Chapter 32#

Establishing a sword array is not the work of a single day. The final formation of the array actually only took a few months, but before that, building the sword mound, modifying the spiritual veins, and forging the giant Zhaoshui Sword to replace the Heavenly Pillar had taken a full ten years of effort.

At that time, the immortals had just fallen, and the demonic and immortal cultivators had essentially both suffered heavy losses. Many great demons at the Tribulation stage were still scattered throughout the two realms and four seas.

An Wuxue had already led Luoyue disciples in Zhaoshui City for two years to repair the Heavenly Pillar. It was impossible to keep this matter hidden; demonic cultivators caused trouble in Zhaoshui City almost every day. Cultivators dared not neglect their meditation, getting up as soon as the soul bell rang.

Once, someone in the city was deluded by a demonic cultivator, abandoned the path of immortality for the demonic path, and secretly opened the barrier, letting in a great demon at the Tribulation stage.

Song Wu, who was meditating and cultivating in her room, happened to be closest to the breach in the barrier and immediately sensed the faint presence of an unfamiliar Tribulation-stage pressure.

She pursued the trail and saw the great demon killing several Great Success stage cultivators who were guarding the barrier.

By the time Lou Shuiming arrived after receiving a distress talisman, Song Wu’s clothes were tattered, the spiritual pouch on her body was shattered, and she was pale as she gripped her natal sword tightly. Blood from the sword dripped steadily onto the ground, and before her was the corpse of the Tribulation-stage great demon.

The corpses of cultivators lay all around, and those mortals who couldn’t be protected in time had no remains left.

Lou Shuiming hurried forward: “Junior Sister!”

Song Wu seemed to have been holding a long breath, which she finally let out the moment she saw Lou Shuiming.

She said, “Senior Brother, I killed him!”

That was the first great demon she had slain since entering the world. She raised her head and arched her eyebrows like a proud child seeking praise, with only the trembling of her voice revealing the tension and helplessness from a moment ago.

Lou Shuiming stepped forward and gently patted Song Wu’s head.

He said, “As the City Lord, I failed to notice the demonic cultivators taking advantage of the situation; it was my oversight. Don’t be afraid, Junior Sister, I will handle everything.”

Spiritual energy surged at his fingertips as he carefully healed his junior sister.

An Wuxue arrived shortly after and happened to hear those words.

His gaze flickered slightly, showing a trace of worry, but he said nothing.

Back at the City Lord’s Mansion, he waited for Lou Shuiming to send Song Wu back before stopping him and saying, “Shuiming, Miss Song is a Tribulation-stage cultivator.”

Lou Shuiming was startled: “Yes. What does the Chief mean…?”

An Wuxue hesitated.

He actually wanted to tell Lou Shuiming that as a Tribulation-stage cultivator, Song Wu should naturally face any invading demonic cultivators, yet what Lou Shuiming said today made it seem like he wanted to bear everything alone.

Given the current state of Zhaoshui City… could he bear it?

He knew Lou Shuiming had a gentle temperament and for a moment didn’t know how to speak without sounding sharp.

Lou Shuiming understood his expression and said, “Chief, once the Zhaoshui Sword Array is successfully established, the utility of the Four Seas Ten Thousand Sword Array will be proven. Then we will go to the other three cities to drop three more swords, and the two realms can return to their former prosperity. It won’t be long, right?”

“I know that now is not the time for immortals to rule; Tribulation cultivators should already be standing on their own. But to me, she is not a Tribulation cultivator, just my junior sister. If I can protect her until the Four Seas Sword Array is established and there are no more disputes in the two realms, wouldn’t that be considered getting through these chaotic times?”

But in this world, is there really anyone who can protect another for a lifetime?

An Wuxue wanted to ask this question.

Looking at Lou Shuiming’s determined expression, he thought of Xie Zhefeng.

If someone were to ask him if he were willing to spend his life dedicated, suppressing the feelings in his heart, watching his junior brother’s Heartless Path reach perfection, assisting his junior brother to sit firmly on the throne of Immortal Venerable and stabilize the four seas and two realms, spending his whole life only for peace and prosperity…

He didn’t seem to have any other answer.

But his junior brother to him, and Song Wu to Lou Shuiming, were different.

