The Jiaosi spirit bird was able to understand human speech.
Little Yellow Soybean heard Lu Xiaochan’s words and poked its head out, but seeing those people approaching aggressively, it withdrew its head again, curling up into a ball of fur.
Lu Xiaochan became angry. “You useless little thing! When I first picked you up, I should have roasted you!”
After speaking, Lu Xiaochan freed one hand and flicked the bottom of the grass basket, sending a burst of spiritual energy that launched the young Jiaosi bird into the sky.
The young bird spread its wings, hovering in the sky.
Lu Xiaochan used the Qingyuan Spell to hold these people in the main courtyard, and he shouted. “I know you have a conscience! If you meet good people in the future, please help them! If they’re bad people who bully you and treat you poorly, then ignore them! Let out a fart and suffocate them!”
As soon as he finished speaking, his Qingyuan Spell was broken by them.
Countless mystic swords came rushing in. Although Lu Xiaochan reacted quickly and cast another spell, while he could block the swords themselves, he couldn’t block the sword energy. He was sent flying and coughed up blood.
He knew his elixir core had been injured, and he probably couldn’t cast any more spells to stop them.
Sect Master Chen couldn’t hold back anymore and didn’t want Lu Xiaochan interfering further. His sword flew forward, aiming to pierce through Lu Xiaochan’s core sea.
The young Jiaosi bird’s eyes widened as it watched this scene. Suddenly its eyes turned crimson red, and it dove down like a sharp blade, piercing into Sect Master Chen’s head from above.
Sect Master Chen died instantly, his eyeballs nearly bursting out.
Lu Xiaochan had closed his eyes waiting for the pain of his chest being pierced, but what he heard instead was the sound of swords falling to the ground.
When he opened his eyes, he saw the young Jiaosi bird burst out of Sect Master Chen’s body and pierce into the bodies of others.
“Little Yellow Soybean—”
He propped himself up with one hand, as the Jiaosi bird moved like a scythe cutting through the sky, causing immortal sect disciples to fall wherever it went.
Then, it flew in front of Lu Xiaochan, and though it was only as big as a palm, it spread its wings to shield him.
Lu Xiaochan’s consciousness was blurry, and he reached out wanting to pet the young bird.
“Little Yellow Soybean… how did you get so big…”
He coughed once, spitting out another mouthful of fresh blood.
It was then that he realized Little Yellow Soybean must have witnessed its parents being killed, wandered lonely in the dark night, and was finally picked up by Lu Xiaochan. Now it was witnessing Lu Xiaochan being surrounded and attacked by everyone while trying to protect it, his life hanging by a thread.
It was angry, terrified, unwilling, and it hated all those who wanted to kill it!
At this moment when Lu Xiaochan was nearly dead, it finally erupted!
It wanted revenge!
Revenge against those who killed its parents!
It had received warm care from Lu Xiaochan, so it also wanted revenge against those who hurt Lu Xiaochan!
Its screech was sharp and frenzied!
Anyone who rushed forward was torn apart by its hatred-filled bites.
Lu Xiaochan clenched his fist.
This couldn’t continue.
This mustn’t go on any longer.
If Little Yellow Soybean harbored hatred, not only would it never be able to save anyone again, but the hatred would also make it more lonely and suffering!
Lu Xiaochan stretched out his hand, wanting to pat its head.
But he couldn’t reach it, couldn’t reach it at all.
Was there any way to drive out the evil spirit from its body… to let it regain clarity and freedom?
Suddenly, a page of medical spells from the Tailing Pavilion appeared in Lu Xiaochan’s mind, the spell text rising and falling gently, clear as if it could reflect the most beautiful state of all things in the world.
“Little Yellow Soybean… turn around and look at me…”
The Jiaosi bird flew back, covered in filthy blood.
It shook its head, flinging away all the blood stains, and lowered its head to nuzzle Lu Xiaochan’s outstretched hand.
Lu Xiaochan’s blood touched the spot between the young Jiaosi bird’s eyes.
In an instant, it seemed as if all things borrowed a trace of spiritual energy, forming a great spell that encircled the young Jiaosi bird.
“Little Yellow Soybean… from now on… you will no longer hate… because I will take your hatred away for you…”
Lu Xiaochan’s vision gradually blurred. His body bore the Jiaosi’s hatred – for every bit it hated, a deep bloody mark was left on Lu Xiaochan’s body.
