Ever since Wu Yu came to Shushan, he had surmounted numerous difficulties and bested countless geniuses. However, the geniuses that he had defeated thus far were all trash compared to Beishan Mo.
Therefore, only the oppressive might of Beishan Mo was able to cause Wu Yu to experience such discomfort. This world was full of restrictions, and Beishan Mo was a manifestation of these rules. In the face of such rules, Wu Yu refused to comply by backing down. With that rebellious fighting spirit of his, he chose to defy these rules instead.
Today, the oppressiveness of his opponent's presence and his talented demeanor that was above all else left a deep impression on Wu Yu. At such a mortal turning point, both fighters cut a sorry figure, but Beishan Mo was slightly more relaxed. He was the chosen disciple of the Shushan Immortal Sect after all. All of Shushan revolved around him.
This stifling feeling was clearer than day in Wu Yu's mind. Before the end of the eternity it would take for him to eventually surpass Beishan Mo, he would perhaps find it difficult to forget the oppression that this "chosen disciple of the Shushan Immortal Sect" had shown him today.
The might of heaven was before Wu Yu's eyes.
In this moment, both Wu Yu's internal and external selves resembled that of a violent ape. The feeling of being looked down upon combined with his inner rage to give rise to the Unparalleled Monkey King of his Inner Ape. Within him was an intense anger and intent to wipe everything out. If Beishan Mo was the heavens, then he would defy the heavens themselves to proceed. He had an inextinguishable will to fight…
Perhaps the anger he was experiencing right now would still be etched in his heart a few years later.
However, the confrontation quickly ended before Beishan Mo could make his move.
While he was involved in this confrontation, Wu Yu had actually forgotten something important. The moment he left the Unrivaled Sea of Swords, he had kept in touch with Nangong Wei using the core-tail talisman. He had informed her that he would immediately return to the Heaven's Equal Cave Abode, so Nangong Wei had naturally rushed over here as well.
She had arrived not long after Wu Yu. The confrontation between the two greeted her the moment she arrived. She was startled by this and quickly rushed between the two fighters. It was obvious that it had been Beishan Mo pressuring Wu Yu, so she had an angry expression as she sternly looked at Beishan Mo and said, "Little Mo, how can you be so reckless? Stop it at once!"
Seeing Nangong Wei, Beishan Mo held back reluctantly. He regretted not acting quicker. Upon noticing Nangong Wei's displeasure, he replied, "Big Sister, my actions today are motivated by the fact that Wu Yu is not a compatible match for you. You shouldn't allow trash like him to delay your progress. For instance, there could be a situation where you could be making leaps and bounds in the Immortal Domain, yet you may end up training in the barren wasteland of the Xuan Sword Domain in order to accompany Wu Yu. In the long term, this will surely hold you back. You're as good as my next of kin. I can't let him harm you like this!"
After hearing him out, Nangong Wei became less angry in light of the fact that Beishan Mo had been doing this for her sake. She replied, "Little Mo, this is my own matter. You shouldn't have interfered, much less bully him. This is the first time this has happened, so I'll let you off because I didn't make things clear. If there's a next time, I'm afraid I won't forgive you."
Nangong Wei's sword lanyard billowed in mid-air like a blazing flame. On the other hand, Beishan Mo had a gloomy expression on his face. He seemed quite unsatisfied.
"You should leave." Nangong Wei waved him off.
"I'm afraid you'll regret this. I've been protecting you since we were young and my existence was solely for you. You'll eventually come to understand who's more important to you." Beishan Mo did not stay a second longer. He immediately turned to take his leave after finishing what he had to say, disappearing from the crowd's view in no time at all. Judging from his social status, he definitely returned to the Shushan immortal domain.
"Wu Yu." With a complicated gaze, Shen Xingyu looked at Wu Yu and Nangong Wei. She exasperatedly said, "Your matters are now beyond my control. Your future lies in your own hands. I am powerless to help you..." In the face of Beishan Mo, she was truly helpless.
"Big Sister Shen, I'll bear the consequences of any decision I make. I'll walk my own path from now on. You have been of great help to me. I, Wu Yu, promise that I will repay these favors in the future." The incident with Beishan Mo had come to an end, so Wu Yu wanted to put her mind at ease. In his heart, he clearly knew who was good to him.
Shen Xingyu was still shaken from the event, so she took her leave. Wu Yu passed through the crowd and entered the Heaven's Equal Cave Abode with Nangong Wei right beside him. Only after the entrance to the Heaven's Equal Cave Abode closed did the absentminded crowd come to their senses.
"It seems like Nangong Wei still cares more for Wu Yu," an Earth sword rank disciple remarked.
"I wonder what sort of demon technique that young brat, Wu Yu, used to cause Nangong Wei to push aside her true childhood friend, Beishan Mo. How is she so infatuated with him?"
"Apparently Wu Yu had accompanied her for a few years back when they were in their teens. Falling for Wu Yu then is quite expected since she was young after all. In a few years, she'll probably know better."
"Everyone relax, this is not that exciting a matter after all. Think about it, if you all were the Mizar Sword Immortal, who would you hand your daughter over to?
"Wu Yu is alive today only because the Seven Immortals are afraid that his death would leave Nangong Wei heartbroken and cause her to go against them. Once Nangong Wei loses interest in Wu Yu, it will probably be a death sentence for him. At the very least he'll be ousted out of Shushan."
