638: Chapter 638 Three-Move Showdown

Liu Xuerong's expression darkened. It wasn't that she hadn't thought about these things; it was just that she now held a high position and had seen so much life and death that she had long since become numb.

Venerable Cang Xuan glanced at her, let out a low sigh, and continued,

"How the elders act is how the Juniors learn."

"Having lived a long time, standing at a great height, and seeing far, one should hold even more firmly to one's original heart and never forget one's initial intentions."

"Back at the Academy, you were also looked down upon and bullied by others."

"Now that you have reached a high position, why must you become the oppressor?"

After speaking, Venerable Cang Xuan shook his head helplessly.

Ever since he stopped being an instructor, he rarely spoke so much.

But seeing Liu Xuerong again this time, he couldn't help but offer some earnest advice.

After all, that batch of outstanding students from the academy in the past were all his prized pupils.

In fact, Kunlun Dao Academy used to have an iron rule—the top Prodigy of every one of the three thousand academies, after achieving a Breakthrough to the Soul Transformation Realm, could listen to a lecture by the Dean for free.

But later, Venerable Cang Xuan discovered that after these Prodigies left the academy, they changed completely, and most of them forgot their initial intentions.

The words he said—Cultivating the Dao requires cultivating the heart first.

These people didn't take a single word to heart.

From then on, he stopped teaching and devoted himself to finding and training a Personal Disciple to take over, so he could pursue his own Dao.

As it turned out, he discovered that Yun Xiaozi, this Personal Disciple, didn't really listen to him either.

Liu Xuerong clenched her fists, her lips trembling slightly, but she did not refute him.

It wasn't that she didn't want to; it was that she couldn't.

Because every word Venerable Cang Xuan spoke was the truth.

The Families wiped out, the Sects slaughtered, and the Cultivators killed by the Celestial Palace over those years—their descendants, Disciples, and friends, every one of them was a debt of Karma owed by the Celestial Palace.

If not repaid today, if not repaid tomorrow, there would come a day when it would be repaid.

"Teacher," Liu Xuerong finally spoke, her voice somewhat hoarse. "Everything you said is correct."

She raised her head, her eyes slightly red, but her gaze remained firm. "But I have no retreat. The Celestial Palace reaching where it is today was not my choice alone."

"I stand here, not because I cannot let go, but because... if I retreat, what will happen to those people behind me?"

She looked at the Celestial Palace guards on the spirit boat; they all stood with straight backs, their armor gleaming with a cold light in the setting sun.

No one spoke, but their eyes said it all—they were willing to stand behind her, even if the abyss lay ahead.

"You can remain detached from worldly affairs because you are the Dean."

"You can choose not to contend because you already stand at the highest peak."

"You speak of Karma and Karmic Obstruction because you no longer need to contend."

"But I cannot."

"I am still on the ground, and there are still people behind me who are in the mud."

Venerable Cang Xuan looked at her, silent for a long time.

The wind passed between the two of them, silent and soundless.

After a few breaths, Venerable Cang Xuan looked at you and finally spoke, "His fate is not yet exhausted. If you force a Heaven-Defying action, I fear..."

He didn't finish his sentence, but the meaning was clear—acting in a Heaven-Defying way might harm oneself.

Liu Xuerong also looked at you, her gaze as cold as a poisoned blade.

"Since Teacher says your fate is not yet exhausted... then I will not make things difficult for you. If you can survive three moves from me, I will let bygones be bygones."

As her voice fell, a rustle of discussion broke out across the square.

Three moves—a Mahayana Middle Stage Cultivator offering three moves to a Integration Stage Cultivator was, to anyone listening, no different from death.

Soul Transformation is a threshold because one can comprehend Laws; Mahayana is another threshold because one can comprehend the Dao.

This was a chasm that could not be crossed.

Xuanyuan Ziyan frowned, opened her mouth, then swallowed her words.

She knew clearly in her heart that it was almost impossible for a Integration Stage Cultivator to defeat a Mahayana Cultivator, let alone the fact that you couldn't even defeat her.

Qin Yu clenched her fists, struggling to suppress her anger, and secretly swore—when she achieved a Breakthrough to the Mahayana Realm, that would be the time for revenge.

But now, one must absolutely not lose composure.

Qin Han tilted his head, not quite understanding what was happening, but sensing the atmosphere was wrong, he narrowed his eyes.

Yun Xiaozi had his hands in his pockets, the corners of his mouth slightly curled up, as if waiting to watch a good show.

A glimmer of satisfaction flashed in the depths of Liu Tianxing's eyes.

Elder Qi was expressionless, but his fingers twitched slightly.

Everyone was looking at you.

Yet, you smiled.

It wasn't a bitter smile, not a cold sneer, and not a miserable smile of resignation—it was a very relaxed smile, as if you had been pretending to be a fool for a long time and finally didn't have to pretend anymore.

You stepped forward.

When this step landed, the ground of the entire teleportation square trembled slightly.

It was not an illusion; everyone felt it.

It was not an earthquake, not a fluctuation of spiritual light, but a low hum emitted by the world when the Laws were suppressed—like a god opening its eyes from a deep slumber.

The discussions vanished completely at this moment.

You raised your head and looked directly at her.

Not looking up, but looking levelly.

"Little Liu," your voice was not loud, sounding lazy.

But these three words landing in everyone's ears were like three pebbles thrown into a calm lake.

Xuanyuan Ziyan's eyes widened, the mouths of a group of Xuanyuan Disciples gaped open wide enough to fit a fist, and Liu Tianxing's face turned livid instantly.

But Liu Xuerong did not move.

Because she felt it—the moment you called out "Little Liu," something from within her body responded.

It was not the pressure radiating from you, nor the suppression of the Laws.

It was from the depths of her own Dantian, from within her Meridians—something had moved.

A Mahayana Cultivator could comprehend the Dao and had a sense for many things in the unseen Realm.

At this moment, her perception told her—you, this person, were not right.

But she only looked at you, not speaking.

"Do you really think..." you paused, your tone indifferent, "that I cannot do anything to you?"

The corners of your mouth curled up slightly, and your calm, composed demeanor stunned everyone.

You did not look like you were bluffing.

The square was completely quiet.

Dead silence.

Even the wind had stopped.

After a moment of silence, she finally spoke, her tone cold, "Oh? It seems you are very confident in yourself?"

Although that feeling just now made her heart hair-raising, she did not believe you could survive three moves from her.

After all, she was a Prodigy of an era, and her Realm completely crushed yours.

Using Mahayana cultivation to attack a Integration Stage Cultivator was already not a good look—if she couldn't take you down cleanly and efficiently, that would be the real joke.

You looked at her, only smiling faintly, then moved your gaze away from her, sweeping over the guards with glowing armor, and sweeping over the dense buildings in the distance, your tone unhurried:

"Are you sure... you want to fight here? This is your territory, after all. If we fight, it won't be my things that get smashed."

Watching your calm and unhurried appearance, Liu Xuerong's expression finally changed.

It was not anger; for the first time, she seriously and thoroughly re-examined you from head to toe, her gaze as if looking at someone who was both familiar and strange.

Her Divine Sense silently swept over you—Body Integration Late Stage, no hidden cultivation, no hidden strength.

She finally confirmed that you were not the person in her memories.