Embers of Sword

Chapter 649 Questioning the Heart (Part 2)

When Ye Zu flew to the vicinity of the sword qi waterfall, the battle was nearing its end.

The rain of destruction did not stop.

Xie Xuanyi hung high in the sky, his sword aura expanding to its limit. Countless sword energies flowed backward from the ground, piecing together and condensing in the air to form a giant sword a hundred feet long. The tip of the sword pierced through the dark clouds, yet it exuded a black aura even more intense than the dark clouds themselves.

"go."

Xie Xuanyi gently tapped down with both fingers.

The giant sword, imbued with the intent of annihilation, slowly descended.

The towering dark clouds were squeezed outwards by the sword intent, and a dazzling golden light suddenly burst forth from the bottom where the billowing evil energy gathered!
"..."

Ye Zu suddenly stopped, his expression becoming subtle and complex.

That brilliant golden light, suppressed by countless sword intents yet still burning fiercely, was none other than Zhou.

The white-robed martial artist, whose Dao of Annihilation was pressing him firmly to the ground, never considered giving up and continued to throw punches, accompanied by the echoing sound of air being torn apart.

That faint flame of life did not go out.

On the contrary, it continues to rise!
At this moment, Ye Zu suddenly understood why Xie Xuanyi had offered up his sword in this way.

Zhou had waited ten years for this battle.

As you hear the news, you can die in the evening.

Not long ago, just as the war in the southern borderlands had ended, the Palace Master of Qiantian Palace personally went to the old site of Yinshan to "intercept and kill" Xie Xuanyi.

Ye Zu knew.

This ambush was, in fact, a stroke of good fortune delivered by a "fist to the head".

Now Xie Xuanyi is doing exactly the same thing as the Palace Master of Qiantian Palace.

It appears to be an attempt to suppress Zhou.

Actually... this was a way of "feeding" Zhou a punch, helping him break through his current level!

As the saying goes, "No destruction, no construction!"
Xie Xuanyi showed no mercy, directly pushing Zhou to the brink of defeat. And as it turned out, he had not misjudged Zhou... This martial arts genius, Zhou, broke through the Yin God's shackles in the face of adversity!
"Boom."

The martial arts divine embryo undergoes a transformation amidst the raging flames.

The white-clad martial artist was completely unaware, only knowing to throw punches, and then more punches, until he was enveloped by the overwhelming sword intent—

At this moment, Zhou was completely absorbed in a state of selflessness, his mind and body in perfect harmony!
The skin of the divine embryo's avatar cracked, first with dazzling cracks appearing, and then the cracks broke apart, as if shedding its shell, revealing the gilded holy body.

The divine embryo transforms into the sacred body.

This is the characteristic of a martial artist advancing to the "Yang Shen" level!

this moment.

Countless drooping sword intents were shattered by the shock of the fist wind. The huge black sword that was pressing down inch by inch was also supported by Zhou Yi's shoulder. The white-robed martial artist felt the almost suffocating pressure suddenly relieved. He raised his hands, clasped them together heavily, and pressed them on both sides of the blade of the Annihilation Giant Sword.

Snapped!
A soft yet heavy sound of combined strikes echoed across the sky for miles around—

An extremely fine crack appeared on the surface of the Greatsword of Annihilation.

The crack then spread.

One begets two, two begets three—

After a brief pause, Zhou crossed his hands, and the giant sword that had fallen from the sky shattered, turning into countless black crystals that fell like hailstones.

The white-clad warrior then came to his senses.

He stood in the huge crater, silently sensing the surging blood and qi within his body. The crater beneath him had actually been blasted down by the sword qi, dropping a full hundred feet.

The sound of ice crystals falling with a crackling sound echoed all around.

This battle between the two.

The entire mountain range was shattered, and the area within a two-mile radius was completely leveled!
"OK OK……"

Ye Zu immediately appeared on his sword, standing between Xie Xuanyi and Zhou.

The old man in red robes smiled and said to Zhou, "I told you the battle in the Southern Frontier wasn't a bad thing. Although it damaged your life force a bit, it didn't hinder your advancement to Yang God... Congratulations! Ten years of hard work have finally paid off, and you've reached the pinnacle of enlightenment..."

"I... have advanced to the Yang God realm?"

Zhou was still somewhat dazed at this moment.

He made a fist.

The Martial Arts Divine Embryo has transformed into a Sacred Body.

At this moment, Zhou fully understood the meaning of "rebirth". He vaguely felt that even if he threw a punch casually, he could break through the void!

Ascending to the Yang God realm and traversing the void is already an easy matter.

With just a single step, he could traverse several miles, from the northern suburbs to the imperial city, in just a few dozen breaths.

If there is a teleportation array, he can open the portal, confirm his location, and travel thousands of miles to the battlefield!
Even if the void currents are extremely chaotic, they cannot damage this sacred body.

The Yangshen Realm, which millions yearn for.

Have I... finally arrived?

"call……"

Zhou Youyou exhaled a breath of stale air, looked up at the sky, and had a complicated expression.

just.

Why do I still feel Xie Xuanyi's sword intent is extremely oppressive even after I have advanced to the Yang God realm?

