When swordsmanship reaches a certain level, it is no longer necessary to fight for a whole day and night to determine the winner. Often the outcome can be determined within a hundred moves.

After seventy moves, Qiu Che's blood was boiling, and his eyes were filled with fighting spirit: "Xi Mian, you've been lax over the years."

He has been comprehending his sword intent for ten years, so even if he doesn't use the Infinite Sword, it won't have much impact on him.

But Lian Shenwei is different.

He had been entangled in hatred for the past ten years and had seldom touched the sword. Even the circulation of internal energy in his meridians was very sluggish. Even though he had rehearsed it countless times in his mind, it was still just talk.

He admitted it quickly and said with a smile, "Yes."

Lian Shenwei has always had a cold body, especially when the weather gets colder, he always wears one more layer than others, and now he is sweating lightly.

It's hot and it hurts.

The pain was like his meridians were torn apart, and the poisonous smell surging in his blood seemed to be invading his internal organs. He could feel the burning sensation like maggots clinging to his bones.

However, he would gladly trade this pain for the happiest day in ten years, even if the poison penetrated his bones.

How many days like this will he have left in his short remaining life?

No more.

Especially after this time.

Lian Shenwei's Adam's apple moved and he made a very small swallowing movement. The sweet and fishy smell that permeated him made him want to cough.

After the two exchanged one move again, Lian Shenwei stroked the blade of the Cangshan Sword with his fingers and smiled at Qiu Che: "It will take too much time to continue fighting. Let's decide the outcome with one move."

The victory or defeat of a move between swordsmen often refers to the competition between sword intent and sword energy.

Ten years ago, Qiu Che had never defeated Lian Shenwei because he was always one step behind in understanding the sword intent.

"That's exactly what I meant."

Qiu Che said: "In the past ten years, in order to defeat you, I trapped myself on the snowy mountains for several years, survived many dangers, and honed my sword skills."

He slowly grasped the sword with both hands, "Xi Mian, do you still remember my former sword intention?"

“It’s much more mature than before.”

Lian Shenwei: "Of course I remember."

Qiu Che sighed: "In the past ten years, I have been moving forward, but you have stayed where you are."

"Are you so sure you will win?"

"You were at a disadvantage in the fight just now."

Lian Shen smiled without saying anything, "Come on then."

…

Tiannan and Mingzhu listened to their master and stayed far away.

"I didn't know that the master was even more powerful than us," Tiannan watched for a while, and was forced back by the strong wind. He rubbed his eyes, "You don't seem surprised?"

Ming Candle: "During the previous southern tour, the master used his inner strength. After returning, his health deteriorated."

"Is Mr. Feng really gone?"

Tiannan: "How could it be false? I saw it with my own eyes."

Mingzhu was silent for a moment and said, "As soon as the battle is over, we will rush over immediately. I am worried that the master will not be able to hold on."

"I'm watching you, don't worry—"

clang——!

After an extremely deafening collision sound, the surrounding bamboos suddenly became quiet, and then were directly broken by the internal force spreading in the air.

By the time the extremely powerful sword energy hit Mingzhu, it had become very weak. Tiannan was accidentally blown by the strong wind and felt as if his face was cut by a knife.

The body senses the danger and even subconsciously mobilizes internal strength to resist.

He took a breath and said, "Master and Mr. Qiu... I'm afraid they have reached that level..."

Tianshu realm.

The pinnacle of martial arts.

The "extreme" that so many extremely poor people cannot even reach in their entire lives.

When this powerful force passed, there was no other sound except the rustling of the bamboo forest that was surging like waves.

Ming Candle: “It seems to be over.”

Tiannan: "Then let's go take a look?"

Suddenly, the sound of horse hooves came from the front. Tiannan looked up alertly and saw a young man in a blue robe riding towards him with a gloomy face.

When the man in blue saw them, he patted his horse's back, flew into the air, and threw the whip in his hand to them, "Watch it! Don't go over and cause trouble!"

Tiannan hurriedly grabbed the horse and said in surprise: "Mr. Feng?!"

Qiu Che's fingers were shaken slightly, and after a long while, he said, "I lost."

