Chapter 364: The Light of a Firefly
Chapter 364: The Light of a Firefly
“He lost…” The leader of the Wheel of the Moon Sect, Chu Yukou, reacted as if he’d been struck by lightning. He felt a chill in his hands and feet.
In his heart, the grand high elder was an invincible existence. His attainments in the Dao of the Sword were so lofty that he could look down upon the masses
Add that to the fifty years he spent polishing his Dao of the Sword, and he ought to have stunned and dazzled the world upon emerging from seclusion. He ought to have been invincible.
This was Mount Rama! Their home turf! Yet now, there was a sharp edge positioned directly against Qiu Hengkong’s throat!
Who could have anticipated this? From beginning to end, Su Yi had only swung his sword nine times!
“How is this possible!?” The entire Wheel of the Moon Sect, regardless of rank and status, felt dazed and bewildered.
When Su Yi announced that he’d leave the Wheel of the Moon Sect a path to life so long as Qiu Hengkong didn’t lose within ten attacks, it infuriated them, but it also seemed ridiculous.
Yet Qiu Hengkong really didn’t make it to the tenth strike…
How could they possibly accept this?
“The young lord won!” Cha Jin’s beautiful eyes sparkled with excitement. She felt as if a massive boulder had lifted from her shoulders, and she completely relaxed. 𝙗𝙚𝙙𝙣𝒐𝙫𝙚𝙡.𝙤𝙧𝒈
That duel had been matchless and unprecedented, a clash between two Daos of the Sword, each sufficient to dazzle the entire world. One astounding after another played out right in front of them.
Even now that she was certain of Su Yi’s victory, Cha Jin couldn’t help but feel as if she were dreaming, and her heart still shook.
Dusk faded, and the darkness of night was soon upon them.
Up in the sky.
Su Yi gazed at the distant Qiu Hengkong and said, “Since I began my cultivation, you are the first opponent I’ve found worthy of the title ‘sword cultivator.’ It would be a waste to just kill you.”
As soon as he said this—
Crunch!
The sword qi hovering before Qiu Hengkong’s throat crumbled and disappeared into nothingness.
However, Qiu Hengkong was stunned, and his eyes widened in confusion.?So simple? He’d spare me for a reason like that?
“Fellow Daoist, your broadmindedness has left me sighing with admiration.” Qiu Hengkong took a deep breath, then nodded his respect. “However, I am still a member of the Wheel of the Moon Sect, and it is my duty to fight to the death to defend it!”
Every word was solemn, heavy, and forceful.
This was courage with no fear of death!
“Martial Uncle…” Chu Yukou was visibly moved, and his face filled with grief and guilt. “I am inept. I implicated you, as well as the rest of the sect.”
All levels of the Wheel of the Moon Sect felt their hearts churn with emotions, and their spirits sank.
Many of them were frantic and uncertain.
Who could possibly fail to realize that, even if Qiu Hengkong fought with no regard for his life, he still wouldn’t be any match for Su Yi?
Given the circumstances, should anything trigger Su Yi’s bloodlust, they feared he’d wipe their Wheel of the Moon Sect off the map!
“Hmph!” Su Yi’s eyes flashed like lightning, and he looked at Chu Yukou. “You’re the leader of the Wheel of the Moon Sect, aren’t you? If you wanted revenge, you could have just declared war on me directly. Why resort to underhanded methods like targeting those around me? Shameless!”
Chu Yukou’s expression shifted erratically, but before he could respond, Su Yi said calmly, “So long as you step forth and take a swing of my sword, I won’t pursue this matter with the rest of the Wheel of the Moon Sect. Do you dare?”
Qiu Hengkong’s pupils constricted. He’d only just clashed with Su Yi, and he naturally knew better than anyone how terrifyingly strong Su Yi was.
He feared Chu Yukou couldn’t block even a single attack!
“Sect Leader…” Qiu Hengkong was just about to say something when Chu Yukou shook his head.
His face filled with determination. “Martial Uncle, leave this to me.”
