Among all living beings in the world, the seven emotions and six desires, all their various pursuits and unfulfilled desires…

Yet only the two words “romantic love” are the most difficult to resolve.

Because of his deep feelings, he could not let go of Liang Tingyu.

So when Liang Tingyu clearly told him that she wanted to kill him to prove her Dao, though his heart was filled with darkness and despair, he could not bear to refuse. No one knew that his death came from willing acceptance.

It was he who chose to stretch his neck for execution!

It was also he who, even unable to grow old with her, willing to always accompany her, gladly allowed her to refine him into a wisp of spirit, from then on becoming the sharpest blade when she took lives!

Just like this moment, right now!

The mandarin duck battle-axe in his palm, like half a piece of glazed glass, had become smooth and transparent, reflecting the surrounding world on its blade surface, yet unable to reflect the figures of the male cultivator and Liang Tingyu.

The sky was filled with the sound of rain.

Countless raindrops fell on the Across-the-Shore Platform, fell on people’s bodies, and fell on the raised mandarin duck battle-axe.

Nothing else could be seen.

Only the overwhelming killing intent, along with the scattering raindrops, covered the entire world and completely surrounded Jian Chou. She stood below, appearing so alone, isolated and helpless, with nowhere to escape!

The regret in the male cultivator’s heart grew heavier, and his figure had already flown high up, looking down at Jian Chou from above—

But beyond his expectations, at this moment Jian Chou’s face showed neither panic nor helpless despair, only an indescribable pity.

Like a passing good person looking at a beggar.

Or like a Buddha in a temple, gazing at ignorant mortals!

What a piercing gaze this was!

Crossing through long stretches of time, looking back at the past, observing the present, examining what lay before her, examining this very moment. Then, revealing that expression from the depths of her heart, from her soul, from her very bones—

Mockery!

At the corner of her lips was a smile of almost cruel derision.

No one could know the absurdity she felt in her heart upon hearing that phrase “love makes one obsessed,” just as no one could taste the complexity she felt when, after walking through wind and bitter rain all the way, she once again heard of “killing one’s wife to prove the Dao”…

Love makes one obsessed—this was not false.

But these two words “romantic love” should never make one lose their wisdom!

I gave my devoted heart to another, yet they discarded it like worn shoes!

I gave my true feelings to another, yet they drew their sword against me!

What use is such true feeling, such deep love? Nothing but misplaced sincere emotion, nothing but a lifetime of foolish obsession that cannot be resolved!

Why bother?

What suffering is this!

The cold rain filling the sky fell on Jian Chou’s brow, obscuring her vision.

Wasn’t such weather exactly like that day?

The same gloomy sky, the same rolling dark clouds, the same rain beads falling like broken strings. Only there was no longer that desolate farm courtyard, no longer that azure-green figure penetrating through the rain curtain, no longer that oil-paper umbrella leaning in the corner…

Jian Chou’s heart suddenly became extremely calm.

Standing in this sweeping rain across the sky, she raised her head to look: the rain was too heavy, even the figure of the male cultivator standing in the air became blurred, and she could not see the expression of Liang Tingyu who had also leaped into mid-air. Only at the horizon, those two mandarin duck battle-axes gradually approaching!

At some unknown time, both mandarin duck battle-axes had flown out from their hands, simultaneously emitting a humming sound, actually hovering above Liang Tingyu’s head, spinning and intertwining rapidly like flying wheels.

Thus, those red threads on the male cultivator’s phantom flew away;

Thus, those black runes within Liang Tingyu’s body also flew away.

In an instant, the two had merged and combined into one.

Strange changes occurred immediately.

The two mandarin duck battle-axes actually formed a delicate clasp-like seal in mid-air, half red and half black, emitting wave-like auras while spinning rapidly, hiding cold killing intent within the silence!

“Crash…”

The firmament was dark, clouds densely packed!

As if sensing the killing intent from the ground, or as if drawn by the captivating energy of the moment when the mandarin duck battle-axes merged into one, faint rumbling thunder could be heard on the bleak sky, and in the blink of an eye, heavy rain poured down like from overturned buckets!

