Chapter 85 Partial Seal [Current Favorability: 100]...
The sword spirit of Kunlun?
Kunlun Sword?
Shen Cangyu's attacks became faster and faster, and Pei Wenjing defended against each move, his expression gradually becoming serious.
Although Shen Cangyu's Kunlun Sword had no sword spirit, the power of its moves surpassed that of any swordsman he had ever seen before. Her sword did not need the assistance of a sword spirit; relying solely on her own will, her mind followed the sword's movement, and with her pure sword intent, she could become the number one swordsman in the world.
Looking at Shen Cangyu's actions, Qiu Sheng suddenly understood why she had said that it was the Kunlun Sword that chose her, not the other way around. Wherever she was, the Kunlun Sword belonged to a certain Dao.
Why does Shen Cangyu necessarily want a famous sword? Even if it's not the Kunlun Sword, any sword in her hands can have the same effect. External objects make no difference to her.
“All things return to the heart…” Qiu Sheng murmured these words, gradually realizing that Shen Cangyu was different from them. They regarded their body and mind as tools, cultivating the tools, while Shen Cangyu cultivated the heart. They seemed to be from the same root and origin, but in reality, they were completely opposite.
As long as she feels that she can surpass everyone, she is mentally invincible.
Their swordsmanship was evenly matched. Shen Cangyu realized that she couldn't keep fighting Pei Wenjing like this, otherwise the battle would drag on endlessly without a clear winner.
She didn't want a draw; she had to fight to a draw before she would give up.
Shen Cangyu made a hand seal with one hand, and a candle dragon flew out, coiling around the sword and coating it with a layer of scorching gold-red. Her sword strikes were accompanied by flames, and when they clashed with Pei Wenjing's sword, they brought out bursts of scorching sword energy. Flames spread along the point of contact and climbed up Pei Wenjing's sleeve.
Seeing this, the Yin Fish emerged from Pei Wenjing's sleeve and extinguished the rising breath of the Candle Dragon. The Yin Fish circled around him, protecting him.
The yin-yang fish in front of him was much larger than when Shen Cangyu first met him, and its color was purer. Shen Cangyu knew that Pei Wenjing's Tai Chi skills had improved again, and could even be compared to his level in his previous life.
"Earth Dragon!" Shen Cangyu raised his hand, the earth shook, and the earth dragon rushed up towards Pei Wenjing.
Pei Wenjing made a hand seal with both hands, and Taiji gave rise to Yin and Yang, Yin and Yang gave rise to the Four Symbols, and the Four Symbols gave rise to the Eight Trigrams①.
“Gen represents a mountain.”
The two soils collided, and the resulting clumps of soil flew up in a spray.
The onlookers, seeing the clods of dirt flying everywhere, raised their hands to shield their heads, fearing they might get caught in the blast.
Even though the soil is soft, it doesn't hurt when it hits you.
Shen Cangyu's eyes changed, and he simultaneously launched the Fire Separation Talisman and Wind Control Talisman hidden in his palm.
The east wind at night releases a thousand trees of flowers, and blows down stars like rain.
The towering flames enveloped and refined the clod of earth, turning it into charred, glowing rocks that hurtled towards Pei Wenjing.
"The wind is Xun."
Pei Wenjing murmured to himself. The wind billowed his clothes, and several seeds in his sleeve were blown up by the wind, falling to the ground and instantly taking root. They grew upwards at a speed visible to the naked eye, as if pulled up by the wind, and suddenly grew into towering trees, with lush branches and green leaves that blocked all the falling scorched rocks.
The earth dragon, hidden underground, was also blocked by the gnarled roots of the giant tree and could not advance, so it guarded both above and below.
Yin-yang fish swam around him, their tails swaying, transforming the Xun (wind) trigram into the Dui (lake) trigram. The soil beneath his feet softened into mud, causing him to sink into it.
The earth dragon lifted Shen Cangyu up, and she stood on its back, staring at Pei Wenjing in front of her.
He used the character "兑" (Dui) to soften the soil, firstly to imitate the flowing sand river in her previous competition, and secondly to use "兑" to imply that he wanted to make peace. Pei Wenjing wanted to fight to a draw with her and end up shaking hands and making peace, but she refused.
