PDLP Chapter 18 Nighttime Torture
Chapter 18 Nighttime Torture
The playful banter along the way didn't affect Liang Junjie's mindset. After quickly ordering takeout and finishing his meal, he returned to his room to reflect on the day and meditate.
"When I fought that big man today, I initially tried to fight head-on, but that wasn't the best option. Just as my master said, I need to increase my flexibility in combat..."
Thinking of this, he took out his spiritual seal again. The spiritual seal emitted a faint light and slowly devoured his spiritual power.
"The magic weapon increases my margin for error, but it also increases my burden. If I want to maintain it, I will inevitably lose control of my body..."
After putting away the magic weapon, Liang Junjie took another look at the spiritual power in his body. After two days of passive cultivation, the spiritual power in his body had once again reached a bottleneck.
"Is this rapid cultivation speed really alright?"
Liang Junjie didn't think of himself as the protagonist destined for greatness, so his rapid cultivation was a given. On the contrary, he saw himself as at most a support character.
He thought for a moment, then went to Huo Chuyu's room next door and knocked gently. There was no response. He waited for a few more minutes, but still received no reply.
"Never mind, I'll talk to her tomorrow."
Back in my room, I lay on my bed and began to meditate.
His meditation turned into a deep sleep in a daze, with snoring rising and falling.
Outside the door, Huo Chuyu gently turned the doorknob, and Yu Xueji, who followed behind her, quietly closed the door.
"Master, my senior brother is asleep. What should we do next?" Yu Xueji whispered.
"Wait, to prevent him from going berserk. My father is estimated to launch the first great inheritance tonight."
Having gone through so many times, Huo Chuyu was already very familiar with the so-called inheritance that her father gave to the male cultivators.
After saying that, Huo Chuyu took out a magic weapon from her storage bag. It was a Golden Core magic weapon, which was already useless to her. If it weren't for its usefulness, she would have thrown it away.
The Golden Core magic weapon is called the Beast Binding Rope, which is specially designed to bind demonic beasts in a frenzied state. It will come in handy for Liang Junjie in the future.
In the dream world, Liang Junjie looked at Huo Tianqi in front of him with some fear.
Today, Huo Tianqi was wearing an extremely unrestrained pair of shorts, shirtless, and carrying a red sword.
"Young man, we meet again. Today, I will not only teach you swordsmanship, but also a life-saving technique. Are you willing to learn it?"
Huo Tianqi's tone was gentle, but each word, when put together, sent chills down Liang Junjie's spine.
Just as the two fell silent, a dialog box resembling a system window appeared again.
"First, accept the inheritance and crush this old man."
"Second, those who refuse to accept the inheritance will be crushed by me."
"Third, kneel down and beg for mercy. I will place the Heart-Eating Curse on you. You will not die, but you will go insane. You can choose this option at any time."
Liang Junjie stared speechlessly at Huo Tianqi in front of him. He didn't even try to choose the second option; it was pointless.
Liang Junjie conjured a long sword, ready to deal with Huo Tianqi's so-called inheritance at any time.
"The strongest swordsman is not the sword in his hand, but the sword in his heart. Therefore, the strongest life-saving technique is to let the sword in your heart unleash a shocking strike."
Liang Junjie was stunned, but the two of them didn't slow down their movements.
Amidst the clash of metal, Liang Junjie's swordsmanship was rapidly improving. In the wondrous world of the dream realm, his basic swordsmanship was completely free of any bottlenecks.
The sword is in the heart, hidden within the spirit.
Huo Tianqi's figure suddenly blurred in the dream, and the red sword in his hand turned into a stream of light and scattered into the void.
He lightly touched his chest with his finger, and a blazing sword intent suddenly burst forth from his body—without a sword shape, yet causing the entire dream space to begin to crack.
"The sword in hand cuts through the flesh, the sword in the heart cuts through cause and effect." His voice was like thunder. "The so-called sword of the heart is to condense one's lifelong understanding of swordsmanship, spiritual power, and fighting will into a single sword seed and hide it in the deepest part of the sea of consciousness."
Liang Junjie felt a burning sensation between his eyebrows, as if something sharp was trying to break through his spiritual core.
Huo Tianqi's voice continued to boom:
"When ordinary cultivators encounter danger, they need to mobilize their spiritual power and perform hand seals to control their swords—too slow! When a Heart Sword cultivator encounters danger, they only need a single thought."