This guy is clearly only at the Yin Spirit Realm...

"This battle was truly spectacular."

Ye Zu then looked at Xie Xuanyi and said with emotion, "I have to say, you are even more capable than I imagined. You are indeed worthy of being Zhao Chunyang's chosen successor as the next sect leader."

"You flatter me, senior..."

Xie Xuanyi withdrew his sword intent and explained with some helplessness, "I am still far from being the leader of the Sword Palace."

He landed slowly.

Zhou's aura was completely different from before. The golden light of his Martial Saint Body was contained, and every move he made could break through the void.

Xie Xuanyi also felt the oppressive feeling...

If this battle continues...

The overwhelming momentum created by the Dao of Annihilation will likely be broken soon, and the difficulty of winning will suddenly increase dozens of times.

"Congratulations, Fellow Daoist Zhou."

Xie Xuanyi suppressed his smile and solemnly said, "...to advance to the Yang God realm and ascend to the mountain peak."

Zhou's expression was somewhat complicated upon hearing the congratulatory words.

How does he feel?

This battle seemed to be deliberately orchestrated by Xie Xuanyi, a carefully designed breakthrough strategy to feed himself punches.

"Did you hold back?"

Zhou carefully examined Xie Xuanyi, then lowered his voice and asked, "Why don't I see [Chronic Illness]?"

The previous battle.

He did indeed feel extremely intense pressure—

Martial Arts Divine Embryo, the Dao Intent of Annihilation, the Divine Power of Primordial Devouring.

I personally experienced all of these methods!
But he did not appear to be seriously ill!

"I wasn't holding back at all..."

Xie Xuanyi shrugged, naturally denying it: "The chronic illness hasn't even been unleashed yet, and Fellow Daoist Zhou has already advanced to Yang God. How can you blame me for that?"

In this battle, we naturally cannot use every means at our disposal.

This is about attacking Zhou, not attacking the White devils!
Now that he has the Fountain of Immortality by his side, if he is determined to fight to the death, he can withstand several rounds even if a Grand Master of the Eighth Heaven Dao Sect makes a move.

If we were to fight this battle head-on with Chongkan, exchanging injuries for injuries, and lives for lives...

There's no such thing as "no destruction, no construction."

Even with Zhou's physical body being strong and resilient after achieving the Great Perfection of the Yin God Realm Divine Embryo, it would be difficult for him to survive until the "Life Fire Reshaping" stage.

"You really didn't hold back?"

Zhou frowned and said coldly, "No, I don't believe it. Let's have another round! This one starts over, the last one doesn't count!"

"???"

Ye Zu was stunned: "Hey, hey, hey! How could this be!"

I went through all that trouble to come here just to break up the fight.

As a result, we have to fight another match!
How can this work!
"Fellow Daoist Zhou, isn't this a bit inappropriate..."

Xie Xuanyi remained calm and said leisurely, "I'm only at the Yin God Realm... Fellow Daoist, you've just advanced to the Yang God Realm, and you're already bullying the weak?"

He had already planned his escape.

Zhou is a complete martial arts fanatic. This fight is easy to start but hard to finish. This barrage of punches, once Zhou advances to the Yang Shen realm, will likely not stop easily.

However, their levels of understanding were vastly different, like an insurmountable chasm.

Given Zhou's personality, if he were to fight someone of a higher level, it would inevitably raise suspicions that he would be taking advantage of them.

"good."

Ye Zu's eyes lit up, and he secretly praised Xie's explanation.

The old man in the red robe stepped in at just the right moment to smooth things over: "Stop fighting. If you keep fighting, people will laugh at you. How can a yang deity attack a yin deity?"

"Bullying the weak..."

Zhou muttered something to himself, staring at Xie Xuanyi, and the more he looked, the more something seemed off.

For so many years.

There has never been a being in the world who transcended the Yin God realm by a whole major realm and fought against the Yang God.

But he felt that Xie Xuanyi was an exception.

Before advancing to the Yang God realm, he was already a top-tier Yin God at the peak of his cultivation, yet he was still being suppressed and beaten without any chance to catch his breath...

Xie Xuanyi likely possesses the strength to fight against a Yang God!

even.

Zhou had a vague premonition that with his newly advanced and not yet fully consolidated Holy Body, he might not be able to win if he continued to fight Xie Xuanyi!
"..."

Zhou rubbed his temples and sighed in distress.

"So, how should the result of this twelfth round of boxing be calculated?"

I waited for ten years.

I thought I could win this boxing match.

But I never expected it to turn out like this... It was forced to stop after only half of it was played.

"That's easy, it's neither a win for you nor a loss for me."

Xie Xuanyi smiled slightly and said, "Since we've already exchanged twelve blows, what harm is there in adding one more?"

"...Add another game?"

Zhou suddenly raised his head, his eyes becoming intense.

"It would be inappropriate to fight again now."

Xie Xuanyi said solemnly, "Brother Zhou, if you wish to fight again, then wait until I advance to the Yang God realm. However, I must remind you, Brother Zhou... if I advance one day, with your current cultivation level, you are probably not qualified to challenge me. In the next battle, for the sake of fairness, you and I must be at the same realm, and the difference cannot be too great."

