Chapter 102 - Who's the Real Fool?
Forced...? Yun Xiao was forced to unleash a Star grade sword technique, Sun and Moon Divine Light—Rainbow Through The Sun?
Second Uncle Lin, Murong Li, Old Ning, Ning Que, and others stood like wooden stakes upon the ground.
"Lin Chen... is dead..." Ning Yan's tremulous, horrified exclamation echoed, her pupils dilating, her voice hoarse.
"Brother!" Lin Lin unleashed a heart-wrenching scream, collapsing in a heap on the ground, still unable to believe her own eyes.
"Quick, retrieve him!" Second Uncle Lin shouted urgently, his expression agonizingly bleak.
Lin Chen was the future of their Sword Heaven Lin Family. However, he was.dead. A sword through the head—what else would be the result? Even if he was retrieved from the pond, it didn't matter!
Then, a heart-rending roar sailed through from the distance.
"Lil Chen!" A white-haired figure crashed into the lotus pond, splashing water soaring, then with a buzzing noise, this white-haired person hoisted a pale-faced, dead-eyed corpse from the water!
Until the end, Lin Chen was in disbelief. He died to the Sun Moon Divine Light!!
"AHHH!!" The white-haired figure, holding Lin Chen, thudded to his knees upon the ground! His eyes were streaked with blood vessels, bloody tears surging out, teeth and lips quivering, his face painting a portrait of pain and despair.
This white-haired figure was none other than Sword Lord Lin Qingfeng!
It was evident; his heart was being torn apart!
Subsequently, another figure arrived—an elegantly-dressed beautiful lady. She was Madame Xiao. Seeing her only son transformed into a corpse, she seemed struck by thunder, a stream of black blood spilling from her mouth, her eyes already crimson red!
"Beast! I will grind your bones to dust!!" Madame Xiao fixated her gaze fiercely on Yun Xiao, pouncing toward him like a wild animal.
"Stay calm!" Ning Yan, suppressing her intense pain, climbed to her feet, positioning herself before Madame Xiao, and shouting at the white-haired figure: "Brother Feng, Lin Chen pushed people too far! Everyone saw..."
"Wretched slut, you can die too!" Xiao Yu, now apparently deranged, heeding no words, brandished her sword, intent on killing Yun Xiao.
She was merely at the Establishment Origin Core Realm; she couldn't harm Yun Xiao!
For a moment, everyone's eyes turned to Lin Qingfeng, their expressions peculiar to some degree.
"Lin Qingfeng! The prodigy you mentored and protected has killed your only son with his own hands. Are you satisfied now?" Second Uncle Lin said, eyes filled with sorrow.
"Enough!" Lin Qingfeng gently laid down his son, stood up in a daze, and restrained Madame Xiao.
"Sword Lord" Murong Li spoke with a face twisted in hate. "The ungrateful cur you've raised not only lacks gratitude but also spoilt by indulgence, killed our four Sword Princelings! If you do not deal with him, our Sword Heaven will turn into a den of wolves!"
His words struck a chord, several of the Great Sword Venerables voicing their agreement.
"Yun Xiao..." The Sword Lord lifted his head, gazing at the calm-faced youth in white before him.
"Sword Lord!" Yun Xiao declared with a serious mien, "I apologize... but he truly left me no way out, and in the urgency of the moment, I had no other choice."
"Exactly! Everyone suggested waiting for you, Brother Feng, to thoroughly investigate the murder at the Ancestral Sword Hall, but Lin Chen insisted on acting immediately! Yun Xiao had no choice but to fight back when forced!" Ning Yan, eyes filled with urgency, chimed in, "Brother Feng, Yun Xiao had no reason to go to the Ancestral Sword Hall unnecessarily; someone must be trying to kill him by using others!"
Just moments ago, the final moments of the struggle between Lin Chen and Yun Xiao had indeed been witnessed by Lin Qingfeng and Xiao Yu from above! It was clear as day!
It could be called pure coincidence if not for the fact that Yun Xiao had timed it perfectly.
