Sharing Honor and Disgrace, Part Four (Newly Revised)
Wang Zimei clenched his fists and exhaled a puff of white steam. All the lightning in the cave instantly gathered in his palms. When his withered hands opened again, six small blue balls fell down, and his pale palms turned rosy from the heat of the balls.
The small ball wobbled and rolled towards Kim Ji-won and the other girl. Saying it rolled towards them might not be entirely accurate, because it didn't touch the ground; it was floating in the air.
Six small balls drifted about, not very fast, but definitely heading towards the two people. As time passed, the balls expanded, occasionally bursting with electricity. When they reached the size of a watermelon, the balls stopped changing and floated forward quietly.
It's obvious that these few small balls must contain enormous energy.
Kim Ji-won and Kim Yoo-jung exchanged a glance, initially keeping their distance, but then each created their own stream of quicksand and flames. They walked towards each other, the flames and quicksand overlapping, until they stood in each other's place.
After the flames subsided, a candy-like wall remained. Kim Ji-won and Kim Yoo-jung worked together to push the "wall" away.
The ball passed through the liquid-like wall without any hindrance, and the expected explosion did not occur. The orange liquid enveloped the ball, and it floated forward a little further. Finally, the color that had been covering the ball disappeared without anyone noticing.
The two advanced rapidly again, attacking Prince Mei from both sides.
Wang Zimei clasped her hands together, and the small ball swerved sharply, colliding with the two of them in front of each other.
But the balls could only ever get closer, never actually touching. A clanging sound echoed through the cave.
The longsword was already at his chest.
Wang Zimei's eyes widened, and a dazzling white light emanated from her sunken eye sockets.
Kim Yoo-jung was momentarily stunned by the sudden burst of bright light, but she did feel the longsword pierce Wang Zimei. When she opened her eyes again, she found herself amidst a vast expanse of yellow sand.
She looked at the longsword in her hand; its blade was already red-hot. The sword had absorbed all its heat, using it to melt the sand, then drawing heat away to cool it. This constant absorption and release had brought the longsword to the brink of cracking.
"If the battle continues, we'll have to use the swords stuck in the cave floor." Kim Yoo-jung looked around. However, the fierce sandstorm made it impossible for her to even see her own feet, let alone the longswords in the distance.
The sound of longswords clashing echoed from deep within the yellow sand.
"Why summon such a sandstorm that obscures our vision to decide the outcome?" Kim Yoo-jung felt uneasy. The two of them had clearly been close to defeating Wang Zimei just now. Something must have happened when she was distracted.
Kim Yoo-jung's longsword began to absorb the surrounding heat, while she closed her eyes, carefully sensing her surroundings and searching for the parts of the heat that had not been lost and were hidden in the yellow sand.
The longsword in his hand vibrated, and the cracks in the blade continued to increase and extend.
Kim Yoo-jung easily spotted two moving plumes of heat about fifteen steps to her left. The cooler plume moved quickly, circling around to get closer to the hotter one.
"Senior sister, be careful!" Kim Yoo-jung shouted anxiously, "be behind you."
A glint of light flashed in the yellow sand, and after a clash of longswords, the two plumes of heat separated again.
Kim Ji-won's voice came from the dim dust, warning, "Yu-jung, be careful, this is not my sword intent!"
A long sword pierced through Kim Yoo-jung's chest.
The longsword snapped in two with a loud crash, the powerful impact sending the broken blade flying to the side and embedding itself in the stone wall.
He glanced at the two broken blades on the wall, then at the longsword on the wooden shelf. Li Letian didn't know whether to be happy or sad. Tears streamed down his face as he knelt down in the firelight.
Li Letian kowtowed nine times to the sword furnace. After the last kowtow, he remained motionless in the same spot.
Blood and tears mingled together on the ground.
On the wooden frame, the cracks in the sword continued to widen. With a crisp sound, half of the sword fell to the ground with a clatter. Along with the fragments, a long stack of yellow paper covered in writing also fell to the ground.
At this moment, Li Letian was immersed in grief and longing, his senses almost gone, so he naturally didn't notice the rapid changes in things. What he didn't notice was also the precious cauldron left behind by Wang Boyu.
The Spirit Gathering Cauldron had already turned completely transparent in the shadows the day he received the iron hammer. A fragment of the longsword pierced the cauldron, and fine cracks were quietly spreading.
"Master, I did it." Li Letian cried, clutching the pink sword tassel he held tightly in his arms. He had made up his mind.
Kim Yoo-jung looked down at her chest in disbelief. She hadn't felt a fourth warm mass of air. The longsword had pierced her chest solidly.
She turned her head and saw a blood-red, faceless face. Kim Yoo-jung swung her sword, and the man leaped away, disappearing into the sand and dust.
Kim Yoo-jung's first thought was to warn Kim Ji-won to run away. This faceless person unsettled her; they might both die here.
"I'm probably doomed," Kim Yoo-jung thought. "I need to let my senior sister know there's a fourth person."
Kim Yoo-jung raised her longsword overhead, and it shattered with a crash. A heatwave, carrying immense energy, emanated from her and spread outwards.
The sandstorm dispersed the sand, and the enemy, who were about to launch a second attack, was also pushed aside.
Suddenly her vision cleared, and Kim Ji-won slashed at Wang Zi-mei's neck with her sword.
Wang Zimei jumped back, barely avoiding Kim Ji-won's attack, but her long beard was cleanly cut off.
Kim Ji-won then discovered the fourth person in the cave. Strictly speaking, it wasn't a person, but rather a humanoid monster without facial features.
