74: A ruthless sword hurts people, and an affectionate sword hurts hearts!

"I've analyzed Sword Devil; he's a man of his word, upright, and disdains underhanded tactics. Even with his famous Yamas Summons, he uses it openly, never resorting to sneak attacks!"

"If not for an unresolvable feud, even I would call him a hero!"

"You're praising him so much." Ye Ling asked faintly, "Are you reluctant to kill him now?"

"No, absolutely not, impossible!" Ye Xue said decisively, "My heart is as cold as my sword! It's just that he's too strong, and I can't kill him! But I already have a way to deal with him."

"What way?" Ye Ling asked eagerly.

"Why should I tell you?" Ye Xue glanced at her disdainfully, then turned and walked away, "The Sword Saint is my prey. I've got him!"

"Hmph, that woman, what's so great about her? Just a Lu Jiuyuan!" Ye Ling muttered angrily for a few moments, then ran out as well.

"She's fallen!" Gou Hun said blandly.

"She's definitely fallen!" Guan Jia Po nodded, "For a naive woman like her, once she finds her path, falling is inevitable. Moreover, Sword Saint Lu Jiuyuan is one of the most Peak figures in the world."

"What a pity!" Gou Hun nodded.

"No pity! We never deluded ourselves that she could succeed. If she could, then Sword Devil would be an empty name. It's enough that we managed to ascertain that Lu Jiuyuan killed Zhong Wugu without suffering any significant injuries!"

"I meant it's a pity for her meager intelligence... she didn't have much to begin with, and now she's lost even more!"

...Ximen Chuixue's figure floated back like a snowflake, carrying two cleaned wild rabbits.

He landed beside Lu Jiuyuan, his gaze sweeping over the Guhong Sword stuck in the ground, then over Lu Jiuyuan's seemingly calm but slightly pale face, finally settling on the slightly wrinkled front of his green robe.

"Someone was here?" Ximen Chuixue's voice was as clear and cold as ice.

"Mm." Lu Jiuyuan didn't open his eyes, merely responding faintly, "A woman named Ye Xue, Ye Guhong's sister."

Ximen Chuixue's brow furrowed almost imperceptibly, "Someone from Youling Villa?"

"Yes. She came for revenge, and to test."

Ximen Chuixue put down the rabbits and didn't press for details, only saying, "How is her strength?"

Lu Jiuyuan's lips curved into an extremely faint arc, "Her courage is commendable, her sword skill is good, her mind... one can see right through it, filled with clear foolishness."

Ximen Chuixue was silent for a moment, his gaze turning towards the surging depths of the clouds and mist, "Foolish women are the bane of great men! Sometimes, foolishness itself is the softest yet sharpest sword!"

At these words, both fell silent.

"You're thinking of Sun Xiuqing." Lu Jiuyuan's voice was low and certain.

Ximen Chuixue was squatting down, skewering the two cleaned wild rabbits with branches. Just like when he practiced his sword, his movements were meticulous, as if he were handling an extremely precise work of art.

Hearing Lu Jiuyuan's words, a subtle ripple, quick as an illusion, seemed to pass over his perpetually frozen face. He didn't look up, focusing solely on the task at hand.

"Yes."

Ximen Chuixue's voice remained clear and cold, but perhaps with an imperceptible hint of nostalgia?

"Because she was equally foolish, equally transparent at a glance."

He picked up a sharpened branch, his wrist moving slightly, precisely piercing the rabbit meat.

"Clear foolishness, transparent to the bottom, is often more lethal than the most exquisite disguise. They don't understand how to weigh options, how to retreat; they just charge forward with a burning obsession that can consume themselves and scorch others. You think you can control it, dismiss it as dust, but you don't realize that dust has already fallen into your eyes, melted into your flesh and blood."

Ximen Chuixue placed the skewered rabbits over the makeshift bonfire. The flames danced, reflecting on his snow-white robes and stern profile.

He picked up a branch and gently poked the firewood, sparks crackling.

He turned his head, his gaze truly falling on Lu Jiuyuan's face for the first time, with the warning of someone who had experienced it.

"Lu Jiuyuan, your sword is the fastest in the world, capable of cutting through all tangible things. But some things are formless and intangible, like shadows, and no matter how fast your sword, it cannot cut them clean."

"Those who die by my sword are only divided into those who deserve to die and those who don't."

"Ye Guhong wanted to die, so I granted his wish. If Ye Xue wanted revenge, I gave her the opportunity, and she took it. The transaction is settled. If we meet again and she draws her sword, she will be an enemy. And for enemies, my sword never shows mercy."

Lu Jiuyuan asked, "You should understand how important a woman's reputation is, right? Why did you still agree to Lu Xiaofeng? Was it to sever emotions?"

"This battle of the heart should end. Whether to succumb to emotion or to pursue the ultimate in the sword, when Lu Xiaofeng asked me, I knew the outcome. In my heart, emotion is gone; only the sword remains."

"From being without emotion to having emotion, and then back to being without emotion, your Dao of the sword has become more refined, but your feelings have grown increasingly faint."

"Sincere to the sword, reaching the Peak with the sword, all things in heaven and earth can be swords! Only I... only the sword! I am the sword! Lu Jiuyuan, we are the same kind of person!"

"We are not!" Lu Jiuyuan denied.

Ximen Chuixue continued talking while turning the rabbits.

"Why not be extreme in both emotion and the sword? Extreme emotion is not weaker than extreme lack of emotion."

"Feelings are too easily changed! It could be a thought, a betrayal, the passing of youth, daily trivialities; there are too many possibilities for emotions to change," Ximen Chuixue said softly.

"Unless at the most fervent moment of emotion..."

Lu Jiuyuan knew what he meant. Unless, at the most fervent moment of emotion, the beloved person completely disappears, leaving behind in the heart their most beautiful and profound love. With the passage of time, this beauty, this emotion, would become even more fervent, more perfect, and more regretful. Only in this way could one reach the Peak of emotion and the Peak of the sword. The sword of emotion would mean Sun Xiuqing and the child had to die, whereas the sword of no emotion would allow them to live! The absurdity of this world is nothing short of this. "The sword of no emotion harms others, and the sword of emotion harms the heart. So I choose neither," Lu Jiuyuan said, "I only choose the purest kill! Whether it's a sword, a needle, or anything else, to me, they are merely tools."

It was the fifth day of Lu Jiuyuan and Ximen Chuixue's standoff with Youling Villa at the cliff exit.

The morning mist was thicker than usual, like a solidified milky white river, heavily filling the entire gorge. The iron chains were obscured within it, almost invisible.

Lu Jiuyuan sat cross-legged, the Guhong Sword resting horizontally on his lap, his eyes closed as he regulated his breathing. Ximen Chuixue stood like a spear slightly behind him, his white robes faintly visible in the mist, his gaze sharp, fixed on the impenetrable misty barrier ahead.

Both felt this unusual silence.

"It's too quiet." Ximen Chuixue's voice broke the stillness, like ice beads clinking on a jade plate.

"Let's go in and see!"

"Beware of traps!"

The two exchanged a look, then, one after the other, they swept along the iron chain, heading inwards.