IS Chapter 31
by VolareThe sound of swords from the main peak ceased.
The Red Dust Sword Immortal had a large sect to manage and, after sobering up, gracefully departed.
Su Yizhen’s swordsmanship progress had also slowed. He would have other insights in the future, but he had gained all he could from Green Mountains.
Tonight, there was a gentle breeze.
Amidst the shadowed Yulan Magnolia trees, glass lanterns illuminated the four corners of the small pavilion beside the Cold Pool.
Ye Zhuo sat in meditation in the center of the pavilion.
Continuous days of sword duels and discussions would naturally lead to insights, especially after seeing more of Li Yuan’s dragon swordsmanship.
He seemed only a hair’s breadth away from the Tribulation Transcendence realm, but he couldn’t quite grasp what that hair’s breadth actually was.
Reverse Scale Sword lay beside him, the moonlight, lantern light, and floral shadows gently swaying in the breeze, seeming to encircle him. In the night, the faint fragrance of Yulan Magnolia flowers rose from the water.
The red-robed figure was exceptionally still.
Su Yizhen walked along the path, and what he saw when he stood before the pavilion was precisely this scene. Between heaven and earth, there seemed to be a mystical aura flowing.
So he didn’t speak, but lowered his eyes and softened his breath.
Only his fingers unconsciously stroking the sword hilt revealed a hint of hesitation.
It wasn’t until Ye Zhuo finished his meditation and stood to face the Cold Pool that a faint voice carried over on the night breeze.
“What is it?”
“Second Palace Master Ye, I’ve come to say farewell,” Su Yizhen said. “This trip to Green Mountains has been the luckiest thing in my life. It’s all thanks to you, and I’m very aware of it.”
“Unnecessary,” Ye Zhuo said.
Su Yizhen took a few breaths.
In truth, even after spending so many days together, he was still somewhat reserved in front of Second Palace Master Ye, especially when Brother Li Yuan wasn’t around.
Ultimately, Ye Zhuo had only drawn his sword against him; he hadn’t actually said much.
Palace Master Wei Sheng had also told him not to take it to heart.
“Little Su, he’s like that, always responding to challenges. If others don’t fight him, he’ll go fight them. In the end, it’s because your swordsmanship is good and your temperament is excellent,” Palace Master Wei Sheng had said with a smile previously. “Otherwise, among all the sword cultivators that our Second Palace Master Ye has ‘instructed’, how many have been so grateful? Don’t take everything to heart, your Dao Heart can still advance further.”
But Su Yizhen still felt he had to come.
The Cold Pool’s water was constantly rippling, endlessly lapping against the shore, like a thousand thoughts churning in his heart.
“Second Palace Master Ye, I know that excessive words of gratitude are useless, but I will clearly remember your kindness in my heart. After descending the mountain, I will wholeheartedly comprehend the Dao and practice the sword. If I make any progress, I will definitely come back to disturb you.”
Hearing this, Ye Zhuo didn’t say “unnecessary” again.
Ye Zhuo: “Acceptable.”
Su Yizhen lowered his eyes, his fingers once again stroking the hilt of his Life-Bound Sword.
The main material of “Great Mystery” was the Great Yao Meteor Crystal given by the swordsmith. The sword itself was personally forged by him in the far north, with guidance from the Artifact Sect’s Supreme Elder, the previous sect master.
The sword body was clear, and the blade and edge were perfect. Unfortunately, perhaps due to his poor skill, or perhaps because on the day the sword was completed, the far north was suddenly hit by a violent storm and an avalanche that affected the flames in the furnace.
In the end, a silk-like hidden crack appeared on the sword hilt.
The Supreme Elder sighed at this slight imperfection, but Su Yizhen felt it was destined. This was his sword.
Whenever he thought about it, his fingers would unconsciously touch that spot.
After a long silence, Su Yizhen suddenly spoke.
“Second Palace Master Ye, I have something I want to say to you.”
Ye Zhuo’s voice was calm: “Speak.”
“I also have a confusion in my heart that I want to ask Second Palace Master Ye. But Second Palace Master Ye doesn’t have to answer. If you do answer, Yizhen will bury it in his heart and will never reveal it to anyone in this lifetime.”
Going around in circles, it was impossible to tell what he wanted to ask.
Ye Zhuo didn’t want to repeat the same words, so he said nothing and waited for him to speak.
The autumn moon was hidden behind heavy clouds, and there were no stars in the sky. The pavilion was silent.
Su Yizhen quietly looked at Ye Zhuo’s back.
The feeling of not wanting to meet him, which he had felt when he first saw Ye Zhuo, resurfaced in his mind.
“I am the son of a mortal merchant. When I was young, during a time of war, my parents died. My master happened to pass by and rescued me from the midst of the chaotic army, bringing me back to the Upper Purity Mountain Sword Sect. That was twenty years ago.”
“After becoming a disciple, half a sword meridian was planted in my heart.”
Su Yizhen’s voice gently resonated.
“Since then, when practicing the sword, the sword meridian has always revolved with my heart. Many insights have been derived from it.”
“When I was a boy, I couldn’t defeat the sword intent of the predecessors in the Sword Tomb and sometimes felt discouraged. The sword meridian would then transform and deduce thousands of sword forms in my heart, helping me to understand the true meaning.”
Su Yizhen took a deep breath.
“It is my half-teacher. Later I learned that the sword meridian has a name, called ‘Immeasurable Emptiness’.”
“It is…” Su Yizhen’s voice was much hoarser. He opened his mouth, seemingly exerting a great deal of strength, before finally uttering that name.
