Chapter 207: Dialogue with the Sword Saint

After a bout of entanglement with Long Er, Duan Fengyun sensed that Long Er was beginning to run out of strength.

However, the exhausted Long Er's momentum continued to surge, as if he were making a final, desperate struggle.

Seeing this situation, Duan Fengyun knew things were looking bad; if this continued, both he and Long Er would surely suffer mutual destruction.

And for Long Er to have used Sword Twenty-Three at such a young age, there would certainly be difficult-to-recover-from aftereffects.

Duan Fengyun decided to stop fighting first and attempt to awaken Long Er.

And the first thing he had to do was return to his original appearance.

He grabbed his messy hair and pulled hard, and a human-skin mask, complete with hair and a beard, was peeled off his head.

After revealing his own handsome and dashing face, Duan Fengyun began to call out to Long Er softly:

"Long Er, wake up quickly, it's Dad.

Long Er, wake up quickly."

At this moment, the dazed Long Er looked coldly at Duan Fengyun, images of Duan Fengyun constantly surging through his mind, and Long Er slowly lowered the long sword in his hand, thinking silently.

Just then, a ray of light appeared behind Long Er, and a figure Duan Fengyun was incredibly familiar with appeared.

"Senior Jiansheng!"

Duan Fengyun called out.

Jiansheng smiled slightly at Duan Fengyun:

"Nephew, I truly did not misjudge you; only a short time has passed, and your strength has already surpassed mine.

My fate with you is truly deep; my reincarnation in this life has actually become your foster son.

In the past, I taught you Sword Twenty-Two and the Holy Spirit Sword Technique.

I never expected that you would now teach Sword Twenty-Two and the Holy Spirit Sword Technique to my reincarnation.

Perhaps this is the fate between you and me."

Duan Fengyun pretended to be surprised and ignorant:

"Senior, are you saying, are you saying that Long Er is your reincarnation!"

The figure of Jiansheng nodded and said:

"Yes, my obsession with the sword has allowed me to continuously reincarnate and be reborn, all to reach the pinnacle of the sword."

Duan Fengyun nodded, indicating he understood, and immediately asked the question he was worried about:

"Senior, according to what you said and what just happened, was it you, Senior, who taught Long Er Sword Twenty-Three?

And also, whenever Long Er encounters danger, will you appear?"

Jiansheng shook his head and said:

"Regarding the matter of Sword Twenty-Three, I also find it very strange.

According to my calculations, my reincarnation in this life should not have comprehended Sword Twenty-Three for another ten years.

Unexpectedly, because of the training you put him through, his willpower became stronger and stronger, and he learned Sword Twenty-Three in a dream ahead of time.

As for the second question, I know what you are worried about!

You are worried that if I step in to save Long Er every time he encounters danger, he will never be able to break through the gates of life and death and become truly talented.

You don't need to worry about that; my willpower was supposed to have dissipated, but for some unknown reason, I actually awakened within my reincarnation of this life.

After I borrowed his body to use Sword Twenty-Three this time, my willpower has already begun to scatter.

I was just prepared to exhaust my last bit of willpower to perish together with you, but I never imagined it was you.

Nephew, I leave my reincarnation in your care.

I can see that you are also interested in Sword Twenty-Three, but I tell you, you are not suited for Sword Twenty-Three.

Sword Twenty-Three requires one to be free of attachments, with only the sword in one's heart; you have too many attachments, and you cannot unleash the true power of Sword Twenty-Three.

Nephew, I hope we have a chance to meet again someday!"

After speaking, the golden light dissipated, and Dugu Jiansheng vanished again.

"Senior!"

Duan Fengyun called out, but there was no one left to answer him.

Jiansheng's final answer put Duan Fengyun much more at ease; he had been worried that Jiansheng would come out to save Long Er every time he encountered danger, which would harm Long Er.

As someone who had been through it, Duan Fengyun knew that to go further on the path of martial arts, one must experience many life-and-death trials.

Only by lingering between life and death can one break through to a new realm.

