Chapter 254: To Practice or Not to Practice?
Translator: Subudai11 Editor: Chrissy
Wang Lu was not the least bit surprised seeing his Big Sister.
It was the only place she could have been if the team leader’s handbook showed that Big Sister hasn’t died.
Where else could she be besides here? Apart from the deepest part of the sword tomb that only Sword God himself could access, where could Big Sister possibly appear?
Noticing that Wang Lu was intently looking at Zhu Shiyao, Sword God sighed with emotion. "She’s your Senior Sister, right? Unlike a waste like you, even in my time, she’s still the topmost rarest talent! When I first saw her, I and Sword God were amazed, and I could not wait to pass on my legacy to her. Unfortunately, compared to the Sword God, I, Sword Demon, was suppressed by the guardian. Let alone competing for the successor against him, I don’t even have the freedom of movement. Moreover, at that time, the guardian was in the state of deep sleep and difficult to awake. The Sword God was worried about how to kill me, thus, he immediately took the best assistant for himself."
Then, Sword Demon added, "I and Sword God are from the same origin, and under the separation from the Yin and Yang factions, we cannot touch each other. Therefore, we must use an external force to hurt the other side. Zhu Shiyao has been won over by Sword God, so I had no hope. But unexpectedly, shortly after she came, another group of people soon followed. At that time, Sword God was busy dealing with Zhu Shiyao, thus he relaxed his vigilance, which gave me the opportunity."
Sword Demon said, "With my power at that time, I cannot do many things. Even if there was no constraint from the Sword God, in the situation where the guardian was still yet to be ridden, I could only say one sentence. Fortunately, that sentence ultimately worked."
In response to this, Wang Lu just laughed twice, expressing the optimistic spirit of a professional adventurer.
"After that, I changed the setting of the eight virtues trial and absorbed all of your negative emotion to make myself grow… If it weren’t for you, I would’ve been able to get those people to kill each other."
Wang Lu laughed twice again as if to echo.
Sword Demon continued, "That’s all water beyond the bridge now, so let’s not dwell on it any longer. What I want you to do is very simple." Sword Demon then pointed at Sword God. "Kill him, let me inherit the full strength of Zhong Shengming, and then I can open this tomb for you. At that time, let alone getting you out of here, all the treasures here would belong to you."
Because of the Yin and Yang separation, Sword God and Sword Demon could not touch each other, and had to rely on external force to kill each other. In Wang Lu’s view, the reason why Sword Demon played the role of a hero in front of him was that the big trump card Zhu Shiyao has already been snatched up first by Sword God. Thus, Sword Demon has no other alternative than to pin his hope on Wang Lu. However...
"However, why should I help you? Wouldn’t it be better if I help Sword God instead and collaborate with Big Sister to kill you?" Wang Lu spread his arms open and raised this issue.
This was a very sensitive issue, yet it must be asked. Otherwise, it was the same as telling the other person that one has already made a decision and thus there was no need to ask again… That would be tantamount to not giving face to the other person.
Sure enough, Sword Demon wasn’t annoyed by this issue. On the contrary, since Wang Lu had asked this problem, it meant that there was room for dialogue.
"It’s very simple. Because helping me is more advantageous to you. Sword God is indeed stronger than me, but he has already found his heir. The way of the sword that Zhong Shengming cultivate only allows for one Successor Disciple. Since Sword God has chosen Zhu Shiyao, it’s impossible for him to choose you. Even if you help him by killing me, you will get no benefit. Base on your messy method, in the future, your Big Sister would only leave you behind further and further away—her spirit root is almost neck and neck with your Void Spirit Root in terms of quality, and after she is bestowed with a true immortal method, her future is limitless. If you want to maintain the majesty of your lead representative identity, you have to choose my side. And because I am weaker than Sword God, I can promise you more benefits."
"Such as?"
"Such as the question that you have always wanted to ask but hesitate to say it out. The immortal level method that is suitable for the Void Spirit Root."
Thump! Thump!
Wang Lu clearly heard his heartbeat!
"I know that in the past thousands of years, the environment has greatly changed. Many methods have simply expired. However, my cultivation of Primal Chaos Heaven Splitting Sword cultivate exactly the primal chaos energy, not borrowing from external thing, nor disrespecting the surrounding. Even the firmament of the ninth heaven can be broken. That’s all without being affected by external change."
Wang Lu was silent for a moment. "It’s good that it’s not affected by external change, but are you sure your Primal Chaos Heaven Splitting Sword can subdue my Void Spirit Root?"
"Hahaha, it’s good that you ask this." Sword Demon laughed. "Although the method that you cultivate is a mess, your understanding of immortal cultivation is not bad. You’re right, method and spirit root has a rock-paper-scissors kind of relationship. What is spirit root? Only a sufficiently excellent method could connect the root of a person with the surrounding energy to support the cultivator in climbing the giant tree to the heaven of immortal cultivation. If the method can’t subdue it, it would be like a roaming dragon that only follow what its heart desires, unable to be ridden by human. Your Void Spirit Root is probably the most powerful root in the Nine Regions, naturally, it would only surrender to the most powerful method. But since your method is Non-Phase Method, it’s difficult for you to assume this responsibility."
