Yan Jianglan showed no mercy. The Spring Rain Sword intent collided head-on with the Tianyan within Sheng Jiao’s meridians, detonating violently.
A wave of agony swept through Sheng Jiao’s entire body. Blood continuously spilled from the corner of his lips, yet he was like a puppet being manipulated. After a brief moment of hesitation and dazed confusion, his eyes once again turned that eerie dark blue.
Great Ascension stage spiritual power lashed back toward Yan Jianglan’s shoulder. Before the killing intent could fully rise, Sound of Leisure had already let out a shrill screech. Blood streaked Yan Jianglan’s cheek, his expression calm as still water. He yanked his sword free and, instead of retreating, advanced.
At the same time, Tianyan xiangwen surged from the back of his neck, vine-like spiritual power spreading outward — the manifestation of Kan Tianyan.
Sheng Jiao remained expressionless. No matter how powerful Void Return realm spiritual power was, it could not harm the foundation of the Kan Tiandao.
But Yan Jianglan clearly never followed conventional logic. After the Sound of Leisure xiangwen emerged, it suddenly detonated in midair at lightning speed, releasing an ear-splitting shriek.
Sheng Jiao’s pupils constricted violently. His ears rang, his hearing completely gone for several breaths, his movements frozen.
Yan Jianglan seemed to have learned close combat from who knows where. Even though the person before him was Sheng Jiao’s body, he showed no restraint at all, striking with lethal intent.
Rang Chen watched as the two exchanged several moves in the blink of an eye, every strike aimed at killing the other.
For a moment, he genuinely wondered whether Yan Jianglan and Sheng Jiao were truly in love.
Who fights like this if they are?
Yan Jianglan did not want to die at the hands of a Sheng Jiao controlled by the Tian Dao, nor did he want to kill Sheng Jiao. But their cultivation levels were separated by an entire realm. If he did not go all out, he would likely be cut down by the Winter Snow Sword in an instant.
Yu Tuishan emerged grim-faced from the earth veins. When he saw the blood on Yan Jianglan, his pupils shrank, and he barked sharply, “Yan Jianglan! Get out of the way—!”
The power of Kan Tianyan poured directly into Sound of Leisure. Even without an ear ornament to hear all things, the sound transmitted steadily into Yan Jianglan’s ears, shaking his sea of consciousness.
Yan Jianglan ignored him completely.
Yu Tuishan raised his hand. Countless golden-patterned vines crawled up his wide sleeve, slowly reflecting across his pale face.
With his movement, the earth veins beneath the thirteen provinces finally began to rise, forming a vast formation impossible to fully perceive with the naked eye, inch by inch extending toward the heavens.
The formation was complete.
Sheng Jiao’s movements abruptly halted.
Yu Tuishan extended five fingers toward Sheng Jiao — or rather, toward the manifestation of the Tian Dao — his hand opening like a lotus, his smile neither warm nor cold.
“Pa.”
Once the formation was complete, the Tianyan of the thirteen provinces, together with its origin, would transform into celestial fireworks within half a quarter hour, exploding into brilliant golden light across the sky.
Sheng Jiao’s pupils went unfocused. Expressionless, he raised the Winter Snow Sword and slashed down.
The Spring Rain Sword followed immediately after. Sword lights collided, sparks flying.
“If he wants to kill, let him come,” Yu Tuishan said. “Idiot. Do you plan to die with him?”
Yan Jianglan stared expressionlessly at Sheng Jiao’s cold, unfeeling face and said icily, “Shut up. I’m busy.”
As soon as the words fell, Yan Jianglan — still only at the Void Return realm — swung his sword. His spiritual power surged violently to its peak and continued climbing higher. Though his meridians, inner palace, and state of mind had not reached the Great Ascension stage, a breakthrough aura faintly appeared around him.
Yu Tuishan’s pupils shrank violently. “Yan Ling!”
Yan Jianglan had used Abandoned Immortal Bone again?!
Abandoned Immortal Bone was a deadly poison. Only Tianyan could neutralize it. Yan Jianglan should have understood this better than anyone. Using it to temporarily boost cultivation was no different from drinking poison to quench thirst.
Moreover, Yu Tuishan had already activated the formation. Within a quarter hour, the entire thirteen provinces would no longer have any Tianyan.