She made a grasping motion in the air with her fingers, and several stones hidden in the ground rose up and rolled on the ground.
"Turning stone into gold!" Shen Cangyu manipulated multiple stones to explode simultaneously, releasing the spiritual energy hidden within them. When she released the earth dragon for the first time, the formation she had hidden underneath was triggered. Pei Wenjing felt the scenery around him shift, and he was no longer surrounded by the arena, but an endless wasteland.
maze.
Pei Wenjing was caught off guard by Shen Cangyu's hidden trick.
Shen Cangyu curled the corners of his mouth and secretly observed Pei Wenjing, who was trapped in the bewitching array, trying to find his weakness and defeat him.
"She actually hid a bewitching array underground? That's such a cunning move..."
Someone in the audience muttered upon seeing this.
Using large-scale formations like the Bewitching Array always requires a large amount of spiritual energy. Therefore, ordinary cultivators usually need a period of time to inject spiritual power when releasing the Bewitching Array, which also gives the opponent time to react.
Liang Duo, sitting in the audience, wasn't focused on the illusion array, but rather on the spiritual energy she had just unleashed: "If I wasn't mistaken, what she unleashed was an ordinary stone. Why could a stone unleash such powerful spiritual energy? Did she use an illusion?"
“That’s turning stone into gold, her unique mental technique,” a disciple sitting in front of them suddenly said. This disciple was a member of the Mental Techniques Hall and had naturally seen Shen Cangyu’s self-created mental technique. “This technique originated from Fang Bushou’s ‘Separation of Hardness and Whiteness,’ but Shen Cangyu modified it into this mental technique. This mental technique is somewhat complicated. In her words, it’s about seeing the inner potential of everything and then releasing that potential. In her eyes, probably every ordinary stone is no different from a spirit stone, which is why she can turn it into a spirit stone full of spiritual power in her hands.”
"It's just a maze, it can't stop me." Pei Wenjing looked up, the scenery around him was no different. In a maze, both the sun in the sky and the shadows on the ground could deceive you. But he took out a stone from his sleeve and threw it upwards, using it as a test. The direction the stone landed would allow him to see the location of the gate of life.
He ran towards the gate of life. The scenery around him remained unchanged, but he was certain of the result of his trial run. As long as he kept moving in the direction in front of him, he would eventually escape his predicament and be greeted by a broad road ahead.
As Pei Wenjing took his final step, the surrounding scene flickered, and the sounds of fighting from other arenas, mixed with the clamor of the crowd, flooded his ears again. When he saw the crowd again, he breathed a sigh of relief.
Thankfully, he came back.
Before he could catch his breath, Shen Cangyu unleashed a barrage of flying sand and stones at Pei Wenjing. Pei Wenjing used a technique that seemed to seal and block the attack, but the sand and stones did not land on him. Instead, they changed direction and flew towards the giant tree above his head.
The sand and gravel collided with the tree branches and leaves, making a chaotic and noisy sound. Pei Wenjing looked at Shen Cangyu's unexpected move, his eyelids twitched, and the next moment, he felt as if dense needles were pricking his nerves.
What kind of tactic is this?
Pei Wenjing frowned as he looked at Shen Cangyu, who then said, "Public opinion can melt metal."
This move is most effective against Pei Wenjing. After all, every time Pei Wenjing died in the past, it was always related to gossip. If he still cares about other people's opinions and can't shut his ears, he will die again sooner or later because of gossip.
Pei Wenjing tried to exhale to block his ears, but the rustling of leaves, which he heard, turned into clear words.
"Demonic cultivator, surrender now!"
“If it weren’t for you, the Kunlun Sword would have recognized its master long ago. Now that the Immortal Lord is not responding, you must be the one causing this.”
"We are so disappointed in you. We raised you from a young age, but we never thought we would raise such an ungrateful child."
"They say it's a fool's dream, so how much of what you say is believable?"
"Child, you are just a burden to me, you are not important to me."
"Pei Wenjing, we have no future."
"..."
Pei Wenjing froze in place as he tried to cover his ears, letting the sounds imprinted on his ears. The final bottleneck of Tai Chi Daoist technique loosened at this moment. Amidst the layers of voices, he saw the flames in his mind blaze, but gradually receded to the side. He saw his inner self open his eyes, and he heard the sound of chains breaking.
