Chapter 87 - He Would Not Regret Dying After Learning the Truth!

Cui Zhaoren, by a fillip, sent the long sword in his hand to Li Muyang through the air.

Li Muyang reached out and grabbed the sword.

The hilt of this sword was jet-black, and its blade was silver-white.

In light of the blazing sun, the sword glittered with flowing light and color.

It was a superb sword!

“It’s Divine-will Channel Sword, forged from overseas occult iron by Cao Yezi, a famous sword-casting master from Capital Heaven. Back then, he named this sword ‘Divine-will Channel Sword’ because he wanted its owner to comprehend the Divine Will as soon as possible and wield the Dujie Sword’s third sword strike—Violate Divine Will. However, it seems that both of us have disgraced ourselves,” Cui Zhaoren said, full of regret.

He secretly sighed with emotion. “In the vast Divine Land and the prosperous world, there are countless people of unusual abilities and incredible rarities. If I can live one more day, I can see more of them, but unfortunately… What a pity!”

“If you don’t mind, please receive this sword as a thank-you gift from me. Though the gift may be trifling, my feeling of it is profound. If such an excellent sword sinks to the bottom of the river, it will be a reckless waste.” Cui Zhaoren looked at Li Muyang with a sincere look and said, “You haven’t got a sword yet, so you may as well carry it with you. When you find a better sword in the future, you can give it to any other great master. I think this sword deserves a glorious future.”

Li Muyang sensed that Cui Zhaoren was reluctant to die and his pity for this sword. He thought, “If you had known that things would turn out this way, would you make the same choice?”

Nevertheless, he thought slightly higher of Cui Zhaoren’s personality and asked, “May I know your name?”

“Cui Zhaoren.” Li Muyang’s question slightly delighted Cui Zhaoren. There was a widely spread saying among cultivators: “Tell me your name because I never kill a nobody.” Asking the name of a defeated opponent before his death showed that the winner wanted to remember him. It was an act that had a special meaning for cultivators like Cui Zhaoren because it meant that he had won Li Muyang’s respect. Otherwise, why would he bother to ask his name? Thus, he answered, “Cui Zhaoren from the Cui Family.”

“Cui Zhaoren?” Li Muyang frowned slightly. After thinking for a long time, he asked, “Is your surname Cui?”

“Yes.” Cui Zhaoren did not understand why Li Muyang’s face changed. He looked embarrassed and introduced in detail. “The Cui Family in Capital Heaven.”

This time, Li Muyang thought for a longer time.

“Is there anything wrong?” Cui Zhaoren was a little worried. “Doesn’t he dare to use the sword after hearing about my background? If so, I won’t get the chance to see the Violate Divine Will. Not only can’t I see it now, maybe I can’t see it for the rest of my life. It’s really a great pity in life!”

“No,” Li Muyang said, “Have you decided it? If I try the sword strike with your body, you will be dismembered on the spot and have no chance of surviving.”

“But if I choose not to do that, will you let me go?” Cui Zhaoren asked with a smile.

“No, I won’t.” This time, Li Muyang gave him a quick answer.

Previously on the ship, Cui Zhaoren did not give Li Muyang any chance to defend himself or prepare for the fight. He slashed at Li Muyang without warning, intending to wipe him out by force.

Fortunately, Li Muyang had learned the extraordinary Qi-breaking Technique and had been on the alert all the time. Therefore, he was just pushed into the river and saved by the Alligator Dragon. Otherwise, Li Muyang would have already become a dead body gnawed by fishes and shrimps.

In that case, would Li Muyang still have a chance to fight with Cui Zhaoren? Would he still have a chance to know Cui Zhaoren’s persistent pursuit of Martial Arts and his love for the well-known sword?

Dead people had no chance to forgive others.

Empty Karma, the second sword strike launched by Cui Zhaoren, revealed the truth that one will always reap what he or she has sowed. One good turn deserves another, and so does the evil turn.

Li Muyang would never forgive Cui Zhaoren, no matter what kind of person he had become.

“So…” Cui Zhaoren was not surprised by Li Muyang’s answer at all. He said, smiling, “If I die for Violate Divine Will, the third sword strike that no one in the Cui Family has ever touched in the past thousands of years, I shall die without regret.”

Li Muyang nodded and said, “Then watch carefully.”

Cui Zhaoren closed his eyes.

For an expert like him, he could perceive each move of his opponent without using his eyes. In the presence of attentiveness, he could even sense Li Muyang’s every breath.

Eyes sometimes could be deceptive so that with his eyes open, he might not feel the tremendous power of this mystical technique.

Li Muyang moved.

With a flash of golden lightning flicking on the blade, the sword was held up high in the air by him.

It was the same start-up move as Cui Zhaoren’s second sword strike, but then Li Muyang changed the pattern midway.

Emptying Karma, the second sword strike, required Cui Zhaoren to accumulate his strength before releasing it. Meanwhile, he should apply his Infinite Sword Skill to activate the Hell Fire, which would become the power source of attacks.

It was a powerful strike that could burn everything, leaving nothing but a black void.

However, wielding such a strike would also drain the energy in his body and destroy his foundation.

In fact, the Second Sword Strike—Empty Karma was sort of a self-destruct attack: if people wanted to use this skill to kill, they had to risk their lives.

Of course, most people were killed by this domineering sword strike, so it was worth trying.

Besides, ordinary cultivators could not master the strike’s complicated incantation gestures.

The third sword strike displayed by Li Muyang had few changes. He simply raised the sword in the air to cut and abruptly stopped there – he drew the sword without slashing.

