The more you believe me, the more real it becomes.

Chapter 331 No Lending!
As the sword light that illuminated the heavens rushed towards him, even a celestial being like Zou Zi felt as if he had stepped through time and seen the young man who had gone south to deliver the sword years ago.

At this moment, the person standing opposite him was not Wang Chengsi, the master who borrowed the Dharma, but Li Shiyi, whose spirit and cultivation were at their peak in the past!
Wang Chengsi's voice followed closely behind the sword light, resounding throughout the heavens and earth:
"You ask me how I can act on behalf of Heaven? And do you dare to bring about this 'great calamity'?!"

What exactly do novelists do?

This is a question that even the novelist himself might not be able to answer clearly.

This was not only because the Yin-Yang School had completely defeated them, but also because Zou Zi had disrupted their path.

Furthermore, because they themselves are inherently mixed and uncertain, they are not like the eclectic school, which "has a comprehensive understanding of all schools of thought." Instead, they have mixed up their own traditions and foundations, which seem similar to the eclectic school but are actually worlds apart.

As a result, many of the "classics" they left behind were not only disregarded by outsiders, but even their own family looked down on them, ultimately leading to their loss.

Otherwise, why couldn't they even hold onto their position among the top ten schools of thought? You have to understand, who could imagine someone kicking Confucianism, Buddhism, and Taoism out of the game? They have so many classic texts and such profound knowledge to offer; do you even have the qualifications to kick them out?

However, novelists possess a unique skill—to collect strange and unusual events from around the world, and then bring these "stories" to life for their own use.

Back then, it was precisely through this skill that those unpredictable and uneven novelists managed to break into the ranks of the top ten.

As a descendant of the novelist school, Wang Chengsi inherited this signature skill, having benefited from his master's influence.
Previously, the incense stick had only burned a small section, but after he borrowed Li Shiyi's earth-shattering sword strike, the incense stick, which originally had more than half left, started burning towards the end at an almost frantic speed.

Zou Zi's expression suddenly darkened, his brows furrowed into a knot, and he remained silent. His fingers flew across the screen, activating layers upon layers of Yin-Yang nets that pressed down on the sword light like dark clouds.

The net was tightly woven and impenetrable, and the mountains and rivers below shifted constantly with the rotation of Yin and Yang. However, the sword light, which was only meant to meet the calamity, shattered the net layer by layer as quickly as a knife cutting through hemp. Even the shifting mountains and rivers could not stop its sharpness in the slightest.

This scene made the old beggar and the man in black stand up, both surprised and delighted, their breathing quickening.

The two exchanged a glance, both seeing an unbelievable burning in each other's eyes—could it be that after so many years, they could still witness Li Shiyi's magnificent sword slaying of the celestial beings?

Finally, Zou Zi sighed softly, his voice tinged with helplessness:
"Indeed, when the fundamental principles are contradicted, it is truly difficult to resist."

He possessed all sorts of supernatural powers and immense strength, but when faced with Li Shiyi's straightforward sword strike, he felt all his strength trapped in one place, unable to exert even a fraction of it.

Only now did he finally understand how frustrated Yu Wei, the Taoist who confronted Li Shiyi back then, must have felt.

That was not an ordinary sword sparring match meant to risk one's life. He was already constrained by many things from the start, and then he encountered such an invincible sword aura. It was truly remarkable that he managed to win by half a move.

But that's all.

Seeing the sword light drawing ever closer, Zou Zi suddenly lowered his head and gave Wang Chengsi a sneer:
"If this sword had truly been handed to me by that young man back then, I might have been at a loss today. It's a pity that what's borrowed is still borrowed, and besides, what you borrowed was nothing more than hearsay!"

Wang Chengsi's expression faltered slightly, but Zou Zi's mockery only intensified:
"You novelists, with this rare and extraordinary skill, could have established yourselves in the world, unshakable. But instead, your foundation is the low-class stuff of street gossip."

"The so-called 'observe the poems of the people during the provincial tour to understand the customs. Correct mistakes and rectify errors' is nothing but a patchwork of hearsay!"

"If you can't even see the truth, how can you talk about 'correcting mistakes and rectifying errors'? If that's the case, what right do you have to kill me with this borrowed sword?!"

To think you can enlighten the masses and uncover the great truth through hearsay? That's utterly delusional!

With a furious shout, Zou Zi suddenly reversed Yin and Yang. The net no longer blocked his way, but instead coiled into a cocoon, tightly enveloping the sword light within it.