The young Jiaosi bird frantically nuzzled Lu Xiaochan, licking his wounds. Then it understood that all of its hatred would be inflicted on Lu Xiaochan’s body. The more it cared for Lu Xiaochan, the more it could not continue to hate.
Until its crimson red eyes gradually turned into clear fluorescent blue, Lu Xiaochan collapsed.
This was the supreme medical spell of the Tailing Pavilion – the Tailing Clearance Great Spell.
Something from nothing, nothing becomes something, one thought gives birth to ten thousand thoughts.
If you have boundless obsessions, I will bear them for you.
Above the Wuyi Jingtian, Yang Cang was in deep meditation, with a small blue bird perched on his shoulder.
The blue bird had its eyes closed, curled up into a small ball against his neck.
The bird’s master was not skilled in soul-concentrating techniques, and it was about to dissipate. Yang Cang slowly opened his eyes, looked at it, and touched it with a trace of spiritual energy from his fingertip to stabilize the small blue bird.
But the small blue bird still disappeared.
Yang Cang’s fingertip remained there, as if realizing something.
He raised his finger and summoned his sword, thrusting it into the Sword-Releasing Stone to help him suppress the Wuyi Sword Sea.
Turning around, he leaped down from the Wuyi Jingtian.
Everything flashed before Lu Xiaochan’s eyes like a kaleidoscope. He knew he was dying, and he suddenly wondered if all this was a dream or reality.
Was it existence, or non-existence?
Was everything happening now the dream?
Or was the self who was protected by Shu Wuxi and went to Yechuan to forge swords the real one?
Just as he exhaled his last breath, someone embraced him.
…Was it Kunwu?
Or had Kunwu’s blue bird message brought their master to find them…
Vaguely, something warm gently touched his lips, and rich spiritual energy slowly passed between his lips and teeth, flowing through his internal organs, healing all his wounds.
He slowly opened his eyes and saw a face so stunning that his heart couldn’t calm down.
“What is your name?” the man asked him.
His voice was cold and solitary, reminding Lu Xiaochan of a gentle ray of light breaking through clouds and falling on a snowy plain as the cold night was about to end.
It’s Shu Wuxi… this voice belongs to Shu Wuxi!
I thought I was dreaming, and that you weren’t in this dream!
“Yes, you are dreaming,” the young Jiaosi bird suddenly spoke.
Everything seemed to freeze – whether it was the immortal sect disciples who had just regained their senses, or Kunwu who was running over after breaking free from the evil spirit’s restraints, or even Shu Wuxi who was embracing Lu Xiaochan at this moment – it was as if everything here was illusory, and only Lu Xiaochan was real.
He sat up and looked at the young bird. “What… what’s going on?”
The young bird suddenly surged with spiritual energy, and the vigorous spiritual tide engulfed everything within Lu Xiaochan’s sight.
Everything around him darkened. Besides these spiritual tides, Lu Xiaochan couldn’t see anything else. He returned to the state where his physical eyes couldn’t see, and only his wisdom eyes could identify living beings.
The spiritual tides gathered turbulently, forming a human shape.
Even Shu Wuxi didn’t possess such vast spiritual energy – a mere physical body couldn’t contain it.
“Who… who are you?” Lu Xiaochan asked.
“I am Immortal Lord Yehua.”
His voice was distant yet rich, filling all the gaps in the vast world, having witnessed thousands of years of changes and the shifting of stars.
Lu Xiaochan was shocked. They had searched all of Yechuan with their divine consciousness but hadn’t found Immortal Lord Yehua, yet here he was appearing before Lu Xiaochan?
Lu Xiaochan looked at his surroundings and suddenly realized. “Here… everything that happened here isn’t real?”
“Here, it is real to the past, but illusory to the present world.”
“What does that mean? I don’t understand!” Lu Xiaochan stood up and walked toward Immortal Lord Yehua.
He wanted to see this Immortal Lord who had experienced primordial changes clearly, but no matter how he looked, he only saw a collection of gathered spiritual energy, like an ever-changing sea, like distant untouchable galaxies.
“Something from nothing, nothing becomes something. All worldly obsessions are merely thus.”
