With a loud explosion, Long Chen and Luo Zichuan were both sent flying backward. Both were stained with blood, though Long Chen had more bloodstains.
"Still holding back at a time like this—do you really want to die?" Luo Zichuan's sword-like brows furrowed as he shouted coldly.
"If I kill you, I won't be able to explain to my mother. She's already suffered enough—I can't let anyone rub salt in her wounds, including myself."
Blood slowly dripped from Long Chen's body, but his aura remained at its strongest.
"Fool, if you don't go all out, how can you comprehend the true Dao of the blade? If you can't comprehend the true Way of the blade, you'll only be cut down by a sharp blade in the future.
With your current strength, even ten thousand wouldn't be able to kill me. If you don't use your full strength now, I'll cut you down.
Rather than die at someone else's hands in the future, you'd rather die by mine. Luo Zichuan shouted coldly, his eyes filled with intense purple light, like a purple sun.
At the same time, a purple ocean appeared behind him. For the first time, Luo Zichuan revealed his vision. In that instant, purple energy swallowed the sky, and the majestic power of his bloodline struck heaven and earth.
In that instant, Long Chen felt the space violently squeezing toward him. At that moment, Luo Zichuan seemed like the ruler of heaven and earth—a single thought could kill him.
Long Chen was shocked. Luo Zichuan had said he would only use the power of the Four Extremes Realm to fight him, but he hadn't expected that after using the first-generation bloodline, Luo Zichuan would become so terrifying. Though both were at the Four Extremes Realm, their aura was many times more terrifying than those of late-stage Divine Lord Realm experts.
When Luo Zichuan activated the first-generation bloodline and condensed a strange phenomenon, a fierce pressure locked onto Long Chen. In that instant, Long Chen felt an extreme threat to death.
He knew Luo Zichuan didn't want to kill him, but under such a full-power burst, if he couldn't withstand Luo Zichuan's attack, he would surely die, and Luo Zichuan couldn't change it.
"Divine Ring Appears"
"Battle Body Opens!"
Long Chen roared in fury, holding nothing back. A pillar of light shot up into the sky, running alongside the purple aura, soaring straight into the clouds. Between heaven and earth, a raging dragon roared, shaking the colors of heaven and earth.
"Rumble rumble... The
entire Luo Clan trembled. Some buildings cracked and cracked. The Luo Clan experts were terrified and quickly activated the grand formation to protect the buildings.
Luo Changwu, Qin Feng, Bai Xiaole, Xu Zixiong, Luo Bing, and the others all stared in shock toward the Sharpening Stone Ladder.
From the mountaintop, two pillars of light shot up into the sky—one purple, one golden—rushing into the heavens, shattering clouds in all directions, piercing through the sky and forming a massive vortex. From within the vortex, one could even see a twisted galaxy.
"How many years has it been? Finally, I see the clan leader's vision again. Back then, the clan leader held a purple sea above his head and wielded Ziwei, killing heroes of the world who bowed their heads and struck fear into all enemies..."
When they saw that purple pillar of light, countless Luo clan elders became excited. They had all followed Luo Zichuan, pacified all directions, and fought countless battles. It feels as if we've returned to those glorious days.
"I never expected the clan leader to personally teach Long Chen. You have to understand, the three of us children have never received even a single bit of guidance from him!" A bitter smile appeared at the corner of Luo Changwu's mouth.
From birth, Luo Changwu's impression of his father was extremely vague. He had no memory of his father ever holding him, and from childhood to adulthood, his father had met him less than ten times.
Luo Zichuan is mysterious and ruthless, yet commands genuine awe. In the Luo clan, he is like a god—no one has ever been able to fathom his thoughts.
Luo Zichuan personally guided Long Chen, and it had lasted almost twenty days. Even Luo Changwu didn't know how he felt inside.
"Boom boom boom... Long
blades clashed, divine light surging, the blade blade enveloped with the power of the Heavenly Dao, forming blade shadows stretching for thousands of miles. From afar, the massive blade shadows whistled back and forth, like gods locked in fierce battle.
For the first time in his life, Long Chen experienced such a fierce and exhilarating battle. The power within him was boundless. He was like a Kunpeng, sometimes swimming freely in the vast ocean, sometimes soaring above the heavens, free and unrestrained.
With a thunderous boom, Long Chen and Luo Zichuan both retreated together. The purple energy around Luo Zichuan slowly withdrew, and Long Chen retracted his battle body.
Long Chen was filled with gratitude and awe toward Luo Zichuan. Luo Zichuan was the strongest person he had ever encountered, and his mastery of blade techniques had reached a certain extreme.
Now, compared to before the Lailuo Clan, he was worlds apart. His dull blade, tempered by Luo Zichuan, was finally revealing its sharpness.
"No need to fight anymore. You've basically comprehended seventy percent of my blade intent. If I teach you the remaining thirty percent, it will only limit your future cultivation.
If that happens, you'll only become the next Luo Zichuan, and never surpass me.
Next, I'm going to teach you some theory. Whether you can grasp it is up to you. Luo Zichuan sat cross-legged on the ground and said.
Long Chen hurriedly put away his long blade and respectfully sat in front of Luo Zichuan, listening intently.
"You comprehend the intent of the blade but overlook the blade moves. This is not acceptable. Your spiritual realm is very high, and you have understood many principles, but your cleverness backfires your cleverness. Climbing the ninety-nine steps of the Sharpening Heavenly Staircase, you think only the last nine steps are useful.
It's like a hungry person who eats fifty buns at once, and after eating his fill, thinks the fiftieth bun filled him up, but overlooks the contribution of the first forty-nine.
All laws in heaven and earth emphasize gradual progress. If your steps are too large, you may overlook many things.
Great achievement seems incomplete, yet its use never fails. Great fullness is like emptiness; its use is endless. Great wisdom conceals itself in small matters; by the same reason, the great Way is hidden within the small path; seeing the subtle reveals the obvious, seeing the great through the small, only then can one see the far-reaching light. Luo Zichuan said.
"I understand, kid, whether you're talented or not depends on whether you're useful or not." Long Chen nodded and said.
After this battle, he realized many things that had been overlooked before. He himself was a Heaven-level mentor, well-versed in countless theories.
But after the battle with Luo Zichuan, he felt deeply ashamed. Back at the Dao Debate, he had shamelessly claimed others were just empty talk, and now he had slapped himself in the face.
Luo Zichuan is the true demonstrator of theory and practice. Long Chen has traveled many roads, but he only focuses on his goals and neglects his own footprints.
Although standing at that height, they overlooked the lessons they should understand during their journey.
Long Chen always believed that having a move meant being inferior; having a move meant weakness, and every move had a flaw. But Luo Zichuan showed him through his actions how important having a move was.
He hadn't even reached the Wuzhao realm yet, yet he wanted to comprehend its essence. This was a classic case of having high standards but lacking skill—a major taboo for cultivators. Yet Long Chen happened to break this taboo without realizing it, so even when Luo Zichuan called him foolish, he had to accept it humbly.
Luo Zichuan nodded and said, "That's right. To say something like that proves you've truly comprehended it."
Also, let's talk about the Heavenly Dao. Do you know why you dislike it? "