Bu Wei

“Wen Heshen!” Wen Zaiye, feeling countless strange young divine souls continuously transforming into nutrients to repair his own divine soul, turned pale, “Stop it now!”

Using living souls to repair dead souls is a great taboo of evil arts, against the Heavenly Way!

Wen Heshen sneered, “Won’t stop. I’ve been raising these wastes for so many years, just for today!”

Wen Zaiye exclaimed in shock and anger, “They are all living people! They are your disciples!”

“So what?” Wen Heshen looked at Ning Buwei, “He has committed countless evils, isn’t he still living well!? The Heavenly Way is unfair, I’d rather be a villain!”

Wen Heshen laughed loudly, but there was no laughter in his eyes, “My brother is dead, why are you still alive!? Why are you living so happily!? You’re not worth it! Ning Buwei, you’re not worthy!”

Ning Buwei held Ning Xiu in one hand. The child was soft and lay in his arms, motionless and quiet. His breath was barely noticeable. A faint green light emanated from his swaddling clothes, reluctantly protecting his divine soul, preventing his already unstable three souls and seven spirits from immediately dispersing.

That was a small leaf left to Ning Xiu by Yan Lanpei. Ning Xiu liked it very much, and it even occupied a place in his sea of consciousness.

Ning Buwei quickly drew a soul-soothing symbol for Ning Xiu, but he couldn’t apply it to him. Instead, the green light became a little weaker.

“It’s useless! I told you, using spiritual power will only make him be refined faster!” Wen Heshen’s eyes sharpened, and the Xianfeng Sword rushed towards Ning Buwei, “You care so much about this child, why not die with him!”

The Suzaku knife blocked it, but because there was no spiritual power to support it, it was forced to retreat step by step. It broke into four pieces again. Ning Buwei rolled on the spot with Ning Xiu in his arms, and the sword light brushed past his hair, leaving a blood mark on his face.

“How many people in the entire Xun Prefecture died because of your Ning family! How many innocent people have you implicated by being alive!?” Wen Heshen gritted his teeth and said, “You’re nothing more than a surviving stray dog!”

“Your teachers and friends are all dead, your clan is extinct, you’re originally a star of disaster, and you still dare to hope for close relatives by your side!?” Wen Heshen stepped closer and closer, sneering at Ning Xiu in Ning Buwei’s arms.

Ning Buwei’s face sank, and he gripped the remaining handle of the Suzaku knife tightly.

Wen Heshen seemed to have predicted that he would not dare to resist, and his attack became more and more fierce. The long sword pointed directly at his heart, intending to cut down this father and son under the sword.

Clang!

The four pieces of the Suzaku knife reassembled into a narrow knife, just blocking Ning Xiu in front.

Ning Buwei held the knife handle in one hand, a deep red spreading in his eyes as he looked at Wen Heshen with a gloomy gaze, “How I do things is none of your business!”

The Suzaku narrow knife suddenly erupted with a thick black fog, tightly strangling Wen Heshen’s Xianfeng Sword.

That was not spiritual power at all!

“Impossible! How can you without using spiritual power—” Wen Heshen’s face changed drastically, “You actually used your own divine consciousness!”

Divine consciousness was similar to the living soul, it was the foundation of cultivation, and was generally well nurtured by cultivators in the sea of consciousness. Not to mention tearing it off to drive the knife, even a slight careless loss could cause the cultivator to suffer unbearable pain. No cultivator dared to rashly move their own divine consciousness. Once moved, it would damage the foundation, and it would be as difficult as ascending to heaven to replenish it.

“You madman!” Wen Heshen shouted angrily.

Ning Buwei flipped his wrist holding the knife, the narrow knife drew a chilling arc in the air, the wailing sound of the fierce ghost suddenly amplified, shadowing Wen Heshen tightly.

“Otherwise, how could I, a stray dog, have survived to this day?” Ning Buwei showed a ferocious smile on his face, the Suzaku narrow knife continuously aimed at his death point, countless black fog like viscous substance tightly entwined Wen Heshen’s Xianfeng Sword, after a sharp ghost howl, it actually twisted the Xianfeng Sword into pieces.

The broken sword refracted the morning glow, reflecting in Wen Heshen’s astonished eyes.

“I didn’t want you to know—” Ning Buwei controlled countless fierce ghosts to tear at Wen Heshen’s limbs, and said coldly, “But you shouldn’t have touched my son.”

