Chapter 165 The Thumping Thunders of Winter (2/2)

Not long after, Zhao Xiaoyu asked, ”Don’t you think that this is too draggy and a waste of time? One without the strongest urge will not reach the top. Those at the foot of the mountain, and those halfway up the mountain, they are not any different. One has to reach the peak to finally understand that all sacrifices are worth it and meaningful”.

Her eyes were resolute; those eyes were as sharp as a blade ready to cut through everything including herself.

She had no other means to attain Daoism. Only reaching the peak would create meaning to everything, so she thought. She could not be influenced by anything, could not be shaken by anyone.

Even if she failed countlessly, even if she encountered other worldly temptations, she would still give it a kick and walk her own path.

Shen Lian smiled, ”I will not argue this point with you. I am also impressed with your resolve. Now I have said what I want to say. Let us drink, if you are still willing to continue with me”.

With their cultivation level, even if they drank a thousand cups instantly, they would not get drunk, yet they still drank slowly cup by cup.

Slowing heating up the wine, slowly drinking the wine, and feel the taste of wine tingling around their tongues.

As the sky broke dawn, they had just finished the last cup and final drip of the wine.

As Shen Lian finished up his last cup, he finally opened his mouth and spoke, ”Now can you say why you are here?” It had broken dawn, and Shen Lian was still Shen Lian and Zhao Xiaoyu still Zhao Xiaoyu. Things might stay unchanged, but they both had different viewpoints.

Zhao Xiaoyu said, ”I want to borrow your Instrument of Virtue. Of course, I will pay an equal price for that.” She obviously would not come without purpose. She had her own secret techniques to detect that Shen Lian had this item on him. Virtue was a very precious thing. Most people used it to feel the Dao of the heavens to elevate their realms of cultivation or master certain techniques. Very few people would pass it on to their own instruments as it would be too wasteful.

Shen Lian replied, ”You drank all night with me, so I gave you the opportunity to speak of your intentions, but do you know what I want to do now?”

Zhao Xiaoyu detected a huge amount of spiritual pressure being emitted from Shen Lian’s body, all charged towards her without any reservations. She did not panic, but she suddenly felt that Shen Lian was acting like certain something, like how the Dao scripture described, ‘flowing like water’, as water flew with no set form. Shen Lian did not have a set form of temperament as well, he could be a spring drizzle, or he could be stormy rain. That was who Shen Lian was.

Flow like water, as water is as close as ”Dao”. Shen Lian did not have his own path, yet his ”Dao” was like water, could either be hard or soft.

That was why Shen Lian was soft tempered, but very opinioned, and was capable of performing grand acts too. He could even come face to face with multiple trials.

Water does not cut through obstacles like knives and swords, but instead, it could pass through any pores and cracks. If it was facing a river dam, it would accumulate into a flood and charge forward, like the heavenly river, so unstoppable.

Zhao Xiaoyu replied deeply, ”Are you referring to what happened last time? For that, I can apologize to you and compensate you.”

Shen Lian’s vision fell on her flawless face. As the morning ray fell on Zhao Xiaoyu’s hairpin, her shoulder, and then her crystal clear earlobes, even a sculptor with the best skills would not create such perfect masterpiece.

Yet his eyes had not a hint of affection. He only replied, ”If I am not who you are facing today, will you still negotiate with me?”

Zhao Xiaoyu clenched her teeth, ”No”.

Shen Lian continued, ”So you said your intentions, but I will not negotiate. Let us fight it all out today”. His eyes were burning, which meant there was no room for negotiation. Zhao Xiaoyu never expected such scenario, because he thought that Shen Lian would have a slight bit of intelligence. With the current situation in Yue Tuo, there must have Daoist masters who were no worse than them. Both of their skills were not far apart, so logically, they should not fight even if they could not come up to speaking terms.

After all, at this step, due to their similarities in realms, skill levels, if they fought, it might be a matter of life and death. This was not even a fight-or-die battle, so Shen Lian was being pointless here.

Of course, Shen Lian would behave such a way, as if a flood had broken and storms had occurred, this was part of water’s temperaments too.

He did not have anger; he was only following the course of nature, on how things should be done.

Zhao Xiaoyu said, ”You are crazy, but I am not”.

She transformed into a white light and disappeared into the morning glow.

Shen Lian smiled calmly. A gush of little tornado spun around without disrupting any item in the wine inn, and left some money on the table for the wine and dishes.

The little tornado went out and chased after the white light. Brief moments later, a loud bang was heard from the skies, one after another.

It was like never ending shots of lightning, so frequent that it could cause a person to have the feeling of their head blown up and numb their scalp. This phenomenon of Winter Thunder and lightning seemed quite impossible.

The season of spring thunder had not come yet. Many curious came out to look, only to find nothing. They only saw an extra-long white strip whipped across the sky.