Chu Yukou then strode into the air and faced Su Yi. “I am the leader of the Wheel of the Moon Sect, Chu Yukou. Fellow Daoist, please, instruct me!”
His voice spread throughout heaven and earth.
He planned to take the full brunt of Su Yi’s revenge himself.
Su Yi wasted no words. He turned his wrist, raised his blade, and slashed through the air.
It looked simple and effortless.
However, a hundred-foot streak of sword qi appeared in the sky, forceful as a dragon emerging from the abyss. Its sword intent bore down on the surrounding mountains and rivers, leaving the air trembling and wailing. This strike became the most dazzling source of light against the darkness of the night sky.
Qiu Hengkong was already ready and waiting. He planned to help Chu Yukou block this attack.
However, when Su Yi struck, Qiu Hengkong felt an irrepressible terror grow within his heart. His hair stood on end, and even his soul felt suppressed on all sides.
In the face of that slash, someone like him was as insignificant as a worm. He felt only helplessness and despair.
Nonetheless, Qiu Hengkong took action.
Boom!
When the slash descended, Qiu Hengkong tried to block it, only to be sent flying. His defense instantly crumbled; he was like an ant trying to shake a tree.
The sword’s power didn’t decrease in the slightest. It continued toward Chu Yukou, whose courage left him. He just stood there; the terrifying sword force left him too scared to move. He showed no signs of fighting back.
However, when the slash was just three inches from Chu Yukou’s head, it came to an abrupt halt.
Chu Yukou was covered in cold sweat. He reacted as if awakening from a dream, asking in a daze, “I… I’m not dead?”
It wasn’t just him; the entire Wheel of the Moon Sect had witnessed the power of Su Yi’s slash, and they felt as if their souls had left their bodies, and their clothes were completely drenched in cold sect.
It was just too terrifying!
Compared to the nine strikes he’d unleashed in his earlier battle with Qiu Hengkong, this final strike seemed inescapable and unblockable; just the sight of it made them crumble!
Even Qiu Hengkong had been sent flying on impact!
Bang!
The hundred-foot streak of sword qi suddenly burst with terrifying majesty, bearing down on Chu Yukou, who plummeted from the skies and slammed into the ground. His hair hung loose and disheveled, his clothes were in tatters, and throughout his body, bones and tendons snapped. His face contorted in agony.
The sword qi then disintegrated into nothingness.
Off in the distance, Qiu Hengkong bowed in gratitude. “Fellow Daoist, thank you for showing mercy.”
Su Yi said calmly, “I’d initially saved that attack for you. Earlier, if your terror had gotten the best of you and you hadn’t attempted to block it, Chu Yukou would already be dead.”
With that, he put the Abstruse God Sword away. “Today’s incident ends here.”
Qiu Hengkong trembled from head to toe. He instantly understood. Just now, Su Yi’s attack had been a test. He wanted to see whether or not Chu Yukou was brave enough to single-handedly bear the consequences of his actions, even at the cost of his own life. However, Su Yi was testing Qiu Hengkong too.
If fear had kept him from rushing to Chu Yukou’s aid, the consequences would have been just as Su Yi said: Chu Yukou would have died!
“I finally understand. Compared to you, my petty attainments in the Dao of the Sword are as insignificant as the light of a firefly before the moon.”
Qiu Hengkong sighed. How could he fail to realize that Su Yi had held back?
That last strike alone had been more than enough to defeat him!
“I established a faction called the Profound Amplification Sect in the Great Zhou. Should you encounter a bottleneck in your pursuit of the Dao of the Sword, you can consider joining us. I wouldn’t mind resolving your doubts and clearing your way ahead.”
“Cha Jin, let’s go.” With that, Su Yi turned and left.
He and Cha Jin gradually faded into the darkness. By the time night was fully upon them, they’d both vanished completely from view.
Su Yi finished his business before nightfall, just as he said he would.
Chu Yukou watched them leave. He suddenly felt bewildered, as if he couldn’t believe that Su Yi would let the Wheel of the Moon Sect go so easily.
