In the tranquil stillness of dawn, a door inside of the Lo estate of Edge City gracefully slid open, revealing a young teenage girl who ventured out towards the cultivation grounds.

As she made her way into vast estate, she appreciated the usual absence of any signs of movement or life around her at this hour.

However, for the first time in a while, this solitude was abruptly disrupted as she reached the heart of the formation encircling the inner gardens.

There, at the center of the courtyard, sat her elder brother, Xin, in a serene lotus position, deep in meditation.

As soon as she stepped into the formation, Xin's eyes snapped open, brimming with malice as he directed his glare towards her. With a contemptuous snort, he uttered harsh words, "You, worthless whore trash, dare to appear before your elder brother? Get out of my sight!"

Xiu's heart tightened at the venomous words, the latest display of her siblings' changed attitudes towards her.

Ever since she had acquired the Elemental Qi Fusion Sutra and gained the attention and care of the family elders, the dynamics with her two older brothers had shifted dramatically when it became known she had been given this extremely rare technique by someone important.

Luckily Tao, the eldest of the two, was more the quiet and calm type and had transitioned from being cordial and mostly silent to simply not talking to her.

However, Xin, fueled by his deep-seated envy and resentment, failed to comprehend why he, as the stronger cultivator, was not receiving the same level of attention and favor from the family.

The hostility emanating from Xin's words and his inability to accept the situation cast a shadow over Xiu's heart. She had become an object of his disdain and frustration, forced to endure his hateful demeanor.

Yet, amidst this familial turmoil, Xiu remained determined to stay true to her path, holding onto the inner belief that this mysterious person had chosen her for a purpose that extended beyond simply trying to repay Shen’s favor.

Ignoring the spiteful words, Xiu moved to her special corner of the formation and surrounded herself with five elemental crystals of various colors that were given to her by her aunt the night before.

Enraged by his sister's blatant disregard to his orders, Xin's anger surged uncontrollably, and he unleashed a technique upon her with unrestrained force.

With a significant disparity in cultivation levels, Xin, at the early stages of Qi Transformation, arrogantly believed that his sister, who was merely a level 7 mortal, would suffer a substantial backlash from his attack and think twice about ignoring him in the future.

It was worth noting that unless one was in the Qi Transformation stage, attacks wouldn’t produce any type of phenomenon and generally couldn’t be used from very far.

Lo Xin on the other hand wasn’t limited by this as he was sitting firmly at the 11th level.

Using the family’s secret technique, the Trial of the Blade, 9 colored swords materialized around Xin before he launched them at Xiu.

He believed that, at worst, he would receive a slap on the wrist for being too forceful so he didn’t hesitate to be harsh!

The moment Xin launched his attack, Xiu’s eyes narrowed to a point as she felt the massive amount of Qi barreling towards her in the form of the 9 illusory swords.

She knew she stood no chance against her brother’s level 11 cultivation, but in these circumstances she wouldn’t be helpless against just this much!

Focusing all her Qi from the 7 meridians she had filled, she swiftly sorted through the different underlying elements of the meridians and forcefully merged them into one using the gifted elemental crystals as a battery source for her response.

In an illuminating show of lights, a golden Qi materialized in front of Xiu as the swords smashed into the barrier.

1 Sword, 2 Swords, 3 Swords, 6 swords!

In an explosive display, 6 swords consecutively exploded on the Qi barrier and on the 7th sword, the 5 surrounding Qi crystals shattered, drained of their elemental attributes. Xiu was also running on fumes. She had miraculously survived 7 consecutive swords of a Qi Transformation cultivator!

However, the attack wasn't over.

Her golden Qi barrier had significantly dimmed in brightness and wouldn’t be able to stop the last remaining sword as her Qi reserves were running dangerously low.

A moment later, the 8th sword slammed into the barrier, shattering it like glass as the illusory sword pierced through her shoulder, drawing blood and pushing her back four meters. As the 9th sword was barreling towards her, threatening to take her life, both the Lo siblings felt a sudden surge of Qi coming from the side!

In that crucial instant, a scene that Xiu and Xin had never imagined could happen within the confines of the Lo estate occurred.

A lone, finger-like sword surrounded by white clouds emerged from behind the wounded Xiu, bathed in a pulsating blue Qi light. It clashed with the lingering illusory purple blade, their forces seemingly balanced!

