True Solution of the Sword Dao
Chapter 195 - 188: Secret 2

Chapter 195: Chapter 188: Secret 2

But an accidental incident transformed her gratitude towards Lin Fei into sheer fear.

Once, Lin Fei had called her into his office alone, reminding her that she must report her whereabouts to him before going anywhere. Xu Ruoruo, though puzzled, didn’t ask any questions and thereafter always reported her travels in advance. However, there was one time she forgot to report and took a car out of town for some business.

That time, all the True Force within her body completely quieted down, and she couldn’t mobilize it no matter what. It was only when she returned to Ping City that she could operate it again. Such a bizarre incident had never occurred during her previous travels. But that time, Xu Ruoruo was truly frightened.

Because the True Force Core is critical: it automatically and completely integrates with the Essence Qi and spirit inside a cultivator’s body. And it evolves continuously as the cultivator progresses. Should any accident happen and the True Force Core was damaged, it would also harm the cultivator. If the True Force Core were lost, Xu Ruoruo might even die outright.

The dead silence of the True Force Core that time made Xu Ruoruo truly understand what utter vulnerability was. She almost staggered onto the train back to Ping City. Upon arriving at the Ping City station and exiting, she saw Lin Fei standing outside the platform. Amid the crowd, he was watching her with a smile. In that instant, all her True Force suddenly became active again.

From that moment on, she knew that ever since she had received the True Force Core, her life and death might well be in Lin Fei’s hands.

"There’s something you can take care of," Lin Fei said with a smile from his chair.

"Please instruct me," Xu Ruoruo calmly said.

"Don’t be like that," Lin Fei said with a bitter smile, "Last time it was just that your cultivation level was unstable. There was a problem out of the city, and I sensed it and came to help you, not control you as you think. So, you don’t have to be afraid of me."

"..." Xu Ruoruo remained silent.

"Really, trust me," Lin Fei said helplessly, "True Force cultivation is like walking on thin ice, extremely dangerous, and like rowing upstream, if you don’t move forward, you fall back. Here in Ping City, you also have me always watching over you. I’ve been assisting you with my aura so nothing went wrong. Otherwise, don’t you think the legendary Inner Strength cultivation seems too easy?"

Lin Fei’s explanation was that True Force is in fact Inner Strength, and he was the first person in Hua Nation to re-cultivate Inner Strength from scratch.

Xu Ruoruo was somewhat skeptical, but she didn’t let it show on her face.

"I’m also just a teenager, what would I gain by controlling you?" Lin Fei said helplessly.

Xu Ruoruo pondered for a moment and finally nodded.

"I believe it is not your doing," she also felt that Lin Fei likely didn’t have such a scheming mind. But some things aren’t easily changed overnight.

Perhaps it truly was an accidental instability in her cultivation. The fact that someone had helped her and she had doubted them made Xu Ruoruo slightly see the light. She suddenly felt a bit guilty towards Lin Fei.

Seeing Xu Ruoruo’s expression, Lin Fei knew his goal had been achieved and chose not to say more.

"Now that you have the True Force Core, you are part of our circle," he of course wouldn’t reveal the whole truth. He indeed had absolute control over life and death with the True Force Core, which he could reclaim at any time. This situation was not something even he had anticipated before.

But to ease Xu Ruoruo’s mind, he naturally wouldn’t disclose that he truly could control her life and death at any moment. After all, under such control, a subordinate could never wholeheartedly serve him.

"The National Security has a case that requires ensuring the safety of some personnel; it’s also a chance for you to engage in real combat, something I think would benefit your experience. What do you think?" Lin Fei asked softly.

"Real combat?" Xu Ruoruo was surprised.

"Of course, with True Force, you are no longer an ordinary person, but belong to a special group, a privileged class. You don’t think you could still lead the ordinary life you had before, do you?" Lin Fei spread his hands.

"Naturally not," Xu Ruoruo shook her head.

"Go then. Here is the contact number. It can only be used once," Lin Fei said, drawing out a previously written down contact note and passing it over.

Xu Ruoruo also knew that Lin Fei was her only support now, and she was completely unfamiliar with the circle of power wielders, so stepping in slowly was the best choice. She didn’t ask any further.

Watching Xu Ruoruo take the note and walk out the door, Lin Fei picked up the phone, called Chen Chen to inquire about recent company operations, then flipped through the documents Lu Jun had sent regarding the Wu Family and the recent movements of the Shi Family in Jiangnan.

He naturally did not think the Shi Family in Jiangnan could swallow such a bitter blow—so many people dead, such significant losses. Perhaps they wouldn’t dare retaliate against every powerful individual, but they definitely had to vent their anger. It was just a matter of what they would do.

Meanwhile, the Wu Family was still deadlocked with other forces, the atmosphere of a looming major battle growing ever more tense. From data all over, the Wu Family continually caused friction with local forces, minor disputes kept occurring, but no major movements yet. It seemed all sides were gathering strength.

Furthermore, the Child of the Void had also made a few phone calls, asking when Lin Fei could come to Capital City and officially start teaching swordsmanship. The underlying message was that he probably couldn’t tolerate the Wu Family’s arrogance anymore.

But since Lin Fei had returned to Ping City after realizing he had strayed from his path, he had reorganized all his plans, cancelling some and only keeping those related to the Dream Eating World. The Dream Eating World had long been disconnected from the Inner World, and since he possessed a great restraint effect, it would help greatly in building his influence in the future. Regarding the Child of the Void’s side, he planned to wait until he registered at Yan Capital University and then launch his plans during his time at university; there was still enough time.

