Chapter 1358: Striking at the Heart

Chapter 1358: Chapter 1358: Striking at the Heart

"Although most of your injuries have subsided, there are still traces of Liu Family Sword Qi lingering inside you. It seems you firmly resisted quite a bit of his successive strength. In my eyes, this is merely a flashy but impractical technique. Only those like Liu Xuanji, with not particularly high talent and relying on repetitive tedious training to improve skills, would consider it their signature move." Jue Liunian openly spoke, without concealing the scorn and sarcasm in his tone.

"You!" Feeling slighted by the opponent, Liu Xuanji couldn’t help but feel angry, yet didn’t know how to retort, rendering him temporarily speechless.

"Am I wrong? Which layer have you trained the ’Welcoming Willow with Wind’ to now? Eleven? Twelve? Hmm! With your stubborn personality, it should be around fifteen or sixteen layers, right?" Jue Liunian continued with a sneer, "My mentor, your father, only trained to the eleventh layer back in the day, if memory serves me right. But have you surpassed him in realm, strength, and reputation, despite exceeding him in this technique? Haha. Do you think he couldn’t train it further? He simply didn’t wish to. Reaching a certain height with Liu Family’s successive strength is sufficient; if eleven layers can’t defeat the enemy, it shows they have a Cultivation Technique that specifically mitigates and transfers damage. Raising Sword Qi further may not yield better results. It’s better to explore other techniques to achieve victory. With so many Liu Family’s absolute techniques, expending excessive energy on this is foolishness, isn’t it?"

"Your Liu Family’s ancestors were prodigies, able to simultaneously master nineteen layers of this technique while integrating other techniques and Swordsmanship. But your talent pales in comparison, yet you stubbornly invest all your energy into this time-demanding and painstaking technique. This is why you’ve made little breakthrough for years in the Sword Dao realm. If you can’t see through this and only pursue your ancestor’s past glory blindly, can you still claim to be devoted to the Sword Dao? And you pressure your Liu Family descendants into diligent study too? Haha. Any promising swordsman in your hands would turn into a rigid and obsolete failure."

Jue Liunian’s words, with their utmost ridicule and condemnation, deeply stung Liu Xuanji’s heart, causing him to doubt his choices. Had he really chosen the wrong path? Was he impacting the Liu Family’s legacy? Indeed! The child Immortal Child has incredibly high talent; he is unwilling to spend much effort here, but rapidly advances in comprehending other Swordsmanship techniques. Has my stubbornness stifled his development?

Jue Liunian’s words felt like a greater blow to Liu Xuanji than the scandal of framing him for the Hongjun Sword Furnace due to his slip-up back in the day. After experiencing strong doubts about his pursuits and decisions, Liu Xuanji seemed to age decades, along with his momentum, consuming Shan Cai Chen’s source energy, weakening considerably.

Feeling no threat from Jue Liunian anymore, Pei Yan shook his left arm, restoring his broken mechanical arm. Then, while gently touching his healed throat wound, he looked at Jue Liunian in confusion and asked, "Who exactly are you? Earlier, I thought you were Candle Dragon’s disguised form, yet judging by your familiarity with Hongjun Sword Furnace technique, it seemed not to be the case. Have you been possessed by Candle Dragon, overtaken in body and memory? It doesn’t seem right as well! With that guy’s status and power, if wanting to deal with me, he wouldn’t need such roundabout methods."

"Hahaha!" Upon being asked this question, Jue Liunian laughed heartily, looked at Pei Yan, and questioned back, "Pei Yan, do you think I’m a fool?"

"Absolutely!"

"Ugh...!"

Watching the opponent choked by his reply, Pei Yan felt smug—ever since you appeared, you’ve been acting like all knowing fool. Thinking this, he chuckled, "Were you expecting to hear praise from an enemy’s mouth? For being a mastermind? For having remarkable strength? No way! You’ve not reached the level that commands my respect as an opponent. In this aspect, I find Elder Liu superior."

"Hehehe! You really are an intriguing person. Pei Yan, I eagerly look forward to the day we meet again to decide the victor."

"Hey! You haven’t told me the reason!" Pei Yan shouted after him, watching as Jue Liunian’s figure gradually faded away while coldly laughing.

"You already said we’re enemies; what obligation do I have to answer your question?" A mystical voice from Jue Liunian drifted through the skies, and after perceiving his aura completely vanish, Pei Yan sighed deeply in disappointment, "Well, I didn’t flatter him as he wished, thus spurred him away."

He then turned his head to the side, where Shan Cai Chen and Mo Baiqi’s confrontation was nearing its conclusion. Shan Cai Chen, heavily injured, was forcefully suppressing two Heavenly Dao top experts, undoubtedly accelerating the already imminent depletion of his lifespan. Within just several minutes of conversation, his shriveled body showed fine cracks, his gaze gradually dispersing, and the released source energy fluctuating, seemingly ready to extinguish like an ebbing candle at any moment. No longer could he muster strength for a final desperate technique.

Bang!

A gunshot fired a bullet with purifying source energy from Pei Yan’s gun chamber, piercing through the nearly collapsing matching heaven and earth cage, into Shan Cai Chen’s body. As the bullet passed through, Shan Cai Chen shattered silently, the backlash from unsuccessful technique dispersing him into the purest source energy, replenishing the heavens and earth.

"Pei Yan, it seems I owe you another favor." Yet to recover from his despair, Liu Xuanji smiled despondently.

"Ah! Pay it back slowly when you have the chance!" Pei Yan was candid; with someone like Liu Xuanji, being too polite would seem like condescension. Such affairs, clear-cut and straightforward, leave both sides feeling relaxed. After these words, Pei Yan moved deeper into the battlefield, stopped after a few steps, hesitated, then spoke again, "That Jue Liunian merely talks with no sacrifice. I find your Cultivation Technique excellent. I have a somewhat immature idea now, unverified yet. When able, I plan to confirm it against a worthy opponent to verify if mastering this technique truly is as inadequate as he claimed."

Watching Pei Yan’s figure gradually disappear after speaking, Mo Baiqi shook his head, chuckled, and patted his junior’s shoulder, "Though his words may sound harsh, he’s a blunt person with deep sincerity. Xuanji! Losing to Jue Liunian isn’t shameful; we weren’t his match back then either! But you shouldn’t be relying on a junior to resolve your inner turmoil, should you?"

"Blunt? Then no one is truly cunning in this world." Liu Xuanji said while straightening his back and sighed, "Senior brother! Rest assured, I’ll continue down the path I’ve chosen, regardless of right or wrong, not wavering from Jue Liunian’s words. I just wonder if my inflexible ideas in mentoring young ones truly are correct; perhaps he’s indeed right."