She finally realized who this man was. It was the regulations elder that tested her! The old man then smiled and took off his disguise, revealing his original face.

“What gave it away?” he asked, he realized that she had recognized him.

“It was the way you drank your tea, I recognized it from the first time we met.”

“Discovered by a mannerism, either you have sharp eyes or I’m getting worse at this,” said the elder.

“Come with me.”

He left the room, leading her down a corridor before entering an extremely large office, where he promptly went behind his desk and sat down.

“Please, sit”, he said.

Ming Yue took a seat, looking around. The office was quite large but it was quite plain. There were windows revealing the city.

“You must be wondering about why I’m here or why I’m even talking to you. But before that, let me introduce myself. I am Meng Zhao, a high elder of the Jade Dragon Pavilion. Being a regulations elder and an appraiser are just hobbies of mine. I enjoy seeing the next generation and examining items. You can refer to me as Grandpa Meng” he said.

“I see…” she said.

She really didn’t have anything to say. There was no connection between the two and she wasn’t sure how to respond.

Seeing her confusion, he explained his reason for being here.

“The truth is, I knew your father. He was a member of the pavilion, he mostly did quests for herb collection, but he was one of our top medicine suppliers. He has worked as a doctor on multiple group missions. Many of us, including me would’ve died if not for him. When his wife had died, he retired from this and went to live in a remote village with you. He came across the Parting Sun Blade there and brought it to us. However, we wanted him to keep it to protect himself. It was a shame that he died. The moment we heard news of the attack, many people rushed out but who would’ve known that by the time we arrived, the village had been burned to ashes” he said.

His expression full of sadness as he recounted the details.

“I was sure that you had also died, but then you appeared out of nowhere, asking to become a pavilion member. I wanted to see if you were really his daughter and I recognized the sword on your back. It is good to know that at least you were safe.”

After talking, Meng Zhao looked at Ming Yue and smiled.

“Your father was my benefactor, now this is my chance to pay him back. If you would like, I can take you under my wing. My family is based in the capital, I can have you join as my granddaughter”, he said.

Ming Yue was surprised by his offer. If she agreed, she might not have to fight again. She could live in comfort, without ever going through any more hardship. After thinking, she finally made her decision.

“I decline”, she said with a firm look on her face.

Meng Zhao didn’t seem to be surprised as if he had expected this.

“It seems that you have become accustomed to this lifestyle. I will not force you then.”

The incident in the village had changed her. Going back to a normal life was out of the question and she knew that. Both of them understood that. Meng Zhao sighed and stood up, he walked to one of the cabinets and grabbed something. He gestured her to follow him as they left his office and walked towards a pair of grand doors, adorned with metal engravings. He revealed the item to be a key and opened it.

Behind those doors was a room, an empty room with no decorations. However, there was something peculiar about this room. At the center of it was a sword, floating above the ground. It was a simple blade yet it gave off a feeling of power.

“Welcome to the Sword Domain, this is one of our services in the catalog for training. Compared to sparring with an expert, this is ten times better. Here, you can focus solely on fighting for as long as possible. Each pavilion has these doors that are connected to a hidden dimension. This is for those who need to something more than just teachings. They are here to comprehend their own Dao. The way they fight, the way they live and breathe. It can be done in many ways but for fighters, battle is the most suitable way. From what I understand, you are already quite adept with your sword. This should prove to be helpful in training.”

Ming Yue approached the sword slowly. As if sensing her presence, the sword hummed and flipped towards her, beckoning to fight. She unsheathed her sword and held it towards the ground. Then without hesitation, she attacked the floating sword.

“Strong!” she thought.

Her attack could not push back the sword and instead it pushed her back. At first, she only used her sword techniques, but soon after, she began infusing inner force into her body and then using the Wind Dao with her techniques. However, as she increased her power, the sword also powered up. It was ever so slightly stronger than her and fought without ever stopping.

Ten moves, a hundred moves, a thousand, as time went on, Ming Yue felt an increasing pressure from the sword. This might be training but between the two blades, it was a battle to the death. Each move was aimed to kill, tension saturated the air, as she did her utmost to contend with the sword. Sparks flew as sounds of metal grinding against each other echoed through out the room. Suddenly, the sword flew several meters away for her and began vibrating strongly. It continued to vibrate even more intensely until it turned into a blur. Then to her surprise, the sword split into two identical blades and then rushed back to fight Ming Yue.

Now the pressure on her had skyrocketed, she was fighting against 2 swords. What made it worse was that instead of weakening after splitting, both swords grew even stronger. She gritted her teeth as she continued to fight it out. The blades weaved in and out, slashing and cutting whenever there was a chance. Her breathing was ragged as she struggled to keep up. Her unending determination drove her to continue to fight, she would not give up under any circumstances. A fire was lit inside her as she continued to battle without rest

Slowly but surely, she adapted to this and held on. Being under such tremendous pressure had awoken the potential within her. Her body adjusted itself bit by bit, changing and becoming stronger. Her skills and techniques continuously improved and was ever so slightly closer to perfection. It was not a overstatement to say that this speed of improvement was equal if not better than those of demonic geniuses.

However, anyone would feel the same effects as her under this situation. It was a matter of whether or not they would break under such extreme conditions.. To be able to improve in such a fast rate will also have its own risk.