Chapter 139 (2): Standing Beneath the Dream Shattering Spear

Fang Che immediately began looking expectantly up at Duan Xiyang.

Is he considering taking me as his disciple? I'll kneel down right now! No one can stop me!

This was a far superior backer compared with Yin Shengong!

"You want to learn spear techniques from me?" Duan Xiyang asked at the sight of Fang Che's expectant expression.

Fang Che immediately nodded in response, his eyes bright with excitement.

"You think I would take you as my disciple? You must be dreaming!" Duan Xiyang scoffed. "I learned my spear techniques from the sky, from the wind, from the mountains, from the sun, from the sea, from the stars, even from dead people. You want me to take you as my disciple so you can learn everything I've mastered? How delusional of you! I'm never going to take a disciple in this lifetime."

Fang Che was silent for a moment, then suddenly fell to his knees and kowtowed to Duan Xiyang several times in succession.

"Thank you for enlightening me, Chief Enforcer Duan! I will never forget what you have told me today for as long as I live."

Duan Xiyang didn't try to stop him.

Even though Duan Xiyang hadn't accepted Fang Che as his disciple, the words that he had spoken just now had had a very profound effect on Fang Che, and it served as incredibly invaluable advice.

"How have I enlightened you?" Duan Xiyang asked.

"You have told me that spear techniques can't be learned from someone else," Fang Che replied. "If you learn from someone else, you will never be able to surpass them."

"Oh? Why did you decide to pursue the way of the spear?" Duan Xiyang asked, abruptly focusing mental power on Fang Che as he raised the question.

"Because of you!"

"Because of me?"

"Because I want to defeat you!"

Under the immense weight of Duan Xiyang's mental power, deception was completely impossible, and Fang Che was only able to blurt out these answers straight from his heart.

"Your goal is to defeat me? What if I perish to your spear?"

"Then that will be your fate, and I'm sure you'll die a very happy man!"

Duan Xiyang threw his head back and erupted into laughter as the weight of his mental power was lifted from Fang Che.

He could clearly sense that Fang Che was still harboring some secrets, but he wasn't interested in uncovering them because he already understood everything that he needed to know.

His incredibly pure spear intent, his understanding of the spear, which was so advanced that it bordered on uncanny, the fact that he was heading to Spear Demon Mountain, where Dong Changfeng just so happened to be...

Duan Xiyang had come here to find out from Dong Changfeng who was the one that had truly claimed the inheritance of the One Strike Spear Demon, and he now had his answer.

In light of this revelation, Duan Xiyang couldn't help but laugh.

Ultimately, the heavens were still on the side of the Church of the Self-Righteous!

"You say that is my fate? A mere ant like you dares to determine my fate?!"

"I wouldn't dare, but if there comes a day when I am capable of standing against you and striking with my full power, then I won't hesitate to do so!"

"Who do you think is stronger, me or the One Strike Spear Demon?"

His aura of absolute confidence wavered slightly for the first time as he raised this question.

Fang Che remained silent.

It was clear from this question that Duan Xiyang had already figured everything out.

After a contemplative silence, Fang Che replied, "In your presence, I do not dare to raise my spear, and it was only with your permission that I was able to demonstrate that spear technique."

Duan Xiyang nodded in response.

Indeed, if he willed it to be so, he could've easily made it so that Fang Che couldn't even draw upon any spirit power.

"However, in the presence of the One Strike Spear Demon's spirit sense avatar, I didn't dare to even move."

"So you're saying I'm inferior to him?"

"Your baleful qi and killing intent are superior to his," Fang Che answered in a roundabout manner.

"Then are you saying I'm superior to him?"

"No. What I'm saying is that he has what you lack, but you've gone further than him down a certain path. However, it's not for me to say which path will ultimately lead to a point of superiority over the other."

Duan Xiyang fell into deep thought at Fang Che's words, and it was only after a long silence that he spoke again.

"Are you leaving the city to go and see Dong Changfeng?"

"That's right."

"In that case, would you rather he die or remain alive?"

"I would like him to live."

"Why?"

"Because I don't have any backers here."

𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝐰𝚎𝕓𝐧𝚘𝘃𝗲𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝕞

"Alright, you can go now."