Immortal Lord Yehua suddenly appeared before Lu Xiaochan, his spiritual sea engulfing him.
The seemingly vast flood of spiritual energy came rolling in. Lu Xiaochan instinctively closed his eyes tight, thinking he would be ground to dust, but unexpectedly, Immortal Lord Yehua’s spiritual sea was so gentle, all-encompassing – what was one Lu Xiaochan to it?
“Immortal Lord… was everything I experienced your trial for me?” Lu Xiaochan asked.
Immortal Lord Yehua’s voice came from all directions. “That wasn’t my trial for you, but the choice you made yourself – to save one thing is to save all things. Buddhism says, ‘If I don’t enter hell, who will?’ Did you see hell?”
“If the heart has no attachments, where would hell come from in the three thousand worlds?” Lu Xiaochan answered.
“Interesting! Interesting!”
In Immortal Lord Yehua’s long laughter, the spiritual sea enveloping Lu Xiaochan gradually dispersed.
Lu Xiaochan felt his body sink, falling into an abyss thousands of feet deep.
Everything around was shaking, about to shatter.
“Xiaochan! Xiaochan! Wake up quickly!”
Shu Wuxi’s calls came through, and Lu Xiaochan suddenly opened his eyes to find himself hanging at the edge of a huge hole – it was the crater of Zhiye Mountain!
If Shu Wuxi hadn’t grabbed his wrist, he would have fallen long ago.
He heard the rumbling sounds rising from deep underground – the entire Yechuan, dormant for so long, was finally awakening.
Its heart was beating, it was breathing, Yechuan had come alive.
Lu Xiaochan was swaying in mid-air, and it was getting hotter beneath his feet. Could it be magma churning?
He looked down. He normally couldn’t see ordinary magma, but now he could see the churning molten rock continuously filling the crater.
Shu Wuxi summoned Lushu, threw Lu Xiaochan onto its back, and then mounted it himself.
Lushu quickly fled from the huge crater.
Lu Xiaochan heard Zhiye Mountain’s roar and trembled in body and soul.
“What’s going on?”
“Do you remember the cave I led you into?” Shu Wuxi asked.
“Yes! The one with ‘Something from nothing, nothing becomes something’ at its entrance? After we went in, I got separated from you!”
“You didn’t get separated – the cave led to Zhiye Mountain’s volcanic crater. You lost your footing and fell, and I almost couldn’t catch you.”
Lu Xiaochan was stunned. According to Shu Wuxi, they had only been in the cave for a moment, yet he had entered another world for days and nights!
He had become a disciple of the Tailing Pavilion, gained the ability to see everything, experienced the plague in Linzhou, saved a young Jiaosi bird, and climbed Zhuxu Mountain with Kunwu.
Could all of this have been just his illusion?
The magma continued to boil, and all of Yechuan was about to burn, the heaven and earth nearly warping from the heat.
No matter how high or far they flew, they would be swallowed by Zhiye Mountain’s lava.
It erupted, magma flowing.
But what Lu Xiaochan saw was an erupting spiritual sea.
“Brother Wuxi, I seem to have gone to another world in the cave… experienced some things, and even saw you at the end…”
“That was the ‘Mortal Dust’ world created by Immortal Lord Yehua. In that world, everything was real for you – your every choice affected you but wouldn’t affect the present world.”
“So Immortal Lord Yehua hasn’t perished!”
Shu Wuxi looked up at the sky, at the blazing sun, and said, “His cultivation has transcended human limits. He abandoned his physical body, and his primordial spirit became one with all of Yechuan. This is true longevity, living as long as heaven and earth.”
Lu Xiaochan was amazed.
Shu Wuxi took Chang Yan’s rib from his spatial pouch and gave it to Lu Xiaochan.
“Xiaochan, now that Yechuan has awakened, the magma in Zhiye Volcano is Immortal Lord Yehua’s spiritual sea. To calm the spiritual sea, we must let it forge Chang Yan’s rib.”
“Alright… should I just drop it down?”
“It would be best if you could become one in spirit with this sword. What kind of sword do you hope yours will be?”
“Brother Wuxi, what about your sword? What kind is it?” Lu Xiaochan asked.
“When my sword was forged, it hadn’t chosen its master. My ancestor brought it back. Legend says my ancestor stood atop Zhiye Mountain, thinking of all living beings under heaven.”
