True Solution of the Sword Dao
Chapter 302 - 286: Sword Dao of a Thousand Autumns 2

Chapter 302: Chapter 286: Sword Dao of a Thousand Autumns 2

Kunpeng Martial Arts

On the brightly lit ring that was a bit dazzling to the eyes, two strong-bodied men were cautiously facing off against each other. Neither of them had any protective gear.

Below, around the ring, a crowd of spectators formed several circles, discussing animatedly, and their noise made the entire indoor arena somewhat chaotic.

Lin Fei and Jiang Nan stood by the entrance, watching the ring from afar.

For Jiang Nan, this was her first time entering such a place; she clutched Lin Fei’s hand tightly, her palm somewhat sweaty—an obvious sign of her nervousness.

"This is the Kunpeng Martial Arts Club. It’s also the best and most genuine place in Ping City to assess the strength and rank of amateur professional fighters. The two up there are pretty good fighters at the amateur level," Lin Fei said lightly, her voice not loud, but it still reached Jiang Nan’s ears clearly despite the clamorous environment.

Jiang Nan didn’t speak, merely watched. She had a vague premonition that she was gradually coming into contact with a completely unknown and brutal world.

"Why don’t they have any protective equipment?" she suddenly asked, "Even the students at the Swordsmanship Club wear protective gear when they practice against each other."

Lin Fei glanced at her dispassionately.

"This isn’t a game."

Jiang Nan was taken aback.

With a clang, as the gong sounded, the two men on the stage immediately started fighting directly, their style extremely wild, almost trading blow for blow. It was a relentless way of fighting, exchanging punches and kicks, totally heedless of their own safety.

"Both of them are backed by a huge amount of money and profound influence through the bets placed behind them. Besides that, there are also their families. If they lose, their families could suffer too. And the most crucial point is," Lin Fei paused.

Jiang Nan looked at her, waiting for her to finish the key point.

"This ring fight is a life-and-death battle, where only one person can come out alive," Lin Fei said indifferently.

Jiang Nan shivered suddenly.

"Don’t the police care about this?"

"What do you think?" Lin Fei smiled, but she didn’t answer the question.

In the entire Hua Nation, D-level and above fighters were concentrated in the Imperial Guard, while other cities and regions had, at most, a D-level leader maintaining the situation. Such low-level personnel’s lives and deaths happened countless times every day across the country. It was a massive gambling market belonging to the underground economy, and every year it brought huge profits to the local Shueisha; under such conditions, how could those above easily halt and clean up?

"Compared to your circle, this is the darker side of the world," Lin Fei said as she gently ruffled Jiang Nan’s hair.

Thump!

On the stage, a slightly weaker-looking man was swept in the waist by a kick and immediately fell to his knees, howling loudly.

His opponent didn’t hesitate, moving up with a knee strike, brutally smashing into the other’s face. A splatter of fresh blood burst forth, scattering across the ring.

The opponent instantly stopped making any sound and collapsed to the ground. Below the ring, heart-wrenching cries of despair erupted, as several people who seemed to be relatives desperately tried to rush onto the stage but were firmly held back by the burly men around them.

Several medical personnel dressed in white hurried onto the scene to move the fallen opponent away, while the referee lifted the victor’s hand, declaring the winner.

Jiang Nan clearly saw that the face of the person who had fallen had the bridge of their nose deeply caved in, almost buried into their brain. The victor, on the other hand, had their right eye completely turned into a bloody hole, evidently burst open from the beating.

She suppressed her fear and disgust, her face deathly pale, her small hands clutching Lin Fei’s hand, nearly using all her strength to prevent herself from collapsing.

Just then,

The victor on the ring, whose hand had just been raised in victory, suddenly fell backward, blood foam continuously spewing from his mouth, staining his entire upper body with bright red, clearly he too, would not survive.

Jiang Nan could no longer hold back, her body went limp. Grasping Lin Fei’s hand had become almost powerless.

