True Solution of the Sword Dao
Chapter 269 - 257 Volume End 1

Chapter 269: Chapter 257 Volume End 1

"I have no intention of competing with you for the key," Lin Feipeng said calmly.

The man paused slightly and then smiled. "Then it’s easy to talk."

Fang and Black Bee and others, caught in the middle, didn’t know if they had given up hope or what but just quietly watched the two men.

"Alright, no one can save you now. Hand over the key," the man’s gaze shifted to Black Bee in the center.

"If I hand it over, can you assure my safe departure?" Black Bee had now clearly seen the situation and knew he had no strength to get involved.

"That depends on your sincerity," the man said indifferently.

Black Bee took out a fire-red, goose egg-shaped stone from his bosom.

"Shiner Christopher, do you dare to swear on your sacred name?"

Only then did Lin Feipeng realize that the man opposite, who obviously seemed like a B-level strong figure, appeared to be a sect member.

Christopher gave a cold laugh.

"You have the right to negotiate terms with me?"

On the side, Fang and others also suddenly produced a fire-red, goose egg-shaped stone.

"Lord Christopher, if you could save us, we are willing to hand our keys over to you," someone exclaimed.

Niqi stepped forward and loudly said, "I am a Spatial Ability user. If you do not agree, I am willing to teleport all the keys away." Black Bee quickly moved closer to them. The three of them gathered together.

Lin Feipeng frowned slightly. He didn’t care about any keys but also wouldn’t let his efforts be wasted. This Spatial Ability user had exhausted him from the chase and now all of a sudden, this complication had sprung up.

As expected, once Christopher heard ’Spatial Ability user’, he also frowned. Clearly aware of the difficulties of dealing with Spatial Ability users, he glanced at Lin Feipeng opposite.

The opponent looked like a formidable adversary. He really didn’t want to create complications at this time or waste his strength. But those who reached B-level were not easy to deal with.

"Friend," he just started to speak.

Blue luminescence suddenly emerged in Lin Feipeng’s eyes, and his figure flashed.

Instantly, after two muffled groans, Fang and Niqi clutched their throats and knelt on the ground. Blood continuously seeped through their fingers. Their eyes widened as if they couldn’t believe they had been killed in a blink.

Christopher’s face suddenly fell, and his hand violently reached towards Lin Feipeng as all the surrounding air gathered into his palm, forming a giant transparent hand, which viciously grabbed at Lin Feipeng.

Lin Feipeng reappeared in his original place. If it were not for the fact that both men were exhausted and had let their guard down for a moment when they took out the keys to ask Christopher for help, he would not have been able to kill them so swiftly. Although there were some twists, his purpose was ultimately achieved.

Jingjing glanced at the other two people present. Lin Feipeng suddenly disappeared.

Boom!!

The giant hand grabbed at empty space.

*******************

In a clearing in a forest full of corpses clad in black,

Lin Feipeng instantly flashed among the bodies.

The black garments and dark red, congealed blood clumps under the sunlight exuded a morbid stench. Due to the heat, the stench of blood steaming off the bodies made the whole area feel somewhat oppressive.

Lin Feipeng stood in the center of the bodies. He stretched out his right hand.

"Begin the Blood Sacrifice," he thought silently.

Without a sound, a dark red mass suddenly emerged from the palm of his right hand. The dark red mass formed into a spherical vortex, spinning continuously. The flesh and blood on the ground melted like wax and then turned into a bloody liquid that flowed into the dark red vortex in Lin Feipeng’s hand.

As the bodies on the ground dissolved one after the other, the dark red sphere grew larger and larger. In less than a dozen seconds, it turned into a person-sized giant globe of flesh and blood.

Faint fragrant scents continued to emanate.

Lin Feipeng slowly turned around.

Suddenly, a rustling sound came from behind him. Then a pair of white-jade-like arms gently wrapped around his neck.

"My lord..."

"Put on your clothes and leave this place," Lin Fei, with an indifferent wave of his arms, walked a few steps forward and vanished in an instant.

Where he had been, a seductively dressed woman wrapped only in a black coat gently spun around, releasing a laugh like silver bells.

***************

At the foot of Mount Taar

Lin Fei had just sheathed the Black Demon Sword and was walking down the mountain. Suddenly, a loud boom came from the peak behind him.

It boomed, as if the mountain was being blasted open.

He turned around. Thick smoke seemed to be rising from the summit of Mount Taar, although it didn’t seem like a fire. A faint scent of blood wafted through the air.

Yuan Yicheng and the woman in gold were following him.

"What was your original name?" Lin Fei asked.

"Original name?" the woman in the black fanged camouflage suit replied, "Do you mean the name I should use here? Just call me ’Gold’ then," she said nonchalantly.

"The Fangs are completely wiped out; let’s head back. Gold, whether to stay with Yuan Yicheng’s Mercenary Corps, operate independently, or join me—you choose." For someone like Gold, Lin Fei believed that allowing her to choose freely would be better, especially since she was a top-tier genius who could create her own Sword Techniques. Even Yuan Yicheng was somewhat inferior to her. If not for her poor initial conditions, she might have been able to establish her own sect.

***************

After staying a few days in Ping City, Lin Fei began his journey back to school.

This time, having thoroughly eliminated the Fangs, both Yuan Yicheng and Gold assured that at least one of them would remain in Ping City to prevent similar incidents from occurring again. In the end, Yuan Yicheng stayed while Gold chose to go with Lin Fei.

