Hao Nhien braced one hand against the sand and slowly steadied his breathing.
His right shin was still numb from the kick just now. Both arms ached from taking the Great White Ape's force, and his chest still felt tight. The gap between them was far too obvious. That single punch had already been enough to make him understand that if the white ape truly wanted his life, there would be no fight to speak of.
But understanding was one thing.
Being forced back again and again—and then seeing that almost contemptuous look in the creature's eyes—still stirred a slow-burning irritation inside him.
Hao Nhien knew he should not let himself be provoked by a look.
Knowing that did not mean he felt nothing.
He wiped the thin trace of blood from the corner of his mouth and stood.
Tieu Lan immediately looked over. She said nothing, but the hand gripping the strap of her medicine basket tightened.
Hao Nhien turned toward her and gave a slight shake of his head, telling her not to come closer.
Then he faced the Great White Ape and cupped his hands.
"If Senior wishes to test me…"
He drew a deep breath.
True qi began circulating faster from his Qi Sea, not gathering entirely in his arms but spreading through his waist, thighs, knees, and feet.
"This junior asks for guidance."
The feeling around him changed.
He no longer intended to exchange a few words and retreat.
But neither was he rushing forward in blind anger.
The irritation was still there.
This time, however, he did not let it move before he did.
The Great White Ape tilted its head slightly. A hint of interest seemed to appear in its dark red eyes.
Hao Nhien lowered his center of gravity.
He was not faster than the Great White Ape in absolute speed. Their previous exchanges had already proven that the explosive speed of that enormous body was more than enough to match him.
But Hao Nhien was smaller.
Lighter.
He had repeated his three steps—forward, backward, sideways—so many times in water and on sand that almost no wasted motion remained.
If there was anything he could exploit, it was not greater speed.
It was the ability to change direction more quickly within a narrow space.
Hao Nhien moved.
His feet skimmed across the white sand.
One step sideways.
Half a step forward.
Immediately back.
Then across to the other side.
He did not attack at once. He only kept changing position, sometimes closing in, sometimes pulling away, forcing the Great White Ape's gaze to follow him.
At first, the white ape remained still.
After several exchanges, it gave a low growl and stepped forward.
That was the moment.
Hao Nhien cut diagonally to the left.
The Great White Ape's weight had just shifted onto its front leg. Its massive body needed one more instant to turn completely.
Hao Nhien closed in.
Foot driving into the sand.
Hips turning.
Shoulder following.
Straight punch.
Thud!
His fist struck the ribs just beneath the Great White Ape's arm.
Without waiting for a reaction, Hao Nhien withdrew his fist, shifted half a step, and drove a second punch into the same region from a different angle.
Thud!
He was about to connect with a third when the ape's enormous arm swept across.
Hao Nhien immediately abandoned the strike.
Retreat.
A violent gust passed across his chest, whipping his clothes outward.
He had already escaped the range of that massive hand.
There was no satisfaction on Hao Nhien's face despite landing both punches cleanly.
The feedback had felt like striking oxhide stretched over a wooden pillar.
The Great White Ape was almost completely unharmed.
It merely lowered its gaze toward the ribs he had struck.
Then it looked at Hao Nhien.
He read something painfully familiar in that expression.
That's all?
The corner of Hao Nhien's mouth twitched.
"Senior truly knows how to make someone want to keep fighting."
The Great White Ape did not seem to care what he said.
It stepped forward.
Hao Nhien moved again.
This time, he did not repeat the same rhythm. Once, he feinted forward before retreating. Another time, he circled left only to cut sharply back to the right.
When the Great White Ape shifted its weight half a beat too slowly, Hao Nhien entered its range, struck its flank with one fist, then drove a short elbow into the softer area beneath its arm.
Thud!
The Great White Ape growled and brought one hand down to seize him.
Hao Nhien was already gone.
A third time.
A fourth.
Each time, he landed only one or two strikes before withdrawing.
No greed.
No attempt to force more attacks.
He struck only when the angle was right.
The sounds of feet grinding against sand, fists striking flesh, and the Great White Ape's low growls blended with the thunder of the waterfall behind them.
Outside the fighting range, Tieu Lan stood rigid, both hands clenched tightly before her chest.
