Chapter 33: CH 32

(unedited)

This was Xuanmen’s first operation in a hundred years that specifically targeted demonic cultivators in an attempt at annihilation, it was also the most serious and cautious they have been in history. Qing XuZi came with the full force of the Xuanmen Righteous Sect, he brought all of the Nascent Soul stage elders with him. He was even uncharacteristically not amiable as he prohibited any other sect’s cultivators from following. This was because their opponent this time was special, he wouldn’t allow any slip-ups.

Qing XuZi’s temperament was gentle, back when he was negotiating with the Snowy Mountains’ spirit cultivators, he didn’t even blink when his table was flipped in front of him. Whatever he went there to discuss was discussed, he wasn’t affected in the slightest. However, for this operation, he forcefully dissolved the Demon Extermination Campaign before the other sects could even say anything.He didn’t give anyone the chance to participate in the battle. The Jianghu’s righteous faction was jolted awake at this moment, they realized that this Xuanmen Sect Leader also had a temper. However, was Bu QingYun still that important to him even though a hundred years have already passed?

It should be said that Qing XuZi and He Huan truly were master and disciple. One emptied the Palace of Bliss before the start of the war, and the other dismissed the Demonic Extermination Campaign. This was clearly the most definitive battle between good and evil, yet when He Huan dropped from the sky all he saw at the massive gate was Qing XuZi and a few attendant disciples. Such momentum/energy was less than even the ordinary duels between cultivators, it was extremely shabby.

He Huan hadn’t expected something like this. He knew that Qing XuZi would never make senseless sacrifices, but he also knew that the Heaven’s Library Pavilion had already set up a deadlock on the Palace of Bliss, they definitely would not let the fame of exterminating demonic cutivators fall to just the Xuanmen Righteous Sect. With this current situation, could it be that Qing XuZi finally used intimidation against the righteous faction?

Since you hadn’t paid me any attention for eighty years, and since you thought that I had fallen into the demonic path because my heart was wrong, then why would you stick a reputation for being tyrannical onto Xuanmen for a demonic cultivator? Even Bai Chen knows that you will be killed by me because you can’t bear to kill me first, how could you possibly control the world with such a soft heart, shizun?

For 80 years, Qing XuZi watched the Fallen Immortal Lake without taking a single step outside. In He Huan’s memory, he was still the black-haired and baby-faced immortal, although he was in a high position, he was always friendly and as gentle as jade. Whenever he saw his two disciples return from their travels, he would reveal a comfortable smile, the gentleness contained within his eyes was like the gleaming reflection of ripples spreading away when the spring breeze blew over the Fallen Immortal Lake, calm and clear, not allowing its onlookers to forget.

These years, the reason why he never reminisced on that time was because his appearance was extremely haggard when he and Qing XuZi separated. Now that they’ve met again, however, that person already looked vastly different from the one in his memories.

The cultivator in front of the palace still wore the same white robe made with rough stitches. Qing XuZi had once explained that this was made by the previous Xuanmen Sect Leader in her last years for her disciple and it was the last thing that remained of her in this world. This was why he had never changed to another outer robe ever since his succession to the Sect Leader’s position. In her last years, the previous Xuanmen Sect Leader did not carry even a sliver of spiritual energy, even the robe she had stitched was just a mortal item. However, Qing XuZi carefully loved it even though it looked old-fashioned. In comparison to the white-clothed disciples standing behind him, he only looked like a poor and old cultivator.

Yes, an old cultivator. In the decades they hadn’t seen each other, Qing XuZi had stopped maintaining his youth. He let wrinkles make their homes at the corners of his eyes and the tips of his brows, even the gentle eyes that had once made Bu QingYun feel like a spring breeze blew past them had lost their luster like an ordinary old person. Although his head of white hair was perfectly combed and held together by a jade crown, one could no longer see the amount of spirit he once had in his form.

When a person’s heart has grown old and weary, no matter how high their level of cultivation, they can’t stop their aging. It was at this time that He Huan realized he wasn’t the only one who had been trapped by what happened that year. Qing XuZi, Bu YaoLian, even the Yue family sibling who claimed to have given up on him, before he explains everything clearly, none of these people could truly move on.

