Chapter 13: My Sword Needs No Purity

The martial way flourishes; you, having entered the Heaven-Human realm, can live another few hundred years.

Queen Consort Yun Zhi Yi has lost the protection of fortune; she will soon age and eventually leave you.

The only way for Yun Zhi Yi to continue accompanying you is to let her ascend the throne of Empress and control the fortune of the new dynasty.

Only by bearing the fortune can one protect her Dao for a hundred years.

You did not voice your thoughts, shouldering the Divine Sword that gathered Nan Jiang's fortune, and climbed to the top of Jiu Xiancheng.

"Lin Chuan, you have a fine queen consort."

"Jiu Xianjun's eyes burned bright, his fighting spirit high; he saw the fortune swirling around you and did not shrink from battle."

This is the invincible momentum of one who has dominated the martial world for sixty years.

You fought a great battle.

This was a battle that shocked heaven and earth, made ghosts and gods weep.

Jiu Xianjun's fists pounded you to a bloody pulp, your qi exhausted, and his invincible momentum was shattered by Nan Jiang's fortune.

You called out, "Sword, come!"

Inside and outside Jiu Xiancheng, countless treasure swords flew at your command; you are truly the Sword God.

Jiu Xianjun sneered, "As I said, your sword is not pure."

You coldly replied, "Why must it be pure? Sharpness is enough!"

Your sword has never been pure; it bears too many things.

It carries your mother Bai Susu's grudge, your father Lin Wuji's loyalty, the old Sword God Li Chengying's plight, and the Blind Swordsman's deep friendship.

It also bears the long-cherished wishes of countless Nan Jiang soldiers!

Nor is it lacking the protection of Queen Consort Yun Zhi Yi.

How can such a sword be called pure?

"I wield the sword not because I simply love it, but for those who prevent me from wielding it."

Your soul seems to have been sublimated at this moment.

You struck with a sword.

It is still Sword Twenty-Three, yet different from the previous Sword Twenty-Three.

Its name—Sentimental Heaven and Earth Sword Twenty-Three.

It is a sword move that must be interpreted with one's life.

Jiu Xianjun lost, defeated by this sword.

At the moment of his defeat, the Heavenly Gate trembled, and immortal radiance poured down from the Heavenly Dome to the mortal realm.

Jiu Xianjun could still break through and ascend, but he did not; instead, he sat in meditation and passed away atop the city wall.

You defeated Number One Under Heaven and became the new Number One Under Heaven.

"A Chuan, you won! You are Number One Under Heaven!!"

Yun Zhi Yi linked arms with you, glancing about with radiance; she remains the girl who has admired you since childhood, her eyes filled only with you.

Night, the moonlight fills the sky.

The bright white moonlight is so beautiful; you also draw your own white moonlight into your embrace.

Late at night, you discussed the mysteries of life.

The next morning, you, Number One Under Heaven, leaned on the wall and went out.

That same day at noon, you met the Xia Zi.

The Xia Zi had none of the Sword God's bearing, laughing uproariously at you: "Hahaha, Number One Under Heaven, you're so weak!"

Lin Chuan is not truly invincible; the world still has Yun Zhi Yi.

"Shut up!"

You gave the Xia Zi a sound beating.

"Don't force me to act."

The Xia Zi muttered curses.

Jiu Xianjun once said that the Xia Zi has only a single chance to act in his lifetime.

You put on a lowly grin: "Heh, you won't strike me—how can you brandish your sword against a close friend?"

The Chang'an Calendar year forty-five.

The Great Zhou dynasty again invades Nan Jiang, while the remnants of the Great Liang royal house also fight desperately against Nan Jiang; in recent years of southern and northern campaigns, Nan Jiang's three hundred thousand cavalry have lost more than half.

In this war, the Great Zhou's Military God, Ximen Wuxue, personally leads the troops, and all of Great Zhou's martial masters are dispatched.

Nan Jiang has suffered an unprecedented blow.

Fortunately, Yun Zhi Yi, with the resolve to break the cauldrons and sink the boats, fiercely repelled the White Dragon Army led by Ximen Wuxue in the three frontier cities.

After repelling the White Dragon Army, Nan Jiang's cavalry did not rest but rode straight to the Xishu Juedi.

You, meanwhile, personally led the troops to guard the border.

You and Yun Zhi Yi decided to settle everything once and for all this time.

"Zhennan King Lin Chuan, your fate is exhausted!"

The Great Zhou's Military God, Ximen Wuxue, holds a long spear named Cloud Dragon.

From Ximen Wuxue's mouth you learned the true reason the Great Zhou dynasty again provoked this war.

The Great Zhou's State Tutor, observing the night sky, exhausted his own lifespan in calculation, surveyed Nan Jiang, and the divination showed that as Zhennan King, your fate is about to run out.

Indeed, your fate is indeed about to run out.

This is not decided by heaven and earth, but by your own choice.

Nan Jiang's desire to unify the world leaves only two paths.

【Either the queen consort Yun Zhi Yi exhausts her fate, sending you riding the wind to become a dragon, or you exhaust your fate, helping Yun Zhi Yi become Empress.】

【The fate of this world is limited, the ending has long been decided.】

【You and Yun Zhi Yi must have one person use their own fate to resolve the remaining fortune of the Great Liang royal household, using their body to become the bridge for Nan Jiang to unify the world.】

【You and Yun Zhi Yi both chose to fulfill each other.】

In Lin Chuan's subconscious, this is merely a dream; compared to life and death, he values the passionate emotional bonds in the dream's reincarnation cycle.

Yun Zhi Yi's love is the purity that transcends life and death.

In the dream's reincarnation, Lin Chuan loves Yun Zhi Yi without hesitation; the subconscious Lin Chuan does not care about life and death.

Each time this moment arrives, they make the same choice.

【"Lin Chuan, everyone says you are Number One Under Heaven, but I think that's just the talk of an incapable weakling."】

【"True masters all know, you didn't defeat Jiu Xianjun by your own strength!"】

【"Today I will slay you, this so-called Number One Under Heaven."】

【The Great Zhou Military God Ximen Wuxue charges on horseback with spear, coming to kill you; the tip of his spear gathers the qi of the 200,000 soldiers of the White Dragon Army.】

【You meet him with your sword.】

【Another great battle unfolds.】

【Your battle with Ximen Wuxue is a battle of the world's fate; in terms of momentum alone, it is more grand than your battle with Jiu Xianjun.】

【You are evenly matched, fighting from the three border cities all the way to the depths of Wujin Hai, relying on a single breath to battle for three thousand li.】

【You once again unleash your famous sword technique—Sword Twenty-Three.】

【Ximen Wuxue had a counter ready; with one spear he absorbed half the heroic qi of the Great Zhou jianghu, stubbornly bearing your strongest sword.】

【In this battle, your opponent is not only the Military God Ximen Wuxue, but also half of the Great Zhou jianghu.】

【You fought until the sky darkened and the earth grew dim, waves rolling endlessly on Wujin Hai.】

【You and Ximen Wuxue have both reached the pinnacle of the Tianren realm.】

【In an unparalleled battle, you both fought until your qi mechanisms were exhausted, yet still no victor was decided, but your physical body had the edge.】

【Beneath the yellow robe, muscles knotted; your physical body's qi and blood far surpass what Ximen Wuxue can match.】

【Just as you were about to kill the Military God Ximen Wuxue, three unexpected people appeared.】

【They respectively came from the Three Teachings of Confucianism, Buddhism, and Daoism.】

【You shouted their names in the coldest voice.】

【"Tianqing Daoist, Huishen Monk, Yi Lian Layman, you three……are you going to block this king?"】