“Drip…”

“Plop…”

“Pitter-patter…”

“Rustle…”

…

Between heaven and earth, thousands upon thousands of rain sounds suddenly filled the air.

Some were the hoarse sounds of raindrops piercing through the void, some were the crisp sounds of splashing and shattering, some were the gentle sounds of joining the distant Lan River’s waves, and others were the ethereal sounds when they struck the mandarin duck battle-axe seal in mid-air—

And the eerie!

Clearly ordinary, mundane rain sounds, yet at this moment they resonated like shocking thunder!

In this instant, almost the entire White Silver Tower was enveloped in such rain sounds—rain sounds filled with killing intent, impenetrable like a net!

Sound by sound, like flaying and bone-picking, penetrating human flesh and blood, even piercing through human souls!

In the mysterious depths, these thousands upon thousands of rain sounds had already transformed into ice-cold blades and swords that could take lives in an instant!

Liang Tingyu now stood high in the firmament, and after all the black energy and black runes surrounding her body merged into the mandarin duck battle-axes, she appeared somewhat weak and pale.

But in those pitch-black eyes, ten times more madness was added!

And that male cultivator floated ethereally behind her.

The phantom that had originally been solid, almost like a real person, now appeared much fainter, like an ink painting washed thin by rainwater, carrying a sense of weakness. As if just a poke of the finger or a light breeze could make it vanish into nothing.

How could Jian Chou not see?

Liang Tingyu, or rather this male cultivator, had indeed brought out all their bottom-line skills. This move, for her or them, was probably “injuring the enemy a thousand while losing eight hundred.”

Only…

Was it worth it?

This question surfaced again, but Jian Chou did not ask it aloud.

Because the devastating attack coming the next moment had already given her the answer!

“This is the end!”

Liang Tingyu’s right palm rose high, as if containing a strange controlling power in her palm that could command all things. Thus the spinning mandarin duck battle-axe obediently gathered to her palm.

At that moment, the transparent ripples spreading toward the surroundings all trembled!

“Hum!”

Just like the Ninth Heaven Imperial Son plucking the Mountain and River Qin.

Under the sky, thousands of heavy rains also trembled! Crystal raindrops all shattered like pearls and jade!

The rain sounds also shattered.

They were cacophonous, pure, melodious, and soul-stirring!

Around Jian Chou’s body, countless blood flowers immediately burst forth!

Her body, originally incredibly tough due to the “Human Weapon” technique and Dragon Scale Dao Seal, seemed to be injured by those rain sounds, appearing countless sword-like wounds!

Not to mention her current state of mind!

The ancestral aperture at her brow suddenly felt a sharp pain, and fresh blood actually seeped out from within!

Jian Chou’s spiritual platform felt as if struck by a heavy blow, and her soul, which had been somewhat repaired by the Reverse Soul Pill in the Extreme Domain, now swayed unsteadily, as if bound by countless threads, unable to gain freedom or liberation!

Looking around in all directions, everywhere in this heaven and earth was rain, everywhere was sound!

That ancient aura was domineeringly hidden in every cold raindrop, hidden in every bit of rain sound, hidden in every wisp of scattered breath under this gloomy rain curtain…

It was like a shadow descending from heaven, blocking all paths of survival and suppressing Jian Chou!

Liang Tingyu’s strength was already considerable, and now with the addition of those mysterious black runes, she was even more divinely assisted.

Even the person with the lowest cultivation in the White Silver Tower could feel that within this torrential rain sweeping across the star sea, a destructive force that transcended all living beings was hidden.

Being in the rain, being on the Across-the-Shore Platform, being under those combined mandarin duck battle-axes, Jian Chou at this moment was like a lone boat drifting in the waves.

Everyone could feel her current power’s frailty, even feeling pity…

But at this moment, not a single person spoke up, and not a single person stepped forward to stop or rescue.

As if every person was awed and controlled by this eternal murderous intent shrouding heaven and earth, only able to watch helplessly without daring the slightest transgression!

