Chapter 31

He quickly composed his expression and offered a light chuckle. "Miss Song, the Heavenly Pillar of the Eastern Cang Sea has collapsed. Without a stabilizer to suppress the turbid energy that has accumulated for tens of millions of years, the Four Seas Border City is currently the most chaotic place in existence. As one of the cities within this border, Zhaoshui City faces troubles both within and without. If the sword array is not completed, this place will know no peace. If you are accustomed to the long-standing comfort of your sect and unsuited for such a place, I suggest you reconsider."

It was a dismissal, blunt and clear.

At these words, the smiles on the faces of the other three froze. Qin Wei turned his head and signaled to him with his eyes.

An Wuxue held the manual of arrays in his hands, his smile remaining, though it did not reach his eyes. He slowly closed the book, deliberately ignoring Qin Wei’s silent "reminder." His junior brother was busy sealing demons across the four quarters, and while he himself managed the two realms and Luoyue, he was rarely cold to those close to him, despite his fierce reputation among outsiders. However, the sword array required for Zhaoshui City was a matter of paramount importance. He knew how to separate public duty from personal matters, which was why his words had been so direct.

Lou Shuiming stepped forward slightly, pulling Song Wu behind him. "Chief..."

"Shuiming," he interrupted, "we are old acquaintances, which is why I speak so plainly to you. I mean no malice. If Miss Song truly wishes to eliminate demons, she might be better off first heading to the four quarters to seal the demons and purge the turbidity; it would help temper her temperament."

After her initial shock, Song Wu seemed somewhat defiant. Her brows twitched as she pushed past Lou Shuiming and stepped forward, asking with confusion, "Since childhood, I have been the most gifted in my sect. In terms of cultivation, while I may not possess the exquisite jade bones of the Chief, I am still at the Tribulation Transcendence stage. Is it not reasonable for someone of my standing to be confident? Even if my help to Zhaoshui cannot be called 'sending charcoal in snowy weather,' it is at least 'adding flowers to brocade,' is it not?"

"On my way to Zhaoshui City, I even heard people saying that Chief An not only kills demonic cultivators but strikes down immortal cultivators before the gates of Luoyue Mountain as well, that he is overly murderous, heartless, and despotic. My senior brother told me that was just slander and that the Chief is a gentleman of upright and honorable character—now, why does it seem to me that those outsiders were right...?"

This time, even Qin Wei frowned. He said with annoyance, "Miss Song, A-Xue is planning for the sake of the two realms. Even if you don't like him, why must you say such things to his face?"

An Wuxue: "..." He knew Qin Wei was joking to ease the tension, so he could only smile helplessly.

Lou Shuiming rubbed his temples in frustration and sighed. "Junior Sister, the Chief said he meant no offense, and he was not harsh in his words. You should not speak like this." Caught in the middle, he turned to An Wuxue and added, "When the immortal calamity first began, she was protected within our sect by our master; she has never seen the dangers of the world, and her character is somewhat simple. She came down the mountain this time because she reached the Tribulation Transcendence stage and wished to assist me. Please, Chief, do not take it to heart."

Song Wu let out a "humph" and turned her head away.

Lou Shuiming continued, "My junior sister is kind-hearted. I will teach her about the ways of the world. May she please stay?"

An Wuxue pondered for a moment. Lou Shuiming and Qin Wei waited for his response. He sighed, "I know Miss Song has good intentions, I was only concerned that she lacks worldly experience... Very well." He paused, feeling that his previous harshness indeed lacked a solid justification.

"It was truly a bit too decisive of me. Please forgive my words just now." He put on a smile again and said to Song Wu, "Since Miss Song is Shuiming's junior sister, please consult with him on all matters while you are in Zhaoshui." This was his way of relenting.

Song Wu, who had arrived full of excitement, felt as though she had been doused with cold water by An Wuxue and lost all interest in pleasantries. She muttered, "How inexplicable..." and turned to leave.

