Chapter 12: A Narrow Encounter with an Old Foe

“Don’t just stand there. My perception range seems to have expanded again.”
“Something good is drifting over from the northeast. Not the best, but better than nothing.”
Ye Ming’s voice was clearer than before, his sense of the surrounding energies more acute and refined. The benefits brought by the Sword Fiend Crystal were evident.
Bai Yue Ning steadied her mind, proceeding in the direction Ye Ming had indicated. Without her sword in hand, she relied even more on Ye Ming’s warnings about the turbulent sword energies, moving with increased caution. Fortunately, after absorbing the crystal, both her spiritual power and physical body had improved, making the ordeal less taxing.
She crossed a chaotic slope littered with shattered stones, and the landscape ahead opened up slightly, revealing several winding fissures, deep and bottomless, from which a chilling sword aura faintly emanated.
“The scent is stronger now—it’s in the left fissure,” Ye Ming confirmed.
Bai Yue Ning approached the edge of the fissure and peered down. The gap was narrow, barely wide enough for a person to squeeze through sideways. Deep within, a faint, ghostly glow flickered, and the pure energy pulses originated below.
She was about to investigate when a noisy shuffle of footsteps and voices echoed from the other side.
“Senior Brother Li, that was really unlucky earlier. Just when we were about to get our hands on it, we ran into Zhou Qing Wan…”
“Hmph, she’s only relying on having joined a few years earlier. And that useless fifth-layer Qi refiner, daring to defy me!”
That voice… Bai Yue Ning’s eyes sharpened, and she quickly darted behind a boulder, suppressing her presence.
As expected, Li Mao and his companions emerged from another path, faces still twisted with indignation. They seemed to sense the unusual energy here as well, their gazes quickly locking onto the fissure.
“Senior Brother Li, there’s an energy fluctuation here!” a disciple exclaimed in delight.
Li Mao’s spirits lifted, and he strode quickly to the fissure’s edge, peering down. Joy instantly spread across his face.
“There’s something here! Looks like it’s of good quality. Junior Brother Wang, you’re small—go down and check it out!”
The named Junior Brother Wang flashed a trace of fear; the fissure looked dangerous, but he dared not disobey Li Mao. Gritting his teeth, he cautiously slid into the gap.
Hidden behind the rock, Bai Yue Ning frowned.
Them again—what a narrow path fate weaves.
“These people again?” Ye Ming was instantly annoyed. “Why do they keep showing up? Are they addicted to competing with us?”
“Wait and see,” Bai Yue Ning replied calmly in her mind.
The three were all stronger than her; a direct confrontation would be foolish.
Just then, the fissure below echoed with Junior Brother Wang’s startled cry, followed by chaotic collisions and the sharp sound of sword energy erupting!
“Not good!” Li Mao’s expression changed, and he and another disciple rushed to peer down.
Junior Brother Wang scrambled out, his sleeve sliced, a deep wound on his arm bleeding profusely.
His face was pale and he gasped, “There’s a Three-Leaf Sword Pattern Grass below!”
“But a powerful natural sword aura is guarding it—I nearly couldn’t make it back!”
Three-Leaf Sword Pattern Grass?
This was a spirit herb that absorbed sword energy to grow, greatly beneficial to sword technique cultivation, and a main ingredient for certain high-grade sword pills—its value considerable.

