Singing with a Sword

The following is the main text of the novel "{?$article_title?}" ({?$jieqi_title?}) provided by {?$jieqi_sitename?}. Please enjoy! Yi Ranxiao did not look into his eyes, so she did not know that he was preparing a spell until the white snake suddenly stopped moving, and only then did Yi Ranxiao realize what was going on.

Suddenly, the giant white snake split into tens of thousands of smaller white snakes, densely covering the arena. Those disciples suffering from trypophobia felt their scalps tingle and their hearts ache. Even the more normal disciples felt inexplicably uncomfortable at the sight.

But Huangfu Cheng laughed, Ji Yuantao laughed, and all the disciples who knew how fast Xiao Jian was laughed!

Murong Feng thought that Yi Ranxiao would be terrified and collapse upon seeing so many snakes. But Yi Ranxiao remained calm, thinking to herself that this giant white snake was indeed strange; its body was so flexible that it could split! As she thought this, she sheathed the decapitator and drew her Azure Sword. Yi Ranxiao looked at the Azure Sword's azure blade; perhaps, the Azure Sword was the most blood-stained sword in the world?

Murong Feng controlled tens of thousands of small white snakes to surge wildly towards Yi Ranxiao! So many white snakes surging over together looked like a white wave from afar.

Yi Ranxiao moved his feet and thrust out his sword!

Boom boom~ Boom boom~

A thunderous roar resounded as the Divine Thunder Sword Technique unleashed its fury!

Immediately, the little white snakes froze, but Xiao Qingjian still thrust out one after another with a "whoosh!"

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! ...The speed was astonishing! The Divine Thunder Sword Technique, swift as lightning!

*Puff puff puff...*

A dozen sharp blades pierced flesh, and a dozen small white snakes were killed! Unlike the large white snake, these small white snakes could not split into smaller white snakes; they were already the smallest constituent units of the large white snake.

White snakes are also bloodthirsty animals. When they see the blood of their companions and see their companions fall in front of them, they feel no fear. Instead, they rush towards Yi Ranxiao even more frantically!

Yi Ranxiao moved with incredible speed, wielding his green sword and dancing gracefully. He unleashed the "Divine Thunder Sword Technique" to its fullest extent, and one white snake after another perished under his sword!

At first, Murong Feng was full of confidence, but now, his hands began to tremble slightly! Looking at the ever-growing pile of white snake corpses on the arena, he felt an urge to collapse!

The disciples of the Beast Taming Hall below the stage were also stunned. So many white snakes attacking a cultivator at the same time, no matter how good your swordsmanship is, there will always be loopholes, and you will eventually be injured by the white snakes, right? But Yi Ranxiao on the stage was completely unharmed, and the blood on his body was all the blood of those white snakes!

What drove them even more insane was that Yi Ranxiao became increasingly excited and fluid in his attacks! It was as if these white snakes were using their lives to practice swordsmanship with Yi Ranxiao! And Yi Ranxiao treated it all as if it were child's play.

Murong Feng couldn't take it anymore! If this continued, all his white snakes would die! If the little white snakes died, then the great white snake would cease to exist! Immediately, he used his pupil technique to summon back the little white snakes. One by one, the little white snakes swam to his side and then formed a great white snake, but this great white snake was much smaller than before! Murong Feng immediately put away the great white snake and sent it back to heal its wounds.

Yi Ranxiao smiled slightly and said, "Murong Feng, if there are any other spirit beasts, summon them all and let me deal with them together."

Murong Feng was furious. He only had one spirit beast! It was this giant white snake. How could it recover from the injuries it sustained in this battle without a year or two of rest?

"Yiranxiao, don't get too cocky." Murong Feng's expression turned serious, as if he was preparing to unleash another powerful spell. Yiranxiao became secretly cautious.

huh~

Suddenly, Murong Feng threw a flying knife! The knife shot towards Yi Ranxiao.

Yi Ranxiao clicked her tongue inwardly. After all that, Murong Feng only threw one throwing knife? Could this knife be special? Yi Ranxiao looked at the knife and saw that its blade was incredibly shiny, like a mirror. A mirror? Yi Ranxiao immediately sensed something was wrong!

Just then, Murong Feng looked at the throwing knife, at the knife that resembled a mirror. In the "mirror," Murong Feng's gaze met Yi Ranxiao's! Murong Feng immediately activated his mental power, casting an illusion, and shouted, "Murong Secret Technique—Suffering Reappears!"

"Oh no!" Yi Ranxiao thought to himself, realizing he had met the other's gaze! He immediately tried to look away, but found his body starting to move out of his control! Yi Ranxiao immediately remembered how he had used sunlight reflection to force the pupil master to close his eyes during their last battle—

But today, there is no sunshine in the sky!

Ruined!

In that instant, Yi Ranxiao suddenly found herself in another "world"! A gray "world," a "world" without earth or sky. This "world" was a special illusion created by Murong Feng using his pupil technique!

Yi Ranxiao found that he was still conscious and had his vision, but his body was unable to move. He was floating in the air, tightly bound by an invisible force. Just then, a person appeared in front of him, none other than Murong Feng.