"Junior Sister!" Lou Shuiming watched her run off and looked back at An Wuxue. "Chief, I..."

City Lord Lou was a gentleman whom every cultivator in Zhaoshui City praised, and having rarely encountered such sudden embarrassment, he looked around, at a loss. Seeing this, An Wuxue found it amusing and softened his tone. "I am here to study the arrays; there is nothing pressing. If you have matters to attend to, you need not stay."

Lou Shuiming immediately turned and followed in the direction Song Wu had left.

With those two gone, Song Wu's stay in Zhaoshui City was settled. Only then did Qin Wei ask, "I didn't dare speak just now. My goodness, Senior Brother An, Chief An, my A-Xue—this Miss Song is at the Tribulation Transcendence stage. Even if she came to Zhaoshui alone, most demons on the road couldn't do anything to her, yet Shuiming was in such a rush to meet her personally, terrified that something might happen. Can't you see that Shuiming likes her?"

"I cultivate the Path of Floating Life," he said, flipping through the array manual with his head bowed, "not my junior brother's Path of Heartlessness..." How could he not see the affections of the mortal world? Thinking of Xie Zhefeng, his hand paused on the page. The turbid energy in the Far North had been surging these past few days; his junior brother should... be eliminating demons in the Far North, right? The only time he had been to the Far North was to prepare a robe for his junior brother, but after his brother ascended to his position, he didn't seem to have ever worn it...

Qin Wei's voice reached his ears: "Then why didn't you want Song Wu to stay the moment you met her? She is only a little younger than us and is already at the early stage of Tribulation Transcendence. Zhaoshui City has no reason to refuse a talented immortal cultivator whose background is known."

As he listened to Qin Wei, An Wuxue's thoughts remained on the Far North. His junior brother had sent a message a few days ago, mentioning that there were several demonic cultivators at the Tribulation Transcendence stage in the Far North and that he had been injured in the battle, though he did not specify the severity. But his junior brother was not one to express himself; if he said he was injured, it surely wasn't minor...

He put down the book, thinking that he shouldn't have thought of Xie Zhefeng. Now his mind was filled with his junior brother's safety in the Far North, his heart was in turmoil, and he couldn't focus on the arrays. He turned his head and said to Qin Wei, "It is precisely because her talent is outstanding."

"Huh?"

"Lacking worldly experience, yet possessing excessive talent..."

"Yes."

"Liao Liao came to Luoyue to study when she was young and told me a story that is common knowledge among both cultivators and mortals in Beiming City."

"She said that thousands of years ago, there was a genius of the Path of Floating Life in Beiming. This person had unparalleled talent, surpassing all his elders in his youth and mastering every artifact and spell. Even the City Lord of Beiming at the time said he was destined for immortality. His life was like a bed of flowers, his path to immortality wide and open."

"But his talent was too high—so high that every day, besides cultivation, anything else he did felt like a waste of time. His teachers wished he would meditate even in his sleep; his friends and family dared not disturb him in the slightest. He never left Beiming City. Before he had even reached the age of forty, he had already reached the peak of Great Achievement, a half-step away from the Tribulation Transcendence stage. Just before his breakthrough, the young man suddenly realized—he had not yet forged his life-bound sword. He had spent his entire life only cultivating, and others felt that none of the famous swords in Beiming City were worthy of him. He had reached the verge of Tribulation Transcendence without ever having a sword of his own."

"Thinking of this, he went alone to a cliff beside the Nether Sea to practice his swordplay. His sword light was fierce, striking into the abyss of the sea, and it actually drew out a demonic cultivator who was equally gifted."

At that time, the immortal calamity had not yet begun, and there were few demonic cultivators in the two realms. The term "demon" referred to beings like Jiang Qing who were not human.

"The young man and the demonic cultivator found they were kindred spirits, and he mentioned his desire to find a life-bound sword worthy of him."

