Another thank you to my reader-friend "Dust" for the reward. Thank you.

...

Tortoise Egg’s words made Lin Hao’s reaction a beat too slow.

In that negligible sliver of time, Lin Hao’s escape route was sealed.

"It’s you again! How dare you sneak into the Danling Sect and spy on our swordsmanship practice? You’re courting death!" A woman pointed her longsword at Lin Hao from afar, getting a clear look at his face.

She was one of the two female Misty Palace disciples Lin Hao had encountered before arriving at the Danling Sect.

"Senior Sister, I don’t think he was just trying to steal our sword techniques. He probably had wicked intentions!" another woman’s voice chimed in from behind Lin Hao.

"Junior Sister..." the Senior Sister murmured.

Before she could finish, someone from a distance called out, "Senior Sisters, what are you two doing?"

"It’s nothing! Junior Sister, just focus on your practice," the Senior Sister replied. Then, she hissed at Lin Hao, "What are you waiting for? Scram!"

She had sized up his cultivation with a single glance. With a cultivation base that low, he couldn’t possibly have gotten close without being discovered, so he definitely hadn’t seen any of their techniques.

As disciples of the Misty Palace, they were naturally proud, but they wouldn’t kill an innocent person for no reason.

That was why the disciple had spoken as she did.

Lin Hao’s eyes narrowed for a moment before he relaxed, a faint smile on his face.

Lin Hao was certainly annoyed that the disciples of a major sect were so arrogant and looked down on him, but the thought that Meng Qing’s sister might be in the Misty Palace was enough to make him swallow his anger.

Otherwise, given his personality, he would have definitely made a move.

"Ladies, see you tomorrow." A fight was out of the question, but just leaving like this wasn’t Lin Hao’s style. He grinned at the two of them.

"Tomorrow? How ridiculous! The Danling Sect’s assembly tomorrow will be packed with countless powerful groups. We’ll be in the guest-of-honor seats, while you... you probably don’t even qualify for the worst seat in the house. Want to see us? Pray for a better life next time," one of the women said caustically.

Although her looks were above average, her words were quite cutting.

But Lin Hao wasn’t angry. The corner of his mouth lifted as he smiled and said, "Don’t think so highly of yourselves."

"You’re the one who’s self-important! We’re merely stating a fact. You and we are not from the same world." With that, the pair lost all interest in even looking at Lin Hao and drifted away gracefully.

Lin Hao chuckled softly, shook his head, and walked away.

’He and they truly weren’t from the same world. As for who’s the self-important one... we’ll see tomorrow.’

The night grew thicker. As Lin Hao was heading back, he came to a fork in the road and stopped abruptly.

He thought he heard the sound of a woman sighing.

He strained his ears to listen but heard nothing more.

Shaking his head, Lin Hao was about to continue on when he heard the sigh again.

This time, he heard it clearly. At the three-way fork, he couldn’t help but turn and head down a different path.

He hadn’t walked for long before he suddenly noticed a thick fog rising ahead.

The fog blotted out the sky, obscuring even the full moon that had just appeared.

The scene was incredibly eerie. Lin Hao stopped, and just as he was about to turn back, he heard a woman’s voice.

"My heart burns like a firefly’s gleam, yet the world is ice beneath a frozen sky. Time rushes by, all efforts come to naught. Can I truly never break these shackles?"

Hearing this, Lin Hao couldn’t help but feel curious.

’Who could be out here lamenting their fate so late at night?’

With this thought, he unconsciously took a step forward.

The next moment, Lin Hao passed through the fog.

His eyes widened at the sight before him.

About a hundred meters ahead lay a pool, some ten meters across, shrouded in steam. A woman was bathing in the moonlight.

Her back was to Lin Hao. Her skin was like snow, and the sliver of her waist visible above the water was incredibly slender.

A flash of stunned admiration crossed his face, but he quickly looked away.

Then, his eyes fell upon a large boulder by the water’s edge. Carved into it were four words: Ice and Fire Pool.

’I’m screwed!’

