Lin Xiao had once heard an interesting saying: someone asked what people live for in this world?
Someone answered: to seek death.
Though it sounded ridiculous, it was also the truth. Even the ethereal divine realm and the eternally existing gods would face calamities they couldn't handle. For ordinary people, death was an inescapable topic.
All living things would eventually meet death. When the Higanbana Flower blooms, what lies ahead is the end.
Ji Juechen gripped his sword hilt with both hands, his heavy sword descending seemingly slowly. Before the blade arrived, the sword intent surged wildly, creating countless marks on the ground out of thin air. The invisible sword intent seemed to slice through the surrounding air entirely, making even breathing feel labored.
Facing Ji Juechen's sharp sword intent, Lin Xiao couldn't counter with his own intent but fully unleashed the "intent" of his martial soul.
Without dodging or evading, he raised his hand to meet it. When the Higanbana bloomed in mid-air around Lin Xiao, Ji Juechen felt the world around him lose color. In the profound silence, only the sound of all things perishing echoed in his ears.
Everything around him was dissipating. The weeds underfoot, the intangible elements in the air, and the mental power he had condensed withered rapidly like aging, reaching the moment of "death" and vanishing into nothingness.
The weeds beneath Lin Xiao's feet quickly withered and died, spreading outward. The already secluded area became even quieter, as if even sound couldn't reach here.
Compared to their last encounter, Ji Juechen could clearly sense a significant change in Lin Xiao's aura. Last time, though Lin Xiao had fused mental power and soul power, his grasp of "intent" was still quite crude.
Now, as the two forces clashed, Ji Juechen vaguely glimpsed another world—a world of blood-red and dead silence.
He knew he had lost once again.
"Thank you."
To the guard, this clash lasted only a brief moment. Ji Juechen seemed to take a long time to recover, suddenly thanking him before sitting down on the spot and entering meditation.
Lin Xiao withdrew his palm and looked at his palm heart, where a blood-red mark stood out prominently. When he clenched his fist, a faint pain emanated from the mark.
Looking at Ji Juechen now sitting on the ground, Lin Xiao sighed inwardly. In terms of comprehending intent, he was far inferior to Ji Juechen. Ji Juechen hadn't lost to his "intent" but to his martial soul.
Blooming along the Yellow Springs' Other Shore, witnessing the cycle of life and death—this was the inherent power of the Higanbana Flower martial soul. Lin Xiao had merely infused this power, its aura, into his attack. Perhaps it was because of such a powerful martial soul that Nightmare Douluo had taken extra notice back then.
Lin Xiao was about to say something when he noticed Ji Juechen's breathing had become extremely steady, completely unresponsive to the outside world.
This… was this an epiphany-induced deep meditation?
Lin Xiao opened his mouth, unsure how to react, feeling a bit envious of Ji Juechen's mindset. Such firm purity was why he could achieve this.
Once in deep meditation, no one could predict how long it would last, but he couldn't just leave Ji Juechen sitting there. Lin Xiao glanced around, wondering if he could find someone to help notify the academy.
As if sensing something, Lin Xiao's gaze swept over the guard's hiding spot again before he turned and ran off.
Better to let the guard watch over him for a bit while he went to inform Lin Jiayi.
However, when he arrived near Lin Jiayi's soul tool research lab, he didn't see Lin Jiayi but spotted a young girl standing on tiptoe, peering inside. She looked somewhat familiar, but he couldn't quite recall where he had seen her.
Lin Xiao's footsteps alerted the girl. She turned toward him, her eyes lighting up suddenly.
"You're Lin Xiao, right? Do you know where Ji Juechen went?" The girl glanced behind Lin Xiao but, not seeing the person she was looking for, a flash of disappointment crossed her eyes. "He said he wanted to spar with you today. Have you seen him?"
Lin Xiao roughly guessed who she was.
"We just sparred. He gained some insights and entered deep meditation. I was just thinking of finding someone to watch over him."
"Huh?" A trace of anxiety rose on the girl's face. "Where is he now? Is he at the arena?"
"No. If you're looking for him, head in the direction I came from. When you reach a spot with almost no people, you should see him."
"Got it." The girl didn't question why Lin Xiao and Ji Juechen had sparred in a secluded area. She quickly nodded and ran off in the direction Lin Xiao had come from.
But after running a few steps, she seemed to realize something was off and turned back. "Oh, right, I'm Jing Ziyan. Thanks."
Lin Xiao shook his head slightly at the sight.
As expected, with Ji Juechen's personality, the only one in the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Tool Academy who cared so much about him was Jing Ziyan. It was a pity that Jing Ziyan's feelings were obvious to anyone, yet Ji Juechen's heart held nothing but his sword.
"What's with the head-shaking so early in the morning? Ran into some trouble?"
Lin Jiayi suddenly opened the door to the soul tool research lab, clearly having noticed Lin Xiao outside.
"Teacher? I was just about to knock." Without hesitation, Lin Xiao explained his spar with Ji Juechen.
Upon hearing this, Lin Jiayi couldn't sit still. "Alright, I got it. I'll go find some other teachers to check on Ji Juechen. You can stay here and read some books or try out the soul tools."
"Mm." Lin Xiao nodded, watching Lin Jiayi leave in a hurry.
Not to mention that Ji Juechen had been specially admitted to Mingde Hall by Jing Hongchen due to his unique cultivation method—even for other students, entering deep meditation was enough to warrant attention from Lin Jiayi as the teaching director.
But regardless, this was a rare opportunity for Ji Juechen.
Lin Xiao glanced at his palm again. The mark in the center hadn't faded, though the pain had lessened considerably. He withdrew his thoughts and looked at the table piled with various materials and blueprints.
Ever since his last spar with Ji Juechen, a lot had happened, and Lin Xiao hadn't truly settled down to try crafting soul tools in a long time.
The changes in his soul rings, the increase in his soul power level, the finer control over mental and soul power after breaking the barrier, and his experiments with souls… It seemed he also needed to properly reflect on his gains and see if he could bring the ideas in his mind to life.