Within the blink of an eye, the purple sword succumbed, shattering to pieces, while the blue Qi sword finger persevered, charging towards Lo Xin. His technique was ruthlessly crushed, with the subsequent attack hitting him squarely in the chest.

This hurled him several meters through the air, though his hastily erected barrier ensured he was primarily unscathed from the impact of the assault.

Poised for a counterattack, Xin lifted his gaze towards his adversary, only to find himself immobilized by shock.

There was his elder brother, a figure he revered immensely, staring back at him with a stern furrow in his brows.

It took a few heartbeats for Xin to even notice that in addition to Lo Shen, someone else had been standing next to his younger sister – that insignificant mortal they had taken in from their journey a few months ago!

As the jigsaw pieces began to fit together in his mind, he grasped that his brother would never directly assault him using a technique devoid of his True Essence. Thus, the actual instigator must be that very mortal!

As he wasn’t sure what he had to deal with he tried to get a feel for this mortal’s Qi concentration via a very common technique that cost at most a couple silvers. The result shocked him greatly!

This trash wasn’t even level 4 and he dared to attack him, an outer disciple of the Sword Sect!

Unable to contain the rage he felt at being beaten back by such trash, he got up and activated his technique once more as nine more swords appeared around him!

"You have the audacity...!" Lo Shen began, but was cut short as Tyler, the source of the sword finger, gently tapped his arm.

"Hear me out, I haven't mastered this technique entirely yet. This might just be one of the opportunities I am so eagerly looking for to push it forward…" Tyler expressed, positioning himself beside Lo Shen.

With determined steps, he moved in front of the worn-out Xiu, confidently claiming the spotlight.

With a cautious nod, Lo Shen acquiesced. He was genuinely wary; the potency of that previous technique was evident to him, yet he knew he would surely fall short in a duel against his brother.

Moreover, he was cognizant that Tyler had only reached the 4th level at most.

Tyler's original purpose for this visit was to broach the subject of taking on the entrance exam to the sect with Lo Shen in a few months and to have someone show him to the Radiant Fist Dojo.

He believed that only through physical exertion and battle would he refine his techniques and yield noticeable cultivation improvements for him.

However, upon his journey through the grand estate with Shen, he witnessed young Lo Xin attempting to torment his sister, the young girl who he had gifted the Elemental Qi Fusion Sutra in the library a few months back.

Observing the defensive prowess of the technique, he felt a sense of admiration, all the more so given his acute awareness of the cultivation gap due to his divine sense extending to both youths.

Originally he would have to be meditating to use his divine sense but with practice over the last month, it slowly became second nature as unleashing a slight pulse of it wasn’t too overwhelming if it was focused on a singular goal like detecting Qi density within someone.

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Maintaining it and trying to sense everything at once was still way too much for him though, so he could only do it sparingly.

All those years ago, his decision to enlist in the military stemmed from a naïve chivalrous ambition to shield his countrymen from the bad people of this world, and as naïve as it was, he still believed in it.

Therefore, he was not about to tolerate the oppression of the weak by the strong! Not when he had the capacity to intervene and worst case scenario, with Shen here, he’d take a beating instead of the young girl.

Taking a stance as firm and unwavering as the very mountain they occupied, as though he was challenging the sky itself, Tyler gestured ahead.

Though the Qi expenditure restricted him to using the One Finger, One Sword technique just twice, he was wholly prepared to deplete his Qi reserves if it meant a glimmer of enlightenment.

Shen, curious at the surprising power of the technique he had briefly caught a glimpse of a second ago, focused intently on the fight happening in front of him ready to step out in order to save Tyler’s from the attack of his Qi Transformation brother.

As Tyler steeled his mind, he centered his attention on the Qi enveloping the coastlines of his now slightly expanded island inside his soul space. The Qi, drawn from the seas and through his manipulation of the technique fused with his soul body, navigating its course through his meridians and converging in his index finger.

Subsequently, he embarked on the recitations and respiratory routine of the Thundering Winds portion of his cultivation method in order to induce an extremely forceful and tyrannical release of the combat technique.

This was a fusion of two different techniques he had been working on since the start but hadn’t successfully attempted yet.

Finding himself unable to assimilate the more Qi into the technique as the waters were almost dried out, he proceeded to the last part of the technique Tyler wished to add.

The final part of his experimental process was to divert one of his Sword Cloud’s within his soul space into his finger, bolstering its power to match his adversary.

