No More Sword Practice

Jiang Minghuang's expression froze in astonishment.

He stared wide-eyed at the scene, at the youth who had severed one of his own arms and destroyed his Invincible Sword Heart.

His mind thundered and exploded!

"So that's how it was... so that was how it was!!"

At this moment.

Countless questions that had baffled him were suddenly answered.

The young Gu Changqing had once possessed both arms, yet later lost one.

He was clearly the most dazzling sword-dao genius in history. His Invincible Sword Heart should have been unrivaled in the world, yet it had been inexplicably destroyed.

They were clearly brothers, yet he had always kept this past as tightly sealed as a forbidden secret, never speaking a single word of it to him.

"Big Brother!!!"

Emperor Jiang's vision blurred with tears, his heart twisting as though cut by a knife.

He had never known that Gu Changqing had done so much for him.

The Old Sword Saint had not expected Gu Changqing to be so decisive either.

Clearly, so long as he killed Jiang Minghuang, he could regain his freedom, descend the mountain, avenge that sea of blood and deep hatred, and bear nothing more upon his shoulders.

But he had never imagined it.

Gu Changqing's sword dao was pure to such an extent.

He would rather abandon the sword dao that countless people dreamed of than wrong him—or wrong his brother.

The door swung open.

Gu Changqing pushed it open and walked out.

Just as when he had arrived, he took only the woodcutter's blade that had always accompanied him.

With heavy steps, he walked down from the pavilion.

Across the vast white snow, he dragged a long trail of blood.

Amid the wind and snow, Gu Changqing seemed to see one familiar face after another.

"I'm sorry."

His eyes blurred with tears as he gave a desolate smile.

He had not failed his master's grace, nor had he failed his brother.

Nor did he feel that he had failed himself.

He only felt somewhat sorry toward his parents. With that sea of blood and deep hatred still unavenged, what right did he have to destroy that Sword Heart?

He raised the woodcutter's blade and gazed at it for a moment. Then, gathering all the strength in his body, he snapped it in two.

This peerless sword cultivator, who had shaken heaven and earth with his name the moment he entered the sword dao, left the sword dao just like that, in the bleakest manner possible.

"I won't practice the sword anymore..."

Amid the biting snowstorm, that was all he said to himself.

Outside the mirror.

Jiang Minghuang looked as though he had gone mad.

Blood tears streamed from his eyes, Imperial Might roiling in chaos. His jet-black hair was turning white at a speed visible to the naked eye.

The peerless Emperor Jiang, once like an exiled immortal, now resembled an Old Devil with a gray beard.

Like a madman, he roared at the youth within the mirror, "Gu Changqing, I'll fuck your ancestors for eighteen generations! Who the hell gave you permission to stop practicing the sword?!"

The white-haired Emperor Jiang lowered his head. His eyes were blurred with tears, his lips trembling as he choked softly, unable to form words through his sobs.

"Who gave you permission to stop practicing the sword? I didn't."

"You idiot, the biggest idiot under heaven! Couldn't you just put aside those proud bones of yours and pretend to come kill me? Even if I, Jiang Minghuang, let you, Gu Changqing, cut me with one sword, so what?"

"So you're allowed to be my brother, but I'm not allowed to be yours? Is that how you treat a brother?!"

In joyful times, they drank and sang together.

When the mood took them, they roamed mountains and rivers together.

Before powerful enemies, they risked life and death together.

When danger came, they crossed seas of fire and mountains of blades together.

When the elder brother had trouble, the younger brother drew his sword and went at once; when the younger brother faced hardship, the elder brother would never turn back even with death nine times over!

With my brother by my side, I am invincible in this world.

In a daze, Jiang Minghuang seemed to hear once more the oath two young boys had sworn to the heavens.

His heart felt as though it were being carved by knives, impossible to calm.

Before this, he had hated Gu Changqing to the bone. Yet amid that piercing snowstorm, those words—"I won't practice the sword anymore"—had utterly shattered the defenses around his heart.

He had never imagined that Gu Changqing had done so much for him.