If Abandoned Immortal Bone had no Tianyan as an antidote—
Yu Tuishan’s face darkened to the extreme. He stepped forward to stop him, but Yan Jianglan said coldly, “Don’t worry about me.”
He was not acting solely to stop Sheng Jiao from killing Yu Tuishan.
Ever since Sheng Jiao awakened the Kan Tiandao and became the cold-hearted “Heavenly Dao incarnate,” it was as if shackles had been placed upon him by the Tian Dao itself. Controlled by Tianyan beads, used as a vessel for possession, forced to kill against his will.
Yan Jianglan could not tolerate it.
Sheng Jiao was a living person — not a puppet for the Tian Dao or Tianyan to manipulate.
If Sheng Jiao truly wanted to kill Yu Tuishan of his own will…
Yan Jianlan could accept that—but only if Sheng Jiao told him clearly while he was sane.
His face frosty as ice, Yan Jianlan felt the Great Ascension stage cultivation surging within his body and knew it could only be sustained for a short time. Without a word, he gripped his sword and stepped forward, forcibly matching the Tian Dao–possessed Sheng Jiao blow for blow.
Rang Chen had never witnessed a clash between two Great Ascension stage cultivators. Grim-faced, he stood to the side; without his protective barrier, he would likely have been injured by the shockwaves alone.
The surrounding dust and smoke were nearly severed by razor-sharp sword light. Blades flashed, shadows crossed, and every inch of space was saturated with icy killing intent.
Because of the massive Abandoned Immortal Bone array, all three realms of the Thirteen States shook violently. Mountains split apart into chasm-like fissures. Cultivators could ride the wind or take flying vessels to evade danger, but ordinary mortals had no means of self-defense.
If Tianyan spiritual power were to detonate in the sky, no one in the Thirteen States would escape.
Screams and wails filled the world. With the Tian Dao possessing Sheng Jiao, every sound was heard with crystal clarity—yet it remained utterly unmoved, indifferent to the agony of the “ants” below.
Yan Jianlan’s Great Ascension power steadily closed in on Sheng Jiao’s. The Spring Rain Sword grew ever keener, spiritual power overflowing his entire body. In a brief crossing of paths, his slender, well-defined fingers struck directly at Sheng Jiao’s chest.
A dull boom sounded.
It nearly blasted Sheng Jiao’s three souls and seven po out of his body.
Sheng Jiao did not react. Sword intent surged instantly toward Yan Jianlan’s face.
Yan Jianlan instinctively raised his sword to block—but he was a step too slow. Frost-laced, icy sword light crashed down. Unable to dodge, he lifted the sword hilt at the final instant to block.
Clang—
Sword struck hilt. The Spring Rain Sword’s newly replaced tassel snapped and fell soundlessly to the ground. At the same time, the string of spiritual beads on Yan Jianlan’s wrist—Sheng Jiao’s birthday gift—shattered as well.
The spiritual thread burst apart. More than a dozen beads scattered and fell, clattering faintly like rain striking a jade plate.
Sheng Jiao’s gaze dropped to the beads. His previously scattered, merciless pupils suddenly contracted.
The hand gripping his sword trembled violently; the Winter Snow Sword nearly slipped from his grasp.
In the next instant, Yan Jianlan struck with his palm, slamming Sheng Jiao forcefully to the ground.
The xiezhi-patterned black robes lay in disarray. Across Yan Jianlan’s peerless face, sword intent carved a gruesome gash. Blood slid down like crimson tears, dripping onto Sheng Jiao’s cheek.
“Sheng Wuzhuo!”
Yan Jianlan roared, “If you don’t come back right now, I really will kill you!”
Sheng Jiao stared at him blankly.
Yan Jianlan’s eyes reddened—whether from blood clouding his vision or the ache in his chest, he didn’t know. He murmured hoarsely, “I really will kill you…”
Sheng Jiao lay still, seemingly subdued, yet Yan Jianlan found he could not bring his sword down.
Sheng Jiao’s pupils flickered between dispersion and violent contraction, as though his consciousness were wrestling with that overwhelming force for clarity. His body was taut, vast spiritual power rampaging wildly through his meridians.
