[Vol. 6] Chapter 195: The Wanderer
"…Thank you, Senior, for showing mercy."
"No problem, but, uh… where exactly did you get the idea to call me 'Senior'?"
"……"
That swordswoman seemed to have a taciturn personality and did not respond further to Violet, who had veins popping on her forehead. After the referee came forward to verify her card number and confirm her qualification for advancement, she quickly and silently left the scene.
Her cold and distant demeanor didn’t bother Violet, who had no intention of chasing after her. Instead, she turned and left in the opposite direction.
Still, during the brief moment when Violet collected her own number card, she managed to sneak a glance at the name registered on the swordswoman’s badge.
"Hongyan." (Swan Goose)
The name struck Violet as peculiar. It didn’t sound like a proper name but more like a code name or nickname.
The [Four Saints' Immortal Selection Ceremony] had a rather lenient policy regarding participant registration. Contestants weren’t required to use their real names, likely because this globally renowned event often drew even visitors from other realms. Trying to verify everyone’s identity would have been an impossible task, so they had chosen to allow aliases for simplicity.
Hongyan… A wanderer, huh?
Violet gazed at the girl’s retreating figure, deep in thought.
That confrontation just now might have seemed pointless to the uninformed, but in reality, the two had already engaged in a silent battle, one far more dangerous than a clash of blades.
Violet had no formal training in the way of the sword, but like anyone familiar with the world of warriors, she understood a fundamental truth: for a truly skilled swordsman, the physical sword was secondary. At the highest levels, anything like a flower, a branch, even the air itself, could become a blade capable of striking invisibly.
"Iaido," in particular, exemplified this principle.
For a swordsman, the most important thing wasn’t their weapon but their “intent” and “momentum”.
Miss Hongyan was undoubtedly an exceptional swordswoman. When faced with a mysterious opponent whose strength and tactics were difficult to gauge, she didn’t recklessly draw her sword right away. Instead, she used her "aura" as an extension of her intent to probe her opponent.
It was like aiming a gun before pulling the trigger. Her aura was akin to a red dot sight locked onto her opponent’s head, a calculated form of intimidation.
It was a clever tactic, allowing her to attack or retreat as needed. Against weaker opponents, this sharp and imposing aura alone might have been enough to shake their confidence, immediately reducing their combat effectiveness by at least thirty percent.
Normally, the correct way to counter such a move would be to release one’s own aura to clash with the opponent’s, neutralizing their momentum. However, going head-to-head with a swordsman’s intent was no easy feat, especially against someone of her caliber. Even worse, such an action would reveal the defender’s capabilities entirely, setting them up to face the full force of the swordsman’s next strike.
But Violet didn’t follow the conventional playbook. Instead of matching Hongyan’s aura with her own, she relied on the "insane defensive capabilities" of her [Feather Robe Graria] to stand calmly in the storm of sword intent. She didn’t flinch, didn’t defend, and made no effort to protect herself, as though she were bathing casually in the overwhelming pressure.
This approach was the equivalent of exposing herself to a firing squad, every vital point open to attack. At any moment, it seemed she could be torn apart.
Violet's intention was simple. She wanted to test the true strength of this swordswoman. But to her surprise, this risky move had an unexpected side effect.
Violet wasn’t sure what Hongyan was thinking, but she could sense hesitation from the girl. That brief moment of uncertainty undermined the sharpness of Hongyan’s sword intent. Even if Violet didn’t counter or actively do anything, her composure alone completely put Hongyan at a disadvantage.
Hongyan wasn’t wrong. Violet had indeed held back. If Violet had been serious, the match would have ended within three moves at most. It wouldn’t have dragged on so long.
But why rush? After all, Hongyan was… interesting, wasn’t she?
…………………………..
Hongyan hadn’t expected to face such a strong opponent in the very first preliminary match.
Her master had been right. The world was vast, and there was always someone stronger. Her cultivation still had a long way to go…
As she walked back to the inn, the swordswoman named Hongyan replayed the battle over and over in her mind. She couldn’t shake that strange “illusion” she had experienced during the confrontation.
