Chapter 47#
An Wuxue’s breath hitched.
This was his natal sword.
Whenever he saw Xie Zhefeng holding Chunhua in his hand, or using its cold blade against an enemy, he always avoided looking at it. He feared that he wouldn’t be able to resist using his divine sense to command Chunhua and take it back into his hand.
The moment Chunhua was held out in front of him, he almost reached out to take it.
If given the chance, he would definitely want to take back Chunhua and take Kunkun with him.
But clearly—not now.
He blinked rapidly and said steadily, “Daoist Xie’s kind intentions are appreciated. However, this spiritual sword never leaves your side. A cultivator’s natal sword will only obey its master; if the person dies, the sword dies with them. Without its sword master, it’s no different from an ordinary mortal weapon—what use would it be to me?”
He didn’t move.
Xie Zhefeng only said dryly, “It’s better than being empty-handed…”
An Wuxue’s brows twitched slightly, and the tension from before dissipated quite a bit.
He could roughly guess why Xie Zhefeng was doing this.
It was nothing more than the puppet technique revealing that the person “Su Xue” might be fake, and his junior brother naturally suspected where his soul came from. Coupled with what Qin Wei had told him—that Xie Zhefeng knew his remnant soul had vanished at the Bramble River—the two combined…
Was this man using Chunhua to test him?
He couldn’t help but let out a chuckle.
“Daoist Xie,” he said, “this sword is important to you and seems to be related to someone you care about. Both times I moved the sword, I almost died at your hands. Now you’re giving it to me. Since I am not that person you speak of, how could I dare to touch this sword?”
He insisted he wasn’t that person. Other than soul-searching, what else could Xie Zhefeng do?
Xie Zhefeng seemed to have even stopped breathing, staring at him without blinking, his eyes clouded with a layer of mist.
But An Wuxue only glanced at his junior brother’s expression. His gaze fell on his own natal sword as he said word by word, “As for moving the sword, there won’t be a third time. I have taken Daoist Xie’s warning to heart.”
The one who mourned after killing someone was his junior brother, and the one who wanted him to hold Chunhua after almost killing him for moving the sword was also his junior brother.
Truly bizarre and fickle.
In front of him, the hand offering the sword seemed to tremble slightly.
This movement was so trace-less and happened so quickly that An Wuxue thought he must have seen it wrong.
He stepped back expressionlessly, moving away from Chunhua, and added, “Daoist Xie and Daoist Pei should head to the sword array quickly. The matters of the Northern Abyss are of great importance.”
—The matters of the Northern Abyss are important; confirming whether the soul in Su Xue’s body is a lonely soul related to his senior brother is secondary.
Xie Zhefeng, who had ruled the two realms for a thousand years, would naturally understand this principle.
But his junior brother didn’t move at first.
The man still maintained the posture of offering Chunhua, his black eyes clouded with mist, which also seemed to have a faint, indiscernible hint of red, staring straight at him.
“Xie Chunhua’s” face was different from Xie Zhefeng’s own, but those eyes were identical to Xie Zhefeng’s true form—dark, deep, and unfathomable.
In just this brief moment of stalemate, An Wuxue could imagine what kind of expression Xie Zhefeng would have if his true body were here.
He stared at his junior brother’s hand, watching as the hand gripping the sword gradually exerted so much force that the fingertips turned white and veins bulged, before slowly withdrawing it.
He heard Xie Zhefeng say, “If you encounter danger, find me using the Tianya Haijiao Talisman.”
Pei Qian let out a “tsk.” “The two of you quiet types really have a good relationship. If it really comes down to it, Su Xue should just come with us. We have three Dujie stage cultivators; are we afraid we can’t protect one Dacheng?”
Qiao Yin awkwardly poked Pei Qian with her scabbard. “Daoist Pei…”
Pei Qian called this a good relationship?
She felt that the awkwardness between these two was much more complicated and convoluted than the Northern Abyss Sword Array!
Pei Qian shook his head. “The Young City Lord doesn’t understand.”
Qiao Yin: “…”
Xie Zhefeng cast a glance at Pei Qian.
When he looked at An Wuxue, his gaze was deep but entirely devoid of coldness. But this glance at Pei Qian, though expressionless, made Pei Qian shudder.