Ning Buwei admitted to himself that he might not have deep feelings for Ning Xiu. All in all, this little thing had only been in his hands for a little over a month, which was not as long as the time he spent sitting casually.

But he had managed to raise this little thing with great difficulty. He could eat, defecate, sleep, and occasionally throw a tantrum at him. Yet as a result, he was almost refined by Wen Heshen in a moment of carelessness.

He didn’t even think about refining the little thing when his own Dantian was shattered, but he didn’t expect that it had been targeted by others long ago.

Thinking of this, Ning Buwei’s eyes were full of murderous intent.

No matter whether Ning Xiu was his son or a Linglong bone, once he fell into his hands, he was his, and no one was allowed to touch him.

Wen Heshen sneered, “Ha, your son? He is just a demon formed by a Linglong bone, he can’t even be considered a human!”

Ning Buwei’s expression turned cold, not wanting to waste words with him anymore, he was about to tear his divine soul out, but he heard Wen Zaiye suddenly shout at him, “Chengfeng!”

Ning Buwei paused, but did not look back at him.

“Xiao He, he—” Before Wen Zaiye could finish his sentence, his body suddenly felt a severe pain, dark green blood seeped from his skin, and the whole person collapsed to the ground, making a muffled noise.

Ning Buwei turned his head abruptly.

Unexpectedly, at this moment, Wen Heshen, who had been restrained by him, had a golden light in his eyebrows, and he slapped Ning Buwei’s shoulder with one hand, and grabbed into his arms with the other hand. Ning Buwei used his divine consciousness on his own, and his action was indeed two points slower, allowing him to directly grab Ning Xiu.

His gaze sharpened, but he saw Wen Heshen holding Ning Xiu and threatening, “If you dare to take another step forward, I will crush him!”

At the same time.

In Ning Xiu’s sea of consciousness.

Chu Jun looked at a group of small divine consciousness that was about to disperse, and frowned.

The little one’s breath was weak, his eyes tightly closed, curled up in the swaddling clothes. His three souls and seven spirits were barely protected by a green leaf, but the spiritual power of that leaf was rapidly decreasing, and this small bundle of divine consciousness was about to disperse.

During this time, his son’s divine consciousness had been very quiet, but it was his other father who had caused trouble in his own sea of consciousness. Chu Jun originally wanted to pass through his son’s sea of consciousness to catch that restless guy, and find the mark left by the other party by any means. However, as soon as he entered, he saw this tragic scene.

The little one was in a critical condition. Chu Jun covered him with his own spiritual power and added a few layers of protective spells. Unexpectedly, the situation did not improve but worsened, and the divine consciousness dispersed even faster.

Although he had little research on formations, after some investigation, Chu Jun also found out that the child was in some kind of evil formation. Thinking back to how his son’s father had rushed to pluck his own spiritual power, even tearing off a piece of divine consciousness, it was clear that their situation must be very critical.

Chu Jun held the child’s divine consciousness in his arms, and with his other hand, he twisted a half piece of black sleeve cloth, looking down at Ning Xiu, “Just right, you come with me.”

The child’s divine consciousness was too weak, and it was safer to go to his sea of consciousness than to go far away.

He left a trace of his divine consciousness in Ning Xiu’s sea of consciousness. The cloth in his hand emitted a soft glow, and in the next instant, the father and son fell into a completely unfamiliar sea of consciousness space.

As Chu Jun expected, when he held Ning Xiu’s divine consciousness, the other’s sea of consciousness did not realize that there was a living person invading, and Ning Xiu’s divine consciousness no longer dispersed. Instead, it began to spontaneously absorb the surrounding spiritual power to solidify the divine consciousness and soul, and then he lazily opened his eyes.

“Ah~” As soon as Ning Xiu opened his eyes, he saw Bai Bai mother, and weakly called out to him, like a sick little kitten.

Mother~ Tummy hurts~

Seeing his pale little face, Chu Jun reached out and touched his chubby cheek, his voice low and gentle, “Don’t be afraid.”

Ning Xiu blinked, his small mouth pouted, and he hummed in grievance.

He had been so uncomfortable before, and even though he had been calling his father, he had been ignored. He was so uncomfortable that he could only sleep, being a strong little boy. But now that he was held in Bai Bai’s arms, he felt aggrieved again. Despite his discomfort, he didn’t forget to act coquettishly towards Bai Bai.

