Seeing a familiar face, Chu Feng wasn’t surprised. Just as he had expected, the black-robed figure was indeed Lin Ruo.
For the residual cold energy within his body to rage so violently even without him circulating his true qi, it could only mean that Lin Ruo was right in front of him.
“Truly didn’t expect it, Senior Brother. You’re so persistent…chasing me all the way to Yaochi Holy Land.”
For the protagonist to be so fixated on him… What had he, Chu Feng, ever done to deserve this? It made him feel like he was some kind of final boss villain.
I’m just a harmless, model young man!
“Chu Feng! My dear Junior Brother, do you know? I’ve been thinking about you day and night!”
By the end of his sentence, Lin Ruo’s eyes were filled with growing madness.
“If it weren’t for you, Chu Feng! Why would I, Lin Ruo, have fallen this far?! Because of you, I was stripped of my status as a personal disciple! Because of you, I missed out on the Marrow Cleansing Pill! Because of you, I didn’t get the Five-Colored Stone! It’s all because of you!”
Goodness. Chu Feng listened to Lin Ruo’s tirade, and the resentment in his voice was so thick it could almost take physical form. But honestly, had he really made Lin Ruo’s life that miserable?
As he listened to Lin Ruo complain about his tragic downfall, for some reason, Chu Feng felt a strange sense of delight. As expected….true joy really does come from the suffering of others.
“Senior Brother, I didn’t realize your feelings for me were this deep. I’m truly flattered. In that case, I have a way that can help you get rid of all that anguish.”
“…What way?”
Chu Feng glanced at Lin Ruo’s lower abdomen and grinned.
“One clean cut to sever the root of your troubles. I guarantee, Senior Brother, from that moment on, your heart will be as calm as a Buddha’s. I had a cat back home who used to cause all sorts of chaos and had a terrible temper. But ever since I gave him the snip, he’s been quiet and serene, like he’s transcended cat-life.”
“Heh…” Lin Ruo sneered coldly and pulled out a jet-black longsword.
Chu Feng raised an eyebrow. Oh? A new weapon, huh?
“Today, I’ll show you what a true sword genius looks like!”
With that, Lin Ruo unsheathed his sword and struck.
A wave of sword qi slashed toward Chu Feng.
But what happened next left Lin Ruo completely stunned.
Chu Feng had originally planned to dodge, but in that moment, he felt a strange intuition like he could dissolve that sword qi entirely.
Raising his left hand, Chu Feng brought his index and middle fingers together. With a simple gesture, he caught the fierce sword qi between his fingers.
Ding—!
Sword qi burst in all directions, his white robes fluttering and black hair swirling in the wind. Chu Feng didn’t budge an inch. The sword qi, caught between his fingers, struggled to break free, but no matter how much it surged, it couldn’t escape.
With a flick of his wrist, the sword qi dispersed.
“Heh, Senior Brother Lin Ruo, that sword qi of yours… what an utter embarrassment. Honestly, it makes less noise than a fart. If you ask me, maybe it’s time you gave up on swordsmanship altogether.”
Chu Feng hadn’t expected it either. Lin Ruo’s sword qi was that flimsy?
If there’s one way to completely break someone’s mental defenses…
The answer: Just tell the truth. After all, truth hurts more than lies ever could.
Sure enough, as soon as he said that, Chu Feng saw Lin Ruo’s eyes turn bloodshot, his chest heaving with rage.
“Tsk tsk, Senior Brother Lin Ruo, you really need to work on your temper. Look at me, always smiling.”
As he spoke, Chu Feng flashed Lin Ruo a big grin, showing off his pearly white teeth.
“Chu Feng!”
That did it.
Lin Ruo couldn’t hold back any longer. With a furious roar, he charged at Chu Feng.
He slashed with his sword, unleashing a powerful wave of sword intent. The air howled as wild winds whipped up around them.
His momentum surged like thunder, his strike barreling toward Chu Feng with overwhelming force.
Faced with this hard-edged sword intent, Chu Feng suddenly recalled something his Senior Sister Yuyan had once told him:
Sword intent generally comes in two types. Flowing and forceful.
The sword intent he had just blocked from Lin Ruo now that he thought about it seemed to be of the first type: flowing sword intent.
At this moment, in Chu Feng’s eyes, Lin Ruo’s strike appeared much slower.
At the same time, the sword intent around Chu Feng rapidly surged.
“Lin Ruo, taste my sword!”
