The moment Dean Dong A declared the duel begun, the two swords on the wooden platform clashed with a ringing cry.
Before the duel, Fang Pengju had made every excuse. But once it truly began, not a trace of hesitation remained. His sword strikes were steady, precise, and vicious, leaving no room for mercy. He had stood out among all the Outer Court disciples of Fenglin Dao Academy and had once won Jiang Wang's trust—he was no fraud.
But Jiang Wang was faster, steadier, and more resolute!
Because he had waited fifty-seven days. For fifty-seven days and nights, he had imagined this very moment.
Even with serious injuries, even wracked by illness, even hovering on the edge of death.
When facing an enemy, blades might wound or kill, and he accepted that. But being betrayed by someone he trusted most—the pain burning in his heart far surpassed anything his body could inflict.
What had sustained him through those days, besides his boundless hunger for life, was hatred carved into bone!
One sword thrust broke through Fang Pengju's guard.
Jiang Wang pressed in with the blade, deliberately driving his lower abdomen onto Fang Pengju's sword. Blood sprayed, yet Jiang Wang indifferently swept his own blade across, severing the tendons of Fang Pengju's hand!
The two wounds appeared almost simultaneously, but one was chosen and the other suffered—and that alone decided the outcome.
Jiang Wang pressed forward, leading with his elbow, and smashed heavily into Fang Pengju's chest.
Fang Pengju had just lost control of his sword in agony when the next instant he clearly heard the sound of his own ribs cracking.
His entire body was bent like a shrimp, crashing against the edge of the platform, only to be flung back by the swaying branches and fall onto the dueling stage.
In a single exchange, Fang Pengju was defeated!
"How is this possible? The gap... is actually this great?!"
An uproar erupted below the platform.
Everything had happened too quickly. The Meridian-Opening Pill, mixed with Jiang Wang's blood and tears, had made Fang Pengju's Dao meridian manifest and his spirit soar.
The sword, mixed with Jiang Wang's hatred and pain, now brought Fang Pengju crashing into the dust.
"He lost to himself," Zhao Rucheng said heavily. "He lost to fear. If not for fear, he would not have plotted to harm Third Brother and stolen the Meridian-Opening Pill by despicable means. He knew he had no other way to surpass Third Brother. Once the gap widened, he could never catch up."
Ling He could not help sighing. "When Third Brother first came to the academy, his strength was at the bottom, far below Pengju. After a few years, his swordsmanship is recognized as the best in the Outer Court. And Pengju has always been proud..."
Du Yehu raged, "No matter how you put it, it all comes down to being shameless and incompetent!"
Clang!
Jiang Wang slowly pulled the sword that had pierced his abdomen free and tossed it aside.
The blood-stained sword fell to the ground with a clatter, as helpless and panicked as the blood-spitting Fang Pengju.
Sword hanging at his side, Jiang Wang walked forward slowly.
"Save me! Dean, save me! I am a Fang family son. The Fang family is one of the three great houses of this city!"
Fang Pengju cried out in terror, no longer bearing the slightest air of a wealthy young master.
Dong A's face was expressionless. "Since this is a Dao-Tested Death Duel, it ends only in death. The one who decides your life or death is your opponent."
"Third Brother! Third Brother!" Fang Pengju supported himself on the ground, retreating again and again. "Spare me! Spare me! Just this once!"
"The Fang family is a century-old clan! But it has not produced a middle-grade cultivator in twenty years! One step slow, every step slow! How much time do I have left to wait? I cannot stop. I carry my late father's earnest hopes—I cannot stop!"
He looked at Jiang Wang through tear-filled eyes. "Your Meridian-Opening Pill—if I had asked, would you have given it to me?"
Jiang Wang said nothing.
"My uncle went to Cloud Kingdom, but he couldn't buy a Meridian-Opening Pill at all. Even if he had, he might not have given it to me. The control over Meridian-Opening Pills grows stricter by the day. They are only awarded to the Outer Court disciples with the greatest hope. In all of Fenglin Dao Academy, only you earned such merit—I had no way, I had no way!" Fang Pengju wept.
Jiang Wang narrowed his eyes. "I actually understand you. I understand your anxiety, your unease, your fear. The Fang family is a large clan that gave you a privileged environment, but the competition is fierce. I have long known that human desire is endless. I also know how much you longed to prove yourself, how much you wanted to win glory for your father who died young. You said it all, and I remember it all. You were eager for quick success and lost your head—I can understand that."
In Fang Pengju's eyes, a sudden light of hope flashed. But Jiang Wang continued: "But understanding is not forgiveness."
Having said this, he reached Fang Pengju's side.
The sword traced a clean arc in the air and, precise and unhesitating, pierced his chest.
"If I give my mercy to hatred and jealousy, what shall I use to repay love and warmth?"
"So, I once died. You must repay with your life."
Jiang Wang spoke slowly.
Fang Pengju grasped the blade with his uninjured left hand, letting the edge cut open his palm, holding the sword in his body so that death might come a little later.
With difficulty, he made a hoarse, gurgling sound.
"After I took... your pill... I couldn't sleep at night. I regret it... I'm sorry. But you are safe and sound, aren't you? We are brothers. Why... why couldn't you forgive me... just once."
Many below the platform felt their emotions churn and could not bear to look or listen.
But Jiang Wang only looked at him calmly.
"Do you know what betrayal feels like? Do you know the burning pain and rage that scorch the heart? I experienced it once and still chose to trust, and then you brought me another. You made my trust look foolish. You made my experiences look like a joke. You made my pain meaningless."
Memory flowed through his heart like water, calm and gentle, yet unable to smooth the deep ravines.
Where there were people, was there always betrayal?
"Have you ever lain on a pile of straw, too weak to move, watching death approach?"
"I seemed to see two shadows swaying before me. I knew they were the Black and White Impermanence. I seemed to hear their breathing, slow and slow, in my ears. I once swore to conquer fate! Yet I knew I was about to die, and I had not the slightest power to stop it."
"If you had lived what I lived, you would understand that some pain cannot be made up for. I am already someone who has died once. If I forgive you, I have no right to face myself."
Jiang Wang said no more. Slowly and firmly, he withdrew the sword.
The platform slowly descended, the branches retracted, and finally the dueling ground created by Dao art shrank back into a small sapling that burrowed into the earth.
And Fang Pengju lay quietly on the ground, his right arm hanging at his side, his left hand still held before him as if tightly gripping the sword that had taken his life. His eyes were wide open, still holding pain, unwillingness, and many other emotions.
But he was dead.
Ling He sighed softly, stepped forward, removed his outer robe, and covered Fang Pengju's face.
Du Yehu opened his mouth, seeming to want to curse something, but in the end could not speak.
Zhao Rucheng stood motionless, silent.
Jiang Wang stood quietly in place, his eyes not looking at anyone in the courtyard, but at the endlessly distant sky. As if gazing at himself in another time and space.
"Rest in peace," he said in his heart.
His mind became clear and empty. The earthworm in his spine suddenly grew lively, leaping from the tailbone, traveling smoothly along a path, and spitting out a round, full, beautiful bead of Dao essence.
A line suddenly rose in Jiang Wang's heart—*All understanding of the world is cultivation; a clear mind is nourishment.*