Protecting a person often does not mean keeping them away from all mundane affairs in this way. Doing so only clips that person’s wings, preventing them from seeing the true joys and sorrows of the world.

But he had already spoken frankly twice, and some things said twice are of no use if said two hundred times.

So, in the end, he swallowed all his words.

At night.

Qin Wei, having killed a mountain of demonic cultivators during the day, dragged him to the courtyard to drink and wash away the killing intent. They happened to find Lou Shuiming sitting by a stone table with a lamp, holding a piece of spiritual cloth that could hold everything, actually making a spiritual pouch by hand.

Qin Wei raised his wine jar and took a gulp, stumbling forward: “Oh, what is our Lord Lou doing? Can’t a spiritual pouch be bought with just a few spiritual stones?”

He reached out to pull Lou Shuiming: “Come on, I’ll take you to buy one. The stitching on this one you’re sewing is all crooked.”

An Wuxue stood behind them with a lamp, watching as Lou Shuiming was pulled by Qin Wei until he was red-faced and embarrassed to explain. He finally couldn’t help but laugh out loud.

He stepped forward and knocked Qin Wei’s thick head.

“Ah Xue, why did you hit me?”

“Miss Song fought a great demon today and her spiritual pouch was destroyed,” he said.

Lou Shuiming immediately said, “I’m just trying… if it doesn’t look good, I won’t give it to my junior sister.”

Qin Wei dazed for a moment, took another gulp of wine, and nodded: “An ugly pouch for a beautiful fairy, fitting.”

An Wuxue: “…”

Lou Shuiming: “…”

—As expected, the first one he made didn’t look good.

But the City Lord actually had a great talent for this. Though the second spiritual pouch’s style wasn’t complex, it was simple and exquisite, good enough for someone to wear.

Lou Shuiming smilingly put away the finished pouch, intending to destroy the first one, but Qin Wei stopped him, snatched the pouch with the crooked stitching into his own hand, and hung it at his waist.

Unlike An Wuxue, who was a blessing born in the mundane world, or Xie Zhefeng, a genius who joined the sect as a youth, Qin Wei had grown up at Luoyue’s Silu Peak since childhood. Before his parents fell, they were both immortals of Luoyue Peak, so he had whatever he wanted in terms of spiritual stones, secret treasures, and pills.

Even in these chaotic times, the gold thread on the hem of his dharma robes was meticulous and without any fault.

That pouch with crooked stitching looked quite awkward hanging from his waist.

He was drunk and didn’t find it ugly at all. He even patted the pouch and said, “Coincidentally, my spiritual pouch was also broken while fighting monsters a few days ago, and I haven’t had time to buy another one. It would be a waste to destroy it, so why not give it to me for free?”

Lou Shuiming smiled helplessly: “Brother Qin, what are you doing? Didn’t you just say that a spiritual pouch can be bought for a few spiritual stones? You’d better take it off and give it back to me; I’ll buy one for you tomorrow.”

As he spoke, he reached out to help Qin Wei take it off.

Qin Wei hurriedly backed away, his voice drunken: “You’re not allowed to snatch my pouch.”

An Wuxue was helpless: “How did it become yours?”

Lou Shuiming couldn’t do anything about him. Instead, he took out three spiritual stones, solemnly wrapped them up, and placed them beside Qin Wei, who never lacked for money.

An Wuxue: “?”

The City Lord said seriously, “Buying Brother Qin a pouch; he can’t really use this one.”

He isn’t truly lacking in spiritual stones, An Wuxue didn’t say it aloud.

He knew Lou Shuiming was the type of person who took everything seriously, so seriously that some people always wondered if the City Lord had other intentions. When he first met Lou Shuiming, he never expected that there could truly be someone in this world who could reach the Tribulation stage, hold the power of a city, and see through all the human treachery in the chaotic world of the immortal disaster, yet still remain as pure as a pearl.

He sat on the long gallery of the small courtyard, watching Lou Shuiming’s silhouette disappear into the deep night and looking at the drunken Qin Wei by the stone table.

Looking up in Zhaoshui City at night, no stars could be seen, only the rippling of layer upon layer of barriers.

As darkness fell, the candle fire in the lantern beside him flickered, the only light in the world.

