Dark Forest.

Sonia hovered above the high sky, gripping a wooden sword, her expression devoid of joy or sorrow. Her high tied red ponytail fluttered in the wind, like a sheathed sword concealing all its sharpness.

With the explosive sound of a silver bottle breaking, the purple-red ferocious shadow of a dragon of resentment appeared behind Sonia, roaring silently across time and space. She opened her eyes, her presence commanding without words, crossing hundreds of meters of azure sky in a single step, descending onto Ash with resentment and killing intent as deep as an abyss!

The sword she swung contained the sun, the moon, the mountains, and the seas, as her simple wooden sword unleashed a sword light full of all things in nature!

The sword light illuminated the night; the land danced with phantom shadows, and their confrontation reached its climax from the start! Ash’s dual swords spun like windmills, seizing every gap to counterattack, throwing everything he had at Sonia’s weakest defenses, employing fists, claws, kicks, elbow breaks, and shoulder strikes to the fullest extent. He had never learned a day of swordsmanship but was proficient in many forms of magic, and thus Ash never fixated on pure swordsmanship but relied on past experiences and combat instincts to form a battle style that was both elaborate and deadly!

Sonia, however, was different. She was free yet disciplined, her sword momentum fierce yet calm and collected, advancing confidently with nothing to block her way. She was like a blazing, speeding train, an armored cavalry, a single person signifying a thousand troops. If not witnessed firsthand, no one would believe a twenty-year-old village girl could embody such a domineering style, but Ash wasn’t surprised at all—the Sword Maiden’s grandeur wasn’t achieved overnight but accumulated through countless victories to build up enormous confidence.

Battle Felix, battle Reonie, school exchanges, Meteor Disaster, Demi, Starry Legion, Sword Law Angel... She started from the Sea of Knowledge, from Sword Flower University, traveled three thousand miles in battle, endured trials unscathed, tasted festivity and brutality, witnessed the Dazzling Star and Moon Star, experienced noise and serenity, and finally refined her combat style pledging victory.

As the undefeated Sword Maiden, her pride stood like a banner on the battlefield.

Unlike Ash who, without learning swordsmanship, could only act on free will, Sonia, even with her freedom, wielded sword techniques naturally in her hands, the elegance of a Sword Master was fully displayed through her. Vosloda’s secret Wave Motion Swordsmanship "Annihilation", Night Moon Sword Technique’s special skill "Hidden Blade", Rhythm Swordsmanship "Musical Rhythm", The Poem of Flowers and Swords "Slash, Thrust, Cut", Star Extreme Swordsmanship "Star Fall", Sword Law Angel’s "Law"... some were exchanged from the Star Extreme Hall, some secretly learned, most she only superficially copied before without delving deep, but now she could dominate all swordsmanship from a high vantage, innovating further with each swing, faster and stronger than the original, going further than the creators!

For the first ten minutes, the two were evenly matched. After thirty minutes, Ash was on the defensive more than the offensive. After sixty minutes, Ash found himself at a disadvantage. In such an intensely fierce battle, the differences in their swordsmanship talents became apparent. Ash could at best maintain his level without dropping, but Sonia continued improving in battle, her mind not tiring but becoming more excited and spirited, like a Meiwa among Sword Masters, continuously drawing nourishment from the thrashing of Ash!

In one clash, Ash carelessly exposed a flaw and was pierced by Sonia, sending him flying over ten meters, crashing into a rock leaving a dent. He let go of the sword handle and surrendered, "Stop—"

Smack! Ash felt a knock on his head, he looked at Sonia aggrievedly as she nonchalantly drew back her wooden sword, saying, "Sorry, couldn’t stop."

"A swordsmanship Demigod telling me they can’t hold back their sword?" Ash was speechless, "I feel like your hit had a bit of a personal grudge..."

Sonia gave him a sidelong glance and sliced a stone beside her into a smooth seat, sitting down with a sarcastic tone, "What personal grudge do I have with you?"

"Last night..." 𝙛𝒓𝒆𝙚𝒘𝒆𝓫𝙣𝓸𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝒄𝒐𝓶

"Don’t bring up last night!"

"Last night was our fault after all..." Ash spread his hands.

"If it’s your fault, then why be unreasonable?" Sonia exclaimed indignantly, "I suspect you deliberately let them find us! I was whispering, it must be you who exposed us!"

"That’s too unreasonable." Ash said with a wry smile, "Then why didn’t you resist?"

"I have pride!"

The more Sonia spoke, the angrier she became; her wrath almost materialized the annihilating dragon of resentment again: "Did you see the Witch? Even though I accepted our mutual celebration, her attention wasn’t on you but on me... when I was getting intimate with you, I didn’t provoke her like that! And then there’s Silver Lamp, indecent, shameless, everyone was watching and yet she still... our limits were breached by her step by step!"

Having just undergone an hour of divine training, now stopping, her anger was almost burning her insides, a thin sweat naturally appeared on her soul body, her breathing becoming shallow and rapid.

Ash remembered something, moved closer to hug her, Sonia gave a bit of a disdainful look, "You just broke a sweat..."

"And aren’t you the same?"

"Can’t I feel disdain for you sweating? Don’t stick to me."

Ash had some doubts over whether Death Mad’s strategy was wrong, but seeing Sonia’s disdainful face, he raised an eyebrow, pulling her into his embrace and burying his face in her hair, inhaling deeply, "It’s okay, I don’t mind you."

"Eww." Sonia gave a disdainful sound, but her eyes were full of smiles. She sniffed Ash’s neck and curiously asked, "Did you put on perfume? Why does it smell so fresh?"

"How could it be?" Ash sniffed himself, "There’s no scent, the clothes don’t even smell like detergent. Maybe you’re smelling your own scent; I think you smell quite nice."

Sonia carefully sniffed herself, then Ash’s neck, and confidently stated, "It’s definitely your scent."

The two smelled each other back and forth, naturally sticking close together. However, knowing his role as a disruptive influence, Ash was very mindful, saying after a while, "I have to go back, are you staying to continue cultivation?"

Sonia nodded, "The divine training just now gave me some inspiration, I’ll see if I can sort it out."

Time to slip away, no common language with such a swordsmanship genius.

Ash wiped his lips with the back of his hand, stood up and said, "Then I won’t disturb you; remember to come back for lunch—"

Sonia grabbed his wrist, leaned up and gave him a light kiss, her face flushed, she gazed into his eyes, commanding in a fierce tone, "Don’t wipe it off."

"It’s like a puppy marking its territory..."

"I’ll bite you!"

Ash pulled Sonia close, untied her hastily tied ponytail, divided her red hair into two sections, styled the front into a short ponytail and the back into a long ponytail, threading the long ponytail through the gap in the short one, allowing the ponytail to be tied high but not pulling on the front bangs, making it much more beautiful and comfortable.

"If you’re lazy, come find me to style your hair before training next time. I learned quite a few techniques back when I cared for Liss."

"Mm." Sonia uttered a soft nasal hum, gently biting his neck.