Chapter 1 The Compromise

The Wen family cultivators came quickly, and retreated even faster.

Ye Chuxiao stood beside Nanshan, unable to resist asking, "Is that all there is to it?"

Although both Nanshan and Wen Xianfu exchanged polite words at the end, Ye Chuxiao didn't believe it was a true reconciliation.

On the contrary, it seemed more like a compromise under mutual understanding.

Nanshan thanked Wen Xianfu for his 'knowing when to stop,' and for Wen Xianfu's previous reminder, whether intentional or unintentional.

It was because of Wen Xianfu's 'reminder' that Nanshan found the key to breaking the deadlock.

And Wen Xianfu's 'take care' could be seen as a blessing, but also as a 'warning.'

It might seem complicated, but as long as one pondered the entanglement between Nanshan and the Wen family, it would become clear that this seeming complexity was, in fact, quite natural.

The accumulation of kindness and resentment between them was already profound. How could a brief conclusion fully encompass the goodwill or malice in a moment's thought and judgment?

Hearing this, Nanshan sighed softly and said, "For now, that's all we can do."

Turning his head to Ye Chuxiao, he said, "Accompany me for a walk in the streets?"

Ye Chuxiao nodded and said, "Alright!"

Together, they stepped onto the bluestone slabs of the mountain path, and under the watchful eyes of a cool breeze, re-entered the magical prosperity of Wenjia Mountain City.

The news of Nanshan's return to Wenjia Mountain City after retiring spread quickly.

At the same time, rumors claimed that the city lord of Wenjia Mountain City, Wen Xianfu, had chased after him for eight hundred *li*, repeatedly pleading to bring Nanshan back, causing the originally returned Nanshan to change his mind.

The world praised the Wen family for their righteousness, and Nanshan for dedicating himself to the Wen family.

Even the plum blossoms that filled the city that day were regarded as a good omen, a special phenomenon created by the Wen family to celebrate Nanshan's return.

In the eyes of outsiders, Nanshan's sensational farewell and dramatic return were proof of the bond between Nanshan and the Wen family.

With this departure and return, the Wen family gained a good reputation, and Nanshan's name was praised, making it a win-win situation.

It also added some cultural depth to the magical and prosperous Wenjia Mountain City.

Conspiracy theorists might also believe that this was an excellent marketing scheme.

At least after this incident, the number of merchants and travelers coming to Wenjia Mountain City suddenly increased by nearly 30%, bringing huge profits to the Wen family.

As the backdrop to the real events, Ye Chuxiao stayed in the plum garden for about ten days before returning to his original small courtyard. Nangong Zi, who seemed to have been forgotten, was still imprisoned in the formation, diligently cultivating the Denglou secret technique, planning to shock the world and wash away her shame.

Seeing Nangong Zi, Ye Chuxiao was even more convinced that the previous statement about vacating the small courtyard for a 'distinguished guest' was just a pretext.

Purely to disgust people.

Everything seemed to return to its original trajectory.

But it also seemed to have changed.

More people came to challenge Ye Chuxiao.

Among them were many infamous figures who had been famous in the martial world for a long time.

They wouldn't stop at just touching gloves, their challenge style was to decide both the winner and the loser, and life and death.

These kinds of fierce people originally needed a certain amount of review to set foot in Wenjia Mountain City, but now someone seemed to have opened a door of convenience for them.

But it didn't matter, Ye Chuxiao needed them to help hone his skills.

The foundation of the Wisdom Realm (Hui Jing) is to first stand out from the past accumulation and insights, create something that belongs to oneself, and burst out with the true spark of wisdom.

And in this process, the mind, will, along with the true *qi* and spiritual roots in the body, as well as the flesh and so on, will all transform together.

The improvement of realm is never singular.

The reason for emphasizing the mind realm is because it is the most difficult and most critical pass, but not the only pass.

And it is precisely because of the mind pass that this is a process that cannot be 'perfunctorily' dealt with.

It is a very superficial understanding to think that simply creating a 'cultivation method' or 'martial art' can be considered a breakthrough to the Wisdom Realm (Hui Jing).

Creating independent martial arts or cultivation methods is an appendage to the 'result' of entering the Wisdom Realm (Hui Jing), not a true indicator.

What is important is the kind of transformation from the inside out that is completed in the process of finding oneself.

If it cannot help transformation, if it cannot truly condense wisdom, and if a unique wisdom Dao fruit is not born in the mind, then even creating a hundred different martial arts and cultivation methods is just a waste of time.

One battle after another allowed Ye Chuxiao to quickly summarize and collate the teachings he had received from Nanshan in the midst of fierce combat.

Those once-unanswered doubts were repeatedly answered in battle.

Some questions that were thought to have been answered, but after some time, felt inappropriate, and after some more time, had new answers.

Such repetition is life.

