(One) The girl counted silently in her head. (Two)

Two brutish men approached from the left.

One of them was the man who first discovered the girl and gave the warning.

He was holding a sword in his hand and was beaming.

Just like a hunter watching its prey falling into a trap, his smile was telling death.

But the girl wasn’t afraid. She gazed towards her right. (Three)

The big guy on the right side wasn't in the girl’s line of sight at all.

He ran in after hearing the warning sound.

 (Four) The nearest bandit was only about five steps away from Sushang. He was a muscular man with a greatsword. Among the four, he was the eldest and the most experienced in martial arts. ...the girl had only trained against her master, and had no actual combat experience. If she did, she would’ve known that no matter how strong martial artists are, they should try their best to avoid a situation where there’s more than one enemy. And fighting alone against four well trained sand bandits is no different from cutting one's own throat. Unfortunately, the girl didn’t know this common knowledge, and her reclusive Master would be even more clueless. Thus she wasn’t afraid, but excited.

——The sand bandits were only five steps away from her.

The girl shook her cloth bag, and drew the ancient sword 『Xuanyuan』 from behind her back.

The feeling of having a sword in hand always made her feel at ease.

What happened next,

was supposed to be like this:

The girl leaped forward, her body astonishingly graceful.

When she landed, she thrusted her sword into the brute's chest.

She drew out the sword and turned around —— the movement was so fast that the blood hadn't gushed out yet.

Then she held out the sword and watched the ferocious smile forming on the man's face.

There were only two of the four enemies left —— easy.

 … The girl had conceived this script in an instant.

With her martial arts accomplishments and the benefits of the ancient sword, Xuanyuan——

——Turning this scenario from fantasy to reality would be too easy.

——The Sand bandits were only four steps away.

 But the girl didn’t move. … Not worth it. The ancient Xuanyuan Sword wasn’t a weapon used for dealing with these foes.

The four people in front of her, didn’t even deserve to lay their eyes on the true face of the sword.

This sword had been handed down since ancient times when the human and gods crossed the heavens, and it had gone through tens of thousands of years.

Its owner was the legend of martial arts, the only true Celestial and the Guardian of Shenzhou, 『Empyrea Phoenix』.

 Twenty-nine years ago, Empyrea Phoenix received an orphan girl as her last disciple in the East Seas, and gifted her this sword.

The Seventh Sword of Taixuan, 『Ebonstyle』 Qin Suyi, shook the Jianghu society.

After the real Celestial returned to the heavens, Qin Suyi disappeared, and resurfaced to the Jianghu Society three years later. The romantic love story between her and Li Shen, "Young Marquis of Sichuan", had been passed down for a while.

Ten years ago, her mother who had retired from the Jianghu Society gave『Ebonstyle』to the young Sushang, along with「the expectations of realizing the Five Essences of Taixuan and becoming 『#1 in the Martial world』.」

 This was an unparalleled magic weapon, its blade was only for the strong.

How could she let the blood of the mediocre group of people in front of her contaminate the prestige of this sword?

——The Sand bandits were only three steps away.

 Small pride and contentment filled the girl’s heart. Ha, These guys——

——Only two steps away.

 ——Aren’t even worthy of being my trial opponents!