Invincibility Begins with Mastery of Fist Techniques-Chapter 48: Resonance

Zhao Zhengxuan had once predicted that in the battle between Zhou Yuanjue and Huang Shuwen, if Huang Shuwen could withstand Zhou Yuanjue’s Heart’s Desire Bursting Out, he would have an eighty percent chance of victory. If he failed, defeat and death were likely.

And now, the critical moment had arrived.

Heart Sealing Heart—his Heart’s Desire Bursting Forth!

Under the spiritual impact of Zhou Yuanjue’s fist, Huang Shuwen’s tranquil mind began to roil violently. Visibly, his once-unfocused pupils and gaze started to flicker.

The next moment, his pupils refocused.

This meant he had awakened from the profoundly mystical, self-hypnotic state of the Tianji Inner View.

In the end, Huang Shuwen had been unable to withstand Zhou Yuanjue’s instantaneous Heart’s Desire Bursting Out.

After all, he had not truly stepped into that realm. Even relying on the secret techniques of the Tianji Sword Sect, it was difficult to contend with a true Heart’s Desire Bursting Out.

However, the Tianji Inner View state had its own profound qualities and did ultimately have some effect.

This state largely counteracted the effects of the Heart’s Desire Bursting Out, allowing him to recover his senses at top speed after only an extremely brief moment of daze.

The two were so close, however, that the consequences of a mental lapse lasting less than the blink of an eye were still unbearable.

SCREEE!!

When Huang Shuwen’s focus returned, what he heard was an ear-piercing shriek of displaced air. A razor-sharp black shadow was driving straight for his chest.

There was no time to bring his sword back to parry or to dodge. It seemed he could only watch helplessly as the blade plunged toward his heart, ready to end his life.

But there was no panic in his eyes at all. Instead, they were perfectly calm, as if he had long foreseen this moment.

He made no move to dodge. Instead, his unarmed right hand actually reached out to meet the incoming blade.

PCHT!!

With a soft sound, the sharp tip of the sword easily pierced through his palm, emerging from the back of his hand. But his hand didn’t flinch. Instead, it shot forward to grab the fist Zhou Yuanjue had wrapped around the hilt, and he used the momentum to pull.

The blade that was meant to pierce his heart was knocked off course. It missed his heart, but driven by immense force, it ran through his hand and skewered his shoulder.

Then, ignoring his wounds, he spun and threw a side kick at Zhou Yuanjue’s abdomen, the air whistling with its passage.

Zhou Yuanjue also seemed not to have expected Huang Shuwen’s response to be so crude and decisive. He yanked his short sword free and swiftly dodged Huang Shuwen’s side kick.

Huang Shuwen seized the opportunity, springing back to quickly put distance between himself and Zhou Yuanjue.

Although he had paid a great price, he had ultimately succeeded in weathering that perilous strike!!

DRIP! DRIP!

The mourning hall was so quiet you could hear a pin drop. Only the sound of blood dripping slowly to the floor echoed in the silence.

Huang Shuwen’s right palm was completely pierced, and his shoulder blade was run through. Blood flowed unceasingly down his arm. His right hand was essentially crippled and could no longer play any part in this battle.

On the other side, Zhou Yuanjue looked just as wretched. His Martial Arts Uniform was in tatters, almost completely soaked in blood. The three wounds on his arms, in particular, were so deep that bone was nearly visible. Although he could still move, his speed and strength would be diminished due to his injuries.

The few short rounds of exchange, the several reversals of offense and defense, the constant hovering on the brink of life and death—it was enough to leave the members of the Martial Arts Realm present dazzled and utterly captivated.

These two were, without a doubt, true masters. In this moment, they had truly cast aside life and death, shed their instinctive human fear, and become completely immersed in the battle.

"Holy and Bright... so that’s how it is. I understand now. This battle is your loss. In the end, you are nothing but my whetstone."

Huang Shuwen’s eyes were calm. Not even the excruciating pain from his pierced hand and shoulder could cause a flicker in his gaze.

As his opponent, Zhou Yuanjue could feel Huang Shuwen’s spirit and will constantly expanding, until finally, they surpassed a certain boundary.

Everyone present could also clearly sense that something seemed to have broken out of its shell from within Huang Shuwen.

Under the stimulation of Zhou Yuanjue’s Spirit, amidst the clash of a life-and-death battle, he had finally comprehended the true meaning of Holy and Bright.