Seeing this, Lin Fei immediately wrapped an arm around Jiang Nan and held her close in his embrace.

"Have you resolved to come close to me?" he asked in a soft voice.

Jiang Nan’s mind was filled with the gruesome state of the two people. Her stomach churned, and she felt like vomiting but couldn’t seem to. Instead, she could only cling tightly to Lin Fei’s embrace.

"In our circle, you never know when you might end up just like them, vanishing completely in some unknown corner, with no one any the wiser. Moreover, once you enter, there’s no turning back." Lin Fei brought Jiang Nan here to test her resolve. If she couldn’t even accept this much, then there was no point letting her know the other things. She didn’t belong here.

The two left the Kunpeng Martial Arts Club and slowly walked on the busy streets outside. Jiang Nan stayed close in Lin Fei’s embrace. Even if it made walking somewhat difficult, she stubbornly maintained their closeness.

"Feifei, brother..." Jiang Nan said softly, "I don’t care what you do, just don’t leave me, okay?" She even sounded a bit pleading.

Lin Fei was at a loss. He didn’t know how to answer this question.

"If you are willing," was all he could say in reply.

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

An entire morning passed, and Lin Fei accompanied Jiang Nan as she partially completed her withdrawal procedures from school. When the other faculty members returned to campus, she would be able to retrieve her records herself. He planned to enroll her in an average high school, neither too bad nor too good. A key school like No.1 High School would only cause her to fall further behind, and the sheer gap might even lead her to give up on herself and become depressed, which wouldn’t be good.

Lin Fei knew he had to take some responsibility for the changes in Jiang Nan. If only he had paid more attention to Nannan, perhaps things wouldn’t have gotten to this point.

Fortunately, there was still time to make things right. He would arrange everything for her. Now that Jiang Nan had made her feelings clear, there was a sense of contentment within him, letting Lin Fei make decisions and handle everything for her. She simply watched quietly from the side, a faint smile on her face.

After taking care of Jiang Nan’s matters,

Lin Fei took her to the Swordsmanship Club before he could finally breathe a sigh of relief.

Lin Fei’s feelings for Jiang Nan were complex. In fact, his affection for her was more of a desire for the sisterly love he couldn’t fulfill with Lin You. The so-called love between a man and a woman was far less prevalent. Lin Fei now had no time to waste on such things.

He wanted to refuse but feared hurting Jiang Nan’s heart, which might drive her back to her old ways. So, in the end, he simply used absolute authority to decide everything for Jiang Nan, allowing her to live under his wing. As for the matters of the heart, perhaps those feelings would fade as she grew older.

The most important thing now was to deal with the secrets of the Sword Canon. Lin Fei had some speculations about some of the things inside.

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

Sword Canon Space

Lin Fei stood quietly on the grass, holding the Black Demon Sword.

"Choose a Myriad Autumn Sword Dao opponent, Outer Sect Affairs Manager level. The specifics can be random." With his prior two experiences, Lin Fei was now highly focused. He had some guesses about the people of the Myriad Autumn Sword Dao, but he wasn’t sure whether they were accurate.

With hissing sounds, a black shadow slowly condensed not far across from him.

This was a woman in a black dress, similar to Ren Ling at the start, but she appeared slightly older, and there was a giant white eagle perched on her arm.

"Myriad Autumn Sword Sect, Ren Yue," the woman lightly shook her arm, and the giant eagle suddenly took flight, circling and crying overhead.

"The mark of my sister has disappeared. Was it you who killed her?" she asked indifferently.

Lin Fei was fully attentive at the moment, waiting for the opponent’s suicide attack, not expecting that this time the opponent wouldn’t make the first move. Caught off-guard, Lin Fei replied calmly.

"To be exact, she died in a self-detonation."

"That’s right," Ren Yue nodded. "Those who enter the Myriad Autumn Sword Sect are either madmen or fools. Having lost all hope, they stake everything on an ephemeral chance, but how many of them truly succeed?"

"What do you mean?" Lin Fei frowned.