Within his soul space, the skies rumbled as one of the clouds was directly pulled out from above and merged with his soul body, adding a wisp of white clouds swirling around him.

While this all took a while to explain, it had happened in a flash inside of his soul space, the whole process greatly aided by Tyler’s divine sense.

The results were swiftly evident in the real world as a light-blue Qi Sword materialized, extending about 45 centimeters from him. The hilt, his index and middle fingers, was surrounded by a white mist of clouds swirling all the way up his right arm.

The instant his technique took form, the Lo siblings felt the ambient Qi resonate in harmony with Tyler's command. Energy was being forcefully siphoned from the atmosphere and, to some extent, even from Lo Xin's own technique!

Merely a fraction of a moment after the sword emerged, they all sensed a substantial surge of Qi being injected into the sword, magnifying its power exponentially. If they possessed divine sense they would identify that this Qi came from the surrounding ethereal clouds surrounding his arm.

The fusion of the Thundering Winds and Sword Clouds Method with his divine sense bestowed upon Tyler a remarkable ability. He could perceive the ambient Qi as if it were an extension of his own body, and through his soul body, he harnessed Qi directly from the surrounding atmosphere to empower his technique.

As a last enhancement to his technique, Tyler took a few steps forward and executed a slicing motion, directing the illusory sword towards Lo Xin. The gentle blue hue of the sword transformed into a brilliant yellow, and it produced a subtle slicing sound as it separated from Tyler's fingers and streaked forward.

Soundlessly, the powerful yellow sword traveled a full four meters, resembling the graceful flight of a multi-colored owl through the night sky. It possessed an ethereal beauty, yet its presence remained as hushed as a mute.

This last alteration in colors prompted Lo Shen to respond immediately.

To everyone but Tyler's perception, he appeared to teleport in order to intercept the attack meant for his younger brother but in reality, he had moved incredibly fast.

None of his movement escaped Tyler’s divine sense. That didn’t mean that he could’ve reacted in time however, as he had no way to ever move this fast. This was just to show that Tyler’s divine sense was an ability someone at his level shouldn’t possess.

Astonishment washed over everyone when the might of an early-stage Qi Transformation cultivator surfaced the moment Tyler unleashed his technique.

With a wave of his hands, two swords manifested from Shen’s storage bag as they collided with both his brother’s and Tyler’s technique, forcefully destroying both.

While all this seemed to have taken an extremely long time, it all happened within a few breaths of time. Lo Shen’s quick reaction had saved his younger brother from a crippling injury.

"Stop!" exclaimed Lo Shen, reeling from the astonishment of witnessing a 4th level cultivator execute an attack potent enough to harm someone at the 11th level!

What bewildered him further was the color transformation of the Qi within the technique.

To his understanding, such a phenomenon should only occur far down the cultivation journey, well beyond his own Sea Formation stage. The alteration in True Essence color usually transpired at the Aperture Strengthening stage. No one, as far as he knew, had ever altered their Qi’s natural color.

"Xin, present yourself to the Edge City elder immediately and account for your actions! Then make your way back to the sect in Permanence City." he commanded sternly.

After imprinting what happened in a token, he tossed it to his younger sister along with a few healing pills, adding, "Xiu, consult aunt Shiu for replacement of your destroyed elemental crystals... I have a matter to discuss with Tyler."

Xin, seething over his brother intervening in a mortal's attack, was about to retaliate but was silenced by his older brother's piercing stare.

He stormed off, swallowing his indignation.

As the disturbance subsided with Xin's departure, Xiu rose, thanking Tyler for his timely intervention, her eyes wide with reverence. She offered her gratitude to her elder brother as well, before she too, took her leave to nurse her injuries.

As tranquility returned to the courtyard, Shen regarded Tyler with a grave expression. "Had I not intervened, that technique of yours might have seriously harmed my brother... May I ask... What is that technique? I don't believe I've ever seen anything like it."

Still absorbed in the outcomes of this short bout, Tyler responded, "I'm pretty sure you've seen it before as it’s an extremely cheap Mortal Grade technique. It's One Finger, One Sword," his gaze distant.

"Impossible. One Finger, One Sword is a low-tier technique at best. The technique you demonstrated had the strength of a 12th level cultivator and you're only at the 4th!" Shen challenged.

"Fine, don't believe me." Tyler simply smiled. "Let's turn to the real reason for my visit... I want to go to this Radiant Fist Dojo you mentioned and take the outer sect's admission test."