Chu Jun used his spiritual power to pinch out a small bun and stuffed it into his arms. Ning Xiu naturally held the small bun and started to gnaw on it.

Sweet~

After comforting his son, Chu Jun raised his head to look at the environment in the sea of consciousness.

Having lived for so many years, he had seen quite a few seas of consciousness, but this was the first time he had seen someone create a sea of consciousness so….bleak.

Above the sea of consciousness was oppressive and gloomy gray, as far as the eye could see, there were broken walls and countless dead trees. The color was like dark blood, and underfoot was scorched and cracked soil. Amidst the black fog, a howling and chilling wind was rampant.

The dull gray and dark red intertwined, clearly a very vast space, but standing in it alone made people feel breathless.

When cultivators cultivate their divine and spiritual consciousness in the sea of consciousness, they would always arrange the sea of consciousness to be more comfortable. He didn’t like complexity, even a simple white was fine. Even Ning Xiu, a little baby who didn’t understand things, knew to copy his favorite things into the sea of consciousness, simply for the sake of happiness.

The last time Ning Xiu came to his father’s sea of consciousness, it left an indelible shadow on his young mind. Now, as soon as he saw it, he immediately twisted his butt and drilled into Chu Jun’s arms.

Father is always fierce, and even the house is fierce.

He still didn’t know what the sea of consciousness was, he only knew that his mother’s place was white, his place was full of his favorite things, but his father’s place was very scary. Although he was afraid, he was more worried about his father. He really wanted to pull him from the gray house to his own cute and interesting little house.

If it really doesn’t work, going to Bai Bai’s house is also okay.

Ning Xiu hummed in his arms, Chu Jun patted his back, and the small half of the black sleeve in his hand floated in mid-air, guiding him.

It’s not easy to find the real divine consciousness in the vast sea of consciousness, but this sleeve was transformed by the other’s divine consciousness, and it would spontaneously find the main body, but it would take more time.

What Chu Jun lacked the least was patience.

****

Ning Buwei hated being threatened by others the most in his life.

The Suzaku narrow knife in his hand flashed with a cold light, and the fine black fog extended to Wen Heshen’s feet in an instant. Wen Heshen saw this and was about to exert force, but he was far slower than the speed of the black fog. In a half instant, his wrist was in severe pain, and the child in his hand was about to fall directly to the ground. The Suzaku narrow knife flew out of Ning Buwei’s hand, pierced through the swaddling clothes, and firmly inserted into a piece of broken maple wood.

The swaddling clothes holding Ning Xiu swayed in the cold wind, hanging on the back of the knife.

“Child ah ah ah ah——” Feng Zizhang, who happened to be at Duanchang Cliff, saw this thrilling scene and immediately screamed in horror. He ran over to catch Ning Xiu, fearing that the cloth of the swaddling clothes would break and the child would fall out.

Jiang Yizheng was also shocked, and hurriedly went to pull out the narrow knife inserted into the maple wood. Fortunately, she was very strong, and with a grit of her teeth, she pulled out the Suzaku narrow knife.

Feng Zizhang held Ning Xiu tightly and stood up. As soon as he looked up, he saw his master and Ning Buwei fighting fiercely. Both sides were in a desperate posture, and he didn’t know who to persuade for a while, “Master! Senior!”

Jiang Yizheng, with sharp eyes, saw Wen Zaiye fall to the ground and hurriedly ran over to help him. However, as soon as she touched him, she was covered with green blood, and she was so scared that she sat on the ground.

“Don’t touch him!” Wen Heshen roared angrily.

Jiang Yizheng shivered.

Wen Zaiye, who was helped up by her, covered his mouth, but the dark green blood still seeped out from between his fingers.

Wen Heshen staggered back a step, looking at Wen Zaiye incredulously, “Impossible, I had everything arranged, how could it fail!? One hundred and eight disciples’ living souls who were born on the same day as you to supplement, and the Linglong bone that reshaped the root bone was also in the formation, why did it fail!?”

“Master, my senior brothers——” Feng Zizhang, who was holding Ning Xiu and ran over, happened to hear his words, and was stunned on the spot, “Master, what are you talking about…..what one hundred and eight… disciples…”

Wen Heshen turned his head sharply to look at him, his eyes full of astonishment, “Why are you still alive!?”