Life has no standard answer, and cultivation is naturally the same.

Bathing, drinking tea, and then changing into comfortable clothes to go out.

Today, Ye Chuxiao still had to go to the appointment to fight.

The opponent was the young master of the Yan (Flame) Blade Sect, who had touched the threshold of the Wisdom Realm (Hui Jing) at a young age, and was the best opponent Ye Chuxiao had encountered in recent days.

Moreover, the other party also used a blade, and during the fight, they would probably be able to promote and ignite more sparks of wisdom.

Outside the door, many of Ye Chuxiao's recently acquired followers had been waiting for a long time.

"Tyrant Blade (Ba Dao) Xiao! Will you still win today?" A gambler shouted from the crowd.

Ye Chuxiao did not answer, but jumped on his horse and went straight to the martial arts arena.

A long line of people followed behind him, and some bookmakers took the opportunity to develop potential customers in the crowd.

Of course, those who were truly addicted to gambling had already placed their bets before.

Outside the eleventh martial arts arena in Wenjia Mountain City, a crowd of spectators who had received the news in advance had already gathered.

Of course, there were also some people who didn't know what was happening, but just came to join in the fun.

"Who is fighting?"

"Tyrant Blade (Ba Dao) Xiao Ye and the young master of the Yan (Flame) Blade Sect, Zong Hou, this is bound to be a fierce battle, there will be a good show to watch," said someone who knew.

"Tyrant Blade (Ba Dao) Xiao Ye has already won more than forty consecutive matches, and in the last twenty or so matches, he defeated his enemies with one blade, including famous fierce people such as the Three Fiends of Dangshan, the Two Devils of Northern Thailand, the Poisonous Nun, and the Heartless Dharma Master. It is said that these fierce people were imprisoned by him after being defeated, and tortured day and night, just because he acted domineeringly, hence the name Tyrant Blade (Ba Dao)."

"I think Xiao Ye will win this match!" said a supporter of Ye Chuxiao.

"The people you mentioned, although they are fierce, they rely on their fierceness to make a living in the martial world. The young master of the Yan (Flame) Blade Sect is different. He is truly from a famous family. Not only has he been taught the unique skills of the Yan (Flame) Blade Sect, but he has also been a disciple of Old Ancestor Kuangfeng (Mad Wind), learning the Five Wind Magic of Old Ancestor Kuangfeng (Mad Wind). I don't believe that he will lose to Tyrant Blade (Kuang Dao)."

The spectators discussed, with differing opinions.

Only the bookmakers who opened the gambling had the most say.

The odds for Ye Chuxiao and Zong Hou are now one to one point five.

It was not very far apart, but obviously everyone was more optimistic about Ye Chuxiao.

After all, Ye Chuxiao's previous record was indeed brilliant.

What's more, Wenjia Mountain City can be considered his home field to some extent.

The audience's guesses and thoughts could not be heard by Ye Chuxiao, who was standing on the martial arts stage at this time.

At this time, his breathing had slowed down, and his whole person had entered a state of 'only me.'

In his eyes, there was not even an opponent.

Only himself.

The opponent was just a mirror, and what needed to be reflected was only oneself.

Zong Hou, on the other hand, had his true *qi* surging around him, and at the same time, his spiritual roots swayed, igniting the surrounding heaven and earth spiritual *qi*, and the air was filled with a burning aura.

In an instant, the spiritual light released from him was scorching and terrifying.

His heart, his true *qi*, his shaking energy, were all telling a single truth... Flame!

From the surface state, Zong Hou seemed to be ahead of Ye Chuxiao, having passed the process of pleasing the heart and finding himself, and entering the stage where his heart replaced the heart of heaven.

This stage is not unique to Intent Realm cultivators, but Intent Realm cultivators have already turned this ability into an instinct, truly achieving independence from the rules of heaven and earth from the root.

Looking at Ye Chuxiao, who was standing with his blade, Zong Hou always felt that it was increasingly difficult to lock onto Ye Chuxiao's 'position.'

He seemed to be hidden behind a cloud of mist and snow, difficult to see clearly.

The more he tried to identify it, the more unfathomable the answer he got.

Zong Hou did not continue to wait. He knew that he could not let Ye Chuxiao continue to be so 'self-absorbed,' otherwise there would eventually be a moment when Ye Chuxiao would disappear in his eyes, and then he might only be able to welcome Ye Chuxiao's blade.

Suddenly reaching out and grasping the blade, the blade was unsheathed, and the explosive flames burst out from the scabbard.

In an instant, Zong Hou's scabbard seemed to contain a river of magma.

The blade light lit up, and the whole world was red.

*Qi* energy traction, Ye Chuxiao took the lead, and the Yuanyang Treasure Blade had already slashed towards Zong Hou.

Ye Chuxiao still didn't look at Zong Hou, and acted only out of instinct.

