“Damn it!”
The Small Tower jolted in fright, leaping away. “Little Master, calm down! Calm down!”
Ye Xuan laughed heartily, and with a thought, the Qingxuan Sword returned to the Small Tower.
He sat cross-legged again, slowly closing his eyes.
Seeing that Ye Xuan had no intention of destroying the tower to solidify his resolve, the Small Tower breathed a sigh of relief. It had to admit, its Little Master had indeed changed.
On the mountain peak, Ye Xuan sat, letting the gentle breeze of heaven and earth brush past him.
Calmness!
Focus!
And now, he had added one more thing.
Insight into the heart!
What was insight into the heart?
It was facing one’s inner self directly. He had done this before, but not thoroughly. As Qin Guan had said, Qing’er had paved the way for him, and he had walked it too comfortably.
Was the great Dao paved by others?
Clearly not!
Avoiding one’s inner self was weakness—inner weakness.
The path required not only moving forward but also looking back, to always remember one’s original intent.
Qing’er had once said, “Keep your original intent unchanged, and you can be invincible.”
Original intent!
Ye Xuan opened his eyes, gazing at the horizon. What was his original intent? To be a flamboyant second-generation reliant? Whenever trouble arose, it was either his father or Qing’er stepping in!
Ye Xuan gave a self-mocking smile.
Suddenly, he found himself disliking his former self.
Standing up, he said softly, “From today, I will no longer use the Small Tower to cultivate, nor the Qingxuan Sword.”
With that, he sent the Qingxuan Sword into the Small Tower with a thought.
*Boom!*
A surge of sword intent erupted from Ye Xuan’s body, spreading like a tide across the sky.
His Dao heart was solidified!
Little Soul suddenly trembled. “Little Master, don’t you want me anymore?”
Ye Xuan smiled faintly. “No, I just want to try harder. I want one day for you to be proud of me, not me proud of you.”
Little Soul was silent for a long moment before saying, “I’ll wait for you!”
Ye Xuan laughed, opening his palm to reveal the Heaven-Burying Sword Case. He looked at it in silence.
It was a gift from Qin Guan!
It contained twelve supreme divine swords—not as powerful as the Qingxuan Sword, but numerous, with a sword formation. If he used them with the Qingxuan Sword, he was confident he could kill the Master of Law in short order.
After a long while, Ye Xuan put the sword case away.
The Small Tower asked, “Little Master, you’re not using it?”
Ye Xuan smiled faintly. “I’ll return it to Miss Qin Guan when I see her.”
The Small Tower was puzzled. “Why?”
Ye Xuan laughed. “I shouldn’t take others’ things without earning them. Back then, my skin was a bit too thick!”
Small Tower: “…”
After putting away the sword case, Ye Xuan entered the Small Tower and stood before An Lanxiu, who was in meditation.
He had given her both Heavenly Veins to study!
Looking at the two Heavenly Veins, he ultimately chose not to study them. For now, he only wanted to solidify his sword heart and Dao heart.
Just then, Ye Xuan’s brows furrowed. The next moment, he left the Small Tower. As he did, the distant sky’s space-time split open, and a mysterious black-robed figure stepped out slowly.
*Boom!*
In an instant, the entire heaven and earth turned ethereal!
Half-Step Contemplation Realm!
Ye Xuan stared at the black-robed figure. “Not the Master of Law, nor the Master of the Dao—you’re from the clan of that Heavenly Vein youth!”
A glint of surprise flashed in the black-robed figure’s eyes. He sized up Ye Xuan and said, “Divine Transformation!”
Ye Xuan nodded slightly, his thumb gently nudging his sword.
*Buzz!*
The sword shot into the sky, slashing toward the black-robed figure!
The figure’s eyes narrowed. He stepped forward, pointing a finger.
*Crack!*
The finger’s force shattered space-time for millions of li around, turning mountains to dust and splitting the earth!
*Boom!*
Ye Xuan’s sword shattered!
The black-robed figure looked at Ye Xuan. “Before we fight, shouldn’t we talk?”
Ye Xuan nodded slightly. “Sorry, I’ve been a bit full of myself lately—ready to fight at the slightest provocation. Since you want to talk, let’s talk!”
The black-robed figure said, “That Heavenly Vein belongs to my clan!”
Ye Xuan’s eyes narrowed. “The Dao Clan!”
The figure frowned. “Young man, sometimes being too clever isn’t a good thing.”
Ye Xuan thought for a moment, then said, “As far as I know, you’ve already wiped out the Divine Ruins Forbidden Land in the Eastern Region, but you haven’t come for me, and you’ve sealed off the news! Let me guess—you’re either facing some trouble or plotting something, right?”
The black-robed figure looked at Ye Xuan, silent.
Ye Xuan smiled. “I’m not interested in your Dao Clan’s feud with the Xuanguan Universe!”
The figure said, “You killed our people and took the Heavenly Vein!”
Ye Xuan countered, “He tried to kill me, so I killed him. What’s the problem?”
After a moment’s silence, the figure said, “I hear you have another Heavenly Vein!”
Ye Xuan nodded.
The figure’s right hand slowly clenched.
Ye Xuan’s lips curled. “Want to fight?”
The figure nodded. “No choice but to fight!”
As his voice fell, he stomped his right foot.
*Boom!*
Everything around shattered instantly!
A terrifying force swept down from the sky, tearing everything apart.
Below, Ye Xuan closed his eyes, his body turning ethereal.
*Slash!*
Suddenly, a sword bypassed the terrifying force, striking toward the black-robed figure.