Before he could finish speaking, Huo Tianqi opened his eyes wide—
There was no sword light, no wind sound, but Liang Junjie saw it: three tall mountains in the distance of the dream were simultaneously cut in half, the cut surfaces as smooth as mirrors.
A sword three feet high
Huo Tianqi pointed his fingers like a sword and slowly raised them to his chest: "This supernatural power doesn't teach you how to kill, it only teaches you how to... tear a path to survival in a situation where death is certain."
Three intertwined strands of light appeared at his fingertips: one crimson like anger, one dark blue like silence, and one pale white like ashes.
"Three feet is not a length, but three realms."
The First Step: The Sword of Severing the Body—Using the mind as its blade, it ignores protective auras and magical barriers, directly severing the enemy's physical essence. When cultivated to its peak, a single thought can sever a life, but it requires sacrificing thirty percent of one's own life essence as a price.
The second foot: The Soul-Slaying Sword—its sword intent invades the sea of consciousness, specifically targeting the primordial spirit and devouring memories. If the opponent's soul is weaker than yours, those struck by this sword will suffer either a shattered Dao heart or, in severe cases, complete annihilation of their soul. The backlash from this sword is even more severe and may damage one's own memories.
The third foot: The sword that severs fate... This foot should not be used lightly. Huo Tianqi suddenly stopped speaking, and the wisp of pale light abruptly burrowed back into his fingertip. "It severs people's fate and sever their karmic ties. It harms people and also harms Heaven. If you use it, you will be hunted down by Heaven for the rest of your life."
Liang Junjie was terrified, but then Huo Tianqi suddenly grinned and said, "But today, I will only teach you the starting stance of the 'Ruler of Severance'—watch closely!"
He thrust out with both fingers, the movement as slow as pushing a mountain.
But in Liang Junjie's eyes, this finger transformed into thousands of sword shadows: it seemed to pierce three moments in the past, present, and future at the same time. The trajectory was clear, but the landing point was impossible to predict!
"The key to the Heart Sword lies in deception." Huo Tianqi's voice resounded directly in Liang Junjie's mind. "Deceive the enemy's eyes, deceive the enemy's divine sense, and even... deceive the perception of time and space. When you draw your sword, the sword has already struck."
Liang Junjie tried to imitate that starting stance, but as soon as his fingers moved, his entire right arm suddenly burst into a bloody mist—his body in the dream began to collapse!
"Foolish! Who told you to use your physical body?" Huo Tianqi shouted. "Heart Sword, Heart Sword, practice it in your heart first!"
A violent sword intent forcefully poured into Liang Junjie's sea of consciousness. He saw countless points of light appearing within his body—the nodes of his meridians; the sword intent burned these points of light like raging fire, connecting, twisting, and recombining them…
Excruciating pain! Pain worse than having one's dantian shattered!
But amidst the pain, a certain channel is being opened: from the heart to the brow, a path that has never existed in the human body's meridian chart is being savagely pioneered by sword intent.
"This path is called the 'Sword Meridian'," Huo Tianqi's voice began to drift away. "Ordinary cultivators only have spiritual meridians for the flow of spiritual energy, but a Heart Sword cultivator needs to cultivate an additional Sword Meridian specifically for the unleashing of sword intent... Today, I will open your meridian!"
Inside the room, Liang Junjie, who was fast asleep, suddenly convulsed violently.
Huo Chuyu, who was guarding the bedside, suddenly changed her expression: "It's coming! When the sword meridian is first opened, the sword energy will leak out. His physique is not strong enough, so it's possible..."
Before he finished speaking, dozens of fine bloodstains appeared on Liang Junjie's skin—each one exuding a sharp sword intent!
Yu Xueji hurriedly activated the Beast Binding Rope, and the golden rope automatically wrapped around her, forcibly suppressing the leaking sword energy back into her body.
In the dream, Liang Junjie was kneeling on the ground, covered in blood.
Huo Tianqi's figure gradually faded away, leaving behind a final proverb:
"The Heart Sword Cultivator does not focus on 'techniques,' but on 'absolute' techniques. The absolutes of absolute situations, the absolutes of dead ends."
"From now on, whenever you are on the verge of death, your sword meridian will activate on its own... Either you will comprehend the next step, or your life will be drained by the sword intent."
"Kid, live on."
Liang Junjie suddenly opened his eyes!
In reality, a fleeting sword-shaped phantom flashed in the depths of his pupils.
"It hurts, it hurts!"