This blade was not a unique blade technique created by Ye Chuxiao.

On the contrary, it was the 'Snow' style among the nine blade techniques.

Using this style again was very different.

The swirling snowstorm of goose feathers raised by the blade light had long disappeared, leaving only the invisible chill.

The blade was very cold, but not as cold as the human heart.

The sound of double blades clashing continued to sound.

Visible flames and invisible cold air collided in mid-air, bursting out with popping sounds.

From confrontation to entanglement, it was actually only a moment or two.

Before the audience could react, they had already fought into a ball, turning the martial arts stage into a stage for them to display at will.

Ye Chuxiao was obsessed with 'me,' completely ignoring his opponent, but every blade was icy and decisive, forcing his opponent into a desperate situation.

And that 'Snow' of the nine blade techniques of the Blade Master seemed to have been completely transformed into 'Chill' by Ye Chuxiao.

And with this 'Chill' formula, he evolved a set of exquisite blade techniques.

But this was only the appearance. Ye Chuxiao's heart and spirit were still chaotic and were not occupied by the ice and cold.

Chill was only a technique, not the Dao.

Under Ye Chuxiao's constant pressure, Zong Hou did not give in, but chose to compete head-on. The blade light was like a galloping fire, with the determination to burn the sky and boil the sea. Every blade that fell was like a desperate blade that burned the last drop of blood, but after this blade, he still had follow-up moves and could still burst out with more violent attacks.

The two were very tacit and temporarily did not use any other means besides non-martial cultivation techniques.

The two sides showed the essence of their blade techniques to the fullest, and the sound of the blade handles colliding was endless, spreading far away. The harsh sound of the blades rubbing made people's hair stand on end, only feeling their blood churning and extremely uncomfortable.

Those cultivators with weaker cultivation had to change their seats and retreat to a farther place to watch the battle, giving a free advantage to those viewers with higher cultivation but only purchased second-class seats.

As the battle reached its most intense point, Zong Hou finally couldn't hold back and burst out with his own will and wisdom.

The flames and shadows in the sky were taken back, and after a moment, the flames burned into Ye Chuxiao's heart along the flash of the blade light.

It ignited Ye Chuxiao's emotions such as desire, hatred, anger, resentment, and infatuation.

The sudden attack of poisonous fire on the heart caught Ye Chuxiao off guard.

Ye Chuxiao, whose seven emotions and six desires were already greater than ordinary people, was also a little unable to control himself at this moment, and various thoughts inevitably rose in his heart.

The figures of Ying Shu, Wen Tingting, Jin Sanniang, Wei Zhou, and even Yue Dongling appeared in Ye Chuxiao's heart. They were all wearing clothes that were so thin that they could even see the scenery, looking at Ye Chuxiao with full of charm, and their eyes were full of watery colors.

Yuan Shen, Shi Huang, and Jin Buyi were all kneeling on the side, seeming to be waiting for Ye Chuxiao to issue orders.

Ye Chuxiao bit the tip of his tongue sharply and woke up from that 'self.'

The 'Fire' style, which was not particularly familiar among the nine blade techniques of the Blade Master, was used smoothly.

The various thoughts squeezed in his heart were all discharged along with this blade.

As the various distracting thoughts in his heart were cleared away, Ye Chuxiao's heart was briefly clear.

After a moment, a formless glaze fire was ignited in this clarity.

What it burned was no longer emotion, but emptiness.

At this time, desire was no longer poison, but an antidote.

To outsiders, the fight between Ye Chuxiao and Zong Hou was still fierce.

But only Ye Chuxiao and Zong Hou knew that he had fallen into a disadvantage.

If he continued like this, Ye Chuxiao's fighting spirit would be burned out by the glazed emptiness fire.

By then, he would no longer have the heart to fight. A person who has lost his fighting spirit, even if he has thousands of means, would only be empty talk.

At this time, Ye Chuxiao could choose to continue to use the 'Fire' style, to control fire with fire, and gamble on a breakthrough in desperation.

He could also return to the chill, to restrain fire with cold, turning his own spirit platform into a second battlefield.

It was just that no matter which one he chose, it seemed that he was only passively welcoming the opponent's difficulties.

Therefore, Ye Chuxiao now had a third choice: to muster the remaining courage and swing his blade at the opponent.

This blade combined the first style of the Longevity Blade, Yin-Yang Cutting Distinguishes, but integrated the killing blade into the 'Thunder' style of the Blade Master's nine styles, and transformed it into a blade of judgment.

This blade was no longer just cutting off life and death, but also good and evil.

If good and evil are not rewarded, then the universe must be selfish.

Since Zong Hou had used two blades to ignite Ye Chuxiao's heart, then Ye Chuxiao would also return a questioning blade.

Using the power of heavenly punishment and lightning tribulation, he questioned him, "Is your heart free from guilt!"