That peerless sword heart of his had actually broken because of him!

"Why did you abandon the path of the sword? Why did you destroy your own sword heart because of me?"

"You wouldn't even come with me to the Upper Realm to enjoy glory and riches. How am I supposed to repay a debt of gratitude like this?"

A hideous wound had been torn open across his heart of vengeance. Jiang Minghuang was in such unbearable pain that he vomited a mouthful of blood.

His own sister had died because of Gu Changqing, yet Gu Changqing had given up that peerless path of the sword because of him. At this moment, Jiang Minghuang's emotions were more tangled than ever before.

"Emperor Jiang, do not grieve too deeply."

"It is true that the Heavenly Emperor did much for you, but in the end, he killed your sister. How could the vengeance of blood relatives go unavenged?"

Ye Chen hurriedly tried to persuade him.

In truth, he felt as though ten thousand grass-mud horses had just trampled across his heart.

It was revolting to the extreme!

He had thought that once this past was exposed, the tide of public opinion would turn. The more those cultivators had admired the Heavenly Emperor before, the more fiercely they would revile him afterward.

But now, things had turned out quite the opposite.

Not only had that failed to happen, but Gu Changqing had instead earned even greater admiration from everyone.

They were clearly watching the past of a Heavenly Emperor who had committed every evil imaginable and cruelly slaughtered all living beings, so why did it feel as though they were watching the Heavenly Emperor's road to redemption instead?

Gu Youwei had already switched sides before.

And now, even Jiang Minghuang's heart of vengeance seemed to be wavering.

Provided to you by the great author Shenyuan Huozhong: Villain: A Cleansed Life, the Empresses Have Switched Sides—fastest updates.

After dissolving Cao Yuwei's attack this time, Mei Gongzi did not rush to counterattack. She merely stood where she was.

Cao Yuwei's brows furrowed slightly. Was this little girl's perception truly so sharp? After he had formed armor from flames, he still had other methods at his disposal. If Mei Gongzi had followed up with an attack, he was confident he could use one of those methods to restrain her. But she had not stepped forward, forcing the ability he had been poised to unleash to be interrupted.

His battle saber slashed out again, its surging saber intent several degrees stronger than before. Cao Yuwei moved with the blade, man and saber becoming one as he charged straight at Mei Gongzi.

The Heavenly Secret Plume in Mei Gongzi's hand formed the Heavenly Mysterious Circle once more, and with an instantaneous teleportation, she switched positions. While dissolving her opponent's attack, she also broke free of his lock-on. In the next instant, she was already elsewhere. A flash of golden-red light flickered across Cao Yuwei's body. Had she not dodged swiftly, another ability would undoubtedly have descended upon her.

A battle of attrition! She seemed intent on competing with Cao Yuwei in endurance.

Yet no one questioned where this ability came from. After all, the Peacock Demon Race's greatest innate gift was Stellar Transposition. Her technique bore the same marvelous resemblance to Stellar Transposition despite taking a different path.

After dissolving Cao Yuwei's attack this time, Mei Gongzi did not rush to counterattack. She merely stood where she was.

Cao Yuwei's brows furrowed slightly. Was this little girl's perception truly so sharp? After he had formed armor from flames, he still had other methods at his disposal. If Mei Gongzi had followed up with an attack, he was confident he could use one of those methods to restrain her. But she had not stepped forward, forcing the ability he had been poised to unleash to be interrupted.

His battle saber slashed out again, its surging saber intent several degrees stronger than before. Cao Yuwei moved with the blade, man and saber becoming one as he charged straight at Mei Gongzi.

The Heavenly Secret Plume in Mei Gongzi's hand formed the Heavenly Mysterious Circle once more, and with an instantaneous teleportation, she switched positions. While dissolving her opponent's attack, she also broke free of his lock-on. In the next instant, she was already elsewhere. A flash of golden-red light flickered across Cao Yuwei's body. Had she not dodged swiftly, another ability would undoubtedly have descended upon her.

A battle of attrition! She seemed intent on competing with Cao Yuwei in endurance.