Chapter 621: Seeing the Great Xia, and also seeing you

Chen Yan stared at Lu Jianxia, speechless for a moment.

Had Lu Jianxia done many things wrong?

It seemed so.

Back on Myriad Aspect Island, the other party had clearly known Chen Yan's identity, yet had not exposed it.

Even later on, they had kept it hidden for Chen Yan for a long time.

If one stood in Lu Jianxia's shoes to think about it, the pain was certain.

Chen Yan narrowed his eyes, just standing there calmly.

The rustling sound of the wind swept across the lake surface.

Time passed second by second.

There was less than an hour left before this trial ended.

Chen Yan sat cross-legged and closed his eyes to meditate.

How exactly was this trial to be broken?

He guessed that the Master of Horizontal Refining was right here.

Or, perhaps a wisp of consciousness of the Master of Qi and Blood.

【Longing to tread the icy river in the distance, with my body I break the stone and shatter the sinking dream.

Still, the loner sits upon the throne, hating the cold within my flesh and bones.】

This was almost a secret code between them.

Chen Yan had crossed the icy river and used his fists to break open the sky-high ice wall.

He had already done everything he was supposed to do.

Where was that loner who stood above the ice wall?

Where was that Snow Wife who hated the separation of flesh and bone?

Chen Yan looked around, then looked toward the high heavens:

"Are you still not coming out?"

He shouted in a low voice:

"I have already come!"

His voice echoed out, yet no one answered him.

Inside the Yunding Gong Dian, the woman in the immortal dress frowned slightly; she did not know what Chen Yan was talking about.

But if Chen Yan did not kill Lu Jianxia, she herself would die too.

A look of disappointment appeared in her eyes, and she spoke slowly:

"To achieve great things, one must learn to let go. If you do not kill her, she will become your greatest enemy, your greatest weakness!"

Her voice descended from above the clouds, carrying a cold aura.

The opportunity has already been given to you.

The chance of survival has already been given to you.

What exactly are you waiting for?

Are you waiting for Lu Jianxia to advance to the eighth rank?

Above the lake, Lu Jianxia's eyes turned cold as she looked toward the high heavens:

"As the Master of the Upper Ancient War Gong Dian, you actually prepared for me to die from the very beginning."

"What about the Upper Ancient War Gong Dian?"

The woman in the immortal dress frowned slightly:

"Do you think the Purple Ring World-Stabilizing Mirror belongs only to the five clans? You are wrong; the Purple Ring World-Stabilizing Mirror belongs to the human race!"

A coldness appeared in the depths of Lu Jianxia's eyes:

"As the Element Lord, how can you be so despicable?"

Inside the Yunding Gong Dian, a cold expression appeared on the face of the woman in the immortal dress, and streaks of killing intent condensed in her eyes:

"Despicable?"

The woman in the immortal dress narrowed her eyes, and her cold, ethereal voice fell:

"The Upper Ancient War Gong Dian is merely a martial trial. I already warned you that the third trial would have life-or-death dangers. You did not listen and insisted on entering."

Lu Jianxia was speechless for a moment; beneath the black mist, there was still a trace of tears in the depths of her silver eyes.

No one expected that it would end up like this.

"Are you still not going to act?" The woman in the immortal dress looked at Chen Yan, then lifted her chin.

The time limit for the third trial had been determined from the start.

Once the three hours were up, Chen Yan would have to act even if he didn't want to.

She had not expected that Chen Yan, whose heart for seeking the Dao was so strong, would have a problem in this trial.

Clearly, during the second trial.

The greatest crisis Chen Yan faced was his confusion about the future.

The moment he reached the end of the icy river, he saw his past self.

At that time, both he and his current self were not certain if a world without malice existed.

Chen Yan's second weakness was his family.

The third was Lu Jianxia.

Originally, she thought this trial would be nothing to Chen Yan.

The woman in the immortal dress furrowed her brows, closed her eyes at this moment, and waited quietly for time to pass.

Time passed minute by minute.

There were only twenty minutes left until the end.

Fifteen minutes.

Ten minutes.

Chen Yan kept his eyes closed in meditation.

"Chen Yan!"

The voice of the woman in the fairy dress rang out again, only to hear a roar of anger from Chen Yan:

"Do you think you are very clever?"

As his voice fell, the woman in the fairy dress was stunned.

"You... what did you say?"

"I said..." A trace of anger appeared on Chen Yan's face:

"Your self-righteousness disgusts me."