A tiny gap had appeared at two-thirds of the length of the Infinite Sword.

He was silent for a few seconds: "Your sword intention..."

The swordsman knows people in the most direct way.

In the world, the person who is most familiar with Ximian's sword intent is him, besides Ximian himself. He felt his sword intent when he first went to Phoenix Terrace to challenge Ximian.

Unrestrained, wanton, and graceful like a gentleman.

But there is also a sense of distance.

In the many fights that followed, Ximian's sword intent gradually took shape, and his feelings became clearer.

But the sword power that Ximian used just now was not the one he was familiar with.

He couldn't describe the feeling specifically.

At the moment of the confrontation, he seemed to have returned to the time when he was in seclusion in the snowy mountains to comprehend the sword's meaning, and the feeling of despair he had every time he was on the verge of death.

His mouth and nose were submerged in the cold snow, and beneath him were skeletons pulling him down. He could not struggle or move, and his blood and bones were frozen inch by inch, and he gradually suffocated in the invisible darkness.

The bits of warmth mixed in with the sword's intent were like an illusion in the midst of extreme cold.

The moment he felt it, he was shocked.

It turns out that one person can possess two different sword intentions.

You know, the honing and formation of sword spirit often requires the swordsman to focus on it for more than ten years, or even several decades.

In other words, Ximian's second sword intent was something he rediscovered in the past ten years.

Lian Shenwei put away the sword: "Qiu Che, the sword's will is hidden in the heart. It does not require daily study to achieve breakthroughs."

Qiu Che looked at him for a long time with a complicated expression, then said slowly, "Back then, I asked the old Taoist who was better than me among my peers. He said it was you, the proud child of heaven, whose talent in swordsmanship is beyond reach."

"I don't believe in talent, I only believe in hard work."

If Ximian swung the sword ten times, he would swung it a hundred times; if Ximian swung it a hundred times, he would swung it a thousand times. Despite the difference in talent, he relied on his perseverance a thousand times greater to reach the level where he could be on par with Ximian.

But if he switched places with Ximian, he asked himself, he would not be able to possess two sword intentions.

Qiu Che: "But I still didn't beat you."

Lian Shenwei coughed and smiled: "I have tried my best."

Qiu Che: "Every time I fight you, I try my best."

"But this time," Qiu Che sighed, "I would rather you didn't have a second sword intent."

Drowning in the dead silence and coldness of the deep sea.

Was it born out of the hatred of Fudu Villa? It seems not entirely true. A sword spirit that was forged purely out of hatred would not go far, let alone reach such a state of great accomplishment.

With the sword's power, he could understand what kind of life Ximian had led in the past ten years.

The vision in front of him began to blur, and Lian Shenwei could hardly see Qiu Che's face clearly.

He breathed a sigh of relief, "...Brother Qiu, I accept defeat."

Qiu Che: “Yeah.”

After hearing Qiu Che's response, Lian Shenwei raised his lips, slowly closed his eyes, leaned back uncontrollably, a trickle of blood flowed from the corner of his mouth, and the Cangshan Sword in his palm slipped out of his hand.

“——”

Qiu Che's pupils shrank, his heart paused for half a second, and he subconsciously took a deep breath and reached forward.

There was a figure that was faster than him.

A needle flew out from Feng Ke's fingertips and pierced Lian Shenwei's neck. Then, with a cold face, he grabbed his shoulder with one hand, tapped the bamboo leaves with his toes, and flew onto the cliff.

Without even turning his head, he ordered, "Qiu Che, go pick up his sword."

Something was dripping from the sky.

Qiu Che stretched out his hand.

Blood splashed on the palm of my hand.

It is the blood of rest.

He forced himself to calm down, listened to Feng Ke's words, and flew down to pick up the sword.

***

"Water! Hot and cold water are ready!"

Tiannan and Ming Cang dealt with it once and quickly prepared the water. Feng Ke didn't care about anything else and threw Lian Shenwei into the water.

Then he roughly tore open the clothes on Lian Shenwei's back and stabbed him with needle after needle.