He took out the array book from his spiritual pouch, head lowered, listening to Qin Wei’s drunken rambling as he continued to study under the light all night.

A month later, after Song Wu’s injuries healed, when she went out, the spiritual pouch Lou Shuiming had made by hand that night was indeed hanging at her waist.

A few days later, Lou Shuiming’s spiritual pouch also changed. The embroidery patterns on it had none of Lou Shuiming’s usual restraint, and one could tell at a glance that it was a gift in return from Song Wu.

Because of what Qin Wei said that night about “an ugly pouch for a beautiful fairy,” An Wuxue teased him that he was the “beautiful fairy.” Peak Master Qin was too stubborn to admit defeat, insisting that it wasn’t an ugly pouch and hanging it up every day, self-deceivingly saying it was beautiful and unique, leaving the other Luoyue disciples at a loss for words.

Under the dark clouds of Zhaoshui City, with withered bones on the road and life and death never ceasing, a few spiritual pouches and several jars of immortal wine seemed to be rare moments of relaxation.

The day the giant Zhaoshui Sword was driven down, Lou Shuiming and Song Wu were married.

The entire Zhaoshui City couldn’t even put together ten lanterns. Cultivators didn’t dare use their fire essence for fear of attracting demons to attack the city. Their marriage ceremony was exceptionally simple. The Luoyue Peak disciples brought by An Wuxue and Qin Wei stood with the cultivators of Zhaoshui City behind the City Lord and the City Lord’s wife, simply bowing to heaven and earth before an incense burner.

Thereafter, because the giant Zhaoshui Sword was complete and reached into the sky, it became a massive target in the vast surroundings.

Demonic cultivators caused trouble more and more frequently, and even Xie Zhefeng, who was traveling around to seal demons, came to help several times.

Lou Shuiming seemed to have fulfilled what he had told An Wuxue that day—even in this vast, chaotic world, the Lady of Zhaoshui was still an inexperienced young girl in the eyes of the mortals and cultivators in the city.

Though she was born in chaotic times, she was raised within her sect. Her elders protected her, and her excellent talent allowed her to easily reach the Tribulation stage that ordinary cultivators struggle a lifetime for. After coming to Zhaoshui City, Lou Shuiming protected her. Although she saw the world’s pain caused by the immortal disaster, she herself had never truly faced what “pain” meant.

She would walk down the long streets in red robes, smiling as she helped up children who had fallen and used her spiritual energy to wash them. She would act as if she were a mortal without cultivation, sitting with those mortals struggling to fill their bellies in their dilapidated houses, roasting sweet potatoes together and humming warm nursery rhymes. When An Wuxue led people out of the city to fight monsters, she would wait at the city gate for the injured cultivators to come in, giving them pills and healing them…

Everyone said the City Lord’s wife was bright and beautiful, pure and kind.

She lived up to this name.

Another year passed.

The child of Lou Shuiming and Song Wu was born. At that time, Qi Xun had come to Zhaoshui City and was discussing with An Wuxue how to bury the ten thousand swords.

At the sound of the infant’s cry, Qin Wei was in a hurry to rush up and give him a hug, but was immediately stopped by An Wuxue: “No need to hurry this moment.”

Qi Xun performed a divination and said that this boy was intelligent and steady, resembling both parents, but that he had an aura of great misfortune and feared he would die young.

Lou Shuiming and Song Wu named the child Lou Wushang, hoping he would live his life without illness, pain, or injury, and that he would be safe and smooth regardless of his natural talent or cultivation level.

His parents did not expect him to be some extraordinary genius, yet he happened to have very high natural talent and was intelligent and precocious. Before he was five years old, while playing in the courtyard, he would encounter An Wuxue practicing his sword and could sit obediently to the side and watch for a whole day.

Qin Wei would often say, “With Wushang’s talent, he must go to Luoyue to practice after his Fasting stage; don’t let it go to waste. How about joining my Silu Peak then? Maybe one day he can even snatch Ah Xue’s position as Chief.”

An Wuxue smiled and said, “Wushang watches me practice my sword every day.”

Song Wu picked up her child and said, “It’s fine for Wushang to follow me in my cultivation. Luoyue Peak is the number one sect of immortal cultivation; how hard must it be to join and learn the arts?”

