Chapter 1357: Jue Liunian’s Killer Move

Chapter 1357: Chapter 1357: Jue Liunian’s Killer Move

"So you wouldn’t hesitate to betray and kill your former brethren and dear brother?" Listening to Jue Liunian speak eloquently, Pei Yan couldn’t shake the eerie and discordant atmosphere. Feeling uneasy, he couldn’t help but mock.

"To gain power, one always has to pay the price, and what they asked me to do was within my acceptable range. Moreover, I’ve never directly acted against the Hongjun Sword Furnace. Whether they can extricate themselves from this string of events depends on their own strength and luck." Jue Liunian expressed this with a normal expression, finding nothing wrong with what he did.

"But you leaked the sect’s secret teachings to outsiders!" Mo Baiqi asked, heartbroken.

"So what? Not only is it my freedom to teach or not teach them, but even if I did, I’ve restricted them with prohibitions. They’re forbidden to pass on the teachings without my permission, and after today, you won’t have to worry about this anymore, as the disciples I’ve trained will all die here." Finished speaking, the White Deer Institute turned sideways to point at the battlefield.

Pei Yan looked in the direction he pointed. By now, the battlefield was in chaos. Elders from various sects had joined the melee with the remaining masters of the White Deer Institute. Among them were many figures using the Hongjun Sword Furnace’s swordsmanship, presumably the disciples Jue Liunian had trained over the years.

"This is my account to you. Shan Cai Chen, don’t say I didn’t consider past bonds with you. These people have also bought time for your disciples to escape. How many can escape depends on their fate." Jue Liunian first looked at Mo Baiqi, then teasingly turned to Shan Cai Chen.

"Hmm, not bad. Though your actions are cold and inhumane, it seems I have no moral high ground to criticize. If there hadn’t been a grudge between us, perhaps we could have sat and talked it out. But alas, there’s no chance. My colleagues and attendants died by your hand, and now I demand an explanation from you." Pei Yan, uninterested in pursuing the grievances between Jue Liunian and these two groups, had only been delaying as much as possible for Liu Xuanji. He was confident in his battle with Jue Liunian, but if the other decided to flee, capturing him alone would be difficult. However, with Mo Baiqi and company, the chances of succeeding would greatly increase.

"An explanation? Pei Yan, do you intend to kill me? Do you think you can kill me here?" Pei Yan’s unabashed killing intent didn’t surprise Jue Liunian as he laughed and retorted.

"Then what do you want me to do? Stand here and listen to you narrate your betrayal of the sect, and then watch you blame everyone before leaving gracefully? Jue Liunian, why are you here? If you want to fight, then begin! If you plan to escape... you!" Halfway through his sentence, Pei Yan vaguely sensed the source of the discord. He suddenly looked up, focusing his Yuan Qi to carefully probe the figure in front of him. Moments later, he relaxed entirely, then raised his head and coldly said, "No wonder you rejected Shan Cai Chen’s and my duel so outrightly—this isn’t your real body! Haha! You are so cautious, letting your disciples die while you face us with a clone instead."

"Can I take that as a compliment? You must know that caution is one of the essential qualities for a cultivator. It’s just dealing with two people trapped by the Worldly Oneness; there’s no need for me to risk my real body. A clone is enough!"

Knowing the opponent was a clone made Pei Yan lose interest, waving dismissively with disdain, "Since you know you can’t achieve your goals, I’m not bothered to fight a clone. Get lost!"

"But what if I refuse to leave?" Contrary to Pei Yan’s expectations, Jue Liunian showed no intention of leaving, and with his hand lightly on the hilt of his sword at his side, he issued a challenge.

Pei Yan frowned slightly upon hearing this, "Do you really want to fight me?"

"I do want to try!"

Bam!

Before Jue Liunian could finish speaking, Pei Yan raised his arm and aimed a shot at his head. Having decided to take action, there was no need for more words. As a clone, Jue Liunian made no efforts to dodge, charging straight at Pei Yan. The bullet infused with purifying Yuan Qi easily pierced Jue Liunian’s defense, passing through his skull. The bullet, not drawing a drop of blood, left an opening that made it impossible to maintain its form, causing Jue Liunian’s head to revert to raw energy and disperse backwards with the impact.

However, the attack didn’t affect Jue Liunian’s forward charge. Unable to maintain humanoid form, he seemed liberated, transitioning from a three-dimensional human shape into an incredibly sharp Sword Qi, charging at Pei Yan with a fearless momentum.

Facing the attack of Jue Liunian transforming into a sword, Pei Yan didn’t underestimate this, exchanging his gun for a knife, condensing Yuan Qi at the blade to counter the incoming Sword Qi.

After delivering a strike akin to a Mount Tai avalanche, Pei Yan was shocked to discover that Jue Liunian’s Sword Qi vanished without a trace the instant before colliding with his blade, the previous intent to cleave Pei Yan in two seemingly nothing more than an illusion.

But Pei Yan knew it wasn’t an illusion, for an urgent sense of danger flooded his senses, prompting him to retreat and elevate his body’s defensive level to maximum. As he made these maneuvers, the vanished Sword Qi bypassed Pei Yan’s long knife and appeared before him.

The Sword Qi silently severed Pei Yan’s left arm into two. Observing the fine scar on his neck, along with a lingering sense of trepidation came an overwhelming wave of fury. Thankfully, by reacting promptly and releasing a substantial amount of Yuan Qi from his left hand at the critical moment as a mechanical arm, he forcibly diverted the Sword Qi from its original trajectory, else today he might have been overturned.

Candle Dragon! It’s the presence of the Candle Dragon!

At that instant, Pei Yan distinctly sensed the presence of the Candle Dragon, as if this very sword was personally wielded by it, containing a unique might and destructiveness only the Master of Origin possessed, akin to slicing paper to sever his arm. Could it be that this wasn’t actually Jue Liunian’s clone but a clone of the Candle Dragon? But that doesn’t seem right! Why hadn’t he felt any indication before now? After all this, was there still such a gulf between them that even the hidden aura of the enemy’s clone was undetectable?

"Did you just duel with Liu Xuanji?" Once again, the air echoed with Jue Liunian’s voice, casting this final strike exhausting the essence held within his clone, leaving only a former shadow vibrating in the wind, soon to dissipate.

"How is that discernible?"