Chapter 59#

City Lord’s Mansion.

Due to the intermittent roars of the sword array earlier, the surrounding mortals, unaware of what was happening, were all hiding in their homes.

As for the cultivators, those whose cultivation was insufficient had long since been unable to hold on and were recovering from their injuries, while the rest were all within the sword array. The City Lord’s Mansion was also silent.

The vast twenty-seventh city of Beiming was like an empty city.

Xie Zhefeng arrived at the City Lord’s Mansion in the blink of an eye.

An Wuxue held Kun Kun in his arms, and Xie Zhefeng held An Wuxue in his.

He stopped in front of the door and spread his divine sense—

He let out a soft grunt first.

The splitting of his soul had happened just today, and the pain in his soul remained.

As soon as his divine sense moved, a bone-deep and heart-piercing pain spread throughout his body like climbing vines. But the person in his arms had a tightly furrowed brow, and his body was scalding hot. Even in unconsciousness, he was struggling. Xie Zhefeng had no intention of pausing for even a moment.

Ignoring the pain in his soul, he swept through the City Lord’s Mansion, found a guest room that was clearly unused, and with a movement of spiritual energy, he glided into the room in an instant.

The spiritual energy brought a light breeze as the door closed, isolating all the clamor of the outside world.

Kun Kun rolled out of An Wuxue’s arms at the right time, and Xie Zhefeng gently placed him on the bed.

As his arms became empty, the warmth brought by his Senior Brother instantly cooled.

He couldn’t help but pause, his knuckles slightly bent, feeling a bit reluctant.

But his Senior Brother seemed to have finally found an opportunity to escape his embrace. Clearly not fully conscious, he still shrank toward the wall, not wanting to touch him for even a second.

It turned out that his Senior Brother’s struggling in his arms was not because the pain was unbearable, but because he was unwilling to have skin-to-skin contact with him.

Xie Zhefeng’s breath hitched.

It truly hurt.

It was better to undergo another soul-splitting.

Beside them, Kun Kun finally recovered a bit of strength. Still unable to fly, it crawled to the bedside with “wuwu” cries and reached up to pull at the edge of the bed.

It looked at An Wuxue, then at Xie Zhefeng.

“Wuwu…”

Xie Zhefeng knew what it meant and raised his hand to lift it onto the bed.

Kun Kun immediately rolled to An Wuxue’s side and huddled against him.

This time, An Wuxue didn’t shrink away but instead moved forward slightly, as if wanting to capture some of the spirit beast’s body heat.

Senior Brother didn’t reject Kun Kun.

Senior Brother only rejected him.

Xie Zhefeng’s expression was dark, yet he knew what was important now.

He still sat down by the bed. Looking at his Senior Brother’s instinctive move to stay as far away from him as possible, spiritual energy trembled at his fingertips, wrapping around An Wuxue’s hair and skin to isolate his own aura.

Unable to sense his aura, An Wuxue indeed stopped retreating toward the wall and just huddled with Kun Kun, his brow tightly furrowed as if immersed in a nightmare.

Xie Zhefeng grabbed An Wuxue’s left arm and lifted the sleeve. As expected, the patterns on the puppet mark were churning again.

He had already helped his Senior Brother suppress it once, but just now the sword array had drawn spiritual energy. Despite having only a Great Completion cultivation, his Senior Brother had used all his strength to stabilize the sword array along with the other Tribulation Transcendence cultivators, and his spiritual energy was empty again.

Through a thousand years, his Senior Brother was still his Senior Brother.

Bitterness filled his mouth, but he didn’t dare to delay in the slightest. Spiritual energy flowed from his fingertips into the puppet mark.

Gradually, the heat in An Wuxue’s body was suppressed, and his complexion looked better.

But his Senior Brother’s body was still tense, his eyes tightly closed as if he were still in pain.

Is there somewhere else that’s uncomfortable?

Xie Zhefeng frowned and, using the puppet mark as a base, wrapped his divine sense in spiritual energy and carefully probed his Senior Brother’s meridians.