Duan Xiyang seemed to have lost interest in questioning Fang Che.

Fang Che took a moment to muster up some courage, then said, "Chief Enforcer Duan, I have a request."

"Denied!" Duan Xiyang snapped without even offering to hear his request. "If, many years from now, you manage to reach the same heights as me..."

Duan Xiyang didn't finish the thought, instead repeating, "You can go now."

Ever since Fang Che entered Duan Xiyang's domain, he had felt a constant sense of killing intent swirling around him.

Even after he managed to earn Duan Xiyang's approval with his spear intent, the killing intent hadn't abated in the slightest, and this was something that even Duan Xiyang himself was quite perplexed about.

Here stood an exceptional young prodigy who possessed limitless potential and had managed to infiltrate enemy ranks, so why was it that he felt such a strong instinctive urge to kill him?

His capacity for rational thought was the only thing keeping his impulsive urge to kill Fang Che at bay.

Duan Xiyang was initially going to kill Fang Che, but he naturally couldn't do that now after learning Fang Che's secret identity. It had to have been extremely difficult for a mole from a subsidiary church to have claimed the position of chief administrator in the Hall of Protectionists, and it would be a huge waste of potential to put an end to his life here.

With that in mind, Duan Xiyang released Fang Che from his domain, and in the blink of an eye, the latter found himself back on the city wall.

As for Duan Xiyang, he had already departed without another word.

***

Fang Che collapsed onto his backside atop the city wall with cold sweat pouring down his face.

In the blink of an eye, it looked as if he had been drenched in a heavy storm.

He had truly brushed shoulders with death just now. Under the immense mental pressure exerted upon him by Duan Xiyang, he was forced to answer every single question truthfully, and if Duan Xiyang had asked him something like: "Are you allied with the Guardians or the Church of the Self-Righteous?"

His answer would've definitely been the former.

It was simply physically impossible for him to lie in that setting!

Thankfully, Duan Xiyang wasn't a sly old fox like Yin Shengong, but even so, Fang Che's heart was still pounding in his chest.

This time, he had run into Duan Xiyang. Who would he encounter next time?

If someone else like Duan Xiyang developed even the slightest suspicion of him, then they would easily be able to interrogate the truth out of him.

How could he continue to remain undercover if he couldn't even keep his secret?

Of course, there were very few people like Duan Xiyang in the world, but even so, this was still a cause for concern.

At the very least, all of the deputy popes of the Church of the Self-Righteous had to have been capable of forcing the truth out of him, so what if he were to encounter one of them in the future?

He couldn't just turn a blind eye to the possibility and live in a world of false complacency.

How can I strengthen my resolve? Will I be able to withstand the mental pressure of warriors of Duan Xiyang's caliber after I've advanced in the Boundless Sutra?

There were no clear answers to be found, but a string of words was resonating very clearly in his mind.

I learned my spear techniques from the sky, from the wind, from the mountains, from the sun, from the sea, from the stars, even from dead people.

Fang Che had felt instantly enlightened by these words, and he felt like the sentiment meshed perfectly with his perfect spear forms and Jun Lin's ideologies in the way of the spear.

He sat atop the city wall, completely still, and his thoughts had suddenly become a jumbled mess.

It seemed as if some things were coming together, but some other things were also being taken apart.

***

As Duan Xiyang flew out of the city, he was in a very good mood, and even the chilly wind of the night felt rather mellow and welcoming.

A faint smile appeared on his face as he recalled his conversation with Fang Che.

Meeting Night Demon under such coincidental circumstances was a certainly not something that he had ever anticipated, and he decided to tell Yan Nan about it as he pulled out his communication jade.

"Brother Yan, guess who I just ran into."

"Did you run into Xue Fuxiao again?"

Duan Xiyang's expression instantly darkened.

An encounter with Xue Fuxiao was hardly something to write home about!

"I ran into a young administrator of the Hall of Protectionists in the White Cloud Prefecture. His name is Fang Che, and he has a lot of potential."

"You ran into Fang Che? You didn't kill him, did you?"

"No. Right as I was about to kill him, he told me that he's Night Demon."

Yan Nan was very relieved.

"Good. I still have some important plans for him, so he needs to be kept alive. What do you think of him?"