Hao Nhien did not have time to look at her for long. He only knew that he was avoiding more attacks than before, yet the result had barely changed.
The Great White Ape was still almost completely unharmed.
Hao Nhien also began to notice something else.
The ape no longer turned and pursued him immediately every time he changed angles.
It was changing its tactics.
The realization had barely formed when the Great White Ape deliberately exposed its right flank.
Too obvious.
Earlier, Hao Nhien might have rushed in.
This time, he only feinted a step.
He did not enter.
The Great White Ape remained still.
Man and ape stared at each other.
Hao Nhien exhaled softly.
"You even know how to set traps?"
The Great White Ape suddenly stepped hard to the left.
Not to chase him.
To cut off his retreat.
Hao Nhien's expression changed.
Wrong.
He had focused too much on the ape's hands and forgotten that it did not need to strike him immediately.
Its massive body alone could compress his movement until there was nowhere left to go.
One arm swept toward him.
Hao Nhien retreated half a step and tilted his shoulder aside.
The fist passed just before his face.
But the other hand was already coming from the angle he had just forced himself into.
He could not evade completely.
Hao Nhien raised both forearms and turned his body with the direction of the impact, trying to avoid taking the full force head-on.
Thud!
The power was still overwhelming.
Both arms went numb at once.
His entire body was thrown sideways off the sand, landing several zhang away before rolling twice more.
The breath shattered in his chest.
A metallic taste rose into his throat.
Hao Nhien pushed himself up and coughed. A few drops of red blood fell onto the sand.
"Young Master!"
Tieu Lan ran forward two steps.
"Don't come closer."
Hao Nhien's voice was rougher than before, but still clear.
He quickly checked himself.
No broken bones.
Deep pain in both arms.
His chest had taken a shock, but he could still breathe normally.
There was none of the sharp sensation that would suggest a serious internal injury.
The Great White Ape did not pursue.
It stood where it was, arms hanging at its sides, watching him.
Then it suddenly pounded both fists against its chest.
Thump.
Thump.
A triumphant roar rolled through the waterfall.
Hao Nhien looked up.
This ape…
It was actually gloating.
He let out a dry laugh.
"All right. You win this round."
The Great White Ape growled again.
Hao Nhien had no idea whether it understood him.
But judging by its expression, it seemed very pleased with itself.
Only after Hao Nhien nodded did Tieu Lan dare approach.
She knelt beside him and quickly checked his arms and shoulders.
"Where does it hurt?"
"Both arms. My chest feels a little tight."
"Any trouble breathing?"
"No."
"Can you move your arms?"
Hao Nhien tried.
Painful.
But they still moved.
Tieu Lan let out a small breath of relief, then took out the medicinal liquid.
She applied it to his arms and shoulders, slowly rubbing it in. The new medicine was gentler than the old batch. A cooling sensation spread over his burning skin, gradually easing the tension in his muscles.
No injury vanished instantly.
The pain did not disappear either.
It only eased enough for Hao Nhien to breathe more deeply.
Tieu Lan looked up.
"Can you stop fighting now?"
Hao Nhien did not answer immediately.
He looked toward the Great White Ape.
The creature was still standing there.
Not impatient.
Not approaching.
Simply waiting.
Hao Nhien lowered his gaze to his own hand.
An opportunity like this was rare.
An opponent far stronger than him.
Strikes heavy enough that every mistake carried a price.
Yet still deliberately leaving him a way out.
If he walked away only because it hurt, he would regret it.
"I'll rest for a while."
Tieu Lan looked at him.
"And after that?"
"We'll see."
She knew what that meant.
But in the end, she did not argue.
Hao Nhien sat cross-legged where he was and regulated his breathing, allowing the true qi inside his body to gradually return to a steady rhythm.
The medicinal liquid loosened the tension in his muscles.
After some time, the pressure in his chest also eased.
The Great White Ape was still waiting.
Hao Nhien opened his eyes.
One thing had become even clearer.
It truly was waiting for him to stand again.
He pushed himself to his feet.
His arms still hurt.
He was not in perfect condition.
But it was enough.
Tieu Lan immediately caught his sleeve.
"Young Master."
Hao Nhien looked at her.
"I'll be more careful this time."
"You say that every time."
He fell silent.