Unlike before, the acupuncture was performed very slowly this time, and with each injection, more sweat appeared on his forehead.

"It's your bad luck that this is the first time I use the needlework I created."

This was the first aid method he had developed in response to Lian Shenwei's situation, but since he had just developed it, he had originally planned to return to the Feng family and study it further with his father to see if it could be optimized.

Unfortunately... this acupuncture method is extremely exhausting for the person doing the acupuncture. Fortunately, although he put all his energy into medicine, he also did not lose his internal strength.

Lian Shenwei's heartbeat became weaker and weaker.

Tiannan and Mingzhang looked relatively calm, but it was the first time Qiu Che saw Feng Ke look so serious, and he was so nervous that he didn't dare to speak.

Feng Ke took Lian Shenwei's pulse, his fingers trembled slightly, and then ordered: "Hold his arm."

Tiannan and Qiu Che held Lian Shenwei's arms tightly.

Feng Ke once again planted the marrow-eating boa constrictor on Lian Shenwei.

The marrow-eating snake took root on Lian Shenwei's thin back and penetrated into his bone marrow.

He struggled only very weakly, and then there was no movement.

Feng Ke's blood suddenly turned cold.

This kind of situation will only occur when one's consciousness is extremely deep.

Lian Shenwei didn't want to wake up.

Feng Ke clenched his fists: "Qiu Che, what did he say to you before he fell into a coma?"

Qiu Che said in a dry voice: "I just promised him to go to the border."

Feng Ke: “Damn it!”

Tiannan panicked: "Mr. Feng, why didn't the master respond?"

Feng Ke pretended not to hear anything, his eyes turned red, and he grabbed Lian Shenwei's collar viciously, "You..."

"You think you're done, don't you?!"

"You still haven't paid me back for the herbs! If you don't want to be my slave for the rest of your life, wake up now, you bastard!"

"Your sister is not trying to scare you. If you get an acupuncture injection, you will see ghosts! If you dare to go that way, I will practice acupuncture on you like when we were kids! I will make you afraid for the rest of your life!"

"Qiu Che lied to you. He will never go to the border!"

"Ying Jingjue has not yet firmly established his throne, look back!"

"We are all here..."

***

A thick fog.

Lian Shenwei walked inside slowly.

He heard the sounds of playfulness deep in the mist.

The sounds were getting closer and closer to him, but what he saw was getting blurrier and blurrier. The thing he wanted to grab was also getting farther and farther away.

[Lian Shenwei, don't sleep.]

Who was calling him? The voice was familiar and urgent.

Lian Shenwei suspected that he had heard it wrong. He paused and continued to walk forward. There was something there that inexplicably attracted him.

Is this the underworld?

He couldn't see the road.

I heard a rumor before that if a relative goes ahead and is worried that their children won’t be able to find the way, they will leave a lamp where they passed.

Dad, did they leave the light on for him?

Lian Shenwei looked around but couldn't find it.

[… money for medicinal materials! ]

That annoying sound came again.

[…You’re not sitting still! Wake up!]

[He won't go to the border! I'm lying to you, how stupid!]

Lian Shenwei paused for a moment and frowned.

So noisy.

He raised his foot and was about to move forward, when he suddenly heard a trembling voice:

[I'll say it again.]

[If you dare to go that route, I will practice acupuncture on you like we did when we were kids! I will scare you for the rest of your life!]

[Look back.]

When he heard the word "injection", Lian Shenwei's body froze and he stopped completely.

The thick fog ahead suddenly dissipated.

He turned back slowly.

Then he turned around and took a step back.

Just one step, and the pain came suddenly.

***

Without warning, the young man in the bathtub began to struggle.

"pain……"

Feng Ke's eyes lit up, "Hold him down!"

He lifted his sleeves and wiped his face fiercely, "Even if you die, I will drag you back."

…

Lian Shenwei fainted for three days.

When he woke up, Feng Ke, Qiu Che, Tiannan and Ming Cang were all surrounding his bed.

They all looked very excited and were talking about something in a hurry.

Lian Shenwei was at a loss.

After a long moment, he tilted his ear.

Still no sound.

He can't hear.