Kim Yoo-jung's lips were deathly pale as she knelt on the ground, struggling to breathe.
"Yu-jung!" Kim Ji-won was frantic, but there was no way for her to escape. Wang Zi-mei, along with the blood-red monster, had her surrounded.
Kim Ji-won, wielding swords in both hands, was caught in a dilemma, attacked by the two. Wang Zi-mei and the monster stood one in front and one behind, the longsword relentlessly slashing new wounds into her body.
Watching her senior sister, whose sword wounds were constantly recurring, from afar, Kim Yoo-jung let out a sob. Her breathing became difficult, and her eyelids grew heavier and heavier.
A pair of men's feet came into Kim Yoo-jung's view. Along with them appeared a bundle of somewhat worn-out longswords haphazardly tied together with vines.
Tears streamed down Kim Yoo-jung's face as she frantically opened her mouth towards Kim Ji-won, but no sound came out.
"Are you still holding on?" the man asked.
“Ah, you’re speechless now,” the man continued. “Sorry, it took a little time to deal with ‘Black Wind’.”
The man's hand rested on Kim Yoo-jung's shoulder, and a warm current flowed into her body.
"Don't rush, practice the Mind-Clearing Sutra," the man said patiently.
The man crouched down, somewhat laboriously untied the vines, took out two swords from the bundle, and casually tossed them toward the three people in the center of the battle.
Kim Yoo-jung's eyes gradually regained their light, and her vision became clear again. The man was looking at her closely.
He was a young man with white hair and a youthful face, carrying three empty sword sheaths on his back.
"Are you awake now?" The boy smiled with concern.
Two clanging sounds of swords clashing echoed in the distance. Kim Yoo-jung's gaze passed over the boy's shoulder, seeing Wang Zimei and the monster being knocked back a few steps. Kim Ji-won also took advantage of this opening to create distance between herself and them.
Two old longswords spun back to the boy and plunged into the ground on either side of Kim Yoo-jung.
“Recite the Heart Sutra to support us,” the boy said spiritedly.
"Yu-jung, how are you?" Kim Ji-won had also arrived beside the two of them. Her eyes were bloodshot, and she asked in a tearful voice.
The boy stared at Kim Ji-won for a second, but quickly regained his composure and said, "Qingxin Jing is keeping her on her feet. How long she can hold on depends on her fate."
Kim Ji-won then looked at the young man. She hesitated for a moment before saying, "Thank you for your help, young hero."
The boy handed a sword to Kim Ji-won and asked, "How many swords have you reached in your cultivation of the Longevity Technique?"
Kim Ji-won shook her head, somewhat ashamed, and replied, "I only have two swords."
The boy reluctantly put down the sword he had been handed over.
"May I ask where you, young hero, have learned your master? What brings you to Peach Blossom Spring today?" Prince Mei, who had been watching from afar, spoke up. Most of his beard had been chopped off, and his clothes were riddled with cuts from longswords, making him look quite comical.
Kim Ji-won whispered to the young man, "This old man possesses three sword hearts: lightning, flying sand, and that strange blood man. Young hero, be careful."
"The Lingtao Sect, the Xuanyuan Sword Heart, and the Calamity Sword—to have mastered these three elements to such a degree is truly commendable," the young man said loudly to Prince Mei.
Wang Zimei's face immediately turned ashen, and he said solemnly, "May I ask your esteemed name?"
"Unfortunately, no matter how fantastical and unpredictable the sword intent may be, it is nothing more than a strange skill. The swordsman's ultimate goal is still the sword." The young man placed his hand above Kim Yoo-jung's forehead, his thumb tracing across the pad of his index finger, and a drop of bright red blood fell onto her brow.
The boy said in a loud voice, "Look carefully, this is the 'Five Directions to Purify the Heart Sutra' from the Hall of Longevity."
In an instant, Kim Yoo-jung felt as if a river had flowed into the sea, and endless energy enveloped and protected her.
At the summit of Leishan Mountain, three longswords embedded in the rocks rang out in unison, emitting a deep blue light.
These are hail, earthquake, and thunderstorm.
Inside the cave, the boy's body and Kim Yoo-jung's body both emitted a blue light.
All the sword intent in the cave vanished without a trace in an instant, not to mention the lightning in Wang Zimei's hand and the flying sand summoned by the 'Black Wind Sword'.
“Follow me,” the boy said to Kim Ji-won.
He carried six swords and walked steadily toward Prince Mei.
"The Hall of Longevity? The Five Directions Purification Technique?"
“That’s right, in our domain, all sword intent will be eliminated,” the boy said passionately. “Come on, let me see your sword.”
Wang Zimei gripped the Black Wind Sword tightly and said, "Even without its sword intent, the Black Wind is still a peerless sword, something your scrap metal can't contend with."
"I hope so." The boy tossed all the longswords into the air, grabbed one at random, and slashed at Prince Mei in a flash.
With each strike, the boy would release his grip on the sword, the blade spinning and flying into the air from the impact. Wherever his hand touched, another sword would inevitably follow.
The longsword never stayed in the boy's hands for more than three seconds, yet it seemed to be in his hands the whole time.
Wang Zimei and the crimson monster fought side by side, eight longswords clashing and sparks exploding in the air without ceasing. The boy was clearly attacking with both swords, but Wang Zimei felt as if she were facing six swordsmen. No, perhaps more.
Apart from the long ringing of swords and the dazzling sparks, everything else in the world seemed to have vanished. Prince Mei felt that time was stretched infinitely long, and he was not facing a swordsman wielding a sword.
He was confronting the "sword" itself.
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