In an instant, the sword light, which should have been invincible, was trapped in place, trembling and buzzing three inches in front of Zou Zi, unable to advance any further.

Li Shiyi's sword was indeed indestructible, but the sword he wielded today was merely a borrowed illusion from Wang Chengsi, based on hearsay. How could it possibly possess the true essence of the "greatest swordsman of all time"? Zou Zi glanced at Wang Chengsi, who was slumped on the ground below, his tone full of pity:

"Your ancestor didn't dare to come himself, fine, but he sent you to your death! You think someone like this is better than me? You really are a low-class person, even your taste is so bad!"

But at that moment, Wang Chengsi, who should have been in a sorry state, suddenly laughed, laughed heartily, and even laughed very slyly.

Zou Zi frowned, shook his head, and sneered:

"He's gone mad? I've wasted all my energy on this thing that's not even worth worrying about."

Before he could finish speaking, Zou Zi suddenly turned his head and looked up at the sky in astonishment—the heavenly tribulation that had been slow to materialize suddenly solidified, like the sword of Bodhidharma, locking onto him firmly!
"What did you do?!" Zou Zi suddenly lowered his head and questioned sharply.

Tianxian has locked him up, leaving him no way to escape. This is a variable that has never appeared in his deductions. He can only stare intently at Wang Chengsi, hoping for an answer.

Although Wang Chengsi collapsed to the ground, it was not out of fear or weakness, but because he truly could not hold on any longer.

The wind and sand swept by, drying the last drop of blood from his wrist and dispersing the illusion array beneath his feet.

The next moment, the yellow sand on the ground receded completely, revealing the obscure inscriptions that had been carved long ago—these inscriptions were not limited to one place, but spread along the streets and city walls to every corner of the entire capital!
If Zhang Siruo of the Tiannan Sect were here, he would surely recognize this inscription.

However, he had only seen a few scattered strokes engraved on the box, barely enough. But now, the inscription covered the entire capital city!

“The laws of Heaven have not changed, you should never have set foot in the mortal world.” Wang Chengsi’s face was ashen, but he laughed heartily. “I saw it as soon as I entered the capital. You were able to establish yourself peacefully only by borrowing the ‘cause and effect’ and ‘opportunities’ of all living beings in the world. In short, everything that can be called ‘great’ has been used by you to circumvent the laws of Heaven.”

"Every time Tianxian (a powerful authority) is about to fall on you, it always ends up targeting those unlucky souls whose 'power' you've borrowed. That's why you can rest easy, isn't it?"

Zou Zi was startled and wanted to ask more, but the inscription under Wang Chengsi's feet suddenly lit up, and thousands of golden lights shot straight into the sky.

The causes and opportunities that Zou Zi had "borrowed" flowed back like a tide, and could no longer shield him from the judgment of Heaven.

Seeing Zou Zi completely panicked, Wang Chengsi burst into laughter:

“My ancestor secluded himself for a hundred years, racking his brains to find a secret technique. I never understood why he would waste so much energy on a petty squabble, like a child throwing a tantrum.”

"Now I understand, the one the patriarch didn't want to lend was never the sword cultivator, but you!"

How could a great master of novels waste a hundred years researching a secret technique of "not borrowing other people's swords" just for a little bit of pride with a sword cultivator?

That was just a smokescreen, something to be done for today!
Your Yin-Yang School has been planning for millennia, calculating the heavens and the earth, and now you are about to slay my great dragon. How could my lineage of novelists be truly unprepared?

The novelist's secret technique—"Never Borrowing"—has taken full shape in Kyoto!
The immense forces reversed their course, and the Heavenly Mandate crashed down, shaking heaven and earth. The trapped sword light suddenly broke free of its net, like a raging dragon breaking free of its restraints, and thrust straight at Zou Zi!

"Today, either Heavenly Law will burn your flesh and blood and destroy your foundation, or I will borrow Brother Li's sword to take your head!"

Even though Wang Chengsi was exhausted and on the verge of death, his laughter still resounded throughout the heavens and earth.

His previous arguments with Zou Zi were never for the sake of getting a verbal advantage, nor were they intended to make him realize his mistakes.

With time so pressing, he was merely using himself as bait to lure Zou Zi into lowering his guard, so that he could take the opportunity to activate the "No Borrowing" secret technique that the ancestor had tailored for Zou Zi!
(End of this chapter)