“Lou Shuiming…”

It was the “opportunity” Lou Shuiming’s remnant soul had left for his Senior Brother before vanishing.

After returning to Luoyue Peak from Zhaoshui City, his Senior Brother had completely absorbed that spiritual energy. It was enough to break through to Tribulation Transcendence in one go, but since Su Xue’s body had never been cultivated to the Tribulation Transcendence stage, the meridians were insufficient to bear the spiritual energy. That was why his Senior Brother ultimately stopped at the Great Completion stage.

And those spiritual energies were different from the ones he normally used. Once absorbed, they attached to the meridians of Su Xue’s body, waiting for the right moment.

—Now was that moment.

Due to the events in the twenty-seventh city, the spiritual energy in An Wuxue’s body had been drained and replenished several times within a single day, and his meridians had been forced to expand. At this moment, his meridians were still in pain, and that grand spiritual energy from the Zhaoshui Sword Array hidden in his meridians actually began to directly assist An Wuxue in breaking into the Tribulation Transcendence stage.

In the brief moment of Xie Zhefeng’s investigation, An Wuxue had already begun to bite his lower lip in pain, and blood seeped from it.

Without any hesitation, Xie Zhefeng raised his hand to wipe away the wound on An Wuxue’s lip and formed a seal with his hand.

Kun Kun turned its head and, seeing what he was about to do, gave a low “wuwu” cry.

Xie Zhefeng had no intention of stopping.

In the quiet room, the seal caused the surrounding spiritual energy to churn, and the doors and windows rattled.

A brief moment later.

Xie Zhefeng’s entire body trembled, and his brow was furrowed even more tightly than before. But An Wuxue suddenly relaxed, his brow smoothing out, and the tension vanished in an instant.

However, spiritual energy still clung to An Wuxue, flowing quietly in all directions, accumulating the momentum for him to break through to Tribulation Transcendence.

His Senior Brother’s meridians still hurt.

But Xie Zhefeng now knew how much they hurt.

He had used a forbidden curse.

It was something he had obtained from across the two realms and four seas after he first broke through his inner demon. If this curse was placed on another person, for three days from the time of casting, all the suffering of that person would be transferred to the caster.

This method was classified as a forbidden curse because it transferred another’s pain to oneself. If it were to spread, it might cause chaos.

But Xie Zhefeng had destroyed all other copies and only learned the curse himself, specifically to transfer others’ suffering to himself.

He had originally intended to use it to experience the coldness of the Canggu Tower.

But an Eternal Immortal’s body was beyond the influence of even curses, and the forbidden curse couldn’t help him, so he never thought of it again.

Now it had finally come in handy.

With a wave of his sleeve, Xie Zhefeng changed An Wuxue’s clothes, which were stained with the blood of demonic cultivators, for a new dharma robe, and used a spell to change the beddings.

His Senior Brother, perhaps sensing the changes around him, turned slightly, and the silk quilt he had just been covered with slipped off.

Xie Zhefeng reached out and quietly pulled up the silk quilt, tucking it in. Kun Kun poked its head out from An Wuxue’s arms but had already closed its eyes, actually falling asleep together in his Senior Brother’s arms.

He watched An Wuxue’s body gradually relax as the suffering vanished. The pain of splitting his soul was still tormenting his own soul, and the pain in the meridians transferred from his Senior Brother was like sharp needles piercing his entire body, deep and into his bones.

Instead, he felt much more at peace.

It had been a long…

It had been a long time since it was like this.

If his Senior Brother were awake, it would certainly not be like this anymore.

Those eyes that were always as gentle as a spring breeze a thousand years ago now looked at him only with wariness and distance.

Xie Zhefeng sat by the bed. He clearly knew that sitting in meditation to rest was the best way to suppress the pain, yet he was reluctant to move.

An unknown amount of time passed.

Breaking through to the Tribulation Transcendence stage was not something that could be done in a short time. An Wuxue was still in a deep sleep, and Xie Zhefeng was still feeling the pain in his meridians.

The daylight coming through the window gradually dimmed. Dusk faded, and the twenty-seventh city, once the dark clouds had dispersed, finally fell into darkness again.

