Chapter 26: The Eve of the Great Battle

Seeing Jiansheng depart, Duan Fengyun also hurriedly bid farewell to Wuming: "Senior Wuming, this junior has important matters to attend to, so I shall take my leave first. Thank you for your hospitality, Senior; we shall meet again in the Jianghu."

Having said this, Duan Fengyun chased after Jiansheng.

Wuming watched the two as they left, his mind recalling the events of the past few decades with Jiansheng. A few minutes later, he said to Jian Chen: "Chen'er, Jiansheng's journey this time is fraught with peril; you shall go to the Tianxia Hui on behalf of your master. If Jiansheng meets with any misfortune, ensure you bury him properly. A dignified Jiansheng must not be humiliated by others after his death."

Just then, the Hero Sword in Jian Chen's hand began to tremble incessantly. The two, feeling strange, hurriedly ran to Wuming's sword storage room, only to see all the swords in the room planted in the ground in an orderly fashion, all facing the same direction, as if subjects bowing to an emperor.

Jian Chen asked in confusion: "What is wrong with these swords?"

Wuming said: "Swords also have spirits; they sense that an emperor among swords is about to be born, and they are afraid. In such a time of blood and carnage, the birth of such a sword—who knows how much strife it will stir up in the Jianghu."

He instructed Jian Chen: "After you finish at the Tianxia Hui, go and search for the trail of this sword. This sword must never fall into the hands of those with ulterior motives, or the martial arts world will surely be plunged into misery."

Before Jian Chen could answer, Wuming continued: "You are inexperienced in the world, and the hearts of people in the Jianghu are hard to fathom; you must be careful on this journey. If you have the chance to meet Duan Fengyun, then travel with him. Although Duan Fengyun acts eccentrically, he is not the type of despicable and shameless person; you will surely learn much by traveling with him."

Jian Chen, who had never ventured into the Jianghu alone, could hardly heed Wuming's teachings and agreed immediately.

In his heart, he kept muttering: "Who wants to travel with a glib-tongued person like Duan Fengyun? I, Jian Chen, am enough to roam the Jianghu alone."

Jian Chen, who had not experienced the strife of the Jianghu, did not listen to the elder's words and was destined to suffer the brutal lessons of the Jianghu.

While Duan Fengyun was getting to know two more Jianghu bigwigs, the lives of Qin Shuang and the others were full of ups and downs, surprises, and accidents.

Qin Shuang was bitterly practicing the Frost Fist in the extreme cold; before his fist technique reached perfection, he was discovered and fought a great battle against six of the Tianchi Twelve Killers. During the battle, he was no match for Tong Wang and was forced to jump into an ice cave, where he discovered the legendary ten-thousand-year snow fish. After eating a few snow fish, Qin Shuang felt his internal energy sublimate, and with this sublimation, he practiced the Frost Fist to its highest realm.

Under the guidance of Duan Fengyun, Nie Feng arrived at Lingyun Cave. Just as in the original story, he found the remains of his Nie Family ancestor, Nie Ying, in this "cheat" dungeon. Beside the remains, he found the family's blade technique, Cold Pride, and the Ice Heart Formula.

As Nie Feng channeled the Ice Heart Formula and practiced the moves of Cold Pride, the Snow Drink Blade flew out from the cave as if summoned.

Having learned all of Cold Pride and the Ice Heart Formula in Lingyun Cave, Nie Feng was preparing to leave when he discovered the very Blood Bodhi that Duan Fengyun had found earlier. After consuming two Blood Bodhi, all of Nie Feng's hidden injuries were healed, and his cultivation became even stronger than before.

The straightforward boy Nie Feng, seeing that the Blood Bodhi had such miraculous effects, did not forget to pick a few more to find an opportunity to give to Qin Shuang, Duan Fengyun, and Bu Jingyun. This was much more straightforward than Duan Fengyun, who had quietly eaten the Blood Bodhi alone (PS: At this moment, Duan Fengyun was yawning continuously).

Bu Jingyun, on the other hand, was ignorant of the immensity of heaven and earth. After finding the Sword Twenty-Two that Duan Fengyun had intentionally left for him in the ice cave, he believed that as long as he had a divine weapon, he could take revenge on Xiongba. Fortunately, Duan Fengyun did not know his thoughts; otherwise, given Duan Fengyun's personality, he would have berated this ignorant Yun to death.

