My Enemy Became My Cultivation Companion-Chapter 681 - 447: My Heart is Still Here (Two-in-One)

Growing increasingly intense, ever more fraught.

Frightened birds scattered through the woods as Min Ning suddenly twisted to the side. A falling leaf brushed against her cheek—she dodged not the leaf, but a sword tip. Spinning, she unleashed another strike; the sword edge aimed dead-straight, as though it could pierce through flesh and bone.

How many moves had she exchanged with the illusion of "Chen Yi" in her eyes?

One strike, two strikes, three strikes,

Min Ning's steps floated, faintly pressing left and then right. With narrow evasion, she traced a half arc before slashing across horizontally,

hundreds of strikes!

She felt it vividly; as time passed, "Chen Yi" grew slower, more sluggish, and increasingly muddled.

Victory seemed imminent. Min Ning's mood steadied, her momentum uninterrupted, her sword flowing with her movements in the heat of combat, the sword momentum surging further with each clash.

And then, "Chen Yi" revealed a flaw.

Min Ning warded off the sword edge. With a fierce shout, her blade shimmered with dazzling brilliance, piercing straight through "Chen Yi's" chest.

She lowered her gaze, then raised it again.

Before her stood an ancient towering tree, felled under her sword.

Min Ning habitually wiped the sweat off her forehead and muttered to herself:

"The real him would be far stronger."

Min Ning knew he was not the kind of person incapable of adapting. When faced with life-and-death combat, he would undoubtedly unleash countless tricks.

She traced the severed trunk with her fingers and laughed lightly:

"There's no way he'd take a hit like a dumb pig..."

Just as she thought that, a pig's head suddenly popped up from the hill nearby.

Chen Yi leapt toward her, donning a large pig-faced mask and using his pinnacle cloud-stepping technique.

Min Ning froze for a moment and said:

"It really *is* a pig."

"What?"

Chen Yi had heard the female crown say Min Ning was losing her mind and grew concerned she might be falling into inner turmoil. When Qin Qingluo had her last bout of inner turmoil, she damaged her meridians, and it was only due to the Prince's protective glass-like light that she emerged unscathed. But Min Ning was different.

Min Ning glanced at Chen Yi's mask, then burst into laughter: "It's just a pig, isn't it?"

Chen Yi paused for a moment before realizing the mask was still on his face. He hurriedly removed it with force.

Min Ning sheathed her sword with casual indifference and asked: "Was it specifically for me?"

Chen Yi blinked and said: "I suppose so."

He certainly couldn't admit he'd forgotten to take it off.

Chen Yi glanced at the felled tree, then at Min Ning, realizing she hadn't been experiencing inner turmoil at all.

"So… you were just practicing swordsmanship?"

"Swordsmanship? I guess you could say that." Min Ning's voice dropped slightly.

Chen Yi said: "Well, you should've practiced with me. I've mastered the Qingxiao Swordsmanship down to ten parts perfection."

Min Ning said nothing.

Chen Yi examined the severed trunk and spoke to himself:

"I've met Wu Buxu. Believe me, his sword is one I will break."

Min Ning's expression stiffened momentarily before she turned her face to him and said:

"You mean… you'll go first?"

Chen Yi smiled and said:

"Why else? Am I supposed to watch you all throw your lives away in vain?"

Even if he were to die and trigger the Heavenly Dao's time rewind, allowing a fresh start, Chen Yi wouldn't tolerate seeing them perish before him.

"Don't worry, I won't die."

Min Ning contemplated silently.

After a long pause, she remarked, almost unintentionally: "You're not as selfish as you used to be."

She remembered how, in the past, he used to divide responsibility, but now he took it upon himself.

Chen Yi nodded and asked: "Isn't that a good thing?"

"...Not entirely."

Chen Yi was momentarily startled, expecting Min Ning to feel happy about this change. He turned to see her face serious, clearly not joking.

"What's not good? Doesn't this make me more like a hero?" Chen Yi smiled lightly.

Min Ning pondered briefly before replying:

"Let's put that aside for now. Let's drink."

Then, she pulled a wine gourd from her chest and sat down on the spot.

Chen Yi didn't argue with her and sat down as well.

Two bowls of wine were placed on the ground. Chen Yi picked one up, sipped the liquid lightly, and said:

"When the time comes, I'll go first, and then it'll be your turn. My master told me stories about Wu Buxu—about the battle she once fought. I guess that gives me some experience."

"...How did she do it?"

A graveyard of swords. Wu Buxu had encountered countless masters of Sword Dao, but only Zhou Yitang had survived. Min Ning couldn't help her curiosity.

Chen Yi fell into brief recollection.

In past lives, he had asked Zhou Yitang many, many questions. Some she answered willingly, others she refused outright—no amount of cajoling could sway her. But after their relationship softened, she began sharing more than before.

"She severed an arm, but misfortune and fortune intertwined, and thus she cleaved her Three Corpses, entering a new realm altogether."

Chen Yi gazed far off into the distance and reminisced aloud:

"Sword Dao is a towering mountain, perilous and sharp. There are many paths to ascend, but the higher one climbs, the narrower and steeper it becomes—wide enough for only one person to pass. For this reason, when she turned back, she saw countless people standing at the base of the mountain, gazing upward with awe. They held swords in their hands but lacked the will to climb. She did."

"A mountain..."

Softly muttering those words, Min Ning felt an indistinct understanding awaken within her. Her fingertips trembled slightly, spilling wine that went unnoticed.

"She said… she reached the summit."

Min Ning couldn't resist asking: "What was on the summit? A sword?"

"No sword, no blade—there was almost nothing there. She explained it in mysterious terms,"

Chen Yi chuckled, as though amused, and said:

"...The sky. A boundless, endless sky. Apart from herself and the sky, there was nothing. Eventually, even she ceased to exist—only the sky remained.

So, in that moment,

she stood upon the peak."

Chen Yi reminisced about Zhou Yitang's explanation. What struck him first wasn't her serene demeanor but her pristine, snow-like arm—its smooth and graceful curve. Hmm… these words were shared after all was said and done.

She had said countless cryptic things; he never cared to remember them. But that night, amidst their easy rapport, her unintentional gentleness became all the more moving.

Afterward, all that remained for Chen Yi was a profound indifference—the cyclical reincarnation of vines tangling through the forest, ever-binding, until the next life when they might unravel completely.