"I'm glad you escaped. At Least you aren't insane enough to stay behind when you're weak."
Xun appeared near Long Chen, sitting beside him with their shoulders touching.
"You really think I would stay behind to die? I know how strong I am. When I have my Qi, I won't be scared of anyone. But without it, staying behind is just useless. Especially when I achieved my goal," Long Chen replied to Xun.
"You still think I shouldn't use the Sword?" he asked Xun.
"I already told you what I think. If you don't want to listen, then I can't do anything about that," Xun answered as she sighed.
"I'll tell you straight away. Honestly, I won't stop using this Sword. It's a great weapon and possibly the strongest I can ever possess. And I still think there are many mysteries that are to be unlocked about this sword. I want to keep using it," Long Chen answered.
"What mysteries?' Xun asked.
"The rust on the sword. The more I use it, the more it decreases. And the more this rust decreases, the more I feel connected to this Sword. I think it gets stronger as well. I want to see this sword and how strong it can be when there is no rust in it," Long Chen answered as he gazed into the distance.
"The question is, can you handle the sword at its full capacity when you're already having a hard time with your emotions because of its influence when it's not even awakened a fraction?" Xun asked Long Chen in return.
"Hard times with emotions? I still don't understand what you're talking about? I'm perfectly fine," Long Chen replied, seemingly confused.
"Now that you are tired, how about you listen to me? Close your eyes and think carefully about the things and the actions you took after coming here. I won't say a thing. I'm sure you will understand on your own," Xun said to Long Chen before she disappeared.
"Think about what I did?' Long Chen wondered as if he was talking to himself.
He ate a few more apples before he decided to do what Xun said. Since she seemed so certain, it was worth a try. It wasn't as if he was going to lose anything by remembering what he did and how he handled the situation
He closed his eyes as he started thinking.
He remembered the moment he killed Pei Zen to help Mingyu. He had been very clever in doing it with his schemes despite having the ability to kill him openly in a battle. After that, he joined the First Stage of Trial, impersonating that guy.
He got the third rank in that and was allowed to come to this world. Then he fought with Qian Yu.
Even though he had the ability to defeat Qian Yu by using his pure brutal strength, he again used his schemes and his law to defeat her within a moment.
"Strange. Why did I use schemes when I could defeat them with my pure strength?* he muttered, confused.
Not only then, but since the start. He had been dealing with everything through schemes, or at least all the things he could. He fought cleverly, not brutally. This was the same when he was in Dark Soul Sect or when he was in Ghost Temple. It was the same in the Trials of the Bloodline Temple as well.
"Because that was safer? Because I didn't want to attract too much attention? Because I was lazy and wanted the easier route? Strange. But I just say, those plans weren't bad. They gave me success anyway, even though they took a bit more time. The effort and risk were much less," he muttered softly.
He thought about the future and how he met Mingyu's father. Along the way, he used the Sword of Time for practice, and he started feeling like he had the strength. He started wondering why he was even hiding? He didn't need to.
But that was only a feeling. He knew that on the inside, he wanted to let loose. His heart wanted him to go all out in battles, but his brain was keeping him in control. But in this long journey, his heart had somehow started overwhelming his brain.
The way he handled the scheme of Lu Wang, or the way he dealt with the aftermath, he realized what he had done.
As he thought with peace of mind, he knew that he could have solved the problems much easier without making things so complicated. Xun was right. He had basically stopped thinking with his brain and started thinking with his heart because of his impulse.
"This made sense now. So this was what Xun was talking about. She meant that I'm becoming impulsive," Long Chen muttered, frowning.
"But I like this impulse. Too much caution is bad too. But too much impulse is bad as well. I need to find a perfect balance between the two for the future. But first, I need to learn to keep my impulse in control," he said.
Hearing his words, Xun was happy. She knew that he was on the right path. He was realizing his new shortcomings while also understanding his old shortcomings. Only by getting a perfect balance can he remove both shortcomings.
She knew that it was an extremely hard process, but now that he knew, he could walk on this long and tedious path of rediscovering himself. Finding out what he actually was and what the best way to approach things was.
As Long Chen kept thinking about the things that had happened, he remembered learning the Law of Destiny. He also thought about how he had gone to kill Mingyu's brother with basically no explanation but by straight-up telling that he was going to kill Mingyu.
"Sigh, I should have given more answers. More explanation would have been better. I am an idiot. If someone else was at her place, she might have misunderstood as well."
A deep sigh escaped his lips as he remembered Mingyu's words. How she accused him and told him never to return.
"But still, it hurts to know that she didn't trust me," he muttered as he thought about all the moments he had spent with Mingyu.
"Her words, that sounded nothing like what she would have said. She told me to leav-"
As he was talking, he suddenly realized something as his eyes opened wide. He stood up, shocked.
"That's right! How could I not understand it! So this was what she was trying to do! That duffer! To save her brother and me, she lied!" He exclaimed as he facepalmed himself, disappointed.