That morning, the main square of the Boundless Sword Sect was packed with people.
Earlier that morning, news had spread throughout the entire Boundless Sword Sect like wildfire:
"Disciples from the Dao Sword Sect have come to challenge us. They claim everyone in the Boundless Sword Sect is worthless and knows nothing about swordsmanship. They say there isn't a single worthy opponent among us."
In an instant, emotions ran high, and the entire Boundless Sword Sect was in uproar.
You can say our Boundless Sword Sect is poor, that we can't even afford proper spirit swords, but... you can't say we can't fight.
How dare they come to our doorstep with such arrogance?
This was a slap in the face to every cultivator in the Boundless Sword Sect! They were dancing in dangerous territory.
This couldn't be tolerated!
This was absolutely unacceptable!
This battle concerned the sect's honor, determining whether the Boundless Sword Sect or the Dao Sword Sect was superior. The Boundless Sword Sect absolutely could not lose.
If they didn't thoroughly defeat these challengers, if they didn't win decisively, if they didn't make all the provocateurs submit, it would count as the Boundless Sword Sect's loss.
The Boundless Sword Sect was the strongest sect in the Land of Immortal Legacy!
If they lost this battle, their disciples wouldn't be able to hold their heads high in the Land of Immortal Legacy for at least fifty years.
It was time to fight for the Boundless Sword Sect!
Looking at the fired-up and enraged Dao Sword Sect cultivators around her, Li Shiyin quietly moved closer to her master, held his arm, and whispered in his ear, "Master, you're behind this, aren't you?"
It was just a sparring match, so why was everyone so worked up? Why had it escalated to a matter of sect honor and survival?
She knew someone must have been stirring things up behind the scenes.
And her master was notorious for such behind-the-scenes manipulation.
Qin Ran looked at Li Shiyin with approval. His foolish disciple had grown clever.
Why did he fan the flames? Why did he elevate the enemy's momentum?
Because the higher the stakes of this competition, the more serious its implications, the greater the blow would be to the Boundless Sword Sect when they lost.
The higher they stood, the harder they would fall.
This was psychological warfare.
And his water clones, which weren't much use in combat, were perfect for such tasks.
"It wasn't me," he shook his head solemnly.
But Li Shiyin knew her master too well. One look at his eyes told her he must have had a hand in this.
She looked around nervously, feeling guilty, as if the crowd might rush over and finish them off at any moment.
"Are you afraid?" Qin Ran suddenly leaned in and whispered in her ear.
"Afraid?"
"Are you afraid you won't win and these trash will mock you?"
Li Shiyin gave her master a sidelong glance, seeing right through his attempt to provoke her, but...
"I'm just saying they're too noisy. I'll make them quiet down soon!"
She still fell for it.
"Tsk~"
Qin Ran kissed her ear and whispered, "That's my precious disciple!"
"Hmph!"
There were too many people around, and Li Shiyin, blushing, didn't dare resist.
While master and disciple were whispering intimately at the sidelines, there were already people in the arena.
Following the order of Foundation Establishment, Golden Core, and Primordial Spirit, the ones standing in the arena now were naturally the sisters Jiang Ran and Jiang Qin.
They stood in the center, surrounded by disciples of the Boundless Sword Sect - hundreds, thousands, tens of thousands!
Looking at the grimacing Boundless Sword Sect cultivators on the sidelines, watching them jump excitedly as if they might rush in at any moment for a fight to the death, hearing their cheers and curses, feeling the waves of sound crashing over them like physical force...
They were all enemies. The sisters were outsiders, facing an entire sect.
Jiang Qin was steadier, slightly better off, but Jiang Ran was already at her limit.
She was both scared and nervous. Her hands holding the Rainbow Silk began to tremble.
Their opponents, whether intentionally or truly occupied, had yet to arrive.
After standing in the arena for so long, even Jiang Qin started to lose her composure.
"Master, they're doing this on purpose," Li Shiyin frowned.
Qin Ran looked at the two beautiful young women's suffering expressions in the arena and felt some pity for them, but...
He shook his head and said, "This is nothing. It seems the Sect Leader's teaching methods are inadequate. This is a necessary part of their cultivation journey. Compared to life-and-death situations, what's this home field pressure? When they face real life-or-death battles in the future, should they just commit suicide because the enemy outnumbers them?"
