Guessing and Decision

Liu Zhiwei's claim of not caring about being the Golden Cauldron Sect leader was pure deception; in his dreams, he'd heard the title "Sect Leader Liu" countless times.

So, Duàn Yì's flattery hit the mark this time. Dropping the word "vice" made him feel incredibly refreshed, as if he'd just had a sauna. It even made Duàn Yì seem much more likable.

"Alright, I'll tell you all about this person in detail, so that junior disciple Bai can understand that I, Liu Zhiwei, am not forcing you to fight him without reason…"

After Liu Zhiwei's detailed account, Duàn Yì finally understood Lin Bohui's specific situation and was lost in thought.

This person likely wasn't from Wei Prefecture. He had suddenly appeared over three months ago, and his first move was to challenge the Willow-Whip Swordsman of Yongji County in Wei Prefecture. He succeeded in one battle, severing the Willow-Whip Swordsman's right wrist tendons within seven moves, and his fame spread from then on.

According to the Willow-Whip Swordsman's own account, during his fight with Lin Bohui, he felt that every move and every strike was ordinary. However, when executed by Lin Bohui, they were as fast as lightning, sinister and bizarre, making him unable to defend himself. He was completely outmatched.

Twenty days later, Lin Bohui challenged another swordsman in Yongji County, Huang Jing. This Huang Jing was a lay disciple of the Xuanzhen Sect of Zhongnan Mountain. His Tiger-Slaying Swordplay was fierce and ruthless, with every move designed to kill, yet he still lost to Lin Bohui by the eighth move.

After that, Lin Bohui traveled through four counties in Wei Prefecture, challenging five other well-known swordsmen.

These swordsmen either excelled at defense or offense, possessed profound internal energy cultivation, or practiced external martial arts. However, without exception, they all lost to Lin Bohui, which contributed to Lin Bohui's meteoric rise to fame.

This was Lin Bohui's record since his debut: seven battles, seven victories, his momentum unstoppable. Hearing this, Bái Xī Wén nodded slightly.

Besides challenging masters to gain fame, another aspect of Lin Bohui that was widely talked about was his insatiable lust. Before and after battles, he was always a regular at local brothels. Moreover, according to the women who had been intimate with him, he was like a tireless tiger, incredibly vigorous.

"Good, I accept this challenge. Today is the twenty-ninth of August. I will wait for Lin Bohui on the Golden Cauldron Sect's arena on the second of September."

After hearing Liu Zhiwei's description of Lin Bohui, Duàn Yì let out a long sigh. A sharp glint flashed in his eyes, as deep as a lake, and he said calmly.

"What? You accepted?"

When Liu Zhiwei revealed Lin Bohui's record, he thought the matter was settled. He never expected Duàn Yì to do the opposite; it was truly unfathomable.

Lin Bohui was no minor figure like Ruan Dong; in terms of martial arts, he was more than ten times superior to Ruan Dong. Was Duàn Yì out of his mind?

"That's right, I accept now. This Cold Jade should be mine, shouldn't it?"

Duàn Yì took a few steps forward and picked up the Cold Jade from beside Liu Zhiwei. Holding it in his palm, he felt an icy chill surge from within the jade, as if he were in the midst of a deep winter snowstorm.

As Duàn Yì circulated the Ice True Qi within his body, the discomfort in his palm vanished without a trace. The entire Cold Jade even brought him a sense of cool comfort.

"Impressive courage. This matter is settled then."

Without even waiting for Bái Xī Wén to speak, Liu Zhiwei uttered a sentence and then shot out of the room as if being chased, clearly afraid of any unforeseen changes.

Thus, only Bái Xī Wén and Duàn Yì were left in the room.

"You truly don't know what's good for you. Do you even realize what this battle means for you?

Perhaps you won't die, but if you lose, your hand will be severed, rendering you crippled and unable to ever wield a sword again."

Bái Xī Wén remained silent for a long time before speaking. He had initially thought Duàn Yì would refuse on his own, but he never expected him to accept.

He worried about Duàn Yì, partly because of Yuè Jiāo Nú, and also because, after spending so much time with Duàn Yì, he had truly come to see him as a younger brother.

Seeing that Duàn Yì remained silent, merely staring at the Cold Jade in his hand, Bái Xī Wén continued, "You might not know the power of the Bixie Swordplay. Let me tell you.

This swordplay has been famous for a long time. Someone once used it to roam the Lingnan region of Great Xia, unifying the underworld of seven prefectures and commanding immense respect, earning the title of Bixie Swordsman and being ranked among Great Xia's top-tier experts.

I've also heard about the style of this swordplay. The seventy-two moves of the Bixie Swordplay, when analyzed individually, are full of flaws. However, once truly mastered, it becomes almost impossible to find any openings, making it truly bizarre.

