My Enemy Became My Cultivation Companion-Chapter 684 - 448: The So-Called Chivalry (3-in-1 Bonus)_2

"Why bring this up all of a sudden?"

"I was vague in my answer before, so let me refine it," Min Ning raised her brows with a smile. "If a person's heart remains in the right place, even if they learn the most wicked martial arts in the world, they won't stray from their path."

Chen Yi tilted his face slightly.

"Or perhaps, it could be said, if a person's heart stays true, they wouldn't even think to learn the most wicked martial arts."

Lowering his gaze briefly, Chen Yi chuckled softly, "There's truth in your words. But, tell me, how many people in this world can truly keep their hearts unchanged?"

Sometimes, he found himself envying Min Ning without intending to.

Though he couldn't quite pinpoint the source of his envy, it lingered nonetheless. At times, Chen Yi thought that was fine—after all, Min Ning was his woman. But other times, it left him feeling slightly unsettled...

He still remembered the young hero walking out of the temple, long blade dripping with blood, and her flowing garments rippling in the wind. Back then, her vigor and confidence were striking. Now, even as the vast Jianghu had not eroded her pride, it had instead tempered the sharpness of her sword, intensifying her Sword Qi to an overwhelming thousand zhang.

Chen Yi's thoughts flickered briefly but were swiftly put aside, for Min Ning had already stepped past him and moved ahead. The two said no more, entering the cavern together.

…

Only a quarter of an hour later.

The firestick abruptly extinguished. 𝘧𝓇𝑒𝑒𝑤ℯ𝑏𝓃𝘰𝑣ℯ𝘭.𝘤ℴ𝘮

The shadows of their figures, once elongated by the firelight, dissolved instantly, merging like droplets of black ink into a sprawling ink painting.

Strangely, being here didn't evoke any sense of danger. Chen Yi sensed no traces of peril, and Min Ning's Alerting Heart Skill gave no indication of alarm. The velvety darkness enveloped them, seeping with an unusual tranquility.

It felt less like exploration and more like a quiet, uneventful stroll under a starless night.

Yet, when Min Ning tried to relight the firestick, she found it wouldn't ignite no matter how she attempted.

"There's an Array in here..." Min Ning remarked.

Chen Yi nodded slightly, the profound darkness swirling with an eerie sensation akin to the inscrutable vastness of the cosmos. It seemed as though, at any given moment, it could seep into one's very soul—a touch unmistakably sculpted by Xiao Daoping's meticulous design.

As seasoned Martial Artists, their keen vision and awareness made the encroaching darkness relatively bearable.

However, as they proceeded along their path, they didn't encounter even a single lamp, nor a scar left by a sword, nor any remnants of human life.

Chen Yi pressed forward.

The enveloping blackness closed in thicker, and gradually, he heard Min Ning's footsteps grow more distant. Yet casting a glance ahead, Min Ning was still just a short distance in front of him.

The sound of flowing water tickled his ears intermittently, sometimes nearer and sometimes farther.

Something feels off...

Scanning his surroundings, he discerned no hint of danger. Min Ning remained beside him, serene and unperturbed.

And yet...

The hairs on the back of Chen Yi's neck inexplicably stood on end.

He whipped around abruptly, his hand already gripping the hilt of his blade.

But behind him lay only vast emptiness and eerie silence.

Chen Yi exhaled half a breath, slowly turning back—only for that half-breathed sigh to catch in his chest. A strange aroma wafted to his nose—one of cooked fish.

Turning around again, Min Ning was nowhere to be seen!

Instead, before him stood a man clad in coarse linen, cradling a wooden basin in both hands, slowly advancing toward Chen Yi.

The basin contained cooked fish, steaming with a savory fragrance, tempting enough to make one's mouth water.

The man drew closer with deliberate steps, his demeanor deferential as he spoke, "My lord, the fish is ready..."

Chen Yi's wrist tightened in an instant, thoughts discarded, his Brocade Spring Blade slicing through the air—a gleaming arc three-feet long aimed directly at the man's head!

Just as the blade threatened to send his head soaring, the man dropped to a crouch, clawing fiercely at the cooked fish. In the instant the fish shattered between his fingers, a short sword exploded forth from its remnants. The man's eyes gleamed brightly, and like a comet striking the moon, he thrust upward toward Chen Yi's abdomen.

Chen Yi twisted and spun, the short sword grazing past his waist as he pursued with his palm, striking the man's shoulder with a thunderous impact. The sound of bone shattering reverberated; the man grunted, loosening his grip on the short sword. Just as his other hand reached for it, the sword itself flipped upward and flew straight through his throat!

Chen Yi pressed down on the hilt of the short sword, sending the man tumbling like a felled mountain, pinned lifeless to the ground. His eyes widened in a lifeless stare, as if unwilling to accept his fate.

Glancing around to ensure there were no further sword or blade ambushes, Chen Yi fixed his gaze on the corpse before him and muttered:

"So it wasn't going to be that simple."

Turning his attention to the short sword drawn from the fish, he murmured in confusion:

"The Fish Intestine Sword?"

As the thought crossed his mind, a peculiar intuition informed him that this man was none other than one of the Four Great Warriors of the Spring and Autumn period—Zhuan Zhu.

Raising his head again, the path ahead blurred like an ink-painted dreamscape, the water-like darkness shimmering faintly, shrouded in an enigmatic aura.

An illusion?

Perhaps.

Chen Yi rolled his shoulders and exhaled deeply, brushing away the guilt of slaying a legendary warrior. Instead, a strange and inexplicable thrill surged within him.

The feeling resonated clearly, almost palpably. This illusion was far from ordinary.

"Interesting… isn't it?"

With that, Chen Yi strode deeper into the cavern.

…

Only a quarter of an hour more.

Chen Yi halted abruptly as the path ahead widened significantly, with trenches flanking both sides. The cavern grew progressively deeper, and the previously tranquil shadows of the mysterious darkness now carried an abrupt trace of blood.

Crossing a stone bridge, he was attacked.

A black figure suddenly surged from the left, launching a fierce and cunning strike aimed directly at Chen Yi's ribs, cutting sharply through the air with an ominous howl.

"Die, scoundrel!"

A furious shout accompanied the blade's whooshing descent, its icy glint poised to pierce straight through him. But before the strike landed, Chen Yi's figure suddenly shimmered away.

He had already prepared his peak-level Cloud Stepping maneuver.

Controlling the precise timing and distance, the fourth step activated just as the sword thrust forward.

Yu Rang's attack missed its mark, failing to find Chen Yi's body. His instincts drove him to twist around and stab again—this time seemingly impaling Chen Yi.

However, the strike merely pierced through empty robes.

With the killing arc of his blade, Chen Yi brought his Brocade Spring Blade down, sending Yu Rang's head flying into the air.

"Two left..."

Chen Yi wiped the blood from his blade.

…

Another quarter of an hour passed.

Chen Yi reached a place as expansive as a mansion. A figure with sword drawn approached from the distance, his pace steady, unhidden, with a suffocating bloodlust swirling darkly around him like ink streaming from his seven apertures.