Qiu Hengkong fell momentarily silent, but then, he suddenly seemed enlightened. He faced the direction Su Yi had disappeared into, then clashed his fist. “Fellow Daoist, thank you for helping me break through my bottleneck! I, Qiu Hengkong of the Great Wei, and deeply grateful!”
His voice quavered with undisguised gratitude and shock.
He didn’t realize it earlier, but after calming down and replying Su Yi’s earlier strike in his mind, he began pondering. The more he thought about it, the more profound it seemed, and he gleaned unprecedented enlightenment from it.
In the end, he felt his cultivation shake with anticipation, as if he’d broken an invisible barrier or opened long-closed curtains, letting in the light. He felt enlightened!
Only now did he understand that Su Yi’s attack wasn’t just a test; it was also a form of guidance!
It was only by facing Su Yi’s attack without giving into fear that he’d grasped its mysteries and received instruction and enlightenment!
“Martial Uncle, he… He even helped you break through a bottleneck in your Sword Dao?”
Chu Yukou was dumbstruck. Disbelief was written all over his face.
Qiu Hengkong’s heart stirred with emotion too. “Fellow Daoist Su might be young, but his magnanimity and bearing are extraordinary. They’re enough to make the likes of us sigh over our own inferiority!”
He thought to himself,?Perhaps I really will pay the Profound Amplification Sect a visit…
“But… But he’s still the one who murdered my master,” said Chu Yukou bitterly.
“Why was it that Yun Zhongqi went to the Great Zhou?” asked Qiu Hengkong.
Chu Yukou instantly fell silent.
When Yun Zhongqi led the Great Wei’s diplomatic mission to the Great Zhou, he did so because he’d set his sights on whatever “fortune” Su Yi was hiding.
However, he couldn’t say something like that openly, and he found it hard to answer.
“Earlier, had Su Yi wished to destroy our sect, he could have done so effortlessly. How can we possibly treat him as our enemy?” Qiu Hengkong asked no follow-up questions. Instead, he directly issued orders. “This matter ends here.”
Chu Yukou shook from head to toe. “Understood!”
Reality was cruel, but he had no choice but to accept it. Even if the Wheel of the Moon Sect wanted to oppose Su Yi, they weren’t qualified!
After witnessing that peerless battle, both Hong Yang and She Ziying were so scared that the blood drained from their faces, and they drooped like defrosting eggplants.
Even more lamentably, the person they’d once mocked and disdained couldn’t even be bothered to pursue their earlier slights. Cha Jin ignored them completely, as if they were nothing but ants.
The seventeenth day of the fifth lunar month.
Su Yi defeated the giant of the Dao of the Sword, Qiu Hengkong, before the Wheel of the Moon Sect’s Mount Rama. When news of this battle spread, it stunned the entire nation.
Celestial Palace City.
The news threw the entire Shen Family into uproar.
“That’s the top cultivation holy land in the Great Wei, yet Su Yi single-handedly defeated them? Doesn’t that mean that, throughout the Great Wei, no one is a match for him?”
Family Head Shen Zhangkong was beside himself. His heart churned with festering regret.
Had he known this would happen, he would never have concerned himself with the Wheel of the Moon Sect’s threats!
“Doesn’t this mean that Little Sister is going to soar to prominence?” Shen Yanxing was stunned.
“Dammit, how is this possible? How is this…?” Grand Elder Shen Shanzhong’s face was ashen; it seemed he still couldn’t accept this.
And here he’d thought the Wheel of the Moon Sect would surely kill Su Yi. Who would have thought that the Wheel of the Moon Sect would lose instead?
Whap!
Someone slapped Shen Shanzhong right across the face, leaving his cheeks red, swollen, and stinging.
He then saw Family Head Shen Zhangkong charging right toward him. The family head wrapped his hands around the grand elder’s neck and growled through clenched teeth, “You stupid old man! If you hadn’t suggested we turn Cha Jin in, how could this possibly have happened? You’re the one who hurt her! It was you!”
Shen Shanzhong exploded with anger too. Soon, he and the family head were wrestling. “How could I possibly have guessed Su Yi would be so strong?”
Before long, the conference hall was in chaos as a ludicrous scene unfolded.