“It is from the former number one sword cultivator sect… the Illusion Sword Manor.”
Ye Zhuo’s voice faintly sounded: “So?”
Hearing his still calm voice, Su Yizhen was stunned.
“Second Palace Master Ye, I don’t recognize your swordsmanship at all, and I’ve never seen your sword intent either. This is your own sword, unrelated to anyone or anything, and there’s no trace of Immeasurable Emptiness on you.”
“But the sword meridian in my heart, when it sees you, it’s very happy. And when I bid you farewell…”
The wind blew again from the water, and Yulan Magnolia petals fell.
“My heart aches,” Su Yizhen said.
“That’s because your heart hasn’t yet merged with the sword meridian,” Ye Zhuo said. “If you want it, completely refine it. If you don’t want it, pull it out.”
“Then your heart will naturally no longer ache.”
Su Yizhen didn’t understand why his tone was so nonchalant.
“Second Palace Master Ye,” he finally mustered his courage.
“Who was Yun Xiangxi of the Illusion Sword Manor, the former Number One Sword Under Heaven, to you?”
“An unrelated person.”
Su Yizhen was silent for a long time.
“I understand,” he said.
“Little Su,” Ye Zhuo suddenly turned to look at him.
The light from the pavilion corner illuminated his exquisite and flawless profile. Su Yizhen saw that the calm expression was indeed like this person’s voice, never having a single ripple.
“There is no perfection in this world. Seeking perfection is seeking destruction,” Ye Zhuo said. “Your heart is like this, and so is your sword.”
Su Yizhen’s face changed several times, and finally, he performed the disciple’s bow towards Ye Zhuo.
“Yizhen has been taught.”
“Second Palace Master Ye, farewell. In the future, if I gain anything, I will definitely come to Green Mountains to ask you about the sword Dao again.”
“Go,” Ye Zhuo said.
After Su Yizhen left, the pavilion returned to silence.
Ye Zhuo took a few steps forward and looked at the surface of the Cold Pool from the edge of the pavilion.
That dragon wasn’t in the water listening to people speak today. How strange. Hadn’t he already claimed the Cold Pool as his own?
He suddenly felt that there might be someone behind him.
Turning around, he saw Li Yuan in magnificent black robes, casually leaning against a pavilion pillar, holding his sword.
“Little Su asked you about Yun Xiangxi, and you only said it was an unrelated person, so you actually know who it is,” Li Yuan said. “Otherwise, you would have said, ‘Never heard of him’.”
“What is it?” Ye Zhuo said. “Do you also have some hidden ailment and something you want to ask?”
“I won’t ask.” Li Yuan walked to his side and looked at the Cold Pool.
“If you don’t say it, it’s because you ultimately don’t want to,” Li Yuan said. “Naturally, I won’t ask.”
Ye Zhuo looked at him.
Observing his appearance and expression, he was calm and serene, quite human-like.
“So well-mannered,” Ye Zhuo said. “How did your dragon elders teach you?”
Li Yuan: “?”
He stared at Ye Zhuo: “The elders taught me that it would be best to grind your ancestors into ashes.”
Ye Zhuo listened and lowered his eyes to think for a moment.
And then, he suddenly smiled.
At that moment, the heavy clouds completely dispersed, and the moonlight shone brightly over the heavens and earth, the floral shadows on the glass lanterns swaying.
His sudden smile made Li Yuan slightly lose his composure.
He had said he wanted to grind his ancestors to ashes, why was this person smiling instead?
But Li Yuan could no longer think about this matter.
Admiring the moon before flowers, admiring flowers under the moon.
Admiring beautiful people under the lantern.
At that moment, he could only see the countless glass lanterns illuminating this person’s face like a dream.
A fleeting smile vanished in an instant. In the moonlight under the lanterns, it was still that person.
Li Yuan: “…You’re really inexplicable.”
Ye Zhuo: “In the Sword Casting Shed, you already saw Xiangxi’s sword?”
“I saw it.”
“Then what do you think, how does my sword compare to it?”
What was this, not only wanting to be the Number One Sword Under Heaven, but also wanting to be the Number One Sword Under Heaven of all time?
Li Yuan had to reiterate the old story: “Although it is a sword now, it is not yours.”
Ye Zhuo was too lazy to argue with him.
Blood had already claimed it, and besides, it was his.
Ye Zhuo: “Then what do you think of your Reverse Scale, how does it compare?”
Li Yuan thought for a moment, and finally said: “You also know, the dragon race is arrogant.”
“So?”
“So, I think Xiangxi is no better than No Self.”
Ye Zhuo lightly drew his sword, looking directly at Li Yuan: “Then why don’t you try it tonight, how about it?”
Looking at those beautiful eyes that contained cold intent and murderous aura, Li Yuan smiled: “Exactly. That’s what I intended.”
What was the point of practicing swordsmanship with a child? He and this person had a battle agreement that had not yet been fulfilled.
In fact, Li Yuan knew that Su Yizhen and the Red Dust Sword Immortal wanted to see them duel, but he and Ye Zhuo had tacitly avoided the matter.
After all, comparing swords with others was just a discussion, at most determining a winner. Comparing swords with Ye Zhuo was a matter of life and death.
How could they perform well with outsiders present?
Li Yuan: “Also, we agreed last time, I will use dragon clan methods, and you will use Buddhist heritage. Use whatever trump cards you have, don’t hold back.”
Ye Zhuo softly said: “Good.”
Crimson lotus flames instantly ignited around him.