Twin Dimension Yin-Yang Mirror: Attaining immortality through the martial path
Chapter 382 - 342: Sun and Moon Convergence, Stars Body Refinement

Chapter 382: Chapter 342: Sun and Moon Convergence, Stars Body Refinement

A finishing move?

Zhou Ping’an’s right eye darkened as he was about to utilize the Art of A Hair’s Breadth Across the World, seizing the chance to launch a fierce attack while his opponent was injured and breathless.

The heart that had been pierced with five bloody holes suddenly thumped violently, sparking a hint of coldness in his mind.

Without a second thought, he reached back with one hand, his large palm scooping up Fang Sheng like a child, and moved him behind his back. Instead of advancing, he retreated, stepping back more than thirty yards.

A blinding white light shone before him, and suddenly the sky split open, a white column of starlight crashing down upon the red-robed, one-armed woman.

The dazzling white light flickered, arriving face-to-face at a speed even three times faster than his own.

"How can mere ants comprehend the might of heaven?"

The red-robed woman no longer exhibited her delicate and beautiful demeanor. Amid the bright glow, her face revealed traces of chilling majesty.

Her pupils, cold as millennia-old profound ice, made Zhou Ping’an feel as though he was nearly frozen solid when she gazed at him.

"Sun and Moon Convergence."

A crisp cry rang out from behind him.

As the starlight intensified around the red-robed woman, a brilliant halo also began to emanate from behind Zhou Ping’an.

A gentle palm firmly landed on his back.

A vast and powerful stream of Qi flowed like a river, roaring mightily into his limbs and bones.

Boom...

Zhou Ping’an’s whole body violently shook.

He felt his spirit stretch and his strength surge, his Qi-blood doubling in an instant.

His body, initially somewhat weakened from blood loss, suddenly grew exponentially stronger.

"Hold on, it’s only the strength of a single strike."

The voice had not yet faded.

The red-robed woman transformed her left arm into a blazing white light sword that had already stabbed towards his chest.

The air exploded, his soul trembled, and his physical body was on the verge of shattering.

Even before the stab solidified, Zhou Ping’an already sensed the imminent danger of his soul and body disintegrating into fragments.

All kinds of cultivation techniques and secret methods swiftly crossed his mind.

In a flash.

He just managed to position a blade in front of his chest.

His wrist twisted sharply, driving the blade to transform into a misty web of threads.

Lingering endlessly, Ninth Turning of Wave Subduing.

This strike was arguably the most painstakingly practiced by Zhou Ping’an.

In his weaker days, it helped him face numerous formidable foes, earning the reputation of the unbreakable sword.

Initially, Lin Huaiyu also relied on this strike to travel across Qingyang City, fearing no one.

You might be ten times stronger than me.

But killing me won’t be that easy.

Zhou Ping’an focused on wielding his blade, entering the realm of Entering Minutiae, pushing the Completion Realm sword technique to a level he typically couldn’t reach.

He seemed not only a person but a whirlwind of blade light, continuously circulating light, engulfing and diffusing everything.

Whoosh...

The heavy mountain-like Stellar Yuan Force, even as it bloomed slightly, made Zhou Ping’an feel as if he were a splashing droplet, violently dispersed.

The long blade in his hand, along with his right arm, right shoulder, and half of his body, all turned into scattered light.

A streak of white light shot out a hundred yards, annihilating a large tree into nothingness.

Red-robed Feng Jiu Niang, who had violently attacked just now, finally showed a trace of emotion on her face after that strike.

Her face and body rippled like water, disintegrating into tiny specks of light, vanishing into the air.

Only her red robe floated down to the ground.

It piled into a heap.

Zhou Ping’an, left with only the majority of his body, felt as though his emotions were almost lost from that hit.

It was a close call to not reacting in time.

Where’s the enemy?

The enemy...

There’s no enemy left.

A breeze blew through, leaving only a faint smell of blood in the air.

The inside of Shanhe Manor was now completely silent.

Apart from those already dead, the remaining Protectors and house servants had fled the moment Young Master Xiao of the Manor was decapitated with a single strike.

"Brother Zhou, we... we’ve won."

A voice as thin as a mosquito’s, filled with wisps of joy and breathlessness, spoke.

When Zhou Ping’an turned his head, he was so startled that he almost dropped the black-clothed girl he was holding in his left hand.

No wonder, the soft and tender sensation he had just felt in his grasp was entirely gone.

The black-clothed girl now had deep-set eyes, skin stretched taut over bones, and a complexion as pallid as if she had been dead for three days and nights.

"That finishing move..."

A realization dawned on Zhou Ping’an.

He immediately recalled the words "Sun and Moon Convergence" that had echoed in his ears earlier.

It sounded like a desperate move.

"Yes, it’s a move of mutual destruction. My path is that of Qi Refinement, and I don’t have strong control over the physical body. Without powerful True Qi to activate, many essentials of swordplay are beyond my reach. The only things I’m capable of intimidating with are my movement technique and the ability to bring about martyrdom."

It seemed like a last glimmer of brilliance.

As Fang Sheng spoke, his complexion even began to look rosier.

Joy filled his eyes.

"Fortunately, I made the right gamble. Feng Jiu Niang, forced to channel starlight into her body while being strongly obstructed, indeed only had the strength for a single strike. If we didn’t die, it was her turn. Thus, we’ve passed..."

"Yes, we’ve passed."

Only then did Zhou Ping’an realize that his heart was beating again, and his Qi-blood also began to feel more active.

That strike had nearly brought him to death’s door, almost erasing his emotions completely.

But thankfully, with the last bit of blood remaining, the unbeatable reputation of the Wave Subduing Blade Technique hadn’t been disgraced.

