was so great that he could even withstand Fairy Ice Lotus's sword strikes without sustaining any injury.

Such a formidable being, both resilient and powerful, made it difficult for Fairy Ice Lotus to deal with. Several sword techniques she unleashed had little effect on the burly man, only weakening his offensive. However, even more ferocious attacks followed immediately.

In less than a quarter of an hour, the Ice Lotus Fairy was already drenched in sweat. Her thin white robe was soaked with sweat, revealing her fair shoulders and a pair of round and delicate breasts that were faintly visible.

Seeing this, Ren Jixing stared intently at him, secretly praising him: "This roughneck's actions! He actually managed to push Fairy Ice Lotus to such a state. It seems I'll have to cultivate a good relationship with him in the future."

Seeing the Ice Lotus Fairy in such a disheveled state, the burly disciple felt his blood boil and, ignoring his own wounds, unleashed his strongest attack.

Seeing that she was about to be defeated, the Ice Lotus Fairy seemed to give up resisting and stood still, letting the strong man kill her.

"Junior sister! Do you admit defeat?" The burly man became even more arrogant upon seeing this, and while slowly withdrawing his attack, he questioned the Ice Lotus Fairy.

But in the next moment, the Ice Lotus Fairy suddenly raised her long sword, and with a flick of her wrist, the tip of the sword drew a strange rune on the strong man's abdomen. The power emanating from it made the surrounding air turn cold.

"This..." The surrounding disciples were dumbfounded, watching helplessly as the burly man crashed directly into the Ice Lotus Fairy's sword, his body pierced through by the sword, his powerful aura vanished in an instant, and he died on the spot.

As expected, Ren Jixing gasped, his brows furrowing as he looked at the burly man's fallen body.

The process was extremely swift. All that could be seen was the faint blue glow emanating from the Ice Lotus Fairy's sword. Immediately afterward, the burly disciple died without even uttering a scream.

The situation took a bizarre turn, and the Ice Lotus Fairy won the martial arts contest for marriage once again. This was the third inner disciple to die at her hands.

No one ever doubted whether she really wanted to find a Daoist partner to live happily ever after with. Everyone just felt that someone who wasn't strong enough was simply not worthy of the Ice Lotus Fairy.

"As you all have seen, although this senior brother is very strong, he acted impulsively and recklessly due to a loss of reason, which led to the current situation. This martial arts contest for marriage is now over. I look forward to seeing you again next time."

The Ice Lotus Fairy spoke softly, briefly mentioning that she had accidentally killed the strong man earlier. Finally, she raised her jade hand and blew a kiss to everyone before leaving amidst the shouts of her disciples.

The burly man's body was dragged away by some inner disciples who were on good terms with him. Not many people were saddened by it; most of their attention was focused on the enchanting kiss that Fairy Ice Lotus had just given.

Ren Jixing still frowned, watching the once invincible strongman become a corpse. Although they were strangers, he still felt an indescribable sense of oppression.

"Never mind, what does it have to do with me?" Ren Jixing sighed softly, put away his folding fan, and quietly left.