The might of a single strike had reached this extent!

In Liang Tingyu’s hand, the mandarin duck battle-axe had suddenly begun spinning. Thus between heaven and earth, apart from the crumbling rain sounds, no other sounds could be heard.

Jian Chou only felt the rain curtain before her eyes was thick, now tinged with a layer of blood color.

It seemed she had reached a desperate situation with no retreat, nowhere to escape. Yet the expression on her face remained calm, even gazing at Liang Tingyu through this blurred rain curtain.

Too peaceful!

Even if she had resigned herself to fate, she shouldn’t have such an attitude at this moment. She looked as if she wasn’t worried about her situation at all, much less concerned about the victory or defeat of this battle.

Liang Tingyu, who was fully channeling the power of the mandarin duck battle-axe in mid-air, finally pierced through the rain curtain and discovered this abnormality.

Her heart immediately trembled.

In the mysterious depths, a feeling that something was wrong surged up, making her uneasy to the extreme.

And the spectators in a circle around the White Silver Tower finally discovered an extremely unusual point—it was the Deer-Cutting Knife in Jian Chou’s hand, it was the three-zhang battle disc beneath Jian Chou’s feet!

The Deer-Cutting Knife remained motionless, as if it had already become part of a sculpture along with her hand, being baptized by the cold rain;

The three-zhang battle disc shone brilliantly, and throughout this process of her fighting with Liang Tingyu—whether long or short—it had never dimmed!

A pale lightning bolt suddenly streaked across the sky, illuminating the dark firmament and also illuminating Jian Chou’s expression at this moment.

She had not surrendered!

Nor had she ever decided to die like this!

This realization, like the lightning streak across the sky at this moment, suddenly appeared in everyone’s consciousness, striking out a suffocating yet tension-filled silence!

Liang Tingyu had already realized something was wrong.

But Jian Chou had been planning for a long time before this battle even began, always waiting for this moment—how could she possibly fail? She merely curled the corner of her lips mockingly, and when raising the Deer-Cutting Knife, casually asked: “This is your final trump card, isn’t it?”

Yes.

This was Liang Tingyu’s final trump card!

Even borrowing the divine power of Lord Shaoji, even revealing the secrets once hidden in the mandarin duck battle-axes to the public, at this moment she was at her strongest!

Through this rain, through the seal formed by the mandarin duck battle-axes in her hand, through this divine power that almost locked down a region of heaven and earth, she should have been invincible, should have been undefeatable!

But the moment Jian Chou spoke these words, such firm conviction actually wavered.

She saw the condensed, undispersed divine light in Jian Chou’s eyes, saw the battle disc beneath her feet that had never dimmed, and also saw in her hand that “Deer-Cutting Knife” she had always gripped tightly!

Knife!

The moment this word appeared, Liang Tingyu felt her scalp explode, and a possibility she had previously denied suddenly reappeared abruptly.

Without any basis.

Only from the life-and-death intuition of one who had licked blood from knife edges all the way.

Jian Chou’s stunning sword draw in the Night Navigation Ship’s dungeon that day appeared uncontrollably in her mind.

Liang Tingyu could not even control the trembling in her heart, that deep-buried timidity and retreat born from knowing herself to be no match!

Jian Chou’s heart was calm as a mirror.

The Deer-Cutting Knife that had been gripped in her palm for so long suddenly trembled lightly, and thus the raindrop that had been hanging at the knife tip traced a crystal arc and was shaken to the ground.

With a “drip” sound, it struck the ground, splashing up a water flower that disappeared among the other dirty rainwater in the blink of an eye.

But at such a time, who would pay attention to such a single raindrop?

In the White Silver Tower, whether it was Zuoliu trapped in the cage, Bai Yin whose heart hung by a thread, Shen Yao with solemn expression, Qu Zhengfeng unmoved by the eight winds, or even Liang Tingyu whose face had suddenly changed drastically…

Everyone’s gaze was on Jian Chou’s hand, on Jian Chou’s knife!