With a loud shout, Chu Feng’s Little Bai erupted with a brilliant burst of sword light, the sound of the sword ringing out clearly.
The sword qi surrounding him was unlike the lethal force he had unleashed before. Instead, it flowed like water. Gentle and continuous.
Soft sword intent clashed with forceful sword intent, and in an instant, a sonic boom rang out.
Sword qi rampaged in all directions, forming a tornado-like scene around the two of them.
Though Chu Feng sensed how fierce Lin Ruo’s sword qi was, it was limited in quantity.
His own sword qi, while softer and less powerful individually, far outnumbered Lin Ruo’s and managed to hold off the aggressive assault through sheer volume.
He recalled what Senior Sister Yuyan had once said: a person can only choose one type of sword intent.
But he…he had mastered both types!
Then… could he switch between the properties of sword intent? From soft and flowing to fierce and aggressive?
In the next moment, Chu Feng willed it and the once gentle, flowing sword qi instantly transformed into a wild, violent force.
Boom!
A massive wave of sharp, ferocious sword qi blasted Lin Ruo straight off his feet.
“Haha! That felt good!”
Chu Feng let out a hearty laugh, the sword intent around him surging to its peak. The two types of sword intent clashed and merged and at that moment, he finally experienced the exhilarating sensation often described in martial arts novels: the feeling of a breakthrough.
It felt as if his body and even his spirit were soaring.
Lin Ruo, on the other hand, was utterly shocked. How could one person possibly master two types of sword intent!?
Even Old Li, who resided within Lin Ruo and had lived for countless years, was shaken. To think that someone in this world could actually fuse two types of sword intent!
“Senior Brother! Your junior has arrived!”
Chu Feng strode forward boldly and slashed out with his sword. In an instant, his strike split into over a hundred streams of sword qi, like a swimming dragon charging straight at Lin Ruo.
Lin Ruo’s face turned deathly pale, his eyes filled with terror.
The sheer number of sword qi, clearly a trait of the soft sword intent, yet each strand carried the devastating force of the forceful type.
There really was someone who could merge both types of sword intent!
Crack—
Deep within Lin Ruo’s mind, a fracture appeared in his Dao Heart.
At that moment, the Ghost Nether Venerable, who had been watching silently within him, finally couldn’t bear it any longer. If this continued, Lin Ruo would be reduced to mediocrity for life.
Boom!
A surge of overwhelming, unstoppable purple-black true qi wrapped around Lin Ruo, and in an instant, his aura changed dramatically. A hoarse voice rang out:
“Young brat, don’t get too cocky!”
With a single slash, he cut through Chu Feng’s hundred streams of sword qi. They only held for a moment before shattering instantly.
“What the hell! You damn cheat, pulling out hacks because you’re losing!?”
Chu Feng’s eyes widened as the energy on the other side suddenly spiked. So intense even a rocket-riding cow would cry tears of envy.
No doubt about it. Lin Ruo had let the “old grandpa” take over.
Chu Feng didn’t dare let his guard down. Facing that slash of sword qi, he gathered all his true qi and focused every ounce of spiritual power into Little Bai.
“Hrahhh!”
Pouring everything into one powerful strike….this would be the deciding moment, win or lose in three breaths.
Boom!
A massive blast of sword light erupted, sending out a towering wave of sword qi over ten meters high.
Bang!
The two waves of sword qi collided and completely canceled each other out.
The shockwave from the impact sent Chu Feng staggering back over ten steps. He clutched his chest as his face suddenly turned pale.
Crap.
His true qi was nearly depleted and the cold energy was starting to invade his meridians!
This… was bad.
He looked up at Lin Ruo. Although she appeared a bit disheveled, she hadn’t suffered any serious injuries.
As expected, that trump card of being possessed by the old grandpa was far too troublesome!
Ghost Nether Venerable had never imagined this outcome. Though his power had diminished greatly, he still didn’t believe a mere second-rank cultivator could withstand his strike.
This boy… must be eliminated!
Seeing Lin Ruo walking toward him, Chu Feng tried to stand, but his true qi was completely depleted, and cold energy was invading his meridians. His condition couldn’t have been worse.
“Little brat, don’t blame this old man. If you want to blame someone, blame yourself for being a sword genius. And geniuses… must never be allowed to grow!”
Just as Ghost Nether Venerable was about to bring everything to an end, a terrifying divine sense descended.
A moment later, a misty voice followed.
“Ghost Nether Venerable, since you’ve come, then stay.”
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