Gu Qing Shan stopped.
Finally, the other party couldnât hold themselves back anymore.
âFellow Dao seeker, whatâs the matter?â
Gu Qing Shan looked at the other party and asked.
That cultivator held up his blade and said: âEarlier, you said that you cultivate the swordââ do you really think that any random person can cultivate swordsmanship? Draw your swordâ
Gu Qing Shan replied: âWhy should I draw my sword?â
âBecause I suspect that youâre just spouting nonsense and havenât practiced any swordsmanship at all, youâre arrogantly running your mouthâ the blade-wielding cultivator said.
Gu Qing Shan replied: âBut that doesnât seem to concern youâ
âI cultivate the path of the blade. The blade requires one to follow the heart, and what you did several days ago irks me, so I want to see if youâre a fraud and cheat, or if you are a man of true talentsâ the cultivator replied.
What Su Qing did several days ago?
Which matter?
Su Qing hadnât mentioned a word about this.
Gu Qing Shanâs thoughts turned quickly before replying: âFollow the heart? So youâre saying that if someone irked you, youâd want them dead?â
âNo need to weasel your way out of this, as long as you face me, I can naturally see through your backgroundââ- come, show me your swordâ the cultivator declared.
Gu Qing Shan clasped his hands and remained silent.
What exactly is the situation here?
While he is giving off some killing intent, most of it feels more like anger and disdain.
Did Su Qing truly do something that cannot be forgiven?
Gu Qing Shan recalled Su Qingâs words before he left:
...
âThis Su Qing doesnât really have any deathly enemies, the reason that theyâre framing me is simply to expel me from the academyâ
âSo if the other party seeks conflict, thereâs no need to kill him, just help me teach him a lessonâ
...
ââno need to kill him, huh?
Gu Qing Shan wondered and asked: âThen, you want to fight me to the death?â
âWith everyone here as witness, by our own abilities, we shall fight to the deathâ the cultivator replied.
He clapped his hand into the void of space, summoning a full suit of armor that scattered into components that wrapped around his body.
The cultivator swung his blade full of fighting spirit.
Seeing that, Gu Qing Shan hesitated.
ââthis place is a cultivation world, so I canât use my swords. After all, there would be no way to explain any of the four swordâs backgrounds with Su Qingâs status.
Heaven, Earth, Chao Yin, and the Six Paths Great Mountain sword are all Divine Armaments.
Any of them can cause a great disturbance.
Furthermore...
Even as Su Qing was willing to stab himself with a dagger to cause others to think that the Elder forced him to death, he still insisted that I donât kill the other party.
Could it be because the other partyâs forces are so great that he was afraid there would be repeated retaliation if he committed murder?
That makes sense, since Su Qing will have to continue cultivating in the academy, he canât keep getting involved in trouble.
But then, what exactly did Su Qing do a few days ago?
While Gu Qing Shan was pondering, the blade-wielding cultivator believed him to be fearful.
The blade-wielding cultivator grinned: âWhat? You dare to run your mouth without anything to back it up?â
This time, he was truly preparing to kill.
Sensing that, Gu Qing Shanâs gaze became focused.
Suddenly, the Deanâs voice sounded in his heart:
âYou can fight him, and you can surrender, but you definitely cannot harm his life. His clan descends from heavenly beings, so if you kill him, that will be a great disaster, you will also be eliminated by the heavenly beingâ
âFurthermore, you were the one in the wrong during this matter, Su Qing, you know that better than anyone elseâ
In the wrong!
Gu Qing Shanâs mind became sharp.
The words of an academyâs Dean naturally hold weight.
It seems there are still hidden elements in this matter.
No wonder Su Qing insisted on not killing the other party despite how resolute he was.
With his decision made, Gu Qing Shan told the opposing blade-wielding cultivator: âWe can simply spar, thereâs no need for a deathmatchâ
âEveryone knows that a deathmatch is the shortcut to improving a cultivatorâs strength, or are you afraid?â the blade-wielding cultivator coldly said.
Gu Qing Shan shook his head and sighed: âInsisting on killing anyone that goes against your will wonât improve your cultivation at all; instead, as you kill more and more people, your killing heart will simply grow into a demon, tempting you into mindlessly killing living beings until the backlash eventually kill youâ
The cultivator mocked: âThen try telling me, what kind of deathmatch would be able to improve oneâs cultivation?â
Gu Qing Shan looked straight at him.
Something seemed to have happened in that instant.
Immediately, the blade-wielding cultivator felt a sudden warning of death, then found himself completely unable to move.
Shu!
Blood spilled from his forehead.
Gu Qing Shanâs voice explained:
âThe blade dies for Dao, single-minded but undefeatableââ- murder wonât improve your skills, only those who disregard oneâs life to challenge cultivators stronger than oneself is truly walking the path to becoming strong fasterâ
Gu Qing Shan casually replied.
As the blade-wielding cultivator heard that, he slowly looked down at the armor he was wearing.
Following his gaze, the full set of armor broke off into pieces, fell to the ground, and crumbled into dust.
A gust of wind blew past.
The dust was blown away.
ââ-[Forgetting River Severance]!
Gu Qing Shan had finely controlled this Iris Sword Divine Skill so that it was significantly weaker and only briefly unleashed it, which resulted in this situation.
Watching the numerous sword marks on his body, the blade-wielding cultivator sighed.
If the other party wanted to kill him, he would have already been cut into pieces just now.
He looked at Gu Qing Shan and said: âAn Iris Sword technique... no wonder Iâve never seen you practice the sword; did you complete this during your immersion in the Dao of mortals?â
âIndeedâ Gu Qing Shan admitted.
