Chapter 92#
Xie Zhefeng’s barrier enveloped them, isolating the past from the present.
The Shangguan Liaoliao of a thousand years ago stood questioning An Wuxue beneath the North Abyss Sword, while everything concerning the Shangguan Liaoliao of a thousand years later was kept within the barrier.
It was as if two threads of time were never meant to cross.
Shangguan Liaoliao’s entire body trembled. Her brow was linked to her soul, and a chaotic blackness had begun to manifest—a sign that an inner demon was about to arise.
Xie Zhefeng’s cold voice rang out at the perfect moment: “Senior Brother remained silent until his death, holding back this tribulation for you for a thousand years. If you fall into it now—”
“Then City Lord Shangguan has truly regressed as she lived.”
Though Immortal Venerable Chu Han was cold and severe, he was usually just a man of few words; it was rare for him to be so sharp.
An Wuxue found it curious and couldn’t help but steal a glance at the man, quietly studying his expression.
But just as he turned his eyes, he was caught by Xie Zhefeng’s gaze, and he hurriedly looked away.
Her back to An Wuxue and Xie Zhefeng, Shangguan Liaoliao’s head was bowed, her shoulders heaving as she forcibly suppressed the initial signs of her inner demon amidst her immense pain.
—Xie Zhefeng was right.
The An Wuxue who had been interrogated by all the cultivators of North Abyss City all those years ago was right before her.
Though he was burdened with ten thousand accusations, he could have clearly stated the truth and left freely, yet he had never breathed a word.
Shangguan Ran had been dead for a thousand years, and she had long ago accepted the curse of her kin’s demise. Yet even now, knowing the truth, she was in such agony.
If she had killed the real Shangguan Ran back then, returned to the sword array with the hope that everything was over, only to immediately find out what she had done…
That imposter was right.
There truly would have been no one left in the world who could save her.
But An Wuxue had buried the truth for a millennium, allowing her at this moment to resist the danger of her Dao heart shattering, even as storms raged within her.
She could not fall into demonhood.
If her Dao heart faltered, not only would she fall into eternal doom, but how could she face An Wuxue’s silence of all those years ago?
Indulging in pain was easy; enduring and bearing it was the true long-term suffering.
Shangguan Liaoliao said to Xie Zhefeng behind her: “Xie Chuhan, once the matters in North Abyss are settled, I want to talk to you about what you have been doing all these years.”
She suddenly understood Xie Zhefeng’s obsession with investigating everything and resurrecting An Wuxue while traveling the two realms for all these years.
There were many regrets in this world, and she remained just a drop in the vast river.
She wanted to as well.
But at this moment, Xie Zhefeng was only looking at An Wuxue with concern.
He also suffered and regretted, but if even he, who hadn’t been present at the time, hated himself, what about his Senior Brother?
He feared An Wuxue’s mind would be in turmoil and watched him anxiously, completely ignoring Shangguan Liaoliao.
Shangguan Liaoliao didn’t say much either.
As the signs of her inner demon were suppressed, the spiritual energy within her meridians surged and then settled, shaking her internal organs and causing her to cough up a mouthful of dark blood.
She wiped it away with her sleeve dismissively and slowly stood up.
An Wuxue said suddenly: “The array core has appeared.”
He had been waiting for any unusual activity in the illusion.
To Xie Zhefeng, the past was a truth to be sought; to Shangguan Liaoliao, it was an unbearable reality. But to him, it was merely something he was seeing for a second time.
Snapping out of his daze, he focused on the heart of the illusion and saw the end point of the array patterns’ spiritual energy flow.
That was…
Xie Zhefeng seemed to have realized it as well, but he said nothing.
Shangguan Liaoliao asked him tonelessly: “Where?”
“I—”
An Wuxue almost said: On me.
He nearly let it slip, catching himself and changing his words: “I think it’s on An Wuxue.”
“On him… what do you mean?”
After asking, Shangguan Liaoliao’s expression changed first.
She understood.
Xie Zhefeng’s expression was also exceptionally unsightly.
—To break the Guan Ye Array, one must completely destroy its heart.
The array core was the An Wuxue from a thousand years ago, who was being questioned by Shangguan Liaoliao and condemned by everyone beneath the North Abyss Sword.
Did that not mean…
Shangguan Liaoliao had just seen the truth behind Shangguan Ran’s death, and now she had to strike and kill the An Wuxue who was in such a position!?
An Wuxue found it almost laughable.
The person behind Qu Wenxin was truly a talent. To think they could come up with such a cruel trick?
That person was truly skilled in the twisted and dark ways of the human heart.