Tieu Lan watched him for several breaths before finally letting go.
"Then stop if something feels wrong."
"Mm."
Hao Nhien turned toward the Great White Ape and cupped his hands.
"Thank you for waiting, Senior."
The Great White Ape pulled its lips back, revealing white teeth.
Hao Nhien could not tell whether it was smiling or threatening him.
But this time, he stepped forward first.
He did not circle as widely.
Nor would he rely only on evasion.
He wanted to test something else.
Distance.
Rhythm.
Foot placement.
The Great White Ape was far stronger than him.
So he did not need to defeat its strength.
He only needed to make that strength land in the wrong place.
The first punch came.
Hao Nhien retreated diagonally.
Not enough.
The fist brushed past his shoulder, the pressure pinning his clothes against his body.
The second strike.
He shifted sideways.
The Great White Ape changed direction faster than expected.
Hao Nhien immediately abandoned any thought of counterattacking and continued retreating.
By the third exchange, he saw it more clearly.
The shoulder moved first.
Then the hips.
The supporting foot carried most of the weight just before the upper body turned.
Hao Nhien waited.
The Great White Ape swept one arm horizontally.
He lowered himself.
Slipped beneath it.
He did not attack the body.
His right leg swept low toward the outside of the ape's supporting knee, not to break it, but to make contact at the exact moment its weight was shifting.
Thud!
Hao Nhien did not have enough force to knock it down.
But his timing was right.
The Great White Ape's foot slid half a step through the sand.
Its massive body tilted.
Hao Nhien immediately escaped the line of rotation, drove an elbow into the softer area beneath its arm, and withdrew.
Thud!
The Great White Ape paused.
For the first time, its growl carried a trace of genuine pain.
Hao Nhien had already left its reach.
He did not smile.
He only remembered.
It works.
Not because he was stronger.
Because that place was weaker.
And because he had struck at the right time.
The Great White Ape slowly turned its head.
Its dark red eyes settled on him.
A layer of ferocity began to rise within them.
Not much.
But completely different from the excitement before.
Hao Nhien noticed immediately.
I actually hurt it.
The ape stepped forward.
This time, faster.
Hao Nhien changed angles.
It still kept up.
Its arm swept with enough force to make the air before it feel like a forming whirlwind.
Hao Nhien dodged.
The Great White Ape immediately drove one foot toward him.
He twisted aside, but was half a beat too slow.
The ape's foot grazed his back.
Thud!
Hao Nhien staggered forward, blood rising in his throat.
He did not fall.
His lead foot dug into the sand.
His shoulder turned.
By fighting instinct, he drove a straight punch toward the opening in the ape's chest.
Thud!
The Great White Ape only retreated half a step.
But that half step changed its entire presence.
A roar burst from its throat.
It no longer felt like play.
Hao Nhien immediately knew something was wrong.
The Great White Ape charged.
He moved left.
It did not chase with another punch.
Instead, it used its shoulder and sheer body mass to drive directly into his path.
Hao Nhien was forced to switch his footing.
At that moment, a massive hand came down.
He slipped aside.
The other arm immediately swept after it.
There were no deliberate pauses anymore.
The beast's ferocity was truly rising.
From a distance, Tieu Lan shouted,
"Young Master! Stop!"
Hao Nhien tried to retreat.
The Great White Ape would not let him.
A sweeping strike forced him toward the edge of the forest.
He used a nearby tree to change direction.
The ape followed.
Its body slammed into the trunk.
Crack!
The large tree shook violently.
Hao Nhien did not waste the opening.
He did not strike its body.
Instead, he kicked low into the supporting leg at the exact moment the ape shifted its weight.
The Great White Ape's foot slid half a step.
Its own enormous mass pulled its body sideways, and its shoulder crashed heavily into the tree.
Crack!
The trunk split further.
A piece of bark broke loose and scraped across the ape's shoulder, leaving a thin line of blood across its white fur.
Tiny.
But there was blood.
The Great White Ape looked down at its shoulder.
The moment Hao Nhien saw its eyes change, he knew he was in trouble.
The ape raised its head.
Its roar made the surface of the lake tremble.
Birds burst from the forest canopy all at once.
True beastly ferocity flooded outward.
This was no longer a test.
