The test proposed by Beishan Mo was not to be taken seriously at all. He was still unwilling to let Wu Yu tag along, so this was simply his last resort.
Ever since their last encounter, Wu Yu and Nangong Wei had been spending day and night together. Until now, this was the only chance of separating the two of them, so Beishan Mo had excitedly come over. He did not expect Wu Yu to continue hanging around like a pest.
It seemed like the Green Depths Sword Emperor said something to Beishan Mo to calm him down. Beishan Mo said, "Every team member of our mission has to have entered the Violet Kingdom of the Inner Sea Realm. If not, you won't even have the basic skills necessary to protect yourself. Besides putting yourself in danger, you'll end up implicating others as well, decreasing our entire team's fighting prowess as a result. Hence, if you wish to participate, you need to demonstrate skill of such level!"
The truth was that Beishan Mo still wanted to reject Wu Yu going forward. However, he did not directly reject Nangong Wei's request, and was merely employing a different method of dealing with Wu Yu. If things were set up like this, then Wu Yu insisting on tagging along despite having inadequate strength would reflect a lack of self-awareness on his part. This could even make him lose face in front of Nangong Wei.
Li Chuxue understood what was going on. She solemnly spoke to Wu Yu, "You have to think about this carefully. If we all have to retreat because of you, you'll influence Nangong Wei's ability as well. You may even hold up her progress. I suggest that if you're not capable enough, you better have some self-awareness about it."
They knew that Nangong Wei was difficult to deal with, so they turned their attention towards upsetting Wu Yu instead.
The other members of the group started to mock Wu Yu as well. They had been with Beishan Mo for a long time, and were the descendants of Sword Sages too. It was natural that they would side with Beishan Mo and feel sorry on Nangong Wei's behalf.
Even Mu Lingche dared to jeer at him. "I have no idea where this toad came from. He actually thinks that he can eat swan meat. He should honestly look at a mirror and get a better sense of his shame."
Her defeat at Wu Yu's hands in the Unrivaled Sea of Swords was a disgrace that was hard to swallow. From that day onward, she had suffered day and night. By relying on the intense rage and dissatisfaction in her heart, she had managed to break into the Violet Kingdom of the Inner Sea Realm in the end. If she had not heard that Nangong Wei was beside Wu Yu all this while, she would actually have come much earlier to seek her revenge.
Now that she had seized this opportunity, she would not give up on humiliating Wu Yu. She continued with one insult after another.
"Let's just allow him to go. When the time comes, everyone will see how useless this piece of trash really is. Even though he's good at flirting with girls and flattering them, he is of humble origins. His parents were both of ordinary birth, so regardless of how hard or how long he works, he'll become a laughingstock even without us interfering."
As Mu Lingche spoke, she exuded an overwhelming flower-scented aroma. Exquisite flower petals swirled in the air beside her like dancing butterflies.
"Shut up." Nangong Wei was furious at these words. With this curt reply, everyone else, including Li Chuxue, immediately held their tongues.
"Big Brother, don't bother with them. Let's go back." If not for the fact that this had been arranged by the Mizar Sword Immortal, Nangong Wei would not want to go anyway.
"No." Wu Yu grasped her fingers in his palm and shook his head. He said, "How can I just cowardly back down in the face of another's challenge? I'm fine with the others talking about me. After all, they are all stronger than me. However, here is someone who dares to boast shamelessly despite losing to me badly. I have to teach her a lesson."
The person he was referring to was none other than Mu Lingche.
Her insults were unrelenting in their humiliation of Wu Yu. She clearly wanted Wu Yu to pick a fight with her. This would allow her to seize an opportunity for revenge. Even Beishan Mo and the rest were all enticing Wu Yu to make a move on any of them. If Wu Yu was the first one to act, they would be able to humiliate him by teaching him a lesson. If Wu Yu still managed to follow them after that, he would at least have to hang his head in shame.
