Since, the other party had already called out his name, he must have enough certainty, Zhang Ruochen didn’t bother to continue to hide it and frankly said, “How did you recognise me?”
Xue Wuyi’s appearance, was very handsome, his skin was very fair, the facial features on his face were even more delicate looking than a woman’s, and his long, ebony black hair was neatly tied behind him, having an aura that was both sprightly and ethereal at the same time.
“Since you’re a Time and Space Successor, you must know about the Future Buddha, right?”Xue Wuyi said.
Zhang Ruochen’s heart stirred as he said, “Legend has it that the Sacred Monk Sumeru is the Future Buddha. Although, his old man has passed away for many years, he was able to control the power of time, thus in the future, he left behind many footsteps, so even after tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands of years, it is possible that you will encounter him.”
Suddenly, as if Zhang Ruochen had thought of something, his eyes condensed and he stared towards Xue Wuyi in a rather surprised manner, saying, “Could it be that you’ve met the Sacred Monk of Sumeru?”
Xue Wuye smiled and nodded gently, saying, “When I was twelve years old, I had seen the Holy Monk once and had followed him for a month to learn sword techniques.”
It was actually true that he had seen Saint Monk Sumeru.
“Shasta Without Trace.”
Without warning, the smile on Xue Wuyi’s face disappeared without a trace, and his eyes became quite sharp as the two fingers of his right hand pinched into a sword technique and struck out in a lightning fast manner, and almost in an instant, the fingertips had reached Zhang Ruochen’s brow.
Sword Qi, on the fingers, flowed rapidly, forming the silhouette of a white sword.
It was none other than the most basic sword of time, the Shakura Sword Technique.
Only, when Xue Wuyi’s finger sword was still three inches away from Zhang Ruochen’s brow, it immediately stopped, unable to advance a single point further.
Zhang Ruochen calmly sat in place, placing the wine cup on top of the jade case, raising one palm and slapping it into the void with a bang, sending Xue Wuyi back.
Xue Wuye looked at his palm and then at Zhang Ruochen, feeling quite surprised, saying, “Just now, what you performed was the ‘Space Freezing’ amongst the spatial powers?”
“That’s right.”
Zhang Ruochen said, “Your Sword of Time is not cultivated perfectly enough. Otherwise, even if I mobilised my spatial power, I might not have been able to block that sword of yours just now.”
Xue Wuyi appeared unconcerned and laughed, “It’s not like I’ve opened the Temporal Divine Martial Seal, let alone majoring in the Sword of Time, so the Shakura Sword Technique that I executed certainly wouldn’t be too perfect.”
“Back then, when the Sacred Monk imparted the Sword of Time to me, it was only so that I could learn some different knowledge of the Dao of the Sword from it, that’s all. If, just now, I had cast Sword Three, would you still be able to block it? The power of spatial freezing should be limited as well, right?”
“You have successfully cultivated Sword Three?”Zhang Ruochen raised his eyelids and stared at him.
Xue Wuyi was rather self-satisfied as he said, “Although it’s not yet a great circle, it has reached a certain realm.”
As expected, just like Zhang Ruochen, Xue Wuye had also hidden his strength.
Outsiders thought that he hadn’t even cultivated Sword Two to great perfection, who would have expected that he had already cultivated Sword Three to a certain realm?
From this, it could be seen that Xue Wuye’s natural talent was nothing compared to that year’s Sword Emperor.
If, indeed, Xue Wuyi had once learnt the sword under Saint Monk Sumeru, then everything would be explained.
This was because Xue Wuyi must have understood the power of time and space quite well, and from the beginning to the end, did not believe that the Time and Space Transmitter had died.
Therefore, he deliberately went after Huang Yichen, most likely because he wanted to force Zhang Ruochen out in this way. After all, Huang Yichen was Zhang Ruochen’s fiancée.
Anyone who made an enemy of him or deliberately approached Huang Yichen could be the Zhang Ruochen who was hiding his identity.
In recent times, Zhang Ruochen had acted too obviously, not only sheltering Huang Yichen everywhere, but also frequently appearing at the Xuan Gui Sword Saint’s residence, so how could he not be suspected?
Of course, the most important point lay in the fact that while Xue Wuyi knew that Zhang Ruochen didn’t die that easily, other people were convinced that Zhang Ruochen was dead.
It was this difference that made it possible for only Xue Wuye to guess Zhang Ruochen’s identity, while others could not.
Just like Kong Lan You back then, because, she firmly believed that the Zhang Ruochen from 800 years ago had died, so even if the current Zhang Ruochen revealed more flaws, she wouldn’t suspect him.
Another example was the Orange Moon Star Envoy because, she knew that Zhang Ruochen was not dead. Therefore, as long as Lin Yue revealed the slightest break, she would immediately be able to recognise him.
Could it be that the Orange Moon Star Envoy was smarter than Kong Lanyou?
Zhang Ruochen stared towards Xue Wuye and said, “I’m even more curious about how you were able to capture the time imprint and execute the Braking Sword Technique?”