The moment he saw those words, Lin Hao wanted to retreat.

But in the next instant, the color drained from Lin Hao’s face.

He realized that a stream of qi had locked onto him.

Then, the woman in the Ice and Fire Pool sank lower into the water and turned around.

BOOM!

When he saw the woman’s face clearly, Lin Hao felt his very Divine Soul tremble.

Her eyebrows were like distant, ink-washed mountains, her eyes like the rippling waters of autumn. Her features were as exquisite as a fairy from a painting.

"Who are you?!" The woman was slightly taken aback when she saw Lin Hao, but then she spoke, killing intent surging in her eyes.

Lin Hao felt the blood in his veins freeze.

This terrified Lin Hao.

’This woman’s cultivation is unfathomable!’

"My apologies, I was lost. I heard a sigh back at the fork in the road and followed the sound, but then I ran into a thick fog. I didn’t mean to intrude."

Lin Hao hurriedly apologized.

The woman’s cultivation was absolutely terrifying. If she decided to kill him, he would have no hope of escape, no matter what incredible skills he possessed.

"You’re lying! I’ve placed a restrictive ward here. No one can approach me without my detecting them," the woman said, her killing intent flaring.

Lin Hao felt an overwhelming pressure, and his teeth began to chatter. Still, he forced himself to speak, "Everything I said is the tru—"

Before he could get the last word out, a stream of light slashed down from above.

In the distance, roosting birds were startled by the killing intent. They tried to take flight but were instantly reduced to a bloody mist.

Lin Hao was horrified. He pushed his Cultivation Technique to its absolute limit, but it was futile.

’Before a supreme expert of the martial path, I’m just an ant, completely at her mercy.’

A wave of despair washed over Lin Hao. He suddenly recalled a line of poetry from the Carefree Divine Monarch’s memories.

With that, Lin Hao closed his eyes, a line of poetry tumbling from his lips: "With sword in hand, I ride through a ghostly rain, where mountains of white bones make startled birds take flight."

"Oh?"

Hearing this line, the woman let out a soft sound of surprise. The next moment, Lin Hao found he could move again.

"You’re not going to kill me?" Lin Hao opened his eyes, completely surprised.

"I never intended to kill you. At most, I would have gouged out your eyes, chopped off your hands, and cut out your tongue," the woman said, her deadpan expression delivering words that sent a chill down Lin Hao’s spine.

"Are you thinking that ’no venom is more toxic than a woman’s heart’?" The woman glanced at Lin Hao and spoke again.

Lin Hao was too terrified to move.

’This woman’s cultivation is terrifying enough, but her ability to read people’s minds is just as frightening. She’s too much!’

"With sword in hand, I ride through a ghostly rain, where mountains of white bones make startled birds take flight. Was that meant to be your last words? Not bad. Recite the full poem for me."

The next moment, Lin Hao saw her give a slight smile, a smile like a hundred flowers blooming at once, and he found himself completely unable to refuse.

"The world’s storms are stirred by those of our generation; once we step into the Jianghu, the years urge us on.

Imperial ambitions and grand designs are but a laughing matter, unequal to a life spent in a drunken stupor.

With sword in hand, I ride through a ghostly rain, where mountains of white bones make startled birds take flight.

Worldly affairs are like the tide and people like water; one can only sigh, for how many ever return from the Jianghu?"

As soon as Lin Hao finished reciting, he saw that the woman’s expression had gone blank.

’A perfect chance!’

’If I don’t run now, when will I ever get another?’

Lin Hao’s feet blurred as he executed the Ghostly Divine Step.

But for the first time, his Body Technique failed.

His body stiffened, and he found himself unable to move.

Behind him, a few drops of water landed on his clothes and quickly evaporated.

"SPLASH! SPLASH! SPLASH!"

He heard the sound of splashing water behind him. He knew the woman had gotten out of the pool.

"Fine verses. I should thank you for them. Little fellow, what is your name?" the woman’s voice sounded from behind him.

’Thanks? Is this her way of saying thanks? This woman was just thinking about killing me!’

