Chapter 387: Then Let's Try It

"Since the day I, Mu Zishan, stepped into the Jianghu, I have never been defeated, never once!"

Raising his head, an overbearing aura flowed out naturally; that posture of looking down upon the world held a certain arrogance, as if there were no longer any match for him within his sight.

"With our power, who in this world could possibly be a match? We were meant to be the only kings of this world, meant to command the world, with none daring to disobey!"

"Yet he insisted on practicing his so-called morality, insisted on rooting out the strong to support the weak, insisted on upholding so-called fairness and justice. Who does he think he is? By what right does he make decisions for me too!"

Terrifying Sword Intent swept through the surroundings, as if to devour everything; even the space itself seemed to tremble and wrinkle under the Sword Intent.

To be honest, when the person before him said he was Mu Zishan, Shen Yu was initially somewhat skeptical.

But now, the Sword Intent on the other party, which was identical to Mu Zishan's, made one have no choice but to believe it.

In Shen Yu's mind, he even quickly pieced together the events of that year.

The reason Mu Zishan was able to wake up from his madness back then was, of course, partly because his own mental fortitude was extremely deep, but even Mu Zishan likely could not excise all the negative mental energy.

As long as one is human, one will have seven emotions and six desires, and will have love, hate, and grievances. Perhaps Mu Zishan did recover from his madness back then, but he still had to endure its influence from time to time.

If it were during ordinary times, it might not have mattered; having recovered from madness by his own strength, he could naturally suppress those surging negative emotions.

But if it were after a Spirit Qi Surge, this would become his greatest flaw. Those old monsters each possessed extraordinary methods, and many were particularly skilled at manipulating the human heart.

Therefore, with the slightest carelessness, it would be easy for them to stir up the dark side of his heart, causing him to fall into the abyss once again.

Precisely because he had experienced it, Mu Zishan understood even better how difficult it was to wake up from such a descent.

Therefore, he had slashed out his own dark side without hesitation, allowing himself to become flawless.

It was just that the two were originally one entity; when they were one, Mu Zishan could not completely eliminate it, and after slashing these dark aspects out, he could do so even less.

It was like a person who could never lift themselves into mid-air solely by the strength of their own physical body.

With no other choice, Mu Zishan could only suppress it here, sealing it away with layers of Arrays.

It was just that these were mental powers of the dark side to begin with; day after day of suppression only caused the negative energy within to continuously accumulate and grow.

Added to the fact that the two were of the same origin, they were likely extremely familiar with each other. Through day and night of studying, finding some flaws in the Arrays to release some of his own aura was something he could manage.

He scattered a large number of Seeds, hoping these Seeds could bloom and bear fruit, and could gather a continuous stream of power to help himself break free.

Yet he would not have thought that he would encounter him when his plan was only half complete, and be trapped by him in the Mountain and River Map.

The more powerful the other party appeared at this moment, the more it was actually just a case of being fierce on the outside but cowardly on the inside; who was he trying to scare with an empty shell?

"You know I am Mu Zishan, yet you are not afraid in the slightest?" Standing before Shen Yu, the other party was somewhat stunned; he could not imagine that this young man had not a shred of fear in his heart.

He was Mu Zishan, the Mu Zishan whom everyone in the Jianghu feared.

"Fear? Why should I be afraid? Let alone that you are only his dark side, even if you were the complete Mu Zishan, I would not fear you in the slightest!"

With a light wave of his palm, the Eight-Cornered Prison-Suppressing Tower atop the peak of the Mountain and River Map flashed with a dim light, and in an instant, all the Sword Intent the other party was displaying was locked down.

Not only the Sword Intent, but the entire strength within the other party's body was also completely sealed; he was even knocked down from mid-air to the ground in a sorry state, rolling twice on the floor.

"Impossible, why is it like this!" Struggling to crawl up, the other party looked at his own powerless hands in disbelief, frantically checking his entire body.

He was now just like an ordinary person, unable to use even a shred of remaining strength, as if his whole body had been shackled in heavy chains.

This familiar feeling of being sealed brought back very bad memories, reminding him of the scene back then when he was ruthlessly severed by Mu Zishan and fiercely suppressed at the bottom of the lake.

