Martial Saint with Passives

One half was the pure, flawless Heartless Sword Dao she had clung to for over twenty years.

The other half was the Path of the Red Dust, full of worldly mortal life, which she had just glimpsed.

But she could not yet grasp the true meaning of "laying down the sword."

She instinctively saw the emotions of mortals as a burden to her cultivation, as impurities upon her Sword Heart.

Caught between her extreme dedication to her own Sword Dao and her instinctual rejection of the "mundane,"

she fell into an unprecedented struggle, a deep contradiction.

Cracks appeared in her Sword Heart.

In the end, she went against the True Intent left behind by True Master Bai Yi.

BUZZ—

The marketplace scene before her shattered inch by inch, like a broken mirror.

Gu Qingxuan's figure, enveloped in a white light, was teleported outside the cavern.

...

Outside the cavern, around the great pit.

Just as the shock of Qin Wuya's elimination had yet to fully subside,

with a soft BUZZ, the white light of the Restriction at the entrance flared brightly once more!

Another figure was teleported out!

When the crowd saw who it was, a deathly silence instantly fell over the area around the great pit once again!

It was a woman clad in the azure, cloud-patterned Daoist Robe of the Lingxiao Courtyard, her bearing as cold as a snow-capped mountain peak.

It was Gu Qingxuan!

"Impossible!!!"

It is unknown who first let out that heart-wrenching cry, but it instantly ignited the entire crowd!

"Gu... Gu Qingxuan was eliminated too?!"

"Am I dreaming? Even she failed?!"

"This... this trial of True Master Bai Yi's... just how twisted is it?!"

If Qin Wuya's failure was a "shock," then Gu Qingxuan's brought "subversion"!

In everyone's mind, Gu Qingxuan's pure Sword Heart was practically synonymous with the very word "Temperament"!

If even she failed the Temperament Pass, then who else could possibly succeed?!

Atop the high platform, the Elders of the Taiyuan Sect and the Profound Sound Sect, beyond their shock, couldn't help but show a trace of inexplicable relief.

Their own prodigies might have lost, but the Cangyun Sect's strongest had also been defeated. Everyone was back at the same starting line; no one had lost more face than anyone else!

Only Yue Lingfeng, the head of the Lingxiao Courtyard, saw his expression instantly turn incomparably grim!

He stared fixedly at his beloved disciple, his eyes filled with incomprehension and urgency.

Gu Qingxuan stood where she was, the usual iciness gone from her exquisite face.

In its place was an unprecedented, deep bewilderment and a pensive look.

It was as if she hadn't fully emerged from the Illusion Realm that had lasted for decades.

Her eyes, clear as icy pools, still seemed to reflect that bustling mortal market, full of the sights and sounds of worldly life.

She slowly raised a hand, looking at her own pale, slender fingers.

Then she subconsciously touched her cheek, as if to confirm she was truly still that young, powerful prodigy of the Sword Dao,

and not that ordinary old woman who had aged and died in solitude.

A moment later, she slowly came to her senses. Ignoring the gazes of everyone around her, she walked straight to her master, Yue Lingfeng.

"Master..." she began softly, her voice holding a tremor of confusion she herself hadn't noticed.

Seeing his most prized disciple in such a lost and distraught state, Yue Lingfeng felt a pang in his heart and quickly asked:

"Qingxuan, what happened? What did you... encounter inside?"

Gu Qingxuan didn't answer. Instead, she looked up at her master with an almost pleading gaze and asked a question that baffled everyone present:

"Master, what... is a sword?"

"What?" Yue Lingfeng was stunned, completely failing to understand her. "Qingxuan, are you confused? A sword is a sword! It is the Dao you and I have pursued our entire lives!"

"But..." Gu Qingxuan's eyes grew even more lost. "But, without a sword, what... is a person?"

She murmured, as if asking her master, yet also as if asking herself.

"A mortal's life and death, their joys and sorrows... are those things truly unrelated to our Dao? To single-mindedly sever all worldly ties, to pursue ultimate purity and sharpness... is this path... truly the right one?"

"A... Swordsman with no 'humanity'... can her sword still be called a 'living' sword?"

This string of philosophical questions left Yue Lingfeng completely dumbfounded.

He looked into his disciple's eyes, which were filled with pain and struggle, and his heart sank as he faintly guessed what had happened.

He let out a long sigh and explained in a low voice:

"Qingxuan, you've... encountered a Heart Demon Tribulation. Although True Master Bai Yi was a Great Power of the True Mastery Realm, he was not a pure Sword Cultivator. His Dao emphasizes 'entering the world' and 'mastering a hundred arts.' Your Dao, however, is about 'leaving the world' and 'absolute purity.' Our paths are different, so we cannot walk them together. Your failure to pass his trial is not a matter of fault. You need not dwell on it."

Her master's explanation seemed to make a lot of sense.

But after listening, the confusion in Gu Qingxuan's eyes did not fade.

She nodded as if she half-understood, saying no more. She simply hugged her sword and silently retreated to the side, sinking into an even deeper contemplation.

The surrounding crowd watched the profound and unfathomable conversation between master and disciple. Although they didn't really understand it, there was one thing they now understood completely.

Gu Qingxuan, the number one prodigy of the Cangyun Sect, third on the Hidden Dragon List...

...had also been defeated!

...

「Inside the cavern, in the circular hall.」

As Qin Wuya and Gu Qingxuan passed the trial one after another in stunning fashion, the atmosphere in the hall grew increasingly heavy.

The trial of this second pass was far more difficult than they had ever imagined.

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