"The eventual winner of this contest goes without saying. Just look at how defenseless Wu Yu looked before Beishan Mo today. After all is said and done, Wu Yu will be completely eliminated. It is such a shame that this upstart genius had the misfortune of meeting two superior geniuses that are of an unprecedentedly high level in all of Shushan's history. If he had nothing to do with Nangong Wei, perhaps even Beishan Mo would think highly of him in the future."
The crowd continued to analyze the matter as they left. They were all advanced in their years and were full of life experience. They knew very well what kind of couple could actually become dao companions. When they were young, many people they knew made hasty decisions after just a short time due to their love for one another. From what they had seen, those who let their emotions affect their choice of an incompatible dao companion eventually paid a heavy price.
Only couples of similar status, standing, talent, and background could become the most compatible of dao companions. The couple would be ruined otherwise.
…
Although Wu Yu had lost out and was mocked by others today, his heart was not burning with rage. Instead, what was burning was his corporeal strength and determination. Even now, his mind was in a state of rebellion. This gave him a deep sense of enlightenment. In this state, he felt like he was closing in to the Great Sage, Heaven's Equal on the path of dao.
He sat in the lotus position in his training room.
Nangong Wei followed him in. With an apologetic expression, she walked up behind Wu Yu and lightly hugged him from the back. Her cherry lips pressed closely to Wu Yu's ears. With a gentle whisper, she said, "Big brother, I'm sorry for not letting you know about that person. He was the one who entered the Shushan Reincarnation Realm with me. Back then, he was much smaller and was but a young child, but he has grown up over these years. He grew up together with me after all, so he's actually as close to me as an actual brother. I also treat him as such, so rest assured. I won't fall for someone younger than me anyway."
Wu Yu gave a slight smile and replied, "Despite this, at least 99 percent of the people in the vast Shushan want you two to be together."
Nangong Wei scoffed and replied, "That's all nonsense. I treat Little Mo as my actual younger brother and have no romantic feelings for him whatsoever. The one I like is you. I made myself clear back then. I want to go to the Immortal Pair Hall with you and spend the rest of my life with you. Even if you don't end up fulfilling my father's criteria and we don't end up becoming dao companions, I'll still spend my time with you like I am now. We can still be happy together."
Her words put Wu Yu's mind at ease. He stretched out his arms to hug Nangong Wei and embraced her closely. He helped brush her scattered long hair to the back of her ears strand by strand. Nangong Wei's eyes widened and she beamed as he performed such a gesture. Her expression revealed how blessed she felt, and this also made her look exceptionally pretty. The beautiful aura of a woman that radiated from her attracted Wu Yu even more.
"Sweet and fair maidens always have many suitors. With looks like yours, you're going to struggle all your life. What's the harm in that though?" Wu Yu gave a heartfelt lament.
Indeed, even though Beishan Mo was exceptionally unrivaled, he would not be able to break them up easily. At least both of them would not agree to it. Wu Yu was only slightly worried about the Seven Immortals of Shushan stepping in. At the moment, they were probably still wary of the potential backlash from Nangong Wei. He understood that after some time, it would definitely become harder for him to embrace her like he did today.
Of course, when it came to Wu Yu, the more difficult something was, the more he enjoyed the challenge.
"Wei Er, I've found that it's hard to want you for myself. I have to expend all efforts in order to do so." Wu Yu laughed.
Nangong Wei replied with a delicate laugh. "Of course that's the case. I'm the daughter of a Sword Immortal after all, how could it be easy for you to attain me? You're such a bad guy. You took advantage of the fact that I was clueless when young and stole away my heart back then. Presently, thoughts of you flood my mind from day to night."
Was this fate? Was it still fate?
Wu Yu could not really tell.
What he knew was that he could not afford to waste anymore time. He had to treasure every single second and train even harder! It just so happened that Beishan Mo had gifted him with an opportunity for transformation! His expression quickly became serious. He gently pushed Nangong Wei up and retrieved an Inner Sea Essence Pill from his Sumeru Pouch.
"What's wrong?" Nangong Wei was still immersed in his embrace.
"I'm going to wrestle with fate." Wu Yu summarized his intentions in this short phrase. In fact, he had yet to try cultivating with an Inner Sea Essence Pill. This Inner Sea Essence Pill's effects had to be strong, since it was a supreme-grade miracle medicine. The average martial cultivator would not be able to cultivate in this way either. One usually had to be at the Violet Kingdom of the Inner Sea Realm in order to use a supreme-grade miracle medicine to supplement their training. If not for Wu Yu's confidence in his exceptionally valiant corporeal body, he would not have the courage to do so either.
This short phrase left Nangong Wei deep in thought. In the end, she stood aside and silently watched Wu Yu immerse himself in his personal realm of cultivation. In the past, she used to enjoy watching Wu Yu obsess over cultivation as well.
In fact, she actually had a lot on her mind, and was extremely stressed out as well. She was only able to come here after a round of intense quarreling. Just like Wu Yu had guessed, the Seven Immortals of Shushan were naturally in favor of Nangong Wei and Beishan Mo becoming a praised couple in all of Shushan. They were destined to be two strong individuals of the highest level in the future, and were both likely to become immortals as well.
However, Wu Yu had definitely obstructed their goals.
"How long can I hold on?" Nangong Wei closed her eyes and thought for a long while.
She suddenly opened her eyes. Wu Yu stood before her and looked at her with an incomprehensible gaze.
"What's wrong, Big Brother..." Nangong Wei asked.
Wu Yu looked at her from head to toe before wrapping his arms around her slender waist. He quietly said, "I know that things aren't easy for you. In this world, there are many things that we have to fight for. I just want to say one thing to you for now."
"Go ahead."
"I will not let you down."