Book 3, Chapter 232: Broken Jade

On the twenty-fifth, a day before Chen Chuan was set to return to Central City, the Skyhigh Cult caved to the pressure from Ferris Wheel and handed over the only Skyhigh Jade that contained jade cores they had left in their possession. Then, Ferris Wheel passed it to Jiancheng Sheng.

“The Skyhigh Jade...”

Jiancheng Sheng stared at the jade. It had a pure white base and was the size of a pigeon egg. At that moment, it shone with a blue halo. He felt as if he was looking at a clear blue sky in the distance.

When he said that he needed something that couldn’t be cut, he was only listening to the demands of his heart. He didn’t know what Ferris Wheel would give him.

The moment he saw the jade, he knew that this was precisely what he needed.

It was all due to the core meaning of the saber technique Fenghe Shou had taught him.

“Only your mind knows what your heart truly wants. Not even I would know.”

When he swung his saber, he didn’t need to deliberately look for a place to cut or observe his enemy. He was simply able to find what he wanted—his enemy’s weakness.

He wasn’t just cutting wherever he wanted and trying his luck, though. He had gone through long and gruelling training and meditation night after night while taking unique medicine to nourish his mutated tissue. Then, through multiple fights to the death, his mind synchronized with his mutated tissue.

But he was only able to synchronize with his mutated tissue when he was facing the threat of death. He could not get into that state whenever he wanted, not until he advanced further and could make his mutated tissue move precisely how his mind wanted. Once he satisfied all external conditions, he could begin trying to reach the next limit.

Jiancheng Sheng touched the Skyhigh Jade. It was hard and cold to the touch.

He had heard that when Chan Dao, the first master of Fierce Wave School, went to Two Coins Isle, he claimed that he could cut everything in the world, so the Skyhigh Cult brought this jade to make him recognize his limits. Chan Dao was giving a lecture about his martial arts when they delivered the gift, so he drew his saber and cut it apart. Because of it, the Gong family gave him the island, and he set up Fierce Wave School there.

Now, Jiancheng Sheng was facing the same jade.

Didn’t this have symbolic meaning?

He stared at the jade for a while before drawing his saber. When the blade was a finger away from the jade, it stopped.

Just like when he was facing the shadow, before his blade could even touch the target, he knew that he wouldn’t be able to cut through it. His heart told him the results.

If he couldn’t move past the obstacle in his mind, his saber wouldn’t be able to cut it.

Jiancheng Sheng didn’t give up. He took a few steps back and sat down in the training room to meditate.

***

In the meantime, Ferris Wheel received frequent updates from the outside world.

“Based on the analysis of the information we sent back, the two targets we need to kill might be coming back to Central City together.”

All the people participating in the planning frowned when they heard this.

While it may seem like it would make things easier if two of their targets were going to travel together, they didn’t want that.

This was because the two targets weren’t easy pickings. If they traveled together, they were going to make things much more complicated. The government may decide to step in too, which would add far too many variables into the mix.

“When are they leaving?” the chairperson asked.

“It’s highly likely that they’re leaving tomorrow or the day after tomorrow. It won’t be any later than that,” the messenger replied.

The chairperson then asked the manager, “How’s Jiancheng Sheng’s preparations going?”

“He just received the Skyhigh Jade and is alone in the training room. I think he’s getting ready for something,” the manager replied.

An analyst turned to the chairperson and reminded him, “Sir, we only have a day or two left. If he can’t make it by then, we’ll have to change our plans. Should we—”

“We’re going to wait. We need a sharp weapon, not a blunt blade that we’re pushing to the front lines. That’d be useless and make all of our prior preparations go down the drain,” the chairperson said as he stared at the people in the meeting room.

***

A day soon passed, but there was no news from the training room.

New information was delivered to the meeting room.

“Sir, according to the telegram, the two targets have left the peripheral city half an hour ago and are headed for Central City.”

An analyst took the report, read it, and handed it to the chairperson. “It’s going to take them around six hours to reach Central City. If we head out now, we’re going to need at least four hours to get on shore and intercept them, and that’s if I skip all the set up we

need

to do before the ambush starts.

“We only have around two hours left. If we miss it, they’ll enter Central City. Mr. Jiancheng hasn’t given us any updates about his progress since yesterday. Should we go and see?”

The people in the meeting turned to the chairperson and waited for his decision.

He raised his hand and met everyone’s gaze squarely as he said firmly, “We wait.”