Sword Demon then said with a sinking sound, "Void Spirit Root is rumored to be the spirit root of the world of immortals, so it would only surrender to the immortal world method. After I broke the heavenly calamity, I was indeed unable to ascend. However, I am confident that my Primal Chaos Heaven Splitting Sword is not inferior to immortal world method. If you cultivate this method, coupled with your own understanding, to improve and innovate, and with the advantage of the Void Spirit Root, it’s not difficult for you to achieve the same prestige as Immortal Qin and Great Ancestor Desheng!"
Wang Lu muttered a ‘hmm’ but didn’t say anything.
This Sword Demon… was indeed worthy to be one of the most amazing characters who roamed unhindered in the Nine Regions. Whether it’s cultivation base, wisdom, or eloquence, all are on top level. His trick to incite the heart was really perfect that it was really difficult for Wang Lu to maintain his composure. If it were any other problem in the immortal cultivation, he would most likely turn a blind eye.
However, because his heart particularly cared about this, he needed to be doubly careful. The other side said all these nice things, but how could he believe them all just like that? The man who spoke these words was a thousands of years old demon, much less about his scheming. Moreover, looking from another perspective, Non-Phase Sword was absolutely not that simple. No matter how much stereotypes that people have towards Wang Wu, the level of perception of immortal cultivation that she showed could be rated as brilliant. The power of Non-Phase Method has already been recognized by the world...
Seeing that Wang Lu hesitated, Sword Demon suddenly smiled. "Half of the good or bad of a method can be attributed to the practitioner. The creator of this Non-Phase Method undoubtedly has a frightening ability. I believe that person also has its place in this Nine Regions. However, this set of method is not suitable for you, cultivating it will only waste your effort, and naturally, it will not bring out the maximum potential of your Void Spirit Root. At most, you would only reach seventy to eighty percent of your potential."
Without waiting for Wang Lu to refute, Sword Demon threw in a heavier weight.
"You don’t even like Non-Phase Sword, that’s why you don’t cultivate it enthusiastically, so why do you want to persist?"
"Heh."
Wang Lu still didn’t say anything. The opponent threw him such a sensational speech, merely to cause a dispute so that he could throw in the next argument. Yet this argument alone was inherently fragile.
Doesn’t like Non-Phase Sword? If he doesn’t like it, then could his ten years of bitter cultivation be fake? Except for those who abuse themselves in their painstaking cultivation, his effort in ten years was not inferior to anyone! In the last five years, were all of his countless sparring matches with Liu Li, often until one or both of them were seriously injured, fake? Did such devotion prove that he was not enthusiastic about immortal cultivation?
However, Sword Demon coldly smiled. "If you really love to cultivate, why don’t you have your own ideas, instead of blindly following the teaching of others? Your temperament is aggressive and your nature is unyielding. You can take the initiative, and you like to lecture others, and in all things, you’re fond of taking the alternative route, so why in immortal cultivation alone, you just blindly follow the instruction? You can say it’s because of the trust on your Master, but this is not consistent with your character of self-improvement; the teaching of the predecessor is only the foundation, but the lofty building should be created by your own hands!
"Yes, within the framework of Non-Phase Method, you indeed developed a lot of novel tactics, but these are just curing the symptoms and not healing the root of the problem. In addition to grandstanding, what’s the use? You blindly prefer the left path, but you never neared the main path. Can you still call this approach as your love of cultivation? Humph, in fact, you deeply dislike this set of method, so you subconsciously evade it, you ridiculously pretend to be clever, yet you’re actually ignorant to your own self-deception!"
…
After a long silence, Wang Lu still could not open his mouth, and over time, he even broke into cold sweat.
What a terrifying Sword Demon, what a powerful Sword God of Bai Li.
This was an open and aboveboard persuasion; Sword Demon didn’t even need any schemes and tricks, and he also didn’t have to worry that his intention would be seen through by the other person. Just these words alone were enough to pierce any mental defense of the opponent.
When the logic ability of the two people have reached a certain level, the deciding factor in deciding whose argument was more convincing was not glib of a tongue or clever rhetoric, but the truth and only the truth. And right now, Sword Demon’s level of truth was obviously higher than Wang Lu.
Each sentence accurately hit the nail on the head, which could not be ignored by the opposite party.
In these past years, how could Wang Lu never reflect on any of these? Did he not want to sweep the world like Great Ancestor Desheng? Did he not want to be invincible like Zhu Shiyao?
Of course he did...
Therefore, even if Wang Lu knew perfectly well that he shouldn’t believe every word that Sword Demon said, and if he let loose his imagination, Wang Lu could instantly come up with dozens of hypothesis on how Sword Demon would entrap him. However, at this time, in the absence of any hard evidence, if he overly persisted in his imagination, he would look like a frightened rabbit, which would be too unsightly.
To deal with this, the best thing to do was to maintain his vigilance and take one step at a time.
While Wang Lu was still in silence, Sword Demon weighed in once again. "If you don’t believe me, I can teach you the introduction of the formula. You can make your decision after you analyze it."
"How about it? Do you or do you not want to practice?"
Thousands of thoughts flashed through Wang Lu’s mind. Eventually, he gritted his teeth. "Practice, why wouldn’t I!?"