If Jiansheng were to come out and save Long Er every time he was in danger, then Long Er would be ruined.

Fortunately, Jiansheng had now faded away, and Long Er could face crises on his own.

Duan Fengyun picked up Long Er's Liangji Sword, slung both the Liangji Sword and his own Xuanyuan Sword onto his back, and then picked up Long Er and slowly walked out of the Heavenly Prison.

Outside the Heavenly Prison, Ma Li, who was watching Duan Fengyun carry Long Er out, stepped forward and asked:

"Prince of Equal Rank, is Young Master Long Er alright!"

"He is fine; go fetch my horse for me.

I will take Long Er back to rest, and he will be fine."

Duan Fengyun instructed.

Soon, Duan Fengyun's fast horse was brought over; Duan Fengyun laid Long Er across the horse, mounted it himself, and hurried toward the Dragon Gate.

Watching Duan Fengyun's departing back, Ma Li muttered to himself:

"This Prince of Equal Rank is truly ruthless.

Even though Young Master Long Er is only his foster son, I didn't expect him to strike so heavily.

It seems I must never offend this Prince."

Ma Li walked into the Forbidden Land with curiosity, and was given a huge fright.

Because of the great battle between Duan Fengyun and Jiansheng, the entire Tianlao Jindi was already a mess.

Ma Li now had only one thought in his mind:

"The Prince is truly ruthless!"

"Someone, go bring those prisoners back and lock them back in their original places.

Also, find people to repair the Forbidden Land; in this state, it hardly looks like a Forbidden Land anymore."

Ma Li instructed his subordinates to the side.

Meanwhile, Duan Fengyun, who was riding a horse back to the Longmen, kept sneezing on the horse.

Without needing to think, Duan Fengyun knew who was talking about him behind his back.

Looking at that Ma Li's expression, he knew what that guy was daydreaming about; when he next arrived at the Huangcheng, he would definitely have to invite him to 'have tea' properly.

The fast-riding Duan Fengyun soon returned to the Longmen, and looking at the unconscious Long Er on the horse, the Mountain Gate disciples asked:

"Leader, Young Master Long Er, he?"

Duan Fengyun replied:

"He is just asleep after being exhausted, it is nothing to worry about.

You all take the horse to the stables for me!"

Duan Fengyun carried Long Er to Long Er's room, and after covering Long Er with the quilt, Duan Fengyun carefully closed the door and came to the courtyard.

In the courtyard, Nie Feng and the other two, who had heard the news and rushed over, asked anxiously:

"Junior Brother Duan, how is Long Er?

What exactly happened to you all?

Why did I hear that Long Er was unconscious when he returned? Did some accident occur?"

Facing the continuous questions from Nie Feng, Qin Shuang, and Bu Jingyun, Duan Fengyun was a bit overwhelmed.

"Senior brothers, don't be anxious, let's go to my room and talk slowly.

I am afraid of disturbing Long Er's sleep here!"

Thus, the four changed locations and arrived in Duan Fengyun's room.

After pouring a cup of water for himself and the three others, and finishing the water, Duan Fengyun was ready to answer their questions.

Qin Shuang asked:

"Junior Brother Duan, how did things turn out like this?

Could it be that there was some variable in the plan?"

Regarding this assessment plan for Long Er, it was decided by the four of them together.

They wanted to see if Long Er had the courage to cut off his own arm to survive and fight to the death when facing danger.

And for this plan, Duan Fengyun had already sent someone to notify the Supreme, asking the Supreme to clear out the Heavenly Prison for one night for him to use.

The plan that the four thought was flawless resulted in Long Er falling into a coma.

They did not believe that it was Duan Fengyun who hurt Long Er.

As a doting father like Duan Fengyun, no matter who hurt Long Er, Duan Fengyun would not hurt a single hair on Long Er, so it must have been a variable in the plan.

Duan Fengyun nodded, confirming Qin Shuang's suspicion; there was indeed a variable in this plan.

Amidst the three's confusion, Duan Fengyun began to recount:

"The beginning and middle of the story were exactly the same as in our plan.

