At the estate's training grounds, all bystanders had been cleared away. Only a handful of cultivators remained to witness the wagered duel.
Without wasting a word, Zhu Ming walked forward, one hand resting on the Sword Pouch at his waist, his expression as calm as ever.
"Come on!"
He was ready to face any challenge and settle this so-called karma of the mortal world.
Wei Yan sneered, drew the Treasure Sword from his back, and slowly approached him.
The sword was blood-red from tip to hilt. One glance was enough to tell it was no ordinary weapon, but a top-tier magical artifact.
"Wait!" Li Ling suddenly called from the sidelines.
"Consort Li, what are you trying to do? This was decided by the Old Ancestors of our two sides. Do not interfere."
"Indeed. Can you bear the responsibility if you jeopardize the greater plan?"
Everyone from the Zhu Yuan Kingdom turned toward Li Ling, their faces filled with displeasure.
Zhu Ming also looked at Li Ling, a hint of complicated emotion in his expression. "You needn't concern yourself with me. This is between us."
Li Ling transmitted his voice. "Senior Brother Zhu, you're bearing this karma on my behalf. How could I live with myself if I did nothing?"
Zhu Ming smiled bitterly and replied through voice transmission. "Do you think I don't understand that? But I've received great kindness from the Spirit Peak and drawn its stipend for years. I bear all this willingly."
Li Ling trembled. Willingly-what a word!
Yet reason and feeling were intertwined, gratitude and duty tangled together. Even he could not say whether that willingness was right or wrong.
Searching his own heart, if he faced a catastrophe that toppled Xu Xin and wiped out the Mu Household, would his ties to his wife likewise