The sharp knife tip passed through the moist air, as if about to cut through it.

Jian Chou’s movement as she began was so plain and simple, not worth mentioning. Yet at this moment, an indescribable aura had already enveloped her!

Beneath her feet, the battle disc’s countless Kun lines crisscrossed.

Endless spiritual energy flowed along the Kun lines, converging into the glazed purple jade-like radiance at the Tianyuan position, flowing into various meridians throughout Jian Chou’s body.

This was what everyone could see.

But in the depths of her body that no one could glimpse, in the depths of her spiritual platform, wisp after wisp of soul power carrying dark aura had quietly overflowed.

They were like tidal waters, yet without any sound, instantly merging with the heaven and earth spiritual energy within Jian Chou’s body.

Just like the convergence of black and white.

In just such a flash of thought, such a breath, that heart-trembling chaotic aura had already appeared. It seemed to be the most primitive existence between heaven and earth, comparable to deities, capable of seizing the primordial creation!

Without needing any follow-up moves, Liang Tingyu had already clearly recognized it—

It was this seemingly return-to-simplicity beginning move!

It was this simple sword draw!

It was this aura that made her unable to generate any resistance!

This was clearly the same sword that Jian Chou had used in the dungeon that day to block Lord Shaoji’s strike!

Liang Tingyu’s heart filled with shock and rage, and the expression on her face suddenly twisted.

She had previously felt she could fight Jian Chou precisely because she judged that Jian Chou actually could not perform the sword she had struck that day; yet now Jian Chou was displaying this deadly killing move!

Since she could do it, why had she delayed until now?

Incomprehensible!

Completely incomprehensible!

Liang Tingyu only saw Jian Chou’s expression of certain victory at this moment, saw in her cold eyes her own reflection carrying a trace of panic…

“Since you are fated to be bitter mandarin ducks, I shall send you both on your way!”

“Crash!”

The Deer-Cutting Knife raised high cut through layers of rain curtains, falling toward her direction.

Too fast.

Or rather, this sword had left too heavy a shadow and too deep a fear for Liang Tingyu, so much so that at this moment Liang Tingyu had no time to think, nor dared to waste time thinking.

The moment the Deer-Cutting Knife was raised but had not yet fallen, the desire to survive had already made her instinctively retreat!

The mandarin duck battle-axe seal spinning ceaselessly in the void immediately stagnated; all the cold rain hanging in the void between heaven and earth fell silent at this moment; that overwhelming killing intent shrouding the entire White Silver Tower also instantly collapsed due to her retreat!

Like collapsing mountains, like overturning seas!

This retreat seemed to retreat into vast openness, seemed to retreat a line of survival for Liang Tingyu.

But in this moment that should have been cause for celebration, Liang Tingyu, who suddenly had a flash of inspiration, suddenly froze. A bone-deep chill crept into her heart…

She raised her head and saw, and saw clearly—

The light in Jian Chou’s eyes that had suddenly become several times more brilliant, the sudden joyful smile at her lips, and also…

The Deer-Cutting Knife that showed no change at all!

“You actually deceived me!”

The tightly strung nerve in her mind suddenly snapped, and Liang Tingyu’s voice was hoarse like the dying roar of a trapped beast at life’s end, filled with endless savagery and rage!

But it was already too late for regret!

Jian Chou almost couldn’t control herself from laughing aloud.

In this torrential rain washing the surrounding world, on this Across-the-Shore Platform watched by countless people, under the sky constantly flashing with pale lightning, in the endless starlight overflowing from the battle disc beneath her feet…

Of course it was deception!

That stunning “sword draw” style—Jian Chou simply couldn’t perform it!

That once-in-a-lifetime enlightenment in the Night Navigation Ship’s dungeon had only allowed her to touch the surface of this mysterious realm. After returning to the Heaven and Earth Reverse Journey, she had also studied it extensively in her guest room, but had only comprehended a beginning move.

Merging heaven and earth spiritual energy with earth force yin essence, she could imitate one or two aspects of this style’s form.

