The Sword Madman

When all sound and light faded, the surroundings seemed to sink into eternal, dead silence in an instant. And the moment everything went dark, Xu Yuan's heart sank slightly. He and Tianyan seemed to have miscalculated. Their relentless loss of personnel over the past seven years had led the Overseeing Heaven Pavilion and Taiqing Dao Palace to attach far greater importance to them than usual. Yet no matter how seriously they took it, past experience dictated that every hunting party had only a single Transcendent Realm expert overseeing it. Yet among the party before them, there was more than one Transcendent. Without the slightest hesitation, Xu Yuan used his Pure Yang Physique to conjure a ring of blazing flame arts around himself, then quickly began inspecting his own condition. Different Dao Charms manifested Dao domains with all kinds of bizarre powers, and the Dao Charm he and Tianyan were currently facing appeared to be the perception-blocking type. Hearing—blocked. Vision—blocked. Source Qi perception—blocked. Intent-soul probing—blocked. Four of a cultivator's seven senses sealed. Other than that, there did not seem to be any other negative effects for now. Sensing this, the heaviness in Xu Yuan's chest eased slightly. He only wondered how this Dao domain would unleash offensive attacks besides cutting off perception. Not every Dao Charm in the world specialized in slaughter, but owing to the constraints of the era and the cutthroat struggles between various factions, nearly every Transcendent expert developed one or two lethal techniques based on their own Dao domain. In a flash, countless thoughts flickered through his mind, and Xu Yuan's body moved almost on instinct. This was not his first time being dragged into a Dao domain by a Transcendent Realm expert. As a result, he already had some experience in dealing with Dao domains. Winning a fight was out of the question, but running away was an option. Most Dao domains deployed by Transcendent experts weren't exceptionally large—at minimum a diameter of a hundred zhang, at most a radius of a hundred zhang. Under normal circumstances, once an Origin Realm cultivator was caught inside, escape was essentially impossible. The inner walls of a Dao domain were exceptionally tough and difficult to break from within, and the area of coverage was centered on the caster, moving as they moved. With every advantage held by the Transcendent, so long as they had no intention of letting their prey go, it was practically impossible for an Origin Realm cultivator to slip away. With that thought, the art brewing within Xu Yuan's body finished circulating. Void-Stepping Slash. The spatial teleportation sword technique Qin Mo had devised back then could bypass the defenses of a Dao domain's inner barrier entirely, teleporting the user outside of it. Yet right as he was about to activate it, Tianyan's crisp voice suddenly sounded from the bottom of his heart: "Xu Yuan, don't move." Intent-soul voice transmission. The moment Xu Yuan heard Tianyan's voice, his state of mind settled considerably. The prerequisite for intent-soul transmission was being able to lock onto another person's qi signature. Since Tianyan could transmit her voice to him, it meant she was immune to the Dao domain's perceptual blockage. Halting his art at once, Xu Yuan instinctively looked around, but restricted by the effects of Xia Qing's Bellsound Black Domain, he could only hear her voice. The next moment, Xu Yuan felt a slender, delicate hand gently grasp his wrist. Tianyan's voice remained crisp, spoken softly and quickly: "The Heavenly Yan divine soul is immune to intent-soul erosion of this degree." "..." Hearing her words, the corner of Xu Yuan's mouth twitched slightly. The Heavenly Yan divine soul again... Over the past seven years, Tianyan had become practically immune to all illusion-based mental attacks. After a moment of silence, Xu Yuan quickly replied, "You're immune, but I'm not. Fighting in a Dao domain that blinds perception, my Meishen Dao Charm probably won't be able to hit them." If Tianyan, an Origin Realm cultivator, had a way to suppress the Charm God cherry poison, then those two Transcendents almost certainly had means to temporarily suppress the charm poison as well. Their only way to punch above their weight and slay a Transcendent was to use his Meishen Dao Charm to trigger the charm poison. However, he had not yet achieved Dao fusion, so the effective range of his Meishen Dao Charm was not very large. He had landed a blow earlier only because the opponent had been careless, and because the surprise attack with Void-Stepping Slash succeeded. If he tried it again, the opponent would certainly be on guard. In an environment where four of his seven senses were sealed, landing another hit on the opponent was next to impossible. The best choice now was undoubtedly to escape this Dao domain first. Once the charm poison from the Charm God tree seed fully took hold, they would have plenty of leeway whether they chose to flee or fight. As the thought crossed his mind, Tianyan murmured, "Relax." Immediately, Xu Yuan felt an invisible qi signature take shape before his eyes. The qi formed with incredible speed and swiftly merged into Xu Yuan's eyes. In his vision, the pitch-black surroundings gradually lit up a bit. Though intent-soul, Source Qi, and hearing remained blocked, his eyes could see once more. Looking at the girl enveloped in golden light beside him, Xu Yuan hesitated slightly. "This is..." "The Heaven Eye art. It can only last about a quarter of an hour. Any longer and it'll leave lasting damage on your eyes." Tianyan answered offhandedly, her gaze locked onto the lake below. "Earlier, that woman dove down to save the man you impaled." "..." Xu Yuan looked down upon hearing that. Piercing through the clear, dark lake water, he faintly made