The Blade Rises Through the Five Elements, Chapter 87: Water Has No Fixed Form

The towering man had already said it many times before. His body broke apart into a thousand threads, leaving only traces of black ink as he endured the shock of Buddha-power, yet his aura remained bold and formidable.

“This whole world is under my control!”

“Have you never heard that an army has no fixed formation, and water no fixed shape?” Su Ye held his sword with effortless grace, the toes of his feet lightly touching the shallow, waterlike ground and sending out two rings of ripples.

At the point of collision, the threads warped and shattered, disturbing the waves.

A sinister smile curved the towering man’s lips as he hovered in the air, looking down at Su Ye.

“Are you saying you can reverse the course of battle in this world?”

“If it is heaven and earth, what difference can there be between you and me?”

The towering man seemed to have been struck in his sore spot. His eyes flew wide as he glared at Su Ye in fury.

“If you have not yet realized it, then I must remind you once more: the mere suppression of spiritual energy by the Demon God is enough to bury your life.”

“How fortunate,” Su Ye said with an easy smile. “I have no spiritual root, and there is no spiritual energy within me either.”

“You—”

Su Ye held his sword level, his left hand’s two fingers lightly drawing across the blade.

“Everything I possess has been transformed from sword energy.

One breath of heaven and earth, clear distinction between black and white.”

When Luo Jinghong forged the Primordial Sword, he used the black-and-white balance of the yin-yang fish as its foundation.

Within it was righteous vigor, yet also a trace of darkness.

Just as the principle of yin and yang should be harmonized.

The dark ink left a mark, veiling half of the Primordial Sword’s white blade.

In an instant it spread, black mist winding around the treasure sword.

One thought, god and demon.

The real made manifest.

The towering man felt the suppression of the Demon God’s image upon Su Ye vanish, and his already ferocious face twisted into something even more frenzied.

The wild blade in his hand gathered demonic power, leaving black mist and ink traces in the air.

The clouds at the horizon no longer moved at his command.

Without the amplification of the Demon God’s image, the towering man’s strength could not even surpass Su Ye, who now had threefold enhancements.

In a flash, offense and defense reversed.

“A blade is the commander of a hundred weapons; a sword, their sovereign,” Su Ye said softly, his tone unreadable. “The one is a weapon for charging ranks and slaying enemies; the other, the weapon of an unworldly gentleman. Neither is inherently superior.

Only when wielded by different hands can their merit be judged.”

His longsword flicked upward, deflecting the wild blade’s overwhelmingly fierce strike.

Then the sword’s momentum abruptly shifted from slow to swift, and, seizing the towering man’s wrist, a sharp burst of sword energy flew forth.

In the blink of an eye came the sound of bones cracking and tendons snapping.

There was no blood, nor pain.

The towering man hurriedly retreated from Su Ye, black ink gathering to seal the wound pierced by the sword energy.

“You think your foolish opinion can stand for truth?”

“The victor is king, the defeated a thief. Right or wrong should be decided by results.”

“You think you can win?”

“Why not?”

As the words fell, Su Ye’s figure turned into a streak of ink, leaving only remnants behind him.

In the real world, instant movement was a technique only high-level cultivators could use... but in this dreamlike world that was and was not real, the laws of the mortal world could be broken.

His form scattered and reformed; the longsword danced like a startled swan.

The towering man wielded his blade with both hands, the back of it pressed close to his body as he blocked and parried the swiftly descending slash.

A sudden agony tore through his chest.

He lowered his head, and there, the black longsword had pierced straight through his body.

Thick black ink dripped slowly from the tip of the sword.

“I already sai—” The towering man’s words froze in his throat.

Bloodshot veins webbed his narrow eyes. Fear and madness coexisted there, as though they might shatter at any instant.

A circular prison formed of black ink-shadow enclosed him within.

A powerful soul-binding presence slowly stripped the soul-force from within his body.

Su Ye drew the Primordial Sword from the towering man’s chest and said quietly:

“This spell was created by me. It is called Compassionate Soul-Summoning Crossing.

I think... it should have some effect on those dream-born from obsession.”

The towering man gripped his blade with both hands and roared wildly, slashing at the prison confining him.

