Seeking Truth with a Sword-Chapter 474 - 425: Burning

Chapter 474: Chapter 425: Burning
Sui Yi struggled to regulate her breathing and said, "I only managed thanks to Zhanquan."
"No need to be so modest," Master Jianquan said, shaking his head. "In five years—no, in three—your name will be engraved on the Sword Pavilion."
On the perilous cliffs of the Sword Pavilion, filled with Haotian’s Gang Wind and unreachable by mortals, stood a Meteorite Stone. It was merged with the mountain, immensely sturdy, and only Candle Cloud Cultivators could leave their marks upon it. To ascend the Sword Pavilion and carve one’s name there was a unique honor and aspiration, exclusive to those of the Candle Cloud realm.
"However," Master Jianquan paused, "not now..."
The last word still drifting in the wind, Master Jianquan’s figure vanished.
A sudden, primal instinct jolted Sui Yi, and she thrust the Yinghuo Sword horizontally before her.
The old monk appeared in an instant. His right hand formed the Nianhua Buddha Seal, and his fingertips, crusted with filthy scabs, gently tapped the flat of the Yinghuo Sword.
CLANG!!!
Sui Yi felt a tremendous force transmit along the blade, sending her flying backward uncontrollably. She crashed heavily into the rubble of a courtyard wall, stirring up a cloud of dust.
Even the incredibly resilient Yinghuo Sword rippled like a wave under the impact, transferring the force and tearing the flesh between her thumb and forefinger.
Bone-piercing pain assaulted her again, but Sui Yi had no chance to pause. Her body transformed into a streak of Sword Light as she desperately flashed away. In the next instant, Master Jianquan’s Nianhua Buddha Seal smashed heavily into the stone bricks where she had just stood.
The Buddha Light flared, grinding the bricks to powder. The soil beneath, as if crushed by a giant beast’s paw, sank, leaving a deep depression.
Zen cultivation diverged slightly from the mainstream of the Academic Palace; it lacked the Sword and Talisman Dao Paths but incorporated Buddha’s Sound and Buddha Seals. Master Jianquan had been renowned for years. Having mastered various classics, he was no longer confined to specific moves; his every gesture carried immense power. Moreover, this was while he had to dedicate seventy percent of his mental focus and Spiritual Power to controlling the Shadow Demon, using it to chant Buddha’s sound and guide the eight hundred thousand common people of Xingzhou City.
In a true battle to the death, it was uncertain if even the four Masters of the Academic Palace or the three Cardinals of Taihao Mountain could defeat him in a one-on-one confrontation.
BANG!
The moment Sui Yi’s concentration wavered, Master Jianquan was upon her again. His emaciated fist struck the blade burning with Yinghuo Sword Energy, knocking it backward to chop into Sui Yi’s own shoulder.
CRASH!
Sui Yi’s back slammed into the prison’s main gate, which had been barely standing, sending it flying. Her momentum unabated, she was flung back for more than thirty yards down the city center’s main avenue. Her boots carved two long furrows in the ground, the sharp Yinghuo Sword deeply embedded in her left shoulder.
Blood gushed from the shoulder wound, streamed down the sword blade, and was instantly scorched by the intense Sword Qi, emitting a strange, burnt smell.
Master Jianquan, however, still stood in his original spot, maintaining the posture of forming a seal and delivering a punch. Only a faint white mark remained on his fist, which vanished completely with a casual wipe.
"Your Yinghuo Sword... it’s your own creation, isn’t it? Quite imaginative." Master Jianquan stood straight again and said calmly, "Burning yourself to gain power exceeding ordinary Cultivation Techniques—first your Spiritual Power, then your Spirit Veins, and finally your Qi Sea. Is it worth it to ’save’ these people, strangers to you?"
Burning the Spirit Veins, or rather, pushing their output efficiency beyond its limits, would lead to dangerous consequences. In mild cases, the Spirit Veins would be damaged, and one’s cultivation realm would fall. In severe cases, the Spirit Veins would collapse entirely, making any future progress impossible.