This knot was created by Bu QingYun, so only Bu QingYun could undo it.

He slowly released a breath and the hesitation within his heart dispersed along with it. He Huan walked in front of that old cultivator, even though he knew it wouldn’t do anything, and asked, “If I told you I didn’t do anything to Bu YaoLian, would you believe me?”

He Huan was shocked at Qing XuZi’s oldness, but his change had shocked his master even more. Bu QingYun was the child he had brought up single-handedly, Qing XuZi watched as he grew from a mischievous child into the Xuanmen successor who had a heart that cherished the world, never would he have imagined that his eldest disciple who scorned evil would become like this today.

The red-clothed man in front of his eyes was surrounded by a layer of tumultuous black fog. All he sensed when he used his spiritual awareness to sweep over the other was a dense demonic energy. This was an air of resentment unique to demonic cultivators, the more people one had killed the denser the demonic energy. According to the density of He Huan’s demonic energy, it was likely that he had already killed enough people to form a sea of blood. Bu QingYun never killed indiscriminately, but the amount of innocents He Huan had killed when he massacred dozens of sects had long become uncountable.

He clearly still had the same face, but this person gave off a sense of evilness. His pair of eyes looked deeply at him, but it contained a bewitching quality ordinary men did not have. This proved that the person in front of him, no matter his body or his heart, had completely been corrupted.

But, even if he was a demon, this was still a demon he had raised. As a result, the old cultivator fell silent before softly saying, “If you had suffered any injustices, surrender and I will investigate the truth.”

There was no anger, no reprimands, but there also wasn’t any closeness. This was where they ultimately stood with each other, cold and distant, all that remained was the pursuit of impartial righteousness passed down from Xuanmen’s legacy.

From Qing XuZi’s choice to only bring Xuanmen disciples, He Huan knew that he did not have the intention to kill him. He also believed that this person would go and investigate the truth he would say. Qing XuZi was different from every other Xuanmen Righteous Sect Leader, his ‘world’ encompassed all life, that was why he gave even the enemy demonic cultivator the opportunity to defend and explain himself. He would never force someone to their demise based on a one-sided account.

It was precisely because of his benevolence to the people of the world that the righteous faction dared to scheme against him again and again, and why the demonic faction was so sure that He Huan could definitely kill him. Even now, He Huan could not understand him, this person has obviously experienced multitude of evils and malicious intentions in the world, yet why did he insist on upholding his useless dao of benevolence?

It was just a pity that he was destined to be disappointed again. He Huan suppressed all the emotions within his heart and raised his eyes, they contained a demonic haughtiness. “You and I are both at the Calamity Crossing stage, isn’t it arrogant of you to conclude that I will lose?”

“Qing… He Huan, I don’t want to hurt you.”

What He Huan didn’t expect was that even after his performance Qing XuZi was still unwilling to unsheathe his sword. He sighed as if looking through this face to the past Bu QingYun. “As long as you are willing to relinquish your demonic cultivation and return to the Fallen Immortal Lake for peaceful meditation, I will promise you a life of peace.”

Actually, He Huan faintly knew that it would become like this. Since a long time ago, his shizun was this type of person. He never agreed with the violence on the Jianghu and would never take someone’s life unless it was unavoidable. His actions and deeds were almost akin to that of a saint’s.

It was precisely because of this that he noticed the commoner child submerged beneath the carnage of Chang’an, struggling to survive. Why he was willing to use his cultivation to sustain the life of a mere mortal.

It was because of him that there would later be a world-loving Bu QingYun.

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However, saints don’t live long. If Bu QingYun wanted his shizun to live a full life, then he would have to be the one to unsheathe his sword. This was a role only Bu QingYun could fulfill, He Huan couldn’t. As long as he was a demonic cultivator, he would never be able to do it. If Bu QingYun were to return, then He Huan must die.

“Ridiculous, who do you think you’re talking to? The person standing before you isn’t your precious disciple.”

He coldly sneered as he said these troubling words, but He Huan’s heart suddenly felt sour. Before, he often criticized villains for courting death right before a battle. Now, he was embodying that type of character. Let’s never do something as stupid as holding another oerson’s hand steady to kill myself.

