Chapter 84#
The surrounding cultivators remained with their heads bowed, and the Qu clan members receiving guests were still paying their respects.
Shangguan Liaoliao had just withdrawn her spiritual power, and the dissipation of her pressure was only a few breaths old.
Yet in her shock, she forgot to restrain herself. Her peak Tribulation-Transcending pressure suddenly spread out, turning the faces of the nearby immortal cultivators pale.
She spoke no word and made no move, and no one else dared to stir.
Shangguan Liaoliao stood amidst the crowd, the light breeze swaying the hem of her black robes. The spiritual cloth covering her eyes was tied behind her, its ribbons fluttering.
Decorations of spiritual treasures for the wedding banquet could be seen everywhere, and spiritual lamps shone brightly even in daylight.
The banquet had already begun.
The area before the Qu estate gates, which should have been bustling with activity, was now deathly silent. No one moved.
After a moment.
The shock finally vanished from Shangguan Liaoliao’s face, replaced by a mix of emotions. “You… are actually still alive.”
She didn’t sound joyful, nor did she sound angry.
It was as if she were speaking to An Wuxue, yet it sounded more like a murmur to herself.
An Wuxue stepped forward against her half-step to ascension pressure. Kun Kun tried to follow but was eventually blocked by the invisible barrier of pressure and tumbled backward.
Behind him, Qu Jizhi and Pei Qian—the only ones besides him who didn’t belong to this time—took advantage of Shangguan Liaoliao’s distraction to inconspicuously raise their heads.
Qu Jizhi turned his head and saw the worried look on Pei Qian’s face as he watched An Wuxue. Frowning, he dissatisfactionly grabbed Pei Qian’s head and turned it toward him, forcing him to look.
Within the illusion, Pei Qian wasn’t as reckless as he was and didn’t dare to fight him. He was pulled over like that and said crossly in a low voice, “Are you sick!?”
Qu Jizhi’s face was dark. “Who exactly is he?”
“I don’t know,” Pei Qian said dismissively.
“You’ve been gone for hundreds of years, and you’ve certainly picked up some things I don’t know about,” Qu Jizhi said with a smile. “Well… that’s good.”
He paused and insisted on leaning close to Pei Qian’s ear before adding, “That way, I’ll have a reason to bully you.”
Pei Qian: “???”
Ahead, as An Wuxue came to a stop before Shangguan Liaoliao, he heard her say, “That day I was in North Abyss, later… when I went to Falling Moon Peak, Qin Wei told me your golden body and jade bones were shattered, your soul dispersed, and no remains were left…”
He was stunned for a moment before realizing that by “that day,” she meant the day of his fall in his previous life.
“…Was it Xie Chuhan? Did he truly… achieve a return from death?”
She spoke slower and slower.
An Wuxue shook his head and said nothing.
He asked again, “It’s been five hundred years. Before I fell, you were only one step away from ascension. Why now…?”
His voice was warm and peaceful. Even across the torrent of time, between past and future, he spoke as if he were an ordinary person meeting a stranger, yet also like a companion whose path had once diverged.
But the previously calm Shangguan Liaoliao suddenly raised her voice: “Why?”
She suddenly let out a laugh.
“You’ve lived and died once, and now you stand before me in broad daylight, alive, and you ask me why?”
“An Wuxue.”
An Wuxue was startled.
Immortal Venerable Nan He was originally from North Abyss, and his origins were the same as those of the North Abyss immortal cultivators. Consequently, when Shangguan Liaoliao lost her mother at a young age and had to face a broken North Abyss, Nan He had taken her back to Falling Moon Peak. Although he hadn’t taken her as a disciple, he had brought her to An Wuxue and Xie Zhefeng to be taught alongside them until she reached the Tribulation-Transcending stage and could stand on her own.
Because of this karma, he had always regarded Shangguan Liaoliao as his junior sister.
Normally, she would call him “A-Xue”; in formal settings, she would call him “Brother.”
Now, however, she only repeated his name: “An Wuxue… An, Wu, Xue.”