The blade-wielding cultivator asked: âWhy didnât you kill me?â
Gu Qing Shan replied: âIf I killed you, there would be people who came to take revenge for you, that would waste my cultivation timeâ
After a moment of silence, the blade-wielding cultivator asked: âYouâre worried that youâll waste time?â
âIndeedâ
âSo you were one immersed in Dao, now I know why you were able to maintain an undisturbed heart during the Dao of mortalsâ
After saying that, the blade-wielding cultivator leapt down the platform and left.
Gu Qing Shan stood on the ring and called out to the other party: âHey, can we not just let it go?â
This statement was a hook.
Regardless of what Su Qing did before, after hearing this statement, they would equate it to the matter of a few days ago.
This way, Gu Qing Shan would receive more information.
ââ-furthermore, as long as this grudge is let go, Su Qing would be able to peacefully cultivate.
I now only need to teach him about the intricacies of those Star Techniques and I would have paid his favor back.
Two birds with one stone.
The cultivator stopped, then spoke without turning around: âIf you were so powerful, you shouldnât have hidden that fact before, causing others to misunderstand youâ
âFurthermore, since you are still pristine, itâs clear that nothing happened between you and my younger sister during that night a few days ago, I would naturally not hold anything against youâ
The blade-wielding cultivator turned around and judged Gu Qing Shan: âYour talents can also be considered to be the cream of the crop; I hope that youâd continue to cultivate yourself well. After ascending, youâd be able to become acquainted with her the proper way and not sneak around at nightâ
Gu Qing Shan froze.
So that was what it was...
This person came from the Jasper Pool.
So his sister would naturally also be a descendant of a heavenly being.
No wonder he was able to easily convince the Disciplinary Elder to openly deal with Su Qing and expel him from the academy.
ââdamn you, Su Qing!
So thatâs the reason he was acting so meek, he knew exactly what he did!
Gu Qing Shan dispelled his internal killing intent, barely maintaining a smiling expression and awkwardly replied: âI knowâ
âDo your best to cultivateâ
The cultivator nodded towards him, then disappeared without a trace.
...
Noon.
Gu Qing Shan was finally able to get a moment of freedom and slipped out of the academy while no one paid attention to him.
At a certain scenic building in the city, he found Su Qing.
âThat person was a descendant of a heavenly beingâ
âThat was the entire story. In the end, the academy Dean said that she hoped youâd be able to cultivate well and earn a good ranking in the Seven Institutesâ debate three days from now, then sheâll personally summon you againâ
Gu Qing Shan handed him a jade tag and continued:
âYour issue has been dealt with. Iâll personally teach you several Star Techniques, their intricacies are written within the jade tag, so you need to quickly comprehend them, lest youâd expose this matterâ
âAnd also, you had better not get involved with that personâs younger sister again for now, try again once youâve ascendedâ
Su Qing received the jade tag, closed his eyes, then read through the jade tag once.
âSo it was [Rising Typhoon Soars to Heaven]... Iâve been through so many years between life and death, never did I think that such a day would arriveâ
Su Qingâs expression was complicated, his tone a bit strange.
Gu Qing Shan scowled.
This Su Qing seems to be hiding quite a few things.
But since he had specifically told me not to kill someone, it has at least proven that he knows his bottom line well.
Gu Qing Shan asked: âFellow Dao seeker Su, it seems your suicide wasnât simply due to being framed by someone, was it?â
Su Qing didnât answer him and remained with a heavy expression.
ââ-alright, this is his own matter, if he doesnât want to talk, why should I probe his secrets?
With that in mind, Gu Qing Shan continued: âFellow Dao seeker Su, I still have something important I need to do, so Iâll be leaving first, farewellâ
As he was about to leave, Su Qing caught his arm.
âWait, fellow Dao seeker Gu, do you still remember what I said before?â Su Qing said.
Gu Qing Shan replied: âYou said quite a lot of thingsâ
âI once said that I would remember your help today and definitely repay you laterâ Su Qing replied.
Gu Qing Shan thought for a bit and quickly remembered.
At the time, when I said that Iâd take his appearance and enter the academy, Su Qing did say that.
Gu Qing Shan chuckled and replied: âYouâve given me that fragment, thatâs more than enough, thereâs no need for you to repay anythingâ
Su Qing shook his head: âFellow Dao seeker Gu, you actually came from the world outside of Kunlun, didnât you?â
Gu Qing Shan stopped smiling.
âHow did you know?â he asked.
Su Qing made an indiscernible expression and muttered: âDonât worry, brother Gu, no one would be able to discover your identity. Only I would, and that was because Iâve continuously died, but you suddenly saved meâ
Gu Qing Shan looked at Su Qing and signaled him to continue.
âDo you know why I researched the Early Death technique?â Su Qing asked.
âWhy?â Gu Qing Shan asked in return.
âBecause all of us cannot die. Every day, we would repeat the same fate without any exceptionsâ
âBrother Gu, take this, it will help youâ
Su Qing secretly handed another jade tag to Gu Qing Shan, then continued: âEver since an impossibly long time ago, I would have to commit suicide every day, become a ghost without a place to go, then watch everything within this Kunlun city repeat itself over and over, all the way until noon of the next dayâ
He looked up at the sky, then said: âIt will be time soon, everything will reset, but youâve already changed my futureâ
âI can finally dieâ
After saying so, Su Qing formed a hand seal.
The Earth Death technique.
His body collapsed, his soul abruptly flew towards the horizon and disappeared.
This time, he was truly dead.
Holding the jade tag, Gu Qing Shan was stunned.
All of a sudden, the sky became dark.
Time began to reserve itself.