"Did I hear wrongly? You want to challenge my Violet Kingdom of the Inner Sea cultivation?" Mu Lingche tilted her head and laughed in anticipation.
Upon closer inspection, it seemed like Wu Yu had reached the seventh tier of Jindan Dao. He had improved, but Mu Lingche understood that there was an innate difference between the Violet Kingdom of the Inner Sea Realm and the Jindan Dao Realm. She had already experienced a complete metamorphosis.
"After I sweep away all the obstacles along the road, I'll be able to live together happily ever after with Wei Er. You're just the first one that I have to deal with." Wu Yu exchanged looks with Nangong Wei. As they sweetly gazed at each other, they locked their gazes together and laughed in unison. Their affinity for each other caused Beishan Mo's eyes to turn red with anger. He was on the verge of losing control of his violent temper, but the Green Depths Sword Emperor spirit on his neck always stepped in during moments like these to quell his murderous intentions.
"Keke..." Mu Lingche coldly laugh a few times before replying clearly, "Senior Sister Li, please let me be the one to test Wu Yu. We should see what his limits are in order to determine if he's fit to accompany us."
Li Chuxue crossed her arms below her ample bosom. With an indifferent expression, she replied, "This should be fine. Perhaps Wu Yu is truly able to match up to the Violet Kingdom of the Inner Sea Realm. This together with the fact that he's still young will mean that he indeed has the ability to join us. If he is defeated instead, then he should realize his own limits and stop before he ends up going too far. If not, he'll simple become a laughingstock that others will ridicule to the very end. Despite the original vows of undying love he made, he will ultimately fail to become dao companions with his beloved. They may even become enemies instead. There are many possibilities indeed."
She did not have to say much more. The others backed away and left Mu Lingche to face Nangong Wei and Wu Yu alone. Nangong Wei calmly smiled and went behind Wu Yu as well. As a matter of fact, she had been training together with Wu Yu, and there were even times where they dueled each other to test things out. This made her well aware of the extent of Wu Yu's abilities. Although he could not match up to Beishan Mo or herself, his talent was still a notch higher than Mu Lingche's.
This was Wu Yu's third time fighting this woman, and he did not have any patience left. He directly drew his two supreme immortal treasures that had been gifted to him by Nangong Wei. In his right hand, the Cloudless Day's Sunwheel Sword had a burning sun revolving on it. The angry flames on it flowed and surged outward in waves. The slender body of the blade and hilt meant that it could even be used as a pike.
The Moon Waltzing Clear Sky Sword was held behind his back by his left hand. Azure blue moonlight was pulsating from it, but it was not that obvious in the brightness of day.
These were both supreme immortal treasures! Of course, Nangong Wei had gifted these to him, so the entire Shushan Immortal Sect knew about their existence.
Mu Lingche had just entered the Violet Kingdom of the Inner Sea Realm. Before that, she had spent all her time working on Heaven Earth Void techniques. Her weapon of choice was still the Peony Immortal Sword. This was a supreme immortal treasure as well, but it was worth fewer merits than the Cloudless Day's Sunwheel Sword alone.
Mu Lingche smirked as she raised her sword. An overbearing amount of sword qi emanated from it. In an instant, an endless storm of petals spread around the entire area, engulfing Wu Yu in a world where only flowers existed.
"You shall witness the might of a Heaven Earth Void technique! Time for you to realize how huge the difference between the Jindan Dao Realm and the Violet Kingdom of the Inner Sea Realm truly is!"
As Mu Lingche shouted, her actions were swift and violent. The Peony Immortal Sword burst forward and transformed into piercing flower petals. These petals hid the sky and covered the earth for as far as the eye could see.
This Heaven Earth Void technique was certainly extraordinary.
This was precisely the reason why Beishan Mo was willing to entrust her with the task of routing Wu Yu. Naturally, Beishan Mo had a good understanding of what she was capable of.
"Junior Sister Mu is indeed quite capable. I remember that back when I was her age, I had just entered the Violet Kingdom of the Inner Sea as well. However, I took an additional year to work on a Heaven Earth Void technique. I took way longer than her."
