Chapter 568: The Blade of Dreams, and the Blank Future

"Who I am is not important; what is important is who you are?"

Yu Liancheng wore a smile, his tone calm.

The man in the grey robe slowly turned around, revealing a rugged face with a light beard. His expression was cold and stern, carrying an icy, rigid quality like cold iron, but his voice was colder still: "Me? I am the master of this Tie Xin Dao, Tie Shen. Are you not here to find me?"

"I reckon you are not Tie Shen, but Tie Shen's younger brother, Tie Kuangtu."

Yu Liancheng's tone was light and breezy, though in reality, he was slightly surprised.

He could naturally tell that the person before him was Tie Shen's younger brother, Tie Kuangtu. Compared to Tie Kuangtu, Tie Shen was a rather pure blacksmith, while Tie Kuangtu had a cruel personality and had once dabbled in the Edo. Many people had died at his hands, and he carried a faint, lingering aura of violence and bloodlust that could not be shaken off.

And when he spat out the three words "Tie Kuangtu," the other party appeared calm, but his expression actually shifted slightly—a detail that did not escape Yu Liancheng's eyes.

But at this time, Tie Kuangtu should have only just arrived at Tie Xin Dao; how could he have already swapped places with his brother, Tie Shen?

Yu Liancheng would never have guessed that this actually had something to do with him.

It was only because he had stirred up the winds and clouds, making the Edo increasingly lively and causing martial arts conflicts to emerge one after another. Consequently, more martial artists sought out Tie Kuangtu to forge weapons, and one of them had offered a strange poisonous herb as a token of gratitude. After arriving at Tie Xin Dao, Tie Kuangtu dripped the juice of the poisonous herb into Tie Shen's teacup, leaving Tie Shen completely powerless, which allowed Tie Kuangtu to cripple his martial arts and lock him away.

Tie Kuangtu and Tie Shen were biological brothers, their appearances seven or eight parts similar; with the addition of makeup, he had gone from a man with nothing to the master of an island in the blink of an eye.

This matter had been handled with extreme secrecy, and logically, no one should have known, yet it had been detected by the person before him, causing Tie Kuangtu to feel a slight shock in his heart. On second thought, the other party called himself Yu Liancheng; if he truly was the one who compiled the Panic Ranking, then it did not seem strange that he would know Tie Kuangtu was impersonating Tie Shen.

"I have no desire to get involved in the grievances between you brothers. Release Tie Shen, and then both of you can leave with me; otherwise, this little girl beside me will beat you up," Yu Liancheng laughed.

Di Er Meng hugged the Heavenly Mandate Blade and nodded her little face earnestly.

While they were talking, footsteps sounded outside the stone chamber, and more disciples of Tie Xin Dao appeared. In this situation, Tie Kuangtu would certainly not admit his identity, nor would he release Tie Shen, otherwise, he would not only lose his position as island master but might even have his life hanging in someone else's hands. Thus, he sneered: "What nonsense are you spouting? I am the master of Tie Xin Dao, Tie Shen. Hmph, a mere little girl is worthy of being an opponent to me, Tie Shen?"

He did keep his guard up, following Yu Liancheng's words to place himself in the position of Di Er Meng's opponent.

"It seems you have never tasted a beating. Xiaomeng, beat him."

At Yu Liancheng's command, Di Er Meng tossed the Heavenly Mandate Blade to him. A flash of green robes, and she had already appeared before Tie Shen, her slender little feet kicking out horizontally, stirring up rolling gusts of wind.

Such fast speed!

Tie Kuangtu was slightly startled.

He had spent many days drifting in the Edo and was a veteran of a hundred battles; at the critical moment, he raised his arms to block.

Di Er Meng's first strike missed, but her sharp leg techniques followed in close succession, sudden as a rainstorm. Her legs appeared slender, yet every strike erupted with extraordinary power, and a sharp blade-Qi followed along with them.

Although Tie Kuangtu kept his chest defended airtight, the sharp blade-Qi wandered within his body, and he had no time to neutralize it; for a moment, his whole body felt as if it were being sliced by blades.

Amidst a cacophony of footsteps, the disciples of Tie Xin Dao had all surged into the stone chamber.

They had intended to step forward to assist Tie Kuangtu, but after a sweep of Yu Liancheng's gaze, they trembled all over and dared not step forward to act recklessly. However, they believed that with the island master's martial arts, dealing with a little girl should at least not be a problem.

In reality.

It was very much a problem.

Tie Kuangtu now had bitter words he could not speak.

Among the Iron Gate Three Heroes, Tie Shen's martial arts were the highest, and the martial arts the three had learned were not identical. Now, under the eyes of the crowd, Tie Kuangtu could only use the martial arts that both he and Tie Shen knew to avoid being spotted, and thus his full power could not be exerted.

