"See, I was right!" Liu Yuhuan smiled confidently at Nan Liangyu, Zhuo Tingqin, and the others.
At the same time on the battlefield, the expression on Yin Jiaxiong’s face gradually turned from bewilderment to solemnity.
Then in a hoarse voice, he asked, "What is this sword technique?"
"Wind-Slaying."
"Wind-Slaying...," Yin Jiaxiong muttered, and then a look of anguish appeared on his face.
"No wonder, my sword is called Wind Listening, but yours is Wind-Slaying. It’s no surprise that I lost."
As he spoke, the arrogant expression on Yin Jiaxiong’s face quickly dimmed, with no trace of his previous haughtiness.
But he had nothing to say.
Because in the battle just now, Zhao Ya hadn’t used any trickery; he defeated him entirely with superior sword technique.
"I lost. Do what you will, but defying your Azure Dragon Order was my decision, it has nothing to do with the others on Wuliang Mountain, so I hope you won’t make things difficult for them," Yin Jiaxiong said slowly, then loosened his grip.
With a clang, the Wind Listening Sword fell to the ground and broke into several pieces.
"Mountain Master!"
"Mountain Master!"
The people of Wuliang Mountain cried out in grief.
Yin Jiaxiong, however, looked at the broken sword on the ground in a daze, then chuckled self-deprecatingly.
"I thought I just made one wrong move, but now I realize I was wrong."
"If I’m not mistaken, you could have defeated me earlier, but to avoid damaging your own sword, you kept dodging my attacks, right?"
Zhao Ya nodded, "Yes!"
"Hehe, I always prided myself on being a prodigy in the Sword Dao, but now I see what it means to be surpassed by others," Yin Jiaxiong’s face showed a sense of relief.
"Go ahead, to die at the hands of such an exceptional swordsman like you would be the best fate for me."
But Zhao Ya did not make a move; instead, he suddenly sheathed his sword.
Yin Jiaxiong, who was resigned to his fate, was taken aback, "Huh, what do you mean by this?"
"It means nothing, I just suddenly don’t want to kill you."
"Do you think I would be grateful to you for this?" Yin Jiaxiong said, not with any joy, but with anger.
For someone like him, who was obsessed with the sword, the sword was his life.
So now that the sword was broken, the only path for himself was death.
But Zhao Ya didn’t kill him, which seemed like a blatant humiliation.
"You can resent me or be grateful, but I don’t want to kill you, because with your swordsmanship, even if you should die, it should be on the battlefield against external enemies."
With that, Zhao Ya turned around and said calmly, "Consider this: if you think my not killing you is an insult, then you can commit suicide on the spot."
"So, will you commit suicide for the sake of your so-called swordsman’s honor, or will you go onto the battlefield and engage in a glorious fight?"
"You measure it yourself!"
After saying this, Zhao Ya strode away, leaving Yin Jiaxiong standing dumbfounded.
This sudden turn of events surprised everyone present.
The members of Wuliang Mountain surged forward.
"Mountain Master, are you okay?"
"Mountain Master, are you fine?"
Yin Jiaxiong was unmoved by them, just staring blankly at Zhao Ya’s retreating figure.
Meanwhile, Zhao Ya returned to his camp.
He Nandou gave him a thumbs up, though it was unclear whether it was for defeating Yin Jiaxiong or for his final words.
Zhao Ya did not linger; upon returning to the camp, he simply waved his hand.
"Continue forward."
The team immediately started moving, and just as they were about to set out, Yin Jiaxiong suddenly shouted from a distance.
"People of Wuliang Mountain, listen to the order!"
"Here!"
"March forth with me!"