197: A divine eye? A blind man? (Eighty-two)

Jun Yun hesitated.

His hand holding the sword trembled uncontrollably.

My heart... my original heart... what exactly is it?

He had plotted for a century, calculating against all living beings; he thought his Dao was to compete, to plunder, and to reach the Peak by stepping on the bones of all the losers.

But why, in the face of You Chen's pure-to-the-point-of-stupid devotion, was he wavering?

Carrying this question, Jun Yun's Divine Soul began to trace back into the depths of his memories.

He had to find the answer.

He had to find that heart which had already "died."

The scenes shifted.

Jun Yun saw a series of dilapidated small courtyards.

A thin, frail child covered in wounds was tirelessly swinging his fists.

Every punch used all his strength; sweat and blood had long since soaked his thin clothes.

Jun Yun could see that this child had reached his physical limit, but why was he still persisting?

"Give up... with your Aptitude, there's simply no way out..."

"A Mortal Body is just a waste body."

Demonic voices seemed to echo in the child's ears.

"No, I won't give up..."

"What if it's a Mortal Body? What if it's a waste body? I have an indomitable heart, and I will eventually forge my own Dao."

Jun Yun looked at the child, feeling confused.

Why did he persist? Why work so hard?

Why become stronger?

Why must he do this?

"I want to become strong. Only by becoming strong will I have the chance to join those legendary Immortal Sects."

"Only by becoming an existence like an Immortal can I seek a true Immortal Pill."

"Only by obtaining an Immortal Pill can Sister Yu's illness be cured."

Sister Yu... cannot die.

"Little Quan Yun, take a rest..."

Under the eaves, a pale girl leaned against the doorframe, giving him a warm smile.

That smile was his entire world.

Later, a limping old man came to the courtyard.

He looked at the child who had thrown countless punches and thrust countless swords in the courtyard, nearly collapsing from exhaustion, and asked in a deep voice.

"Your sword... for what does it emerge?"

His younger self glanced back at the girl's warm smile under the eaves, then turned back, raised his determined eyes, and used all his strength to answer word by word.

"To become strong for the sake of protection."

"No, your Dao did not emerge for the sake of protection."

"Your Dao is because of yourself, because of your heart. Your heart told you the answer... told you to protect."

The memory fragments shattered.

This child was Jun Yun himself... his past self, Little Quan Yun... Jun Yun understood completely.

In fact, he had long since possessed his own Dao, long since possessed his own indomitable heart.

His heart was not "protection."

Protection was merely what his heart told him he needed to do.

And his so-called "Plundering Sword Dao" was for power, to reach the Peak, and to satisfy his own infinite desires.

That was merely an obsession formed from the resentment of his many Reincarnations.

Seeking the Dao... if one seeks to the point of discarding their own emotions and losing their original heart, is the Dao evolved from that truly what they wanted?

No wonder back in the Great You Imperial Capital, when Dark Sparrow was sacrificed at the altar, or when You Chen of the Heavenly Elixir Sect returned... at those times, his heart would be inexplicably moved.

It turned out that even then, his "original heart" had already been warning him.

It was using that method, wailing to tell him that his heart was gone... no wonder he could not find the entrance to the "Heart Sword" technique.

How could someone who had even lost their own heart cultivate the "Heart Sword"?

Hum.

At the moment Jun Yun understood this point,

in the deepest part of his Sea of Consciousness, the "Heart Sword" technique he had obtained from the Sword Tomb, which he had never been able to comprehend, began to move violently without any warning.

"My heart, my law, my sword."

"Where the heart points, the sword follows."

"Do not forget your original heart..."

A profound Dao charm flowed through his Divine Soul, creating an unprecedented resonance with his current realization.

The questioning left by the supreme will that had once judged him was no longer a judgment at this moment.

Instead, it turned into a cry from the depths of his own Soul.

"Double Pupils are already an invincible path; why borrow the Luck of others!"

Beneath the cloth strip covering Jun Yun's eyes, the confusion and greed in his Nine-Colored Double Pupils completely faded away.

Replacing them was an incomparable clarity and determination.

He looked at the supreme fortune within reach, enough to let him ascend to heaven in a single step, and there was no longer any lingering attachment in his eyes.

He smiled.

That smile carried a sense of relief, as well as a hint of self-mockery.

The majestic saint dao origin and the brilliant galaxy of Luck continued to pour into his body like a bursting dam.

He could feel his power skyrocketing.

But he did not absorb it, nor did he refine it.

He slowly raised his hand, pointing his sword at his own chest.

You Chen was already incredibly weak, having lost almost all consciousness.

But at the moment Jun Yun raised his hand, he seemed to sense something.

He used his last bit of strength to speak weakly.

"Big Brother Jun... don't..."

Jun Yun's figure paused slightly.

But he did not look back.

In the next moment,

a roar erupted from his mouth.

"You Chen."

"The cause of the past is the result of today!"

"I'm returning it to you!"

What he activated was no longer that filthy "Plundering Sword Dao."

Instead, using the "Heart Sword" will he had just comprehended, he transformed it into a sword of Dao principles that could sever eternity.

This sword was not aimed at You Chen.

Nor was it aimed at any external enemy.

Instead, it slashed fiercely at the invisible golden Luck thread between himself and You Chen, which had been maintained by the Python Sparrow Swallowing Dragon Record for over a hundred years!

He wanted to personally sever the root of all these sins.

Puff!

A soft sound, as if it were just an illusion.

The thread of Karma connecting the fates of the two snapped.

The backlash arrived instantly.

Boom!

In Jun Yun's Sea of Consciousness, the "Python Sparrow Swallowing Dragon" life seed, which had long since fused with his Divine Soul, let out a wail and shattered into pieces.

Without the suppression of the life seed,

the vast and chaotic Luck he had plundered from countless Prodigies through various means instantly turned into a violent torrent, raging within his body.

They frantically battered his Divine Soul, his Dao Foundation, and everything he had.

The prototype of the Plundering Sword Dao he had just stabilized collapsed on the spot and vanished into nothingness because its Foundation had been completely severed.

Jun Yun's body shook violently, trembling intensely.

Puff.

He suddenly spat out a large mouthful of fresh blood.

Blood seeped out from the edges of the cloth strip covering his eyes.

Then, from his ears, nose, and the corners of his mouth... he was bleeding from all seven orifices.

His Divine Soul had suffered a heavy blow.

His terrifying aura, which had already climbed to the Peak of the Heavenly God Realm and was even enough to rival a Venerable, rapidly withered at this moment.

Middle Stage Heavenly God... Early Stage Heavenly God... True God Realm... his cultivation base was retreating frantically.

And the vast Luck and saint dao origin belonging to You Chen that had been severed returned to You Chen's body in an instant.

Jun Yun's body could no longer hold up, and he slowly fell backward.

At the final moment before his consciousness faded into a coma,

he seemed to see

in that dilapidated small courtyard, the limping old man gave him a smile of approval.