Chapter 2023 — Holy Sword Temple(4)

"So, what should we do about the Holy Sword Temple? We don’t know what’s causing it to reject people." The Sixth Elder looked at the Sword Empress for her thoughts.

The Sword Empress shrugged, "How the hell am I supposed to know? Unless the creator of the temple is here, there’s no way we will know for sure."

"The God of Creation...? He died several eras ago, so that’s impossible."

Unbeknownst to them, the individual they were talking about was standing right behind them.

"Looks like we’ll have to shut down the Holy Sword Temple until we figure it out," said the Sword Empress.

"We’re going to have a lot of complaints."

"Fuck them." The Sword Empress calmly cursed. "If they can’t understand why we have to shut the place down, then let them go inside and experience the reason for themselves. Of course, we won’t be compensating for anything."

"And harm our reputation even more...?" The Sixth Elder shook her head.

The two of them fell silent.

"Umm..." Yuan suddenly spoke out.

"Huh? You’re still here? Get lost already," the Sword Empress said, waving him off with a dismissive gesture.

He continued, "This might sound crazy, but I’d like to enter the Holy Sword Temple."

The two ladies turned to look at him with raised eyebrows.

"Are you serious? Even after seeing everything that had happened?" The Sixth Elder remarked with a dumbfounded look on her face.

Yuan nodded, "Yes."

"Listen here, you dumb brat. The Descending Sword Pavilion’s Sect Leader only survived because he was a God Ascension Realm cultivator and could live without a physical body. If you go inside, you’ll definitely die."

"Even so, I’d like to try," Yuan said with a stubborn expression.

The Sword Empress rubbed her eyes and looked at the Sixth Elder, saying, "Can you believe this fucking idiot?"

The Sixth Elder could only shake her head in silence.

"You know what? I don’t know why you’re so eager to die, but it’s none of our business. Go ahead and enter the temple if you want." The Sword Empress said a moment later.

"Thank you." Yuan bowed to them and turned to face the temple’s entrance.

"You’re not serious, are you? Please think this through. You are one of the most talented individuals I’ve come across. It’d be a waste to die here."

While the Sword Empress couldn’t care less if Yuan died, the Sixth Elder, who’d witnessed his talents, couldn’t bear to see him die such a pointless death and decided to block his path.

"Since when were you such a busybody, Sixth Elder? Just let him die."

"You’re only saying that because you didn’t see his trial. This young man... his Enhanced Sword Aura is likely even stronger than yours," she responded.

The Sword Empress’ eyes widened with bafflement after hearing such outrageous words.

"Now that is a claim I cannot ignore. You think this stinking mortal brat’s Enhanced Sword Aura is stronger than mine? Have you gone senile from being in this place for too long?"

Who was she? She was the Sword Empress—a swordmaster who had reached the pinnacle of swordsmanship. And yet, the Sixth Elder had the audacity to claim that a mere mortal surpassed her? The notion was utterly absurd.

Before the Sixth Elder could respond, the Sword Empress looked at Yuan and asked him, "What do you think? Do you think your Enhanced Sword Aura is stronger than mine?"

"No," Yuan answered almost instantly without any hesitation.

The Sword Empress narrowed her eyes at him.

"Your words are telling me one thing, but your eyes are telling me something else," she eventually said.

Then, without another word, she walked away from the temple and stopped in an open area.

"Come, let me see your Enhanced Sword Aura for myself. If you can defeat me, I’ll let you enter the Holy Sword Temple," she said.

"..."

Yuan sighed inwardly at how the situation turned out. He only wanted to enter the Holy Sword Temple without any issue, but the Sixth Elder had to open her mouth.

When the Sixth Elder noticed Yuan glaring at her with blame in his eyes, she could only respond with an apologetic smile.

"Are you really going to fight with a mortal? If this spreads, your reputation will truly hit rock bottom," said the Sixth Elder, trying to stop the farce.

"Who the hell said we’re going to fight? We’re just clashing Enhanced Sword Auras with each other, nothing more, nothing less. Don’t worry, I won’t hurt him."

Seeing the Sword Empress’ stubborn face, Yuan knew he had no choice but to play along. Since he couldn’t sense any ill intent coming from her, he wasn’t worried that she might try to kill him.

Some time later, the two stood facing each other, separated by a distance of roughly a dozen meters.

"Let’s keep this simple. When I say go, we’ll both release our Enhanced Sword Aura, and the one with the sharpest and strongest sword aura wins."

Yuan nodded in acknowledgement.

"I’ll give you a few minutes to prepare."

"No need." Yuan calmly rejected.

"Well, would you look at that... Feeling confident, are you? Even after saying ’no’ to my question?" the Sword Empress said with an irritated smile, feeling like she was being looked down upon by Yuan, a mere mortal.

She retrieved a spirit stone from her spatial ring and said, "When this touches the ground, release your sword aura."

Then, she flicked the spirit stone into the air.

Once it dropped to the ground a moment later, both Yuan and the Sword Empress unleashed their Enhanced Sword Aura, instantly flooding the Holy Sword Temple with powerful ripples of energy. Had the place not been constructed from materials resistant to sword aura, their clash would have torn everything apart.

"Son of a fucking bitch..." The Sword Empress cursed under her breath as she compared their Enhanced Sword Auras, only to realize she was slightly inferior to Yuan, causing her face to twist with disbelief.