Long Er successfully snuck into the Heavenly Prison, then opened the iron lock of the Tianlao Jindi, and met the Zhu Qingtian I was disguised as.

I also used the identity of Zhu Qingtian to constantly provoke Long Er, and then engaged him in battle.

Under my seemingly murderous offensive, Long Er unleashed his greatest potential.

And this greatest potential of his, I have seen before, and you, Yun, have also seen it before!"

Bu Jingyun pointed at himself in confusion and asked:

"Junior Brother Duan, stop keeping us in suspense, just say it!"

Duan Fengyun then continued:

"At the moment of life and death, Long Er used the Sword Twenty-Three that Jiansheng once used to nearly kill Xiongba!"

"What! Sword Twenty-Three!"

Bu Jingyun could not help but let out a huge sound of surprise.

Although he did not see Jiansheng use Sword Twenty-Three with his own eyes, he had seen Xiongba, who was nearly sent away by this move.

The three had only one thought in their minds at this moment:

"Why does Long Er know Sword Twenty-Three!"

The three thought about it, but did not interrupt Duan Fengyun.

So Duan Fengyun continued to recount:

"After a fierce battle with Long Er, who was using Sword Twenty-Three, I felt that the exhausted Long Er was preparing for a final struggle.

So I took the initiative to remove my disguise to meet Long Er, but Long Er did not recognize me.

Then a golden figure appeared behind Long Er; the figure was the residual Willpower of Jiansheng.

Jiansheng told me that because of his obsession with the sword, he kept reincarnating, and Long Er is his reincarnation in this life.

Jiansheng said he also did not know why Long Er learned Sword Twenty-Three in advance.

Because according to his estimation, Long Er would only learn it ten years later; Jiansheng believed that perhaps it was our training of Long Er that caused Long Er to awaken his memory of Sword Twenty-Three early.

Jiansheng finally said that because he used Sword Twenty-Three this time, his Willpower would completely disappear, and he would not be able to save Long Er if he encountered danger in the future.

After Jiansheng finished speaking, he disappeared.

And Long Er has been in a coma ever since Jiansheng disappeared."

"This is the variable that appeared in this plan; I also did not know that Long Er would actually be the reincarnation of Jiansheng."

After listening to Duan Fengyun finish telling this story, which sounded like a fantasy, Nie Feng, Qin Shuang, and Bu Jingyun looked at one another; they truly could not bring themselves to believe the story Duan Fengyun had told.

How could there be such a thing as reincarnation in a person's life? This was something they truly found very hard to accept.

However, they knew that Duan Fengyun definitely was not lying to them. But when the three of them thought about everyone from Chang Sheng Bu Si Shen to Di Shitian and then to Xu Fu, since there were already people who were immortal, it was not strange for someone capable of reincarnation to appear.

Nie Feng asked:

"Junior Brother Duan, since that is the case, does Long Er's assessment this time count as having passed or not?"

Duan Fengyun thought for a moment and replied:

"It definitely counts. From beginning to end, Long Er never once admitted defeat."

"Cultivation, wisdom, courage, decisiveness, and an indomitable spirit—Long Er already possesses everything needed to roam the jianghu. It is time for us to let him go out and roam."

"Flowers in a greenhouse may grow to be very beautiful, but they cannot withstand the ravages of wind and rain."

"Back then, we were probably not even as old as Long Er, yet we were ordered by Xiongba to attack cities and seize territory, and we still accomplished it."

"We must have confidence in Long Er and believe that he can surpass his mentors."

Regarding Duan Fengyun's answer, the three of them, Nie Feng included, held the same view.

Long Er now needed to independently go out and roam the jianghu; if they kept guarding Long Er's side, Long Er would never be able to grow.

After reaching a consensus, the four of them prepared to tell Long Er this good news once he woke up.

From this point on, Long Er would be able to realize his dream: to walk the world with his sword and live freely in the jianghu.

In this very instant, the four of them suddenly had the feeling that they were getting old.

(https: //. 23xstxt. /book)

. 23xstxt. m. 23xstxt.