Its animal instinct had surged to the surface.
Hao Nhien immediately retreated.
"Senior, that's enough."
The Great White Ape did not listen.
It turned toward the cracked tree and seized the trunk with one enormous hand.
The muscles along both arms swelled.
Crack!
A section of the trunk snapped free.
Tieu Lan went pale.
Hao Nhien felt his scalp tighten.
"This ape really has gone mad."
The Great White Ape swung the trunk sideways.
Hao Nhien immediately retreated farther.
Not enough.
The broken tree came toward him with a shriek of displaced air.
He could not block it.
Could not redirect it with his hands.
The difference in strength was simply too great.
Behind him, a shelf of stone jutted out beside the lake.
There was no longer enough room to change direction.
Hao Nhien's hand closed around the hilt of the Tieu Dao Sword.
In that instant, every sound around him seemed to retreat.
The world had not truly become silent.
His mind had simply narrowed.
The incoming tree trunk.
The Great White Ape.
Distance.
Time.
And the strand of sword intent resting deep within his soul.
Hao Nhien had not created it.
But he could touch it.
A thin chill flashed through the depths of his soul.
Almost at the same moment, the Tieu Dao Sword left its sheath.
The sword intent moved first.
No light.
No sword qi.
No shape visible to the eye.
Only a cold sensation crossing the space ahead of the sword tip.
The Great White Ape's eyes suddenly froze.
Its massive body slowed for the briefest instant.
Extremely short.
Less than half a beat.
But Hao Nhien had spent a month training for one purpose—
to make the physical sword follow that instant closely enough.
His foot stepped aside.
The tree trunk swept past his shoulder.
His outer robe tore open.
The Tieu Dao Sword thrust straight ahead.
Pshk.
The blade passed through the thick white fur and entered the muscle above the Great White Ape's chest.
Not deep.
But it truly entered.
Hot blood immediately ran down the blade.
Hao Nhien could have driven it farther.
He did not.
The moment the sword penetrated deeply enough to confirm that the strike had landed, he stopped his force.
Withdrew the sword.
Retreated one step.
The Great White Ape stood motionless.
The tree trunk slipped from its hands and crashed into the sand.
Boom.
Hao Nhien breathed heavily.
The hand holding the sword trembled faintly.
Not because he had won.
He had never defeated this ape.
If the Great White Ape had not restrained itself from the beginning, Hao Nhien would already have been lying on the ground.
If it had not faltered before the strand of sword intent just now, that tree trunk might have crushed his shoulder and chest.
If the Tieu Dao Sword had not been sharp enough, the result would also have been different.
He had only survived that moment.
And forced his opponent to stop.
From a distance, Tieu Lan stood completely still.
The Great White Ape lowered its gaze toward the wound.
There was not much blood.
Only a narrow red line through its white fur.
Then it looked at Hao Nhien again.
The ferocity in its eyes remained.
But it was slowly fading.
After a long moment, it gave a deep growl.
Not anger.
Not contempt either.
Then it turned away.
Hao Nhien immediately cupped his hands.
"Thank you for holding back, Senior."
The Great White Ape did not turn around.
It walked toward the hidden entrance behind the waterfall.
After several steps, its massive body suddenly stopped.
Hao Nhien frowned slightly.
A faint fluctuation traveled through the strand of sword intent within his soul.
Not from the Tieu Dao Sword.
Not from the book.
From the Great White Ape.
Extremely weak.
Like a call coming from impossibly far away.
Then an aged voice sounded directly within his mind.
"There is no need to be so surprised."
Hao Nhien's entire body stiffened.
Tieu Lan immediately noticed.
"Young Master?"
He raised one hand, signaling her not to speak.
The voice came again.
Hoarse.
Weary.
Yet beneath that weariness remained an indescribable sense of freedom.
"I thought I would have to wait much longer before seeing this sword intent move again."
Hao Nhien's heart pounded.
A name surfaced almost immediately.
"Senior Nhat Kiem Tieu Dao?"
A quiet laugh answered him.
"Good. You still remember the name."
Hao Nhien closed his eyes.
His awareness sank inward, following that faint fluctuation.
Within the dim space of his consciousness, he saw a figure in white.
The face was unclear.
The age impossible to determine.
