Chapter 131: The Final Bow of the Sword Demon

Chapter 131: The Sword Demon's Final Bow

The full moon hung high in the sky, casting a charming glow over the night. On the desolate mountain, the scent of death permeated every fiber of Yan Shisan’s being.

In the next instant, the Tear-Stain Sword pierced through Yan Shisan’s left chest, while Yan Shisan’s sword simultaneously plunged into Zheng Jian’s right shoulder, exiting through his back.

Yan Shisan’s eyes were clear and vacant, his face etched with an expression of liberation. Zheng Jian had ultimately managed to avoid a fatal blow; the fifteenth sword had pierced his shoulder but failed to claim his life.

Zheng Jian coughed up blood, looking at Yan Shisan, who stared back at him.

"Tha... thank you," Yan Shisan whispered. His head tilted to the side, and he went still.

As Zheng Jian pulled his sword free, Yan Shisan’s body slumped to the ground. The Tear-Stain Sword remained embedded in the earth. Zheng Jian first used his left hand to seal the major acupoints around his right shoulder, then grabbed Yan Shisan’s blade and pulled it out with a grunt of exertion.

A crow appeared before Zheng Jian. "Yan Shisan is dead. Does that mean... his sword belongs to me now?"

Zheng Jian wheezed, nodding his head. He lacked the strength to speak. After crudely bandaging his wounds, he leaned on his sword with his left hand and began his slow descent down the mountain, step by step. In the opposite direction, the crow carried away Yan Shisan’s sword and his lifeless body.

...

By the time he returned to the tavern, dawn was nearly breaking. Xue Keran was waiting anxiously. Seeing Zheng Jian stumble back, she was first relieved, then horrified. She rushed over, "Boss, are... are you alright?"

Zheng Jian’s face was deathly pale. "Do I look... like I’m alright?"

"How did you get hurt this badly? Come inside quickly."

She supported him, carefully leading him into the tavern and into his room. "Here, sit down. Take it slow."

Zheng Jian sat down, and Xue Keran brought over some wine. "Boss, let me re-bandage your wounds."

Zheng Jian nodded. He was in genuine agony. Had he not dodged the lethal strike at the very last moment, it would have resulted in mutual destruction—and that would have been the end of this entire story, wouldn't it?

Thank goodness.

Xue Keran helped Zheng Jian remove his outer garment, revealing his pale, sturdy chest and arms. Her face flushed instantly.

"Hiss..." Zheng Jian couldn't help but gasp in pain.

Xue Keran quickly steadied her nerves. *I’ve already been seen by him before, so why be shy now? It’s just a look back, what’s there to be embarrassed about?*

Because Zheng Jian had sealed his surrounding meridians, the bleeding had slowed, but the wounds were still oozing, looking gruesome and terrifying.

"Keran, use the wine to clean the wounds first, then wrap them," Zheng Jian said, enduring the pain. Since he had first stepped into the martial world, this was the most severe injury he had ever sustained.

"Oh... please, try to bear it..." Xue Keran was nervous but gritted her teeth and followed his instructions.

"Ah..." As the wine touched the open wounds, Zheng Jian broke into a cold sweat, unable to stop a low roar from escaping his throat.

After a long while, Xue Keran finally finished bandaging him. With a blushing face, she helped him change his clothes before grabbing the basin and fleeing in a panic.

Zheng Jian struggled to lie down, finally finding the time to review the events in his mind. He understood the meaning behind Yan Shisan’s final expression and words.

Yan Shisan had long grown weary of the endless cycle of killing in the martial world. His duel with Zheng Jian was not born of hatred; on the contrary, they held a mutual respect for one another. Yan Shisan had long desired death, but he did not want to die at the hands of some nameless nobody. He wanted a glorious end, achieved only after pushing the "Thirteen Swords of Death" to its absolute limit.

Thus, when Zheng Jian shattered the blockade of the fifteenth sword, Yan Shisan had no regrets. He had died at the hands of the greatest swordsman of his era—the final bow he had dreamed of.

Yan Shisan: a true demon among swordsmen, a truly ruthless blade-master.

In the original tale, he died under the fifteenth sword of his own creation. In that moment, he became invincible, but unwilling to let such a blade exist in the world, he slit his own throat. How deep a disappointment must a swordsman feel to die by his own sword?

But in this timeline, Yan Shisan discovered that while the fifteenth sword was his peak, it was not truly invincible. That was why he said "thank you" before he died.

A peaceful release, with no regrets!

Zheng Jian looked up at the ceiling, pulling himself from his thoughts. He had gained much from this battle—far more than his encounter with Xie Xiaofeng.

Especially that final strike: that was sword energy!

Energy—the hallmark of an Innate Grandmaster.

To give an example, in the *Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils* world, techniques like the One-Finger Zen or the even higher-level Six-Meridian Divine Sword, or Xiao Feng’s Dragon-Subduing Palm, could all be categorized under "Qi." They could manifest as palm winds or sword energy. But against the Sweeper Monk, their effectiveness was severely diminished because the monk possessed a "Qi Wall."

That was the essence of energy: it could be used offensively, with power far exceeding ordinary sword energy, and defensively, covering the entire body to provide near-invincible protection.

No matter how strong the *Dugu Nine Swords* were, they were useless against sword energy. You could see the flaws and exploit them, but with the barrier of energy, you simply could not break through.

Power overcomes technique; this was a fundamental gap that skill alone could not bridge.

Therefore, the *Dugu Nine Swords* only belonged to the category of "sharp swords" as defined by Dugu Qiubai. They were incomparable to his later stages—the soft sword, the heavy sword, the wooden sword, and the realm of "no sword."

Reaching the Innate Grandmaster realm meant one could project internal energy at will. Every movement carried immense power. At this level, plucking a leaf or using grass, wood, bamboo, or stone—all things could become a sword. There is a sword in the heart, but none in the hand, simply because every gesture is accompanied by energy. Even a single leaf could cut gold and shatter jade.

*Once I exchange for the "Mental Arts of Changing Heaven and Striking the Earth," I will need to slowly seek out even more advanced sword techniques,* Zheng Jian thought. Having moves and having no moves were relative. At a certain stage, "no moves" represented a higher realm, but once one broke through to a new horizon, one had to return to "having moves."

It was a spiral of ascent. Dugu Qiubai’s "no moves" and "no sword" were indeed powerful, but how did they compare to Wu Ming’s "Ten Thousand Swords Return to Origin" or Lang Fanyun’s "Rain-Covering Sword Technique"?

They were incomparable, were they not?

Therefore, one should not negate the meaning of technique just because of the saying "winning without moves." By observing a hundred schools of swordsmanship, fortifying one's own sword intent, simplifying the complex, and then complicating the simple—only through such cyclical growth could one tread the path to a higher realm of the sword.

It was precisely this battle against Xie Xiaofeng and Yan Shisan that made him realize the *Dugu Nine Swords* were beginning to fall behind. He needed a higher-level sword art!

At the same time, after this battle, he was now invincible in this world. It was time to prepare for his departure.

Ding Peng and Xie Xiaofeng ten years later...

Well, he couldn't wait that long!