After sitting for a while, Lin Fei picked up the phone again and dialed Shuang’er’s home number.

"How is it going? Did you find that person, Shuang’er?"

"Found them. Indeed, a Dream Eater with great talent, a natural-born Dream Eater" Shuang’er was now gradually integrating all the Dreamers in Ping City, whether they were ordinary Dreamers or Dream Eaters. Thus, gathering information was quite convenient.

"You should go there this afternoon," Lin Fei stood up, pulling open the heavy curtains behind him, and the already tilting afternoon sunlight immediately flooded in.

"Understood, brother," Shuang’er said solemnly.

"If he does not meet the expected standard, just consume his abilities and hand him over to the National Security," Lin Feipeng said calmly.

***********

Dealing with matters other than swordsmanship increasingly made Lin Feipeng feel impatient. After he had thoroughly understood the secrets of Yuan Yicheng’s sword techniques, he had been pondering how to break through them.

If he just stood still, perhaps he wouldn’t be affected by the attacks caused by his own movements, but the problem was that the opponent would not solely rely on one move. There would definitely be subsequent moves.

In the afternoon, after leaving the Swordsmanship Club, he returned home and continued to enter the basic space of the Sword Dao True Solution.

He still chose Yuan Yicheng as his trial opponent.

In the snow-white space, Yuan Yicheng, dressed in white, remained arrogantly indifferent. Seeing Lin Feipeng, he still spoke in the same disdainful tone and manner, but like before, he did not recognize Lin Feipeng, even though they had fought twice.

"I’ll end you!" Yuan Yicheng slowly drew his sword. Countless fine True Force strands slowly dispersed around him, forming a dense web-like structure that quickly knitted together into nodes.

Lin Feipeng concentrated and faced him, this time standing completely still.

Countless webs of True Force drifted around him, yet no attack was initiated.

"Eh?" Yuan Yicheng suddenly exclaimed in surprise. He put away his arrogance and scrutinized Lin Feipeng closely.

"Being able to see through this move so quickly, although your cultivation level is a bit low, you indeed qualify to be here," Yuan Yicheng quickly retracted the webs of True Force. He clearly could not afford to maintain the network indefinitely at such a high cost.

Lin Feipeng felt a sudden release around his body and swiftly, taking advantage of the moment Yuan Yicheng retracted his True Force webs, his Black Demon Sword was immediately unsheathed.

Clang!

In the clear, resonant sound of the sword, Lin Feipeng disappeared from his spot and instantly appeared in front of Yuan Yicheng, his Black Demon Sword thrusting straight towards his throat. He could even clearly see the subtle expressions on Yuan Yicheng’s face and a hint of surprise and mockery in his eyes.

Hsss...

Suddenly, a silver longsword appeared on the blade of the Black Demon Sword, and the two swords, pressing tightly against each other, produced a sharp hissing sound from the intense friction.

The twin swords thrust towards each other, with Lin Feipeng’s Black Demon Sword being slightly longer.

"I’m a bit faster!" Lin Feipeng’s eyes were resolute as he accelerated his longsword forward.

But suddenly, a moon-white glow emanated from the tip of Yuan Yicheng’s longsword, extending out a section of moon-white Sword Qi directly aiming for Lin Feipeng’s throat.

"Die!" Yuan Yicheng whispered lowly.

Lin Feipeng’s expression remained unchanged as he swiftly retreated, but a trace of blood still appeared on his throat, just a moment away from defeat and death.

However, the Yuan Yicheng standing opposite was full of disbelief.

"How... can this be??" he clenched his left chest, where blood was profusely gushing.

"Although you have Sword Qi, my speed far exceeds yours," Lin Feipeng said indifferently. Blood drips continuously fell from the tip of his Black Demon Sword.

Moments before, Lin Feipeng had forcefully used a speed that his arms could hardly bear, retracting the Black Demon Sword and lightning-fast piercing through Yuan Yicheng’s left chest.

His physical limits meant he couldn’t increase his speed, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t achieve a very high speed.

However, such an action was not without cost. Lin Feipeng’s right arm, from the elbow down, was covered in numerous blood droplets slowly seeping out. This was clearly due to an overexertion of force - the blood vessels burst open from under the skin, unable to withstand the activation of the Tracing Shadow Sword Art True Force.

After Yuan Yicheng fell to the ground, dead in disbelief, a stream of information instantly flowed into Lin Feipeng’s mind.

"Battle Victory, the victor may choose rewards: Option one: Select one sword technique from the defeated and learn it automatically. Option Two: Permanently revive the defeated (conditions required, the Revived One’s Psychic Contract will transfer to the holder of the Sword Canon. The Psychic Contract is a permanent contract, with all life and death decisions in the hands of the Sword Master).

"Revive the defeated?" Lin Feipeng was stunned; what was this choice? He felt like he was on the verge of uncovering the secrets of the Sword Dao True Solution. As he contemplated, another stream of information entered his mind.

"The Revived One will automatically regard the Sword Master as the most important person, with not disclosing the Royal Court Sword Canon and not defying Sword Master’s orders as the twin paramount rules. Note - the Revived One will impose a significant burden on the Sword Master; numbers must be judiciously considered."

Lin Feipeng dimly realized that the Sword Dao True Solution might not be just a simple Sword Canon. Perhaps the mysterious and enigmatic Royal Court held massive secrets within this Sword Canon.

"Choose option two, revive the defeated Yuan Yicheng," Lin Feipeng said calmly.

He was very much looking forward to seeing what state it would be like after the revival. (To be continued. If you like this work, feel free to come to Qidian.com to cast your recommendation vote or monthly ticket. Your support is my greatest motivation.)