Qin Wei sensed something wrong: "What do you mean 'worthy'? Between a cultivator and a sword, mutual compatibility is what matters. How can a sword be worthy of a cultivator, or a cultivator worthy of a sword?"

An Wuxue nodded slightly. "But the demonic cultivator only thought the young man was inexperienced and that his arrogance was natural given his high talent. With a heart of sincerity, it told the young man that its true form was a rare, indestructible object in this world; if it were used as a base to forge a spiritual sword, it would surely surpass all the famous swords of Beiming City. However, this sword would be inextricably linked to the demonic cultivator, and it would remain by the young man's side throughout his immortal journey like a sword spirit."

"The young man was not afraid; instead, he was overjoyed and said to it, 'In that case, can I not ascend to immortality together with you?' The demonic cultivator was delighted."

It sounded like a beautiful tale. Qin Wei began to ponder, "A story from thousands of years ago... we should have known those immortals before they fell. Why don't I remember such a Path of Floating Life immortal in Beiming City?"

"He didn't ascend via the Path of Floating Life in the end."

"What?"

"The young man obtained the spiritual sword forged from the demonic cultivator's true form, and with the help of the demonic cultivator, he easily broke through to the Tribulation Transcendence stage. For over a hundred years, he touched the realm of the half-step to immortality. But then he suddenly didn't know how to break through—he had never encountered a bottleneck in his life, and this was his only one."

"Isn't that normal? Don't the myriad living beings all stop at this step?"

An Wuxue sighed leisurely. "You think it's normal, and I think it's normal, because the suffering we have encountered is not limited to this one step. But for the young man in the story, his life had been smooth sailing. He could do whatever he wanted, learn whatever he pleased. He had never traveled far, never seen the four seas, and had never known what 'hardship' or 'misery' was."

"He could not ascend. He visited many immortals, only to learn that it was because his talent was too high, and he had spent his life cultivating, confined to Beiming, never broadening his horizons by observing the sentient world. The Dao heart required for the Path of Floating Life was not aligned, so naturally, his path to immortality was obstructed."

Among immortal cultivators, very few practiced the Path of Heartlessness; most followed the Path of Floating Life, which required observing the world. After all, the world was complex, and it was hard to discard one's thoughts, making it easier to conform to the chaos. Before the young man entered the Dao, no one knew he was actually better suited for the Path of Heartlessness, so they naturally helped him choose the Path of Floating Life.

Qin Wei said, "The path was indeed chosen wrongly. In truth, this young man should have practiced the Path of Heartlessness, which requires having no heart, no emotions, no desires, and no thoughts, yet allows one to see all sentient beings. But since the wrong path was chosen, he should have let go of everything, entered the world to cultivate, and observed the sentient world. Once his Dao heart caught up to his cultivation, he could naturally have ascended."

An Wuxue shook his head. "But he didn't. The young man's life had been too smooth. He didn't know that many people in this world encountered far more difficulties than he did, nor did he know that the bottleneck he faced was actually quite simple. He didn't even want to wait for the time it would take to enter the world and observe the sentient beings."

"He was too smart, too talented, and immediately thought of another path—breaking his Dao to recultivate. He possessed the experience of cultivating from fasting to the Tribulation Transcendence stage; recultivating would not take long at all. His Dao heart was born for the Path of Heartlessness, so if he broke the Path of Floating Life and entered the Path of Heartlessness, he could ascend in an instant."

The playful look on Qin Wei's face suddenly froze. "But the Path of Heartlessness requires having no attachments, and he had a life-bound sword that was connected to his emotions..."

The life-bound sword had a spirit, and it was linked to the karma of the demonic cultivator. With such a life-bound sword, it was impossible to enter the Path of Heartlessness. Qin Wei thought of this, and his face changed instantly: "Could it be that he..."

"The young man resolutely took the life-bound sword and went to the cliff where he had first met the demonic cultivator—he broke the sword with his own hands and, at the very place where their karma began, slaughtered the demonic cultivator who had once promised to ascend with him."