Blade and Man as One! Cut the Grass Without Uprooting It, and the Spring Breeze Will Bring It Back

People like Lin Chen, even if captured, would either be thrown into the Imperial Prison to be tortured or taken to Purgatory and locked away.

There was no other possibility.

Clearly, Lin Chen wanted neither of those options.

So after staring at Ye Liuyun for a moment, Lin Chen made his move.

With a raised hand, he brought his blade down mercilessly at Ye Liuyun.

"My lord, watch out!"

Even knowing Ye Liuyun was no weakling, Si Nan and the others could not help crying out at the strike of an Acquired Realm martial artist.

Azure Sun Force!

As his inner force circulated and he drew his saber, scorching inner force burned across the Embroidered Spring Blade like flames.

"Clang!"

Their blades collided. Ye Liuyun's overwhelmingly powerful strike not only hacked a notch into Lin Chen's blade, but also sent him flying several meters away.

"That's impossible!"

Lin Chen could scarcely believe it.

In terms of inner force, there was not much difference between him and Ye Liuyun. Why was the gap in strength so vast?

"Even among Acquired Realm martial artists, there are stronger and weaker ones."

Ye Liuyun knew that Lin Chen had been held back by the Born Weak Talent Trait.

On the other hand, with all his enhancement Traits combined, Ye Liuyun feared no one at the same realm.

"Slash!"

Amid Lin Chen's astonishment, Ye Liuyun swung his saber again and again without pause.

Scorching inner force turned Ye Liuyun's saber crimson.

"Clang! Clang! Clang!"

Under that immense force,

Lin Chen could only passively block with his blade, utterly unable to strike back.

"Break!"

With Ye Liuyun's soft shout on the final blow, Lin Chen's saber fell from his hand, and Ye Liuyun's blade plunged straight into his shoulder.

The force drove Lin Chen to one knee. Both hands clutched desperately at Ye Liuyun's blade.

"I'm not willing to accept this. I only wanted revenge. What did I do wrong?"

"No one said you were wrong. You simply happened to run into me."

Ye Liuyun had never said Lin Chen was wrong for seeking revenge. Likewise, as a Brocade Guard, there was nothing wrong with Ye Liuyun arresting Lin Chen, the culprit behind the Golden Saber Sect's annihilation.

"Since you don't want to go to the Imperial Prison, I'll send you on your way!"

He pulled out his saber.

Before Lin Chen's unwilling eyes, Ye Liuyun brought it down in a single stroke.

"Huff!"

Looking at Lin Chen lying dead on the ground with that unwilling expression, Ye Liuyun slowly exhaled a breath of foul air. Sure enough, he was born cold-hearted. When he killed, he did not feel the slightest discomfort.

Instead, he felt an inexplicable sense of connection.

"My lord is mighty!"

After Ye Liuyun sheathed the Embroidered Spring Blade,

Si Nan and the other Brocade Guards approached with looks of reverence.

The Brocade Guard had always worshipped the strong. They had originally thought Ye Liuyun had relied on his background to reach the position of Hundred-Household Officer.

But after witnessing Ye Liuyun's formidable strength, their gazes grew even more convinced.

"Enough. Get back to work!"

Waving a hand, Ye Liuyun ignored their flattery.

He first had everyone continue searching the Golden Saber Sect, then looked toward Lin Chen's fallen corpse.

There was no need to consider the Born Weak Trait, but Ye Liuyun very much wanted the Blade Talent and the Purple Quality Extraordinary Comprehension.

Another Purple Quality Talent Trait had fallen into his hands.

"Detected that 'Photographic Memory' and 'Extraordinary Comprehension' have extremely high compatibility. Fuse them?"

The Photographic Memory he had obtained earlier was also a Trait related to comprehension. These two highly compatible Traits were perfect for fusion.

Fuse!

There was nothing to hesitate over. Ye Liuyun immediately chose to fuse them.

Talent Trait System!

Host: Ye Liuyun!

Realm: Acquired Realm martial artist!

Martial Arts: Wind Severing Saber Technique, Azure Sun Force, Pine Wood Saber Technique, Jade Shattering Hand,

Talent Traits: Lucky (Purple), Steel Bones (Purple), Blade and Man as One (Purple), Extraordinary Comprehension (Purple), Sword Talent (Green), Extreme Yang Body (Purple), Scent Recognition (Green),

"Blade and Man as One (Purple): Possesses exceptional blade talent and can swiftly master any saber technique."

After several boosts to his Blade Talent,

Ye Liuyun's originally Blue Quality Blade Talent had successfully risen to Purple Quality.

The progress bar had also advanced considerably.

"Not bad. Not bad!"

Ye Liuyun was quite satisfied with this Trait.

Moreover, as the Traits fused, Ye Liuyun could feel that he had gained entirely new insights into his original saber techniques.

If Ye Liuyun were to fight Lin Chen again now, he was confident he could finish him completely within three strokes.

The other Brocade Guards had all gone off to search for items.

Only Si Nan and Shi Sheng remained at Ye Liuyun's side.

"What did you learn?"

So far, Ye Liuyun had been rather satisfied with these two subordinates.

The sudden question caught both Si Nan and Shi Sheng off guard. Shi Sheng was the first to answer.

"My lord's saber techniques are fierce. This subordinate is too blind to discern them and failed to learn even a single move."

"..."

Who asked you to learn my saber techniques? Ye Liuyun rolled his eyes at Shi Sheng speechlessly.

Only you could give an answer like that.

"What nonsense are you talking about? Is that what my lord meant?"

Si Nan, already skilled at observing expressions, immediately noticed that Ye Liuyun's look was off and promptly spoke to Shi Sheng.

So he understood what I meant?

Ye Liuyun looked at Si Nan in surprise. Facing Ye Liuyun's gaze, Si Nan first gave a fawning smile before speaking with absolute certainty.

"My lord sees every detail and solves cases like a god. If not for my lord's wisdom this time, we never would have discovered that the culprit had never left the Golden Saber Sect at all. My lord wishes to tell us that we must think calmly when handling cases in the future, correct?"

Shi Sheng, standing beside them, also put on an enlightened expression, as though he had learned something.

"Bullshit!"

What case-solving? Though Ye Liuyun had watched plenty of episodes of Detective Conan, he had never personally solved a case.

"I'm telling you this: cut the grass without uprooting it, and the spring breeze will bring it back!"

That was what Ye Liuyun had learned from Lin Chen.

Had Jin Yuanba, the Golden Saber Sect's sect master, done anything wrong?

In truth, in the martial world, massacring an entire family over a martial arts manual was far too common. It had long ceased to be anything unusual.

If Jin Yuanba had made one grave mistake, it was likely leaving Lin Chen alive.

That was the martial world. Though people said it was not merely about fighting and killing, most of the time, fighting and killing were truly all it was.

"If anything like this happens again, remember not to leave anyone alive. You only have one life. Once you die, you die. Never mind whether someone will avenge you—even if your revenge is taken, what meaning is there if your life is already gone?"

Shi Sheng still seemed somewhat confused.

But Si Nan was the first to understand, his expression turning enlightened.

"Understood, my lord!"