Lin Hao’s mind raced. He quickly said, "Fairy, my name is Lin Hao. And please, there’s no need for thanks. The Sect Leader of the Danling Sect is waiting for me. I’m their honored guest. Oh, and the Palace Master of the Misty Palace is here too. She’s my aunt."

At this point, to save his own skin, Lin Hao couldn’t worry about the details. He was borrowing the might of others to bluff his way through.

"Lin Hao, an honored guest of the Danling Sect and the nephew of the Misty Palace’s Palace Master... what an extraordinary background. You may go," the woman said from behind him.

Lin Hao was stunned. He then realized he could move his body again.

Without wasting a second to consider the sincerity of her words, Lin Hao’s feet blurred, and he fled.

This time, the woman truly didn’t make a move to stop him.

Only after running a great distance and confirming he was safe did Lin Hao finally stop.

Phew...

Letting out a long breath, Lin Hao chuckled. "That woman was drop-dead gorgeous, but not too bright, it seems. So easy to fool."

Meanwhile, back at the Ice and Fire Pool, the "not too bright" woman, now dressed in palace attire, smiled faintly. Her beauty was absolutely breathtaking.

Then, her dark brows furrowed, and she lowered her head in thought.

She remained in this posture for a long, long time...

It wasn’t until the sky began to pale with the dawn that she suddenly looked up.

Then, with a "SWISH," a stream of light shot out from her hand, materializing into a dark green treasured sword.

"The world’s storms are stirred by those of our generation; once we step into the Jianghu, the years urge us on."

As her vermilion lips parted, she moved like the Lingbo Fairy gliding over water. With a forward thrust of her dark green sword, a blast of Sword Qi shot toward the heavens. The massive boulder by the pool, the one inscribed with the four words "Ice and Fire Pool," was pierced through, leaving a perfectly round hole.

This single strike was unstoppable, the very definition of tyrannical power.

"Imperial ambitions and grand designs are but a laughing matter, unequal to a life spent in a drunken stupor."

As she recited this line, the sword in her hand seemed to soften, letting out a low hum.

Then, the hum itself left the blade and flew toward the great boulder.

A mere sound should have been stopped by solid rock, but to one’s astonishment, the great boulder was sliced in two.

"With sword in hand, I ride through a ghostly rain, where mountains of white bones make startled birds take flight."

The sword suddenly went rigid, then began to vibrate violently with a low buzz. A desolate, tragic, and murderous aura flooded the area. In an instant, the sliced boulder was struck by countless beams of Sword Qi and disintegrated into rubble.

Meanwhile, the water in the ten-meter-wide Ice and Fire Pool was instantly drawn out, transforming entirely into sharp swords that slashed toward the distant sky...

"Worldly affairs are like the tide and people like water; one can only sigh, for how many ever return from the Jianghu?"

The endless swords of water silently returned to the pool, and in the next moment, the water level of the Ice and Fire Pool began to drop at an astonishing speed...

By the time the woman sheathed her sword and stood still, the Ice and Fire Pool had been driven so deep into the earth it had become a massive, bottomless well. How many miles deep, no one could say.

"A single poem allowed me to comprehend an entire new Swordsmanship. Lin Hao... you truly are something special," the woman mused, looking at the scene before her without the slightest concern. A flicker of joy passed through her eyes.

The next moment, her figure flickered and vanished into the distance.

When she reappeared, she was somehow carrying an enormous boulder in her hands.

Judging by its size, the boulder had to weigh several thousand pounds at the very least.

Yet in this woman’s hands, it seemed as light as a feather!

BOOM!

The woman placed the massive boulder beside the former Ice and Fire Pool, then began to trace her fingers through the air.

Before long, three large words appeared on the stone’s surface: Sword Enlightenment Pool!

The Ice and Fire Pool, which had existed in the Danling Sect for hundreds of years, was renamed because of Lin Hao.

From this day forward, the Danling Sect no longer had an Ice and Fire Pool, only a Sword Enlightenment Pool!