Burning the Qi Sea was even more severe. The Qi Sea is where body and mind converge; if it collapsed, the person would be utterly ruined—physically weak, unable to bear any burden, their spirit withered, their will crumbled. They would be more broken than a patient bedridden for years with a terminal illness.
The Yinghuo Sword, when pushed to its full power, was a technique teetering on the very edge of control.
Her secret exposed, Sui Yi’s expression became devoid of sorrow or joy. She forcefully pulled the longsword from her shoulder. Pressing her palm hard against the wound, she released an intense heat that cauterized it instantly, staunching the flow of blood.
"There’s no question of worth," Sui Yi said, flicking her longsword to shake off the dried blood. From the corner of her eye, she glimpsed the dazed, oblivious Xingzhou common people in the street behind her. Gazing at the men and women—old and young, some well-dressed, others in simple attire—she said solemnly, "In the eyes of Academic Palace Disciples, there is only doing, or not doing."
"Admirable, but foolish," Master Jianquan said calmly. "How many more Buddha Seals can you withstand? Once your Qi Sea burns out completely, a Cultivator’s mind and Divine Soul will collapse. You’ll become a drooling imbecile."
"I understand." Sui Yi fell silent for a moment, then suddenly a smile touched her lips. "So, I won’t run anymore."
Her jet-black hair, falling to her waist, began to curl and writhe as if charged with static electricity, crackling audibly.
"Hmm?" The old monk narrowed his eyes, his expression turning stern as he sensed something amiss.
Master Jianquan—or rather, the entity that had once been Master Jianquan—currently needed to dedicate most of his energy to controlling the Shadow Demon and ensuring the Buddha’s sound permeated the entire city. Against Sui Yi, he had only been using a fraction of his true power. But now, the gap in their cultivation realms was rapidly shrinking.
He couldn’t wait any longer.
Master Jianquan had originally intended to let Sui Yi exhaust her Spiritual Power until she either collapsed or died from depletion. This would spare him from having to divert more of his own Spiritual Power, which could interfere with his grand plan. After all, his true goal was to complete the Six Paths of Reincarnation, not simply to kill.
"After all these years, the Academic Palace’s Inspectors still have the same stubborn temperament."
Before his voice faded, the old monk instantly flashed before her and unleashed a Buddha Seal.
WHOOSH!
Sui Yi’s waist-length hair erupted in fierce flames, and her eyes blazed with an intense, fiery light. Her faltering Qi Sea thundered once more, pumping out a tremendous volume of Spiritual Energy.
Sui Yi desperately swung her sword. A cross-shaped beam of Sword Qi, though unleashed a moment later, shot out and struck Master Jianquan an instant before his Buddha Seal could fully materialize.
BOOM!
The deafening explosion snapped the hemp ropes suspending business banners across the street. Master Jianquan and Sui Yi were both sent flying. The former crashed through a wooden prison watchtower, while the latter flattened a dozen roadside stalls.
Dozens of the Xingzhou City common people closest to the blast were startled awake by the sound, their eyes regaining clarity.
"Wh-what’s happening?"
"Why are we here?"
"Master Jianquan?!"
The confused common people panicked. Especially after noticing the corpses of the garrison soldiers nearby, they surged backward, desperately trying to flee.
THUD!
Master Jianquan casually shattered a sturdy wooden beam that had fallen on him and strode out from the watchtower’s wreckage.
Sui Yi also climbed out from the collapsed stalls, her long hair burning with a cold, ethereal flame. Its original waist-length was now visibly shortening.
"Not enough Qi Sea to burn, so you’re wagering your very soul and lifespan?" Master Jianquan said calmly. "By doing this, you not only forfeit any hope of ever reaching the Candle Cloud Realm in this lifetime, but you also risk your soul scattering to the four winds, utterly destroyed."
Sui Yi grinned, her eyes shining with a terrifying light. "Your Excellency has already gambled your own life, your lifelong reputation, and the future of all your Zen disciples and their descendants. So what if I, your junior, act a little mad as well?"