Chapter 127: Another Victory

As for why it was nearly impossible, Chen Qi offered a bitter smile and glanced at the current state of his body.

At this moment, he could barely stand. His entire body was drained of vital energy and blood, accompanied by a persistent sense of dizziness. Especially his right wrist, which held the blade; lifting it even slightly felt arduous.

Not only that, but his other trump card—focused burst—was still on cooldown. He did not dare to rely on his body, which was already pushed close to its limit, to forcibly use it again while it was still cooling down.

Nothing could help him execute that mindless, transcendent slash under these circumstances. No matter how one looked at it, it seemed like an absolute impossibility.

It also seemed that even luck was not on Chen Qi's side. Under Yun Tianxin’s anxious gaze from behind, Chen Qi had kept his eyes closed for nearly two minutes, yet he seemed unable to even touch the threshold of that state. His breathing rhythm was utterly chaotic, and his mastery over the blade techniques seemed to have completely dissolved into a fleeting illusion.

Time continued to tick away second by second, and a new round of shadows could appear at any moment. Yet Chen Qi still hadn't even regulated his breathing, let alone touched that profound state.

Yun Tianxin grew increasingly anxious as she watched. She did not voice words of encouragement as she usually would, terrified that she might disrupt Chen Qi's delicate state at this moment and cause all his previous efforts to go to waste.

After another long moment, just as the light of the projection stone grew denser, seeming to have completed gathering power for the next figure, Yun Tianxin finally made her decision.

Without further hesitation, she moved lightly with lotus steps, walked to Chen Qi's left side, and gently looped her arm through his left arm.

Feeling the external touch, Chen Qi opened his eyes reactively, a trace of mild annoyance flashing in his gaze.

According to his understanding of Yun Tianxin, she shouldn't have been someone lacking a sense of propriety. Why would she disturb his state at this critical juncture, even if the hope for this slash was already razor-thin?

Meeting Chen Qi's puzzled and slightly annoyed gaze, Yun Tianxin spoke calmly, her seemingly plain and natural yet deeply emotional, gentle voice echoing through the stone cave:

"Junior Brother, I don't know why you are pushing yourself so hard, exerting yourself to the extreme even for a minor trial. But if you are worrying about our future, then you still have me for all of this."

"This... counts as a confession, right?" Chen Qi was left dumbfounded, the state of mind he had been working so hard to keep peaceful instantly vanishing without a trace. He never expected that Senior Sister would actually say such words to him, and in such a setting!

"This doesn't fit your fairy-like persona at all, hey!" While fiercely complaining in his heart, Chen Qi stopped paying attention to the projection stone in front of him and instead fixed his gaze intently on Yun Tianxin, as if determined to find some trace of abnormal behavior.

Feeling uncomfortable under Chen Qi's aggressively intense stare, Yun Tianxin grew irritated. She abandoned her hold on Chen Qi's left arm, flicked his arm with her finger, and hummed lightly:

"I have no choice! Who told Junior Brother that you can't even catch a single finger of mine right now?"

Struck in his sore spot once again, Chen Qi's playful gaze froze, and he silently vowed in his heart to make Senior Sister look at him with entirely new eyes the next time they met.

Despite a trace of awkwardness, waves of surging joy bloomed in Chen Qi's heart.

As a man, how many things could be more worthy of joy than a woman taking the initiative to care about you?

Especially when this woman was as peerless as a celestial being, seemingly high and untouchable to outsiders, yet revealing that vulnerable, deeply affectionate side exclusively to you. That sense of joy was super-multiplied once again!

"Senior Sister, it's so good to have you!" Chen Qi responded to Yun Tianxin's confession with a warm smile all over his face. When the latter, unable to bear her shyness and annoyance, looked away, Chen Qi finally turned his head back.

Without pushing away Yun Tianxin, who was still supporting his left arm, Chen Qi looked toward the front of the projection stone. Half a figure had already unconsciously materialized there, and it was clear that a complete figure was about to form and strike.

At this moment, Chen Qi chose to close his eyes with a smile. His entire demeanor suddenly transformed into one of pure joy. For some reason, feeling the warm touch of his left arm, he suddenly felt a strong surge of confidence—he was certain he could recreate that mindless slash.

To have such a wife, what more could a husband ask for in this life!