No wonder the mastermind had only briefly attempted to hinder them and then given up upon realizing they couldn’t be stopped.
The person behind this probably thought—they might not be able to break the array at this point!
An Wuxue finally felt a sense of curiosity.
Sooner or later, he would have to meet this person who was stirring up such a storm.
“Immortal Venerable, City Lord, I am only at the early stage of the Tribulation-Transcending realm. I truly cannot handle such an array core.”
His cultivation had not yet returned to its peak, and his divine sense was only slightly superior. The hope of defeating his past self in a short time was slim.
Only the current Xie Zhefeng and Shangguan Liaoliao could kill the him of that time.
Shangguan Liaoliao naturally knew that it was only a phantom of the past.
The lives of North Abyss were the priority. In an instant, she summoned her natal sword, spiritual energy surging around its blade.
But as she was about to strike, her entire body stiffened, and her hand holding the sword trembled. She could not bring herself to swing it.
Why did it have to be this moment?
Why did it have to be the very moment when she didn’t believe An Wuxue?
If the brother of that time saw her drawing her sword…
Her heart was like a raging sea, and the pain in her chest was immense. She didn’t dare think about it!
Xie Zhefeng’s brow was even more tightly knit.
Even if it was a fake—he had already caused his Senior Brother’s death once!
How could he let the Chu Han sword light enter “An Wuxue’s” life gate again!?
This thought had only just surfaced when his recurring inner demons seized the opportunity, trying to take over his mind.
Seeing this, An Wuxue urged: “Immortal Venerable.”
“Master Su.”
Shangguan Liaoliao seemed to have realized something and suddenly said to him: “Xie Chuhan will not strike, and he cannot strike. If he truly strikes A-Xue, then his eight hundred years of suffering in seclusion will have been for nothing.”
She gave a bitter smile.
“The villain set the array core on my brother back then. At the end of the day, it’s my sins that have brought us to this.”
“Whoever’s sin it is shall bear it. Regardless, this array shall be broken by me.”
An Wuxue thought she was going to strike and kill his past self.
He was about to step back to observe the state of the array as it broke, to prevent any accidents.
But Shangguan Liaoliao asked Xie Zhefeng: “All the souls of North Abyss are in the array. The Guan Ye Array is just the appetizer; that person must have a follow-up move. Once the array is broken, I fear I will have no strength left to fight. Have you brought people?”
An Wuxue was somewhat confused—at that point in time, he had just finished setting up the array with all his effort and was physically and mentally exhausted by Shangguan Ran’s death. For Shangguan Liaoliao to kill him with her peak half-step to ascension cultivation, though not easy, surely shouldn’t leave her without strength to fight?
Xie Zhefeng finally responded to her: “The Falling Moon experts and my immortal body are already waiting outside the North Abyss barrier.”
“Good!”
She stepped out of the concealment barrier.
She walked slowly toward the An Wuxue of a thousand years ago.
The people in the illusion were stunned to see a second City Lord Shangguan appear out of nowhere.
Even the “Shangguan Liaoliao” of that time was dazed.
But Shangguan Liaoliao ignored everyone and knelt directly before the An Wuxue of that time.
“Brother.”
Both “An Wuxue” and An Wuxue looked blank.
His past self couldn’t understand why two Shangguan Liaoliaos appeared at once, and his current self didn’t understand the meaning of her actions.
Without using any spiritual energy for protection, Shangguan Liaoliao bowed her head to him three times in the highest gesture of respect.
“I know ‘you’ are completely unguarded against me right now. For me to strike now would be the best course of action, but I…”
I cannot bring myself to do it.
“To not fail North Abyss and not harm ‘you,’ there is only one path left.”
“This path is what I deserve.”
The sky began to tremble.
“An Wuxue’s” expression changed, as if he were beginning to lose his reason.
The progression of the illusion was interrupted by Shangguan Liaoliao’s appearance. The Death Gate shifted, killing intent manifested, and the array core was about to vanish.
The real An Wuxue was behind them, wanting nothing to do with this display and wishing he could pull his past self away.
He frowned: “What is she doing?”
He gripped the hilt of Chun Hua.
If Shangguan Liaoliao couldn’t bring herself to kill his past self, he would do it himself!
In the next instant—
Shangguan Liaoliao rose with her sword, but the blade wasn’t pointed at the An Wuxue of the past; she drove it directly into the ground!
At the moment the illusion collapsed, spiritual energy erupted from her body, surging through the blade into the illusion.
Her body shook violently several times, and her natal sword trembled fiercely.
Xie Zhefeng hurriedly reinforced the barrier, shielding An Wuxue behind him.