“All living beings under heaven… how boring…” Lu Xiaochan pouted.
“Later, I read through the daily records my ancestor left behind. He said he had given his heart to someone else, so he no longer cared about all living beings.”
“I bet when he forged the sword, he wanted to protect his beloved,” Lu Xiaochan looked up and smiled at Shu Wuxi.
Shu Wuxi lowered his head, his wind-blown hair brushing across Lu Xiaochan’s forehead and cheeks, like an endless gentle comfort.
“Whoever you say he wanted to protect, that’s who he was protecting.”
Shu Wuxi’s complete acquiescence made Lu Xiaochan laugh.
“People say ‘spring dreams leave no trace,’ but since meeting you, I always hope everything will leave a trace.”
Shu Wuxi didn’t answer, but instead held Lu Xiaochan tight.
“Something from nothing, nothing becomes something. No wonder Immortal Lord Yehua’s cultivation could reach this level… Causes arise and cease, it’s all in the mind, why worry about leaving traces?”
If your sword was meant to protect all living beings under heaven.
Then my sword needs only to protect you.
Protecting you meant protecting all my people.
“My sword shall be called ‘Wuhen’.” (TL: ‘no trace; traceless)
After saying this, Lu Xiaochan closed his eyes and released the Chang Yan rib.
It fell and sank into the magma.
The spirit sea within the volcano surged more violently, as if trying to break free from Yechuan’s constraints and reach the heavens.
In an instant, it plunged back down.
Lu Xiaochan listened closely and heard the magma striking the Chang Yan rib – it was being tempered hundreds and thousands of times.
Each strike carried the force of a thousand pounds, like countless thunderclaps.
Earlier, when Shu Wuxi had channeled lightning into the formation, Lu Xiaochan had found the power overwhelming.
Now, all the world’s forces were contained within Zhiye Mountain, surging and rushing, all concentrated upon a single rib.
Normally, Lu Xiaochan would worry about the spirit beast’s rib breaking, but now he could hear Chang Yan whispering in his ear, low and resilient.
Lu Xiaochan lowered his head, the endless waves of heat seemed to scorch his very soul.
He saw the Chang Yan rib gradually taking on the form of a sword within the spirit sea, surrounded by spiritual light, even more powerful than when it had been wrapped in the spirit vine “Thousand Mile Moonlight.”
Throughout the full eighty-one days of forging, the morning dawn, evening dusk, cold moonlight, clouds and rain all became part of it.
Only then did Lu Xiaochan understand that what forged this sword wasn’t just Zhiye Mountain’s molten spirit sea, but the essence of heaven and earth.
His heart seemed to absorb the world’s spiritual energy along with this sword.
“Brother Wuxi,” Lu Xiaochan leaned back into Shu Wuxi’s embrace.
“Xiaochan, if you’re tired, sleep. I’ll watch over it for you,” Shu Wuxi’s voice sounded beside his ear.
“Let me watch it – it’s my sword after all!” Lu Xiaochan nuzzled his head against Shu Wuxi’s chest. “Though it’s nice to have you talk with me too.”
“Mm.”
“Tell me, when and where did you first see me?”
Lu Xiaochan thought to himself, I first “saw” you in Immortal Lord Yehua’s “Mortal Dust.”
Just one glance, different from seeing you with the wisdom eye, yet it felt so special, so familiar.
“I first saw you at Zhuxu Mountain.”
Lu Xiaochan’s fingers trembled as he turned back to ask. “What? Zhuxu Mountain?”
“Yes. That was my first time leaving the place where I grew up.”
“What were you doing at Zhuxu Mountain?”
“Because you almost died,” Shu Wuxi gently patted Lu Xiaochan’s head.
“What? How did you know I almost died?”
Lu Xiaochan’s heart beat rapidly as Shu Wuxi’s words increasingly matched what he had experienced in the Mortal Dust.
Could it be that Immortal Lord Yehua wasn’t testing him, but had sent him back to the past?
“Back then, you would condense a blue bird every day to send messages to your master. After your master left, you still sent the blue bird with messages.”
So the blue bird he had condensed back then hadn’t flown to his master, but to Shu Wuxi instead?
“One day your blue bird’s soul dispersed. I tried to stabilize its soul, but it was no use. That meant its master’s core was damaged and would soon die.”