Li Mao, surprised at first, then looked at his wounded companion and the dangerous fissure, his expression wavering. With his strength, he might not be able to take the herb safely.
“Sword Pattern Grass? That’s a treasure!” Ye Ming was eager. “Its energy isn’t as fierce as the crystal, but it’s pure—should help me consolidate my sword body!”
“Bai Yue Ning, find a way!”
Bai Yue Ning’s gaze swept over the injured Junior Brother Wang and the hesitant Li Mao, then back to the deep fissure.
Stealing it outright was impossible.
A sneak attack while they were distracted?
Too risky; Li Mao was no amateur.
Perhaps it was best to wait.
She decided to patiently remain hidden, watching for an opening while mentally rehearsing her next move.
Li Mao hesitated for a moment, but finally couldn’t resist the lure of the Sword Pattern Grass. He said to another disciple, “Junior Brother Zhao, let’s go down together. We’ll watch out for each other and be cautious of the sword aura.”
The two made their plan, sliding into the fissure one after the other with extreme care.
The chance had come!
The instant their figures disappeared into the fissure, Bai Yue Ning sprang into action.
Instead of rushing toward the fissure, she darted straight for the unsuspecting, wounded Junior Brother Wang!
He barely had time to register her presence before Bai Yue Ning, fingers like swords, condensed spiritual power and struck a precise acupoint on his neck.
His vision went dark, and he collapsed silently, unconscious.
“Beautifully done!” Ye Ming cheered. “Quick, before the two below realize what’s happened!”
Without delay, Bai Yue Ning slipped to the fissure’s edge, but did not descend immediately.
She gathered spiritual power at her fingertips and flicked a forceful stream down into the depths.
It struck the rock wall with a muffled thud.
“What was that sound?”
“Something happened above?”
Li Mao and Junior Brother Zhao’s anxious shouts floated up, tinged with panic.
Their attention now diverted, Bai Yue Ning leapt into the fissure.
She did not drop straight to the bottom, instead using the uneven walls to touch lightly several times, landing on a protruding platform.
She held her breath, peering downward.
Below, several yards away, Li Mao and Zhao were nervously looking up, while not far from them, a spirit herb with three slender leaves, its veins resembling sword patterns, glowed faintly.

Beside the herb, a pale sword aura, visible to the naked eye, coiled like a venomous snake, radiating danger.
“Junior Brother Wang?” Li Mao called, but received no reply, his face darkening.
Bai Yue Ning leapt from the platform, aiming straight for the Sword Pattern Grass!
Her descent was swift, her movements light as air.
“You!” Li Mao finally realized something was wrong, his shock and fury erupting as he instinctively swung his sword to intercept.
But his mind was already unsettled—his strike was rushed. Zhao reacted as well, hurriedly attacking.
Yet Bai Yue Ning ignored their assaults, her focus locked solely on the Sword Pattern Grass and its guardian sword aura.
At the moment she was about to touch the herb, the coiled sword aura sprang up, striking like lightning toward her heart!
Li Mao and Zhao’s faces twisted with malicious anticipation, as if they already saw her impaled by the sword aura.
But at that critical instant, Bai Yue Ning twisted her body in an impossible angle, narrowly dodging the deadly edge.
Her right hand shot out, not to grab the herb, but to flick a precise thread of spiritual power at the middle of the sword aura.
The violent aura veered off course from the clever strike, shooting into the nearby rock wall with a sizzling sound and vanishing within.
In that split second, Bai Yue Ning’s left hand seized the Three-Leaf Sword Pattern Grass, tucking it safely into her robe.
The entire maneuver happened in a heartbeat.
“Got it—now go!” Ye Ming barked urgently.
Bai Yue Ning pressed her toe to the rock wall, vaulting upward.
“Leave the herb!” Li Mao’s eyes blazed red with fury, his sword lashing out with deadly force, Zhao attacking at the same time.
The fissure was narrow, nowhere to dodge!
A cold gleam flashed in Bai Yue Ning’s eyes. She pressed the freshly harvested, earth-scented Sword Pattern Grass firmly against the gray cloth bundle behind her.
“You—!” Li Mao stared, stunned at her apparent ‘destruction’ of the treasure.
But the instant the herb touched the gray cloth, it melted away like ice in water, transforming into a stream of pure, blue-green light, instantly absorbed.
“Ah!” Ye Ming let out a short, satisfied groan.
The sword body trembled gently, its aura seeming to solidify further.
At the same time, a cool, gentle energy flowed back into Bai Yue Ning, swiftly replenishing her spent spiritual power, making her movements even lighter.
And as Li Mao and Zhao were momentarily stunned by the inexplicable scene,
Bai Yue Ning activated a lightness talisman, her figure soaring higher, swiftly bursting out of the fissure.
Without pause, she sped off into the distance, vanishing behind jagged stone outcrops in a few leaps.
“Bai Yue Ning, just wait!”
Only Li Mao’s furious, echoing roar remained at the bottom of the fissure.