Nine Deaths, Nine Lives

Something was wrong.

Gu Yin's palms circled back and forth, his Four-Domain Suppression Palm grand and righteous, surging like a river.

The foundational cultivation art he practiced was called the "Purple Sash Azure Charter." This art had only one defining trait: stability.

So long as one was willing to circulate it through seventy-two cycles every day, without a single mishap for seventy-two consecutive days, then repeat those seventy-two days seventy-two times over.

After nearly fifteen years of grinding effort, one could attain the cultivation of the sixth rank.

Provided nothing went wrong.

There were not many within White Deer Grotto Academy who cultivated this technique.

Gu Yin was one of them.

From the day he entered the academy, he had never slackened for a single day, and thus possessed his current seventh-rank cultivation.

No matter what kind of cultivation method it was, upon reaching the seventh rank, one stood at the peak of the mortal world, enough to establish one's own name in the martial world.

One step forward, and one became an immortal or Buddha.

Yet Gu Yin now realized that the palm force he had unleashed had not struck Su Che or that demon at all.

Clearly, every target he had hit had merely been a phantom conjured by his opponents.

For the other party to possess such illusion arts, they were certainly no ordinary demon; their roots and connections had to run deep.

Gu Yin knitted his brows. For a scoundrel like Su Che to collude with a demon of such background right beneath his nose—given time, how much devastation would he wreak upon the world?

The Purple Sash Azure Charter slowly made a circuit through his body. Gu Yin shut his eyes and countered with the Confucian School's art of divination, "Wind-Corner Divination."

"Be careful. Though this man is below the sixth rank, he should have studied the divination arts among the Five Classics of the Confucian School..."

Wind-Corner Divination used the movement and hues of the wind to discern fortune and misfortune, and illuminate cause and effect.

"Found you."

Gu Yin's right index finger slashed across his left wrist, carving open a wound with force. Bright red blood sprayed freely from the cut.

Within that crimson blood, the vast and righteous true intent of Confucianism condensed like scattered thunderclaps, seeping into Qingqiu's soul body hidden in the night.

"Ah..."

Qingqiu cried out in pain, her hiding place exposed as her deathly pale soul body trembled without end.

"Excellent—using the essence blood of utmost yang and utmost hardness to break the manifestation of an yin spirit." Su Che's figure emerged from the darkness. "Mr. Gu's calculations are truly admirable."

"No need to praise yourself so soon. You're next." Gu Yin's lips curled slightly. "A Sword Cultivation practitioner who has only just entered the path dares contend against me?"

"Miss Qing," Su Che said, lowering his head, "please aid me with your illusions. I need to get within five paces of him."

A seventh-rank expert of the Confucian School's Innate Realm possessed immense true qi, and could not be approached by ordinary means. To get close to him, Su Che could only rely on Qingqiu's illusion arts.

"What are you thinking?" Qingqiu's voice trembled. "This strand of my yin spirit was injured by him, and its Innate Spirit is leaking away without end. You should pray for your own luck."

Hadn't she just said, "If I got serious, even the sixth rank would be nothing"? How had a seventh-rank opponent broken her in just three moves?

"It's fine. You can speak even louder."

Gu Yin's face was pale, clearly not feeling well after forcing out that burst of blood.

"Miss Qing, listen to Young Master Su. He says his killing move requires him to get within five paces of me, but perhaps he can unleash it from fifteen. A man's mouth can never be trusted. Rest assured, I absolutely will not let either of you get within thirty paces of me."

Had Su Che been a seventh-rank Sword Cultivation practitioner at the Sword-Forged Thread realm, Gu Yin might not have been so confident. After all, a Sword Cultivation practitioner's Sword Qi was unmatched in slaughter.

Unfortunately, Su Che was not.

So long as Gu Yin employed the Four-Domain Suppression Palm, beneath layer upon layer of palm winds and force barriers, Su Che would have no possibility of getting within thirty paces of him.

Above them, dark clouds veiled the moon.

The Confucian disciple, his robes tattered and hair loose, steadily advanced toward Su Che, who hid within the shadows.