Sitting in the plane on the return journey, the cabin occasionally shuddered with the airflow.

Lin Fei and Gold sat side by side, disguised as a couple and attracting no attention.

Gazing out the window at the fleeting wisps of clouds, Lin Fei began to ponder.

During Gold’s resurrection, her memory fragments were much more intact than Yuan Yicheng’s, which gave Lin Fei a lot of references and insights into Swordsmanship.

"All along, it seemed that I was adhering to the sword techniques in the Sword Canon during my cultivation, with nothing truly belonging to myself. However, Jingjing was different; aside from a basic low-level sword technique she purchased at the beginning, she had nothing else, and then it was countless iterations of battle adjustments, battle adjustments. Her later realizations were all for integrating into her own swordsmanship system. Until she finally created the Ten Days Sword Technique, achieving most of her own system. Although she wasn’t very strong in later battles, that was because her Qi Cultivation couldn’t keep up with her swordsmanship."

The deeper Lin Fei delved into the Inner World, the more he sensed its enormity and power. Although B-level was considered high-level strength, he still occasionally encountered some. Moreover, even among B-level powerhouses, there were enormous disparities.

"Jingjing," Lin Fei still looked out of the window, but his heart was communicating through the Sword Canon. "Why exactly do you cultivate the sword?"

Jingjing, who had originally been napping in her seat, opened her eyes upon hearing the message.

"Why?" She chuckled softly. "Lord, it’s obviously to obtain what I desire."

Lin Fei gently nodded his head.

"Indeed. From the beginning, she ceaselessly infused her own will into her swordsmanship. It seems that any Sword Cultivator, as they advance, will reach this stage. Infusing one’s will into swordsmanship first requires having a technique that is completely suited to oneself. Only then can one fully implement one’s will." It was only now that Lin Fei suddenly understood—the methods he practiced before, whether it was Star Shattering, Tracing, Jingjing’s, or any other swordsmanship, were actually all the will of others. No matter how much later practitioners cultivated, they could never surpass the creators of the techniques. Just as Lin Fei now using Jingjing’s sword techniques was still far less effective than Jingjing’s, even though they were of the same highest realm.

Last time, Lin Fei had this thought, but unfortunately, he had no means to change. And now this feeling was even more profound. He had a premonition that if he didn’t make a change now, he might never have the chance again in the future. This premonition was inexplicable. Although Lin Fei was not a sentimental person, he would not ignore this feeling.

"How can I step out of the circle of the Sword Canon?" Lin Fei immediately thought of Pseudo True Force, this mysterious power that had once demonstrated the ability to contend with True Force. "Maybe I can use Pseudo True Force to counteract True Force." The idea flashed through Lin Fei’s mind. "If I can truly negate the influence of True Force, then how can I carve out a path that truly belongs to myself?"

This was key.

"Abandon everything and cultivate anew?" Lin Fei immediately dismissed this idea. Setting aside whether re-cultivating could successfully create something purely his own, the despairingly long accumulation time was not something he could accept. If he abandoned everything, trying to reach B-level, even for a top-genius, would be unthinkable without centuries. This was true for both True Force and potential.

"If I can’t abandon it, yet wish to rid myself of dependency on the Sword Canon, then perhaps thinking in reverse could work. Be it potential, True Force, or Pseudo True Force, these are all forms of strength, and the Sword Canon is just one of the secret manuals that utilizes True Force for cultivation, powerful beyond measure, but still based in True Force. If I can find the energy source absorbed during cultivation with the Sword Canon, namely the source of True Force or the most purified True Force, then perhaps I could rid myself of dependence on the Sword Canon." Simply using the power of origin for cultivation naturally wouldn’t have any marks.

"But then I think, currently, most of the True Force in my True Force Core comes from cultivating with the Divine Artifact True Force Seed. A smaller part comes from the Sword Canon Space True Force filtered by Divine Artifact components, which is partially transmitted by Jingjing and Yuhua. This means that all of the power in my True Force Core is truly mine. These powers were merely cultivated by methods obtained from within the Sword Canon."

Lin Fei understood in his heart.

"Since the True Force within me wholly belongs to me, then my dependency on the Sword Canon lies only with the sword techniques and the resurrected powerhouses. Each of these resurrected beings is linked spiritually to me, with the master-servant pact completely managed by the Sword Canon. Since the Sword Canon is only a secret manual, it should inherently possess record-keeping for pure sword techniques and storage assistance. This point is inevitable. And from what I see now, Pseudo True Force seems to have a strong antagonistic effect on the Sword Canon. If..."

Lin Fei’s eyes flickered.

"If I am merely extracting sword techniques for learning..." Suddenly, his pupils constricted, and an extremely important doubt surged to his mind.

"I should have realized this from the beginning. Sword techniques, low-level sword techniques, are merely methods and technical applications of the sword and shouldn’t involve anything too complex. So why, when I first started practicing the Star Shattering Sword Technique, did I make no progress at all, only achieving a higher level when the Sword Canon transferred it to my memory? The Sword Canon’s explanation is that sword techniques from other worlds may not enhance my cultivation due to cultural differences, but basic techniques shouldn’t be a problem! Why didn’t I make any progress?" A terribly foreboding possibility slowly surfaced in Lin Fei’s mind. (To be continued. If you enjoy this work, you are welcome to vote at Qi Dian (qidian.com) with recommendation votes and monthly tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation.)