An Wuxue’s eyelashes trembled. “City Lord Shangguan…”
“The brother I once respected most killed my younger brother, whom I had only just found. When I arrived, the blade of Chun Hua was still in his chest, taking his last breath.”
“I cannot see. But when I opened my spiritual pouch, I could only feel Ran-er’s shattered life plate.”
“—And then you died too. You are all dead.”
She took a deep breath.
“And you ask me why?”
“It’s been five hundred years,” An Wuxue’s voice was slightly hoarse. “I’ve died once already. No matter how great the debt of resentment, it should be settled, shouldn’t it?”
Since Shangguan Liaoliao knew he had died with no remains, shouldn’t she have found relief and let it go?
Why was his being alive not right, and his being dead also not right?
Clang!
The natal sword in Shangguan Liaoliao’s hand left its sheath. She swung the blade out, the metal reflecting the light from the sky.
In a flash of sword light, the sharp blade was at An Wuxue’s throat, the cold metal resting against his neck!
Kun Kun cried out anxiously, “Whine!”
Though the cultivators in the illusion couldn’t hear their conversation, when the City Lord drew her sword, the others naturally followed suit without hesitation!
In an instant, sword lights crossed, and the sounds of blades humming filled the air.
Only Qu Jizhi watched with a frown, and Pei Qian cried out, “Su Xue!”
Faced with ten thousand swords, An Wuxue remained calm, his dark eyes filled with a desolate sorrow.
Chun Hua was not drawn, resting quietly in his hand.
He didn’t feel any killing intent from Shangguan Liaoliao.
An Wuxue allowed her to point the sword at him and remained silent for a long time before saying, “Regarding the events of the past, I’ve told you I’m sorry, and the same applies now—but my apology is because I couldn’t do better. Even if you still don’t believe me or still resent me for killing Shangguan Ran, I truly have died once. You could simply treat it as having gotten your revenge and find some satisfaction in that.”
“You—!”
She seemed to choke for a moment.
“You are still like this…” Shangguan Liaoliao’s tone was even more complex. “How are you liv—”
Just then!
In the Qu estate entrance, a freezing sword light pierced the heavens. In an instant, like falling icicles, a violent wind whipped out, and frost began to form.
Shangguan Liaoliao’s natal sword, which was held against An Wuxue’s neck, was forced back by the Chu Han sword light with irresistible force. Her hand holding the sword went numb, and her whole body shook. Before she could move, the sword pulled her back.
All this happened in the space of a single breath, and Immortal Venerable Chu Han now stood before An Wuxue.
Shangguan Liaoliao finally showed anger: “Xie Chuhan!”
As the brilliance of Chu Han was revealed, the Qu clan cultivators all sheathed their swords and knelt.
“Immortal Venerable!”
In the far distance, the clouds seemed on the verge of collapsing.
The moment Xie Zhefeng took action, the wedding banquet of five hundred years ago could not proceed smoothly. Though he hadn’t triggered the Death Gate’s restrictions, he had affected what was about to happen.
Killing intent was about to manifest, and the illusion was on the verge of collapse.
Pei Qian shouted, “Mr. Jiang is still inside the Qu estate!”
An Wuxue saw that Xie Zhefeng was already preparing to strike the Shangguan Liaoliao of five hundred years ago. If he struck to kill, it wasn’t impossible for him to end her in one blow.
He hurriedly reached out to grab him.
Immortal Venerable Chu Han’s face had been as cold as frost, and from the moment he saw the sword at An Wuxue’s throat, the sharp killing intent in his eyes had not faded.
But the moment An Wuxue touched his sleeve, his gaze softened instantly. “…Senior Brother?”
“Hold her off for a bit,” An Wuxue said, avoiding the look in Xie Zhefeng’s eyes that made his heart feel strangely numb. “If you kill her, the real her will gain the memories of the events surrounding her death. I don’t want the real her to remember what just happened. Besides, Jiang Qing is still inside. As the killing intent of the Death Gate manifests, and given that the Qu clan is an esteemed family with many Tribulation-Transcending experts, if they all lose their reason and start killing, Jiang Qing might not be able to get out safely. I’ll go find him.”
