Chapter 34: 34. Chapter Thirty-Four

34. Chapter Thirty-Four

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The Bai Xinli in the words of the Bai couple.

The Bai Xinli she had not seen for fifteen years.

The Bai Xinli who changed her Fate.

The Bai Xinli who could suppress her completely with a single glance.

Too strong, too strong, too strong.

Too good, too good, too good!

She was going to draw her Sword against Bai Xinli!!

Atian knew she was going mad.

A clear-headed madness.

But so what?

She was never destined to be a well-behaved young lady who followed the rules; what was wrong with going a little mad?

The Sword hilt in her hand turned from cool to hot, and two flushes of red quietly climbed onto her cheeks; Lady Bai, who was single-mindedly raising Atian to be a refined young lady, naturally would not spend money to hire a martial arts master to teach her, so those fighting moves of hers were all wild street styles, and she couldn't even clench her fists correctly, let alone hold a weapon.

However, for a Sword Cultivator, the least necessary thing to learn is how to hold a Sword—something one is born knowing, does it still need to be taught?

Bai Tian, naturally, was the same.

As soon as Bai Xinli's words, "Junior Sister Bai, please," came out, she thrust her Sword backhanded without a second thought, flames gathering on the pitch-black Sword body to form a vortex, coordinated with the tip of the Sword pointing straight at Bai Xinli's heart.

Her hand holding the Sword was very steady, the Sword body was also steady, and the straight-thrusting motion was accurate and powerful, as if it had been practiced thousands of times; even the slight side-spin of the Sword tip gave one a feeling of perfection down to the finest detail.

This is a Sword Cultivator; they are born for the Sword.

However, there are levels among Sword Cultivators.

This Sword strike was blocked an inch from Bai Xinli's chest by an invisible wall; the moon-white hair ribbon obscured his vision and also covered his expression, but Atian guessed that he must be, just like that day, as noble and pure as the bright moon in the sky.

Then, she was sent flying by a powerful force.

Smashing heavily against the wall behind her, Atian slid to the ground, a tearing pain coming from the web of her right hand, with sticky liquid gushing out and dripping down the Sword hilt.

Pain.

Unprecedented pain assaulted her from her back, instantly sweeping through her internal organs and turning them into a mess, yet she wanted to laugh out loud, her fingers even trembling slightly from excitement.

Bai Xinli did not draw his Sword; he did not even move, yet his protective Sword Qi alone gave her a harsh warning.

She was to Bai Xinli as Song Zhicheng was to her—a mayfly shaking a tree, not worth mentioning, but yet, but yet, this was exactly how it should be!

Her Sword Bone Completed, yet Song Zhicheng's had only just sprouted.

Bai Xinli had achieved success in Sword Cultivation, yet she hadn't even entered the gate.

Song Zhicheng wanted to become her, and she wanted to become Bai Xinli.

And what was wrong with that?

Bai Tian climbed up shakily, leaning on her Sword, shook the remaining blood droplets from her right hand, and gave Bai Xinli a brilliant smile, "Again!"

She thrust out another Sword strike, faster and trickier than the last, yet the flames still could not pierce through the invisible wall, and she fell heavily to the ground once more.

"Haha..." She wiped the blood overflowing from the corner of her mouth with the back of her left hand and raised her Sword again, "Again!"

It was easy to guess that what awaited her was being sent flying again.

Atian climbed up using her Sword for support, her white undergarment already stained with spots of red plum blossoms, yet she laughed heartily and said, "Again!"

Raising her Sword time and again, only to be sent flying time and again, until finally the blood on her hands made her unable to hold the Sword, and she could only let the hilt slide out of her palm; her body was enveloped in intense pain and could no longer execute the commands sent by her brain, so she just leaned against the wall and gave a shy smile to the gradually approaching Bai Xinli.

As if to prevent her from rushing up recklessly again, Bai Xinli reached out a hand and gently tapped her forehead with his index finger; his body temperature was slightly cool, completely out of place in this room filled with flames.

And as for Atian, she gasped for a moment, slowly reached out, and her drooping fingertips brushed across his chest, leaving a red mark on his moon-white robes.

"Ah, I stabbed you," Atian said with a smile.

Before losing consciousness, she seemed to hear Bai Xinli sigh.

When Atian woke up again, she was still in her own room, only now she was lying on the bed; everything around her was as usual, and only the scorch marks on the walls and ceiling and the pain on her body proved that the raging flames were not a dream.

"You're awake."

Su Ying, sitting by the bed, frowned at the bronze mirror in her hand; she had recently felt that a dry wrinkle had appeared under her eyes and was troubled by it, though for her true age, a face full of wrinkles would be normal.

"It hurts, right? It should hurt, to help you remember the lesson! Provoking Senior Brother, you really have a death wish!"

Su Ying didn't even look up, but that didn't stop her from lecturing.

"Come to think of it, I heard the commotion you made last night was quite something; luckily I was on night duty, otherwise it would have been me facing you last night, and I don't have Senior Brother's ability; I might not have been able to restrain you."