Taking a deep breath, Yun Xiao spoke solemnly: "I am grateful to the Sword Lord for valuing me. This kindness I cannot repay, and now, with this tragedy, my heart is filled with guilt! In the presence of everyone here, I can only vow to destroy the Forbidden Tower for Sword Heaven, to kill the Forbidden Tower Lord, Ye Guying, and the Ten Great Elders! To let Sword Heaven dominate the Sea of Swords! Only then can I find some peace in my heart..."
"..." Lin Qingfeng's lips didn't move. Speechless! He blankly stared at the youth in white, at a loss for words. Vow to annihilate the Forbidden Tower? In this moment, his face was a spectacle of emotions.
Beside him, Xiao Yu regained some sanity, recalling the matter of the little lab rat, her face becoming an even more spectacular display of intertwined grief and fury.
"You're still not going to execute this calamity on the spot? Your son will have died for nothing!" Second Uncle Lin uttered with a trembling voice.
"Silence!" Lin Qingfeng shot him a furious glance. "Attacking without seeking the truth, bullying based on one’s power, yet being killed when their skills weren’t up to par! Isn’t that shameful enough?"
Upon hearing this, people like Murong Li and Second Uncle Lin were left stunned.
All they could do was stare at the Sword Lord and shake their heads in sorrow.
"While what you said is true, it's your son who is dead! In this life, Lin Chen, having a father like you, truly has rotten luck for eight lifetimes!" Second Uncle Lin sighed deeply.
Hearing those words, Lin Qingfeng felt as though his heart was being pierced by a thousand swords! Who could comprehend his pain? But, he endured! Only two days remained. If he didn’t endure now, all previous efforts would be wasted!
Lin Qingfeng swallowed his fury, gritting his teeth. "There's no exception, even for my son. Justice must prevail in all matters!"
At the utterance of these words, the top brass of Sword Heaven cast their eyes toward the corpse of Lin Chen, their gazes awash with sorrow and pity. All of which, Yun Xiao watched keenly.
What, after all, was his purpose in staging this melodramatic scene? He wished to observe the Sword Lord, whose heart was being invisibly shredded to pieces yet, within this tragedy, still maintained a facade, shielding Yun Xiao.
"What a joke! What an idiot!" Yun Xiao silently sneered to himself. "Sword Lord, this is the path of the Immortal. If you wish to manipulate others, be prepared to be manipulated to death first!"
An admirer of talent, a personification of conquest? If he was so fond of this theatrical performance, Yun Xiao would allow him to immerse fully in the act, even if his tears flowed through every scene.
"Let's disperse!" Figures like Second Uncle Lin and Murong Li, their spirits decimated, shook their heads and sighed, departing with a dismissive flick of their sleeves.
Lin Qingfeng, abandoned by his allies, experienced a further fracturing of his internal landscape. Regrettably, he dared not voice his turmoil. Just two more days, the matter was too critical, he couldn’t afford to take even the slightest risk. Even if he had to swallow his own shattered teeth, he would!
Madame Xiao, not well-versed in the art of pretense, could only retreat first, sobbing while clutching her son.
In a blink, only the Ning Family members remained within the Wind Listening Pavilion.
"Ning Que! Investigate the deaths of Ning Bei and the other two! You must ferret out the individual sowing discord within Sword Heaven and subject them to a thousand cuts!" Lin Qingfeng spat out viciously. He harbored a hatred deeper than anyone for this instigator. Everything would have come to a splendid conclusion in just two more days if it wasn’t for the loss of his son!
"Sword Lord, if the culprit is of high status..." Ning Que began, a headache forming.
"Handle them just the same!" The Sword Lord responded coldly. He knew that Ning Que suspected figures like Second Uncle Lin and Murong Li, intending to use Lin Chen’s hand to kill Yun Xiao. However, those three Sword Princelings, they were their younger generation...
"Yes!" Ning Que and Ancestor Ning could only nod.
As they departed, Ning Que cast Sword Lord Lin Qingfeng a sidelong glance, remarking, "Yun Xiao even used Rainbow Through The Sun. You must have been secretly cultivating him for years, right? Truly, you didn’t need to exploit Lil Yan's hand to unveil this secret prodigy to us all!”