This also proved that cultivation techniques are not inherently superior or inferior.

What matters is the strength of the user.

Although his sword technique had not broken, his own sword, along with his arm and half his body, could not withstand the powerful attack and burst into a mist of blood.

This was not at all the fault of the sword technique.

It was because he was not strong enough.

Just as he thought about the issue of strength, Zhou Ping’an couldn’t help but silently curse to himself again.

At this time, it was the season of harvest.

To think about these issues of strength and weakness seemed utterly out of place.

Just then, at the spot where the red-robed woman had vanished into specks of light,

a vast expanse of starry rain arose, like gauze, like mist, rushing towards Zhou Ping’an and Fang Sheng.

Out of nowhere, Zhou Ping’an’s mind was flooded with a passage of scripture, a cluster of images...

"This..."

Before Zhou Ping’an could thoroughly understand what he had received,

a sound of extreme surprise rang out in his ears.

"It’s the Starlight Body Refining Technique, we can finally continue the second part, Brother Zhou take care, until we meet again."

Fang Sheng’s gaunt, ghostly face rippled with a genuine smile, he forcefully waved his hand, then vanished into light right before Zhou Ping’an’s eyes.

Zhou Ping’an hadn’t even had the chance to reply when he felt his spirit, as if being stretched, and before him, another long, dark tunnel appeared.

Differently from last time, a cluster of colorful light enveloped his spirit, his soul climbed to limitless heights, and countless sword and fist techniques he had practiced, along with techniques for controlling his body, all gained new understanding.

He felt as though the bundle of his spiritual essence passing through the tunnel had transformed into a clear and bright orb, transparent inside and out, reflecting everything.

Past events and everything he had experienced flickered through his heart, revealing their true forms.

Even the look in the eyes of the girl who sat beside him during high school revealed new meanings to him.

Initially, I had missed many wonderful moments.

It was only now that Zhou Ping’ an recalled the many regrets in his process of growing up, the experiences he had had but never cherished.

Everything was crystal clear, no more confusion.

"What a clear understanding of heart and mind. With this to wield a sword, it’s Sword Heart Clarity; with this to use a blade, naturally, nothing can resist.

Being able to see through the essence of things to find the optimal response, is this the Second Realm of Entering Minutiae?"

Zhou Ping’an immediately understood.

What this beam of colorful light was when he returned.

It was the "Heavenly Wisdom Divine Light" that Fang Sheng had kept talking about.

After passing the trial, he had ultimately obtained it.

This time, the harvest, one could say, was the most precious of all.

Although it had not increased his True Qi Cultivation Level nor his physical strength, elevating his talent to reach clarity inside and out far exceeded any expectations in amplifying his combat strength.

"If I had this clear mind when facing Lady Feng Jiu, the red-robed woman, I wouldn’t have had to fight so desperately.

Perhaps, I could have faced her directly, broken her Shimmering Light Sword Technique, and slain her on the spot."

Thinking back to the process of this trial in the illusory realm, the images of the monkey and Chen Guang flashed through his mind, then he no longer paid attention to them.

Those two, no, one man and one demon, might never be seen again.

According to what Fang Sheng had indicated, those who failed to pass might see their Nine Sons Subdue Demon Orders vanish and appear before another newcomer...

Re-selecting a successor, starting again from the first challenge.

The opportunity is always there.

If you can’t grasp it, it’s as if it never existed.

And Chen Guang and Yuan Ping, even, He Sifang whom I had met last time...

They are the ones without fate.

Having had the best start, yet they did not go far.

Perhaps this is for the best.

What sort of illusory realms will I encounter from now on, and what kind of rewards will there be?

Zhou Ping’an forcibly suppressed the expectation in his heart.

He knew the Subduing Demon Order would likely require a long time to absorb a spiritual mechanism...

This time, he didn’t know how long it would be before it could be activated again.

He could only wait patiently.

...

As he returned to his senses in the meditation room,

Zhou Ping’an found that the skies outside were still dim, only slightly brightening in the east.

The wind blowing in through the windows carried a touch of moisture, mixed with the fragrant aroma of soil and grass juice.

Dawn was approaching.

It seemed that not only was there no sunrise today, but it was likely going to rain.

Zhou Ping’an straightened his robe, stood up, lit a candle, boiled some water, and brewed a strong tea...

Smelling the tea fragrance, he felt as if his soul had been cleansed.

In the illusory realm, after the continual battles and exhaustive thinking, not only did he feel no fatigue, but he felt his spirit was extremely invigorated instead.

Ideas surged one after another in his mind; he didn’t want to sleep, he wanted to work.

He was tempted to go into the yard to practice his swordsmanship, to experience what "Sword Heart Clarity" truly felt like.

Yet he thought that the dark hours before dawn were the deepest part of sleep...

Waking up Third Miss and the others seemed somewhat inconsiderate.

So he simply sipped his tea slowly, scrutinizing the knowledge that had just been infused into his mind.

The essence of the Shanhe Fist could go without saying, it had already been transformed into a Sword Intent Seed, rooted deep within his heart.

Zhou Ping’an knew how to tap into it.

He had truly entered the path.

Next, naturally, was to slowly nurture this seed, integrate the sword techniques, and infuse it within his true Qi and Gang Qi to form a genuine sword intent.

It did not need too much worry.

What he really wanted to study was the "Starlight Body Refining Technique" he had obtained in his mind after "slaying" the red-robed Feng Jiu Niang. He had no idea what it was about.

Based on the look of surprise on Fang Sheng at that time.

This cultivation technique might be quite remarkable.

...

Requesting a Monthly Pass.