"For the Radiant Fist Dojo, that’s fine as Master Tanaka is already expecting you and I can have someone take you there right now. The sect’s test however is a different issue. You're merely at the 4th level of Qi Gathering. While you would surely conquer the combat illusion with the technique you just showcased, you’d pass a few levels at most before running out of Qi. Not to mention the Mountain Ascension and the subsequent trials will overwhelm you."

"I've thought about that... But I'm still determined to try. I’m pretty sure my current cultivation can greatly benefit from the Mountain Ascension Trial. Although I could just ascend the mountain myself and ask the Sword King to have access, I prefer to do it like everyone else. Have a taste of the sect that will most likely house me in the future. I really wish to participate in the outer sect tests as a typical mortal, hopeful that it might help in my cultivation and open up my horizons a bit."

Knowing Lo Shen was one of the few privy to some of the specifics of Tyler's unique circumstances, he could do nothing but sigh in resignation. "As you wish. The next group of mortal initiates are due in two months time. At that time, find us at the plaza between the Edge City and Permanance City. During this time if you need me, find Wang, my personal assistant in Edge City, he’s been briefed. I need to head out of town for a little while." Their discussion drawn to a close, they parted ways.

Shen promptly sent his assistant, Lo Wang, to accompany Tyler to the Radiant Fist Dojo, which was set to commence its activities in half an hour at sunrise.

***

Meanwhile, within the depths of Profound City, within one of the Lo family's estates, an elder's eyes slowly flickered open. He mused to himself, "Intriguing, truly intriguing!" and in the blink of an eye, he activated a formation and vanished from his secluded cultivation cave, reappearing at their Edge City estate.

The nearby elder who managed affairs within Edge City was startled awake when he felt the transfer formation of the family head activate. Opening his eyes, he was astounded to find the man sitting in front of him, a large grin stapled across his face.

“What’s been going on recently my dear little cousin?”

“Family Head! What are you doing here in person!?!” asked Lo Jhin.

“What? I can’t come to see my cousin anymore?” asked the Family Head teasingly.

Stammering, the startled prestigious elder of the Lo Family responded. “No.. No.. Not at all, it’s just so unusual for you to come all the way down here to Edge City. I wonder if something has happened for you to come at this hour?”

“Well, something did happen.. Ah. Speaking of which.” He stopped, infused his voice with true essence. “Come in.”

The young Xin was about to knock on the door when he heard the voice and immediately recognized the voice! This was the Family Head, his father!

The door to the elegant hall was softly pushed open as a young man walked in and stopped a dozen meters away from the duo and got to one knee and lowered his head before speaking. “Lo Xin is here to report to the Family Head.”

Not waiting for his younger cousin to speak, the family head directly answered. “Speak, who is this young man who could have taken your arm with a single swing of his fingers?”

Unbeknownst to them, the manager responsible for Edge City's rules and regulations, Lo Jhin, found himself stunned into silence.

He had no idea something like this had happened!

The sheer audacity of attacking a direct descendant of the esteemed Lo Lineage within Sword King Mountain was an extremely grave situation!

In stark contrast, Xin seethed with anger and shame at the notion that anyone would think such an attack could harm him. "That mere mortal's assault couldn't even pluck a single hair from my head! The first strike was a mere fluke, as I had already expended 75% of my power!"

"Mortal? From what I could tell he had the power of a 12th level cultivator at the very least. Luckily, Shen intervened." The Family Head inquired, fully aware of Tyler's cultivation at the 4th level. He attempted to assuage the young man's fury by offering a somewhat indirect explanation.

Clearly taken aback, Xin recounted the entire sequence of events, sparing no detail, including Tyler's arrival at Sword King Mountain a little while ago.

The Family Head listened in quietly, and his cousin, the Edge City manager, was once more stunned.

Lo Shen had allowed this mortal to attack, only for him to intervene in order to stop his brother from being injured and he hadn’t punished this mortal for attacking his own little brother?

Something fishy was happening here..

Finally, after recounting everything, the Family Head excused Lo Xin and told him to return to the Sword Sect, as directed by his brother before finally excusing himself back to Profound City, leaving a single warning to his little brother, Lo Jhin.

“Do not interfere with the mortal’s life. He is most interesting and seems to be a upright citizen. Very few would face someone from the Lo family when they feel we have done something wrong.”