The starry night pressed down, and a light breeze entered through the gaps, but it couldn’t cool a person’s bones and blood.

Kun Kun turned over again and again in An Wuxue’s arms, but it failed to wake its master, who was breaking through to Tribulation Transcendence in a deep sleep.

Xie Zhefeng sat there motionless for an entire day.

Until several human breaths appeared in the City Lord’s Mansion.

His gaze flickered slightly, and only then did he reluctantly stand up and walk out.

Pei Qian, seeing him still wearing his blood-stained long robe, said in shock, “Fellow Daoist Xie, you’ve been back for so long, yet you haven’t changed your clothes?”

Only then did Xie Zhefeng realize: “I forgot.”

Pei Qian: “…” You can even forget that?

Qiao Ting, standing nearby, asked him, “Where is Su Xue?”

“Sleeping,” Xie Zhefeng said briefly, then asked, “How is the sword array?”

The Beiming Sword Array was the reason they had entered Beiming.

The reason he could leave his Senior Brother while he was unconscious was that the sword array of the twenty-seventh city was now fine. Since the forty-nine sword arrays of Beiming were closely linked, as long as one sword array was fine, they could find a way to reconnect with the rest.

This was Pei Qian’s responsibility and didn’t require him to be present.

Pei Qian indeed said, “The turbid qi in the city has been cleared, but the turbid qi in all directions remains. It should be coming from the main sword array and the other forty-seven. I’m trying to directly link the twenty-seventh city’s sword array to the main one. That way, we can use the sword array’s power to teleport to the vicinity of the first city, but it will take time.”

“How long?”

“Four or five days.”

Beiming was vast, and now it was filled with turbid qi and demons. Simply flying in from the edge would not bring them to the first city in four or five days.

Using the sword array’s power would be faster.

“Then we wait.”

Qiao Yin and Qiao Ting stood aside in silence.

Zhao Duan was dead, and the chaos in the twenty-seventh city was settled. In just a few days, their elders had died or been injured, leaving only the two of them—sister and brother who were awkward in each other’s company and didn’t quite count as such.

Qiao Ting’s expression was calm, but Qiao Yin felt guilty toward him and hesitated for a long time.

Only then did she speak: “Fellow Daoist Pei, Fellow Daoist Xie, and that Young Master Su—you aren’t simply cultivators who happened to be in seclusion nearby, are you?”

Pei Qian said leisurely, “Since the Young City Lord has seen through it, why bother asking?”

Qiao Yin opened her mouth, but Qiao Ting spoke faster: “Of course we can see it. The Beiming barrier is visible to everyone, and Luoyue Peak wouldn’t stand by and watch. Fellow Daoist Xie could produce the Soul-Nourishing Tree Spirit; you all must be on a mission from Luoyue to clear out the demons and entered Beiming for that reason. Entering the twenty-seventh city was just to use its sword array to teleport to the first city.”

He sighed: “My sister has always been so indirect in her speech. She wants to ask about the person behind the sound transmission talisman in Zhao Duan’s memory—that person sounds like a demonic cultivator who had a connection to the Beiming Sword Array during the Immortal Calamity.”

Qiao Yin nodded: “Yes… yes. But I heard that among those who set up the array back then, besides the City Lord Shangguan and his sister, one ascended to immortality and one entered the demonic path.”

“The one who entered the demonic path…”

Xie Zhefeng’s gaze shifted slightly, casting a cold glance at the sister and brother.

Qiao Yin was instantly broken into a cold sweat and stopped speaking. Even Qiao Ting instinctively stiffened.

Xie Zhefeng didn’t speak.

Immortal Chu Han brought his two fingers together and summoned a burst of sword qi.

This time, he didn’t use his Senior Brother’s Chunhua Sword.

The cold sword light came out wrapped in sword qi. As the night wind in the courtyard swept by, it turned into a freezing wind as soon as it entered the range of the sword light, bringing frost and snow.

The walls and soil of the buildings in all directions were covered in a thin frost.

