I Have A Sword

Chapter 977: Once More!

Clan Leader Jing!

Sifan Jing stared at Qiu Baiyi without speaking, but an invisible aura engulfed everything around the latter.

For the first time ever, Qiu Baiyi felt pressured. The words he had prepared beforehand suddenly became hard to speak, as they were all flowery words meant to deceive.

Qiu Baiyi steadied his mind and solemnly said, "Clan Leader Jing, I have come to ask for your help."

In the presence of a true elite like her, one had to avoid playing any tricks.

Sincerity was the best and only option.

Clan Leader Jing didn't speak but took a step forward.

Qiu Baiyi's face changed instantly. He clenched his fists tightly, and a powerful aura surged from him, causing the Time River around them to rise tens of thousands of meters high.

"Stop," Sifan Jing uttered.

The Time River froze as if its time had frozen.

Qiu Baiyi sensed something terrifying. His pupils shrank sharply, and in an instant, he was plunged into a dark void. He could still see Sifan Jing, who was gazing at him calmly with no emotions in her eyes.

However, he could feel himself moving farther and farther away from her.

To make matters worse, his fleshly body was disintegrating along with his soul. His consciousness was fading away as well.

At the critical juncture, Qiu Baiyi suddenly clenched his fists. A sword flew out from his sleeve, emitting a faint blood-red glow.

Slash!

The sword created a tiny tear in the void.

Spacetime shifted in the blink of an eye. Qiu Baiyi found himself in the original Time River, and blood was slowly trickling down the corner of his mouth.

Sifan Jing was still standing there, showing no intentions of making another move.

Qiu Baiyi wiped away the blood from his mouth and smiled. "Clan Leader Jing is still invincible. In this lifetime, apart from my elder brother, you're the second person I admire."

Sifan Jing didn't respond and simply turned around to leave.

Qiu Baiyi said nothing more, knowing that her earlier action was merely a test.

A complex light flashed in Qiu Baiyi's eyes, but it was mostly filled with admiration.

Reaching her current heights with a Mortal Physique was exceedingly difficult, even throughout the vast expanse. However, she still had unresolved inner conflicts. If it weren't for those, her strength would rise even higher.

But certain topics could never be brought up, as doing so would surely lead to death.

Qiu Baiyi took one last deep look into the distance before leaving.

Sifan Jing left the Time River and arrived at a small village.

The village was dilapidated and empty.

Sifan Jing walked to the entrance of the village and sat in an old, broken rocking chair before closing her eyes. It was silent; there weren't any other noises except for the howling wind.

***

After leaving the Time River, Qiu Baiyi arrived at a seashore. Not far in front of him stood a man dressed in clean, patched-up coarse robes. The man was holding a wooden sword in his arms, and his eyes were covered with a black band.

The man faced the sea without speaking or moving.

Qiu Baiyi walked to the man's side, took out a jug of wine, and handed it to him.

The man took it silently and took a big swig.

Qiu Baiyi said, "This is my final visit, and this is the last time I will ever drink with you."

The man remained silent.

Qiu Baiyi took out another jug of wine and sipped."Senior Brother, you know I've never accepted our master's decisions. I was always first in everything, yet Master always treated you as the successor.

"I know it's because I'm not human. I'm born from evil thoughts, after all, so he had never really approved of me, as he was afraid that I'd one day destroy the world."

The man remained silent.

Qiu Baiyi looked out at the sea, saying, "Humans have a saying, 'Prejudice in the human heart is like a mountain.' In our clan, I initially thought you all would truly accept me, but except for you, everyone bullied me when I was still weak.

"When I became strong, they feared and resented me. They tried their hardest to suppress me."

Qiu Baiyi chuckled and said, "Honestly, I never cared about the position of Clan Leader. How could I, Qiu Baiyi, ever covet such a thing? Even if it were given to me, I wouldn't want it. You believe me, right?"

The man remained silent.

"Only two people have ever been kind to me. The first is you, Senior Brother. I still remember when I first came to the clan. It was discovered that I had mediocre talent back then, and you're the only one who didn't despise me and practiced swords with me every day.

"Even after learning my identity, you treated me the same as the others, without any disdain."

Qiu Baiyi took another swig of wine.

The man still didn't respond.

"In any case, I do miss those days at the clan. Though the ending wasn't good, the process was enjoyable," Qiu Baiyi said. He then placed another jug of wine beside the man and turned around to leave.