Xie Zhefeng’s eyes darkened, as if he didn’t like An Wuxue going to find Jiang Qing.
But he also knew that he was the only one who could stall Shangguan Liaoliao before killing this fake one.
He could only say, “Alright. Senior Brother…”
He wanted to tell his Senior Brother to come back quickly.
But he was afraid An Wuxue would think he was hindering him again, so the words were swallowed back down.
An Wuxue didn’t have the heart to notice any of this and had already taken to the air, flying into the Qu estate.
Xie Zhefeng’s expression turned solemn. He turned back, and the ordinary spiritual sword imbued with his Chu Han sword energy flew from his hand, heading straight for the Shangguan Liaoliao of five hundred years ago!
The spiritual energy ripples from the clash of two peak Tribulation-Transcending experts spread out, causing sand and stones to fly and clouds to swirl.
An Wuxue had already sent out a “Far Horizon” talisman to find Jiang Qing. The sound transmission talisman had just been opened by the other party. He followed his own aura and spiritual energy ripples and found Jiang Qing before long.
Jiang Qing was standing beside a pond deep within the Qu estate.
This place was nestled deep within the multiple layers of the estate, further in than where the wedding banquet was being held. The pond’s decorations were in a style common during the Immortal Calamity, clearly a place that had existed for a long time, likely where the main Qu family branch resided.
He hadn’t expected Jiang Qing to go so deep to gather information.
But it was also because of this that, with the main branch members out receiving guests, this place was quite safe due to the lack of people.
“Fellow Daoist Jiang.”
Jiang Qing was watching the distant sky slowly collapse. He turned his head upon hearing the call.
He smiled when he saw An Wuxue. “Su Xue, how is everything on your end? I was about to go look for you, but seeing the illusion become unstable, I was worried about affecting something with a reckless move, so I waited here. As expected, you’ve come.”
An Wuxue said, “The illusion is almost over.”
“Did you clash with City Lord Shangguan?”
He nodded, glancing at the five-hundred-year-old pond in front of Jiang Qing. He finally had some leisure to ask, “Why are you hiding here, Fellow Daoist Jiang?”
Jiang Qing laughed. “Mainly because it’s safe. This place seems to have existed since before the Immortal Calamity; it’s so old that few people walk here anymore. Besides, has Su Xue forgotten my origin?”
An Wuxue chuckled.
How could he forget?
But he only said, “You are of the Fetal Spirit race.”
Jiang Qing nodded. “Although I only have a few hundred years of memory, I was actually born a thousand years ago. Seeing ancient places like this always makes me wonder if this is the kind of scenery I should have seen when I first opened my eyes.”
An Wuxue said, “But the past cannot be reclaimed. What is gone is not necessarily good.”
“That is true.”
In the space of their brief conversation, the illusion finally began to collapse completely.
A violent spiritual energy ripple came from the distance—Xie Zhefeng had likely killed the fake Shangguan Liaoliao and was simultaneously breaking the Death Gate illusion by force.
As An Wuxue led Jiang Qing back, everything in the illusion was turning into void. Two Life and Death Gates appeared before Xie Zhefeng, with Qu Jizhi and Pei Qian waiting to the side.
Jiang Qing was slightly surprised. “Why is the young Immortal Master Qu still here?”
Pei Qian coughed. “This fellow is the real one.”
Jiang Qing wasn’t too surprised. “No wonder he looked familiar; it really is the one I know. In that case, there is one matter…”
“Mr. Jiang wants to ask about your being pursued, right?” Qu Jizhi said.
An Wuxue and Xie Zhefeng looked at each other.
Qu Jizhi continued, “Pei Qian asked me about this yesterday. Within the Guan Ye Array, only the creator can leave a guide in advance to move freely through the array. Since the person pursuing you could leave the illusion without going through a gate, they must be the creator’s subordinate.”
“After the trouble in North Abyss, I have also been trapped in this array. It was Pei Qian who told me about the situation of the sword arrays in the other cities. Pei Qian mentioned that someone used a stone to transfer the array patterns from the North Abyss sword array.”