Pei Qian immediately went silent.
“To the sword array,” Xie Zhefeng said.
With a ripple of spiritual power, the three of them vanished from before An Wuxue.
Outside the Twenty-Seventh City’s sword array.
Spiritual power rippled out wave after wave. The sword array was covered by several layers of barriers; looking from the outside, the interior was a blur.
Qiao Yin led the way, with Xie Zhefeng and Pei Qian following closely behind.
Just as they landed, Xie Zhefeng’s footsteps halted, and the spiritual power around him showed signs of turbulence.
Qiao Yin was startled. “Daoist Xie?”
Pei Qian stepped forward, wanting to see what was wrong with him.
But he suddenly raised his hand to stop Pei Qian.
Kunkun gave a low growl and hastily lay on his shoulder, its spiritual power covering his soul.
But this was just a drop in the ocean.
He had been suppressing it.
He had suppressed it for far too long. Just now, in front of Su Xue, he didn’t dare show the slightest impropriety. Having suppressed it until this moment, his chaotic thoughts were like an ant nest breaching a dam, spiraling out of control!
In his sea of consciousness, the inner demon’s myriad words had become increasingly severe from the moment they entered the Northern Abyss barrier, as if countless versions of himself were causing havoc in his ears.
Those myriad words overlapped and rose, until finally, only two short words remained.
“Senior Brother.”
Senior Brother…
Su Xue… if Su Xue is just a puppet like Yun Yao, then is the soul inside Su Xue’s body Senior Brother?
Is he deceiving himself again under the influence of his inner demon?
If it really is Senior Brother…
If…
He clearly already had the answer in his heart, yet he didn’t dare confirm it.
Nor did he dare accept it.
The inner demon that used to instigate him every day in his sea of consciousness to recognize Su Xue as his senior brother was now saying instead, “That’s Su Xue. You’re hallucinating; you just wish he were Senior Brother!”
No, it’s not!
Senior Brother’s remnant soul aura had vanished at the Bramble River, and Su Xue appeared by his side at almost the same time!
If Su Xue’s body is a puppet’s body, the soul within must be a lonely soul.
And what lonely soul could move his state of mind and entice his inner demon?
Yet the inner demon insisted on tearing at him.
“That’s just Su Xue!”
“Even if Su Xue’s body is a puppet, it’s possible that someone with an agenda, knowing your weakness, specially created an appearance identical to Senior Brother’s!”
“That’s not Senior Brother!”
That’s not Senior Brother… is it?
But…
If not, out of so many similar people over the past thousand years, why was only Su Xue the one who truly made him feel that way?
If not, even if he couldn’t bear Su Xue being someone else’s furnace with that face, why would he keep the person at Luoyue to cultivate, a place that cultivators of the two realms flocked to?
If not, would he really take a Dacheng stage cultivator to the Northern Abyss with such effort just because the other wanted to get rid of the furnace seal?
If not—could the inner demon really use Su Xue’s name to move his state of mind?
If it is…
Senior Brother.
Senior Brother…
Senior Brother!
“You have no evidence at all!”
“It’s all your conjecture!”
“You just want to guess that way!!!”
It’s not!
The snow lotus sword mark was about to appear on his brow. Xie Zhefeng immediately closed his eyes.
His sea of consciousness was in turmoil!
Luoyue Peak, Burial Frost Sea.
Qi Xun arrived swiftly.
Before the gates, a disciple saw the newcomer and bowed. “Sect Leader Qi, something happened in the Northern Abyss. The Immortal Venerable has gone there and is not in Shuanghai.”
“I rushed back all the way and heard that the Northern Abyss was temporarily closed because the sword array needed repairs. I didn’t hear about anything happening,” he frowned. “Besides, I can feel the Eternal Immortal’s power surging. Isn’t Xie Chuhan still inside?”
“Sect Leader Qi is a friend of the Immortal Venerable. The Immortal Venerable has previously instructed that important matters need not be hidden from you, so this junior will speak plainly. Repairing the sword array is just for public consumption; there’s trouble with demonic cultivators in the Northern Abyss. The Immortal Venerable has sent an avatar to investigate, but his true body is indeed still in closed-door cultivation within Shuanghai.”
