The primal energies of the universe stopped spewing. The wind calmed and the furniture stopped moving.

Chen Moli did not exude any presence, just like when he first entered the wine shop. Yet his calm words continued to blow like a great wind on the bodies of these students.

Ding Ning’s brow creased slightly and his mouth opened to speak.

“Let’s go out to avoid messing things up. It will take effort to clean.” But before Ding Ning could speak, Chen Moli spoke, stood and calmly turned to walk out of the whine shop.

Xu Heshan’s expression grew uglier. As Chen Moli turned, he did not immediately follow. He turned and said in a low voice to Xu Heshan and Nangong Caishu, “Suppressing strength has nothing to do with cultivation.”

The students present were intelligent and all understood the meaning of Xu Heshan’s words.

When cultivation was put aside, the key to victory was usually combat experience and fighting techniques.

“I understand.”

Xie Changsheng looked at Chen Moli’s back and said coldly, “This is about our honor, we will naturally have the person who is the best at fighting participate.”

When he said this, all the students turned to look at Nangong Caishu.

Among them, if cultivation was put aside, the one who knew to fight the best was this young girl who looked the most delicate.

Nangong Caishu herself seemed to know this as well. Her expression turned grave. Without speaking a word, she moved and walked at the front.

Chen Moli stood at the middle of the alley. He looked down at the ground and the wild weeds that grew between the cracks in the stone.

He thought of Li Lingjun who he followed. In the Qin capital, Li Lingjun was like a weed that stubbornly struggled to live within the cracks.

But after today, would this kind of situation change?

His expression turned grave.

He turned and said to Nangong Caishu who came opposite him and nodded in a greeting. He said, “Please!”

Nangong Caishu narrowed her eyes and nodded in greeting. “Please!”

The sound echoed in the alley. The sparrows on the parasol trees suddenly flew up in shock. Dry yellowed leaves spun away from Nangong Caishu.

A wild wind started. Nangong Caishu moved in a direct line, leaving behind afterimages, as she charged towards Chen Moli.

A scale patterned sword appeared, wielded in her right hand, as she sliced towards Chen Moli’s head in an unusually straightforward manner.

When the sword appeared, the old energies disappeared and new energies appeared.

Waves of physical energy exploded from her sword, disappeared, and then exploded again.

Waves rippled through the cold air.

This was an unusually straight sword blow, but it made people feel as though there were countless swords.

This was the City Connecting Sword of her father, the general of Lishi Commandery, Nangong Pocheng.

In many stories of the wars with the Zhao Dynasty, Nangong Pocheng had cut through many heavily armored chariots with one blow. This was a sword move which was controlled through physical energy and created by continuously channeling power.

Chen Moli’s eyes were unusually bright. He had not expected a delicate young girl like this to be so aggressive in her initial attack. She was ferocious!

But facing such a ferocious sword, his only reaction was the flash of his eyes.

He did not retreat.

A crane cry sounded in the air. His sword left its sheath.

The hilt of his sword was clean white jade, and the sword blade was also a crystal white, thin and slightly transparent with faint feather patterns. It looked both refined and fragile.

However, he held this sword almost crudely and horizontally before shoving upwards as it smashed towards the scale-patterned sword that was cutting down.

Bam.

A wave of air exploded around the two. Even the soft wild grasses in the stone cracks under Chen Moli’s feet was cut down by the powerful and sharp sword energies.

Xie Changsheng and the other subconsciously narrowed their eyes.

No one would have thought that Chen Moli’s seemingly fragile white sword could also produce such a great force, and in such a short amount of time.

Most importantly, the white sword did not show any damage. It only trembled continuously.

Yet the thick scale-patterned sword in Nangong Caishu was already curving slightly.

Threads of blood flowed from between her index and thumb finger onto the scale-patterned sword.

Many observers had come out of the alley around Falling Parasol. They might be unable to see the skill in this battle but they were astounded that Nangong Caishu’s small body could create such power.

A ear-defeaning furiously howl came from Nangong Caishu’s lips.

The soles of her boots almost seemed to explode but she did not take a step back.

She gritted her teeth and ignored her pain as her left hand stabbed towards Chen Moli’s abdomen.

At this moment, a small green sword was in her left hand.

This green sword appeared to have many natural vine patterns on the surface due to its forging. When she stabbed, the physical energy which spilled from this sword seemed to form many thin green vines growing in the air so that people could not see clearly where the sword tip was pointed.