More importantly, this little girl who looked no more than ten years old had truly astonishing martial arts attainments. Her movement technique was as swift as lightning, and no matter how his punches flew like wind and lightning, they were always easily dodged by Di Er Meng.

On the contrary, Di Er Meng's embroidered shoes kept leaving footprints on his clothes, heavy and powerful, with waves of sharp blade-Qi penetrating his body. Had he not spent years forging weapons, giving him a physique superior to ordinary martial artists, he would have already been defeated by now.

As the two exchanged blows, Tie Kuangtu's losing trend became increasingly obvious. He grew somewhat angry and ashamed; if he couldn't even deal with a little girl, he would never be able to dominate the Edo even if he wore the Heavenly Tribulation.

With a roar, Tie Kuangtu threw out a punch containing scorching fire-Qi. This punch used his full ten percent of power and successfully forced Di Er Meng back for the moment.

Tie Kuangtu took the opportunity to retreat, reached out an arm, and grabbed an iron box. Seeing Di Er Meng continuing to pounce, he revealed a ferocious smile and opened the iron box; immediately, a terrifying killing intent was released.

The crowd seemed to hear a beast-like roar, and a black "ferocious beast" had crawled out from the box and pounced toward Di Er Meng.

Di Er Meng felt the hairs on her body stand on end, as if facing a real "ferocious beast." She kicked her legs in a series in mid-air, and although she successfully returned, a terrifying Qi had already caused her spirit to lose three parts of its vigor.

"Little girl, you have good skills, to actually force me to use Heavenly Sin, but that is all."

Tie Kuangtu now held an extra weapon in his hand, a weapon that made everyone present, except for Yu Liancheng, feel chilled to the bone.

This weapon appeared to be neither blade nor sword, yet it was covered in sharp spikes. The whole thing looked like a slightly coiling evil dragon, and from the handle protruded a handguard composed of countless pieces of metal, radiating cold air. Looking closely, the weapon seemed to be composed of many small parts, as if it could be disassembled at any time to form other shapes.

This object was none other than the human ferocious beast—Heavenly Sin.

Heavenly Sin had been meticulously conceived over many years by the previous master of the Iron Gate, Tie Dao, and forged by Tie Kuangtu; it was incomparably vicious. Just by looking at Heavenly Sin with one's eyes, the light flickering on it felt like a ferocious beast forged of steel, staring right back.

Tie Kuangtu shook Heavenly Sin, and the blade-and-sword-shaped Heavenly Sin shattered, instantly reassembling into a blade-whip form, lashing out fiercely at Di Er Meng. In the air, the roar of a ferocious beast could be faintly heard, capturing one's soul.

The vicious aura of this Heavenly Sin was too great, and it could change its form, making it impossible to guard against. Furthermore, it possessed blades and spikes, so even ordinary external-style experts would not dare to clash with it, let alone a little girl like Di Er Meng. She had finally recovered her normal appearance; if she were to be scratched anywhere, wouldn't she be heartbroken to death?

Thus, with the aid of this human ferocious beast, Heavenly Sin, Tie Kuangtu reversed his losing trend.

"Girl, catch the blade."

Fortunately, at this moment, Yu Liancheng tossed the Heavenly Mandate Blade over.

Swish!

A flash of blade light, and the Heavenly Mandate Blade was already unsheathed.

The body of the Heavenly Mandate Blade was long, and Di Er Meng was still just a little girl; it did look somewhat uncoordinated.

But with the Heavenly Mandate Blade in hand, Di Er Meng's confidence instantly returned. She had practiced the blade since she was young, and her greatest trump card was her blade technique. With a blade, Di Er Meng and the Di Er Meng without a blade were not on the same level of strength at all.

Ding ding ding ding ding!

A series of sparks exploded.

Di Er Meng had already engaged in a round of combat with Heavenly Sin using the Heavenly Mandate Blade.

Although Di Er Meng mainly practiced the "Instant Dream Blade," Yu Liancheng had also taught her several other blade techniques as supplements, such as the No-Two Blade Technique and the Aohan Six Arts.

When it thrust out in its blade-and-sword form, Di Er Meng used one move of the Jinghan Glance to completely neutralize the offensive. And when Heavenly Sin transformed into its blade-whip form, she used the "Cloud-Top Blue Sky" and "Mountain City Sudden Rain" from the No-Two Blade Technique to restrain the offensive.

Even using Heavenly Sin, he could not take down this girl. Tie Kuangtu became even more furious. As his True Qi circulated, Heavenly Sin disintegrated once more, about to unleash its most terrifying third ferocious beast form.

This ferocious beast form was too vicious; once the user's True Qi was insufficient, they could be backlashed by the beast itself, which was why Tie Kuangtu rarely used it.

However, this was exactly the moment Di Er Meng had been waiting for.

At the moment Heavenly Sin shattered, a demonic aura even more terrifying than Heavenly Sin surged into Di Er Meng's limbs and bones, and her originally cute face now became cold and terrifying.

Swish.