The Sword Lord said nothing, simply waving his hand, bidding Ning Que leave.
Once Ning Que had departed, the Sword Lord turned his penetrating gaze to Yun Xiao, inquiring, "Rainbow Through The Sun?"
"Mmhm!" Yun Xiao nodded. "Pondered it all night yesterday, and at last, I had some insights."
"One night? At last?" The Sword Lord's expression quirked, for this was a top-tier sword technique that had once taken him five years to barely comprehend!
"But curiously..." Yun Xiao continued, "It seems like the sword technique is somewhat... incomplete? So, I took the liberty to put in quite a bit of effort to patch it up, modify it a bit. What do you think, Sword Lord?" With that, Yun Xiao, cradling that azure Sword Soul, executed Rainbow Through The Sun several times.
Whether by chance or design, every sword strike mirrored the one that had pierced Lin Chen's skull—as though he was killing him over and over again.
"That's expected. I provided you with a preliminary version. However, your innate talent is quite bright, deciphering the complete version on your own," the Sword Lord, hands clasped behind his back, commented lightly. Yet those hands, hidden behind him, trembled uncontrollably.
Crafting the complete Star grade sword technique based on a fragment in a single night, understanding it through and through, each strike lethal... what kind of monster was this?
The Sword Lord's worldview shattered.
He could only mask the tumultuous waves within with a calm demeanor.
"I had planned to instruct you in sword practice today. It seems there's no need now," the Sword Lord pursed his lips.
"Understood!" Yun Xiao nodded. "You must still be occupied with dealing with your son’s aftermath, right? I'll practice on my own."
"..." The Sword Lord had no reply. He spared Ning Yan a glance, his teeth gritted, and then he walked away.
Only Ning Yan and Yun Xiao remained.
Ning Yan gazed at him, lost.
“What is it? Do I have a pimple?” Yun Xiao asked with a gentle smile.
“No, no...” Ning Yan bowed her head.
“Heal your wounds,” Yun Xiao instructed.
“Yes!” Her head drooped even lower, her fingers trembling ever so slightly.
“You guessed, didn’t you?” His gaze on her was cold and sharp.
Ning Yan's delicate body shivered, she feigned a clumsy smile. “I don’t know a damn thing! I’ll apologize to my daughter in a few days. Please, don’t kill me, okay?”
“Okay.” Yun Xiao turned to leave. But, glancing back, he saw the east tower had already collapsed. The west tower would have to do!
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In Sword Heaven, at the cemetery, there stood a tombstone, a lump of yellow earth with the name Lin Chen carved upon it, signaling an abrupt end.
Two people stood in front of the grave—Lin Qingfeng and Xiao Yu.
Xiao Yu’s soul seemed to have wept itself away, her body slumped to the side, while the Sword Lord was scarcely faring better.
In these few days shielding Yun Xiao, it seemed people had forgotten how thoroughly and earnestly he’d nurtured Lin Chen in the past.
He didn't love his son? Of course not! It was all an act! His bloodshot eyes, dim gaze, his struggling, guilt-ridden, pained expression, it all spoke volumes.
“Lil Chen, your father will avenge you, making him die in the most tragic way! His sword bone will be stripped from his very being, his flesh and blood will be boiled and burned, his soul imprisoned, forever unable to reincarnate!” The Sword Lord bowed his head, veins bulging on his neck.
Beside him, Xiao Yu was awash with tears, her cries as agonizing as ants crawling on one’s heart.
Much later, the Sword Lord finally assisted his wife to stand.
“My dear, the two Sword Rings, the Demon Cores...” Xiao Yu queried. Once a person died, if the sword ring wasn't taken, the Demon Core would dissipate soon after.
“Let them be! They are our gifts to him, something to cling to on the road to the Yellow Springs,” the Sword Lord spoke deeply.
“Mhm...” Xiao Yu nodded. Recalling the child’s excitement upon receiving two precious five-thousand-year-old Demon Cores, her tears fell again like a dam bursting open.
After the couple left, the cemetery fell into a solemn silence. Even amidst the dark, surging tides of the Sea of Swords, no one came to pay their respects.
A little while later... a young man dressed in white arrived!
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