This was the Green Vine Energy and Green Vine Sword of Green Vine Sword School.

Ding Ning’s expression turned grave.

No wonder even the proud Xie Changsheng would step aside and let Nangong Caishu fight. The Green Vine Sword School’s Green Vine physical energy and Green Vine Sword were difficult to use together. Nangong Caishu was able to use the two together in realm two. She was a rare genius.

The sword headed up to the abdomen. It had been a ferocious blow which hid this gentle soft stab. Even Chen Moli changed expression.

He had an impulse to release his vital energy.

Yet he controlled his impulse. In this moment, his left hand moved.

His left hand did not have a sword, but held a sword sheath, a valuable green sharkskin sheath.

This sword sheath suddenly turned into a pool of water that enveloped the green vines growing upwards.

Everyone only heard a light clang.

That was the sound of a sword returning to the sheath. The vine-like sword energies disappeared. Nangong Caishu’s complexion was stark white.

All the students behind her inhaled in shock.

Her sword was in Chen Moli’s sheath.

Among the countless green vines, in such a rushed time, Chen Moli accurately found the true sword, and used the sword sheath to grab her sword.

In the next moments, Chen Moli’s actions did not stop. Chen Moli held the other end of the sword sheath and continued to swing his sword.

The water continued to shed.

Nangong Caishu was unable to support herself. Like a rock, she was levered into the air, her feet leaving the ground. In the next moment, her sword was torn from her left hand. The green little sword stayed in Chen Moli’s green sword sheath like a bird trapped in a cage.

Xie Changsheng bowed his head. He felt cold and angry but he knew saying anything was a waste.

Xu Heshan and the other students were all pale as well.

From when Chen Moli started to show his skill, they knew that this swordsman from the Chu Dynasty was strong, but they had not expected such a level of strength. Even Nangong Caishu, who the teachers in Green Vine Sword School all thought was the one student who understood battle among decades of Green Vine Sword School students, lost so easily, and even the Green Vine Sword was taken away using a sword sheath.

Pfff … … pfff.

Two soft sounds. Nangong Caishu landed on her feet with puffs of dust.

She was a young girl. When she thought of the teachings of her teachers, and saw how the other had taken away her treasured Green Vine Sword, she was furious to the point of tears.

Chen Moli glanced at her.

He put his swords away.

The Green Vine Sword flew out of his sheath and landed directly in front of Nangong Caishu. At the same time his jade-like long sword returned to its sheath.

He looked extremely elegant.

“You should be proud of being able to cultivate Green Vine Art and Green Vine Sword to such a level with your cultivation, maybe you will defeat me in the future.”

He looked seriously at Nangong Caishu and praised sincerely without any pretension.

Nangong Caishu did not look at him.

She looked at the small Green Vine Sword trembling in the cracks in the stone. She could feel the helplessness and powerlessness of the small Green Vine Sword. Her nose felt slightly sword. She felt she had failed it.

She took a deep breath, and rubbed her nose.

When she pulled up this small green sword, her expression had become extremely grave.

A faint green light flashed like a bush of vines growing in the air.

A faint bloody mark appeared in the center of her right hand, dripping with blood.

“Mister Chen, please live well. I will defeat you.”

She raised her bleeding right hand. At the same time, she put the small green sword at her chest as she spoke solemnly.

This was the sword oath of the Qin.

In her opinion, defeat was defeat, victory was victory, whether or not the process of victory was spectacular or worthy of pride was not important.

Crucially, as long as she was alive, then even if she was defeated, she would gain victory next time.

Chen Moli was silent for a long moment.

Not out of fear, but out of respect and worry.

The Qin had ravenous hearts of wolves and tigers. What this Changling girl showed today was enough to make any person from Chu wary.

But he could not let this young girl and the students behind her delay him from what he needed to do today.

So his expression became calm and cold again.

“This battle today is actually unfair as I have more battle experience than you.”

His gaze swept across Nangong Caishu’s white hands, across Xie Changsheng, Xu Heshan and the others. Then he slowly said, “This year, I am twenty eight.”

Ordinary people would have difficulty understanding why he would mention his age so seriously at this time.

But these students were cultivators.

Usually, before they formally started cultivating, they had read many records on cultivating and heard many things.

So they all knew the true meaning in Chen Moli’s words.

Translator Rambling: I imagine Nangong Caishu’s scaled pattern sword looks something like this.