Slash the Future!
While chatting, he had already struck.
Talk with you?
Sure, but I’ll strike first.
The sudden sword caught the black-robed figure off guard, but he reacted quickly, throwing a punch.
Head-on!
*Boom!*
The sword light shattered, and the figure retreated. Before he could stop, another sword struck—no, not one, but many, including both Slash the Future and Slash the Past!
Each sword more unpredictable than the last!
Seeing this, the black-robed figure’s face changed.
In the distance, the terrifying force he’d unleashed had been shattered by Ye Xuan.
In the field, sword lights kept appearing around the figure, each one eerily unpredictable, impossible to defend against.
He was forced into constant retreat, defending passively!
Ye Xuan’s swords came one after another, appearing without warning. The mix of Slash the Future and Slash the Past was mentally exhausting! He could only react once the swords appeared, requiring intense focus.
Suddenly, Ye Xuan vanished from the distance. The black-robed figure’s pupils shrank. He clapped his hands together. “Soul Out!”
*Boom!*
He abandoned his body, his soul drifting thousands of feet away as his body exploded.
*Boom!*
The sword light was repelled, and Ye Xuan returned to his original position, looking at the figure in surprise. He hadn’t expected him to abandon his body!
The figure’s right hand clenched, and the surrounding space-time turned ethereal.
The River of Time appeared!
With the River of Time manifest, Ye Xuan’s Slash the Past and Slash the Future, though still unpredictable, became traceable. After all, Ye Xuan was still within time!
The figure’s right hand clenched, and his body began reforming at a visible rate.
Ye Xuan frowned. It could be played like that?
Soon, the figure’s body was restored, though different from the original, as it was newly formed.
The figure looked at Ye Xuan. “Your sword…”
Before he could finish, Ye Xuan appeared before him, and a cascade of sword light slashed down like a waterfall.
*Slash!*
The surrounding space-time began to annihilate.
The figure’s eyes narrowed. He clenched his right hand, gathering countless forces in his palm, then punched upward.
Head-on!
*Boom!*
A burst of sword light erupted, and the figure plummeted from the sky. Ye Xuan didn’t stop, rushing downward with another slash.
*Slash!*
A sword light tore through the sky.
Below, a glint of ferocity flashed in the figure’s eyes. He clenched both hands, transforming into a beam of white light and shooting upward.
Head-on!
*Boom!*
A deafening explosion resounded in the sky, and the figure plummeted even faster, falling into an unknown temporal abyss.
As he stopped, dozens of sword lights struck like thunder!
The figure’s pupils shrank in shock. He hadn’t expected Ye Xuan’s swords to be so terrifying!
Facing these dozens of swords, his face paled. He knew he couldn’t block them!
Certain death!
At that critical moment, the space-time before him split, and a fist imprint shot out toward Ye Xuan.
Ye Xuan’s eyes narrowed. He gripped his sword with both hands and slashed.
Draw Sword, Decide Life and Death!
Instantly stacking tens of thousands of strikes!
He sensed danger!
*Boom!*
The tens of thousands of stacked sword lights shattered upon contact with the fist imprint, but the imprint didn’t break, charging toward Ye Xuan again!
Ye Xuan’s eyes narrowed. With a thought, countless flying swords struck out.
*Slash, slash, slash!*
The swords hit the fist imprint. By the time it reached Ye Xuan, it had been struck by tens of thousands of swords.
The imprint shattered, but Ye Xuan was thrown back nearly ten thousand feet!
Stopping, he looked into the distance. In the depths of the split space-time, he saw a young man in a dark robe, his right hand behind his back, his left holding a black stone of unknown origin.
Suddenly, dozens of swords appeared around the young man.
Slash the Future!
Slash the Past!
And across star domains!
In the starry depths, the young man remained calm. He opened his right hand and clenched it.
*Boom!*
The space-time region he occupied annihilated, along with Ye Xuan’s swords!
Destroying the River of Time!
He had obliterated the time river of that region!
Contemplation Realm!
Ye Xuan’s expression grew serious.
The young man stepped forward, throwing a punch.
*Crack!*
The punch shattered the space-time star domain Ye Xuan occupied, erasing even matter. Ye Xuan had no chance to dodge—he realized the moment the punch was thrown, it had already struck him!
*Boom!*
Ye Xuan’s body shattered, his soul retreating a hundred thousand feet!
Stopping, Ye Xuan’s eyes narrowed, looking at the young man with some excitement. “Ignoring all matter, striking the essence directly—so it can be done like this!”
As his voice fell, he closed his eyes, and his sword flew out.
In the distant starry depths, the young man flicked his sleeve.
*Boom!*
A burst of sword light annihilated on his sleeve!
Though it didn’t harm the young man, Ye Xuan was thrilled, having grasped a new understanding of time, space, and matter.
A breakthrough!
Ye Xuan was on the verge of another breakthrough!
The black-robed figure returned to the young man’s side, glancing at Ye Xuan. “Young Master, shall we kill him?”
The young man looked at Ye Xuan. “He can’t be killed—his destiny hasn’t ended!”
With that, he turned to leave.
The black-robed figure hesitated, then said, “Young Master, this man is exceptional. If we spare him, in the future, our Dao Clan…”
The young man, without looking back, said, “Fearing the strong is the act of the weak. The stronger he is, the more pleased I am.”
The black-robed figure thought for a moment, then smiled and shook his head. Why worry? Their Young Master was an unparalleled heaven-defying genius!
A heaven-defyer!
