Otherworldly Desert Dust

The continuous Ruishui River curled upwards, finally transforming into spiritual spears with shimmering water ripples above Ancient Temple City. They resembled dragons from myriad rivers, baring their hard fangs and sharp claws. Commanding these myriad river dragons, Wu Hen looked akin to the Divine Officer from the Water Temple, solemn and sacred.

The spiritual spears of water launched together, shooting towards the earth where young Gong Qin stood. Their true power lay not in piercing through everything but in unleashing terrifying oceanic waves around young Gong Qin. These terrifying waves grew as successive spiritual spears of water flew in, with increasingly massive energy churning that space.

Young Gong Qin wielded her sword with all her might, attempting to cleave through the force of these terrifying waves, but the energy of the Ruishui River filled the gaps as quickly as she cut them open.

Above Wu Hen in the mid-air was an illusory river, one end of which plummeted like a waterfall. The water stream that fell was the countless spiritual spears of water, never depleting and continuously pouring towards young Gong Qin.

And on the other end of this illusory river, it seemed to connect another world - a universe completely filled with billions of tons of Ruishui River, a void and ethereal ocean cosmos. Wu Hen, this "Gun Immortal," merely opened a breach connecting this world to that ocean cosmos, causing the never-ending Ruishui River from that cosmos to pour in, forming an unstoppable energy.

Young Gong Qin could not sever this energy. She continuously swung her sword, creating a vast and spectacular Sword Mountain and Sword Forest. She tried to use her Immortal Sword to build her own mountain wall and forest city, but her Immortal Sword Domain was still swallowed by the endless torrent of the Ruishui River, much like an island full of spiritual charm being invaded by the sea despite its peculiarities.

"This is impossible..." Young Gong Qin widened her eyes, watching her Sword Mountain and Sword Forest crumble, seeing her Supreme Sword Technique enveloped by an inseverable force. For the first time, she felt powerless and fearful.

What she couldn't accept was that the True Technique performed by her opponent was actually the inheritance of their Sword Immortal Lineage. She started practicing the sword at the age of three, comprehended Immortal Law at the age of five, and spent ten years mastering the True Sword Immortal Technique. With that, she stood at the pinnacle of immortals, proud of the mortal world, never ceasing her cultivation through spring, summer, autumn, and winter. She deeply understood the arduousness of the cultivation path. She couldn't believe or accept that someone could learn her painstakingly cultivated True Technique just by looking at it!

The Sword Immortal Lineage is essentially a solitary seedling.

Her mentor, Ling Hu, only grasped the theory of sword moves. There were advanced Immortal Laws he himself couldn't execute, meaning it was impossible for her mentor to secretly train a disciple.

All Guns Return to the Root?

This means that whatever weapon he holds, he can form an Immortal Technique of that weapon. Everything in heaven and earth becomes his weapon. As long as he finds energy that can restrain her, at the same realm of understanding, she'll never be able to defeat him!

A truly skilled person only needs a simple exchange to understand the outcome clearly.

Fairy Gong Qin's heart was filled with fear precisely because of this.

But she refused to believe it, hoping the opponent was merely trying to scare her. So Fairy Gong Qin again broke out of this All Guns Return to the Root at the cost of self-damage in a way that harms the enemy even more, attempting to slash Wu Hen and break through these imposing magic formulas.

However, the advanced sword techniques of Fairy Gong Qin had more than once been demonstrated in front of Wu Hen. He could also perform the Heaven and Earth Resonance Technique she displayed.

Soon, an exaggerated scene appeared in Ancient Temple City. All those pagodas, Buddhist temples, Spirit Mountains, Immortal Halls, Holy Halls, Golden Walls, and White Bricks were disintegrating. They disintegrated into two types of material particles. One type exuded a cold light, forming a vast Sword Light Constellation in the sky behind young Gong Qin. The other transformed into Jade Drops, outlining an ancient Divine Wave behind Wu Hen!

Ultimately, two similar True Techniques collided in entirely different forms and attributes. Ancient Temple City was clearly delineated. At times, billions of Spirit Swords flashed, and at other times divine sea dragons surged. In the eyes of the other little gods, it seemed more like the heavens and sea were invading each other.

The restraining effect of the Ruishui River manifested again. Young Gong Qin, too eager for success, often tried to defeat her opponent without attending to her breathing control, which left her somewhat lacking in follow-through amid such intense impact. Scarlet blood surged up her throat, internal organ damage resulted from her body's continuous load.

She attempted to protect her internal organs with immortal energy to prevent further rupture, but during one Absorbing Qi and Spirit process, she suddenly seemed to be pressed into a basin of water, choking herself.

At this moment, young Gong Qin realized that the opponent's Ruishui River had somehow permeated her surroundings, depriving her of any chance to perform breathing control.

"Wah~"

Finally, young Gong Qin spat out a large mouthful of scarlet blood. The blood, extremely cold, condensed into countless tiny Blood Spirit Crystals as she spat them out of her throat.

The spiritual crystal of an immortal's blood has always been a hard currency in Infinite City, very much in demand. If not for the fact that the vast majority of immortals possess overwhelming combat power, many unscrupulous moguls in Cang Chu would have already started raising immortals for business.

The blood that young Gong Qin spat out also contained extremely pure energy. As this energy flowed out of her body, it meant a severe depletion of her Primordial Energy, which made it difficult to manifest those earth-shattering sword techniques again.

Young Gong Qin, like a leaf, landed in Ancient Temple City, now turned into a golden desert.

She briefly fainted. Her mentor Ling Hu, upon seeing this, disregarded his own safety and flew over to support her.

"Mentor..." Young Gong Qin was heavily injured, but her greatest wound was to her self-esteem. At this moment, she was just like a girl inexperienced in the world, tears sparkling in her eyes, filled with incomprehension and profound confusion.

She didn't understand why she lost.

Her mentor had always regarded her as a peerless genius, the one most likely to become a Jade Immortal. Neither thousands of years ago nor thousands of years in the future could anyone compare to her genius. Why did she lose?

From the time she became sensible, she had never lost even when sparring with adult immortals.

"You are the strongest Sword Immortal of this great cosmos, the other party simply used some insidious laws. Do not let such things disturb your state of mind!" Mentor Ling Hu hurriedly consoled.

But Ling Hu's words only further destabilized young Gong Qin's mindset.

The opponent clearly defeated her with her own moves, how could the mentor not have seen that?

In truth, Sword Immortal Ling Hu also had no idea what was happening. Although he was well-versed in all True Techniques of the Sword Immortal Lineage, he could not fully perform them, leading him to suspect that the young man had a mentor of much higher realm than his own. Otherwise, how could someone perform the True Sword Immortal Technique to such a degree?

Ling Hu's suspicion was indeed correct.

Wu Hen's mentor was young Gong Qin herself, and young Gong Qin's realm had already surpassed her mentor before she reached adulthood. Moreover, three hundred years later, young Gong Qin's understanding of the Sword Realm far exceeded her current self.

"The one who defeated you was not me, but yourself." Wu Hen saw the juvenile version of Fairy Gong Qin's Dao heart shattered, and hastily put away his arrogant demeanor, gently comforting her.

"Shut up, you time-disrupting villain!" Ling Hu furiously scolded Wu Hen, this guy who kicked someone when they were down.

As expected, young Gong Qin, who had been holding back her tears, started crying uncontrollably in the next second. This broken True Sword Immortal Technique couldn't make her invincible; why did she continue to endure hardships to torment herself?

A tiny Heart Demon Seed was sown at this moment, sprouting every ten years and flourishing every hundred!