Although the Yang God realm is the highest level, it is still divided into different grades!

Xuanzhi Zhenren had the Qingnang Mountain shielding him from the secrets of heaven. He suppressed his cultivation for sixty years. Once he entered the Yang Shen realm, he would become a Grand Zhenren of the Sixth Realm!
Xie Xuanyi's promotion was a natural progression, a natural outcome, and naturally he couldn't achieve anything as exaggerated as Xuanzhi's...

However, if one day one achieves mastery of both the Path of Life and Death, and thus advances to the Yang God realm, one will at least reach the fourth or fifth level of cultivation.

"Okay! Let's schedule it for the thirteenth game!"

Upon hearing this, Zhou showed no fear whatsoever; instead, golden light burst forth from his eyes.

Ten years of waiting have not been in vain.

He entered the Yang God realm before Xie Xuanyi...

But at this moment, Zhou vaguely felt even greater pressure.

If there really is a thirteenth round of boxing.

This battle is likely to be even more difficult than the previous twelve battles combined! Just how strong must Xie Xuanyi be, having advanced to the Yang God Realm?
Just imagining the scene of this battle in the future made Zhou's blood boil.

"That's very good, that's very good."

Ye Zu breathed a sigh of relief; the worst-case scenario had not occurred.

Zhou is fine in every way, except he's a bit stubborn, which is typical of most martial artists... If this guy insists on fighting Xie Xuanyi again, things could get complicated.

"Senior Ye."

Xie Xuanyi bowed and said with a smile, "Actually, I came here today to see if the dragon vein is alright."

Four dragon veins.

All of them were united at the Great Jade Palace.

Now that the dragon vein has separated again, it would be best to confirm the situation in the imperial city, the Taoist sect, and the martial vein.

"The martial fortune and the dragon vein are safe and sound."

Zhou suppressed his aura, looked at the stone tablet and the mountain gate not far away, and murmured, "I don't know why... after this martial fortune dragon vein was extracted, it was restored and became much stronger."

"The dragon vein has drawn upon the phoenix blood from the immortal tree."

Xie Xuanyi shifted his head to look, and slowly said, "Like the Great Sui Dragon Vein, great calamities are accompanied by great fortune."

To merge with the immortal tree... is both a disaster and a blessing for the dragon vein's fortune.

After Yuanhuang died and his Dao dissipated, the nutrients that the Immortal Tree had painstakingly accumulated over the years were instead divided and consumed by the Dragon Vein.

In a sense.

The Great Chu Dynasty has indeed ushered in a more prosperous era, although it cannot compare with that of a thousand years ago... but the fortune of this era has been greatly enhanced, and more geniuses and more Yang Gods will be born in the future.

……

……

"Brother, aren't we going to the capital?"

After a while.

Clouds swirled overhead.

Jiang Huang sat atop Xie Xuanyi's flying sword, swinging her bare feet, and tilted her head to look down at the magnificent landscape below.

The battle just now was incredibly fierce, but Jiang Huang wasn't worried much. For some reason, after hearing that telepathic message, she knew that her brother would definitely win.

"not going."

Xie Xuanyi said, "The capital is in a state of chaos right now; going there would only cause more trouble."

He really wanted to meet Jiang Qihu.

That stupid tiger...

I always thought I was dead.

Previously, when he was interacting with Xie Zhen, Chen Jingxuan had simply made up an excuse to deceive the guy.

This silly tiger trusts only two people the most.

One is Chen Jingxuan, and the other... is myself.

Logically speaking, he should be the hardest one to be fooled by a fake death.

But in the end, he was the easiest to fool.

If I were to meet Benhu, he would probably angrily rush up and punch me a few times, right?
Thinking of this scene.

Xie Xuanyi couldn't help but shake his head.

Unfortunately, Chen Jingxuan was busy dealing with the chaos, and taking Jiang Huang to the capital at this moment would probably delay the important matters of the library.

"Master Tang took me to a really delicious noodle shop earlier, and I was thinking of taking you there too."

Jiang Huang said with some regret, "The imperial city is truly the biggest and most beautiful place I've ever been to. There are so many people there, and they all speak so pleasantly..."

Xie Xuanyi chuckled, a complex look flashing deep in his eyes.

The little guy seems to really like the imperial city?

Ironically, it's true.

Jiang Huang, whose words now reveal a sense of novelty, was once trapped in the imperial city for more than a decade, thanks to her own actions.

At that time, the place Jiang Huang hated most was probably the Great Chu Imperial City.

"Brother, where do we go next?"

Jiang Huang placed her hands on the flying sword, craning her neck in anticipation.

"Go south first."

The flying sword traversed through the misty clouds.

Xie Xuanyi looked into the distance and said softly, "...Go to the Daoist sect."

"Taoist sect..."

Jiang Huang's eyes lit up immediately: "Go see Sister Bai Yi?"

……

……

(PS: It's my birthday today, so I finished writing this update early and am posting it now. There won't be any updates tonight, so please don't wait up!)

(End of this chapter)