Chapter 99: Epilogue (2)

(The old version has been overwritten. I just rewrote the ending; the beginning is the same. The parts starting from where there are three rows of ellipses are newly added. I hope there is an ending among them that you like.)

"So... you are prepared to make a move against me?"

"You are very eager to cross hands with me?" Yu Luosha's tone carried a hint of doubt.

"Of course!" At this moment, Yu Liancheng was filled with an unprecedented fighting spirit.

He longed to exchange blows with Yu Luosha.

He also longed to dispel the dark cloud that had been hanging over his heart ever since he arrived in this world.

"Good, I will grant your wish."

Yu Luosha moved.

His movement technique was as ethereal as an immortal and as dreamlike as mist; even with Yu Liancheng's keen eyesight, he could only see a faint human silhouette flying toward him.

In the blink of an eye, the mist-like figure crossed a distance of several zhang and appeared above Yu Liancheng, his right palm flipping over as he struck downward with a "Boom." This strike not only carried the momentum and speed of thunder, but was also drifting and vague, like smoke and mist, as if the attack had been launched from the void itself.

He had actually fused the essence of the "Wind Thunder Eighty-One Styles" and the "Yuluo Light Mist Palm" into one, transforming it into an incomparably exquisite move.

Yu Liancheng's fighting spirit grew even more intense; he threw his head back and laughed, his long black hair flying in the air.

His right hand opened and then suddenly clenched into a fist. The air squeezed out from between his fingers seemed to condense into substance, striking the ground and leaving four shallow pits.

He raised his fist upward, as if a mountain were rising across the sky.

Boom!!

In an instant, surrounded by lightning and thunder, the fist and palm collided without any pretense.

The space shook violently, and visible ripples spread in all directions like a raging hurricane, directly sweeping away all the surrounding mist.

"Good, I had already held you in high regard, but I did not expect your martial arts to have reached such a realm."

Yu Luosha drifted in mid-air, his eyes—indifferent as mist and almost devoid of any emotion—seeming to reveal a look of surprise.

"But I know that this is still far from your true ability." The ground beneath Yu Liancheng's feet sank inch by inch, collapsing for the most part, while his entire body suddenly surged upward, leaping into the air like an angry dragon ascending to heaven.

Boom!!

The two figures became entangled in mid-air, fists and palms slamming against each other; they exchanged hundreds of blows in the span of a few breaths.

Violent, vibrating sounds echoed through the long street, waking the town's residents from their sleep, trembling in fear as if their souls were being enveloped by an immense terror without them even realizing it.

The two figures continued to fight, their forms cutting through the sky and shooting off in one direction like meteors.

In the blink of an eye, the two had vanished from the long street, with only the continuous, rumbling sounds of their collision echoing from afar, which soon became impossible to hear clearly.

"Half-master..."

Shangguan Xueer's figure drifted out.

She had already returned to the inn, but the commotion from the two fighting was truly astonishing. Worried for Yu Liancheng's safety, she had flown over, carrying the "Duoqing Sword" in her palm with great difficulty.

At this moment, her face revealed a look of worry and hesitation.

What she worried about was that her half-master had encountered an unprecedentedly powerful enemy.

What she hesitated about was whether she should pursue them and lend her master a helping hand.

But given her martial arts, the gap between her and the two combatants was simply too vast.

To rashly assist would likely only make her a burden.

"Master told me to return to the inn earlier; had he already foreseen this battle? But if Master and his opponent are truly only a hair's breadth apart, if I don't go, wouldn't Master be in danger?"

After pondering for a moment, Shangguan Xueer reached a decision: "I will just deliver the 'Duoqing Sword' to Master and then watch from afar; once Master falls into a disadvantage, I will find a way to help him."

The young girl unfolded her movement technique and flew toward the place where Yu Liancheng and Yu Luosha had vanished.

Among the martial arts Yu Liancheng had taught her, she had learned his movement technique the fastest and best.

But because she was carrying the Duoqing Sword, which was overly heavy, even when she exerted her full strength, her speed was much slower than usual.

It took her a full quarter of an hour to catch up to where the two were fighting.

This was in a woodland area where the surrounding trees were snapped and broken, a scene of utter devastation as if a natural disaster had passed through; it was hard to imagine this was caused by two experts fighting.

In reality, when top experts fight, their internal energy is usually restrained and condensed into one, so such scenes are rare.

But both Yu Liancheng and Yu Luosha had cultivated their external martial arts to an extremely profound realm, and combined with their own deep, tyrannical, and overbearing internal power, every move they made was full of destructive force, thus creating the scene before her.

Shangguan Xueer stepped onto a large tree and gazed into the distance, where she could already see two figures as fast as wind and lightning, moving at an incredible speed.

Even though she focused her Qi into her eyes and used the moonlight, she could only see two blurred shadows and could not see them clearly.

Especially Yu Luosha; even while fighting, his whole person seemed to be shrouded in a layer of thin mist, appearing both real and illusory.

Bang!

Suddenly, the energy exploded, and one figure was sent flying backward; it was Yu Luosha.

The ethereal mist on Yu Luosha's body dissipated quite a bit, but his true face was still unclear. He said in surprise, "You have actually brought the 'Ruyi Heavenly Demon Art' to Great Completion?"

