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Chapter 342: Hostile?
Elena was truly shocked when Aldrian suddenly appeared behind her. She did not understand Aldrian’s abilities, so she had no idea that he could use teleportation. His stealth skills were also very great, making it almost impossible for her to detect him.
Aldrian wore a slight smile as he assessed the woman standing before him.
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Elena Rosalind
Age: 12,490 years
Race: Human
Cultivation: Peak King
Cultivation Technique: Rising Petal of Heavenly Garden Scripture
Attack Techniques: Rose of Heavenly Garden, Seven Movements of the Heavenly Sword Garden, The End of Winter, The Start of Spring, Heavenly Garden Covering Heavens
Defense Techniques: -
Movement Technique: Dropping Petal, Thousand Petals Step
Supporting Technique: Rise of Heavenly Garden
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Given her age and cultivation level, she could easily be categorized as a genius among geniuses on this continent. Moreover, her techniques and cultivation methods all seemed to be of the high rank—something only high nobles would have access to.
Noticing the wary look in her eyes, Aldrian sighed.
"Shouldn’t I be the one wary of you for following me since earlier? Why are you the one acting cautious around me?" he asked.
Elena ignored his words and instead asked, "Are you the one they call the Mysterious Swordsman?"
"What if I am? What if I’m not? Why does it matter to you?"
"Because I’m looking for him."
"And why are you looking for him?"
Elena fell silent, keeping her eyes on Aldrian. Inwardly, she could hardly believe that the young man standing before her was the one many called the Mysterious Swordsman—the strongest sword cultivator on the continent.
She had always believed in his legend, given his incredible feats and achievements. However, she had assumed he was an old man, someone who had spent centuries honing his comprehension and strength—strength so overwhelming that even Xin Haotian, the Sword Saint, paled in comparison.
Many said that the Mysterious Swordsman was the only one who had comprehended a divine-grade technique, wielding devastating and wide-area attacks that could affect the entire continent. She was one of those who believed it, as every time she followed his traces, his techniques always left a profound impression, showcasing both deep comprehension and immense power.
She came to this place because the Mysterious Swordsman had once again made an appearance, battling something incredible. She had received a crucial clue—some witnesses claimed to have seen a masked figure, said to be the Mysterious Swordsman, standing atop the corpse of a giant beast before vanishing.
Determined to continue her search, she decided to book a room at a local inn for her stay. That was when she saw Arthur.
She was truly glad to have met Arthur by coincidence, as it made her investigation much easier. From there, she could easily find out who communicated with Arthur. After questioning the people around and gathering eyewitness accounts about him, she concluded that this young man at the very least knew the Mysterious Swordsman—or perhaps, he was the Mysterious Swordsman himself.
She needed to confirm it for herself.
"Before I tell you that, show me your energy," she demanded.
Aldrian tilted his head.
"And why would I do that?"
Elena didn’t answer but suddenly attacked Aldrian with her quick movement. Her sword was almost at his neck when Aldrian teleported to a location quite a distance away.
He looked at her expressionlessly, though truthfully, his heart skipped a beat.
"She almost got me. It’s still too much to face an opponent of her caliber outside of a domain. I need to enter the nearest domain or create a new one," he thought.
Elena, seeing her target disappear, looked around and spread her senses to the maximum until she found Aldrian on the rooftop, looking down at her. Without a word, she dashed toward him with incredible speed. She attacked him with her sword again, this time with even greater speed. However, Aldrian was able to evade it by a small margin, using teleportation.
However, Elena kept tailing him, striking every time he appeared in one location. Aldrian, who could only evade at this point, noticed something different when he observed Elena’s fast movements. He was still outside of his domain, so his strength and capabilities were much more limited.
But somehow, he noticed that Elena’s movements slowed for a fraction of a second. Thanks to this, he was able to evade her attacks by a small margin each time they almost reached him. In that moment, he realized he had already comprehended something, without even realizing it. But what kind of laws had he comprehended?
As time passed and his strength grew, he began to perceive even stronger opponents’ attacks as much slower in his eyes than before. However, facing someone at the Peak King stage, like Elena—who was one of the continent’s geniuses—was still too much for him while he was outside his domain.
