"Disciple pays respects to Master!"
Lin Xiao took a step into the Blessed Abode and was instantly stunned!
My goodness, Master... she... Has she actually put on black silk stockings again?!
Lin Xiao's heart fluttered as he took a careful look.
He saw his beautiful Master before him, reclining on the bed. Her shoeless legs, clad in black silk, were elegantly entwined. Her slender toes pointed downwards, making her arches appear even more alluring—so much so that one couldn't help but wish to...
"Truly worthy of being the most beautiful legs in the world."
He suddenly remembered how, just moments ago, he'd found his junior sister's chubby little legs in white silk to be cute. I can't believe I thought that! A wave of guilt washed over him.
"Xiao'er, you're back," Xiao Hongling said, sipping her wine, her phoenix eyes glancing over casually.
When she saw the handsome figure she had longed for, returned to her side unscathed, her heart surged. For an instant, she could barely resist rushing forward to embrace him.
Calm down! You must stay calm! Xiao Hongling, you are a teacher, a role model! You absolutely cannot lose your composure in front of your disciple!
Meanwhile, Lin Xiao's gaze drifted from his Master's beautiful legs, up her graceful waist, to the thin gauze moistened by wine, beneath which lay the tantalizing hint of her snow-white cleavage...
My formidable Formless Sword Body... at this moment, it feels like it's even broken through its level restrictions, as if it could pierce the very universe!
Rein it in! I absolutely have to rein it in this time! Tomorrow is the Five Branches Martial Tournament! I need to bid Master a proper farewell tonight!
He too was reminding himself.
Their eyes met, each lost in their own thoughts. What should have been a joyous reunion after a long separation somehow felt strangely heavy.
"Hmph, you brat..." Xiao Hongling began. "Still not talking? Trying to act like some profound expert?
"Are you going to keep up this charade even in front of *your* Master?"
The quick-tempered Fairy Hongling couldn't hold back any longer. Biting her lip, her figure flashed, and she was beside Lin Xiao in an instant.
Then, she directly pulled him onto the bed!
It was only when his Master parted her beautiful, black-silk-clad legs that Lin Xiao realized... she was wearing *only* the black silk, and nothing else... Beneath the nightdress, the sight was faintly discernible, making it even more...
Master, she's doing this on purpose, isn't she?! I've never, ever seen her ! AAAAH!
Lin Xiao's mouth fell open. Before he could fully appreciate the view, the scene before him shifted. A vast expanse of yellow, Gobi-like sand appeared!
Lin Xiao had a bad premonition. His beautiful Master probably intended to use this last night before the Five Branches Martial Tournament to teach him another secret technique!
「Inside the Secret Realm of the Sword Realm.」
"No more... I can't go on..." Lin Xiao gasped. "Master, I... I really don't have a single drop of energy left!"
Lin Xiao felt his True Yuan completely depleted. Gritting his teeth, he used Cloud Dream Marsh to push himself slowly to his feet.
He was surprised to find that this time, after dueling with his Master at the same cultivation level for three hundred rounds, he was still able to stand!
He remembered that during the last trial in the Secret Realm, not only had his body been utterly drained, but even Cloud Dream Marsh in his hand had snapped in two!
"In that last exchange, my Drunken Immortal Watching Moon Step dodged her sword attacks eighty-seven times. Of those, the Wine God Curse activated to neutralize her sword momentum about sixty times! That success rate is similar to last time!"
"Could it be... my Sword Dao cultivation has improved again?"
"Or perhaps... it's the enhancement from the Beiming Swallowing Heaven Immortal Skill?"
"Holy crap! This is insane! If I'm this strong, how is Ye Chen supposed to fight me tomorrow?"
Just as Lin Xiao's mind was racing, a beautiful leg clad in black silk descended from the sky into his field of vision, followed by the full, tall, and graceful figure of its owner.
"Hahaha, not bad, young fellow, not bad at all."
"To think that after one trip out to gain experience in Canglan City, you've actually entered the Dharma Appearance realm! Tsk, tsk, such a terrifying rate of improvement..."
"I, your Master, certainly didn't misjudge you back then!"
"You truly are a sword cultivator genius, one in a million!"
As she spoke, Xiao Hongling's expression suddenly changed. Her figure flickered, and she appeared before her beloved disciple.
Then, she reached out a delicate hand, tilted his chin up, and her phoenix eyes stared intently into his, as if trying to pierce through to his very soul.
Although she was an unparalleled beauty, Lin Xiao felt somewhat unnerved by her intense gaze and turned his head to the side.
"Look at me, brat!" Xiao Hongling's phoenix eyes widened as she spoke in a cold voice.
Lin Xiao had no choice but to grit his teeth and meet her gaze.
In that instant, his body stiffened. Then, his vision blurred with flashes of white, as if his spiritual sense was being forcibly invaded!
After a few moments, by the time he fully regained consciousness, his Master had dispelled the Sword Realm and was now sitting on the swing at Fairy Cliff.
"Your Dharma Appearance… that sword is terrifying..."
"I, your Master, keep feeling like I've seen it somewhere before."
"But when I searched my memories just now, I couldn't find any information about it at all..."
"Perhaps… it was a fleeting glimpse in a past life?"
At this, she couldn't help but give a bitter laugh. "Ah, forget it, let's not talk about that. You know, you're very strong now. I, your Master, would even dare to guarantee that among the entire younger generation of the Qinglan Sect, there are no more than three individuals who could defeat you."
"And that's including Jiang Yuan. Even if... even if it were your Master in her younger days, I'd probably only be evenly matched with you," she said, her expression earnest.
Sigh. Hearing this assessment from the person considered the pinnacle of combat strength in the Qinglan Sect, Lin Xiao felt an even deeper chill in his heart.
In fact, he was the one most aware of how drastically his own strength had surged recently.
If it weren't for this, given his cautious nature, how could he have dared to go head-to-head with the Young Master of Soul Hall, who was at the peak of the Dharma Appearance realm?
Lately, he'd been getting an increasingly absurd feeling: Ye Chen's appearance had, paradoxically, been the very thing that spurred his own rapid increase in strength!