The instant the wild blade touched the spell, it was like mud sinking into the sea, dispersed and absorbed by the currents.

“Ah...” The towering man grew more and more frenzied, his aura thrown into disorder, showing signs of self-destruction.

Su Ye returned to the ground and looked up at the prison suspended in the air, his voice calm as still water.

“Your self-detonation will only strengthen Compassionate Soul-Summoning Crossing.

Better than that, why not speak with me... Tell me why you linger in this world, why you still refuse to leave...”

————

The towering man looked down at Su Ye, who sat cross-legged upon the ink-wash ground, and could not help but reveal a mocking smile.

“You are nothing but a hound of the mortal world. Do you think yourself noble?”

“I have never believed myself nobler than anyone else... not before, and not in the future.”

“Spare me your sanctimonious airs,” the towering man said, abandoning struggle as he looked down at Su Ye with the last trace of arrogance in him. “You think you can turn the world upside down, when in truth you cannot even break free of the net of dust.”

“I cultivate the path of sentiment. There is no need for me to leave that net.”

“...” The towering man studied Su Ye anew. “You cultivate the path of sentiment?”

“Indeed.”

The towering man threw his head back and laughed wildly.

“In this world... there is actually a fool like you!

Karma is already as heavy as a mountain; to become entangled in worldly affairs can only drag you into an abyss from which there is no return.

Immortality is but a dream and a bubble to you!”

“Stop raving. Speak properly.” Su Ye’s heart was as calm as water; he disliked seeing such neurotic behavior.

“You...” The towering man smiled with a hint of wicked charm. “You really are interesting.”

“You have said so much nonsense; let that count as understanding each other,” Su Ye said, lifting his gaze to the towering man. “Why do you linger in this world, still refusing reincarnation?”

“I am unwilling to accept it.” The towering man struggled to restrain his emotions. “Why was I not born to good parents? Why was I not gifted with exceptional talent, but could only serve as a lowly laborer in the sect?

Why were they able to cultivate so quickly that they covered a thousand miles in a day, while I, even when my lifespan was exhausted, had only barely reached the cultivation of half a step into Azure Peak?

I only wanted to question the heavens: why?”

Is that all?

“Though I do not know your full background,” Su Ye said, unable to help shaking his head with a bitter smile, “if you cultivate the path of ruthlessness, then with a heart like this, it is no wonder you never reached Azure Peak.”

Su Ye’s sharp words left the towering man speechless for a long moment before he finally said:

“You... you are no better than I am!”

“The highest realm of the Daoist path is nonaction.

I am not insulting you, but with your temperament, however many years you cultivate, it will all be in vain.”

The towering man stared at Su Ye, serene as water, and this time he offered no retort.

Su Ye raised his right hand.

Sword energy rose into the sky, gathering before the prison into a smooth, round mirror.

The towering man looked at himself in the mirror.

A vicious, twisted face.

In those blood-red eyes burned an inextinguishable madness.

Resentment and jealousy had already, unseen, completely altered his soul.

He saw himself clearly, and yet could not see himself...

“...Water benefits all things and contends with none; it dwells in places that others disdain, and so it comes close to the Dao...

Have you ever thought that the injustices you suffered in life might have been opportunities to bring you nearer to the Great Way?”

Those ethereal words reached him like a Buddhist chant in the ear.

Confusion filled the towering man’s heart and slowly shattered it apart.

He lowered his hands and sighed.

“I have lost.

Not to you, but to myself.”

Su Ye knew the matter was nearing its end and rose to his feet.

“There is one more thing I would like to ask you... Could the material used to forge the Demon God’s image be used to nurture a soul?”

The towering man looked down at Su Ye. After a long while, he finally said:

“The jade used to forge the Demon God’s image is essence-soul jade... Its nature is gentle, and it is good for nourishing the sea of consciousness and the soul.”

“Thank you.”

“To be able to meet you before death is still the heavens treating me well enough.

You walk the great path of sentiment; just keep moving forward...”

The towering man’s body shattered and dispersed with the gale into the world.

That night, every villager in the quiet village had the same dream.

In the dream, two supreme experts once battled.

Blade light and sword shadows crossed in dazzling splendor.