198: Reason? I decide.

Time seemed to solidify into a piece of amber within the Study.

That blood-colored Blade Energy, powerful enough to split a Profound Immortal in half, remained motionless just three inches above Bai Jinnian's head.

The hideous, wild laugh on the blade-wielding brute's face, the mocking gazes of his subordinates behind him, and even the dust floating in the air all transformed into a bizarre, frozen painting.

The only living thing was Bai Jinnian.

He slowly retracted his brush, placing that seemingly ordinary spring and autumn brush gently beside his scroll.

He didn't even spare the brute another glance, picking up the ancient text once more as if he had just casually swatted a noisy fly to death.

“Gulp.”

Someone, somewhere, swallowed hard with difficulty.

The brute who was 'fixed' in place could still move his eyes.

The arrogance and disdain in his eyes had long been completely drowned by an emotion called 'fear.'

He couldn't move.

The immortal essence within his body was like a frozen river, remaining perfectly still.

His Divine Soul was pinned firmly in place by a vast, invisible, yet omnipresent force.

That power did not belong to immortal essence, nor to Laws, and certainly not to any kind of power within his knowledge.

It was a type of Reason.

A fundamental truth of heaven and earth that allowed no questioning and no resistance.

As he looked at the white-robed scholar who had remained calm from start to finish, an utterly absurd thought began to grow wildly in his mind.

This scholar had used a single word to freeze him.

To freeze a Mid-stage Profound Immortal.

“You... you...”

The brute struggled to open his mouth, a leaking, hissing sound emerging from his throat.

Bai Jinnian turned a page of his book, not even looking up.

“Now, can we be reasonable?”

His voice remained calm.

But to the brute's ears, this calmness was even more terrifying than the roar of a demon god.

“We... we are people of the Hegemon Blade Sect!”

The brute used all his strength to squeeze these words through his teeth.

This was his last and only reliance.

Bai Jinnian's hand, which was turning the pages, paused for a moment.

He finally looked up, his clear eyes fixing on the brute.

“Hegemon Blade Sect?”

He thought for a moment, as if recalling something.

Then, he nodded.

“I've heard my Tenth Junior Brother mention it.”

“It seems to be a Sect that enjoys shaving people's heads and hitting their foreheads with the flat of a blade.”

The brute: “???”

The subordinates behind him: “???”

What did they just hear?

Tenth Junior Brother?

Shaving heads?

Hitting foreheads?

What on earth was all that?

But they keenly caught a term that made their hearts skip a beat.

Tenth Junior Brother.

For a terrifying existence who could suppress a Profound Immortal with a flick of his fingers to call someone 'Junior Brother'—

What kind of colossus must that be?

Cold sweat instantly soaked through the brute's clothes.

He finally realized that he had kicked a steel plate capable of piercing the heavens today.

Bai Jinnian picked up the spring and autumn brush once more.

In the air, he wrote another character.

“Release.”

A casual stroke of the brush.

The power that had bound heaven and earth receded like the tide.

The brute and his subordinates instantly regained their freedom.

“Thud!”

Their legs went weak, and they all collapsed to the ground, gasping for breath as if they had just been fished out of water.

The blood-colored Blade Energy hanging over Bai Jinnian's head also vanished with a 'poof,' turning into countless specks of light.

“Now, we can talk about the reason regarding this Study.”

Bai Jinnian stood up and walked slowly toward them.

“I arrived first.”

“You arrived later.”

“You wanted to use your reasoning to make me leave.”

“I find that this reasoning does not hold up.”

He looked at the brute and asked seriously.

“What do you think?”

The brute's body shook like a sieve.

How could he possibly dare to have any objection?

“Se... Senior is right! It's... it's us who were unreasonable!”

“We failed to recognize the titan before us! We have offended Senior!”

As he spoke, he kowtowed frantically, making the bluestone floor ring with loud thuds.

“Oh?” Bai Jinnian's brow arched slightly. “So, you admit you were wrong?”

“Yes, yes, yes! We were wrong! We deserve ten thousand deaths!”

“Since you were wrong, you must admit it.”

Bai Jinnian nodded.

“And you must be punished.”

He raised his brush again.

The brute and his subordinates were scared out of their wits when they saw that brush.

“Senior, have mercy!”

“We won't dare do it again!”

Bai Jinnian ignored their wails.

Using the air as his paper, his brush moved like a dancing dragon.

This time, he didn't write a single character.

Instead, he wrote a sentence.

“To know one's mistakes and correct them is the greatest of virtues.”

The eight large characters shone brilliantly in the air, radiating a sense of noble righteousness.

Then, these eight characters turned into eight streaks of light, imprinting themselves onto the foreheads of the brute and his men.

“This...”

The men touched their foreheads in terror, but they couldn't feel anything.

“This is a new reason I am giving you,” Bai Jinnian said indifferently.

“From today onward, you must perform one good deed every day.”

“If you ever forget, or if you commit a bad deed again...”

He pointed at the characters.

“They will remind you.”

“How will they remind us?” one subordinate asked subconsciously.

Bai Jinnian thought for a moment.

“It will probably let you experience what it's like to have excrement rain down like a storm.”

The men: “...”

What kind of damn Confucian Divine Ability is this!