“Demonic cultivators causing trouble!? That’s not right…”
The young disciple didn’t know, but Qi Xun did. Xie Zhefeng would only use an avatar if he was afraid his true body would lose control under the interference of his inner demon. If an Eternal Immortal’s spiritual power lost control for even a moment, it could cause severe consequences.
Xie Chuhan’s inner demon still hasn’t been suppressed.
Where is Su Xue… no, A-Xue?
“I remember there was also a young master named Su on Shuanghai…”
“Young Master Su has gone to the Northern Abyss with the Immortal Venerable.”
Gone together…?
“Then—” Qi Xun’s voice suddenly halted.
In the center of Shuanghai, from within the pine forest, an immortal’s spiritual power spread out. it was extremely turbulent and rippled outward from the inside without any restraint!
The pines and cypresses trembled, and catkins arrived rustling in the swift wind. The light breeze that had been whispering incessantly instantly turned into a howling gale.
Qi Xun’s expression changed. He hurriedly pulled the disciple behind him and formed a hand seal with both hands.
A barrier immediately enveloped the entire Shuanghai, overlapping with the barrier Xie Zhefeng had left behind, firmly netting this sudden spiritual power riot!
Fortunately, this spiritual power riot only rippled for a moment.
Qi Xun gave a muffled groan, blood overflowing from the corner of his mouth.
“Sect Leader Qi!” the disciple cried in alarm.
Qi Xun shook his head. “It’s nothing. You stay on guard outside; I’m going in to see. If you mention a single word of what you just saw to the outside…”
He turned back, setting aside his gravity, and gave the disciple a smile. “Don’t blame me for being unkind.”
The disciple’s face turned pale instantly, and he knelt abruptly. “This junior naturally—”
Before he could finish, Qi Xun had already entered Shuanghai.
The smile on his face vanished completely.
Thinking of A-Xue…
His journey from Zhaoshui to Luoyue had been like fire searing his heart, exceptionally difficult to bear.
Yet, having come to Luoyue, he still couldn’t see A-Xue.
He followed the source of the spiritual power agitation and arrived at the place where Xie Zhefeng had suppressed his inner demon for the past eight hundred years.
The barrier had been shattered. Amidst the wind and snow, upon the lotus pedestal, Xie Zhefeng’s true body sat cross-legged. His eyes were tightly shut, his brow furrowed, and the snow lotus sword mark appeared on his forehead, tinged with a thick blackness.
“How could it be like this…?”
This was clearly a sign of the inner demon running rampant!
Xie Chuhan’s inner demon had been rooted out for two hundred years. Why was it suddenly so powerful now that it had just resurfaced?
What happened to this fellow in the Northern Abyss!?
The wind and snow suddenly grew even more intense.
Qi Xun’s heart tightened. Disregarding everything else, he hurriedly shouted, “Xie Chuhan!!!”
Words were in vain. The wind and snow grew larger and larger, and the immortal’s spiritual power was about to ripple out again.
Qi Xun couldn’t care about anything else and was about to rush forward to desperately stop Xie Zhefeng’s loss of control. But before he could act, the person sitting on the lotus pedestal suddenly calmed down.
Again, in an instant.
The wind and snow stopped abruptly.
Before the Northern Abyss’s Twenty-Seventh City sword array.
“Senior Brother…”
“Senior Brother.”
“…”
The inner demon’s voice grew more and more urgent, becoming increasingly triumphant.
He had his eyes closed, yet it was as if two people were standing before him.
It was the sight of Senior Brother holding his sword and looking at him with a smile, and also the sight of Su Xue with a calm and distant expression, avoiding his gaze.
The inner demon was like vines crawling all over his sea of consciousness, its roots and stems eroding all his reason and shaking his will.
But it was also these repeated calls of “Senior Brother”…
The Northern Abyss was in crisis, the person behind it was wreaking havoc in the four seas, and the disaster of turbid qi was faintly rising again.
Regardless of whether Su Xue was Senior Brother…
Senior Brother wouldn’t want to see the two realms in ruins.
