"In that last strike, I used only part of my strength. Otherwise, you would already have been obliterated. What exactly gives you the right to be so arrogant?"
Zhou Buyu's sword light blazed, his robes billowed, and azure energy swirled around him. Standing upon the clouds, he resembled a banished immortal. His voice was icy, and the fury in his chest was like a beast poised to burst free.
For so many years, his heart had remained firm as stone, serene and detached from the mortal world. Even if heaven, earth, mountains, and rivers shattered, even if the sun, moon, and waterways were annihilated, not a ripple would stir within him.
Yet lately, facing a youth from a minor dynasty whose background was far beneath his own, he had suffered one setback after another.
First, Ye Hongmei had "transferred her affections," personally tending to the youth and feeding him medicine, leaving a lush green crown of cuckoldry atop Zhou Buyu's head.
Then today, he had drawn his sword to slay his inner demon, only to stumble at the outset. His strike had failed to sweep everything aside like rotten wood, ending in a mere draw and earning him verbal humiliation.
Worse still, all of this had happened right before the eyes of his beloved Ye Hongmei and a crowd of his supporters.
Who would not seethe under such circumstances?
Even a Supreme Great Emperor who had mastered the Unshakable Fundamental Mind, free of attachment and desire, could not have remained entirely unmoved.
"He wasn't using his full strength? No wonder!"
Yun Shi and the others let out long breaths. For years, Zhou Buyu had been the object of their faith. Just now, cracks had appeared in that faith, nearly shattering it, and they had all felt as though lightning had