In addition to flashes of lightning jumping on the blade, it just looked like an ordinary way to hold swords.

The muffled thunder in the distance sometimes sounded as if it came from somewhere beyond the highest heavens, and sometimes it was like rolls of loud drums nearby, causing their eardrums to vibrate.

However, such a sword-lifting style broadened Cui Zhaoren’s outlook, enlightening him in an instant.

“Discard the dross and select the essential; Simplify what is complicated.” Cui Zhaoren muttered to himself, “The second sword strike is more complicated than the first one, so my family thought that the third one would surely be more complex than the second one. Besides, the book ‘Dujie Sword’ only introduces this single sword-shifting move so that my family regarded it as an incomplete book – all of us thought there must be some lost parts. But that was not the case. The essence is actually on the four words: draw sword without slashing.”

“It’s said that Earth Store Bodhisattva created the book ‘Dujie Sword’ to enlighten people in the world. Then, the third sword strike, the most important move that has epitomized the thought of this book, should include the supreme Buddhist wisdom. In Buddhism, there is a well-known story: Holding the Flower and Smiling. Someday, the king of the Brahman heaven invited Sakyamuni Buddha to expound the law at the Meeting at Mount Lingjiu. With many followers, the king appeared before the dais, held out a golden poluo flower in greeting, and then took a seat at the side. The Sakyamuni Buddha took the flower and sat there serenely without saying a word. Many people were there to hear the Sakyamuni Buddha expound the law. However, while covertly glancing at one another, they all failed to grasp the meaning of this gesture. Only Mahakasyapa broke into a smile. Sakyamuni thereupon announced: ‘I have profound Buddha dharma that can illuminate all things of the cosmos, transcend life and death, and break the cycle of birth, death, and rebirth. With them, you can see through the false surface and be a Buddha. To hand down the dharma with unspeakable beauty, I won’t write it down but will only impart it through hearts. I now bestow them upon Mahakasyapa along with my gold-thread cassock and alms bowl.”

“Earth Store Bodhisattva understood Buddha dharma well, so he was capable of turning things of great complexity into extremely simple ones. Also, he could make traces disappear. Since marks were wiped, there would be no flaws to be found. Without flaws, cultivators could never be defeated. That was why Li Muyang said that he had seen the perfect state of ‘Dujie Sword’.”

Cui Zhaoren felt extremely excited in his heart. Now, he knew that he had only gained a superficial understanding of Dujie Sword. The more anxious he was, the harder it would be for him to make progress. The third sword strike could never be achieved by practicing, but by understanding. “Violate Divine Will” meant that one should first comprehend the divine will before attempting to violate it.

What’s Divine Will exactly? For those cultivators, it could be considered as love, interest, or the highest level of cultivation.

The key lay not in gaining but in abstaining.

Therefore, only those with great mind wisdom might get a chance to know the truth of divine will.

Only people who were free from human desires and passions could become a Buddha. It was the most basic and straightforward Buddhist theory but was ignored by everyone.

“I see,” Cui Zhaoren said with a relieved smile on his face. With this pure and noble smile, he looked kind and merciful, a little like a Buddha. “I see.”

Li Muyang wielded his sword.

There was no wind and thunder, nor was there any momentum.

Not a single trace of Sword Qi appeared in this absolute silence.

It appeared to be a sword strike from an ordinary cultivator.

However, claps of thunder from the highest heavens responded to him and came violently at Cui Zhaoren.

“With Hell Fire, this strike would be even better,” Cui Zhaoren sighed and said.

Although Li Muyang had memorized the moves of Dujie Sword’s third sword strike, he did not know the sword spells. More importantly, he could neither start up the Hell Fire nor apply the Infinite Universe Skill. Hence, this sword strike he launched only demonstrated the strike’s form but didn’t show its spirit. Because of this, the power he released was significantly reduced, only a tenth of his original power at most.

“Thank you,” Cui Zhaoren said gently.

The white light covered the sky, and the lightning was even more dazzling than the sun in the sky.

The radiance emitted by this sword strike actually dimmed the light of the sun! People on the ground could only see the white light, but it was hard for them to see the sunshine that once had illuminated the world.

A white ditch appeared in the sky. It split the sky as well as the white cloud in half.

White clouds drifted over, but could not cross the ditch!

The ditch was like a real one!

Before the white light dissipated, Cui Zhaoren was gone.

Li Muyang floated in the air and remained silent.

“Young Master!” An official of the Department of Supervision cried out. In the river, he was holding onto a plank from the boat to survive. But when he looked up at the sky and found that Cui Zhaoren disappeared, his eyes turned red, and he shouted, “Brothers, quickly get back to report. Revenge for our young master with no delay!”

As he spoke, he had already jumped out of the river and stood on the plank. Then, with a tap of his toes, he leaped into the air.

In mid-air, he unsheathed his long blade.

Clang!

He chopped at Li Muyang, who was descending slowly.

Bang!

Li Muyang punched out, and the official immediately burst open in the air.

“I, Qing Feng, will go and avenge our young master’s death. Brothers, leave now!”

Another official jumped up and was instantly killed by Li Muyang with a punch.

“Take care of my family. I, Mo Chao, will fight to the death with the enemy.”

One after another, those burly men in black rose in the air like strong puppets and slashed at Li Muyang with their broadswords.

The bodies of their companions exploded in the air, but even such a dreadful scene could not stop them from revenging.

Fight to the death!

In this battle, 21 members of the Empire’s Department of Supervision were killed, including Cui Zhaoren, the head of the Department of Supervision.