Murong Feng looked at Yi Ranxiao triumphantly and said, "Yan Ranxiao, you have entered my world. In this world, I am the ruler! The name of my technique is 'Recreating Suffering.' I suppose you can already guess what kind of attack you will suffer next, right? Haha..."

Not long after he finished speaking, Murong Feng disappeared. Before Yi Ranxiao's eyes appeared a series of heartbreaking scenes! The first scene was of Yi Ranxiao being thrown into the tomb passage as cannon fodder by Luo Yunxiao and the others. That was alright, but the second scene that followed caused Yi Ranxiao increasing pain.

The second scene features Xiao Fan, who, in a fit of rage, draws his longsword and attacks Xiang Wuju, who has been bullying Xiao An'an. Unfortunately, Xiang Wuju sends Xiao Fan flying with a single punch, then cripples his manhood, rendering him a vegetable! The once lively and cheerful Xiao Fan is now confined to his sickbed, living a subhuman existence. Meanwhile, Yi Ran Xiao is powerless to help, overwhelmed by self-blame and anguish.

The third scene takes place in the white desert, on the shore of that valley and that small lake. Yiran Xiao sees Meng Da, Lao Mo, and the others. These people sacrificed their souls to protect him, while he could only watch helplessly as they sacrificed themselves for him!

I'm in so much pain and resentment!

These scenes played out before Yi Ranxiao's eyes as if they were real, filling him with boundless sorrow, resentment, and anger! Cold sweat streamed down his forehead, and his whole body trembled!

These three scenes are all based on real events, but the following scenes are illusions woven from Yi Ranxiao's inner world.

In the fourth image, Xiaoru is surrounded by a group of venomous snakes. These snakes crawl onto her body, biting and tearing at her flesh, her face, her arms… the wounds immediately fester, oozing a nauseating yellow liquid. In the end, Yiranxiao can only watch helplessly as Xiaoru screams in agony and dies!

The fifth scene shows An'an being captured by a group of savages. The savages are all drooling, staring at An'an with lustful eyes. An'an is terrified and cries out, "Uncle Yi, save me! Uncle Yi, save me!" But Yi Ranxiao is still powerless; he can only watch as these savages devour An'an alive, making her their lunch…

Terrifying pain! The agony of helplessness! Yi Ranxiao was drenched in cold sweat, her clothes completely soaked!

……

……

In the real world, Yi Ranxiao stood motionless on the arena, his eyes wide open, filled with terror, his forehead and hands covered in cold sweat. Murong Feng, on the other hand, watched Yi Ranxiao with ease, continuing to use "Reenactment of Suffering" on him.

Murong Feng did not remove the spell until the fifth image had completely finished. Yi Ranxiao returned to the real world, but the mental torment and pain he had just suffered left him extremely weak, and his knees buckled, causing him to kneel on the ground.

Murong Feng was overjoyed. None of those who had been affected by the "Reenactment of Suffering" spell had ever been able to stand up again! You must know that the scenes they saw in the illusion were all the most painful moments of their lives! With so many painful things playing out one after another before a cultivator, even the strongest mind would collapse!

Just like Yi Ranxiao now!

Yi Ranxiao knelt on the ground, recalling everything that had just happened. The scene of Xiao Ru'an's untimely death flashed through his mind, and Xiao Fan's pale face as she lay motionless on the sickbed caused him wave after wave of heartache. Yi Ranxiao trembled and murmured to himself, "Xiao Fan... Xiao Fan..."

The disciples of Shenfeng Hall below the arena looked at Yiran Xiao with concern. Huangfu Cheng asked Xiaoru, "Xiaoru, you are also a pupil master. What kind of pupil technique did our senior brother suffer from? Why is he so weak?"

Xiaoru said with a solemn expression, "The suffering is recurring. The suffering is recurring. It must be that Brother Yi is seeing the painful scenes from the past again in the illusion."

Upon hearing this, everyone realized that their senior brother was lost in painful memories, which explained his exhaustion and weakness. They shouted, "Senior brother, that's all in the past! Don't think about it so much!" "Senior brother, cheer up! This is the present, the past is the past. We can't let past pain affect the current competition! Senior brother, get up!"...

As Yi Ranxiao listened to these words from below the stage, she remained kneeling on the ground, trembling as she muttered to herself, "You have never personally experienced my pain, so you have no idea how terrifying my pain is. After going through that pain again, how could you possibly stand up so easily?"

"Senior Brother!" Suddenly, a furious shout like thunder rang out. The voice was clearly Wei Wuzheng's. "Senior Brother, stand up! Have you forgotten what you just said to me?"

Upon hearing this, Yi Ranxiao was startled and looked at Wei Wuzheng below the stage. The injured Wei Wuzheng had chosen to continue watching the battle instead of leaving. Seeing the scene on the stage, he knew that his senior brother, like himself, had stumbled due to the pain of the past. He immediately quoted the words Yi Ranxiao had just used to comfort him:

"Senior Brother, wake up! That's all in the past! You can't live your whole life in the pain of the past! You have to pull yourself together, face reality bravely, and do your best to live every single moment to the fullest, otherwise you're just a coward!"

Yi Ranxiao stared blankly at Wei Wuzheng, who continued, "These are the words you, Senior Brother, told me. If you can't even keep your own word, what right do you have to criticize me? What right do you have to be my Senior Brother?"