This was the first time since leaving her home that Hongyan had lost the courage to draw her sword in the face of an opponent. In the past, even when facing someone as strong as her master, she had dared to strike with all her might. But that strange black-haired girl…
Why had she made Hongyan feel so inexplicably frightened?
During their confrontation, the girl hadn’t released even the slightest bit of outward pressure. From Hongyan’s perspective, she seemed harmless, like a harmless kitten. And yet, there was a constant, haunting feeling that if Hongyan made the smallest mistake, she’d be cut down instantly.
Normally, if someone couldn’t resist a swordsman’s outward sword aura, it meant they couldn’t handle their sword intent. Against such opponents, Hongyan wouldn’t even need to unsheathe her blade to win effortlessly. But that black-haired girl was entirely different.
Her entire stance was riddled with openings, as though Hongyan could defeat her with a simple flick of her blade. Yet, deep in her bloodline, an unshakable sense of danger kept screaming at her: [Don’t draw your sword, no matter what, or you’ll end up hurting yourself!]
This was the first time her bloodline’s instinctive warning had directly contradicted her sword intent. The conflict left her paralyzed, wavering and consuming her mental focus for far too long.
At one point, as her nerves stretched to their limits, she experienced a strange, almost ecstatic moment. She saw countless golden flames and radiant halos rise around the girl, forming an image like an untouchable blazing sun. The vision weighed heavily on Hongyan’s mind, a pressure too overwhelming to describe.
This was the real reason she had stumbled and retreated uncontrollably after the referee declared the match over.
“Phew…”
It was too bizarre. What had just happened?
Even now, long after their brief confrontation, Hongyan hadn’t fully recovered from the strange encounter. As she walked back to her lodging, her head still swam with dizziness, nausea churned in her stomach, and her limbs felt as if she had climbed up and down a mountain range thirty times over. The inexplicable exhaustion made her head spin.
Precisely because she couldn’t make sense of what had happened, Hongyan had avoided further interaction with the girl, choosing instead to leave the arena immediately and return to rest.
On the way back, the swordswoman couldn’t help but wonder if the girl had secretly used some sort of unusual technique to mess with her mind. Techniques like hypnosis or soul-manipulation arts, things Hongyan had always considered fantastical, suddenly didn’t seem so impossible.
That probably wasn’t the case. The black-haired girl didn’t seem like an evil person. Besides, the sword technique Hongyan practiced heightened her sensitivity to auras and mental disturbances. If any tricks had been played, she would have noticed.
“…Should I write a letter to my master and ask?”
By the time she snapped out of her thoughts, the swordswoman was already standing in front of the temporary inn where she was staying.
This wasn’t just her lodging. It housed many of her companions who had traveled with her to Xingyuan City. They had pooled their resources to rent the entire inn as a group. While it wasn’t a secret base or anything, the shared goals and lack of conflicting interests made it a relatively trustworthy place.
As she stepped through the main entrance, Hongyan spotted a young woman with blue hair and elegant robes sitting by the window, bathed in the golden light of the setting sun. She was busy writing and sketching on a piece of paper at the table.
Hearing the sound of the door, the blue-haired girl turned around and broke into a cheerful smile.
"Oh, Miss Hongyan is back! The match… haha, with your skills, I don’t even need to ask about the results. Congratulations on advancing to the next round!"
Though not particularly fond of such exchanges, Hongyan gave her companion a polite nod in acknowledgment.
"Miss Yu, still working on your drafts?"
"That’s right! The preliminary round of the literary competition is coming up in a few days. I feel confident, but I can’t afford to be careless… Wait, your face doesn’t look good. Did you get injured during the match?"
"It’s nothing. I’m just a little tired. I faced a particularly strong opponent today. Advancing felt more like luck than anything else. This [Four Saints' Immortal Selection Ceremony] is truly full of hidden talents. You should be careful too."
"Eh…?"
Miss Yu looked skeptical.
"Really? What did they look like? Could you tell where they came from?"
"Why do you want to know?"
"Just curious~"
Hongyan shook her head helplessly, not bothering to answer further. Instead, she dragged her exhausted body toward the stairs leading to the second floor.
"She’s a participant in the martial art competition. There’s no way you’ll run into her. You’d better control your curiosity and focus on winning your own competition so you can go home with something to show for it."