But he seemed to notice that her attacks slowed for a fraction of a second, allowing him to evade them. He knew this was the result of having comprehended something, though he didn’t know when or how he gained such an ability.
"It looks like I need some time to figure out this new comprehension. Well, thanks to her, I can feel something I’ve never experienced while battling inside my domain," Aldrian thought.
He continued dodging Elena’s attacks, which only frustrated her more. No matter how quickly she increased the speed of her strikes—whether it was a stab, slash, or chop—she couldn’t land a hit on Aldrian.
Moments like this were when Aldrian could measure his limits outside of his domain. Based on his past battles outside his domain, he estimated that, at his current low Marquess stage, he could battle against a Peak Grand Duke stage or even a low King stage—using some tricks, of course.
Although Elena was irritated because none of her attacks could touch Aldrian, she was also shocked. She could sense that Aldrian was only at the low Marquess stage! With that level of cultivation, it shouldn’t have been possible for him to dodge all of her attacks. Their cultivation gap was too wide—no matter how much comprehension he had or how much stronger he was, he was still a Marquess!
There was no way he should be able to outrun her in a battle of speed, even with his comprehension of space laws and teleportation technique.
The people nearby could only sense the energy from the attacks and catch fleeting glimpses of two figures, disappearing and reappearing in an instant. Many wondered what was happening and who was battling, especially with so many people from all parts of the empire gathered in the city.
"If you keep dodging, then—" Elena thought before attacking the space around Aldrian with a series of slashes.
When Aldrian was about to teleport again, he paused for a split second and then teleported into the sky, floating mid-air.
Once again, Elena was shocked. She hadn’t expected Aldrian, at the Marquess stage, to be capable of floating in mid-air!
Aldrian looked at Elena with a calm expression, but he was also impressed by her quick thinking.
"She cut the space itself, preventing me from teleporting. If I keep pushing myself to teleport, I’ll get caught by her slashes." he thought.
Elena, however, didn’t stay stunned for long. She quickly attacked Aldrian while he was still mid-air. Aldrian teleported again, and Elena attempted to cut the space around him. However, Aldrian simply teleported to a location safe from her slashes, causing her to increase the speed of her attacks, now combining them with slashing space around him.
"You’re truly impressive, and to be honest, I’m quite surprised that you can dodge my attacks and fly even though you’re only at the Marquess stage. How did you do that?" she asked, all while continuing her relentless attacks.
Aldrian didn’t answer her, staying focused as he dodged, knowing he couldn’t afford to lose his concentration even for a split second—her attacks were precise and incredibly quick.
"If you can only dodge and dodge, then I don’t think you’re the one I’m looking for. You’re too weak for someone who’s supposed to be the mysterious swordsman. The mysterious swordsman must be someone else," she said, trying to provoke him with her words. She knew that with Aldrian’s unusual abilities, he would likely reveal something even more interesting.
At this point, it seemed Elena had momentarily forgotten her objective of uncovering the mysterious swordsman’s identity. Instead, she seemed to be enjoying the act of attacking Aldrian. Her curiosity now extended beyond the name of the mysterious swordsman—she was genuinely intrigued by the true strength of this young man.
She had expected Aldrian to be affected by her provocation, but instead, she saw him maintaining a composed expression as he continued to dodge and teleport further away from her. This only heightened her desire to test his limits and see how he would handle this situation.
After a few more seconds, Aldrian suddenly stopped dodging, and Elena seized the opportunity to strike at his body with a slash.
Ting!
However, a spatial shield suddenly erected between her attack and Aldrian, causing a tremor in her hand. She hadn’t expected such a powerful spatial barrier to appear so suddenly, blocking her strike! Elena was truly shocked. A Marquess stage cultivator had just blocked an attack from a King stage cultivator! 𝓃𝓸𝓋𝓹𝓾𝓫.𝒸ℴ𝓶
If it were anyone else, the spatial barrier would’ve shattered instantly, and the slash would’ve fatally wounded the target.
"It’s only fair if I return the favor, right? Now, it’s my turn," Aldrian said.
He then drew a peak Heaven-grade sword, and his aura and bearing shifted dramatically.