“There are many natural spiritual treasures in this world that can carry runes, but the North Abyss sword array is a massive array that carries great karma to replace the Heavenly Pillars. A spiritual treasure that can bear its patterns must also be an object of great karma.”
“And among those, there is…”
Qu Jizhi paused, but An Wuxue finished for him: “Fetal Stone.”
Fetal stones are born from karmic fire and naturally carry the great karma of the heavenly dao. They are indestructible and can be used to create all things.
Jiang Qing’s expression also turned solemn. “Although I am the only one left of the Fetal Spirit race, there are still many fetal stones in the depths of the Black Sea that have not developed intelligence or whose intelligence has died.”
“When the puppet crisis first began, some people did indeed try to use those fetal stones. But using fetal stones to create puppets requires a cultivation level that is too high, so they gave up. At that time, the City Lord’s manor was already overwhelmed, so the matter came to nothing. I didn’t go looking for those lost fetal stones. Now that you mention it, I forgot that my race can also bear array pattern karma.”
An Wuxue understood.
No wonder it looked familiar.
The stone they had seen in Zhao Duan’s memory back in the Twenty-Seventh City, used to transfer the array’s core, was a fetal stone.
“So they were pursuing Fellow Daoist Jiang because you are the most special fetal stone and would naturally be even more useful…”
Qu Jizhi nodded.
“But speaking of this, I must say that I created the Guan Ye Array not to make some world-shaking array, but merely to satisfy my own selfish desires—”
Pei Qian finally couldn’t help himself: “You’re aware of that!”
Qu Jizhi’s mouth curled into a smile. “I’ve always known.”
Pei Qian: “…”
Qu Jizhi continued: “Consequently, those who enter the array will only be trapped in their own karma. Even if all the souls of the North Abyss First City were caught in the array, they would only encounter those with whom they share deep karma.”
He said solemnly: “For instance, since Pei Qian and I are a match made in heaven, I would encounter you when you entered the array.”
“You’re sick! Who’s a match made in heaven with you!?”
Qu Jizhi continued on his own: “But Pei Qian said Mr. Jiang also met everyone in the array? Pei Qian and I only know Mr. Jiang; we share no deep karma. Could it be that the Immortal Venerable and this…”
He glanced at An Wuxue.
Qu Jizhi had seen everything that happened between An Wuxue and the Shangguan Liaoliao of five hundred years ago. Perhaps having guessed something, he said with a smile: “Of the Immortal Venerable and this Fellow Daoist Su, which one shares a great karma with Mr. Jiang?”
An Wuxue: “…”
The reason he hadn’t mentioned it before was naturally because the dual cultivation was an absurdity that even Xie Zhefeng didn’t want to acknowledge. Now that he knew about the Heartless Curse, it wasn’t something that couldn’t be said.
But while An Wuxue hesitated, Jiang Qing had already spoken: “But I have only met Fellow Daoist Xie and Su Xue once. Perhaps it is because Su Xue and I share an affinity, and thus a great karma in destiny. Isn’t that right, Su Xue?”
An Wuxue: “This—”
Xie Zhefeng suddenly interrupted with a cold face: “This place is about to collapse. All three of you are masters of arrays and karma; have you calculated which gate we can take?”
Meanwhile.
In another illusion.
The woman in black robes held her sword, her expression solemn. The world around her was already a void, and two gates appeared before her.
She was about to step into one of them when she suddenly felt a violent jolt throughout her body—the heart-piercing pain of death by a sword!
She was stunned for a moment.
“…Xie Chuhan is here?”
It was only natural for Immortal Venerable Chu Han to enter North Abyss upon receiving the plea for help.
But she was still a bit surprised.
In the memory she felt, when that fake her died, she seemed to have sensed a familiar aura nearby.
“Familiar” wasn’t quite right; her self from five hundred years ago had never seen it.
Only when the memory entered her current divine soul did she recognize the aura.
It was that cultivation furnace on Falling Moon Peak who had given her a soul-nourishing leaf at the gates of the Frost Sea.
“With North Abyss in such danger, to actually bring a cultivation furnace deep into an ominous array. Xie Chuhan—are you becoming more and more regressive as you live?”