Li Shiyin sighed and said nothing more.
She remembered when she challenged the prodigy of Qi Peak, Song Ze, he had used the same tactic.
But it had no effect on her. Instead, it showed her that Song Ze was afraid. When they formally fought, her momentum far exceeded Song Ze's, and with one Flying Immortal Sword technique, she defeated him.
Qin Ran could certainly protest to Jian Wuming, change the venue, or make the match start immediately, but he didn't.
He just stood outside the arena, watching as the two delicate young women went from nervous to scared, to psychological collapse, to barely being able to hold their spiritual weapons...
Lu Junxing wasn't far away either. He could see clearly too. Though it pained him, he maintained a stern face and didn't intervene.
After what seemed like forever, just as Jiang Ran and Jiang Qin looked ready to cry, a couple flew up from the crowd and landed in the arena.
They were a young Dao couple who practiced a set of Mandarin Duck Sword techniques, their hearts connected as husband and wife, perfectly matched against the twin sisters' telepathic connection.
Jiang Ran and Jiang Qin originally practiced the Dao Sword Sect's secret art, the "Divine Spirit Resonance Method," a technique only suitable for twins, especially identical twins.
Twins naturally share a connection, and when practicing the same technique with special buffs, their fighting prowess became more than just twice as strong.
Although their opponents were strong, specifically chosen by Jian Wuming from among the Foundation Establishment cultivators, their paper strength was still inferior to the sisters.
But battles were never just about comparing numbers. It wasn't as simple as whoever had better stats would win.
If battles were that simple, Qin Ran wouldn't need to fight at all.
A battle was related to too many factors.
And psychological factors played a huge part.
Between someone full of fighting spirit and someone seeking death, even if their strengths were equal, the winner would be obvious.
Someone like Li Shiyin, who feared nothing, naturally wouldn't suffer from low morale. She was always full of fighting spirit - what did it matter if she faced a Primordial Spirit cultivator? Fight first, think later.
But for someone like Jiang Ran, with her pure and innocent mindset, fighting in such hostile territory, it would be impressive if she could display even fifty percent of her true strength.
Although this battle wasn't completely one-sided, and the sisters fought admirably under pressure and disadvantage, those with discerning eyes could see that they were doomed to lose before the battle even began.
The sisters' combined defense with the Rainbow Silk was split apart by the couple's Mandarin Duck swords attacking from front and back. Just as the sword tips were about to reach their flower-like faces, someone grabbed the sword hilts.
The sisters opened their eyes, still in shock, to see their senior sister Li Shiyin, with her cold demeanor and serious expression.
Li Shiyin threw the two swords back at the couple and said, "You can leave now! I'll take over from here."
The sisters supported each other as they stood up. Jiang Qin, looking at Li Shiyin's reassuring back, trembled and said through tears, "We're... we're sorry."
Li Shiyin turned back to look at her and comforted her, "Winning or losing isn't important, I lose often too. Just win it back next time, it's not a big deal."
The sisters walked towards the edge of the arena, dragging their Rainbow Silk on the ground, looking completely defeated.
"Is that all?!"
"Such delicate, disgusting appearances, go back to your mother's milk!"
"They're pretty though, probably came to the Boundless Sword Sect looking for dao partners?"
Having easily won the first match, the Boundless Sword Sect disciples immediately started their mockery.
"I thought they'd be more impressive!"
"Arrogant? Provocative? Going to defeat the Boundless Sword Sect? This is the funniest joke I've heard all year!"
"I see the Dao Sword Sect isn't all that..."
"Has the Dao Sword Sect run out of men? First two women, now another one!"
"Well, they're all pretty... is the Dao Sword Sect changing into the Harmony Sect?"
"Thud!"
Amidst the clamor outside the arena, a sudden dull sound rang out from within.
Li Shiyin drew her Qingxing Sword, planted it with its scabbard on the ground, and facing all the disciples of the Boundless Sword Sect, she spoke calmly: "Li Shiyin of the Dao Sword Sect requests battle."
The woman in the arena stood at five feet seven inches tall, but her aura towered like a mountain.
As she stood there silently, the disciples below fell into a hush. The Boundless Sword Sect, which had been bustling with noise moments ago, finally descended into silence at this moment.