Chapter 522: Unseverable
From the distant boats on Luo Water, successive cries of alarm rang out.
People watched with their own eyes as Chen Changsheng extended his left hand, effortlessly breaking the Great Radiant Sword in a way they could not fathom. Then they saw Xu Yourong seemingly anticipate his move, using his method of breaking her sword to instead break his sword momentum. Next, they watched as Chen Changsheng had clearly regained control of the Abstinence Sword, yet it still pierced into his body. Finally, they saw Xu Yourong extend that seemingly casual but truly thunderous finger toward Chen Changsheng.
"Lingxi Finger!" the Daoist Si Yuan exclaimed, his expression shifting.
Was Chen Changsheng about to lose? Would he die under that finger? Mao Qiuyu's expression changed drastically, his sleeves billowing like countless waves as he prepared to rush toward the bridge. Tang Thirty-Six's face turned exceptionally ugly, as did Mo Yu's and Chen Liu Wang's. Was this about deciding victory and defeat, or life and death?
Everything happened too fast.
No one could have imagined that Chen Changsheng and Xu Yourong, in such a short span, would shift from extreme motion to extreme stillness and back to extreme motion. This showed they had both entered their own rhythms, and terrifyingly, their rhythms were very similar. This meant it would be difficult for anyone to break their rhythm, not even those far more powerful in cultivation realm.
A profound silence fell.
The radiance on the Bridge of Helplessness gradually faded, as if it were time itself.
The falling snow remained sparse, unable to conceal their figures, nor could it fill the line in the middle of the bridge.
On one side of the line was still snow, on the other side still rain. Xu Yourong had already crossed that line, standing before Chen Changsheng.
The index finger of her right hand pressed against his brow, but not completely.
Between her fingertip and his brow, there was still the distance of a short sword.
Because that short sword was in between.
At some unknown moment, Chen Changsheng had raised the Stainless Sword, blocking Xu Yourong's finger.
No colorful phoenix on the body, yet hearts connected; what more when the body itself was a phoenix?
Xu Yourong's Lingxi Finger was as fast as lightning, but not faster than his sword. This could only mean he had already calculated in advance that she would ultimately use the Lingxi Finger.
The Abstinence Sword left a clear wound on his left shoulder, the edges of the wound mixed with something like stardust, but the hilt was already in his grasp.
Xu Yourong slowly withdrew her finger.
A drop of golden-red blood bead slowly seeped from her fingertip, then fell onto the bridge surface. The rain and snow instantly evaporated, giving rise to a faint mist.
The Stainless Sword had blocked the Lingxi Finger, but could not completely neutralize the power of that slender finger. A drop of blood also flowed from Chen Changsheng's brow, as if a red mole had appeared.
The stone bridge fell into utter stillness.
On the distant Luo Water boats, people found the battle not as brutal as imagined and temporarily calmed down.
Through the faint mist, Chen Changsheng and Xu Yourong gazed at each other, neither speaking for a long time.
Both were wounded. It seemed Chen Changsheng's injury was more severe, but now both swords were in his hands. So who had won?
Clearly, Chen Changsheng and Xu Yourong no longer cared about the final outcome. Looking at each other, countless questions arose in their hearts.
"Why, when I remotely seized control of the Abstinence Sword and made it deviate seven inches to the right at the last moment, did it still pierce my left shoulder? Could it be that your Great Radiant Sword, from the very beginning, never intended to strike my vital points, and only wanted to pierce my left shoulder?"
"Why, when your final Stainless Sword strike was supremely subtle and had a great chance to fall together with your Lingxi Finger, or at worst force a mutual death, did it inexplicably stall at that moment, yet then mysteriously appear before your brow to block my finger?"
Seven days, seventeen star charts, three hundred sheets of paper, countless deductions and calculations—all the experience and wisdom from their cultivation careers were poured into this battle. They had calculated every detail to the extreme, yet in the end, they found only surprises awaiting them.
That was because they could calculate sword paths, calculate timing and terrain, but they could not calculate through human hearts, could not calculate what the other was thinking.
Chen Changsheng had calculated for seven days and seven nights, but he had not calculated that... Xu Yourong could anticipate his final move to shake the Abstinence Sword with sword intent, thereby breaking her Great Radiant Sword and then advancing on the momentum. The most crucial point was that he had not calculated that Xu Yourong had held back from beginning to end, with not a trace of killing intent toward him, not even a strong desire to wound him. So he miscalculated the distance to shake the Abstinence Sword—the sword piercing his left shoulder was actually self-inflicted.
In this battle on the Bridge of Helplessness, Chen Changsheng only sought a draw, not knowing that she only sought not to lose. Similarly, Xu Yourong had not expected him to think this way, because she knew who he was, but he did not know who she was, so he had no reason to show her any leniency.
She thought he wanted to win, so he would inevitably manipulate the Abstinence Sword to break her Great Radiant Sword—before the Zhou Mausoleum, she had seen similar scenes and knew he had this ability. She had prepared herself: when he tried to seize the Abstinence Sword, she would take control of the entire situation, and finally declare before the countless people on both banks of the Luo River that this battle was a draw. Yet she never expected Chen Changsheng had no intention of seizing the Abstinence Sword for a counterattack, only to defend. Even the trajectory of the final Stainless Sword was the same.
In short, they had thought in the same direction, but not to the same conclusion.
After countless deductions and calculations met each other, they became the unexpected.
Xu Yourong had more unexpected things, because she was certain he did not know she was that first-meeting girl, so she made more mistakes.
The mistake was that she still had not fully understood this youth named Chen Changsheng.
He seemed even better than the person she had known in the Zhou Garden, better than the person she had imagined.
This was very good.
She accepted her loss willingly.
"I lost."
If life and death were truly at stake, this battle could of course continue. Her injury was lighter than Chen Changsheng's, and she still had many techniques unused. But this was not a life-and-death battle; it was a sword debate. Now both swords were in Chen Changsheng's hands, so she considered herself defeated.
Without any concession, she calmly accepted this fact.
Chen Changsheng could not be calm, because there were still many things he could not understand.
And when he heard Xu Yourong's voice, he became even less calm.
This voice was very pleasant, like water in a clear stream, like dew on autumn maple leaves.
This voice was somewhat familiar, as if he had heard it somewhere before.
He looked at Xu Yourong, but his gaze was still blocked by that layer of white gauze.
Yet he still stared at the white gauze, looking more and more intently, more and more nervously.
Even if wind and snow rose again, and residual sword intent hissed faintly, none of it could sever his gaze.
His body suddenly became somewhat stiff, and his voice tightened: "You... you... say that again?"
...
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(The animated adaptation of The Legend of the Sky has released a trailer. I will post it on WeChat shortly. Please take a look, either directly or by replying with the four words "animation trailer" to view it.)