https://novelcool.info/chapter/Chapter-231-Cangling-Debate-of-Swords-39-/13547453/
https://novelcool.info/chapter/Chapter-233-Cangling-Debate-of-Swords-41-/13547455/
Chapter 232: Sword Debate of Canling (Forty)
Chapter 232: Sword Debate of Canling (Forty)
The overcast sky hung low, mist weaving like silk threads. The east began to brighten, faint golden hues bleeding through the gloom, spreading wider with each moment.
Ye Hai, seated in meditation among the trees, suddenly opened his eyes. His wrinkled face twitched slightly.
"Is that Sword Sect Leader Lin?" he asked, rising slowly. He didn’t need to turn around to recognize the presence behind him.
Lin Chang held an exalted position within the Ye Mansion. Even Ye Hai addressed him with formal respect.
"It is", Lin Chang replied.
"Have you news of the Patriarch?" Ye Hai pressed. The duel was today—he assumed Ye Cheng would arrive soon.
"Indeed", Lin Chang said coldly. "The news is... Ye Cheng is dead."
"What?!" Ye Hai spun around, only to face a visage twisted with cruel mirth.
Lin Chang’s words carried no jest—first, because the matter was no laughing matter, and second, because the man himself had never been one for humor.
"You’ve worked hard, Elder Ye", Lin Chang said smoothly, though his eyes gleamed with barely concealed excitement. "You intercepted those Jianghu riffraff and imperial spies for me. Saved me considerable trouble."
"Intercepted... for you?" Ye Hai instinctively bristled, sensing the killing intent in the air.
"Remember that handwritten decree?" Lin Chang smiled.
Ye Hai’s mind reeled, a white flash blinding his thoughts. He suspected the truth but refused to believe it. Such a blow would have felled any ordinary elder.
"You... you killed the Patriarch..." Ye Hai’s breath came ragged, his face a mask of fury and disbelief.
"Didn’t I just say Ye Cheng is dead?" Lin Chang replied casually. "If you hadn’t lost your wits, you’d have understood immediately. The duel challenge, the decree, the orders forbidding disciples from approaching the Sword Tombs, and even your stationing here—all were my doing."
"You!" Ye Hai staggered backward, his internal energy thrown into chaos. "Impossible... how could you..."
"How could I kill Ye Cheng?" Lin Chang sneered. "Because my martial arts have surpassed his." His killing intent surged, yet his hands remained behind his back, untouched by the sword at his waist. "Imitating his handwriting was harder than killing him. I studied his script for months, perfecting every stroke. Yet even as I forged the decree, I feared your eyes might detect the flaw." He stepped closer. "When I handed it to you, I nearly broke a sweat. Fortunately, you obeyed without question."
"I did notice something odd..." Ye Hai trembled, gritting his teeth. "But I thought..."
"Hahahah!" Lin Chang roared, cutting him off. "You thought killing the Patriarch, inciting a duel, forging decrees—any one of these was impossible, didn’t you? And yet, all were my handiwork!"
"Lin Chang, the Ye Family gave you everything..." Ye Hai rasped.
"Everything?!" Lin Chang’s face contorted with rage. "Everything I have—my martial arts, my Azure Sky Sword’s reputation—I carved it from blood and steel! I served the Ye Mansion faithfully for years. Did that not make me worthy?!"
His killing intent surged like a tidal wave. Sword qi erupted from his fingertips, slicing through the air. Dozens of leaves, sharpened into blades, hurtled toward Ye Hai.
"Pathetic old slave", Lin Chang spat. "You spent your life groveling, thinking yourself blessed by fortune."
The attack left Ye Hai no chance to evade. The leaf-blades pierced his body, blood spraying.
Accepting his fate, Ye Hai quieted. "Perhaps you’re right... but this world has always been thus. I was born no noble, no scion of martial arts legends. My lot in life was never fair.
"The Ye Family’s treatment of me, I’ve always understood. They wronged me not—that was kindness. I chose to serve—that was righteousness.
"Born into this world, one must choose who to be. I cannot change my fate, but I’ve lived without regret.
"And you, Lin Chang... if the Ye Family never taught you their arts, where did you hone yours? Without the Ye Mansion’s name, how would you have risen in Jianghu? Even if you feel no gratitude, did the Ye Family wrong you?
"You’ve always been a wolf in sheep’s clothing, yet you speak as though the world owes you..."
"Silence!" Lin Chang thrust his finger. A spear of true qi pierced Ye Hai’s chest.
"Change your fate? Accept death!" Lin Chang’s gaze turned icy. "I carve my own destiny—my fate is mine alone!"
In an instant, dozens of sword-qi blades erupted from Ye Hai’s body, blooming crimson.
Ye Hai understood now... why Ye Cheng had fallen.
Lin Chang’s martial arts had transcended mortal realms. Perhaps no one in the world could oppose him.
"What... do you intend...?" Blood spilled from Ye Hai’s mouth, his body riddled with wounds. Leaning against a tree, he slumped, clinging to life for this final question.
"Ask your Patriarch below", Lin Chang turned away.
The rising sun bathed the pale sky in azure, gilding the clouds with gold.
Beneath an ancient locust tree, in a pool of blood, sat an elder who would never awaken. Yet his eyes remained wide open, staring into eternity.
(End of Chapter)
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