LZX Chapter 65.1

The sword formations overlapped each other, extending infinitely in the void, as if about to create another void.

The Demon Lord had already penetrated Lu Xiaochan’s inner palace, but was pushed out by this endless elixir sea and drawn into the sword formation.

Its spirit form was being unraveled thread by thread, continuously breaking apart!

Knowing its end was near, the Demon Lord smiled and said to Lu Xiaochan. “Do you know… that the obsessive evil thoughts in this world can never be completely refined away? Where there is heart…there are obsessions?”

Another sword formation fell on the Demon Lord’s brow, completely crushing it.

“I know. That’s why eliminating obsessions is too difficult, so why not accept them?”

Just like Shu Wuxi in my heart, his obsession was my obsession.

He made me willing to sacrifice everything.

The sword formation instantly converged, and countless evil spirits along with the Demon Lord who guarded the “Hopeless” land were refined into a deep blue spirit pill, which fell perfectly into Lu Xiaochan’s outstretched palm.

The spirit pill radiated light, as if tiny streams were flowing endlessly within it.

Lu Xiaochan closed his fingers, wondering whether to save it for Shu Wuxi.

But then he thought, what was there to save?

If I’m good, he’s good too!

Lu Xiaochan swallowed it in one gulp. The spirit pill entered his inner palace and merged with his elixir sea.

Closing his eyes and breathing out, Lu Xiaochan felt completely refreshed, wishing the Evil God Chaos was right in front of him so he could deal with it too!

“That sword formation I just used to refine the Demon Lord was amazing! What should I name it?”

Shu Wuxi’s sword formations all had imposing names like “Sky-Piercing” and “Heaven’s Palace.”

Now that he, Lu Xiaochan, had finally created a sword formation of his own, hmm…

The water flowed abundantly, returning to the Tailing Zhenyuan, and from this magical tool, it flowed in all directions, forming rivers and merging into seas.

“Yuan Ze,” Lu Xiaochan rubbed his chin.

Broken walls and ruins—that’s a wasteland. Zé means bringing blessings to all living beings.

(TL: 垣 yuan from 断壁残垣 duàn bì cán yuán ‘Broken walls and ruins’; 泽 ze from 泽被苍生 zé bèi cānɡ shēnɡ ‘bringing blessings to all living beings’)

The power of water could both destroy everything and give new life, right?

Obsessions were also like water.

One thought toward life, one thought toward evil.

Lu Xiaochan looked down and only then noticed that the Wuhen Sword in his hand had changed.

Previously, the Wuhen Sword only had the basic form of a sword, without any edge.

But now this sword was both sharp and gentle. When Lu Xiaochan’s fingers touched it, its seemingly razor-sharp blade didn’t harm his hand, and instead made a light, clear sound, as if water was flowing within the sword.

Lu Xiaochan was stunned–had this Wuhen Sword gained its edge?

My sword has gained its edge!

No, it’s that I, Lu Xiaochan, have had an enlightenment!

“Brother Wuxi…”

Lu Xiaochan’s overwhelming joy was instantly extinguished, because Shu Wuxi wasn’t by his side.

He needed to go back! He wanted to show Shu Wuxi his sword!

Lu Xiaochan was desperate to tell Shu Wuxi this good news.

But how could he leave this “Hopeless” land?

Lu Xiaochan lowered his eyes to look at the Hopeless land. Perhaps because he had refined the Demon Lord and greatly increased his power, he could now clearly see the interweaving strands of evil energy beneath the earth’s veins.

“This… looks like a formation?”

Lu Xiaochan flew away from this evil formation on his sword. The farther he got, the better he could see its full appearance.

And in the extreme distance of this void, Lu Xiaochan saw a spiritual light that was being crushed by evil energy, about to fall into the depths of the void, unable to resist.

Lu Xiaochan narrowed his eyes, greatly alarmed.

–Mo Qianqiu!

Lu Xiaochan flew forward on his sword at unprecedented speed, breaking through layers of evil spirits’ obstacles. His toes lightly touched the Wuhen Sword, unleashing countless sword formations that refined everything in their path.

The sword formation pressing down on Mo Qianqiu had extraordinary power. Besides Shu Wuxi, this was the first time Lu Xiaochan had seen such a pure and powerful sword formation, like towering mountains falling from the Ninth Heaven!

Damn it!

How could there be so many formidable evil masters in a mere Hopeless land!

Let me test the power of my newly practiced sword formation!

Lu Xiaochan mustered his strength and unleashed the Yuan Ze sword formation. Having just refined the Demon Lord, his power had increased dramatically, and the sword formation’s power exceeded that of before!

The sword formation constraining Mo Qianqiu immediately burst open with a gap. Lu Xiaochan rode his sword through it, caught Mo Qianqiu with one hand and his Qianqiu sword with the other, passing through.

“Mo Qianqiu! Wake up!”

Lu Xiaochan’s knee thrust upward, hitting Mo Qianqiu’s abdomen.

Mo Qianqiu coughed violently and came to his senses.

“Lu… Lu Xiaochan…”

“Do you know where this place is?!” Lu Xiaochan roared.

Another sword formation attacked with the force of uprooting mountains and rivers. Lu Xiaochan defended with his sword, his formation opposing it with the force of great waters, but was knocked back by the other party, nearly forcing his inner palace out.

