Chapter 1043: Chapter 592: Zhou Yitang’s Heart Ailment (2-in-1)_2

When the one-armed woman heard his words, she jerked her head up, her eyes clouded and unreadable. In the underground palace, she had broken the Ruoque Sword herself for her unwavering obsession. In one’s lifetime, there are moments of cutting off all retreats, even if the price is heavy, and almost no chance of recovery. Yet she never regretted it.

However, cutting off is just cutting off, not obliteration; obsession never obliterates.

Her eyes slightly narrowed as she retorted, "Aren’t you afraid that I’ll cut your Three Corpses?"

"Afraid, of course I’m afraid. But could it be that..." Chen Yi responded with a gaze, asking back, "Did you not leave the Ruoque Sword behind?"

Zhou Yitang remained silent in response.

They were always alike; just a change in perspective could guess many motives of each other’s actions. Chen Yi realized her tacit approval, then recalling her various actions in recent days, he was somewhat surprised, "Are you... reforging the Ruoque Sword?"

The one-armed woman didn’t deny it and nodded.

Chen Yi clapped his hands and laughed, "That’s just right, we have a sure win."

Zhou Yitang shook her head.

Facing him full of surprise, the one-armed woman hesitated for a moment, slowly speaking, "I no longer have that mindset."

After speaking, she laughed at herself, her expression quickly returning to calm. From the fleeting glimpse earlier, Chen Yi saw much bitterness reflected.

She rarely smiled like this in front of Chen Yi, and it was often only at times like this that he could witness her vulnerable side.

Chen Yi hesitated for a long time, then marveling, "You... have heart disease?"

Zhou Yitang didn’t deny it and nodded.

Mental state is extremely important to a Martial Artist. The more one climbs to the peak of Martial Arts, it becomes more so. Martial Intent extends from the heart and harmonizes with the Heaven and Earth Dao. If a person loses, it doesn’t matter, but if the heart loses, the realm might fall drastically. At that time in the underground palace, Zhou Yitang chose to cut off her way and step back, meaning her heart lost.

If the heart loses, it leaves behind heart disease. That’s why many who originally stood undefeated at the peak of Martial Arts, once defeated, end up never recovering.

At this moment, Chen Yi understood that even if the Ruoque Sword returned to her hand, at most, it would only be peak of Second Grade. Returning to First Grade seemed a thin line but was indeed like a chasm.

As Chen Yi was deep in thought, Zhou Yitang glanced sideways at Donggong Ruoshu, saying, "Don’t stay here." 𝗳𝐫𝚎𝗲𝚠𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝘃𝚎𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝗺

Donggong Ruoshu didn’t understand but seeing that they were indeed beyond her involvement, tried to listen but ended up with a headache, so she floated back away.

When Chen Yi regained his senses, the moonlight floated over the stone mountain, coldly illuminating the one-armed woman. Through her empty left sleeve, a hazy light shone, and Miss Donggong’s figure was nowhere to be found. The night was quiet, leaving only the two of them.

"Have you ever thought about today?" Zhou Yitang suddenly asked.

"...What..." Chen Yi paused, "Are you trying to say that because I didn’t want my Three Corpses cut, there is today?"

"Not entirely."

"Heh, is it wrong that I don’t want you to cut my Three Corpses? You have hidden meanings in your words, Zhou Yitang." Chen Yi chuckled and said, "Let me guess, are you trying to say... had we known it’d come to this, why wait until now?"

"Mm."

Zhou Yitang nodded slightly.

Her words often led to ambiguity; ordinary people listened without understanding, but he always knew she was reminiscing, reflecting on their entangled past with many "had we known it’d come to this, why wait until now."

She had always been someone living in the past.

It’s not about right or wrong, just wondering sometimes, had different choices been made back then, what would the outcome be?

Zhou Yitang’s eyes lowered slightly for a moment. When lifted, she suddenly found him staring straight at her, his gaze calm. He looked deeply, not using the past’s beauty to cover scars, rather smiling as if no longer resentful.

Why is he smiling?

"Let me help you find that mindset from before," he said casually.

The one-armed woman was slightly stunned, coldly replying, "You always make it sound easy."

"Should we make things too heavy?"

Zhou Yitang remained indifferent,

seeming to want to leave the past behind, no longer resentful, letting bygones be bygones, yet still reluctant.

"You can never let go of anything; your heart disease lies right here."

