Chapter 410: The Seed Has Been Sown

"I will take you away right now!"

Breaking his own sword with his hands, Mu Zishan was utterly devastated, stumbling as he picked up the woman beside him.

He had been unwilling to give his heart easily, precisely because he feared the storms of this Jianghu would affect the other person. The Jianghu was a place that devoured people; even if he himself did not fear it, what about those by his side?

Unexpectedly, in the end, all of this still fell upon his beloved. But at this moment, he did not want to think about anything; he only wanted to take his beloved and leave this place.

However, after taking two steps, Mu Zishan suddenly stumbled, and a mouthful of black blood sprayed from his mouth. His aura plummeted at a speed visible to the naked eye, and his entire person appeared much more withered.

"Poison!"

"That's right, poison, and it's Gut-Piercing Poison that kills upon contact. I didn't expect that even a poison concocted from the combined abilities of all the world's poison masters would still fail to kill you."

Just at this moment, a figure slowly walked in, looking at him with such pity. Beneath the calm gaze, there was a hint of madness.

"How truly pitiful. The dignified number one in the world, Mu Zishan, who makes countless heroes bow their heads, has actually ended up in this state. I wonder what others would think if they saw this?"

"You are Mu Zishan, the number one in the world, the invincible Mu Zishan!"

Looking at Mu Zishan, who was holding the woman in extreme agony, the other person wore an expression of heartbreak, but no matter how one looked at it, it gave off a sense of schadenfreude.

"Big Brother, you shouldn't have, you really shouldn't have fallen in love with someone else. Otherwise, how could you have failed to notice such a small trick, and how could it have hurt you? But now, it has worked perfectly."

"Love is truly a magical thing. It can give the world-renowned Mu Zishan a flaw, causing him to lose his guard and fall for this deadly Gut-Piercing Poison."

"Big Brother, what you couldn't have imagined even more is that Jiang Mengyao would smear this poison on herself. Just now, when she was stroking your face, she planted it on you."

Walking up cautiously, the other person appeared somewhat heartbroken, "You gave your heart and lungs to her, yet she wanted to take your life. Big Brother, such a woman is not worth keeping!"

"It's you!" Raising his head to look at Lu Yangshan, who was carefully inching toward him, Mu Zishan felt no anger, only an unprecedented coldness and calm.

This coldness caused Lu Yangshan, who was approaching, to pause in his tracks. He felt it would be better to wait for the poison to ferment for a while longer before getting closer.

"It's me, Big Brother. I didn't want this either. I know you were good to me; apart from my parents, you were the best to me in this world, but there was no other way."

"Why?" As the toxin invaded his entire body, Mu Zishan's face turned purple-black, and he collapsed to the ground, yet he refused to let go of the woman in his arms.

The person before him was a brother to whom he could entrust his Life and Death. Yet he never expected that this person would now become the sharpest dagger stabbing at him.

The woman he loved wanted him dead, and his closest brother had betrayed him. For a moment, infinite sorrow surged in Mu Zishan's heart; how tragic it was.

Even across the span of a hundred years, Shen Yu could still see that bitterness of near-death determination on Mu Zishan's face. Perhaps at that time, Mu Zishan had an urge to die.

It was no wonder that afterward, Mu Zishan had resolutely headed to the Forbidden Land to suppress it without a second thought. In his utter devastation, there was nothing worth lingering for in this Jianghu, other than the pain that increased every time he reminisced.

The people worth lingering for—one was killed by his own hand, and the other had betrayed him. Just thinking about it made one feel heartbroken for him.

"Big Brother, I didn't want this either, but as long as you are here for one day, there will never be a day for others to rise. Do you know how many people in the Jianghu want to kill you? Including me."

"Admittedly, with your help, I became the second in the world. Apart from you, who else in this Jianghu is my match?"

"You even helped me take revenge. I am very grateful to you. I was once willing to die for you; I could even have given you my own life."

"But when we are together, everyone only mentions you, Mu Zishan. Everyone knows that you, Mu Zishan, are the number one in the world, but who knows who the second is?"

Speaking of this, Lu Yangshan's face showed extreme unwillingness, and a great ambition surged between his eyes, like a raging fire, as if it wanted to burn away everything that hindered his rise.

If he wanted to rise, he had to eliminate one person, even if this person had shown him immense kindness.

"Big Brother, do you know? I've had enough. Whenever people in the world mention the two of us, they only say I am your brother, and they never say I, Lu Yangshan, am the second in the world."

"I am a full twenty years older than you; it wouldn't be an exaggeration for me to be your uncle, yet I can only bow and scrape behind you, calling you Big Brother. Do you know how humiliating this is for me?"

As he spoke, Lu Yangshan watched Mu Zishan, and seeing his calm expression and calm eyes, the anger in his heart flared up.

It was this attitude, this look—even though he knew all of this was orchestrated by him behind the scenes, he still maintained this annoying appearance.

"Big Brother, you helped me take revenge and helped me greatly increase my cultivation. I originally intended to be your slave and servant, but you refused. In the end, you couldn't resist me, so you reluctantly agreed to let me call you Big Brother."

"To be honest, following you was indeed a huge advantage for me. I was once truly happy to do so, willing to go through fire and water for you, but now I regret it. I am not willing."

"I don't want to be suppressed by you forever. I don't want to live in your shadow for the rest of my life. Big Brother, what do you say I should do?"

"So you incited Mengyao, lying to her that I killed her father?"

"Big Brother, how can you call it inciting? I just told her a little bit of my speculation. It was just my speculation; who knew she would believe it just like that!"

As he spoke, Lu Yangshan shook his head and said somewhat helplessly: "It's also my fault for being your brother. The world knows that our bond is worth a thousand gold, as close as brothers."

"So it's inevitable that she would believe whatever I said. I am also very helpless about this!"

"The two of you—one thought they knew the truth and stubbornly believed that what they knew was the truth. The other, clearly knowing the other party had something on their mind, didn't know how to bring it up."

"Two people, one stubborn and one silent, are completely different paths. Big Brother, tell me, wasn't this played right into my hands?"

"Now, let me send you on your way, Big Brother!" Seeing Mu Zishan becoming weaker and weaker, and having not made a move all this time, Lu Yangshan's courage gradually grew.

"Anyway, your most beloved woman is already dead, so you might as well go down and accompany her."

"This way, it is both a display of devotion to your lover and it helps your brother rise; it can be considered fulfilling the bond between us brothers!"

While speaking, Lu Yangshan carefully stepped forward. Even though Mu Zishan was now poisoned and his Sword Heart was shattered, he still dared not act rashly.

There was no help for it; Mu Zishan was so terrifyingly strong that one had to be cautious.

But he had coveted Mu Zishan's position for too long. Only by killing Mu Zishan with his own hands could he be acknowledged by the world and truly become the number one in the world, rather than the second under the shelter of Mu Zishan's wings.

"In the end, it's still for the sake of power!" Looking at Lu Yangshan, who was inching toward him step by step, Mu Zishan remained calm, without the slightest ripple.

"I never had any interest in power or fame. If you want it, just take it!"

"Mu Zishan, you say it so lightly. Is this something I can just take if I want to? If you don't die, how can I take it? I don't need your charity either. What I want, I will take myself!"

"Now that your Sword Heart is shattered and you are poisoned, you are like a cripple. I will step over your corpse and become the only king of the Jianghu!"