Duan Yiwei was so furious he actually laughed. His voice turned cold. "Fine. On the dueling platform, I want to see just how much ability you really have."
Yun Jin gave a small smile. "Don't worry, I'll make sure you learn something from it."
Such arrogance. Her tone was almost outrageous.
But Jin Yu wasn't paying attention to that. He kept his eyes fixed on Yun Jin and stubbornly dragged the conversation back to the topic at hand.
"Junior Sister Yun, you just said that sword technique of yours… you created it on the spot?"
Yun Jin nodded. "So what? Is that so difficult?"
Jin Yu narrowed his eyes. "I still have a few Yellow-rank sword techniques with me. Could you create a new Mystic-rank sword technique on the spot from those?"
In Jin Yu's mind, there was only swordsmanship.
At this moment, he couldn't help feeling a thrill of excitement. If Yun Jin truly had this kind of talent in the Way of the Sword, wouldn't that mean she could even rival Senior Brother Cang Li?
Jin Yu was skeptical.
No matter what, he had to test it for himself.
When Yun Jin heard this, her eyes lit up. "You're saying you'd give me those Yellow-rank sword techniques for free, and all I need to do is create a Mystic-rank technique right now?"
"That's right," Jin Yu nodded without hesitation. "When I first started practicing the sword, I collected quite a few Yellow-rank sword techniques. I'll give them all to you—so long as you can create a Mystic-rank technique in front of us."
Yun Jin was already bursting with joy inside, but she kept up an expression of difficulty.
"Still, creating a sword technique works best when all the techniques are of the same element. If the attributes are too mixed, it's hard to blend them into something new. And ten is the bare minimum. Yellow-rank sword techniques are full of flaws—if there aren't enough of them, there's no way to gain insight and form a new style."
Jin Yu responded, "The ones I have are all metal-element sword techniques. But ten..."
He frowned slightly.
Yellow-rank sword techniques were entry-level skills. It wasn't that they were hard to collect—he just never saw a reason to gather that many. As it stood, he didn't quite have enough.
"I have some metal-element Yellow-rank techniques as well," said another disciple from Kunlun Sword Sect.
"Me too."
Out of the five Kunlun Sword Sect disciples, three of them had metal-element techniques. With everyone pooling their resources, they managed to scrape together ten manuals for Yun Jin.
That was to be expected.
The ideal spiritual root for a sword cultivator was a pure metal element. Metal roots were powerful and sharp—perfect for offense-oriented sword cultivation.
At least half of the Kunlun Sword Sect's sword cultivators possessed metal-element roots. Naturally, they would collect sword techniques aligned with that attribute.
"Junior Sister Yun, is this enough?" Jin Yu handed over the ten manuals.
Yun Jin was absolutely delighted inside, but still pretended to hesitate.
"Actually, creating that last sword technique already took quite a toll on me. If I try to create another one in such a short time..."
Before she could finish, one of the Kunlun Sword Sect disciples interrupted impatiently.
"Boasted so loudly before, but now you're scared?"
Yun Jin glanced at him and smiled sweetly. "What I mean is, since creating sword techniques is so difficult, I could try—even if it pushes me. But shouldn't there be some appropriate compensation?"
"What kind of compensation do you want?" someone asked.
Yun Jin said, "Nothing unreasonable. If you have sword techniques you don't use and are allowed to pass on, I'd like the right of first purchase. Any Yellow to Earth-rank techniques would be welcome—the more the better."
These Holy Land disciples had access to far more sword techniques than the outside world. If she could buy them with spirit stones, it would be an enormous gain. After all, most cultivators pursuing swordsmanship valued quality. Yun Jin was different. With enough quantity, she could eventually reach the same quality.
"That's simple enough," Jin Yu agreed immediately. "Other than sect-restricted manuals, I do have a few others. I can gift them to you directly."
Once Jin Yu agreed, the other sword cultivators followed suit.
One of them added, "But only if you can actually create a Mystic-rank sword technique from those ten Yellow-rank manuals."
"That's easy." Yun Jin was fully satisfied with the deal.
She casually picked up a manual. After a brief, deliberate flip through the pages, she stood up and replicated it one-to-one.
Jin Yu watched her the entire time.
His pupils contracted slightly.
She only looked through it once…
And immediately mastered a Yellow-rank sword technique?
Even if Yellow-rank sword techniques were simple, they weren't this simple.
After completing the first, Yun Jin picked up the second manual.
Just like before, she flipped through it once and started demonstrating it.
Her form was nearly identical to what was recorded in the manual.
The surrounding sword cultivators began to shift uneasily as they watched.
These manuals had come from their own collections. The fact that they carried them meant they were relatively rare.
There was no way Yun Jin could have studied them in advance.
That meant she had truly mastered each one in a single glance.
Jin Yu's pupils shrank even further.
This kind of talent…
Could she be born with the Innate Sword Body?
In his memory, only the Sect Master had ever been capable of such unbelievable feats. Even Senior Brother Cang Li, as talented as he was, still fell short of that level.
"No, no.
I must not jump to conclusions."
Jin Yu forced himself to calm down.
If she really had the Innate Sword Body, she was destined to become the next Sect Master of Kunlun Sword Sect.
This was no small matter—it could not be revealed carelessly.
When the current Sect Master was young, he had been relentlessly hunted by the demon clans because of his Innate Sword Body. His lover had even been killed by them.
Everyone knew that someone born with the Innate Sword Body was the rightful successor of Kunlun Sword Sect—and destined to become the top cultivator in the human realm.
And the demon clans knew it too.
If they suspected anyone had the Innate Sword Body, they would send killers after them without mercy. No matter what Yun Jin's situation was, those three words must never be spoken aloud.
In fact, no one should even start thinking in that direction.
"Senior Brother Jin… could Junior Sister Yun possibly be..." a Kunlun disciple began quietly, unable to hold back.
Jin Yu maintained a calm expression. "She does have good sword aptitude. But I've seen Senior Brother Cang Li train, and he can do this kind of thing with ease too."
Jin Yu had indeed witnessed Cang Li's sword training. Since he claimed that Cang Li could also perform like this, the others began to believe it.
So Yun Jin wasn't born with the Innate Sword Body after all.
But still...
Could her talent actually rival that of Cang Li?
Yun Jin continued methodically, finishing all ten Yellow-rank sword techniques in no time.
Now came the agreed-upon task.
She had to use the foundation of those ten techniques to create a Mystic-rank sword technique.
Yun Jin stood still, eyes closed.
Everyone watched with bated breath.
Could she really create a new sword technique in such a short time?