Chapter 426 - 213: Three Women
In Gui Xu Grotto Heaven, since Chu Xuan had already made his escape, the people naturally no longer gathered to watch the excitement.
However, not everyone left immediately; the majority were still unwilling to give up, scouring the area in hopes of finding any hidden palaces or secret paths that had yet to be discovered.
On Shangguan Congrou’s side, she gathered the remaining members of the Shangguan family, her face looking very grim.
Thirty-six elite members were dispatched, none of them lower-level cultivators, at least in the fourth realm, yet nearly half were lost in this mission.
The only consolation was that both of the clan elders survived; Shangguan Ming was fine, but Shangguan Cheng’en was worse off, having been grazed by the platinum light, losing half his body.
If not for the tenacity of a sixth-realm cultivator’s life and the priceless Spirit Pill administered by the Shangguan family without hesitation, he would have already been a soul in the underworld.
Even so, he was gravely injured and near death, requiring further treatment upon returning to the clan.
Shangguan Congrou anxiously eyed the exit of the grotto heaven, according to the plan, the old master would retreat back; there shouldn’t be any problems, right?
Luckily, at the next moment, Shangguan He flew into the grotto heaven, seemingly not seriously injured.
Shangguan Congrou’s face lit up with joy, immediately leading her people to join him, though she hadn’t had a chance to report the situation before the old master began discussing matters quietly with Shangguan Ming.
As Shangguan He listened, his keen eyes scanned the surroundings, soon descending upon an area drenched in blood rain.
The crowd then watched as he formed mystical incantations to gather all the scattered blood and not leaving behind even fragments of limbs or clothing.
This left them puzzled, wasn’t this Blood Robe Old Monster Deng Qiu’en’s corpse? Why would their elder need to collect the remains of such a person?
Only Shangguan Ming slightly relaxed, though it wasn’t as planned, it still indirectly achieved their goal.
Shangguan He took out a small bottle, containing the fragmented remains and blood within, then called forth an inconspicuous junior to convey instructions secretly through Divine Sense.
The man nodded repeatedly and soon vanished without a trace.
Following this, Shangguan He led everyone to grandly search for Chu Xuan’s whereabouts.
...
In Gui Xu, within the cave, Chu Xuan solemnly bowed in gratitude to Yu Zhanfeng, "Thanks for saving my life, elder."
Yu Zhanfeng quickly supported him, "Benefactor, you praise me too much, you mustn’t call me elder, today’s matter isn’t worth mentioning."
Though Chu Xuan consistently denied it, Yu Zhanfeng was convinced about eighty to ninety percent, but there was still some doubt, so he asked uncertainly: "Are you truly his reincarnation?"
Chu Xuan shook his head with a smile, "No."
Yu Zhanfeng’s expression changed instantly, "How could it not be?"
"If I said I am him, would you believe it?"
"This..."
Chu Xuan stopped joking with him and simply said, "I heard you’ve advanced the Seven Heartless Techniques to the seventh technique? The name of the seventh technique should be..."
Yu Zhanfeng suddenly showed a look of nervous expectation.
"Tao is heartless yet possesses emotion." Chu Xuan recited sparsely.
Yu Zhanfeng’s face instantly brightened with joy, and simultaneously, he astonishingly realized that Chu Xuan’s face suddenly overlapped with the revered elder he remembered.
He murmured incredulously, "What kind of marvelous method is this, if there’s any doubt, one wouldn’t recognize it..."
Chu Xuan waved his hand, "You truly have exceptional talent, managing to deduce the seventh technique that was merely theoretical."
Although the Seven Heartless Techniques is called seven techniques, there are only six moves:
Heaven and earth are heartless, angrily severing emotions, the blade finally severs emotions, emotions end here, resolutely emotional heart, murderous heart becomes consumed.
Its essence lies in severing emotion and cutting love; each move is about anger, hatred, severance, absolute detachment, ultimately reaching a heartless state—the more heartless, the more powerful the swordsmanship.
However, after mastering the Seven Heartless Techniques, the demands on temperament are high; otherwise, there’s a risk of going astray into the demonic path.
Back then, when Chu Xuan explained this swordsmanship to Yu Zhanfeng, Yu Zhanfeng had been puzzled: "Then why is it called seven techniques?"
Would Chu Xuan tell him, "This swordsmanship was originally unnamed, I stumbled upon it as an ancient mastery. I wanted to name it ’Heartless Swordsmanship,’ but felt it was too vulgar, so I borrowed the title of ’Seven Heartless Techniques’ from ’Wind and Cloud’," a Hong Kong comic?
The comic’s seven techniques have only six moves, so does this swordsmanship, which fits perfectly together!
Of course, Chu Xuan couldn’t say that; he was a master and elder. So with his arms folded, he adopted an unfathomable demeanor and said:
"It’s named seven techniques because merely being heartless cannot reach the ultimate level."
"You must first possess emotion, then sever emotion, reaching heartlessness, finally returning to possessing emotion, to truly attain the ultimate essence of the sword."
"According to my deduction, the seventh technique of Seven Heartless Techniques should be: Tao is heartless yet possesses emotion."
At the time, the young and inexperienced Yu Zhanfeng listened, his face awestruck, muttering "Heartless, possesses emotion..." and promptly began serious contemplation.
Years later, Yu Zhanfeng diligently practiced each of the first six techniques to a flowing mastery but couldn’t comprehend the seventh technique, his realm stuck at the sixth.
It wasn’t until nearly a century ago, he went through events, loved, hated, been hurt, finally self-creating the seventh technique, easily advancing into the seventh realm.
Listening to Yu Zhanfeng recounting these past events, Chu Xuan felt sentimental; he had been a bit reckless back then, but he also saw that unless Yu Zhanfeng broke through in temperament, his lifetime achievement would not exceed the sixth realm.