Pei Qian felt the frost that had instantly formed on his hair and suddenly realized something, his eyes widening in shock.

Qiao Ting and Qiao Yin were even more so, and had already knelt down: “Immortal…!”

Xie Zhefeng moved his fingers slightly.

The Chu Han Sword light was like a shooting star flying backward, breaking into the starry river!

In an instant, a barrier enveloped the entire twenty-seventh city, replacing the barrier Qiao Yin and Qiao Ting had jointly set during the day, steadily blocking the turbid qi from outside.

He looked up at the barrier he had set and then said, “The situation in the other forty-eight cities is unknown. I am now isolating the twenty-seventh city; the other cities will only think you are still in your previous state. Once the situation in the first city is clear and the Beiming crisis is resolved, I will naturally unseal the twenty-seventh city.”

“Yes…”

Xie Zhefeng withdrew his gaze, his voice suddenly deepening, his tone wrapped in coldness: “Whatever you saw in Zhao Duan’s memories before his death, you saw it. Do not speculate wildly, or it will lead to disaster. If I hear anything related to the person behind the sound transmission talisman from others, or any groundless speculation…”

His gaze turned cold.

“I am not above slaying immortal cultivators.”

An Wuxue had another long dream.

Unfortunately, this time, heaven was not kind to him and didn’t give him a pleasant dream.

He dreamed that his identity was discovered by Xie Zhefeng. The heartless and emotionless Immortal Chu Han asked him why he hadn’t been executed a thousand years ago and wanted to take him back to Luoyue and imprison him in the Canggu Tower to set things right.

Everyone knew that the former head of Luoyue Peak, who had gotten what he deserved, hadn’t died.

The Zhaoshui chaos, the Beiming crisis…

The person behind the scenes was too similar to him; everything was being pinned on him again.

Just like when he was surrounded and killed by the myriad sects a thousand years ago, and Qi Xun questioned him: “Only you went to the Lihuo Sect before the incident, and the place where the spiritual pulse was drained is filled with Chunhua sword marks—”

“An Wuxue, who else could it be besides you?”

Who else could it be besides you?

Who else could it be…?

No, it wasn’t me.

It wasn’t me!

He suddenly opened his eyes and jerked upright.

“Wuwu…?”

Kun Kun, lying beside him, was startled by his sitting up and jumped up, flapping its wings and flying nearby, its eyes blinking in confusion as it watched him.

“It’s nothing, I had a nightmare. How am I…”

How am I here?

Before he could finish, someone pushed the door and entered.

That person seemed to have been waiting nearby, entering just as he woke up. He walked quickly to the bedside and asked him: “Are you awake? Your breath is so disordered; are you uncomfortable somewhere?”

Uncomfortable somewhere?

Not really.

He had clearly been exhausted again when the sword array was being repaired, and the puppet mark had flared up too. He had just woken up from a nightmare, yet his body didn’t feel any discomfort.

But he didn’t have time to think deeply about it. Sensing the cold breath that swept toward him as the person approached, he hurriedly moved back.

Xie Zhefeng stopped in his tracks.

Only then did An Wuxue feel that his reaction was a bit too much. He looked away and said in a low voice: “I just… have some heart palpitations. It might be that my mind is unsettled. It’ll be fine if the Immortal lets me settle it on my own. I won’t trouble the Immortal with your concern…”

He was still in the grip of the dream he just had. Xie Zhefeng’s indifferent face in the dream and the memory seemed to be right before his eyes.

He felt the man’s breath so close at hand and only felt as if he were still in the dream, unable to find peace.

He only hoped that Xie Zhefeng would not stay so close and would not stay in the room anymore.

But that person clearly couldn’t know what he had dreamed of, let alone turn around and leave.

He only heard Xie Zhefeng ask him: “Why do you have heart palpitations? How about I accompany you for a few rounds of Go to settle your mind?”

This was like adding oil to the fire.

“No need!” His tone already carried a hint of firmness. “I don’t like playing Go.”

“…You don’t like playing Go?” the person only repeated.

The question was quite strange.

" I have never liked it," he said.