# Chapter 257: Mutual Understanding
"Stop!"
With Zhang Ruochen's command, both of them simultaneously withdrew their swords and halted.
The nine figures on the left overlapped, forming Zhang Ruochen's body.
The nine figures on the right overlapped, coalescing into Han Qiu's body.
Han Qiu was still immersed in the mysteries of the formation and was somewhat puzzled by the sudden halt. "Why stop? Wasn't our practice just now perfect?"
"Perfect?"
Zhang Ruochen said, "You call that perfect? During the sword formation practice, there was no mutual understanding between us at all. The sword techniques of the eighteen figures weren't coherent at all, and our sword intents couldn't communicate with each other. We didn't even form the true form of the Yin-Yang Two Instruments Sword Formation, let alone mobilize the heaven and earth spiritual energy."
Han Qiu was somewhat displeased. "No mutual understanding, and you blame me? It's because you've never treated me as a friend and have always been on guard against me. With that kind of mindset, how could we possibly have mutual understanding?"
"I'm very curious. I've never done anything to wrong you, and I've even shown you goodwill many times. Why are you so hostile toward me?"
Zhang Ruochen was silent for a moment, then said, "If I truly regarded you as an enemy, I wouldn't have saved you."
"Then what is the reason? Could it be... Zhang Tiangui's reason?" Han Qiu asked.
Zhang Ruochen didn't deny it. "That's right. With your intelligence, you should understand that Zhang Tiangui and I are already irreconcilable, and there will inevitably be a battle between us in the future. You are his junior sister; how could I not be on guard against you?"
Han Qiu sighed. "Back in the royal capital, I could tell there was something off about your relationship, but I didn't expect it to have reached such a severe level."
"Perhaps Zhang Tiangui has done some things wrong in certain aspects. But he's still a decent person—not only highly talented but also open and upright, treating others very well. If you really have a conflict, I could step in and mediate. After all, you are blood brothers."
Zhang Ruochen smiled faintly. "There are some things I don't want to say outright. You'll naturally understand them yourself in the future. In the royal clan, there's no such thing as blood brothers. You don't need to concern yourself with the matters between him and me."
Han Qiu stared into Zhang Ruochen's eyes, as if trying to see through his true thoughts. She thought to herself, "Could Zhang Tiangui have done something to wrong Zhang Ruochen, causing their conflict to escalate to an irreconcilable level?"
In fact, in Han Qiu's heart, Zhang Tiangui was still a decent person—at least there was nothing about him that she found objectionable, and there were many things worth learning from him.
After hearing what Zhang Ruochen said, Han Qiu became somewhat suspicious and secretly decided that once she returned to Heavenly Demon Martial City, she would have someone thoroughly investigate Zhang Tiangui.
After all, her father, the Sect Master of Cloud Terrace Sect Mansion, had already intended to betroth her to Zhang Tiangui.
If Zhang Tiangui truly was the kind of petty person who would scheme against his own younger brother, then there was no way she would marry him.
Although she had spent very little time with Zhang Ruochen, she felt that Zhang Ruochen would never slander Zhang Tiangui without reason.
Han Qiu asked, somewhat puzzled, "Since you're on guard against me, why did you still teach me the Yin-Yang Two Instruments Sword Formation?"
"What I taught you is only the Nine Swords of Yin Instrument. Without the Nine Swords of Yang Instrument, you can't set up the Yin-Yang Two Instruments Sword Formation."
Zhang Ruochen paused, then continued, "Besides, after spending time together recently, I feel that you are still someone worthy of trust."
"You should have trusted me long ago!" Han Qiu raised an eyebrow slightly and added, "If we had more trust between us, we wouldn't have been chased so miserably."
"Let's continue practicing the sword. We need to master the Yin-Yang Two Instruments Sword Formation as soon as possible. I'm worried that if we wait any longer, the Poison Spider Chamber of Commerce and the Four Directions Commandery will send more experts, which will make things even more difficult for us," Zhang Ruochen said.
"Mm."
The two continued practicing the Yin-Yang Two Instruments Sword Formation, spending nearly ten hours each day refining their coordination.
As time passed, their understanding of each other deepened, and their mutual understanding grew stronger.
Finally, on the sixth day, the sword formation practice was successful.
Han Qiu wiped the sweat from her forehead with her sleeve, looked at Zhang Ruochen, and said joyfully, "We've finally succeeded! With our Yin-Yang Two Instruments Sword Formation, let alone one Huo Jingcheng, even two Huo Jingchengs wouldn't be a match for us. Now, let's fight our way out!"
Zhang Ruochen remained quite calm. "It's indeed time to leave."
"Boom!"
The stone door of the underground palace slowly opened.
When Zhang Ruochen and Han Qiu emerged from the underground palace, Huo Jingcheng, who had been waiting outside, immediately snapped open his eyes.
Huo Jingcheng sneered coldly. "You've finally decided to come out! I thought the two of you were going to hide in there forever."
Han Qiu held the white jade ancient sword, stretched lazily, outlining a perfect curve, and laughed. "If we didn't have absolute confidence, would we come out?"
"Oh? Have you broken through to the Heavenly Extreme Realm?"
Huo Jingcheng immediately became cautious. If Han Qiu had truly reached the Heavenly Extreme Realm, then he would be the one who needed to flee.
Han Qiu smiled. "Why would I need to reach the Heavenly Extreme Realm? With just our Earth Extreme Realm cultivation, we're enough to kill you."
"Haha!"