Just then, the man said, "If you can't win, don't fight."

Qiu Baiyi stopped and smiled. "Senior Brother, what is evil? What is justice?"

The man remained silent.

Qiu Baiyi looked up into the distant stars and said softly, "Throughout history, no civilization has ever defined good and evil. There are only victors and losers. If we lose, we simply become the villains. Hahaha."

Qiu Baiyi's laughter disappeared into the starry sky with him.

Left all alone, the blindfolded man sighed to himself.

***

Inside the tiny pagoda, Ye Guan was researching the pagoda's unique spacetime with Yi Nian and Jing An.

His most powerful sword technique involved creating spacetime grids and using the Qingxuan Sword as a medium to unleash a million swords made out of sword intent.

The combination allowed him to sever three billion years' worth of lifespan in one strike! Of course, it was exceedingly difficult to perform that, as the resource consumption was just massive.

Yi Nian was doing some research on how the resource consumption could be curbed.

If Ye Guan could unleash that combo twice in a row, who could withstand it?

Two strikes would sever six billion years' worth of lifespan!

The thought of it alone was terrifying.

Jing An made rapid progress upon consuming a Tianxing Fruit, especially in the understanding of the tiny pagoda's spacetime. Of course, she was still behind Yi Nian and Ye Guan.

Jing An was above average throughout the Tianxing Civilization, but she was taking the easy route by learning from the two.

Just then, Yi Nian said, "There's just one way to reduce the cost—Spatial Overlapping."

She waved her hands, and the spacetime around her turned into boxes.

Then, those boxes overlapped.

Jing An and Ye Guan were shocked by the sight.

The spacetime boxes were folded, and Yi Nian compressed them.

Ye Guan and Yi Nian's expressions changed. They could feel danger staring at them.

Yi Nian's face became pale, showing how difficult it was to perform.

However, she didn't give. As the compression continued, a terrifying pressure emanated from the spacetime around them, causing Ye Guan and Jing An to grow even more solemn.

Soon, beaded sweat appeared all over Yi Nian's forehead.

Ye Guan's face showed concern.

Jing An frowned deeply, looking anxious.

When the spacetime boxes were compressed even further, the pressure around them skyrocketed.

Yi Nian's face became increasingly pale. She was clearly reaching her limits.

However, Ye Guan and Jing An dared not interrupt her.

Suddenly, Yi Nian said, "Sword."

Ye Guan waved his hand, and the Qingxuan Sword flew to Yi Nian.

Yi Nian then used her will to guide the sword into the compressed spacetime.

Boom!

The compressed spacetime trembled violently before gradually calming down. By now, the countless spacetime boxes had been folded into a small cube about the thickness of a book.

Yi Nian collapsed from exhaustion, and Ye Guan hurriedly caught her.

"It can be further compressed, but I'm not strong enough to do it. This is the best that I can do."

Ye Guan softly said, "You've done great."

Yi Nian blinked. "Really?"

"Really."

Yi Nian beamed with joy.

Ye Guan patted her head and stared at the compressed spacetime cube. His expression grew even more solemn.

The compression seemed to have changed the spacetime itself.

"It's even harder for you because compressing spacetime means compressing your sword intent as well." Yi Nian smiled wryly. "In other words, this isn't actually going to reduce the resource consumption. It increases the cost severalfold.

"But the attack will become even stronger, right?" asked Ye Guan.

Yi Nian nodded. "Yes."

Ye Guan smiled. "Once you've rested enough, I'll begin training immediately."

"Just go ahead and start now."

"How about we roast a lamb first?"

"Ah!" Yi Nian's eyes lit up, "Sure, sure!"

Jing An nodded excitedly as well as if she were a chicken pecking rice.

Ye Guan laughed heartily at the sight.

***

The Ascension World had become desolate, as the Nine Heavens were no more.

There were no longer any opportunities to seek, so the cultivators had practically abandoned the Ascension World.

Qiu Baiyi arrived at the Ascension World. He closed his eyes briefly and smiled.

"Come out!"

There was a slight movement in the distance before a flaming shadow rushed toward him.

Qiu Baiyi smiled. "Tell Young Master Ye that in three days, I will wait for him here."

The flaming shadow disappeared.

Qiu Baiyi took a deep breath and smiled. "In the same old place. My Evil Dao Alliance will fight your Yang Family from the Guanxuan Universe once more!"