Ye Jiuzhou's First Failure

A clear, resonant chime of a sword rang out.

Ye Xuan drew his sword.

It was the high-grade flying sword gifted to him by Ye Jiuzhou, a weapon Ye Xuan had always treasured dearly.

At this moment, the blade reflected Ye Xuan's terrifyingly cold eyes.

Gone was his usual playful grin.

Gone was the gentle smile that used to make people feel like they were bathing in a spring breeze.

Gone was the weak concession of "Forget it, brother, whatever you say is right."

There was only unprecedented anger and sorrow.

"Since that is the case."

Ye Xuan pointed the tip of his sword at him, his gaze incomparably icy:

"Then I will prove to you that you are wrong."

"If I wanted to kill you, if I disregarded our bond... you would have been dead long ago."

Ye Jiuzhou laughed out of extreme anger.

The terrifying aura radiating from his body, having undergone the baptism of Phoenix Blood, was released without reservation.

The pressure of the Half-step Body Integration realm crashed down like an invisible, massive mountain.

"Ye Xuan, are you out of your mind?"

His smile was freezing to the extreme.

"Even when I was weak just now, you had no confidence in defeating me. Now that I have fused with the Phoenix Blood, my cultivation has advanced by leaps and bounds, making me unparalleled in this world. Do you really think you are worthy of being my enemy?"

"In my eyes, you are nothing but an ant!"

An ant.

When those words spilled from his mouth, he saw Ye Xuan's eyes change.

The last trace of warmth in those peach-blossom eyes completely extinguished the moment the word "ant" landed.

Something snapped inside Ye Jiuzhou's heart.

He heard it.

He heard it with absolute clarity. It was the sound of his own heart breaking.

But he could no longer hold back.

He had already been pushed by his own pride and fear onto a path with no return.

Just like the moment she swallowed the Yin-Yang Creation Pill when he was ten years old.

"Then let's try."

Ye Xuan's voice was very calm. Unnaturally calm.

"Good."

Ye Jiuzhou raised his hand. The Heaven-Severing Divine Sword left its sheath.

"Foolish Ye Xuan, since you are courting death... then I will let you witness the true cruelty of the cultivation world."

The great battle erupted.

Ye Jiuzhou did not take Ye Xuan seriously at all.

Or rather, he did not dare to.

He did not dare to look at Ye Xuan earnestly, equally, as a true opponent.

Because once he got serious, he would recall every little detail of the past ten years: the aroma of roast chicken, the late-night campfires, those silly smiles, and that desperate, life-risking protection.

And then he would soften.

So he chose to crush him utterly.

He only needed one sword strike.

This strike contained the terrifying might of the peak Void Refinement realm fused with the Phoenix Blood.

Golden sword qi stretched across the sky, like a burning heavenly river pouring down.

"Kneel!"

This single word, wrapped in the divine might of Half-step Dao Integration, was enough to make any Nascent Soul stage cultivator's soul scatter on the spot.

However.

What happened in the next moment overturned all of Ye Jiuzhou's understanding.

Facing this apocalyptic sword strike, Ye Xuan did not dodge.

He did not use any flashy techniques or bizarre movement skills.

He merely took one step forward.

Just that one step.

An ordinary, unremarkable step.

But the instant this step was taken, an extremely profound aura, originating from the very roots of heaven and earth, explosively erupted from Ye Xuan's body.

This aura...

Ye Jiuzhou's pupils suddenly shrank to the size of pinpricks.

His divine sense captured a phenomenon he could not comprehend in a split second: the space around Ye Xuan was changing.

Whether it was the spiritual energy naturally flowing between heaven and earth, or the True Phoenix Fire condensed on Ye Jiuzhou's sword, the moment they entered a three-foot radius around Ye Xuan, they all became docile.

The golden sword qi lost all of its lethality the moment it approached Ye Xuan.

The terrifying True Phoenix Fire, capable of cleaving a mountain peak into pieces, transformed into a gentle, warm breeze within those three feet, softly brushing past the hem of Ye Xuan's clothes.

Immune to all myriad laws.

The Flawless Dao Body.

Ye Jiuzhou's mind went completely blank in that instant.

He finally understood.

Why Ye Xuan's spirit root was a "mixed spirit root." Why his cultivation of any technique yielded half the result with twice the effort. Why the five elements of spiritual energy were a chaotic mess inside his body.

It was not because he was too weak.

On the contrary, it was because he was too strong.

The essence of the Flawless Dao Body was its almost impossibly strict requirements for the spiritual energy of heaven and earth.

This was the truth behind Ye Xuan's "trash" physique.

Within the body of the youth whom everyone mocked as a mixed spirit root piece of trash, slumbered a supreme Dao Body capable of looking down upon all myriad laws.

And at this moment, catalyzed by extreme anger and sorrow.

It had awakened.

"Why?"

Ye Jiuzhou's roar was torn apart by the wind. His sword qi slashed against Ye Xuan, only to vanish like a clay ox entering the sea, directly dissipating and turning into a clear breeze!

"Break for me!"

Ye Xuan let out a furious roar.

The sword in his hand swung out in an ordinary, unremarkable trajectory.

There was no gorgeous sword qi, no terrifying pressure, and no flashy techniques whatsoever.

Just a single chop.

A simple, brutal chop from top to bottom.

Yet within this unremarkableness lay a will that made Ye Jiuzhou tremble from the very depths of his marrow.

Clang!

The two swords clashed.

A shockwave expanded outward with the two of them at the center, blasting the entire altar to pieces.