“So powerful…”

Lu Xiaochan’s ears were ringing, and the Wuhen Sword in his hand was also resonating.

Good thing he hadn’t saved that refined spirit pill for Shu Wuxi earlier, or he might have lost his life by now!

Mo Qianqiu hooked his finger, and the Qianqiu sword spun back, landing under his feet. He said loudly, “Haofu, I always thought you were upright and honorable. It seems since you’ve turned to evil, your character has changed too, only knowing how to attack from behind.”

Mo Qianqiu’s lips curled in a smile, his voice carrying his usual teasing and playfulness.

But Lu Xiaochan was stunned. He pulled Mo Qianqiu. “What did you say? Who?”

“Sword Master Haofu of Xiyuan. This coward who used recovery from injuries as an excuse to hide for over a thousand years,” Mo Qianqiu laughed.

Lu Xiaochan’s brows furrowed.

Back then, the Xiyuan Sword Master had been gravely wounded by Shu Wuxi’s “Question Heaven” sword formation in the Wuyi Jingtian, and had perished before returning to Xiyuan.

It was Haofu who had escorted him back.

But… Lu Xiaochan remembered that those who directly faced Shu Wuxi’s “Question Heaven” sword formation that year were the two Sword Masters of Nanli and Xiyuan, and Lord Miaochen Yuan who had followed her master to participate in that great battle had only depleted her essence and recovered after a hundred years of cultivation.

Why were Haofu’s injuries so severe?

More importantly, if the one attacking them was Haofu… could they defeat him?

“Should we run away instead?” Lu Xiaochan tilted his head and said.

As soon as he finished speaking, the back of his head was knocked by Mo Qianqiu.

“Even though I call you ‘Master,’ can you be any more cowardly?”

Indeed, where could they run to?

Just then, a cloaked figure walked out from the dark crevice.

His presence was different from others – though his spiritual energy was pure and thick, it was entangled by layers of dark energy.

And unlike Lord Lianyue Yuan.

Lord Lianyue Yuan’s spiritual energy was only trapped by evil energy, but hadn’t been invaded by it.

But this person was different – his spiritual and evil energies were intertwined.

Within his body… it seemed…

Lu Xiaochan immediately grabbed Mo Qianqiu and pulled him backward.

“He’s been possessed by a Demon Lord!”

“What?” Mo Qianqiu was stunned, looking at that figure, “How is that possible? He was upright in character, inflexible…”

This person’s cloak hood was pulled very low, only showing his lips and chin.

But even so, one could tell he was a handsome young man.

His lips curled into a slight smile.

“Qianqiu, so I left a good impression on you?”

He slowly raised his head.

At that moment, Mo Qianqiu’s emotions violently shook, revealing an expression of disbelief.

“What’s wrong…is he Haofu?” Lu Xiaochan could only tell this person was extremely sinister.

Half his face was dignified and elegant due to spiritual energy, while the other half was completely covered by evil energy.

“Do I look ugly?” Haofu took another step forward.

Mo Qianqiu’s fingers were trembling. “You… your face…”

“Was destroyed,” Haofu answered flatly.

Lu Xiaochan turned his face aside, wondering if Haofu’s face had been injured in the Immortal-Demon war?

That couldn’t be – Lu Xiaochan remembered seeing Haofu supporting his master when he returned to the Wuyi Jingtian that day, and his face had been fine then!

“What happened?” Mo Qianqiu asked with furrowed brows.

“What happened? What happened to me, do you really care?”

Haofu approached step by step, reaching out to touch Mo Qianqiu’s face.

Mo Qianqiu pushed Lu Xiaochan behind him with one hand, directly facing Haofu.

“After the battle at the Immortal Inquiry Platform, our debt of gratitude was settled. What happened to you, I indeed don’t care, but I am curious.”

Lu Xiaochan thought to himself, oh my Pavilion Master Qianqiu, would it kill you to say something nice to Haofu?

Why did you have to say you don’t care?!

If he gets angry and takes our lives, that would be a huge loss!

Haofu finally stopped just a hair’s breadth from Mo Qianqiu’s cheek.

“At the battle on the Immortal Inquiry Platform, you lost to me, and were criticized by everyone for being frivolous with my junior sister, and for being unruly and having evil intentions. I knew these were all prejudices, and knew that even if I had lost to you that day, the world would say I let you win, and would say you had bewitched Xiyuan’s sword master. You would still be wrongly judged by the world.”

Mo Qianqiu protected Lu Xiaochan and retreated again.

“I know you were in a difficult position.”

“You knew I was in a difficult position, so why didn’t you come see me again!”

Haofu’s originally desolate voice suddenly rose, filled with hatred.

Mo Qianqiu’s lips curled into a cold smile as he asked in return. “Do you really not understand why I didn’t see you?”

“It was because of my junior sister Lord Chunning, right? Everything started because she used her own chastity to frame you, right?”

Mo Qianqiu remained silent, but could look steadily into Haofu’s now turbid eyes.

Haofu said through gritted teeth, “When I brought my heavily injured master back to Xiyuan, Lord Chunning couldn’t wait to come receive me. I had thought that returning covered in blood, the person I would see would be you! But you didn’t come! Even though you knew I might perish from this battle, you never came to see me once from beginning to end!”