At this time, Lou Shuiming returned from eliminating demons, carrying an aura of blood and unwilling to let Lou Wushang smell it, simply standing far outside the door and watching.

Thus passed another three years.

An Wuxue frequently traveled to the Li-Fire Sect and finally settled on the array patterns of the Zhaoshui Sword Array with Qi Xun.

The sword mound was buried directly beneath the giant Zhaoshui Sword, piled with the corpses of those who had died unjustly and suppressing the spiritual swords of the cultivators who had died in battle.

Everything seemed to be getting better.

Lou Wushang also safely grew to eight years old and was already able to hold a sword.

That day, An Wuxue received a letter from Shangguan Liao Liao. The remnants left by the Immortal Beiming were causing trouble, and Xie Zhefeng was eliminating demons in the Guixu Sea, unable to get away. An Wuxue could only head to Beiming City with Qin Wei.

Just as he and Qin Wei left Zhaoshui City, the Zhaoshui barrier shook violently, and turbid energy suddenly rose from all sides, heading straight for the giant Zhaoshui Sword!!

That was the giant sword used to replace the Heavenly Pillar.

The turbid energy of heaven and earth was originally suppressed by the Heavenly Pillar. When the Heavenly Pillar was damaged in the immortal disaster, the turbid energy scattered and had permeated the two realms ever since.

Once the array was complete, with this giant sword, the turbid energy near Zhaoshui City and the East Cang Sea would not be a threat. But if this sword were destroyed…

Most of the Luoyue experts had left. Lou Shuiming took his wife for the first time and, together with the remaining Tribulation-stage experts of Zhaoshui City, hurried to the Zhaoshui Sword.

Those below the Tribulation stage were sent away to protect the mortals in the city, while Lou Shuiming defended the Zhaoshui Sword to the death.

Blood light filled the sky, and turbid energy continuously eroded the Zhaoshui City barrier.

Lou Shuiming had originally thought this was just another city siege like before, and because An Wuxue and Qin Wei were both absent, he had no choice but to take Song Wu along to help.

It wasn’t that there hadn’t been times like this before; Song Wu only needed to help him hold off other Tribulation-stage enemies, and before long, the demonic cultivators would retreat because they couldn’t break in.

But today’s demonic cultivators seemed never-ending, wave after wave.

For the first time, Song Wu saw so many corpses of cultivators.

Seeing that the barrier was broken, she said, “Senior Brother, Wushang…”

Lou Shuiming stood by the giant Zhaoshui Sword, not retreating in the slightest.

She turned to leave, but he called out to her: “Junior Sister, you are a Tribulation-stage cultivator of Zhaoshui City.”

Song Wu’s figure paused.

“You should stay here,” he said.

So Song Wu did not leave.

When An Wuxue and Qin Wei rushed back, half of the houses in the city had collapsed from the waves of spiritual energy, and the Zhaoshui Sword was splattered with blood from an unknown number of immortal or demonic cultivators.

Chunhua was drawn, and its sword light fell, helping Lou Shuiming slay the great demon.

The giant Zhaoshui Sword was finally defended.

Lou Shuiming had originally arranged for a Great Success stage cultivator to protect Lou Wushang. The battle was intense, and it should have been safer for the cultivator to hide with Lou Wushang than to follow them into battle.

But Song Wu sent out a voice transmission talisman and received no response for a long time.

They found the corpse of that Great Success stage cultivator in a small alley.

Deep in the alley was a house. The demonic cultivators were already gone, whether they had fled or died in the recent arrival of An Wuxue and Qin Wei.

But they did not see Lou Wushang.

Only the firewood piled in front of the house still had residual heat. A large pot was set over the firewood, the soup boiling inside. Beside the firewood pile were bones that seemed to be those of a child, with bite marks still on them.

Piled to the side were a child’s clothes, which Qin Wei had spent a large amount of money on some time ago. The material was rare spiritual cloth, yet Qin Wei had specifically had a child’s robe made from it as an eight-year-old birthday gift for Lou Wushang.

That was her child.

Song Wu’s eyes went blank, her footsteps faltering.

She suddenly rushed to the pile of firewood.

“AH—!!!!!!!!”