But if she tried to continue the execution, it would instantly collapse and lose all power.

How pitiful that Liang Tingyu knew nothing of this!

After initially stepping onto the Across-the-Shore Platform and discovering that Jian Chou was the person who had night-raided the Night Navigation Ship that day, she determined she could not defeat Jian Chou who could perform this style, and thus conceived thoughts of retreat, which Jian Chou seized upon as a weakness.

From that moment, the current stratagem had already formed in Jian Chou’s heart.

In master-level combat, what is most feared?

An unsettled heart!

Liang Tingyu’s wariness toward her nearly certain-kill style had made her fight with hands and feet bound in the first half. Though in the second half she had grown suspicious seeing Jian Chou delay in using this style, determining Jian Chou couldn’t perform it, she ultimately had not received Jian Chou’s confirmation, and with the shadow of that sword already covering her heart, she definitely could not truly let it go.

So at this moment, after seeing Jian Chou’s beginning move with the same aura, she almost unhesitatingly chose to retreat!

And Jian Chou had been waiting for exactly this moment!

In terms of strength, Liang Tingyu was truly a formidable opponent. If she used the mandarin duck battle-axes to their extreme, she would be evenly matched with Jian Chou. Not to mention there was also this strange power enhancement—if Jian Chou was careless, she could even lose her life.

It could be said that until this moment, Liang Tingyu had held all the advantages.

But after this moment, the situation had undergone a earth-shaking reversal!

How was Liang Tingyu’s retreat creating a line of survival for herself?

She had clearly created a line of victory for Jian Chou, and retreated herself into certain death!

Cultivators throughout the world seek power, believing that where power reaches, where the heart desires, they can attack anything and defeat everything; but Jian Chou’s battles with others were never simply relying on the single word “force”!

The “excellent battle talent” evaluated by the Fudao Shanren—how could it be due to such superficial cultivation and power?

True talent comes from intuition, comes from strategy!

Deception?

Of course she was deceiving!

Victory and defeat hung by a thread, life and death hung by a thread!

Without deception, where would come the reversal of dire straits, where would come the reversal of life and death, victory and defeat?

She was deceiving precisely this Liang Tingyu!

With the battle situation reaching this point, the Deer-Cutting Knife could already “retire with success.”

Amid clear laughter, Jian Chou leaped up, her body transforming into a stream of stars, the spinning battle disc beneath her feet scattering brilliant starlight, and in countless people’s amazed gazes, only condensed a wing-shaped golden Dao seal!

Natal Dao seal!

Heaven as the board, stars as pieces.

Kun lines shuttling, Dao pieces connecting, the moment they lit up, a vigorous momentum shot toward the sky!

Dazzling golden light, accompanied by bursts of flickering electric light emerged.

The long-missed scalding heat and blazing fire on Jian Chou’s left shoulder blade also instantly erupted, turning in the blink of an eye into a whirlpool, absorbing all the spiritual power currently within her body.

A massive and brilliant golden wing phantom thus appeared in this tragic heaven and sorrowful earth…

The vast White Silver Tower was completely enveloped by a brand new aura.

Ancient, weathered.

Everyone was clearly still within this building, yet at this moment, they seemed to be in the ancient wilderness, in endless great marshes stretching thousands upon thousands of miles. From the distant horizon came faint roars of fierce beasts, and that sky-covering wing swept over their heads!

With a “pop,” the glazed seal formed by the mandarin duck battle-axes immediately shattered!

In an instant—

The heavy dark clouds dispersed.

The gloomy sky opened.

The torrential rain ceased.

On the ground where rainwater flowed horizontally, all blood stains had been washed completely clean, leaving only the two who had just fought to the death standing opposite each other. Jian Chou appeared completely composed, while Liang Tingyu…

A sharp golden feather, like a life-sealing sword, was precisely pressed against her throat.

“In my life, I most dislike rainy days.” Jian Chou’s distant gaze swept around under this newly cleared sky, then fell again on Liang Tingyu, only asking with a faint smile, “Now, if I take your life, will you submit willingly?”