“Huh?” Feng Zizhang looked at his always respected master with a dazed face, and said hesitantly, “I…I’ve been alive all the time.”

“I know! It must be because one of the one hundred and eight disciples was missing you!” Wen Heshen’s killing intent appeared instantly, and he reached out to strangle Feng Zizhang’s neck, but his body was torn by the black fog and he couldn’t move.

“Let go of me!” Wen Heshen looked at Ning Buwei with a frantic expression, “I was clearly successful! I could have succeeded! My brother was almost revived!”

He stared at Feng Zizhang with murderous intent, and asked viciously, “You have been planted with the Heart Confusion Seed in your body, why didn’t you die!?”

Feng Zizhang held Ning Xiu and took two steps back, suddenly feeling a chill all over his body, “Master, what are you talking about….what Heart Confusion Seed? My senior brothers and sisters died because——”

“You should have died! You are all orphans with no homes. If it weren’t for me bringing you back to the Thirteenth Peak, how could you possibly have lived until now!” Wen Heshen’s eyes were blood red, “You are alive just to revive my brother! Why didn’t you die!?”

He seemed unable to accept that his perfect plan was ruined by a stupid and unremarkable disciple. The way he looked at Feng Zizhang was as if he wanted to eat him.

Ning Buwei grabbed his collar and lifted him up, his gaze fierce, and he punched Wen Heshen in the face.

“Even if he died, you wouldn’t succeed.” Ning Buwei stared at him coldly, “The Heart Confusion Seed doesn’t work on him, and even if Ning Xingyuan personally performed the Rejuvenation Array——”

“It can’t revive anyone at all.”

As soon as these words came out, the surroundings fell silent for a moment.

Wen Heshen raised his head to look at him, “What do you mean? What does it mean that Ning Xingyuan can’t revive anyone!?”

“It means that those who are dead, their fate is already determined.” Wen Zaiye was helped up by Jiang Yizheng, smiled slightly to thank her, and then looked at Wen Heshen, his gentle eyes full of sadness, “Xiao He, I’m already dead, no matter how unwilling you are…..I can’t come back to life, but you have killed so many people in vain.”

“Impossible!” Wen Heshen exclaimed in shock, “Ning Xingyuan saved so many people with the Rejuvenation Array back then! The demon vine in Linjiang City also revived the people of the whole city!”

Wen Zaiye was just speaking based on his own feelings, but he didn’t know what the truth was. He looked at Ning Buwei.

“Otherwise, why do you think that the Xun Prefecture was completely wiped out back then?” Ning Buwei tugged at the corner of his mouth and sneered.

Wen Heshen’s face showed a variety of expressions, but in the end, they all turned into resentment, “No! You must be lying to me! You’re all lying to me! I was…I was so close to success!”

“What would success bring?” Wen Zaiye slowly walked up to him, his life force rapidly draining away, his face as pale as paper, “Xiao He, don’t be stubborn anymore. The brotherhood between you and me was destined to be just those ten years. For the rest of the time, you should learn to…move forward alone.”

“Why only ten years! Why!?” Wen Heshen’s eyes were blood red, as if he had returned to being the ten-year-old child from five hundred years ago, stubbornly demanding an answer from his elder brother, “Why can others live for hundreds or thousands of years, but you only lived for sixteen years? Clearly…clearly you’re so much better than them… why? Why? Wen Zaiye, tell me!”

“I don’t know either.” Wen Zaiye slowly said.

Wen Heshen looked at him in a daze, his expression lost. “You don’t know?”

Wen Zaiye gave a bitter smile, “Xiao He, I’m not…omniscient.”

Just like the ten-year-old child who carried his elder brother’s corpse around in the maple forest all night, only to find that Qingfeng Pavilion was close at hand, he had been seeking an answer for five hundred years, but all he got was a “I don’t know.”

He had racked his brains, gone through hardships, and made so many efforts, only to find that the answer had been by his side all along. His previous unwillingness and resentment were nothing more than losing his way.

Wen Heshen looked at Wen Zaiye unwillingly, “I won’t let you die again, absolutely not!”

The black fog tightened instantly, causing the overly agitated person to faint.

So-called stubbornness.

Wen Zaiye shook his head, unable to bear to look at him any longer. A piece of broken knife was added to his blood-stained palm, “Chengfeng.”

Ning Buwei reached out his hand, and a blood-stained piece of the Suzaku broken knife was placed in his hand.