After burying Kong Ci properly, Bu Jingyun boldly went to the Tianxia Hui to steal the Wushuang Sword and fought Xiongba, but he was struck by Xiongba and his left arm was shattered within a few moves, forcing him to flee in a panic. Fortunately, with the help of Youruo once again, he managed to escape with his life.

In the end, Bu Jingyun encountered Yu Chuchu and her father, and Yu Yue gifted his own Kirin Arm to its true master—Bu Jingyun.

The two "cheat" characters, Feng and Yun, had each obtained their respective blue buff and red buff.

Perhaps Bu Jingyun had forgotten the pain once the wound healed; feeling that he hadn't annoyed Xiongba enough, he actually killed the Capture God, Xiongba's son who had come to arrest Yu Yue, and even sent the Capture God's ashes to the Tianxia Hui.

Looking at the ashes, Xiongba immediately had an ominous premonition. When he saw the letter saying his son had been killed by Bu Jingyun, Xiongba was both heartbroken and furious.

Heartbroken over his son's death, and furious that he hadn't killed Bu Jingyun sooner.

Unable to bear the pain of losing his son, Xiongba recalled all the Tianchi Twelve Killers who were hunting Qin Shuang and Nie Feng, ordering his entire force to hunt down Bu Jingyun.

Bu Jingyun had inadvertently done many things for Nie Feng and Qin Shuang.

When Bu Jingyun learned that Jiansheng was going to fight Xiongba, he once again prepared to rush to the Tianxia Hui with Chuchu without stopping.

He believed that Xiongba could only die by his hand; he wanted to stop Jiansheng from killing Xiongba.

It is unknown whether he had become arrogant after obtaining the Kirin Arm, or if he wanted to throw himself into the net.

After Jiansheng left Zhonghua Lou, he strode toward the Tianxia Hui. Even with the Wind God Leg, Duan Fengyun still could not keep up with Jiansheng's pace.

Jiansheng knew that his trip to the Tianxia Hui was fraught with peril; he wanted to burn his own life to radiate the most brilliant light of his life. He wanted to break through the level of Sword Twenty-Two and create a Sword Twenty-Three that no mortal could create!

Duan Fengyun watched Jiansheng's back from far behind; he felt that Jiansheng at this moment was like a sword with its edge fully exposed, radiating immense light. He knew this was Jiansheng's ultimate sublimation, yet after the ultimate sublimation comes withering.

But he did not stop him; firstly, because he knew this was the most glorious moment of Jiansheng's life, and he would create the divine sword technique, Sword Twenty-Three. He himself also wanted to see what kind of world-destroying power this divine sword technique possessed.

Secondly, it was because Jiansheng's obsession with the Dao of the sword would cause him to constantly reincarnate. Now was Jiansheng's second reincarnation; the next Jiansheng, Long Er, would be the strongest of the three sword incarnations. As the third incarnation of Jiansheng, Long Er would play an indispensable role in breaking the Qianqiu Great Tribulation.

Therefore, Duan Fengyun never thought of stopping Jiansheng's actions; he just wanted to follow Jiansheng, watch the life-and-death struggle between the two strongest experts on the surface of the world, and then collect the body of the fallen Jiansheng and bury him properly.

Entering the state of ultimate sublimation, Jiansheng's momentum continued to rise, and his entire being became like a god. A man riding a horse ahead kept shouting for Jiansheng to move aside. At this moment, Jiansheng's heart was focused on nothing else; he would only move forward and paid no heed to the man.

Seeing that Jiansheng would not move, the man actually tried to drive his horse directly into Jiansheng. But the result was not as the man had imagined; the horse actually passed directly through Jiansheng's body, which scared the man so much that he wet himself and fell off the horse.

Seeing this, Duan Fengyun felt both amused and sad. He laughed at the ignorant man, but was saddened by Jiansheng. Because he felt that Jiansheng's aura was already gone; the current Jiansheng was relying entirely on his undying fighting spirit to keep walking forward.

Looking at the Tianxia Hui, Xiongba was also preparing for the upcoming battle, constantly practicing his Three Points Divine Finger.

He knew that this battle with Jiansheng was no small matter; this was the most powerful opponent he had encountered to date, and a moment of carelessness could cost him his life.

He also needed to constantly improve his Three Points Origin Returning Qi technique and practice the Three Points Divine Finger.