"Apparently, she had been ambushed by Wu Yu and lost to him once before. She considers this a matter of great shame, and it seems like she wants to take her revenge today."
Even before the others finished speaking, Wu Yu was able to interrupt Mu Lingche in a split-second and make a sudden move. As he abruptly rushed forward, his entire body transformed into a streak of golden light that left a brilliant trail in the space he passed through. As his Cloudless Day's Sunwheel Sword passed through the air, it was as though a burning sun had cascaded through the sky with scorching flames of gold.
"Xuan Immortal Spirit Petrifying Sword Technique!"
Wu Yu activated the Yin Yang Dao Sword Immortal Root. He split all his Jindan essence and the immense physical strength of his body into two equal parts to use together. In this instant, he was able to use two copies of the Xuan Immortal Spirit Petrifying Sword Technique!
However, these two copies were not entirely the same. With Cloudless Day's Sunwheel Sword, the Spirit Design had caused his Jindan essence to transform. Hence the true Spirit Petrifying slash had already assimilated itself into the sword's blazing inferno. In this moment, the crowd could only see the rolling flames form into a giant sword that pierced forward. Along the way, the fire swept over and burned everything in its path.
The other Spirit Petrifying slash had assimilated itself into the azure moonlit shadow. It was even less obvious as it accompanied the overly bright glow of Cloudless Day.
In fact, the demonstration of this Xuan Immortal Spirit Petrifying Sword Technique left the crowd unimpressed. They did not even realize that this was a Heaven Earth Void technique. They simply laughed sarcastically, and were eagerly waiting for Wu Yu to embarrass himself.
Or even better, he could suffer heavy damage.
At least Beishan Mo had instructed Mu Lingche to make that happen.
"What an insignificant insect!" Mu Lingche mistook Wu Yu's attacks to be from the Cloudless Day's Scorching Sun Sword Design and the Moon Waltzing Withering Sword Design. She had previously been defeated by these two types of attacks and had researched them thoroughly. Now that Wu Yu had chosen to use them, she was immediately in a state of glee. The murderous intent in her heart bloomed even more.
However, as she completed her Heaven Earth Void technique and was about to destroy Wu Yu with a single slash, Wu Yu had unexpectedly accelerated and instantly appeared right before her to cross swords. This took Mu Lingche by surprise.
While she managed to easily quell the sword qi of Cloudless Day's Sunwheel Sword, she suddenly felt a sharp pain in her brain and spasms spread through her body. She realized how terrifying Wu Yu was.
Everything she saw was merely part of a diversion!
The true Xuan Immortal Spirit Petrifying Sword Technique was hidden under such diversionary tactics. When the two crossed swords, this technique pierced through Mu Lingche's spirit. She was not prepared for this and was subjected to two of these attacks from Wu Yu. In an instant she let out an ear-piercing scream and her eyes rolled to the back of her head. She had passed out and was spinning in the air with limp arms and feet; she was about to fall to the Common Sword Domain soon.
If Wu Yu had used just a little more strength, he would even have been able to behead her.
Although she had truly reached the Violet Kingdom of the Inner Sea Realm, gained a great deal of strength that she demonstrated before Wu Yu, and even learned a new Heaven Earth Void technique…
Battles were not determined solely by accolades after all. As long as there was not too big a difference in skill, anything could happen on the field of battle.
This was a prime example. Mu Lingche had been knocked unconscious and was sent into Beishan Mo's arms directly by Wu Yu. If not for this, she would have fallen to the Common Sword Domain and suffered from a torn body and crushed bones.
The moment Beishan Mo caught her, the battle had already come to an end. Wu Yu cupped his hands in respect and smiled "Sorry for my bad manners, I never expected the Violet Kingdom of the Inner Sea to be so useless, so I was slightly too heavy-handed. Please don't take offense. That being said, I've defeated Mu Lingche. I'm sure that everyone has no more objections to me joining the group."