If Su Xue really were Senior Brother, given such a crisis in the Northern Abyss, he should all the more do his utmost to resolve the Northern Abyss’s trouble to ensure Su Xue’s safety!
The sea of consciousness suddenly became tranquil.
He slowly opened his eyes.
After just a brief moment, Pei Qian was still asking, “Daoist Xie? Daoist Xie, what’s wrong with you?”
Xie Zhefeng remained silent.
“Daoist Xie?”
Suddenly—
Xie Zhefeng shuddered and abruptly spat out a large mouthful of fresh blood!
Qiao Yin and Pei Qian were both stunned.
But he raised his hand, carelessly wiping away the bloodstains with spiritual power.
“It’s nothing,” he said in a hoarse voice. “Enter the array.”
Inside the City Lord’s Mansion.
After Xie Zhefeng and the others left, the young attendant who had been serving tea just now walked in timidly with his head bowed. He carried freshly brewed warm tea and asked, “Immortal Master, the tea has gone cold. Let me change it for a new cup…”
An Wuxue came back to his senses, the look of bewilderment on his face lessening slightly.
The faint cold aura on his junior brother’s avatar slowly dissipated, and his heart, which had been in a mess, finally settled.
He glanced at the steaming tea. His gaze paused, and he said in a warm voice, “No need.”
With just those two words, the young boy actually trembled all over. His legs went soft, and he looked as if he were about to kneel.
Some of the tea in his hand even splashed out at that moment.
An Wuxue moved his fingertips lightly, stabilizing the boy with spiritual power. With his eyes curving slightly, he asked, “I’m not some man-eating demon; why are you so nervous?”
The tea swayed in the cup, with only a few drops leaking out.
“No, no, no, no… Immortal Master, please, please drink tea…”
An Wuxue sighed.
“Since Your Excellency has come, yet forced a young boy who hasn’t even entered the path to bring tea containing turbid qi while hiding in the back, it’s truly not the conduct of a gentleman.”
The boy’s face turned pale. “Immortal Master, I…”
“Hahahaha!!!”
Arrogant laughter suddenly rang out within the quiet City Lord’s Mansion.
The newcomer’s voice drew closer, and a figure dressed in black suddenly appeared at the door.
“I only sensed outside the city that there were suddenly a few immortal cultivators with decent cultivation. When I took a closer look, there was actually one in the middle stage of Dujie and one at the peak of Dujie, far more powerful than that waste Qiao Yin. I didn’t dare show myself. And look, those two immortal cultivators have left, yet one remains…”
The man walked closer with his hands behind his back, turbid qi spreading around him. “You, a little immortal cultivator, actually have some vigilance. What a pity. If you had drunk this tea, we would be fellows, and I wouldn’t have needed to move against you…”
An Wuxue didn’t speak, waving his hand to push away the tea cup in the boy’s hand.
The cup hit the ground with a crisp sound, the tea splashing and releasing a few wisps of turbid qi.
He pulled the terrified boy behind him before saying, “I heard from Young City Lord Qiao that the Great Demon causing trouble in the Twenty-Seventh City came from her own family. I didn’t expect to meet Your Excellency so soon.”
This was the City Lord’s Mansion.
Even if all the Dujie cultivators were by the sword array, this man in black could actually break into the barrier without alerting anyone. No wonder Qiao Yin could only barely hold out by working with all the immortal cultivators in the city.
“That’s indeed very unfortunate, but you being here alone suits me perfectly. I was just worried that those few Dujie stage cultivators would be difficult to deal with if they joined forces. With you in hand, those two who just arrived will likely be somewhat constrained, won’t they?”
The man in black stopped in front of him. Looking at his face, a look of surprise appeared on his face. “To think you’re actually a beauty.”
An Wuxue was about to take action. Hearing these words, his brows moved slightly as he said, “So, you’ve come to capture me?”
The man in black nodded triumphantly. “If you want to struggle a bit, I’d be happy to keep you company. I love watching a beauty struggle powerlessly the most…”
He was clearly very confident in his cultivation.
An Wuxue inconspicuously withdrew the spiritual power he had already gathered at his fingertips and said indifferently, “Don’t harm the others, and I will go with you.”