Chapter 51 A Remnant of Conscience

"Who on earth is this otherworldly celestial demon?"

Min Ning asked with a puzzled frown. "Could it be connected to the Grand Chancellor case?"

"If you're asking me, who am I supposed to ask?" Chen Yi spread his hands.

He wasn't lying to Min Ning; he honestly had no idea who this otherworldly celestial demon was.

According to the original plot of *Beyond the Heavens*, the Day of Subduing Bandits and Exorcising Demons was not supposed to arrive early, and there shouldn't have been any such entity as an otherworldly celestial demon.

In a place beyond his awareness, the prayer Taoist temple, and indeed the entire world, was undergoing subtle, minute changes. These changes had converged over time, creating a butterfly effect that ultimately resulted in this deviation.

As for the connection between the prayer Taoist temple and the Grand Chancellor case...

There was indeed a connection, but he couldn't tell Min Ning just yet. If she found out too early, she would likely be in mortal danger.

"Let's continue the investigation. We'll get results sooner or later," Chen Yi said.

Min Ning nodded slightly. After a moment of silence, she asked out of nowhere:

"That... concubine of yours. How do you plan to deal with her?"

Hearing this, Chen Yi turned to look at Min Ning. The question came completely out of left field.

"What's wrong? Why are you suddenly concerned about this?"

Min Ning turned her face away, casting a sideways glance at him.

"No matter what, you'll have to take a wife eventually. If you marry a perceptive noble lady, and she subtly inquires with your concubine, won't she find out your concubine's true identity? What will you do then?"

Listening to her words, Chen Yi replied bluntly:

"If I am to take a wife, I must know her inside and out. I don't care about her noble lineage, nor do I care about her background. As long as she is pretty enough and cares about me, that's enough."

That being said, Chen Yi actually already had someone in mind—Zhou Yitang.

Hearing this, Min Ning took a deep breath.

She didn't know what had come over her to ask such a sudden question. Perhaps it was the biting wind of late autumn that had abruptly made her think of the Princess of Xiangyang, whose name contained the character for "snow." Remembering that young woman—even though they had only crossed paths a few times—she could tell from the girl's almond-shaped eyes that the latter harbored deep resentment toward Chen Yi yet kept her gaze submissively lowered.

Then, she heard his teasing remark:

"Why are you suddenly asking about this? Could it be that the young hero Min has experienced a stirring of the heartstrings?"

"As if!"

Min Ning let out a cold snort, then continued:

"Your concubine is still a maiden, right?"

"Hm?"

"Why don't you let her go? That way, when you take a wife, you won't have to worry about her identity being exposed..."

Before she could finish, Chen Yi interrupted her:

"Let her go? Impossible. Bringing this up out of nowhere—are you jealous or something? Give me a reason to hear."

Min Ning didn't look at him, simply saying:

"Actually, your conscience isn't entirely dead. I've been able to tell these past few days."

Chen Yi felt an inexplicable tightness in his chest and was momentarily struck speechless.

Whether Min Ning viewed him as a villain or regarded him as a shameless scoundrel, he hadn't cared in the least. Yet for her to say his conscience wasn't dead truly felt rather unsettling.

"I feel rather uncomfortable."

"What's wrong?"

"You saying my conscience isn't dead makes me feel uncomfortable."

Min Ning opened her mouth, wanting to scold him, when suddenly, a faint sound drifted from outside the alley.

The alley was deep, neither particularly wide nor narrow. Their original intention had been to return to the Eastern Depot, but at that moment, the alley suddenly fell quiet. A strange, eerie silence spread, accompanied by the faint approach of an oppressive presence.

In the distance, a figure wearing a bamboo hat appeared. His hair was streaked with gray, and his clothes were tattered, covered in numerous patches. Around his waist was tied a ring-pommel saber, without a scabbard, simply wrapped entirely in cloth.

"Who's there?" Chen Yi asked directly.

"You Xu, fifth-generation true successor of the White Willow Sect."

The newcomer didn't beat around the bush and directly stated his name.

"Sent by the Prince of Jing's estate?"

Gazing at the ring-pommel saber, Chen Yi inquired.

"...Not quite."

You Xu tore away the cloth strips and slid out the ring-pommel saber. It was almost identical to Huang Liuqing's, yet his aura possessed a steady, restrained weight that the latter lacked.

"I once received the favor of a single meal from Yuxiu Manor. If I can kill you within the span of an incense stick, that will repay the debt. If I cannot, I will apologize to you and give you a manual of martial arts."

Hearing this, Chen Yi looked perplexedly at this uninvited You Xu.

Min Ning watched him with tension, just about to draw her blade from its scabbard, when Chen Yi raised a hand to stop her.

"I'll handle this. You'll only get in the way."

His tone was serious, and Min Ning immediately realized Chen Yi wasn't joking.

She stepped back several paces, leaving enough space.

Chen Yi drew a breath into his chest, the edge of his blade sliding out of its scabbard.

Although he didn't know You Xu's background, this was a perfect opportunity to test his current strength.

Chen Yi raised his saber forward and spat out a single word:

"Come."

You Xu lunged forward to attack.

