As the saying goes, no grief is greater than a heart that has died.
Chu Xinghan suddenly felt that in the Purple Sun Sect, within the Water Moon lineage, he had become nothing more than a dispensable chess piece. And the one treating him as a chess piece was none other than the master he had always revered.
The path of martial cultivation was all about defying fate and changing one's destiny. No one was born to be someone else's chess piece—even if the one moving the pieces was his own master, that was simply not acceptable.
Seeing Chu Xinghan's hesitant silence, Master Water Moon furrowed his brow. "Xinghan, your martial heart has been unstable lately, and your mind wanders aimlessly. Have you forgotten the kindness your master has shown you in raising and nurturing you?"
"Junior Brother Xinghan, in this battle, you only need to stall Jiang Chen, or at the very least force him to reveal his true strength. That alone would be a worthy contribution. Asking you to kill that beast is asking too much of you. Back at Erdu Pass, you couldn't do it, and now, I'm afraid it would be even harder."
Back during the battle at Erdu Pass, when Long Juxue had been on the verge of death at Jiang Chen's hands, it was Chu Xinghan who appeared at the critical moment and saved her life.
But when Long Juxue had demanded that Chu Xinghan kill Jiang Chen, Chu Xinghan had not complied. Instead, he had taken matters into his own hands and attempted to capture Jiang Chen alive.
As a result, the golden opportunity to kill Jiang Chen was squandered, and in the end, Jiang Chen was rescued by others.
Long Juxue had harbored a grudge over this ever since. What she remembered was that Chu Xinghan had failed to follow her wishes and kill Jiang Chen at the first opportunity. She had completely forgotten that it was Chu Xinghan who had saved her life in the first place.
She had held onto that resentment, laying the blame squarely on Chu Xinghan. And now, she was using this very moment to vent her displeasure—addressing him no less as "Junior Brother Xinghan"!
One must understand, Chu Xinghan was a full seven or eight years older than Long Juxue.
Moreover, he had entered Master Water Moon's tutelage more than twenty years before she had. Yet now, in Long Juxue's mouth, he had been reduced to "Junior Brother Xinghan"!
The second disciple under Master Water Moon, a top-ten genius of the Purple Sun Sect—and at this very moment, he had become a chess piece. Worse still, a sacrificial one!
All of this because of this woman? Because of this woman who was cold-hearted by nature?
Chu Xinghan's deep, profound eyes turned icy in an instant. He stared coldly at Long Juxue, uttering not a word.
That single phrase—"Junior Brother Xinghan"—completely extinguished the last ember of hope in Chu Xinghan's heart.
Because when Long Juxue had uttered that hurtful form of address, Master Water Moon's expression had remained blank, as though all of this was perfectly natural and expected.
Chu Xinghan stood as if turned to stone, like a soulless husk, frozen in place.
"Take your time to think it over. Don't disappoint your master's expectations." Seeing Chu Xinghan's reaction, Master Water Moon frowned as well, leaving those cold words behind before turning and walking away.
Long Juxue let out a cold laugh, her brazen gaze sweeping dismissively over Chu Xinghan—the contempt in her eyes as if she were glancing at nothing more than a pile of refuse.
Chu Xinghan's dignity was utterly annihilated before the callous words and actions of both his master and Long Juxue.
In that moment, he could almost hear the sound of his own heart bleeding.
Under the moonlight, Chu Xinghan stood there in a daze. His once-resilient martial heart had sunk into a quagmire, wracked with struggle.
"Master's kindness is deep and heavy, and he asks me, Chu Xinghan, to repay it with my life. If it were truly for the master's own sake, I, Chu Xinghan, would stake my life without hesitation. But to throw myself at Jiang Chen like a chess piece for the sake of Long Juxue—that heartless, treacherous woman—that is simply not fair!"
It was true that Chu Xinghan's martial talent did not rival Long Juxue's, but that did not mean his heart for pursuing the supreme path of martial cultivation was any less fervent.
Even ants cling to life, to say nothing of Chu Xinghan, who was a man of flesh and blood.
He did not fear death, but he truly did not wish to die in such a pointless manner—to die without any value, to die for someone he despised. Chu Xinghan would not do it!
"Fine. A master's orders are hard to defy. Everything I, Chu Xinghan, have today is owed to my master. Consider how Hai Tian and He Yan, those two junior brothers, gave their lives for the sake of master's momentary whim. Am I, Chu Xinghan, a man of iron backbone, going to become someone who repays kindness with ingratitude? The master gave me what I have today—I will repay him with my life."
Chu Xinghan let out a soft sigh. "But Jiang Chen and I have no enmity between us. If I detonate my Spirit Sea and perish together with him, what would it be for? For that heartless wretch Long Juxue?"
Chu Xinghan was a man of iron conviction with his own sense of right and wrong. Though he had only met Jiang Chen once, and under hostile circumstances at that—
Yet from the depths of his heart, Chu Xinghan admired someone like Jiang Chen. He admired Jiang Chen's clarity in love and hatred, his willingness to exact revenge and repay kindness with swift resolve.
As for Long Juxue, the impression she had left on Chu Xinghan could be summed up—beyond her selfishness, cunning, and arrogant behavior in triumph—with just six words: the wretch is nothing but pretentious.
To risk his life for someone he despised—and not just anyone, but to risk it against someone he genuinely admired.
"Long Juxue, what gives you the right? Just because you possess an Innate Constitution, the entire sect must revolve around you? Am I, Chu Xinghan—a man of worth and vitality—to throw my life away for you? I can die, but at most I would surrender my life to my master. I will absolutely not do something that harms others without benefiting myself!"
In that moment, Chu Xinghan had made his choice.
He would go into battle with the resolve to face death. He hoped to die with honor, to fall at Jiang Chen's hands—but never by using something as foolish as detonating his Spirit Sea. That was something that harmed others without benefiting himself!
……
The next opponent—Chu Xinghan?
Jiang Chen studied the bracket and discovered who his next opponent would be.
Chu Xinghan—Jiang Chen was no stranger to him. The image of that tall, slender martial cultivator in plain hemp robes, with eyes like stars that held a faint trace of sorrow, surfaced in Jiang Chen's mind.
If Jiang Chen had even a shred of goodwill toward anyone in the Purple Sun Sect, it was this Chu Xinghan.
From the very beginning, this man had never displayed that domineering, haughty attitude, nor had he ever looked down on the secular world as though they were mere ants simply because he was a sect disciple.