Chapter 209

Chapter 209: Miasma Tempering the Soul

Lin Qing Ling’s thoughts knotted into a tangle. Reason told her to stop Li Shuang. Feeling told her that a disciple had her own road to walk. No one could choose for Li Shuang.

Li Shuang addressed the elders on the platform: “Sect Master, everyone, please let me try.”

High above, the gathered leaders fell silent.

Meng Yi Fei’s heart shook. What should he do? Forcefully stop her, or let her go? She was the Sword Sect’s future. Yet her resolve was like iron. From the start, she had never planned to retreat. Her sword heart strode only forward.

He gave a weak smile and said: “Li Shuang… make your own decision.”

He knew letting her go might ruin the Sword Sect’s future. But he remembered Jiang Rong Yi’s sword and the cheers of the Sword Sect disciples. They could lose a ring match, but they could not lose their blood and courage. If Li Shuang’s dantian was damaged, he would pay any price to buy her a future.

Li Shuang nodded and stepped onto the last platform.

Facing Ren Gu, she spoke calmly: “Fellow Daoist Ren, until a dantian is broken, no one leaves the ring. The wager stands.”

She looked to Yan Zhong He and asked: “Does the supply list still count?”

Yan Zhong He smiled: “Of course. Win or lose, the supplies will be delivered.”

Li Shuang glanced at Meng Yi Fei. He nodded and said: “I have recorded it with a Memory Stone. Sect Master Yan will not short us those goods.”

Only then did Li Shuang fully relax. She raised her sword and said to Ren Gu: “Fellow Daoist Ren, draw your blade.”

Her composure made Yan Zhong He’s heart skip, and he called out quickly: “Wait.”

Li Shuang frowned at him.

Yan Zhong He smiled and said: “Ren Gu just fought a fierce battle and spent some energy. Let him recover to his peak first.”

Meng Yi Fei could not help himself and asked dryly: “No matter how much he spent, can he fall to the Golden Core Stage?”

Yan Zhong He’s tone stayed mild: “Since this is a match, both sides should go all out. Ren Gu, meditate now and return to your peak. And listen: Li Shuang once suffered damage to her dantian and recovered. When you fight, be sure to destroy her dantian completely. Leave no chance for it to heal.”

He said it openly.

Sword Sect disciples shot him furious looks, but Yan Zhong He remained very calm. If these words spread, his reputation would suffer. So what? Li Shuang cultivated the Supreme Unfeeling Art, which was good at repairing damage. Rumor said her sword once betrayed her, her dantian was harmed, and later it recovered. That must have been partial damage, not total destruction. This time, he would not leave such a chance. [If she dares fight, she is counting on that art to fix what we break. Then we must break it beyond repair.]

He watched for panic on Li Shuang’s face. None came. She stayed as calm as a still lake. Disappointment flickered through him. [She is putting on a front. Soon she will not be able to smile.]

Ren Gu swallowed a pill and sat to recover, gathering his energy until it surged. His expression was hard. He had almost lost in his fight with Jiang Rong Yi. This time, he would not stumble again. Not only would he win, he would win cleanly and beyond doubt. He had seen how much his master cared about Li Shuang. He would do it for his master and cripple her completely. [No mistakes.]

Li Shuang watched him quietly. She did not need to recover. With the Supreme Unfeeling Art circulating without pause, her spiritual power had already returned. She also saw through Yan Zhong He’s plan. Maybe no one else believed in her, but she believed in herself. She knew she would win. [Even if my dantian truly is destroyed, I still have the Heaven and Earth Furnace as my bottom line.] Yan Zhong He could calculate all day, but he could not calculate that such a wonder existed in the world. To Li Shuang, this battle brought no fear. She would simply fight with everything she had.

After a long while, Ren Gu opened his eyes. His strength had returned to its peak, and he rose.

Li Shuang looked at him and said evenly: “Fellow Daoist Ren, are you sure you are fully recovered? If you lose this time, you will have no excuse.”

Ren Gu laughed. Lose? How could Li Shuang believe she could win? He licked his lips, a trace of bloodthirst on his face, and said: “Li Shuang, you delivered yourself. A rare genius will become a cripple today.”

Unlike Wu Ling Chuan, who had arrogantly offered her three moves, Ren Gu showed no intention of yielding even half a step. The moment he spoke, murderous miasma coiled around his blade, and he charged at Li Shuang like a storm.

Li Shuang’s eyes tightened. The Sword Domain bloomed. Frost spread, and Ren Gu’s movement slowed for a heartbeat. Only a heartbeat. The gap in cultivation was too great. The Sword Domain hardly affected him at all.

Li Shuang formed the Soul Chain and lashed straight at Ren Gu’s sea of consciousness. Her secret art was strong enough that, even across a whole realm, Ren Gu still grew dizzy for a breath. But it was only a breath. Unlike Wu Ling Chuan, who had been bound stiff, Ren Gu shrugged off the influence and brought his blade down toward Li Shuang without pause.

“Swimming Dragon Step,” Li Shuang murmured as her figure blurred and vanished from where she stood.

It was a clever footwork she had exchanged for in Myriad Arts City.

Ren Gu’s eyes flashed with brief surprise, then he sneered and said: “Plenty of hidden cards. Too bad you will die here today.”

His blade traced the First Turn and chopped again. A faint, cold miasma rode his blade light and lunged into Li Shuang’s sea of consciousness. The blade could be dodged.

The miasma could not.

Wu Ling Chuan’s miasma had been too weak to touch her. But Ren Gu was a Divine Transformation cultivator. The miasma born from his blade was not so easy to cleanse.

Which was exactly what Li Shuang wanted.

Dense miasma poured into her sea of consciousness with each strike. The Azure Lotus met the invasion and resisted with all its strength. As more and more miasma flooded in, the lotus’s light flared brighter and brighter.

Li Shuang’s expression stayed icy calm. [Good. Let this miasma refine the Azure Lotus.] Come more. Even more.

The fourth petal of the Azure Lotus was about to unfold completely.