The middle-aged martial artist flashed forward, slashing straight toward Chen Yi's face with a single stroke. Though he used only thirty percent of his strength when first raising the blade, the momentum of the downward chop was immense and heavy, unleashing a full hundred percent by the time it fell!

Chen Yi silently recited the *Supreme Clarity Heart Scripture*, and that fierce, rapid blade slowed by half a second in his eyes. In a life-or-death battle between experts, every fraction of a second was crucial and could alter one's judgment.

Chen Yi initially entertained the thought of raising his blade to parry, but half a second later, he instantly sidestepped to evade the ferocious chop. The ring-pommel saber sliced through empty air, yet its sharp edge carved a half-inch gash into the bluestone pavement.

With his side turned, launching a blade attack was awkward, so Chen Yi thrust out a fist instead.

His heavy punch surged forward, carrying a torrential wave of internal Qi. Even though You Xu retreated backwards in time, his chest was still struck by the blow. A faint cracking sound of bones could be heard as the latter stumbled back six or seven paces.

"Fine fist technique!" You Xu praised.

"Nice footwork," Chen Yi replied calmly.

That punch of his had been extremely fast, and the distance between them very close. Even so, this man in his fifties had still managed to retreat in time, diffusing the force of the strike. His footwork far surpassed that of Huang Liuqing, who belonged to the same White Willow Sect.

Speaking of which, since this man claimed to be from the White Willow Sect, could he be Huang Liuqing's master?

Amidst his thoughts, Chen Yi's brows narrowed sharply.

You Xu raised his saber once more, his boots stomping heavily against the ground as he charged straight ahead. First raising his saber as if to slash horizontally, the moment Chen Yi lifted his own blade to block left, You Xu abruptly jerked his saber upward, transforming the horizontal sweep into a vertical cleave, as though determined to split Chen Yi cleanly in two.

However, the instant of the feint and transition was caught by Chen Yi thanks to the *Supreme Clarity Heart Scripture*. He took a step back to evade the blow.

Failing to connect with the vertical cleave, You Xu dragged the blade downward, his form skimming forward like an eagle spreading its wings to deliver an upward slash from beneath.

A flash of cold light swept past.

Chen Yi raised his blade, using the back of his sword to glide along the trajectory of the strike and deflect its force. Then, holding the saber in one hand, he pinned down You Xu's exceptionally long ring-pommel blade, raised his elbow, and smashed it fiercely toward the other man's face.

The elbow is the hardest part of the human body, and combined with the *Cangshan Fist*, this strike broke through the air with an unstoppable momentum.

At the very last critical moment, You Xu jerked his head violently backward, shifting his chest upward to catch the elbow strike squarely against his collarbone. Blood seeped from the corner of his mouth, and his graying hair was thrown into disarray as the impact forced him back five or six paces.

"Hah... fists fear the young and vigorous. I almost got elbowed to death by you."

Wiping the blood from the corner of his mouth, You Xu continued:

"It seems only... half an incense stick has passed? Your reflexes are good, but... could you really have killed Feng Ying so easily with just this? That shouldn't be the case. You still have moves you haven't used."

"Indeed."

This alleyway battle, rather than a vicious duel, felt more like a sparring match between martial artists, a continuous exchange of countering and counter-attacking.

You Xu raised his saber and said with a hearty laugh:

"Come, come, come."

Following that, his figure flickered as he delivered a straightforward vertical cleave.

This chop contained no feints, no altered techniques, and no reserved thirty percent strength. It was purely and overwhelmingly heavy, stirring up a crosswind within the narrow alley!

Chen Yi no longer retreated as he had before. Instead, he stepped forward and slashed out abruptly.

*Wind-Destroying, Rain-Shattering.*

Min Ning watched as the two blades crossed each other like a flash of lightning. Half a breath later, the alley belatedly rang out with the sound of a blade-clash resembling the shattering of jade and the cry of a phoenix!

It was sharp and mournful, sounding as though a weapon had been snapped apart by sheer force!

*Clatter—*

Half of the ring-pommel saber spun through the air in endless revolutions before crashing heavily onto the ground, wobbling to a halt.

Chen Yi raised his blade, intending to deliver a finishing strike to You Xu.

The old man reacted even faster, ducking instantly before leaping backward with several agile bounds.

"You have no martial virtue!" You Xu cursed.

Then, lowering his gaze, he stared at the broken blade in his hand with a sense of lingering shock and disbelief.

Though he had suffered severe injuries in his youth that had nearly cut his martial path in half, his saber techniques were still formidable enough to carve out a prominent name in the martial world.

Having roamed the rivers and lakes for so long, he had always believed the White Willow saber technique ranked among the top three heaviest blade momentum in the entire martial world. Yet who could have imagined this young man would completely snap his ring-pommel saber in two with pure force!

Perhaps across the entire realm, those capable of matching this single strike could be counted on one hand. You Xu instantly recalled the saber technique created by the saber master "Broken Sword Guest" of the Chen family in the State of Jin. Legend had it that after ascending the martial rankings, he traveled far to the ancient Qin territory, and encountering the surging, violent floods of the Indefinite River, he severed the river with a single slash, splitting the turbid waters in two for thirty years without change!