out a man and woman embracing in the depths. He raised an eyebrow. "No wonder she didn't attack us with arts right away. Going to save the man first... It seems their relationship is far from ordinary." "That goes without saying." Accompanied by a sudden churning across the lake's surface, two figures abruptly broke out of the water. Drenched from head to toe, Tang Ruofu held his sword in one hand while wrapping his other arm around Xia Qing's waist. He looked up at Xu Yuan in midair and chuckled, "Junior, you have some tricks up your sleeve, but unfortunately, you don't seem to have grasped 'Intent.' If you had comprehended Intent, that strike just now would have at least severely wounded me. Truly a pity..." As he spoke, he lightly tapped his chest with the pommel of his sword. There was a foot-wide hole in his clothing, yet the wound beneath had already fully healed. "..." Listening to his words, a thoughtful look crossed Xu Yuan's eyes. "Just now... did you take that strike on purpose?" Tang Ruofu didn't answer immediately. Instead, he leaned down to whisper a few words into the woman's ear, then, beneath her glare of angry exasperation, tossed her gently toward the edge of the shore. Upon landing by the bank, Xia Qing clenched her fists, but made no further move. She merely glared helplessly at the sword-wielding man in the black-patterned robes with azure sleeves. Seeing this bizarre scene unfold between the two, Xu Yuan's eyes showed a hint of puzzlement. Tianyan sent a direct transmission: "He told her he's very interested in us, and told her to wait and leave it to him to handle." Right, the Heaven-Deducing Art again. Xu Yuan was speechless. Then, a flicker of curiosity entered his gaze toward the middle-aged man below. Since the other party had no intention of attacking immediately, he was more than happy to make small talk. Meeting his eyes for a moment, Tang Ruofu smiled and asked, "Where were we? Oh right, whether I took that sword strike on purpose. "Yes, I really did let you stab me on purpose." Xu Yuan furrowed his brows slightly and gave a soft chuckle. "Oh? Why?" "Because I'm quite interested in the sword technique you used earlier. I've never heard of the Qionghua Sect having such an ingenious move. Did you create it yourself, kid?" Tang Ruofu stroked the stubble on his chin and eyed Xu Yuan with keen interest. "Oh, and by that, I don't mean the strike infused with your Meishen Dao Charm, but the move that teleported you right in front of me, along with that splash of ink-like sword trace." Xu Yuan narrowed his eyes. He twirled his three-foot blade casually through the air and replied offhandedly, "What does being interested in my sword technique have to do with purposely letting me stab you?" "Of course it does." Tang Ruofu spread his hands, pointed a finger at himself, and grinned. "Because I like you." "..." The air suddenly grew quiet. The corner of Xu Yuan's eye twitched, and he instinctively stepped back half a step. Tianyan silently stepped forward half a step. "..." After a moment of silence, seeing their reaction, Tang Ruofu's eyes flickered. He slapped his forehead and chuckled, shaking his head. "Don't get the wrong idea. I have no penchant for men, and I have zero interest in the body of a junior like you. I just really like your sword skills." With that, Tang Ruofu narrowed his starlike, sharp sword-eyes and smiled. "With such attainments in the Sword Dao, if I were to crush you using sheer cultivation depth, I, Tang Ruofu, would probably regret it for the rest of my life." "Heh..." Hearing this, Xu Yuan let out a low chuckle and rubbed the space between his eyebrows. "So you want to fight me while heavily injured?" Tang Ruofu nodded with utmost seriousness and sighed. "Yes. Once I get into a fight, I can never control my strength, so injuring myself is the only way to create a relatively fair playing field. "Though sadly, you don't seem to have grasped Intent." As he spoke, Tang Ruofu tossed his longsword into the air, caught it in a reverse grip, and glanced at Xu Yuan. "Don't worry, though. I won't take advantage of you." With that, under Xu Yuan's bewildered gaze, Tang Ruofu aligned the blade with his own chest and plunged it straight in without the slightest hesitation. The longsword pierced clean through his torso, hot blood instantly dyeing his cyan-and-white robe. *Squelch.* Pulling the blade free, he gave it a casual flick, sending the scalding blood clinging to the steel splashing down into the dark pool. Tang Ruofu wiped the blood trickling from the corner of his lips with his sleeve. Staring at Xu Yuan, excitement flashed in his eyes. "Come on, junior. Now we're even." "..." Watching the man's antics below, Xu Yuan raised a hand to pinch the bridge of his nose. *What the hell kind of lunatic is this?* Yet witnessing this spectacle brought no joy to his heart; he merely gave a soft sigh. Noticing his expression, Tang Ruofu slowly drifted upward until he was level with Xu Yuan in midair. He laughed boisterously: "Junior, don't take this as pity. This is just how I've always done things. You caught my interest, so I'm giving you the greatest respect I can offer..." "That's not what I'm sighing about." Xu Yuan cut across Tang Ruofu's words. Raising his blade level before him, his fingers brushed gently across its surface. As his fingertips swept past, ripples of pink luminescence shimmered over the blade. With that done, Xu Yuan casually twirled his sword. Amidst the pitch-black Dao domain, dazzling cherry blossom petals drifted down, brilliant as starlight. Xu Yuan looked at Tang Ruofu across from him, his voice mild and placid: "Uncle, acting like this is going to make me feel bad about using the aunty down there to blackmail you." The moment the words fell, his figure vanished from the spot. And vanishing right along with him was Tang Ruofu across from him.