Ch. 970 - A Gentleman Is Open And Upright

After a long time, Xu Zimo opened his eyes, a stream of white breath exhaled from his mouth.

The sound of cracking followed, and the ice sculpture that had encased him shattered instantly.

“Lu Gongjin, a man of the Lu Clan village from the Southern Continent. In his youth, he became a disciple under the Profound Heaven Venerable, cultivating for three thousand years. At the age of eighteen, you went down the mountain with your senior brother. You encountered a fierce beast, a flying eagle. Your senior brother fought the eagle to protect you, yet you coveted the seat of personal disciple. When your senior brother was finally killed, you returned to the sect with the news, and as you wished, you became the personal disciple.”

Upon hearing Xu Zimo’s words, Lu Gongjin’s expression changed slightly.

“How do you know this?”

Xu Zimo ignored him, continuing at his own pace: “At twenty-three, you fell in love with a senior sister. To win her heart, you slaughtered an entire small sect, ultimately obtaining their sect’s treasure, the Jade Glass Emerald Heart.”

“That was nothing but youthful ignorance and recklessness,” Lu Gongjin tried to justify himself.

“At three hundred years of age, in order to break through to the God Meridian realm, you betrayed your closest friend, trading his head for a Breaking Realm Pill.”

Xu Zimo went on without pause.

“Enough, silence!” Lu Gongjin took a deep breath, his pupils contracting as he looked at Xu Zimo in shock.

These were all matters of his past that he never wanted brought up again.

Anyone who rose to become strong, who among them did not have blood on their hands? Who never resorted to disgraceful means?

“After you turned five hundred, you did become much steadier. But still you craved reputation, cultivating a grand righteous aura, playing at the role of chivalry and justice. Yet the acts of chivalry you performed were always highly visible, known to all. For those of lesser consequence, you never even bothered to look. A typical case of failing to sweep your own house, yet claiming to cleanse the world.”

“Nonsense,” Lu Gongjin snorted coldly. His face darkened as he said, “Our sect’s chivalrous path needs no pointing fingers from the likes of you, demon.”

“I have never denied being a demon. But when will people like you, who always wave the banner of righteousness, dare to admit the truth?”

Xu Zimo smiled.

“Enough talk. Once I capture you, everything will become clear,” Lu Gongjin said coldly.

His aura surged, righteous energy billowing forth.

At his waist, the Gentleman Sword was unsheathed, slashing toward Xu Zimo.

Snow beneath their feet, the Immortal Flowers danced in the air, swirling in the void.

Xu Zimo clenched his fist as a weapon, throwing a punch forward.

From his fist burst the Dao of Strength, the booming sound of the void exploding rang out.

The might of that single punch was terrifying beyond compare.

As fist and sword clashed, the Gentleman Sword bent under the force.

Yet its resilience was great; though bent to its limit, it still did not break.

“Evil pollutes the world, corrupted cultivators infest mankind. My righteous might shall cut down injustice, and declare to all what is improper!”

Lu Gongjin’s aura grew ever more intense. From his mouth, he expelled true essence, as ten thousand clouds of auspicious light surrounded him.

His righteous might shot to the heavens, the Gentleman Sword whistled, slashing down.

“The path of cultivation is hard, harder than ascending to the heavens, harder still to understand human nature, to awaken the true heart.” Xu Zimo sneered. “You cannot even face your own heart. What path are you cultivating, what injustice are you cutting down?”

From his fist, spiritforce surged like a colossal warship breaking through all drifting, fragile boats in its way.

“Kneel before me!” Xu Zimo roared.

The long sword wailed as the force smashed Lu Gongjin to the ground.

Lu Gongjin felt overwhelming tides crashing through his body. His meridians, his organs, everything within him shattered.

His mind went blank, numbness spreading through him.

His body knelt into the snow, his head crashing lifelessly to the ground.

His pupils unfocused, the only thing visible being his Gentleman Sword lying before his eyes.

“A gentleman is open and upright, a petty man is ever fretful,” Xu Zimo chuckled. “You, with your kind of character, dared to name your blade Gentleman Sword? What a pathetic joke.”

He stepped over Lu Gongjin’s corpse, snow swiftly covering the blood.

The cold body lay buried in ice.

Halfway along, Xu Zimo suddenly stopped.

Grinning toward the void, he said lightly,

“Hey, remember to collect his body.”

………

Only after his figure disappeared into the endless snow did several black-robed figures step out of the void.

“My lord, this…” the figure on the left hesitated.

“Report back,” the one on the right said calmly.

“Yes, and the body?”

“Feed it to the dogs.”

Back at the sect, Xu Zimo felt somewhat disinterested.

The disciples guarding the gate did not stop him. He went straight toward Green Mountain.

No matter what, since he had returned, he wanted to first greet his parents.

Xu Qingshan was seated by the stream at the mountain’s summit, seemingly cultivating.

When he saw Xu Zimo approach, he opened his eyes, a flash of brilliance shining within them.

“You’re back,” Xu Qingshan said.

“Yes,” Xu Zimo nodded.

“Where’s my mother?”

“She returned to your grandfather’s home,” Xu Qingshan replied. “Was your journey safe?”

“Nothing much happened,” Xu Zimo smiled.

“Since you’re back, take a good rest,” Xu Qingshan said. “For anything, you have your father.”

Xu Zimo nodded. He neither agreed nor refused.

“Then I’ll go rest,” Xu Zimo said.

“Go,” Xu Qingshan waved.

Father and son, in tacit understanding, did not bring up the storm of events that had recently occurred.

Little Gui had never returned since leaving to temper himself.

But Lin Ruhu had come back to the sect, now standing as one of the pillars of the younger generation.

When Xu Zimo returned to his residence at South Goose Mountain, the two maids, Xia Qiu and Chun Xiang, were just as they had been when he left, still tending the courtyard.

Everything was spotless.

“Young master, you’ve had a hard journey,” Xia Qiu smiled in greeting.

“Come, serve your young master in a bath,” Xu Zimo laughed.

………

The sky above True Martial Sacred Ground was bright blue.

Though the outside world was deep in winter with snow filling the land, within the sect it was forever spring.

The wind was gentle, brushing softly across his face.

Xu Zimo lounged on a recliner, enjoying the breeze, utterly at leisure.

“Bro!” Lin Ruhu’s booming voice called from afar.

Long unseen, he had grown more robust, more imposing.

His short hair, his darkened skin, perhaps due to the Celestial Tiger Tyrant Physique, gave him the look of a fierce beast.

“Long time no see, Ruhu,” Xu Zimo smiled.

“How can you still lie here? Do you not know how chaotic things are outside?” Lin Ruhu asked anxiously.

“Meals must be eaten one bite at a time, matters must be dealt with one by one. Why rush?” Xu Zimo replied lightly. “Then help me with something.”

“What is it?” Lin Ruhu asked quickly.

“Deliver a challenge to the Baili Imperial Clan. Tell them that in seven days, I’ll come to take Baili Xiao’s head.”

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