Xue Wuye’s finger, gently touched his nose and laughed, “I’ve already told you, so many secrets, shouldn’t you also answer a question for me first?”
“You say.”Zhang Ruochen said.
Xue Wuyi asked, “Why did the Empress personally issue an imperial decree and send trillions of trillions to apprehend you?”
Zhang Ruochen appeared calm and said indifferently, “Hasn’t the court already announced that I committed an unforgivable sin by killing the Military Department’s Market Realm warriors at the Market Realm Battlefield.”
“Ai!”
Xue Wuyi sighed and said, “I will sincerely illuminate the moon, but how has the bright moon ever illuminated my heart. Between us, can’t there be a little more sincerity? Honestly speaking, with your realm at that time, you weren’t even an ant in the eyes of the Empress. For the little offence you committed, the Ministry of War could have dispatched a random person to capture you, why would the Empress personally order it?”
Zhang Ruochen said, “Then, what do you think should be the reason?”
Xue Wuyi’s finger, gently stroked his chin as he said, “After the news of the Time Transmitter ‘Zhang Ruochen’ reached Ten Thousand Fragrant City, I was quite suspicious. Thus, I specifically went through the dossiers to find the connection between the Time Transmitter and the Empress, and I actually did find out some things. These things, if they were in other powers, they would have definitely been destroyed by the court. However, Ten Thousand Fragrant City has preserved them.”
Zhang Ruochen’s face remained unchanged, still wearing a faint smile.
Xue Wuyi had been staring at Zhang Ruochen’s expression, eager to see some cracks in his body, saying, “I found out that the name ‘Zhang Ruochen’ is actually identical to the name of the Imperial Crown Prince of the Sacred Brightness Central Empire eight hundred years ago. What’s even more crucial is that the relationship between the Empress and the Imperial Crown Prince of Sacred Brightness back then was extraordinary.”
“Could it be a coincidence?”
“However, other than this connection, it’s hard for me to think of any other reason that could make the high and mighty Empress personally order the apprehension of a Heavenly Extreme Realm martial artist.”
Zhang Ruochen lifted the glazed wine glass to his lips and said, “Perhaps, the Empress thinks the same way as you do, and she feels that the name ‘Zhang Ruochen’ has violated her taboos, and that’s why she wants to put me to death.”
Xue Wuyi stared at Zhang Ruochen for a long time and did not find any cracks, her brows frowned slightly as she nodded and said, “If that’s the case, then the name ‘Zhang Ruochen’, the weight of the name in the Empress’s heart is really not light.”
Zhang Ruochen said, “It’s your turn to answer my question?”
“The fact that I can perform the Braking Sword Technique is, in fact, very simple.”
Xue Wuyi extended his right hand out, palm up, and placed it flat on top of the jade case.
With the rapid movement of the holy qi, a white branding immediately emerged from the palm of his hand.
“Time Brand.”Zhang Ruochen said.
Within the white branding, there were long thousands of time seals overlapping each other, releasing a faint power of time.
Afterwards, Xue Wuyi extended his left hand out again, and in the palm of his hand, there was actually a branding as well.
“Spatial branding.”Zhang Ruochen said.
Xue Wuye put his hands back and nodded, saying, “The time brand and space brand were given to me by the Holy Monk back then. He said that only with the aid of the power of time and the power of space can the Sword Dao be utilised to its fullest extent.”
“However, it requires a large amount of holy qi to activate the time brand and space brand. Therefore, I’m still more envious of you, being able to open the Time and Space Divine Martial Seal and freely control the power of space and time.”
Xue Wuyi obtaining the Time Brand and Space Brand was like refining two more drops of Divine Blood than others and condensing two special Divine Seals, which could be said to have endless benefits.
Zhang Ruochen nodded and said, “I see. Then, what exactly is your purpose in meeting with me this time?”
Xue Wuyi pointed at the wine on the table and said, “At the very beginning, did I not make it clear. Apart from drinking, there are other purposes?”
Zhang Ruochen stared at him for a moment, stood up, and said, “Farewell.”
“No farewell.”Xue Wuye said.
Zhang Ruochen walked straight down the carriage and suddenly, stopped and said, “Thanks for the wine.”
With that, he only left with quick steps.
In the carriage, a very charming woman, soft as water, walked over to Xue Wuye and poured a glass of wine for him, saying delicately, “Young City Master, is this person really the legendary Time and Space Transmitter Zhang Ruochen?”
Xue Wuye smiled and said, “Beauties, you all heard what Zhang Ruochen and I said just now very clearly. This matter, not only involves the Sumerian Sacred Monk, it also involves the Empress. Therefore, it is best for you all to pretend that you have heard nothing and know nothing, if some of the words accidentally spread out, this Young City Lord will not be able to protect your lives.”
In the carriage, all the Sword Servants, all of them, knelt on the ground in fear.
Among them, one of the Sword Servants asked, “So, is this person an enemy or a friend?”
Xue Wuyi took a deep breath, nodded, and said, “It’s a formidable opponent.”
A rival?
Whether it was a foe or a friend, Xue Wuyi didn’t give a clear answer.