Only then did he suddenly wake up: this was not some special space, but a Prison, a Prison even more secure than Luoyue Lake.

And he had merely jumped from one cage into another, never having been liberated from start to finish.

"From the very beginning, you said so much to me and displayed your terrifying Sword Intent. It was nothing more than wanting me to believe that you are Mu Zishan."

"And from start to finish, you were silently attempting to shake my spirit; you wanted to use Mu Zishan's reputation and your empty, superficial Sword Intent to stir up the apprehension in my heart."

"You thought Mu Zishan's deterrent power was enough to make me show even a tiny flaw; that split second of a flaw would be the best moment for you to pry open my mental defenses."

"Unfortunately, not everyone fears Mu Zishan. As far as I am concerned, even the Mu Zishan at his peak would likely have to obediently be sealed!"

Over a hundred years ago, Mu Zishan's lingering prestige still remained; those who knew of Mu Zishan's existence generally also knew how terrifying he was—that was a height ordinary people could never reach no matter what.

As long as there was apprehension, there would be flaws in the spirit. And as long as there were flaws, he, as Mu Zishan's negative energy, could use that to pry open a gap.

This plan was well-calculated, but unfortunately, the times had changed; not everyone would be three parts afraid of Mu Zishan.

"You just wait for me, one day I will break this cage!" He roared loudly in unwillingness, wanting to vent his emotions.

He had been suppressed for over a hundred years; the original Prison had just been pried open by him by a crack, and he could see the dawn of hope, only to be sealed into another cage.

This cage was even more terrifying, and the environment was completely unfamiliar to him, unlike before where he could at least see some hope.

At the thought that he would have to continue the dark, sunless life of the past here, how could he possibly endure this?

One day, one day he would break this place and then find this person before him. He would smash this young man into ten thousand pieces and grind his bones to dust!

"You will not have the chance; I am not only going to seal you, I am going to kill you!"

"Arrogant, ignorant. Even Mu Zishan could not kill me, by what right do you?"

"Just because Mu Zishan could not kill you does not mean I cannot." With a light smile, the Haoran Righteous Qi on Shen Yu's body spilled down like sunlight.

This light should have been warm and gentle, bringing endless vitality. Yet, shining upon the other party, it was like boiling soup poured on snow, causing him to melt away rapidly.

A painful feeling of tearing spread throughout his entire body, as if he were being sliced by knives all over.

He could even clearly feel his own power dissipating at a speed visible to the naked eye.

"You are unlucky; if it were other aspects, I might have had a headache. But when it comes to eliminating negative mental energy, I am actually even more adept!"

"How could it be like this?" He could clearly feel himself weakening rapidly; at this rate, he could not last long at all.

At this moment, he was truly panicked; he wanted to resist, wanted to struggle, but was powerless to do so.

This Prison was far more terrifying than Luoyue Lake; it seemed indestructible, leaving him unable to find a single flaw. If this continued, he would truly perish.

In the face of crisis, he looked at the Jinghong Sword in mid-air, gritted his teeth, and suddenly condensed all his mental energy into a single point, abruptly abandoning this body he had occupied for so long.

Subsequently, this mental power merged entirely into the Jinghong Sword in one go.

The mental power of Mu Zishan's dark side and the Sword Intent left behind by Mu Zishan met within the Jinghong Sword, and combined with the terrifying attributes the Jinghong Sword itself carried, they seemed to intertwine.

In an instant, Shen Yu felt as if the earth were shaking and the mountains were swaying, as if some terrifying power were awakening.

Under that power, he dazedly seemed to see an invincible figure standing in the distance, ethereal and impossible to oppose.

However, Shen Yu immediately reacted, and under his control, the entire Eight-Cornered Prison-Suppressing Tower lit up with radiance.

The originally humming Jinghong Sword was directly and fiercely suppressed, its Sword Intent was completely sealed, and the sword body was driven into the mountain wall.

The Jinghong Sword vibrated with a hum, yet it was unable to stir up even the slightest anomaly.

"Impossible, this is impossible! I abandoned everything to merge with the sword, how could I still be suppressed!"

"I have already said, this place is as secure as a fortress, and although you have barely merged with the Sword Intent left behind by Mu Zishan, you still cannot be considered the true Mu Zishan; you are still far from it!"