Chapter 978: Chapter 41: Power of the Heart, Time Annihilation_3
He had a distinct impression of this second senior brother’s character.
The core of this trial was by no means a mere act of submission for survival! On the contrary, it tested the unyielding spirit in the face of hopeless adversity, the resolve that would rather break than bend! This head must not bow!
The remaining Inner Strength was like a candle flickering in the wind, so faint it was almost negligible. He lifted his heavy eyelids, his gaze locked onto the satisfied Jiu Jianxian, who was just steps away. Ten steps! Just ten steps! This was his last chance, his only distance!
Only that move… staking everything… perhaps… there was a sliver of hope!
Over the years, he fought for justice, his saber drenched in the blood of wrongdoing, the Azure Dragon Saber Technique and Phantom Annihilation Blade Technique were cultivated to their peaks. One could say his Saber Skill had reached the transcendent realm.
The only regret in his Saber Skill was his inability to replicate the most powerful secret technique—Illusion Shattering Bubble Shadow!
There was no way, this move needed the combined Power of Time Annihilation to cultivate, yet this life offered him no such opportunity. Despite his understanding of the Phantom Annihilation Blade Technique and endless trials, no matter how hard he trained, how much he contemplated, this move remained as elusive as a flower in a mirror or a moon in water. It was form without substance, mere semblance, unable to truly invoke the Power of Time. He knew full well he lacked the crucial “key”—to witness firsthand, to personally experience the true “Time Annihilation”!
He had nearly given up, yet today by the stream, observing his reflection and melding the experiences from both his lives, he faintly felt stirred,
And at this very moment! Witnessing the sorrow of his mentor’s tragic death in his arms, the despair of his own maimed and failed skills, the mocking grin of the encroaching foe… this extreme emotional impact turned those faint stirrings into an enlightenment akin to a revelation.
That formless, intangible, yet truly existent Power of Time Annihilation, was it not embodied in this instant of universal decay and shattered hope?!
I understand… Time Annihilation… is right before my eyes! An unprecedented clarity and determination filled his heart. This slash must succeed! And it certainly will!
Under Jiu Jianxian’s teasing and expectant gaze, Xiao Jie’s body began to slowly bow and shiver downward, his right knee seemingly about to touch the cold ground—in an utterly humiliating posture of kneeling.
The grim smile on Jiu Jianxian’s face stretched to its limit, his eyes filled with sadistic pleasure: “Yes! Just like that! Kneel down! Like a dog…”
In that split second when Xiao Jie’s knee was about to touch the ground! His lowered head suddenly lifted! In his remaining left eye, there was no trace of pain or despair, only an absolute coldness and madness borne of burning life’s essence and penetrating the essence of time!
He kicked the ground, his left hand fiercely swinging out the half steel knife, and the last shred of Inner Strength within him erupted with full force.
Secret technique—Illusion Shattering Bubble Shadow!
No earth-shattering saber light, no air-ripping bang. In the instant Xiao Jie slashed out the seemingly unremarkable move, with his frail body as the center, within a ten-step radius, time… froze!
The falling leaves suspended midair, maintaining their perfect downward posture, utterly still. The blood beads in the air froze like enchanting red rubies, fixed in their splattering paths. Jiu Jianxian’s face, frozen with an expression of extreme shock and disbelief, looked like the worst of masks. Even the drop of blood dripping from his sword tip hung between the sword and the ground, drawn into a static line of blood.
The wind stopped, the sound vanished, the rays of light seemed to lose their dynamic vitality. Within those ten steps, all things turned colorless, everything fell into dead silence, as if held within a piece of absolute frozen, formless ice for ten thousand years! This was precisely the sliver of Power of Time Annihilation that Xiao Jie forcibly pried open with life as the lever and the extreme despair as the fuel!
However, the might of this time-freezing force was something Xiao Jie, who was running on empty, relying solely on willpower, couldn’t truly wield. That frozen “bubble” lasted only for a fleeting moment!
A sound as if a bubble burst, faint yet crystal clear, diffused in the frozen space! The river of time instantly resumed its flow!
The figures of Xiao Jie and Jiu Jianxian crossed paths at the moment time resumed its course!
Xiao Jie staggered several steps, using the broken knife to barely support his unstable body. He still couldn’t completely execute the Illusion Shattering Bubble Shadow that contained the True Meaning of Annihilation. But the precious second where time was forcibly frozen was enough beyond description!
Jiu Jianxian’s grin had not even turned to horror before it completely froze. He instinctively lifted his hand to feel his smooth neck. His fingertips touched a thin, cool fissure. The next moment—
Hot blood spurted out like a breached flood from the thin line, spraying skyward! His eyes widened, his pupils filled with ultimate bewilderment, disbelief and… a sliver of dawning fear. A gasping sound escaped from his throat as he tried to turn his head to look at the mute junior brother he had never considered, but his body uncontrollably pitched forward, crashing heavily onto the cold, muddy ground, twitching a few times before going completely still. Check latest chapters at novel※fire.net
With his back to Jiu Jianxian’s corpse, Xiao Jie’s body felt as if every bone had been removed. The Dantian was void, the Qi Sea utterly exhausted, the wounds on his severed arm and chest burned like flames, and the backlash from forcibly utilizing the secret technique made him feel as though his organs were displaced. His vision darkened, the world spinning. He knew he was truly at the end of his tether!
He took one last look in the direction where his mentor had fallen, glanced at the roaring cliff waterfall. His body could no longer support him, trembling as if a puppet with cut strings, he plummeted directly towards the misty deep pool, where the water flowed unceasingly downward…
The water splashed high, only to be swallowed by the torrent, leaving behind the pervasive scent of blood and deathly silence in the valley.