Chapter 656 – A Trapped Heart

Sun Zhen fell silent for a long moment. “The Liu clan situation caused quite a stir. If you meet him, tell him to.”

Li Guanqi said nothing. He raised his cup and drained it. “How many people like you are there?”

By now, Sun Zhen was certain that the man before him, Li Wuji, was none other than the Yanluo Sword Sovereign Li Guanqi, the one who single-handedly annihilated the Liu clan. Sun Zhen couldn’t think of anyone else in the younger generation of the Six Territories who possessed such terrifying strength. It wasn’t that he underestimated the other prodigies, but rather that only Li Guanqi had forced the Ancient Clans to take notice.

While the Liu family was the weakest of the Ancient Clans, having only reached the Combined Body Real, the annihilation of their entire clan was shocking. Clans were wiped out by lone cultivators all the time, but an Ancient Clan? That was something else entirely.

Liu Yunxuan of the Liu clan was said to have possessed a spirit root of extraordinary quality, even showing signs of surpassing the Saint Spirit Root. Yet even he died beneath Li Guanqi’s sword.

After the incident, many Ancient Clans sent spies to investigate. When Sun Zhen first saw the scene recorded in a projection stone, he was stunned into silence. The Liu clan’s domain had become a blood-soaked purgatory. Mountains and earth were dyed red, rivers of blood flowing for hundreds of li. More than three thousand members of the Liu clan lay dead, their corpses piled high.

Even now, sitting across from Li Guanqi, Sun Zhen’s limbs grew cold as he recalled those images, fearing that Li Guanqi might strike him down.

He shook his head with a bitter smile. “You are not quite what I imagined.”

Li Guanqi smiled. “

Oh?

And what did you imagine Li Guanqi would be like?”

Sun Zhen thought seriously for a while. “I imagined Li Guanqi as cold-blooded and ruthless. But today, I feel he is rather free-spirited.”

Li Guanqi chuckled and lowered his gaze to his wine cup. “If you spend a year sharpening your blade and nothing else, you’ll come to understand many things. The heart is trapped, but who traps it? In the end, it is only oneself.”

Sun Zhen frowned. “How did you untangle yourself?”

Li Guanqi watched the dancers and spoke softly. “In truth, it all comes from overthinking. The sharper the mind, the more it invents. Before a word is spoken, the ending has already played out a thousand times. Before a step is taken, the heart has already trudged countless rough paths. Before the result is known, you’re already weighed down by imagined burdens. Even after it’s over, you remain shackled by the past, unable to move or speak freely.”

Qian Qiusui’s fingers faltered on the strings, the music pausing for a moment.

Sun Zhen straightened up, his worries easing. He raised his cup to the devilishly handsome youth. “This one’s for Brother Li’s words today. The Ancient Clans, the Liu clan—none of it concerns me. Meeting Brother Li is my good fortune. I drink gladly!”

Clink!

Their cups clinked, and both drained the fiery liquor.

Li Guanqi had never thought much of the youth from great clans, Ancient Clans included. He believed that once these hidden families entered the world, problems would inevitably arise. Yet Sun Zhen made him realize the Ancient Clans were not all corrupt or terrifying. Just as the sects of the Six Territories had both good and bad, so did the Ancient Clans. Even he could not guarantee that disciples of the Daxia Sword Sect would never err.

𝘧𝓇𝑒𝑒𝑤ℯ𝑏𝓃𝘰𝑣ℯ𝘭.𝘤ℴ𝘮

Regardless of what the Sun clan was like, Sun Zhen could at least accept defeat.

“Earlier, you asked how many like me there are,” Sun Zhen said, his eyes hazy from the liquor. “There are many of us... and many stronger than me. The Ancient Clans have returned to the world!”

Li Guanqi’s brows furrowed. “The Ancient Clans have re-entered the world? Why haven’t I heard of this?”

Sun Zhen smiled wryly. “It’s not as you imagine. For some reason, the elders are forbidden from leaving. The elders of my clan never told me why, but I feel like they’re afraid. Those who are emerging are all young people under a hundred years old.”

Li Guanqi’s eyes narrowed as he mulled this over. A figure holding a spear surfaced in his mind.

This has to be connected to my grandfather. Otherwise, why would so many powerful clans agree to such a strange rule?

Then he said, “Balance!”

Sun Zhen’s eyes lit up, and he nodded. “Precisely. Without that, the Ancient Clans could easily suppress most sects.”

Li Guanqi had more context than Sun Zhen, so he started to worry about the Daxia Sword Sect.

I need to tell Sect Master Lu about this.

Sun Zhen went on, “With the Ancient Clans returning, countless prodigies have emerged across the Six Territories, most of them their disciples. Our Sun clan only wants a place to settle and live in peace. But many clans believe the weak should yield their resources to the strong. Conflicts have already broken out, and now, the atmosphere in the Six Territories... feels off.”

Li Guanqi nodded. One side aimed to seize resources, while the other refused to back down. Conflict was inevitable.

After a moment’s thought, he turned to Qian Qiusui, then back to Sun Zhen. “And the Zen Sound Fruit?”

Sun Zhen’s eyes lit up. “The Zen Sound Fruit tree drifts in the void, bearing fruit once every three thousand years! Consuming it not only enhances comprehension but also grants three hundred years of lifespan. Of course, I only seek the former.”

Li Guanqi lost interest.

Comprehension?

He wasn’t sure he needed more of that. After all, he had grasped the first move of a Heaven-tier fist technique in mere breaths during battle.