Wen Zaiye smiled, “Aren’t you going to take another look at me?”

Ning Buwei raised his head to look at him expressionlessly, still the youthful appearance in his memory.

“Although I was in a state of chaos at the time, I vaguely remember that someone brought this broken knife to Xiao He. This broken knife seems to have some connection with the Rejuvenation Technique, but I can’t remember clearly.” Wen Zaiye said, “That person seemed to have more than one piece in his hand. If you go to find it again, you need to be extra careful.”

Ning Buwei nodded.

“Chengfeng, you have a child now.” Wen Zaiye’s gaze fell on Ning Xiu, who was being held by Feng Zizhang, his expression apologetic, “I apologize to you on behalf of Xiao He, he shouldn’t have targeted the child.”

“It has nothing to do with you.” Ning Buwei clenched the piece of the Suzaku broken knife in his hand, paused, and said, “If you want to——”

“Do you still remember the first lesson Hao Zheng taught us?” Wen Zaiye interrupted him.

Ning Buwei was silent for a moment, then said, “I remember.”

“In the path of cultivation, life and death are predestined, don’t force it.” Wen Zaiye seemed to be relieved, “Chengfeng, it’s good that you’re cultivating the Ruthless Path.”

So you won’t be like Xiao He, unable to let go and stubborn.

The large formation laid down by Wen Heshen lost the support of the formation master and finally slowly disappeared. The elders of the other peaks of Yunzhong Sect noticed the anomaly of the Thirteenth Peak and rushed over.

“You have one day left.” Ning Buwei said calmly to him.

“One day is enough.” Wen Zaiye gave him a gentle smile, “Xiao He has made a mistake, he should be punished. I will explain clearly to the people of Yunzhong Sect, and also say goodbye to Xiao He properly.”

Ning Buwei had no objections. He was silent for a long time before he finally spoke, “Thank you for what happened back then.”

The friendship of their youth, the life-and-death bond, now seemed indifferent when brought up, as if the heart-wrenching guilt and pain had faded with the passage of time, leaving no trace.

His youthful friend seemed to see through it all and laughed sincerely, “Even if I had to do it again, I would still save you.”

“If it were me, you would also risk your life.”

“Chengfeng, I have never regretted saving you.”

In front of Duanchang Cliff, the morning sun broke through the clouds, and the sky was filled with rosy clouds.

****

The next day.

Ning Buwei, holding Ning Xiu, stood at the foot of the mountain gate of the Yunzhong Sect.

Jiang Yizheng, carrying her own baggage, stood not far from him and whispered, “Senior, should we wait for Senior Wen Zaiye?”

“No need.” Ning Buwei glanced at her indifferently, “Are you sure you want to follow me?”

Jiang Yizheng’s eyes sparkled, and she nodded seriously, “I want to learn from you! You will be my father from now on!”

Ning Buwei turned and walked away.

Jiang Yizheng hurriedly followed, “Senior, I was wrong! I can worship you as my master! Doesn’t necessarily have to be a father!”

Ning Buwei quickened his pace.

But he heard a familiar voice behind them, “Senior——”

The two turned to look.

Feng Zizhang, holding his sword, ran over panting, “Wait for me! Wait for me!”

Ning Buwei glanced at the baggage on his back and immediately felt a headache, “What’s the matter?”

“Thirteenth Peak…..I’m the only inner disciple left, the elders of the other peaks don’t want to take me because they think my aptitude is mediocre——” Feng Zizhang’s eyes were still swollen, obviously he had cried all night, “Can I…Can I follow you?”

Ning Buwei: “…..”

“I think if I follow you around for training, I might be able to learn some skills to bring back, I have no future staying at Thirteenth Peak…”

Feng Zizhang was listing his reasons non-stop, but when he looked up, the people had already walked far away.

“Senior! Senior, wait for me!”

Ning Buwei put the fifth piece of the Suzaku broken knife into his storage ring, holding the still unconscious Ning Xiu in his arms, turned his head to look back, but saw the mountains hidden in the clouds.

On Duanchang Cliff, a young man in a green shirt looked down, the countless maple forests were as red as fire, and the colorful forests covered the mountains.

The friend who had been separated by life and death had finally completed this farewell that had been delayed for a hundred years.

Outside the mountain gate, the road was long and winding, the three figures gradually became blurry dots in the distance, disappearing in the bleak autumn wind.