Chapter 1128: Chapter 706: Secrets and Surprise Attack

“Changtian, what did you see?”

“Father, your cultivation keeps rising.”

“…..”

Rain strikes the window lattice, wind stirs the incense.

Xu Yinhè sat upright, his expression calm and serene, his deep and steady voice devoid of ripples:

“You’re mistaken.”

Xu Yuan hesitated slightly, staring intently at the middle-aged man before him:

“What… does that mean?”

“To perceive the changes in your father’s cultivation is already impressive.”

Xu Yinhè smiled faintly, suddenly sealing his cultivation.

At that moment, Xu Yuan’s Spiritual Vision plunged into darkness. Startled, he heard his father slowly utter:

“But your father’s cultivation isn’t increasing. It is restoring.”

“…..” Xu Yuan’s eyelids twitched.

Xu Yinhè raised his hand, lifting the cup before him and downing its contents. A trace of reminiscence flickered in his gaze:

“During my lone travels across the world, I once met a Lady Wen atop Tianmen Mountain. When I ascended to the summit of Hanging Sky Cliff, I saw her standing beneath the birch tree, gazing at Tianmen on the main peak.”

“She said she was there to honor someone dear to her and would leave immediately if she was an intrusion.”

“That was the first time I faced a Saint, yet she conversed with me as an equal.”

“…..”

Xu Yuan remained silent.

If what Lady Wen said was true, then at that very moment she might have already recognized that the young Xu Yinhè was destined to walk a similar path.

Thus, she engaged with him as a peer.

However, according to the timeline Xu Yuan knew of, his father entered the capital at sixteen and seldom left Di’an afterward. When he met Lady Wen during his worldly travels, he should have been no older than thirteen or fourteen—possibly even younger.

Xu Yinhè’s low voice carried on:

“She discerned the direction of my cultivation path and tried to persuade me to abandon it, saying the Dao Charm was a shackle for cultivators, that the current cultivation system was flawed. We debated atop Hanging Sky Cliff for two days, neither managing to convince the other.”

“But before she left, it was through her that I first learned Saints are not the endpoint of cultivation, and she hinted at a realm beyond.”

At this point,

Xu Yinhè slowly rose from his meditation mat and walked toward the case records in the room’s depths, his voice echoing in the vast study:

“Back then, I thought she was a seeker of the Way and that we would surely meet again. But it was not until shortly after you were born, as I prepared to pursue that realm beyond Saints, that I received her second message.”

“She sent me a letter. A letter regarding what lies beyond the Saints.”

“Through her letter, I perfected the method for breakthrough. Yet at the very moment of breakthrough, I sensed a gaze descending from the Sky Dome….”

“To break through is to die.”

“….”

Xu Yuan sat beside the low table, head bowed as he listened intently.

The timeframe his father spoke of should correspond to when Li Yaoxuan had been grievously injured and his mother had met her demise.

And at that moment, the voice from the dark recesses of the study quivered faintly:

“Because of the gaze from the Sky Dome, I had no choice but to retreat into seclusion to suppress my cultivation. I devised a Secret Technique to restrain the breakthrough, but during that time, Li Yaoxuan was severely wounded by the Sects, your mother was framed and killed, Changge was forced to abandon the path I set forth, and Chang’an perished. I could only stand by helplessly, unable to act because the Secret Technique was incomplete. Even now, I dare not release the seal established by that technique.”

The autumn rain stretched cold and unending, covering the entire sky.

Xu Yinhè sat behind the study desk, his face veiled in shadows and obscurity.

Xu Yuan spoke softly amidst the silence:

“At Hanging Sky Cliff, was she plotting deliberately?”

Xu Yinhè leaned lightly against the back of his chair, his voice calm:

“Coincidences are rare, but they do exist. No one can precisely predict events decades into the future.”

Xu Yuan remained quiet for a long time before saying:

“The path she wished to take shouldn’t conflict with your ideals.”

“Indeed.”

Xu Yinhè understood, his tone wistful: “Perhaps during that first encounter atop Hanging Sky Cliff, amid our debate on the Way, if we had discussed the state of the world together, the outcome might be different now… but fate is cruel.”

With those words, father and son fell into silence.

Rain drummed for a while. Xu Yuan rose from his meditation mat, bowed deeply to the shadowed figure in the depths of the study, and turned to leave the room.

Xu Yinhè remained silent, gazing quietly at the door as it opened and closed.

Walking into the rain, Xu Yuan lifted his eyes to the overcast sky, an unreadable expression in his gaze.

Dialogue…..

Paths that once could have converged diverged due to unspoken truths at the beginning, transforming into opposing forces of fire and water.

But speaking of this now would change nothing.

No matter the original intentions, the blood debts between them have been forged, leaving only a battle to the death.

Xu Yuan walked forward expressionlessly.

The autumn rain soaked his clothes, droplets cascading like a beaded curtain from his long hair.

He quietly exited the Inner Courtyard, left the Sword Pavilion, and arrived at the Sword Field, where Xu Changge had been waiting for a long time.

Xu Changge stood quietly in the rain, dressed in azure robes untouched by mud or water. He turned slowly, about to speak, but upon seeing Xu Yuan’s expression, he paused in slight surprise.

His brow furrowed, a trace of concern flashed in his eyes. He stepped forward and asked:

“Changtian, you and father…..”

Swish ————

Before the words were finished, a longsword landed before Xu Changge’s advancing feet, piercing three inches into the ground as the jade-like blade vibrated with a faint hum.

Xu Yuan, standing drenched in rain, stared at him without uttering a word.

Xu Changge studied his younger brother for several moments, then lightly tapped the blade with his toes, lifting the three-foot Jade Sword into his hands to inspect it.

Xu Yuan spoke calmly:

“This is the sword our grandfather used back in the day. It shouldn’t break.”