Lu Xiaochan paused, tugged at Shu Wuxi’s sleeve, and asked, “We had never met, yet you came to save me?”
Given Shu Wuxi’s usual nature of not meddling in others’ affairs or caring whether people lived or died, why would he have come to save him back then?
“I don’t know either… Thinking back now, perhaps I didn’t want to never receive blue bird messages again.”
“Oh.” Lu Xiaochan suddenly felt a heaviness in his heart, not knowing why, but just wanting to hold Shu Wuxi tight.
“But after I saved you, you never sent any more blue birds.”
Lu Xiaochan’s eyes reddened as he seemed to see Shu Wuxi standing by the window on every cold moonlit night, waiting for his blue bird that never came.
“I now understand Immortal Lord Yehua’s intention with the ‘Mortal Dust.'”
To save one thing is to save all things.
This “one thing” wasn’t the choice between good and evil, but Shu Wuxi himself.
—To protect one person is to protect all living beings.
“What intention?” Shu Wuxi lowered his head and asked.
“He wanted me to cherish you.”
Lu Xiaochan smiled with narrowed eyes.
He was now certain of who he had been.
There were many past legends, but the past was the past.
Shu Wuxi always refused to speak of the past, not because he wanted to hide anything from Lu Xiaochan, but because he didn’t want to mention those moments between life and death.
“I’ll become very powerful in the future, I’ll protect you.” It was the first time Lu Xiaochan had made such a solemn promise.
“Mm.” Shu Wuxi’s soft response settled in Lu Xiaochan’s heart.
Yechuan trembled, causing tremors in all directions.
Above the Nanli Jingtian, Lord Miaochen Yuan raised her hand to block the sunlight.
“All the world’s spiritual energy is flowing toward Yechuan. It seems Immortal Lord Yehua has not yet passed away.”
Behind her, Ye Linshuang asked, “Master… could what’s drawing spiritual energy from all directions be the emergence of a supreme sword?”
Lord Miaochen Yuan nodded with a smile. “Among the four direction sword sects, Dongxu and Northern Sea have long been vacant. Though Yang Cang of the Wuyi Jingtian holds the most powerful supreme sword, he cares not for the common people. My cultivation is only at the third level of the Great Power Realm, and the Xiyuan Sword Sect has been in seclusion healing since the Immortal-Demon War a thousand years ago. So this supreme sword is crucial for our immortal sect to counter the Evil God Chaos.”
“We just don’t know who it will belong to.”
“Supreme swords have their own spirit. They won’t choose wrong.”
In the sky, winds stirred and clouds gathered heavily, as if containing countless armies ready to sweep away all evil thoughts from the world.
At Zhiwu Mountain Villa, Jiang Wuchao knelt before Master Ling Nianwu’s meditation chamber.
Spiritual energy gathered in the clouds, rolling magnificently.
Jiang Wuchao raised his head, amazed by this sight.
The meditation chamber’s door opened slowly, as if a thousand-pound burden was being gradually lifted.
A figure in plain robes walked out unhurriedly.
“Master! There’s unusual activity at Yechuan!”
This man was surrounded by spiritual light, his features refined, like a parasol tree under moonlight.
“Yechuan is where Immortal Lord Yehua returned to his origin. How could there be unusual activity? If Yechuan trembles, a supreme sword must be emerging.”
His clear voice rang out, like fine rain gathering on parasol tree leaves, falling with the wind to seep into every crack in the stone ground.
“But as far as I know, all great cultivators already have their own swords. So who will be the master of this supreme sword?”
Ling Nianwu smiled faintly. “Do you know what makes a true great cultivator?”
“To eliminate demons, suppress Chaos! To protect all living beings!”
“Who can achieve this?” Ling Nianwu asked.
“Naturally… naturally it would be Sword Master Yang Cang of the Wuyi Jingtian.”
Ling Nianwu suddenly laughed, and it was the first time Jiang Wuchao had seen his master show such an expression.
It was a desolate laugh that came after experiencing extreme pain.
“Yang Cang has never had the common people in his heart. His protection of them was merely a habit taught by generations of sword masters. To get what he wants, he wouldn’t shed a single tear even if all living beings perished.”
Ling Nianwu walked out step by step, raising his head to look at the endless sky.