Yan Jianlan pressed a hand to Sheng Jiao’s shoulder. Sensing something wrong, he froze and shouted, “Sheng Wuzhuo!”
Sheng Jiao’s eyes snapped open. Strength from nowhere surged forth as he flung Yan Jianlan away with a backhanded strike.
Yan Jianlan staggered as he landed, gripping the Spring Rain Sword. Thinking it had failed again, he was about to rush forward when he turned and saw Sheng Jiao rigid and trembling, the Winter Snow Sword already fallen to the ground.
Spiritual power and Tianyan twisted and tangled chaotically through Sheng Jiao’s meridians. His sea of consciousness churned like a violent storm, leaving him utterly unaware of where he was—or who he was.
“Sheng Jiao!”
A voice seemed to call him endlessly from afar. Sheng Jiao strained to listen, catching only fragments.
“Sheng Jiao.”
“…Look, the flowers have bloomed.”
“Sheng Jiao, I’m scared.”
“Sect Master Sheng treats me with such deep feeling. My heart is not cold stone—over time, affection grows, and I too admire Sheng Jiao.”
Sheng Jiao.
Sect Master Sheng…
Suddenly—
“Sheng Wuzhuo!”
A clear, piercing voice shattered the barrier imprisoning Sheng Jiao. Amid the sound of glass breaking, Yan Jianlan’s voice poured straight into his ears.
Sheng Jiao’s pupils snapped into focus. In an instant, clarity tore through the darkness.
He sat there dazed. The first thing he sensed was the heavy stench of blood. As his vision returned, he saw Yan Jianlan kneeling before him, soaked in blood, terror written across his face as he clutched Sheng Jiao’s shoulders. His pale lips moved softly.
“Sheng Jiao…”
Sheng Jiao looked at him in confusion, as though he had struggled in an abyss for an eternity, desperately reaching for a faint glimmer of light that was always just beyond reach.
He did not know how long he had been lost in that void. Seeing Yan Jianlan now felt unreal, as though lifetimes had passed.
Sheng Jiao’s meridians were rapidly healing. The sea of consciousness forcibly occupied by the Tian Dao gradually calmed from its violent turmoil.
Stunned, he raised a hand and lightly touched the gruesome wound on Yan Jianlan’s cheek.
“You… what happened to you?” he asked softly.
Yan Jianlan’s beautiful eyes widened as he realized Sheng Jiao had truly regained clarity. He let out a choked laugh, and tears finally spilled from his reddened eyes.
Laughing and crying at once, he reached out and slapped Sheng Jiao’s face lightly, scolding through a grin, “I’m beating you up!”
A trace of confusion flickered through Sheng Jiao’s eyes.
Everything around him felt unfamiliar—emotions, aura, even the sounds of all things. Only Yan Jianlan felt unmistakably familiar.
Blood continued to pour from Yan Jianlan’s waist and abdomen. His blood-smeared face was pale as paper. The Abandoned Immortal Bone drove his meridians and spiritual power ever higher, making his wounds impossible to heal.
Sheng Jiao’s gaze dropped to the injury, his pupils trembling.
Instinctively, he channeled spiritual power to heal him, memories of being controlled by the Tian Dao slowly surfacing in his mind.
Sheng Jiao’s hand trembled violently.
The wound bore the Winter Snow Sword’s aura.
It was him…
Yan Jianlan felt only the surging spiritual power of the Abandoned Immortal Bone. Sheng Jiao’s touch on his waist and abdomen made him realize the severity of his injury.
Seeing Sheng Jiao lower his head in thought, Yan Jianlan grinned carefree. “No big deal. I wounded you too—call it even.”
Spring Rain sword intent still lingered within Sheng Jiao. Even after healing, extracting it would take time.
Sheng Jiao’s body quivered lightly.
Yan Jianlan paused, faintly hearing the prior sprouting sound shift into the subtle growth of trees, wind rustling leaves crisply.
From scorched earth everywhere, to dead wood meeting spring.
Teeming with life.
Yan Jianlan finally sensed Sheng Jiao’s change.
His voice…
Seemed to be gradually gaining human emotions?
***
(advanced chapters available on kofi)
Sam Williams On TYMIMA Chapter 152