In this battle, he had obtained what he wanted.

"Holy and Bright!!"

Gong Shouzhuo saw Huang Shuwen’s state and nearly cried out in alarm. In this exchange, Huang Shuwen had lost the use of his arm and seemed to be at a disadvantage, but through the clash with Zhou Yuanjue’s Spirit, he had comprehended the true meaning of Holy and Bright. Meanwhile, Zhou Yuanjue had already used his Heart’s Desire Bursting Out. This was a huge advantage.

Zhou Yuanjue was in danger!

"Good!!"

However, what Huang Shuwen hadn’t expected was this: he had miraculously comprehended Holy and Bright under extreme pressure, reversing the flow of offense and defense and gaining the upper hand, yet this had failed to produce any fear or hesitation in Zhou Yuanjue.

On the contrary, he found that after Zhou Yuanjue sensed the ethereal, transcendent mood and aura emanating from him, a smile of sincere, childlike joy actually appeared on his face. His eyes grew brighter and brighter, as if he had just seen something he adored.

In those eyes, there was anticipation, there was desire, there was admiration, there was fighting spirit—but not a trace of defeat or panic.

’He’s... happy for me?!’

’What in the world is going through this guy’s head?!’

In that instant, Huang Shuwen was plunged into self-doubt. He found that he was utterly incapable of understanding Zhou Yuanjue’s actions and thoughts.

Scalding hot blood flowed as the sight of his opponent breaking through mid-battle profoundly stimulated Zhou Yuanjue’s Spirit.

Having just used the Heart to Heart Technique, this stimulation caused a heroic passion to well up from the depths of his heart. His Spiritual Will began to climb higher and higher once again.

He, too, had obtained what he wanted from this battle.

Seeing the intense spiritual fluctuations erupt from Zhou Yuanjue’s body once more, Huang Shuwen, who had just comprehended Holy and Bright, felt his pupils shrink.

"Hah!!"

His expression darkened. He spread his Spirit and emotions with all his might. It was he who had miraculously comprehended Holy and Bright in battle, and yet a sense of fear was now sprouting in his heart.

It was the fear a human feels for something they cannot comprehend.

At this moment, he could not understand just what kind of existence he was facing.

BOOM!

Their wills collided, tangling and spiraling together, constantly rising, growing ever stronger.

For some unknown reason, the less powerful Martial Artists in the vicinity began to feel their bodies tremble uncontrollably. Some were even overcome with the urge to turn and flee the mourning hall.

This was an instinctual awe and fear.

Just as humans feel a sense of the sublime when seeing something immense, and fear when seeing something vast and deep.

At this very moment, the two men standing before them no longer seemed human.

In their perception, they were two insurmountable mountains, two suns too brilliant to look at directly!

The power of life far surpasses the imagination!

SWOOSH!!

The next moment, both of them moved at once.

The will emanating from Huang Shuwen was like a hazy fog, like the vast and intangible Celestial Secret itself—ethereal and void, yet able to influence all things in the world.

And Zhou Yuanjue was a colossal bird whose wings were like clouds that blanket the sky, seeking to transcend all worldly shackles and fly into the deep, dark universe.

Their weapons clashed.

SHING SHING SHING SHING SHING!!

SCREEE SCREEE SCREEE SCREEE SCREEE!!

Countless flashes of blades and swords collided violently, scraping against each other in mid-air and creating a shower of sparks.

Suddenly, their figures came to an abrupt halt at the same time. Both remained in a forward-stabbing posture, sword in hand.

What shocked everyone present was that a portion of a sword blade was protruding from each of their backs.

Mutual destruction?!!

But the next moment, Zhou Yuanjue’s body moved.

Only then did the crowd realize that the sword in Huang Shuwen’s hand had not pierced Zhou Yuanjue’s body, but had passed under his armpit.

He held one of his short swords in a reverse grip, tucked under his arm. Although a large gash was cut into his side, he had successfully blocked Huang Shuwen’s final thrust.

His other short sword, however, had squarely pierced Huang Shuwen’s heart.

SHLICK!

He pulled the short sword from Huang Shuwen’s chest, and blood instantly spurted out.

Huang Shuwen’s pupils lost their focus. There was no pain, no anger, not even fear. There was only a deep sense of doubt and incomprehension.

His body went limp and slowly crumpled, his cheek brushing against Zhou Yuanjue’s body as he fell to the floor.