Cohabitation with Sword Spirit-Chapter 187 - 157: A Touch of Warmth Amid a Black-and-White World

Late at night on November 20, 2017, the city was covered in dark clouds, and the night was black as ink.

With the freshly drafted minutes of the family meeting, Lu Xin wore a faintly helpless smile as he arrived at a core area of the Lu Family Mansion. From the outside, this appeared to be a slightly old, rundown courtyard, its gate hidden within an unruly thicket of brambles.

This courtyard was built at the intersection of Spirit Wind from the Yin-Yang Realm, a place that ordinary people instinctively avoided. Even if a few happened to arrive at the gate for various reasons, without permission or the identity seal, this thicket would form an insurmountable barrier, keeping them out.

As the second most prominent figure in the Lu Family, Lu Xin could freely come and go from this place, not even needing to show a seal. A gentle release of True Essence would cause the bramble branches blocking the gate to retract to the sides of the path.

Only one withered branch remained stubbornly stretched across the path, twitching slightly as if trying to retreat yet stuck to the ground, unable to move.

Lu Xin glanced at it, his facial muscles involuntarily twitching.

The family's finances have indeed been too tight recently; such an important gatekeeping mechanism had fallen into disrepair... the brambles guarding the Yin-Yang Realm were clearly malnourished.

Lu Xin sighed and flicked a gentle strand of True Essence to rejuvenate the crippled bramble. It shook as if a patient brought back to life by an electric shock after sudden death.

However, though the bramble struggled and shook vigorously, its yellow hue deepening to black, it remained immovable, ultimately collapsing limply after intense trembling as Lu Xin's True Essence was exhausted.

"..." Lu Xin felt that his face was becoming darker than the bramble itself, at a loss and unable to cut down this ancient bramble that had guarded the Yin-Yang Realm for over three hundred years, with both merit and hard work. He had to raise his robe and leap over it.

As a Lu Family Elder, Lu Xin's Body Technique was extraordinarily graceful, landing noiselessly, like a floating cloud from the sky, even he marveled that despite his age, his Body Refining Technique from youth hadn't waned.

Yet the next moment, a fifteen or sixteen-year-old young man ahead looked at him in shock, his two eyes one black and one white, flickering with extraordinary light, conspicuous in the night...

Damn, wasn't Lu Fangchen supposed to be in closed-door training in the Yin-Yang Realm!

For a moment, Lu Xin had an overwhelming urge to explode, but his years as an elder bestowed him a demeanor unaffected by even a mountain collapse, so he asked with a somber face, "What are you doing here?"

Lu Fangchen blinked: "Just broke through a Realm, came out for some fresh air."

"Broke through? You now have a late-stage Cloud Surge Realm cultivation?" Lu Xin asked, slightly surprised, "Wasn't it said that it would take at least half a month?"

Lu Fangchen said: "I don't know either, it feels like the power surged forth on its own. As long as my eyes are open, the Heaven and Earth Spirit Wind continuously flows into my body for my use... maybe the Divine Techniques of the Yin Yang Pupils exceeded expectations."

"Good, very good." Lu Xin nodded, then concernedly asked, "Did you feel any side effects?"

"Not yet. If I had to say, perhaps it's that what I practiced past feels utterly worthless, almost shaking my Taoist heart to the core, wanting to start over." Lu Fangchen smiled wryly, "Uncle, have you ever heard of eyes that can see through the life's dead spots? To those eyes, the world is full of gaps and spots—these are the structural weaknesses of everything. If you cut along them, you can break anything."

Lu Xin frowned: "What nonsense are you talking?! "

"...Seems like you don't read much, Uncle. Anyway, the world I see now is like that, full of flaws in everything, everyone's cultivation mistakes galore, including my own. Except for the elders whose True Essence Realm far exceeds mine, my eyes can't see through anything else. It feels bad."

Lu Xin consoled, "Being able to see through others' flaws is actually good. Cultivation growth exceeding expectations is something worth celebrating too, Fangchen. This time at the Cyan Cloud Grand Contest, the family's hopes rest on you. Ten years ago, because of that independent cultivator, the family couldn't achieve three consecutive wins. This regret, we need to make up little by little as descendants."

Lu Fangchen felt uneasy: "Uncle, what's going on?"

Lu Xin sighed and handed him the meeting minutes.

Lu Fangchen read through them, his face turning dark: "Father's sick again? Cyan Cloud Contest champion... why does it sound so easy?! Does he think everyone's born with his fortune? Using all of one's life to pursue a one-percent chance, it's unknown how much of the family's yin virtue he has spent reaching today without dying! He even feels justified, it's utterly absurd."

Such outrageous words made Lu Xin break into a cold sweat. In the entire Lu Family Mansion, only this biological son dared to be so "forthright" to the Patriarch.