A strike was delivered with extreme speed.

The Instant Dream Blade's "Instant Soul-Severing."

The blade light flashed past, so fast that the naked eye could not capture it.

In an instant, the blade light struck a large number of Heavenly Sin fragments, then slammed heavily into Tie Kuangtu.

Tie Kuangtu immediately flew backward, blood spraying wildly from his chest, and only stopped when he crashed into the wall. In his eyes, there remained doubt and disbelief.

That blade was too fast.

He had not seen it clearly at all.

He dared not believe that he, who would one day rely on the Heavenly Tribulation Armor to enter the Panic Ranking and become the supreme master of the martial arts world, had actually been defeated by a little girl.

Yu Liancheng stepped forward and placed his hand on Di Er Meng's shoulder. At this moment, wisps of black Qi were radiating from Di Er Meng's entire body, and her eyes held coldness and killing intent.

Di Er Meng could usually mobilize Demon Qi when attacking, but this time, in order to win with a single strike, she had mobilized a massive amount of Demon Qi; combined with her previous consumption of True Qi, she was unable to suppress the Demon Qi, and there was a tendency for her to suffer a Qi deviation.

Fortunately, with Yu Liancheng intervening, Di Er Meng quickly returned to normal.

"Brother Yu, I beat him."

Di Er Meng looked back and smiled, though her face was deathly pale.

Yu Liancheng felt a pang of heartache and pinched her cheek: "Do not enter the state of 'Demon' at will. If you really suffer a Qi deviation and become a female demon, no one will marry you in the future."

"Oh."

"However, you did very well this time."

"Hee hee."

The subsequent matters were simple. Yu Liancheng directly planted a Life and Death Talisman in Tie Kuangtu and made him thoroughly experience the taste of a fate worse than death, bringing him to heel. Not everyone had a master as unfathomable as Jia Dugu, nor the soul-transferring "He Sheng Du." After dangling the bait of forging the Peerless Divine Sword and guaranteeing his life—using both the carrot and the stick—Tie Kuangtu agreed to forge the sword together and released Tie Shen.

Although Tie Shen had lost all his cultivation, he had mastered the Iron Refining Hand for casting iron and melting gold. With his True Essence condensed on his hands and Yu Liancheng's assistance, he quickly recovered his strength and even ascended to a higher level, readily agreeing to jointly forge the Peerless Divine Sword.

As for how these two brothers privately resolved their grievances, Yu Liancheng could not be bothered; as long as Tie Kuangtu was kept alive, that was enough. When he saw Tie Kuangtu again the next day, the guy was black and blue, looking like a pig's head, which was somewhat laughable.

That night, Yu Liancheng spent his time on Tie Xin Dao.

He used the Heavenly Mandate Blade to enter the Jiukong Wujie again. After confirming the movements of Chang Sheng Bu Si Shen, a thought suddenly crossed his mind: could he use the Jiukong Wujie to gain insight into his own future?

In the original timeline, the Sword Saint's lover Gongben Xueling used another weapon to enter the Jiukong Wujie and dragged the Sword Saint into it, and the Sword Saint actually saw the scene of his future duel with Xiongba through the Jiukong Wujie, thereby further comprehending Jian Twenty-Three.

In other words, the Jiukong Wujie possessed the ability to view certain nodes of the future.

Thus, with a shift in his thoughts, Yu Liancheng began to use the Heavenly Mandate Blade to stir the Jiukong Wujie, using it to search for his own future reflection.

One hour passed...

Two hours passed...

Three hours passed...

It was not until the sky turned bright that Yu Liancheng opened his eyes, his brows slightly furrowed: "Blank... completely blank..."

Yu Liancheng did not find his reflection in the future; all he saw was a blank space. Those who had come into contact with him, including Mo Baisuzhen, Di Er Meng, Yan Ying, and others, were also a blank space. As for Bu Jingyun, Duan Lang, and others whom he had never contacted, he could still catch glimpses of clues through the Jiukong Wujie, though they were very blurry.

Yu Liancheng fell into deep thought.

After a long while, he had a vague guess.

The Nine-Empty Boundless World was a reflection of the Fengyun world, and Yu Liancheng, as a person from beyond the heavens, did not belong to this world at all. His actions were no different from drawing on a blank sheet of paper; he could act as he pleased, and it could not reflect what his next stroke would be. Anyone who came into contact with him was also influenced by him, their fates diverging from the original, and thus they also became a blank space.

Even those he had not contacted were vaguely affected, their fates becoming blurry.

"Forget it, the future is inherently full of changes. If everything truly followed a predetermined path, it would be far too boring." Yu Liancheng shook his head, not dwelling too much on the future.

He looked out the window; it was already getting late, and it was time to leave.

"Chang Sheng Bu Si Shen, your Heavenly Level Mohe is now complete; let us fight once more."

This time, it was time to finish off that old fellow, Chang Sheng Bu Si Shen.