If my guess is correct, this Lin Bohui is a descendant of the Bixie Swordsman. Fighting him is essentially a guaranteed loss for you."

As a renowned master, and having cultivated a divine skill as powerful as the Invincible Treasure Codex, Bái Xī Wén could afford to disregard Lin Bohui. But Duàn Yì couldn't, because his martial arts were not yet sufficient.

Duàn Yì remained unmoved, merely caressing the Cold Jade in his hand and saying in an assertive tone, "The Bixie Swordplay may indeed be extraordinary and possess unparalleled power, but the person wielding the sword is not necessarily flawless and unbeatable."

This was a belief he had held since acquiring the Tower of Hidden Martial Arts: that while martial arts might differ in skill level, the truly decisive factor was always the person.

In other words, there were only invincible people, not invincible martial arts.

If Lin Bohui had truly mastered the Bixie Swordplay to a profound level, Duàn Yì would not dare to take such a risk and engage in a battle he was sure to lose.

However, from Liu Zhiwei's words, he had deduced an unusual piece of information that gave him some confidence.

That was that Lin Bohui had not undergone castration, which was a significant weakness.

Strictly speaking, the moves of the Bixie Swordplay were not exquisite; they were far inferior to the Five Peaks Swordplay. But when combined with the secret of Qi cultivation, they transformed entirely, becoming a peerless sword technique.

Therefore, the core of this martial art lay in its Qi cultivation method, which originated from the Sunflower Manual's 'Desire for Cultivation Divine Skill' – self-castration, alchemy, and medicinal consumption for both internal and external mastery.

Why was self-castration necessary?

Because the Qi cultivation methods recorded in the Sunflower Manual, or rather the Bixie Sword Manual, were extremely perilous. While the resulting True Qi was immensely powerful and could greatly increase one's speed, it had a drawback.

That is, without self-castration, the True Qi cultivated could cause one to burn with desire, go mad, and die from paralysis.

By normal reasoning, since Lin Bohui did not self-castrate, if he practiced the Bixie Swordplay, he should have gone mad and died long ago. If he hadn't died, it would be considered great fortune.

But nothing is absolute. It's likely that this person had some fortunate encounter and obtained a method from elsewhere to temporarily suppress the surging True Qi, allowing him to briefly unleash the power of the Bixie Swordplay.

This was also why he had been able to win consecutive battles, defeat seven well-known swordsmen, and become famous overnight.

However, in Duàn Yì's view, this was merely a superficial solution.

As soon as Lin Bohui used True Qi to wield the Bixie Swordplay, this heat became uncontrollable, hence the need to visit brothels to cool down before and after major battles. This was also one of the reasons for his extreme lechery – it wasn't his nature, but a consequence of his martial art's hidden danger.

Secondly, in his seven major battles, Lin Bohui never used more than ten moves in each fight. While this was partly because his opponents' skills were inferior to his, it was more likely due to the severe limitations of his martial art. Exceeding ten moves could potentially trigger unpredictable consequences.

These seven individuals were likely opponents he had carefully selected.

If that weren't the case, he would have challenged more and stronger experts, not just these seven, to achieve more dazzling feats.

Duàn Yì had absolute faith in the power of the Bixie Swordplay.

Third, as Liu Zhiwei had mentioned, Lin Bohui's internal energy cultivation was no different from his own, both being at the Qi Nourishing stage, with perhaps only slightly deeper internal energy at best.

But this was also a weakness, because according to Duàn Yì's estimation, for this person to truly be able to cultivate and even utilize the Bixie Swordplay without restraint, he should at least have reached Meridian Unblocking.

After all, this was a powerful and progressive martial art. Once the first hurdle was cleared, the path forward would be smooth sailing. But Lin Bohui hadn't cleared it, which validated Duàn Yì's earlier conjecture and narrowed the gap between him and Lin Bohui.

Of course, all of the above were Duàn Yì's deductions, but they were at least seventy to eighty percent likely, and that was enough.

"You brat, I didn't expect you to be so confident.

While your reasoning is sound, I can tell you that with your current martial arts, you're not stronger than the seven experts Lin Bohui challenged, let alone Lin Bohui himself who defeated them.

So, I advise you to give up the idea of dueling him. At worst, I can send you to live with my friend after we go down the mountain."

Bái Xī Wén, not understanding the profundities of the Bixie Swordplay, still believed Duàn Yì was bound to lose and advised him against it.

While he had made many enemies during his time in the Jianghu, he had also made many friends. Since the Golden Cauldron Sect would not tolerate Duàn Yì, sending him to one of his friends was a decent option.