***

Back in the training room, after every meditation session, Jiancheng Sheng would stand up and try to cut the Skyhigh Jade, but every time, his blade would stop.

But he did not grow irritable from it. He would just sit down again to meditate and prepare for his next attempt.

The failed tries weren’t pointless. He was using the jade to polish his mind and synchronize with his mutated tissue. Hence, every time he swung his saber, his condition improved.

But while the first few attempts went pretty well, Jiancheng Sheng found something lacking in his subsequent attempts. Not only was he unable to continue improving, but he was even showing signs of going back to his original state.

No progression meant regression.

If he failed this time, doubt would take root in his heart, and he might never be able to reach the stage he wanted.

With that thought in mind, he positioned the saber horizontally, with the hilt between his thumb and index finger. Then, he slowly brought it up. After staring at it for a while, he spat a mouthful of blood essence on the blade.

It slowly absorbed it, and after around ten breaths, the blade became as smooth and shiny as new. It also began throbbing.

Jiancheng Sheng exhaled long and hard. He didn’t wipe away the blood on his mouth. Instead, he stood up swiftly, tightened his grip over the hilt, and slashed horizontally.

This time, his saber traveled forward smoothly, creating a beautiful arc in the air. When it was over, he stayed in the same stance for a while. After a moment, the top half of the jade slid off and fell on the table with a clatter.

Upon hearing this, Jiancheng Sheng relaxed, and a wave of exhaustion washed over his mind, but his eyes were bright. He had grasped the essence of this attack.

He wouldn’t be able to cut the physical form of the toughest thing in the world, but the Skyhigh Jade had a “mind.” Hence, he didn’t need to cut the Skyhigh Jade’s physical form. Instead, what he needed to cut was its “mind.”

Once he managed to cut its “mind,” it couldn't retain its physical form.

That was what Chan Dao meant by “cutting will, not the form.”

Jiancheng Sheng didn’t believe that he had reached Chan Dao’s level yet, because he had to gather a lot of power before he could deliver such a slash. He would only be able to make all his cuts capable of cutting the “mind” when he could make his mutated tissue move how he wanted.

Just then, he noticed something flashing on the cut surface of the jade.

It wasn’t a trick of the light. After the jade was cut apart, something had come out from within it.

Jiancheng Sheng straightened his back and walked to the table. As he drew closer, his drained mind started recovering, as if something was nourishing him.

This was the work of the Skyhigh Jade’s core, which was where its “mind” was. Once it shattered, the Skyhigh Jade collapsed.

The jade core could help the mind transcend and replenish and stabilize it.

After taking a moment to relish in this experience, Jiancheng Sheng took the bits of shattered jade core and flipped his saber over. Then, he removed the peg at the end of the hilt and put the shattered jade core bits inside. Once done, he put the peg back in place.

With a swing, he got used to the slight change in the saber’s weight.

It was time for the next step. He turned around. Once again, the shadow resembling Chen Chuan appeared.

He stared at him for a while before lunging forward with a shout. His saber came swiftly out of its sheath as he charged past the shadow. Finally, he stopped.

A few moments later, the shadow behind him swayed for a bit before disappearing.

Jiancheng Sheng flung his saber once, pulled it back, flipped the blade inward, and put it back into its sheath.

He had reached his best state, and the jade core bits in his saber would let him stay in it for a while.

He went to the door and opened it.

It was raining outside. Waves rose and fell in the distance under the dark sky, as if foreshadowing a storm.

A few people were waiting at the door. Among them was the manager. When he saw Jiancheng Sheng, he hurried over to him and bowed. “Mr. Jiancheng, you’re finally out. We don’t have much time left.”

“How much time do we have?” Jiancheng Sheng asked.

“Five hours, at most. We only have five hours left,” the manager answered gravely.

Jiancheng Sheng bowed to him. “Sorry for the wait. I’m ready.”

The manager was delighted and immediately contacted the chairperson with his Realm Pass. Then, with a stern face, he said, “We’re pressed for time, Mr. Jiancheng. If it’s okay with you, we’re leaving now.”

***

Almost at the same time, Chen Chuan drove out of Yangzhi City. Dawncall was flying in the sky while following the car.

When they passed the final checkpoint, Chen Chuan stopped and checked his watch.

In less than ten minutes, he heard a chirp from the sky, and a moment later, his rearview mirror showed a motorcade headed his way.