Chen Yi clapped his hands and stood up, his tone relaxed, saying:

"I have devised a method; since you no longer have that mindset, heart disease needs heart medicine. Why not let me enter your Heart Lake? As for how to enter, I’m sure... you have a way."

Once, Zhou Yitang had brought him into her Heart Lake, back then she had hastily pushed him to the Golden Core Realm.

Faced with Chen Yi’s proposal, she didn’t immediately agree.

The one-armed woman lowered her head and remained silent for a long time, uttering a word,

"Okay."

.......

Zhou Yitang is quite a dull woman.

On a familiar path, Chen Yi ascended the mountain, fir forests stood tall on both sides, Cangwu Peak’s autumn leaves hadn’t yet fallen, and gloomy clouds pressed down heavily.

After reaching the Third Rank in Martial Intent, a person’s mental state undergoes qualitative change. Initially, the indistinct scenery within the Heart Lake becomes tangible.

This is Zhou Yitang’s Heart Lake. Compared to Chen Yi’s current realm, which has become its own world, hers seemed much more expansive. Looking far, it appeared endless, yet upon closer inspection, aside from Cangwu Peak, the scenery consisted only of austere and cold lines.

Chen Yi looked around with interest, the one-armed woman accompanied him, not shy about him delving into the Heart Lake as most women might.

Walking past mountain paths, around a cliff topped with meditation cushions, suddenly, a vast lake appeared, its waters shimmering like a mirror reflecting the sky.

Green lotus grew in the lake.

Chen Yi took it all in, somewhat nostalgic, "I once came here in a past life. Then, your mind was unsettled, and the lake waves surged like the tides of the Qiantang River, and then I..."

Sensing the one-armed woman’s unfriendly gaze, Chen Yi fell silent.

Does the rest need saying? No more than capturing her spirit, then proceeding with yin-yang unity on the heart lake...

Reflecting now, perhaps it went too far.

Chen Yi ceased his thoughts, took a deep breath, "Where is the root of your heart disease?"

Zhou Yitang gently waved her hand, and the scene suddenly melted like oil paint.

Upon closer look, Chen Yi was stunned awake, the lake water dried, revealing a cracked and menacing lakebed. That green lotus also withered, its roots brittle under touch, the entire Cangwu Peak fallen desolate, withered vines clinging tightly to the cliffs.

It’s a complete contrast of scenes; one of decline, one of prosperity.

Zhou Yitang watched this declining scene with him, without joy or sorrow, "Two lifetimes, two mental states, alternating back and forth, round and repeating. You don’t remember everything from the past life, so you can’t understand."

Speaking, the scene alternated again between prosperity and decline, constantly changing, with different images alternating before Chen Yi’s eyes.

Chen Yi chuckled helplessly; he had long thought that Zhou Yitang’s heart disease didn’t stem from this life, but from the past.

"You can never let go, I’ve always known..."

Chen Yi paused, took in the declining scene, then said:

"Years ago, you relied on your own Sword Dao, thinking after my death, your troubled mental state would be completely peaceful, no one would disturb your Living Sword. After I truly died due to Heavenly Repair, you sat alone at Cangwu Peak. It was peaceful, yes, but the water dried, the heart was desolate.

Even the green lotus in the lake died..."

"Shut up," the one-armed woman coldly replied, but after a while, she added, "...not entirely wrong."

Chen Yi surveyed this scene, intending to say more,

but heard her mutter, "If you remembered everything from the past life, you would understand."

"But I don’t remember everything, fortunately not everything; otherwise, being so similar to you, I’d obsess over it for a lifetime, leaving behind a Heart Demon," Chen Yi’s tone was utterly shameless.

Yes, he didn’t remember, too much he didn’t remember...

The one-armed woman’s heart stirred upon this, Chen Yi saw the prosperous scene stabilize, the heart lake’s waves shimmering increasingly beautifully.

"But you happened not to forget," she uttered word by word.

The scene reverted to decline and remained fixed for a long while.

Through these sequences of changes, Chen Yi grasped the crux of the matter. Zhou Yitang’s heart disease’s crux doesn’t lie in the broken sword, but in her obsession with the past.

So then... it must be to break these obsessions.

Chen Yi hesitated no longer, grasping his sword,

"Zhou Yitang, I challenge you to a duel here, a duel with your obsessions."