Finding her Life-bound Sword at the head of the bed, Atian reached out to touch it and felt a little more at ease, then felt a chill on her chest; looking down, she discovered she was only wearing a single undergarment.

"Ah!" she shrieked, shrinking into the quilt.

"What are you 'ah-ing' about," Su Ying put down the mirror, her tone filled with lingering schadenfreude, "You were the one wearing this outfit last night, pestering Senior Brother and not letting him leave; what's the use of being shy now!"

"A refined young lady must be shy," Atian argued seriously.

Su Ying was surprised by her dedication and, deeply moved, handed her a bronze mirror, "Wake up! I have never seen a refined young lady drag a man out to spar in the middle of the night and set fires!"

Atian rubbed her forehead where she had been hit, feeling a bit aggrieved.

"Then again, helping Junior Brothers and Junior Sisters overcome the restlessness brought on by forging a Sword is also one of Senior Brother's duties, so you don't need to feel bad about it."

"Restlessness?" Atian, who didn't feel bad at all, repeated thoughtfully.

"A Sword is a lethal weapon; once it is unsheathed, the desire to fight will inevitably rise, and your Life-bound Sword is closely linked to you yourself, so being affected is unavoidable."

Su Ying explained seriously.

"A Sword is sharpest when it is first unsheathed, relying on an indomitable sharpness; if you aren't allowed to vent that sharpness completely at that moment, I fear your Sword Heart will be damaged in the future."

Atian was too embarrassed to tell her Senior Sister that she was usually this crazy, so she just nodded repeatedly to show she was listening.

"Since you have successfully forged your Sword, there are some things that must be said," Su Ying said, her tone suddenly becoming serious, "Have you felt it, your Sword Heart? Do you know it, your Sword name?"

Sword Heart and Sword name, the two most important things for a Sword Cultivator.

Bai Tian gently stroked the long Sword in her hand, but mentioned another completely unrelated topic, "... Senior Sister Su Ying, Senior Brother, he is very strong."

"Why bring this up all of a sudden?" Su Ying frowned.

Atian smiled, "Because I also want to become that strong!"

Upon hearing this, Su Ying fell into silence; she pondered for a moment, then finally sat on the edge of the bed with her legs spread in a bold, unconstrained posture, and said to Bai Tian, "Junior Sister Bai, do you know what Senior Brother's Sword is called?"

Atian thought of the beautiful White Jade Sword with red silk that Bai Xinli wore at his waist, and shook her head.

"Senior Brother's Sword... is called 'No-Self'," Su Ying's face was solemn, "Three thousand Daoist methods, among ten thousand methods there is no self; that is what this 'No-Self' means."

"The reason Senior Brother is highly praised as 'the person of the younger generation closest to the Heavenly Dao' lies in this; what others pursue for a lifetime, he obtained from the very beginning, but a higher starting point also means the road ahead is even harder to walk."

"How can one maintain 'No-Self'? Losing one's self leads to eternal damnation, while being too self-centered makes it impossible to advance even an inch; the difficulty and hardship of a Sword Heart losing its guard, I fear only he himself knows."

"I am already about to forget Bai Xinli."

That sentence, which Atian could not fathom no matter how much she thought about it, echoed in her ears.

Speaking of this, a bitter smile appeared on the corner of Su Ying's mouth, "Come to think of it, I am a few years older than Senior Brother's mother, and I raised him from a young age, but unfortunately, ever since he began to nurture his Sword and hide his edge, even I cannot quite understand him anymore."

However, the self-pitying mood did not last long; Senior Sister Su Ying, who could never help but break character, indignantly slapped the head of the bed, "How could that brat hide things from a Senior Sister like a loving mother? It is truly unfilial! It is simply outrageous!"

Atian nodded her head like a chick pecking at rice.

Calming her emotions, Su Ying changed the form of address back, "A Sword Cultivator cannot choose their own Sword Heart, nor can they change their original heart; even if this road is infinitely difficult, Senior Brother can only face the difficulties head-on."

"I say all this just to let you know that if you want to be as strong as Senior Brother, I fear you can only—face the difficulties head-on."

"On the path of Xiuxian, there are no shortcuts; only by keeping to one's original heart and comprehending the Great Dao can one fight their way out from among millions to reach an Immortal Path!"

As she spoke, her brows and eyes softened.

"I will ask you one more time, what is your Sword name?"

"Ten Thousand Tribulations," Atian also smiled, "Only through ten thousand tribulations can one reach the end."

She tilted her head, her beautiful face looking somewhat innocent and naive at this moment.

"I like this name."

"... Excuse me, who are you, brother?" Bai Tian was stunned when she saw the man's face.

"What's wrong? I am Song Zhicheng!" The man wore a bewildered expression.

"Liar! Senior Brother Song is clearly a stalwart man with a full beard!" Atian slapped the table and stood up.

"I do have one! Ah..." The man also stood up excitedly, even dropping his steamed bun onto the plate; halfway through, as if remembering something, he reached up to touch his chin, and naturally, there was only smooth skin there, "Oh right, my beard is gone..."