Ye Jiuzhou only felt an irresistible force transmitting from the blade.

This force was neither violent nor sharp, yet it was as boundlessly heavy as an unshakeable mountain.

Coupled with the fact that his mind had already devolved into a tangled mess under the violent emotional impact.

The Heaven-Severing Divine Sword in his hand, which had accompanied him through years of battle and drunk the blood of countless formidable foes, actually flew out of his grasp!

The blade spun several times in the air before stabbing into the distant rubble, letting out a mournful wail.

Defeated.

Ye Jiuzhou, who had just fused with the Phoenix Blood and believed himself unparalleled in the world.

Was defeated.

Defeated at the hands of the person he looked down on the most.

Defeated at the hands of the person he trusted the most.

Defeated at the hands of the person he wanted to protect the most.

Taking advantage of the momentum, Ye Xuan lunged forward.

Not using his sword, not using spiritual energy, and not using his newly awakened Flawless Dao Body.

He tackled him directly.

Like a maddened little beast, he used the most primal, most brutal method to pin Ye Jiuzhou to the ground.

He mounted Ye Jiuzhou.

His eyes were bloodshot; tears and blood mixed together, blurring his entire face.

He raised his fist.

That right fist, still bleeding, covered in wounds, with its joints deformed.

He smashed a heavy punch squarely into Ye Jiuzhou's face.

"This punch is for your blindness!"

Bang!

Ye Jiuzhou's head snapped to the side, a trace of fresh blood seeping from the corner of his mouth.

He did not dodge.

"This punch is for the blindness of your heart!"

Bang!

The second punch landed on his other cheek.

Ye Jiuzhou's nose was bloodied, and a dark red line of blood flowed down from his nostrils, sliding past the corner of his mouth.

He did not resist.

"This punch..."

Ye Xuan raised a third punch.

This fist hovered in mid-air, pausing for a long time.

His fist was trembling. Not from exhaustion, but because too many emotions were blocking his chest, too many words were stuck in his throat, and too much grievance and heartbreak made him almost unable to throw even one more punch.

"Is for not believing in me!"

Bang!

The force of this punch was not as great as the previous two.

Because halfway through the strike, Ye Xuan's strength gave out.

His fist slipped off Ye Jiuzhou's face and smashed heavily into the crushed stone beside Ye Jiuzhou's head. The skin on his knuckles instantly tore open, and blood poured out.

Ye Jiuzhou lay motionless on the shattered altar.

He watched Ye Xuan, who was straddling him, throwing punches while crying.

He wasn't just shedding silent tears.

He was weeping uncontrollably.

Like a child.

Large teardrops welled up from Ye Xuan's eyes, mixing with the blood on his hands, the scars on his face, his shattered pride, and his pulverized trust, before dripping onto Ye Jiuzhou's face.

Warm.

Scalding.

Every drop that fell felt like a burning meteor, scalding Ye Jiuzhou so deeply that his entire being ached from his skin to his soul.

"Bastard..."

Ye Xuan ran out of strength to hit him.

He grabbed Ye Jiuzhou's collar, his fingers gripping the blood-and-sweat-soaked fabric in a spasm. Then, as if all the strength had been drained from his body, his forehead pressed heavily against Ye Jiuzhou's chest.

He collapsed onto Ye Jiuzhou, wailing loudly like a child who had suffered a massive injustice and been let down by the whole world.

The sound of his crying echoed through the empty ruins of the secret realm, as mournful as an injured young beast howling in the dark night.

"We are brothers..."

"I gave you my life... why didn't you believe me..."

"From the very first day I saved you, I never thought of wanting anything from you... I just thought you looked too good to die in a mud pit..."

"Why didn't you believe me..."

"Why did you..."

Ye Xuan's cries grew softer and softer, eventually turning into intermittent sobs.

His body heat passed through the thin clothing to Ye Jiuzhou's chest, mixing with Ye Jiuzhou's own heartbeat until it was impossible to tell whose was whose.

Ye Jiuzhou lay on the cold, broken stones.

Above his head was the secret realm's gray, starless sky.

He felt the weight, the warmth, and the trembling of the person on his chest.

Very light.

Ye Xuan was very light.

Yet he pressed down so heavily that Ye Jiuzhou could hardly breathe.

He slowly raised his hand.

That hand hovered above the back of Ye Xuan's head.

His fingers parted slightly, the tips less than half an inch from Ye Xuan's hair.

He wanted to stroke that trembling head resting on his chest.

Wanted to tell him, "I am sorry."

Wanted to tell him, "I was wrong."

Wanted to tell him, "I am the one who is truly despicable."

But his hand hung in midair, unable to fall.

Because he felt.

That these hands of his, the hands that had almost been used to kill him just moments ago.

Were not worthy of touching him.

Ye Jiuzhou's eyes finally reddened.

A single teardrop slipped from the corner of his eye.

Just one drop.

It trailed along his flawlessly perfect facial contours, flowed past his temple, and vanished into his hair.

He closed his eyes.

His lips moved slightly, uttering three almost soundless words.

Ye Xuan did not hear them.

Wind poured in through the shattered dome of the secret realm, blowing away the dust and smoke on the altar.

The two of them lay there among the scattered rubble and bones, one resting on the other's chest, like two bruised and battered beasts huddling together in a storm.

Ye Jiuzhou had never lost in his entire life.

This was his most miserable defeat.

He did not lose in terms of cultivation.

He did not lose in terms of swordsmanship.

He lost when it came to his heart.

He knew.

From this day forward.

He would never be able to win against this youth before him.

Never.