The woman in the fairy dress was taken aback; she was even a little dazed, as she, the Element Lord, had actually been scolded like this.

Her expression turned cold, and she gazed down at Chen Yan from her high position.

"When I, Chen Yan, act, why would I need you to teach me?"

Chen Yan stood up:

"Even if you are the Master of Martial Dao, you have no qualifications to instruct me; to me, a thousand sages are but passing shadows!"

As his voice fell, the Element Lord gazed quietly at Chen Yan, her lips showing not the slightest curve, exuding a coldness that kept people at a distance.

As the Master of Martial Dao, she had actually been scolded for not being qualified to instruct Chen Yan?

This was a colossal joke!

It was also at this moment that a series of aged laughs rang out.

The woman in the fairy dress immediately turned around and looked toward a certain direction behind her:

"What are you laughing at?"

Inside the dim room, the old man shook his head with a smile.

Back in the day, he had made almost the same decision as the Element Lord, but he had been scolded by that person as well.

But he had no choice.

At that time, inside the College Entrance Examination Secret Realm, this Chen Yan had created the second realm of the Path of Will right before his eyes and attained immortality.

Not long after, this newborn Master of Martial Dao had already reached the ranks of the human race's peak combat power.

Even faster and stronger than he had been back then.

Even he could not help but sigh with emotion.

But he had no need to explain anything to the Element Lord.

On the contrary, he quite liked seeing this scene of Chen Yan scolding the Element Lord.

Chen Yan was not in a good mood.

He knew that a life-and-death struggle between him and Lu Jianxia was inevitable.

But he had not expected it to be like this.

They were not fighting to the death under the witness of two races.

They were not fighting for their lives before a million-strong army.

Instead, they had met ahead of time in this place.

This trial was like child's play.

Tap, tap, tap...

The light sound of footsteps on water rang out beside Chen Yan.

The woman wrapped in black mist walked over quietly and sat down beside Chen Yan.

The two were silent, just looking calmly into the distance.

The grass and trees on the lake shore were lush, casting their beautiful reflections into the lake, interweaving with the reflections of the blue sky and white clouds.

Lu Jianxia suddenly discovered that the beauty of this place surpassed all the scenery she had encountered before.

The wind carried a chill.

"Are you still not coming out?"

Chen Yan's low shout rang out.

Lu Jianxia did not know what Chen Yan was talking about; inside the Yunding Gong Dian, the woman in the fairy dress did not say a word.

It would be useless for her to go out.

"There is no other way to break this trial!"

She shouted coldly:

"If you cannot even walk out of this trial..."

She stopped talking.

If Chen Yan could not walk out of this trial, that would be the greatest joke of all.

"Before the extinction of the human race, what do matters of the heart amount to?"

The Element Lord continued:

"In the future, you will witness the deaths of countless people, and you will see the teammates who fought side-by-side with you pass away.

Your relatives will die, your friends will die; you will always have to face it!"

She took a deep breath; if she hadn't thought so highly of Chen Yan, she would never have said these things:

"If you had simply watched Qi Fan and the others die that day and continued to develop yourself, why would you be facing such great trouble now!"

She was somewhat angry at his refusal to improve:

"Those who achieve great things are destined to suffer, Chen Yan; you have never truly suffered."

"Even if you have honed your will to this extent, you have absolutely never truly experienced suffering."

She tried to guide him patiently, though she was angry at what Chen Yan had said before.

But she did not want to see Chen Yan die here.

He would truly die.

But the next moment, she heard the young man's voice, filled with killing intent:

"Why should I pursue suffering? Suffering is never worth praising."

"If a person's life is lived for the sake of suffering, then what is the meaning of being alive?"

Chen Yan sneered.

He was facing a massive crisis.

Chi Xue was putting immense pressure on him.

And he needed the sermon of the Element Lord.

Perhaps a single sermon would bring Chen Yan a true chance at survival.

That was a mature Master of Martial Dao.

The other party's sermon could provide him with a great boost.

Perhaps all the insights he had gained since entering the Dao were like a joke in front of the other party.

Perhaps all the powerful assets he currently possessed were like child's play in the other party's eyes.

Perhaps the other party's philosophy transcended the current Chen Yan.

The other party was a Master of Martial Dao, so what the other party said must be correct, right?

Life.

Indeed requires facing various hardships.

In life, one must learn to let go.

However.

"If my heart is unwilling, I will not do it."

