Chapter 413 - 216: Affectation and Solitude

Chapter 413: Chapter 216: Affectation and Solitude

Sun Chen walked back to his seat and sat beside Yang Wenqing, feigning meditation. His breathing, however, was noticeably uneven.

Gu You turned his head. "Nephew Sun."

Sun Chen opened his eyes.

For once, Gu You wasn’t smiling playfully. "Do you know why you lost?" he asked.

Sun Chen was silent for a moment before answering, "My skills were lacking."

"Lacking skills, my ass," Gu You cut him off. "You’ve already mastered the basics of your Six Jia Qi Men. Across the entire younger generation, I can count on one hand the number of people in the Marrow Cleansing Realm who’ve cultivated that technique to your degree."

Sun Chen didn’t reply.

Gu You continued, "Don’t dwell on this match. Your Path doesn’t lie in this sort of fighting. It’s not the end of the world to lose one duel. You’re only in the Marrow Cleansing Realm—you’ve barely started. There’s nothing wrong with your Path. Losing to her now doesn’t mean you’ll still be losing to her in ten or twenty years."

"Your opponent today was Leng Zhi, but she isn’t who you’ll be facing in the long run."

Sun Chen lowered his gaze and cupped his hands toward Gu You. "Disciple understands."

His voice had returned to its usual calm.

Just then, Qin Huaiming’s clear voice rang out from the center of the arena. "For the sixth match: Lin Xiyun of Yunji versus Shi Zheng of the Beixuan Sect. Combatants, to the stage!"

Lin Xiyun stood and glanced over at Wu Qing, who had just finished her final round of healing.

In that moment, he suddenly understood why Wu Qing had fought so desperately. She wasn’t gambling on the outcome of the match; she was proving something to herself.

He felt the Myriad Phenomena Celestial Disc in his hand and looked up at the arena, where Shi Zheng was already standing ready.

Then, Lin Xiyun walked onto the arena, stopping ten zhang away from Shi Zheng.

"Senior Brother Shi, I await your instruction."

"Please!"

The word had barely left his lips when Shi Zheng moved. He stomped his left foot, launching himself forward like a black bolt of lightning. Simultaneously, the Five Yang Qi around him erupted, pouring entirely into his broad-bladed short knife. The blade hummed as a brilliant golden light flared from it—the purest edge of Geng Metal.

Lin Xiyun’s Myriad Phenomena Celestial Disc lit up instantly. A Windbreak Seal formed, attempting to use turbulent airflow to throw off Shi Zheng’s charge.

Shi Zheng didn’t dodge. He smashed straight into the turbulence. His blade swept out, cleaving the airflow apart, and the Windbreak Seal dissipated on the spot.

Lin Xiyun’s fingers flew, forming a second Dharma Seal: the Thick Earth Shield. A heavy, pale golden barrier rose before him, but just then, Shi Zheng’s blade struck.

CLANG—

The blade edge slammed into the Thick Earth Shield, creating an ear-piercing clash of metal. The shield shuddered violently, and several hairline cracks spiderwebbed across its surface, but it didn’t break.

Lin Xiyun had no time to feel relieved, because he saw Shi Zheng hadn’t paused for a second. One strike had failed to break the shield, but a second was already descending—another direct, frontal slash.

CLANG! The cracks on the Thick Earth Shield deepened.

The third strike.

CLANG!

The fourth strike.

BOOM~

The Thick Earth Shield shattered.

Lin Xiyun was forced back, his right hand tapping out a rapid succession of Dharma Seals on the Myriad Phenomena Celestial Disc.

This time, it was the Dharma Seal for ’Earth-Binding Vines’.

The stone slabs beneath Shi Zheng’s feet shattered. The newly sprouted vines of Spiritual Power were stomped to pieces before they even had a chance to entangle him.

Next was the Dharma Seal for ’Golden Needle Downpour’. Countless hair-thin golden motes clattered against the surging golden light around Shi Zheng, but not a single one pierced through.

Then came the Mist Barrier Dharma Seal. A faint mist began to spread, attempting to obscure Shi Zheng’s vision, but Shi Zheng paid it no mind. His charge never faltered, his blade aimed straight for Lin Xiyun.

Lin Xiyun finally realized this wasn’t the familiar dueling arena. It was a battlefield.

’Shi Zheng is charging into the fray, storming a fortress. He’s treating me like an enemy he must kill.’

’And I, Lin Xiyun, a Cultivator used to casting Dharma Seals from a safe distance, am being crushed inch by inch by a warrior who fights as if his life depends on it.’

’This can’t go on!’

Lin Xiyun gritted his teeth. The five-colored Crystal Stone at the center of his Myriad Phenomena Celestial Disc erupted with blinding brilliance. He poured his entire focus into the Dharma Seal for ’Golden Flow Fire Rain’. This was his signature killing technique, a combination move he’d been forced to abandon against Yang Wenqing that very morning.

’I have to finish it before Shi Zheng gets to me!’

Seeing Lin Xiyun forming the seal, Shi Zheng accelerated. His blade trailed a golden afterimage as he shot forward like a cannonball, crashing straight toward the still-forming Golden Flow Fire Rain. He intended to cleave the technique apart with his blade before it could fully manifest.

Lin Xiyun’s pupils contracted. The light from his Myriad Phenomena Celestial Disc spun wildly as he forcibly layered three defensive Dharma Seals in a single instant: a Windbreak Seal, a Thick Earth Shield, and a ’Condensing Water Ice Ring’.

BOOM~

The blade slammed into the triple-layered shield. The Thick Earth Shield shattered after holding for only a single breath’s time, but Lin Xiyun had bought himself that single breath. He retreated rapidly, pushing the Windward Skill under his feet to its limit and instantly putting three chi of distance between himself and the blade.

But before he could even let out a breath of relief, Shi Zheng’s figure vanished. It wasn’t stealth, nor was it an Illusion Technique—it was the Five Elements Escape Skill.

The hair on the back of Lin Xiyun’s neck stood up. He wasn’t unprepared for the possibility that Shi Zheng knew an Escape Technique. The Beixuan Sect fought year-round on the northern front lines, and Escape Techniques were a required part of their training. He just never expected Shi Zheng to use it at such close range. He didn’t even have time to guess Shi Zheng’s direction of attack before the blade was already behind him.

Lin Xiyun heard the shriek of tearing air behind him and felt a killing edge, sharp enough to slice through iron plate, closing in on his back.

He twisted aside as his Myriad Phenomena Celestial Disc struggled to light up with a final Windbreak Seal. But they were too close. The seal only diverted the blade by three cun. The blade grazed under his ribs, tearing through his robes and leaving a bloody gash.