"So, what should we do about the Holy Sword Temple? We donāt know whatās 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, thereās no way we will know for sure."
"The God of Creation...? He died several eras ago, so thatās impossible."
Unbeknownst to them, the individual they were talking about was standing right behind them.
"Looks like weāll have to shut down the Holy Sword Temple until we figure it out," said the Sword Empress.
"Weāre going to have a lot of complaints."
"Fuck them." The Sword Empress calmly cursed. "If they canāt understand why we have to shut the place down, then let them go inside and experience the reason for themselves. Of course, we wonāt 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? Youāre still here? Get lost already," the Sword Empress said, waving him off with a dismissive gesture.
He continued, "This might sound crazy, but Iād 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 Pavilionās Sect Leader only survived because he was a God Ascension Realm cultivator and could live without a physical body. If you go inside, youāll definitely die."
"Even so, Iād 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 donāt know why youāre so eager to die, but itās 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 templeās entrance.
"Youāre not serious, are you? Please think this through. You are one of the most talented individuals Iāve come across. Itād be a waste to die here."
While the Sword Empress couldnāt care less if Yuan died, the Sixth Elder, whoād witnessed his talents, couldnāt 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."
"Youāre only saying that because you didnāt see his trial. This young man... his Enhanced Sword Aura is likely even stronger than yours," she responded.
The Sword Empressā eyes widened with bafflement after hearing such outrageous words.
"Now that is a claim I cannot ignore. You think this stinking mortal bratās 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 Empressāa 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, Iāll 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 weāre going to fight? Weāre just clashing Enhanced Sword Auras with each other, nothing more, nothing less. Donāt worry, I wonāt hurt him."
Seeing the Sword Empressā stubborn face, Yuan knew he had no choice but to play along. Since he couldnāt sense any ill intent coming from her, he wasnāt 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.
"Letās keep this simple. When I say go, weāll both release our Enhanced Sword Aura, and the one with the sharpest and strongest sword aura wins."
Yuan nodded in acknowledgement.
"Iāll 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 ānoā 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.