"Indeed, that is correct."

Yu Liancheng stood with his hands behind his back on a blue stone, his massive Qi and Blood permeating the air and surging toward the firmament. Within a radius of ten zhang, the temperature rose sharply under the impact of this vigorous Qi and Blood. Faintly, a sense of evil intent and demonic will seemed to radiate, twisting people's minds and souls.

At this moment, he had finally fully activated the "Ruyi Heavenly Demon Art," and he himself seemed like a Heavenly Demon running rampant, unrestrained and flamboyant.

"Come, let us fight with all our might."

His fist swung once more. This punch seemed to sever mountains, the airflow erupting like a tsunami and producing a continuous series of explosions.

Yu Luosha let out a cold snort and extended his palm. The vigorous palm energy was like a heavenly river pouring backward, meeting the attack head-on, while his figure became even more ethereal and unpredictable, as if he might dissolve into clouds and mist at any moment.

"Do not forget, the 'Great Brightness Canon' was compiled by me. No one understands the patterns and flaws of every martial art within it better than I do. You are destined to lose."

"Heh, if you were truly confident, you wouldn't be saying such things. You have grown old."

In the span of a single breath, the two could erupt into over a dozen exchanges.

They were not only battling with their physical bodies; their minds and Qi were also in constant conflict.

As for the human heart and the Heavenly Phenomenon, it seemed as if even the heavens were watching this battle. The gentle breeze gradually turned into a howling gale, and the world was filled with the sound of wailing ghosts. The clouds rolled and churned, stained with the color of ink, obscuring the light of the stars and moon, leaving the world in darkness.

Crack!

A bolt of lightning tore through the sky, slashing across the firmament, and a torrential downpour descended, covering the earth and blotting out the heavens.

Shangguan Xueer felt as if her entire body and soul were trembling.

She bit her lip, clutching her sword to her chest, and forcing down the terror in her heart, she darted toward where the two were exchanging blows.

She did not know how much time had passed, but drenched to the bone, she finally saw two blurred figures under the illumination of a lightning strike.

……

…………

……………………

Suddenly, all movement ceased.

Everything around was silent.

Dark clouds obscured the moonlight, and Shangguan Xueer did not know what had happened, so she could only focus her Qi into her ears and listen carefully.

"Why did you suddenly stop?" Yu Liancheng's voice drifted out from the Darkness. Even beneath the pouring rain, it could be heard with perfect clarity, as if it could reach straight into the soul.

"My foundation was damaged during this recent seclusion, and I am no longer your match. If we continue to fight, the only outcome will be my death and your injury."

Yu Luosha's voice, ethereal as mist, followed immediately after, though his breathing seemed somewhat ragged; clearly, he had not come through this fight easily. "Furthermore, we do not seem to have such deep hatred that we must fight to the death."

Yu Liancheng was silent for a moment. "But you should know, although you stopped, had I struck with my full palm force, you would have been severely injured even if you hadn't died."

Yu Luosha said indifferently, "But in the end, you did not strike, did you?"

Yu Liancheng sighed. "You did, after all, raise me; you have a debt of kindness toward me. I can spare my enemies, let alone you."

"No..."

Yu Luosha interrupted him sharply. "I have investigated every single thing you did in the Central Plains with the utmost care. The reason you did not strike your enemies is because they were already defeated and could never again pose a threat to you—any threat at all. To me... it is the same."

"Congratulations, you have defeated me, broken through the cage of your heart, and reached a higher level."

Yu Luosha's voice grew increasingly ethereal, so ethereal it was almost inaudible, and he himself was nowhere to be seen. "But I am truly old; it is time to let go. I know you do not care for power, so even if I were to hand the Rakshasa Cult over to you, in your eyes, it would be nothing more than a burden. Next spring, if you have time, you may come to the Great Brightness Realm to witness the inauguration ceremony of the new Sect Leader."

The rain gradually stopped, the clouds gradually dispersed, and moonlight once again spilled over the earth.

Shangguan Xueer saw her half-master again.

She had never seen her half-master look so disheveled.

His hair was loose and disarrayed, his clothes were torn, blood flowed from the corner of his mouth, and his body seemed to sway, as if he might collapse at any moment.

But his eyes were very bright, as if he were deep in thought.

His entire person also gave off a completely different feeling.

Yet, Shangguan Xueer could not say exactly what was different.

"Mas... Master..." Shangguan Xueer called out softly.

Yu Liancheng came back to his senses and looked at her with a smile.

This smile carried a childlike innocence and purity, and it was as if a ray of sunlight had broken through the dark clouds and spilled down from the sky, making one feel warm and illuminating all Darkness.

Shangguan Xueer was stunned by the sight.

"Let's go. We won't go beyond the pass; that bitter, cold land is not as comfortable as staying in the Central Plains." Yu Liancheng exhaled softly, looked toward the direction beyond the pass, and strode back.

"Master, the Duoqing Sword." Shangguan Xueer hurriedly chased after Yu Liancheng.

Yu Liancheng beckoned with his hand, and the Duoqing Sword flew from Xue'er's arms back into his hand. He stroked the blade gently and smiled. "Sometimes, there is no need to 'deprive emotion,' is there? Depriving emotion is not necessarily better than having an abundance of it."