"I can’t feel your Sword Intent. Leave, I won’t kill you," Ren Yue said lightly, "Seeing you is like seeing my former self."

"You won’t kill me?" Lin Fei chuckled wryly. Although he had ended in failure both previous times, that didn’t mean he would definitely lose.

"Don’t you understand? The Sword Intent of the Myriad Autumn Sword Dao is grasped by very few, and even fewer truly understand it successfully. Even among those who succeed, there are different levels. The level of someone like Ren Ling, in my eyes, is just the lowest grade," Ren Yue stated coldly.

"Wait a minute!" Lin Fei was startled, "You’re talking about the Sword Intent of the Myriad Autumn Sword Dao? So, you mean that this Swordsmanship itself carries with it a Sword Intent?"

"Of course," Ren Yue looked oddly at Lin Fei, as if she were looking at an alien. "You don’t even know this, and yet you stand before me?"

Lin Fei’s mind rapidly flashed through the previous scenarios, immediately reaching a conclusion.

If this was the intrinsic Sword Intent of the Sword Dao, then the previous two practitioners of the Myriad Autumn Sword Dao were likely unsuccessful examples of Cultivation, whereas the person before him seemed to be at a higher level, able to control his own consciousness. This would also explain why the Swordsmanship of the previous two carried such a strong sense of despair. Since it was induced by the Swordsmanship and not their own understanding, naturally, both had the same style.

"It seems that aside from the Myriad Autumn Sword Dao, other Sword Daos are clearly top-level Sword Daos that carry the ability to comprehend Sword Intent. The Myriad Autumn Sword Dao signifies despair, and the others may have other styles," Lin Fei mused.

"Leaving is out of the question," Lin Fei slowly drew out the Black Demon Sword. The previous two times were akin to fighting madmen, completely meaningless, but this time he was finally facing a true master who understood the Myriad Autumn Sword Dao. How could he not give it a try?

Ren Yue sighed softly.

"Considering the difficulty of your Cultivation, I’ll let you..."

Clang!!

Suddenly, a light ringing sound.

Ren Yue’s pupils shrank. She retreated slightly.

A silver sword arc instantly swept past in front of her.

The Longsword was swiftly drawn, forcefully blocking the Black Demon Sword.

The two swords stubbornly resisted each other, their True Forces rapidly grinding against one another. The surrounding grass was torn apart by the powerful Sword Pressure, the air of the entire space trembling slightly.

Lin Fei and Ren Yue were mere inches apart, their eyes locked.

Lin Fei let out a light chuckle, spinning his body and lightly leaping back.

"This kind of despair, I seem a bit used to it now."

"Is that so?" Ren Yue’s expression darkened. She gripped the sword with both hands, lightly waving it in front of her to create a fan shape, eventually raising it above her head. The Longsword trembled continuously, emitting a near-lamenting metallic resonance.

"Extinction."

Numerous cracks instantly spread across the blade of the Longsword.

Hiss!

Lin Fei raised the sword with one hand, pointing straight at the sky.

A vast planetary phantom suddenly emerged behind him. The planet slowly rotated, giving off the illusion of crushing everything.

But it was immediately shattered by Ren Yue’s peculiar Sword Pressure emanating from her blade.

"As expected," Lin Fei smiled knowingly. "This is my strongest blow, yet it still falls far short of you."

"Is that so?" Ren Yue was taken aback.

Lin Fei gently closed the Black Demon Sword. "You could feel Ren Ling’s disappearance. So, you should also be able to feel whether I disappear," he said with a light smile, pointing a finger at his own forehead.

Blood instantly splattered from his orifices. Lin Fei collapsed limply to the ground.

Ren Yue’s face went through shock and disbelief, then her complexion turned pale.

"How is this possible!!?? How is this possible!!??" she exclaimed, her face ashen, gripping the Longsword tightly. (To be continued. If you like this work, please visit Qidian.com to cast your recommendation votes and Monthly Tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation.)