“Alright, my reasoning is finished.”

Bai Jinnian put away his brush and sat back down.

“You may leave now.”

The brute and his men scrambled out of the Study as if they had been granted a general amnesty.

They swore they would never step into another bookstore for the rest of their lives!

Tranquility returned to the Study.

Bai Jinnian picked up his book, preparing to continue reading.

But just then.

His brow furrowed slightly as he looked up toward the door.

An even more overbearing and sharp aura was rapidly approaching.

A Golden Immortal.

And a Late-stage Golden Immortal at that.

A second later.

A burly figure appeared at the entrance of the Study, blocking out all the light.

The newcomer wore black and gold martial attire, with a hideous scar stretching from his left eye down to his chin.

Just by standing there, the terrifying Evil Qi honed in mountains of corpses and seas of blood made the air in the entire Study turn thick and viscous.

The Vice Sect Leader of the Hegemon Blade Sect, Dao Kuang.

A ruthless character in Blade Sword City whose name could stop a child's crying.

Dao Kuang's gaze was like two sharp blades, instantly locking onto Bai Jinnian.

He saw the discarded Ghost-head Blade on the floor.

Then he saw the disciples who had just run out with their 'Soul Flying Away and Spirit Scattering.'

His eyes instantly turned cold.

“You dared to harm people from my Hegemon Blade Sect?”

His voice sounded like two pieces of iron rubbing together—harsh and filled with killing intent.

Bai Jinnian put down his scroll and sighed.

“I was just explaining some reasoning to them.”

“Explaining reasoning?”

Dao Kuang laughed, a laugh that was incredibly cruel.

“The people of my Hegemon Blade Sect never listen to reason.”

He slowly drew the broad-backed blade from his back, blood-red Qi swirling around the blade.

“Kid, regardless of who you are or what background you have.”

“Today, you must die.”

The pressure of his Late-stage Golden Immortal cultivation erupted!

The tables, chairs, and bookshelves in the entire Study shattered inch by inch under this pressure!

However.

Bai Jinnian remained seated.

The chair beneath him, the desk before him, and the book and brush on the table all seemed to exist in another space-time, completely unaffected.

“It seems.”

Bai Jinnian shook his head.

“Your Hegemon Blade Sect truly doesn't understand the rules.”

He slowly stood up.

“In that case.”

“Today, the rules of Blade Sword City...”

He picked up the spring and autumn brush.

“...will be set by me.”

As his voice fell.

He swung his brush, writing an enormously large character in the air.

“Law.”

The moment the character for 'Law' took shape, it burst with golden light!

It rushed out of the Study and into the clouds, instantly expanding until it covered the entire city!

At this moment.

Within Blade Sword City, every Cultivator who was fighting, looting, or committing crimes suddenly felt a supreme majesty from heaven and earth descend!

Their immortal essence was forcibly suppressed!

Their weapons became as heavy as a thousand tons!

In their hearts, an uncontrollable emotion called 'awe' began to grow!

“What... is this?”

The cruel grin on Dao Kuang's face froze completely.

He looked in horror at the white-robed scholar bathed in golden light, feeling as if he were facing an ancient deity who controlled the Laws of heaven.

“The first rule.”

Bai Jinnian's voice resounded throughout the city.

“Private fighting is forbidden within the city.”

“Violators will have their cultivation completely stripped.”

He made the second stroke.

“The second rule.”

“Those who oppress the weak must repay tenfold.”

The third stroke.

“The third rule.”

“Taking without asking is considered theft.”

“Their limbs shall be severed.”

With every rule he spoke, the character for 'Law' in the sky became more solid.

The natural Laws of the entire Blade Sword City were being forcibly rewritten at this moment!

“Who... who on earth are you!”

Dao Kuang's voice finally carried a hint of trembling.

Bai Jinnian did not answer him.

He simply looked at Dao Kuang and calmly made the final stroke.

“As for you, Hegemon Blade Sect.”

The spring and autumn brush in his hand pointed toward Dao Kuang from a distance.

“Knowing the Law and breaking it, your crime is increased by one degree.”

“Punish.”

The character for 'Punish' turned into a golden chain, instantly binding Dao Kuang's body.

“Ah—”

Dao Kuang let out an earth-shattering scream.

He felt his cultivation and his blood Qi being frantically drained by this chain!

The massive immortal essence of a Late-stage Golden Immortal poured out like a flood through an open gate!

“Stop!”

Just then, an even older yet equally overbearing roar came from the direction of the City Lord's Mansion.

A terrifying blade glow containing the might of an Immortal Lord tore through the sky, slashing toward the 'Law' character suspended in the heavens!

However.

The moment the blade glow came within a hundred yards of the 'Law' character, it melted and dissipated silently, like snow meeting a blazing sun.

“What?!”

A cry of disbelief came from the City Lord's Mansion.

Bai Jinnian didn't even glance in that direction.

He only looked at Dao Kuang, whose aura had already plummeted to the Profound Immortal realm, and shook his head gently.

He retracted his brush.

“That is all for today.”

“I hope you can remember the new rules.”

With that, his figure slowly faded and vanished under everyone's gaze.

Leaving only the golden, shimmering character for 'Law' hanging high above Blade Sword City.

Like a sun of rules that would never set.