Lu Fangchen, still simmering with anger, said, "And this whole thing is utterly ridiculous. Is winning the Qingyun Competition really that important? Initially, we didn't even consider aiming for the championship, did we? Ahead of me are Li Wanqing and Qian Ye, whose talents, qualifications, and family resources are on par with mine. However, one is a year older and the other is three years older than me, which under the rules of the Qingyun Competition, gives them a definitive advantage. So, I never thought we'd be so determined to win the championship. If Father really wanted to fight for the championship, he should've had me three years earlier. He's a Mountain-Overturning Realm Great Cultivator, can't he even control when to have a child?" 𝚏𝕣𝕖𝚎𝚠𝚎𝚋𝚗𝐨𝐯𝕖𝕝.𝕔𝐨𝕞

Lu Xin, hearing Lu Fangchen become increasingly out of line, hurriedly coughed, "In any case, things have been decided, and we have no choice but to carry it through. This time, thanks to our alliance with the Qian Family, we've made a breakthrough with the Bone Marrow Cleansing Spiritual Liquid. With your Yin Yang Pupils awakened, facing Li Wanqing and Qian Ye, there's a fighting chance."

Lu Fangchen snorted. Although dissatisfied, he also knew that after signing off on the meeting minutes, there was no room for regret. Even knowing it might be impossible, he could only do his best.

"Uncle, do you have recent information on Li Wanqing and Qian Ye? I want to study it."

"Of course, and... there's also information on someone you wouldn't expect."

As he spoke, Lu Fangchen walked into the courtyard. Lu Xin followed behind, taking a step across the gate, and suddenly, the world before their eyes changed, stripping all color. In an instant, they found themselves in a fantastical realm of stark black and white, the Yin-Yang Realm.

Initially, the so-called Yin-Yang Realm was nothing more than an insignificant spatial fragment, similar to a storage bag, but with a life force unlike ordinary fragments, enduring for thousands of years without dispersing. The Cyan Cloud Lu Family inherited it from the Primordial Era, spending two thousand years continually developing it until it became a wondrous Blessed Land. Here, practicing the Lu Family's ancestral cultivation technique yields twice the results with half the effort. One can also observe the transformation from chaos to yin and yang at the realm's edge, gaining insights into the Immortal Technique Dao.

However, without the awakened Yin Yang Pupils, residing here long-term requires constantly expending True Essence to prevent one from being assimilated by the Yin-Yang Realm. Even a Mountain-Overturning Realm Great Cultivator can stay no longer than two days, while Cloud Surge Realm young ones would nearly collapse in just three to five minutes.

Yet, after awakening the Yin Yang Pupils, Lu Fangchen could live and thrive here for long periods, and his cultivation surged, which made sense.

A moment later, the two arrived at Lu Fangchen's current residence, a humble abode constructed using the Yin-Yang Realm's earth and timber.

"Uncle, release the records here for me to see; I can see things more clearly in the Yin-Yang Realm."

Lu Xin nodded, enhancing the talisman with a bit of magic protection before activating it, projecting the stored video data.

Simultaneously, Lu Fangchen gathered True Essence in his eyes, activating his bloodline. One eye turned pitch black, the other pure white. The talisman's video was instantly analyzed into countless fragments.

First displayed was Qian Ye's information, his duel with Ling Sheng. With the Qian Family's fanfare, there was no chance of concealing it. Hundreds of spectators saw it all clearly, including the Lu Family's intelligence personnel.

This battle was undoubtedly the climax within the Cloud Surge Realm. Both sides displayed extraordinary moves, splendid and thrilling. Even Lu Xin, a Great Cultivator, nodded approvingly, acknowledging that he had no match for these two at the same realm.

After the video ended, Lu Fangchen nodded, "Understood. Brother Ye is indeed much more formidable, but his flaws are also apparent. For him, the Golden Bloodline actually resurged too early. His advantages and disadvantages are as clearly divided as yin and yang. His back, ankles, and so on are lethal weaknesses. As long as I target those weaknesses and strike decisively, there's at least a chance of winning."

"Good." Lu Xin nodded, satisfied with this answer. The hard power gap between Lu Fangchen and Qian Ye was evident. If Fangchen claimed to be assured of victory, that would be laughable. It's already impressive to discern a chance of winning.

Next, Lu Xin played another recording, the duel between Li Wanqing and Qian Ye beneath the Drunken Immortal Tower.

This time, Lu Fangchen's expression grew slightly more serious. After the video concluded, he remained silent for a long time until Lu Xin became a bit anxious. Finally, Lu Fangchen said, "Sister Wanqing is truly unfathomable..."

"At first glance, Sister Wanqing appears slightly weaker than Brother Ye now, but she's truly in a state of Merit Perfection, leaving no flaws. Her actual combat ability is definitely stronger than Brother Ye's. Even if the Qian Family brings out an Immortal Treasure, between the two, I still favor Sister Wanqing."

"And if you were to face Li Wanqing?"

"If I give it my all, it's probably fifty-fifty." Lu Fangchen smiled wryly, "Or maybe sixty-forty, but overall, it's still fightable."

"Good, as long as you can fight." Lu Xin nodded, bringing out the final talisman.

"This one, watch carefully, then tell me if you can fight."

But before he finished speaking, Lu Xin found himself at a loss for words.

In the unique environment of the Yin-Yang Realm, the images in the talisman displayed a peculiar effect. In the Aozora Martial Arts Arena, everything was rendered in black and white, except Wang Jiu... who remained vividly dazzling, and the White Sword in his hand gleamed as brightly as the blazing sun...