Thunder rumbled, and raindrops the size of soybeans fell from the sky, soaking the ground and the two men's clothes.

Gu Yin moved like startled thunder. The vast and righteous qi he had cultivated over many years transformed layer upon layer into boundless palm force. Countless palm shadows swept forth, and even the falling raindrops were driven sideways by his power.

Such peerless palm force unleashed across empty space had already reached the pinnacle of mortal martial arts.

Step by step, he pressed onward; beyond him, there was no path in the human world.

There was only the sword.

Su Che reached his right hand into his left sleeve and drew out an ancient bronze sword no more than two feet long. Seven diamond-shaped patterns linked together along its blade, while the cold gleam on its edge seemed to have crossed several centuries of time.

Sword intent surged from between his brows, and Sword Qi leaped from the cold blade.

Mirage-Shadow Origin Sword: Hidden Bow, Shooting Shadow.

As the sword form moved, the Sword Qi that had accumulated force for so long split rivers and cleaved waves, charging straight through the layers of palm shadows into the center.

Gu Yin drew back his palms to defend, yet a faint streak of blood still remained upon his brow.

"You actually subdued the ancient sword within the case?"

Gu Yin cried out in shock.

Even a ninth-rank practitioner of Sword Cultivation who had only just entered the path could not be underestimated if he possessed a divine weapon or spirit sword. It was like the difference between Abbess Miejue having the Heaven-Reliant Sword in hand and not having it.

Gu Yin had never imagined that the ancient sword in the case would acknowledge Su Che as its master. For a moment, he was thrown into complete disarray.

"Impossible. The previous master of that ancient sword, the great hero Jiang Qin, shook the southern lands with his prestige. He was upright and impartial in all he did—how could his sword acknowledge you as its master? Impossible. Absolutely impossible."

"Perhaps that Great Hero Jiang was not as upright and impartial as you imagined. Or perhaps I am not as worthless as you think."

Jiang Qin was naturally the name of the former owner of all Su Che's Sword Cases. He had spent his life slaying demons and eliminating evil, roaming the world unhindered, and was revered by all as the "Hero of Jiangnan."

Su Che held his sword horizontally before his chest.

The moment he had delivered that sword strike, it had felt as though he had poured a jug of aged wine over the blockages in his chest. The pent-up gloom of the past several months eased away.

The bronze shortsword in his palm was clearly trembling with joy, as if it too was excited to finally leave its case and test its cold edge once more.

The Heaven-Supporting Jun Sword circulated at full force, and the bronze shortsword in his hand let out another sword cry.

Su Che moved like a ghost, sword in hand, forcing his way toward Gu Yin through layer upon layer of palm shadows.

"Good!"

Gu Yin's face was like gold paper. The layers of palm shadows gradually gathered around his hands, and the sound of scriptures being recited seemed to rise around him.

He had condensed the Four-Domain Suppression Palm to its utmost limit. Even he did not dare underestimate the sword Su Che thrust forth.

His palms moved.

The sword cried.

A vast, ancient Sword Qi pierced through his body. Su Che's sword struck Gu Yin squarely in the left shoulder.

And Gu Yin's twin palms had also struck Su Che in the chest and abdomen.

Pfft.

A line of blood spurted from Third Young Master Su's mouth, spraying across Gu Yin's face.

"You must be wondering: since it was clearly a feint, why didn't I avoid that sword just now? Why did I let you get within three paces of me?"

Gu Yin looked at the wound where blood would not stop flowing, chuckled, and gritted his teeth as he pulled the blade from the wound inch by inch.

"We disciples of White Deer Grotto Academy are always prepared to sacrifice ourselves for all living beings beneath heaven." Gu Yin toyed with the bronze shortsword in his hand. "If I can trade my life for yours, it would be exactly what I desire. Exactly what I desire."

His smile was remarkably magnanimous. Raindrops rolled down his face, and among the tears that fell with them, who knew how much was regret and how much was fulfillment.

Sword Qi continuously ravaged the cultivation foundation he had tempered through years of arduous practice along his meridians. After tonight's battle, the Purple Sash Azure Charter he had cultivated for so many years would likely be broken.