The scheming of public opinion struck Pei Wenjing, but to the audience, it was merely a gust of wind from Shen Cangyu, and Pei Wenjing stood there completely defenseless.
What happened?
"What kind of new mental technique is this? I've never seen it before. Is it a mental technique that can disrupt the opponent's mind?"
"What a bizarre mental manipulation."
In the past, their mental techniques were nothing more than those related to the Five Elements and physical objects. They rarely saw such mental techniques that could cause mental and spiritual trauma. Compared to other mental techniques, this one can truly be called a "mental" technique.
"The power of public opinion to melt metal" is a mental technique created by Shen Cangyu, which was comprehended through external alchemy. It uses sound to simulate human speech and transforms it into the power of gossip to inflict mental attacks on others.
As soon as Shen Cangyu unleashed this move, the murmurs of discussion from the spectators arrived as expected, and the furrowed brows of the elders on the platform were just as she had anticipated.
She knew her move was also insidious, clearly not something a righteous cultivator would use. Her move confirmed the "evil" label attached to the disciple from the Hall of Good and Evil.
She knows the legitimate moves, but she also enjoys exploring these strange and unconventional things that aren't accepted by people.
Perhaps it's because her destiny not only carries the Seven Killings star, but also the Owl God star.
She felt that if she could become a god one day, she would not be a comfortable and stable god, eating people's incense offerings and giving them blessings. Instead, she would repay kindness with kindness, and so on for thousands of years.
She is eccentric, intelligent, ruthless, self-centered, and obsessive; the God of War is a perfect description of her.
In the past, Shen Cangyu did not believe in fate. She believed that human will could overcome heaven and that heaven had no right to control her. She insisted on fighting against heaven, even to the point of bloodshed, and insisted on winning against heaven.
But as her knowledge grew, she suddenly felt that perhaps her disbelief in fate was part of her destiny.
Someone like her is indeed not suited to getting along with others, Shen Cangyu thought. Being a lone wolf was indeed the best ending for her, but she knew her fate, yet she refused to follow that path. If she couldn't defy fate, then she would be content.
She loved the feeling of being in control of her own destiny, regardless of whether others lived or died.
The rustling of the leaves grew louder and louder. Shen Cangyu looked at the bloodstains flowing from Pei Wenjing's ear and suddenly felt it was meaningless.
It's pointless to torment someone who can neither resist nor adapt.
Pei Wenjing refused to plug his ears, letting the accusations of others torment him.
Shen Cangyu couldn't understand him, but she knew that he and she were not on the same path. Only someone like him would appear in her life. She needed a comrade-in-arms whose values aligned with hers, not someone who was completely opposite to her.
They are like the moon and the sun, one appearing at night and the other in the daytime, one representing yin and the other yang, forever unable to reconcile.
It's over. Shen Cangyu thought to himself.
She raised her hand and clenched it tightly. Tree roots rose from the ground, wrapped around Pei Wenjing, and pressed him to the ground.
Ten breaths passed, and he still did not stand up.
Shen Cangyu walked towards him, her hem brushing against Pei Wenjing's hand braced on the ground. She said, "This is really boring." Beating Pei Wenjing wasn't difficult at all, much simpler than she had imagined. Pei Wenjing wasn't as strong as she had thought; in fact, he was quite fragile. It seemed that the Pei Wenjing she had seen in the past was nothing more than a fabrication she had created.
"What makes something interesting?" Pei Wenjing suddenly looked up at her, his clear black and white eyes filled with an undercurrent she couldn't understand.
Shen Cangyu frowned, but then heard him say in a voice that only the two of them could hear: "You're not happy when you lose, and you're not happy when you win. You wanted my life, and I gave it to you, but you're still not happy. What exactly do you want me to do, Shen Cangyu?"
Shen Cangyu stared at him with trembling eyes, only to see him suddenly curl the corners of his mouth up. At the same time, the system notification sound suddenly popped up.
[Incorrect data was detected for the character "Pei Wenjing". This has been corrected.]
Current favorability rating: 100
My computer's scheduled submissions just won't send, so I'm having to use my phone's background submission. I haven't figured out how to schedule submissions on my phone yet, and I've missed the 11 PM deadline—I'm so frustrated!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