These thoughts flashed through his mind in an instant. Chen Qi's entire body simultaneously radiated an aura of happiness and fulfillment. This aura was so potent it almost seemed tangible, causing even Yun Tianxin, who stood close to him, to unconsciously wear a faint smile on her pretty face.

Amidst this profound joy and utter fulfillment, Chen Qi felt his soul become pure and clear. In that instant, it was as if he had transcended his exhausted shell and forgotten the karma he carried; there remained only an extremely natural, perfectly effortless smile.

Under this natural and harmonious atmosphere, the shadow figure fully materialized. At that exact moment, wind and thunder instantly erupted across the arena!

Chen Qi's eyes snapped wide open, and his entire aura abruptly changed! The joy that had previously danced on his brow completely collapsed, transforming into a depth as serene as an ancient, waveless well.

Yun Tianxin, who was just about to step in and intervene, couldn't help but change her expression, enveloped by astonishment. She didn't quite understand why the state her junior brother had struggled for several minutes to enter without success could be recreated within mere breaths simply after her impulsive encouragement.

"If this kind of transformation becomes the norm, then Junior Brother's future..."

Thinking up to this point, Yun Tianxin's gaze toward Chen Qi held a trace of extremely, extremely rare admiration. The reason it was called extremely rare was that ever since she began to remember things, given her innate talent, she had basically never envied any of her peers. It was always others who envied her; she hadn't expected that this time...

While Yun Tianxin remained in a daze, the shadow figure completely formed.

In just a fraction of a second, the newly formed figure closed the distance to within a yard of Chen Qi. The long sword composed of shadows had already thrust toward Chen Qi's chest at that very moment, leaving no time for anyone to react.

This was the ultimate speed within the Postnatal Realm.

Feeling the piercing gale of vital energy, Yun Tianxin's expression shifted drastically. She realized she had made a huge mistake: knowing full well that this shadow of the Cloud Sea Sect's third-generation grandmaster possessed terrifying speed, she had actually allowed her mind to wander at such a critical moment.

One must know that when she herself was battling this shadow, her mother—who watched from the sidelines—had maintained a stern and serious expression the entire time, yet when it was her turn to watch...

"Junior Brother will be able to block this sword, right?" Her heart was abruptly filled with a sudden wave of terror. Although she had already witnessed her junior brother's stunning slash, in this kind of collision of skills and techniques, being even a fraction of a second slower meant the difference between heaven and earth.

From the moment she was unable to intervene, this likely meant the difference between life and death.

The instant the shadow long sword descended, Chen Qi's saber already blurred into a streak of blood-colored blade light. Neither hasty nor slow, neither light nor heavy, it mirrored his current carefree and detached expression.

Chen Qi had long since ignored the approaching long sword; his entire mind and soul were completely filled by the blade light he had unleashed.

In this state, it was as if his physical body was an extension of the blade light itself. This slash was his breath, his heartbeat, and his thoughts. Once again, he forgot all matters of the mortal world, as if he himself were a streak of blade light born straight out of primordial chaos.

Inside the stone cave, a blood-colored radiance flashed and vanished, illuminating Yun Tianxin's expression—shifting instantly from anxiety to joy—and illuminating the shadow of the third-generation grandmaster as it rapidly began to fade.

The skin over Chen Qi's chest was broken, oozing three or four drops of blood that gently dripped onto the stone floor. Within a tear in his clothing about an inch wide lay a shallow sword mark. Although the wound looked almost harmless, given the speed of that sword, had it been given another tenth of a breath, Chen Qi's heart would likely have been pierced through.

Yet there were no " ifs"!

A wave of weakness originating deep within his bone marrow surged through Chen Qi's body. With a single thought, Chen Qi abandoned all struggle and chose to collapse limply into Yun Tianxin's arms.

As for the mission notifications from the "Budding Space," the appearance of the next shadow, or how he was supposed to face others while being held in Yun Tianxin's arms—what did any of that have to do with him?

At this moment, he only wanted to lie in Senior Sister's arms forever, enjoying this brief yet precious warmth and fragrance.

With a faint, satisfied smile at the corner of his lips, Chen Qi passed out in Yun Tianxin's arms, causing her expression to change dramatically once again.

"Junior Brother, how could you be like this?"

Yun Tianxin flurriedly attempted to wake Chen Qi up, only to eventually find her efforts entirely in vain. The complex, ever-shifting thoughts of the young maiden once again dissolved into a lingering, soft sigh.

"Junior Brother, you really are my nemesis."