Huo Jingcheng laughed loudly. "Do you think that just because your injuries have healed and you're working together, you can be a match for me?"
"That's right," Han Qiu said firmly.
Zhang Ruochen said, "Set up the formation!"
"Swish!"
Zhang Ruochen and Han Qiu charged out simultaneously, positioning themselves at two different directions relative to Huo Jingcheng. They raised their swords, pointing at Huo Jingcheng, who stood at the center.
"With your cultivation, even with a formation, you're no match for me. Raging Wind Beast Shadow!"
Huo Jingcheng raised both hands to the sky, and the true qi within his body surged out, drawing in the spiritual energy of heaven and earth to form a massive storm vortex.
A howling sound echoed through the air.
Under Huo Jingcheng's true qi control, the storm vortex formed a huge beast shadow, its body over ten meters long, taking on a semi-transparent form. It bared its fangs and claws as it charged toward Zhang Ruochen.
"Swish, swish!"
Zhang Ruochen and Han Qiu moved almost simultaneously. What had been two figures instantly became eighteen figures.
Above the eighteen figures, a bright circular sword aura formed, resembling a Taiji Eight Trigram seal, spinning continuously.
"Whoosh!"
Zhang Ruochen struck out with his sword in a bold, sweeping motion, directly cleaving the beast shadow formed by wind blades in two.
"What?"
Huo Jingcheng was greatly shocked. How had that kid's power suddenly become so formidable?
He was about to attack Zhang Ruochen again when a sharp sword sound rang out from behind him.
"Watch the sword!"
Han Qiu's graceful figure moved like a sword-riding immortal, executing the "Cloud Gazing at the Moon" technique from the Nine Swords of Yin Instrument, thrusting straight at Huo Jingcheng's back.
"Chi!"
Light-based inscription patterns flowed along the blade of the white jade ancient sword, extending a nine-foot-long sword aura that pierced through Huo Jingcheng's robe, leaving a shallow but noticeable sword wound.
Feeling the pain from his back, Huo Jingcheng immediately lunged forward, roaring, "I don't believe I can't break your sword formation!"
Huo Jingcheng spun around and struck a palm toward Han Qiu.
Just as his palm force was about to hit Han Qiu, Zhang Ruochen attacked from behind again.
Sensing the blazing flame aura behind him, Huo Jingcheng had no choice but to withdraw his palm. He swung his arm, sending a wind blade slashing backward.
Just as Huo Jingcheng thought he had forced Zhang Ruochen back, a sword shadow came from the upper left, slashing at the top of his head and cutting off a lock of his hair.
Huo Jingcheng's face changed dramatically. He finally realized the power of the Yin-Yang Two Instruments Sword Formation.
In his perception, he wasn't fighting two people—he was fighting eighteen people.
Any one of those figures could turn their sword technique into a real strike at any moment, catching him off guard.
Han Qiu let out a silvery laugh, constantly shifting positions within the formation. "Uncle Huo, how's our sword formation? Would you like to give us some pointers?"
"It's just a sword formation. In the face of absolute power, formations are nothing but children's games," Huo Jingcheng said coldly.
"In that case, we won't play with you anymore!"
Han Qiu glanced at Zhang Ruochen.
Zhang Ruochen nodded to her.
The two of them fully unleashed their sword techniques, pushing the Yin-Yang Two Instruments Sword Formation to its limit.
"Catching Shadows in the Wind!"
"Plucking Chestnuts from the Fire!"
The area covered by the Yin-Yang Two Instruments Sword Formation grew smaller and smaller. Initially, its diameter was ten zhang, then nine zhang, eight zhang...
As the formation's range shrank, the sword attacks became increasingly dense.
Finally, the formation's diameter was reduced to just one zhang.
Huo Jingcheng was trapped within the formation like a caged beast, constantly striking out to block the incoming sword techniques. Although his cultivation was profound, the number of sword wounds on his body continued to increase.
"Pfft!"
Zhang Ruochen swung his sword horizontally, slashing across Huo Jingcheng's neck. He finally broke through Huo Jingcheng's protective heavenly shield and severed his head.
"Thud!"
After his head was cut off, Huo Jingcheng's body could no longer control the wind force and fell limply to the ground.
"It's finally over!"
Han Qiu withdrew her white jade ancient sword and said somewhat regretfully, "Our coordination still isn't tacit enough. If it were a bit better, killing Huo Jingcheng would have been much easier."
Zhang Ruochen looked at the corpse on the ground without any joy. "Let's go. We need to leave here as soon as possible."
"Mm."
Han Qiu nodded.
Not long after Zhang Ruochen and Han Qiu left, an old man wearing a purple-gold crown rode a three-legged fire crow into White Mist Ancient City and stopped above the underground palace.
The old man jumped down from the three-legged fire crow's back, walked over to Huo Jingcheng's corpse, and a sharp glint flashed in his eyes. He muttered to himself, "To actually be able to kill Commandery Princess Zhenling and Huo Jingcheng, these two juniors really can't be underestimated."
He sniffed lightly. "The blood smell is still fresh. They must have died less than three hours ago."
The old man glanced at the ground and quickly found the traces left by Zhang Ruochen and Han Qiu when they left.
He leaped back onto the three-legged fire crow's back and guided it to chase in the direction Zhang Ruochen and Han Qiu had gone.
(Happy Singles' Day, everyone! I was originally planning to add an extra chapter, but I realized it's almost midnight and time to prepare for the shopping rush! So, I've decided to add the extra chapter at noon tomorrow. That means there will be two chapters at noon tomorrow.)