He spoke calmly.

Beside him, Lu Jianxia watched Chen Yan quietly, even though she could not see through the layer of black mist shrouding Chen Yan's body.

"Lu Jianxia," Chen Yan said.

"Speak," Lu Jianxia said gently.

Chen Yan paused:

"Do you trust me?"

"Mm."

She nodded quietly, no longer possessing that previous coldness, no longer having that previous trace of frustration and despair.

Her transformation made even Chen Yan feel somewhat uncomfortable.

"Do you trust me?" Chen Yan asked again.

"I do," Lu Jianxia nodded.

Chen Yan took a deep breath:

"This trial is absolutely not a struggle of life and death, but a necessity to let go of something."

Yunding Gong Dian.

The woman in the immortal dress narrowed her eyes; Chen Yan had actually guessed the true essence of this trial.

Lu Jianxia smiled and said:

"Then what should we let go of?"

Chen Yan's eyes flickered slightly; at this moment, strands of information emerged from the depths of his mind.

How exactly was he to pass this trial?

Beside his ear, he heard Lu Jianxia's gentle and calm voice:

"Chen Yan, I love you."

Chen Yan opened his eyes, not looking at Lu Jianxia, his mind still thinking incessantly.

"From the first time I saw you in Yixian City, I felt admiration for you."

She said it calmly; beneath the black mist, her eyes curved slightly, just like two crescent moon springs, filled with love as gentle as spring water.

But the next instant, her face turned deathly pale.

Intense pain struck; she was constantly leaking information from the outside world.

Yet, she continued to speak.

She paused.

"Since I was born, it has been either seclusion or entering trials; my entire life has been occupied by cultivation."

"I have always been thinking that, all along, I have merely been a slave to the Martial Dao."

"I am the daughter of the Lu Master, I am the Princess of Lu Province; I knew that I had my own mission the moment I was born."

Lu Jianxia's body began to tremble slightly.

It was extremely painful even to say a single sentence.

But she felt that such important words should not be broken up.

"But after I saw you, I suddenly saw that some people live for others."

"Some people are born with a Martial Dao Heart for the sake of the world."

She looked at Chen Yan quietly.

As her gaze shifted, it focused only on one person.

The lake water here was calm, and the sky and clouds were beautiful.

Here, there were no Five Clans, no Great Xia.

There was no life-or-death struggle, no malice from heaven and earth.

All hatred, all struggle, all anger completely vanished.

She was exceptionally happy, exceptionally joyful.

She was no longer the Princess of Luzhou, no longer third on the Creation Realm Ranking, no longer the daughter of the Land Master.

She was Lu Jianxia.

This would be time belonging solely to Lu Jianxia alone.

Chen Yan frowned and looked at Lu Jianxia:

"What are you going to do?"

Lu Jianxia, however, shook her head slightly:

"Do not interrupt me."

Chen Yan's brow furrowed deeper, and he stared intently at Lu Jianxia.

"We have different stances, we have a shared faith."

She reached out her hand and took Chen Yan's hand:

"We are a match made in heaven."

Her voice was soft:

"My name is Lu Jianxia, and I know that one day, I will need to face the behemoth that is Great Xia."

"But on the day I saw Great Xia, I also saw you."

She was saying things she would never have said before.

Chen Yan sat cross-legged quietly, looking at Lu Jianxia.

"I have a method," Lu Jianxia said.

"What method?" Chen Yan asked.

"Since it is the Trial of Sacrifice, you and I must surely sacrifice something," Lu Jianxia chuckled softly:

"I will sacrifice myself; can you find me and bring me back?"

Chen Yan was startled; he roughly understood what she was about to do.

But looking at Lu Jianxia in this moment, it was as if he were locking eyes with her.

"Wait a little longer," Chen Yan said:

"It is only a small trial, why go this far?"

"You cannot interfere with my choice," Lu Jianxia raised her head.

"I said, wait..." Chen Yan growled, feeling somewhat agitated.

The next moment, Lu Jianxia's figure began to disappear.

Chen Yan's expression changed instantly.

She had erased her own consciousness.

At the same time, Chen Yan cleared the trial.

Chen Yan remained calm, but he felt a sense of loss in his heart and lowered his head.

Between him and Lu Jianxia, it was always the other person making concessions.

Chen Yan remained silent for a long time.

Drip, drop.

Drip, drop.

Drip, drop.

"If you die, I will cross the river of time to bring you back."