An Wuxue brushed aside Xie Zhefeng’s hand and stood alone to the side.
He murmured: “She isn’t killing ‘me.’ Is she planning to use her soul to merge into the illusion and seize the array core at the moment the illusion collapses and the core tries to escape?”
In front of him, Xie Zhefeng gave a soft “Mm.”
Shangguan Liaoliao chose to break the Death Gate directly with brute force. The world collapsed faster and faster, reaching them in a few breaths.
At the moment “An Wuxue” dissipated.
Blood suddenly burst from her orifices, her face turning as white as paper, as she coughed up several mouthfuls of blood!
In that instant, she seemed to have been stripped of most of her lifespan and vital energy, no longer showing her previous sharp and upright posture.
Everything around them shook, making them feel dizzy.
Having experienced several Life and Death Gates, An Wuxue knew what the collapse of an illusion felt like.
This was no ordinary collapse.
The Guan Ye Array was broken!
He was slightly stunned, find it almost laughable.
He said helplessly: “It was only a false bubble. Why bother risking damage to her soul and body to pursue the array core’s traces at the moment of collapse instead of just killing him?”
Xie Zhefeng turned his head.
“If she had been indecisive, I would have done the same.”
An Wuxue was even more confused.
“Why? Because you didn’t want to strike ‘me’? Immortal Venerable, she doesn’t know, but don’t you? I am standing right here, knowing perfectly well that he was a fake me. No matter which of you killed him, it would have no effect on the real present, nor would it make any difference to me.”
“Similarly—your unwillingness to strike because of your conscience makes no difference to the me of now either.”
Xie Zhefeng’s face turned pale.
Those words applied to Shangguan Liaoliao, but also to him.
The array was shattering.
The illusion fell like crumbling stones, yet like phantoms, they struck no one.
Shangguan Liaoliao’s figure also blended into the void.
The vast torrent of time poured out like a burst dam.
The Guan Ye Array was broken.
An Wuxue felt light flickering around him, and his soul swayed.
When he regained his senses, he was still within the First City, beneath the North Abyss Sword.
But with a casual sweep of his divine sense, he discovered many puppets wandering about. Mortals within their homes were still sleeping, and many cultivators were gradually appearing.
This was the real North Abyss First City!
The mortals trapped in the array had no deep karma; it was just a dream they had yet to wake from.
The living immortal cultivators were emerging from the array one after another.
High above, the barrier shrouding North Abyss was dissolving!
But Xie Zhefeng was gone.
His immortal body was outside North Abyss. At the moment the array broke, Shangguan Liaoliao was seriously injured and could no longer maintain the barrier. Xie Zhefeng had likely gone to switch back to his original body.
He was about to spread his divine sense further to look for any trace of the one who set up the array.
Suddenly, a ripple of spiritual energy appeared beside him, and Shangguan Liaoliao fell to the ground on one knee, her body swaying and blood still on her face.
An Wuxue only gave a casual glance.
The karma in the illusion had not only caused a major shift in Shangguan Liaoliao’s mind, but he himself had also understood much.
Previously, he hadn’t fully let go, which was why he still felt like the First Seat of Falling Moon who needed to help North Abyss, giving the leaf and questioning the heart.
After seeing the past again with his own eyes, he saw clearly his own limitations back then.
Shangguan Liaoliao felt as if the past had fallen upon her like a heavy weight, but he instead felt the past was over and he was light.
There had never been a more relaxed moment for him.
He wanted to find Jiang Qing and Pei Qian and investigate the current situation in the First City.
But Shangguan Liaoliao called out to him: “Master Su.”
“…Yes?”
Her voice was very weak: “Between you and Xie Chuhan… you don’t seem like people who are close. If you are unwilling, I can help you stay away from him.”
An Wuxue sneered.
Was she trying to help him because he looked like “An Wuxue”?
“The Immortal Venerable and I are indeed not as you think, but I have my own ways for my own affairs. I cannot afford the debt of City Lord Shangguan’s kindness, so let’s leave it at that.”
“You—”
Just then!
Atop a mountain peak on the outskirts of the First City, a massive, thick black cloud suddenly formed, with thick turbid energy rolling beneath it!
The cloud expanded instantly, covering the entire First City in a moment.
The immortal cultivators who had just emerged from the array all looked up in shock.
A formless pressure descended, like a colorless haze.
Shangguan Liaoliao’s already pale face turned even more unsightly: “This is!?”
“An ascension tribulation cloud,” An Wuxue also stared at the spot in disbelief. “A Turbid Immortal’s ascension tribulation cloud…”