Even the body itself flickered between solid and faint, as though a single gust of wind might scatter it.
But Hao Nhien could not mistake that presence.
The man who had stood atop the mountain within Tieu Dao Sword Intent.
The man whose single thrust had made Hao Nhien's mind falter before the physical sword had even arrived.
Hao Nhien immediately cupped his hands within his consciousness.
"This junior, Quan Hao Nhien, greets Senior."
The white-robed figure waved a hand.
"No need for all the ceremony. At this point, I can hardly even be called a complete soul."
His voice became more intermittent.
"Only a remnant of soul, a few memories, and a little obsession that refused to disappear."
Hao Nhien looked at the figure.
"Senior has always been inside the Great White Ape?"
"Not exactly."
Nhat Kiem Tieu Dao raised his head as though trying to remember something from far too long ago.
"Before I died, I left a small remnant of my soul around the dwelling. At first, I only wanted to see who would eventually inherit my sword and books."
He laughed.
"People like to speak of being unfettered when death approaches. Truly letting go of everything is another matter."
Hao Nhien listened in silence.
"Later, this White Ape remained near the dwelling for a very long time. Little by little, it developed a trace of intelligence. My remnant soul was already extremely weak. I no longer remember exactly when it began, but somehow I came to rest upon that newly awakened intelligence and continued to exist."
He looked toward somewhere in the surrounding darkness.
"It was not possession. I no longer had the strength for that, nor any interest in it. It was more like two fragments of consciousness accidentally leaning on one another so neither would disappear quite as quickly."
Hao Nhien understood.
"So when the Great White Ape allowed me into the dwelling last time…"
"That was partly because of me."
Nhat Kiem Tieu Dao nodded.
"But do not think too highly of what remains of me. I can influence it only slightly. Most of the time, it is still itself."
Hao Nhien recalled the moment when the Great White Ape's true beastly ferocity had erupted.
"So just now…"
Nhat Kiem Tieu Dao gave a helpless laugh.
"It felt pain, so it became angry. I cannot make an ape that large obey me whenever I please."
For a moment, Hao Nhien did not know what to say.
The explanation was so reasonable that it was almost funny.
"It was fortunate you did not push the sword any deeper."
Nhat Kiem Tieu Dao's voice slowed.
"If you had truly enraged it completely, this tiny remnant of mine might not have been able to restrain it at all."
Hao Nhien lowered his head.
"This junior had no intention of killing it either."
"I know."
The white-robed figure looked at him.
"That is why I chose to awaken."
Hao Nhien paused.
"Senior awakened because of the sword intent?"
"Mm."
Nhat Kiem Tieu Dao looked deeply at him.
"The sword intent I left behind moved."
A moment of silence passed.
"Not within the sword."
"Within your soul."
Hao Nhien instinctively focused on the deepest part of his consciousness.
The strand of sword intent was still there.
Cold.
Small.
Silent as before.
"Why?" he asked.
The question had existed ever since he first opened the book.
Why had the sword intent entered his soul?
Why had the Tieu Dao Sword responded to him?
Why had the book accepted him?
Nhat Kiem Tieu Dao did not answer immediately.
After a while, the white-robed figure only shook his head.
"I do not know."
Hao Nhien looked up.
"Even Senior does not know?"
"No."
The man smiled.
"I only know that my sword intent does not reject your soul."
His voice weakened slightly.
"With someone else, it might not have chosen to remain at all. But why you…"
He raised his gaze toward the darkness above.
"I could not understand it while I was alive."
"Nor could I understand it after death."
Hao Nhien fell silent.
He had thought that meeting the very person who had left the inheritance would finally give him an answer.
Instead, the answer was still—
I do not know.
Strangely, he was not as disappointed as he expected.
At least one thing had now been confirmed.
The strand of sword intent within his soul was not something he had imagined.
It truly was something Nhat Kiem Tieu Dao had left behind.
And even the man who had created it did not understand why it could remain within him.
Hao Nhien was about to ask another question when Nhat Kiem Tieu Dao suddenly fell silent.
The white-robed figure stared at him for a long time.
Long enough that Hao Nhien gradually sensed something was wrong.
At last, the old man let out a quiet sigh.
"It seems… before this remnant of mine disappears, there is still one thing I must do."