Although his heart was shouting, it actually helped him to accept it somewhat. On the surface he seductively smiled. “Or could it be that even the venerable Xuanmen Sect Leader has fallen to this master’s beauty?”

“I see, you really can’t be saved.”

This way of smiling has already entrenched itself into habit, but today, when he saw this old cultivator’s disappointed expression, he suddenly felt that his current self was extremely disgusting. Luckily, such disgust didn’t get the opportunity to linger because Qing XuZi finally pulled out his sword.

“Let me see just how powerful the divine sword intent wielded by the Xuanmen Sect Leader is!”

He didn’t intend to resign himself to a fate of death, the moment he saw the other’s sword intent condense he released all of the demonic energy within his body. The Technique of Bliss was originally a Buddhist technique, the more virtuous deeds the people who cultivate with it do, the more powerful they would be. At its pinnacle, it could evolve the mundane world around him into Buddha’s famous Western Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss.

With He Huan as the guide, black clouds blotted out the skies, boundless demonic energy uncontrollably bubbled out. A darkness overtook the entire barren mountain, the fish swimming in the rivers, the sparrows in the forest, they all instantly turned into bones. Even their souls had been captured by the black fog, trapping them where they were with no way to escape. If it hadn’t been their implicit understanding before the battle to dismiss all the cultivators below the Nascent Soul Stage, in just this instance, the barren mountain would have gained a sea of vengeful spirits.

Demonic techniques have always been inhumane, they didn’t distinguish between friends or foes. This was the first time He Huan had used all his strength. He knew that the Four Division Immortal Imprisonment Array could only hold him for so long, soon his demonic energy would penetrate through the four celestial swords and seep into the outside world. At that time, it would transform the land outside into an unlimited purgatory. Fortunately, he didn’t have to worry about such consequences because Qing XuZi had already brandished his sword.

The divine sword intent as an immortal technique inherently counters all demonic techniques. When the Grand Unbounded Sword was unsheathed, the demonic energy surrounding it was instantly disintegrated by the overwhelming spiritual energy. Unlike other Xuanmen disciples, Qing XuZi’s sword intent was dull and grey, nowhere could one see any splendor or brilliance. It resembled the formless energy before creation. At this time, the incoming sword was also hidden, like it had blended into the demonic energy, and soundlessly arrived in front of He Huan.

This seemingly weak attack was akin to the old cultivator’s outer appearance. There was nothing intimidating about it. Only He Huan, who had been targeted, knew that he couldn’t even hope to dodge this attack.

The unique effect of fate was contained in this strike, the trajectory could be altered in millions of ways, but it will not change the final result. While Qing XuZi was the most gentle-tempered of all the Xuanmen Sect Leaders, he was also the one who most closely aligned himself with the heavenly dao. Almost as if he really was the person the heavens had appointed to walk the mortal realm, his ultimate technique was the ability to manipulate the laws of this world instantly—The Absolute.

In the past, He Huan had never seen Qing XuZi seriously fight against others, it was only now that he understood just how overpowered this sword intent was. It was also now that he realised why Qing XuZi hasn’t fallen to other people’s schemes and manipulations for centuries. It was because he was protected by heaven itself.

At that moment, time seemed to turn back to when he was just a child. At that time, the skies were clear, the flowers hadn’t begun to wither, and the grass was a lush green, everything returned to how they were in the beginning. Bu QingYun was sitting by the lake, distressed because he couldn’t determine his dao heart, and asked his master who was idly fishing beside him, “Shizun, what is your dao?”

Seeing his disciple experience the problem every cultivator must go through, the green-robed cultivator smiled gently, taking out a pack of jujube pastries and shoved one into the youth’s mouth familiarly. Then he slowly said, “He who knows his light and guards his darkness becomes the world’s model. Being the world’s model, he will never be destitute in carrying out virtues, and he will return to his home in the Absolute.”

This was a quote from the Classic of the Way and Virtue, so Bu QingYun also knew of it and thought that his master was stating the obvious. His cheeks were still stuffed with pastries when he angrily said, “But shizun, black is black and white is white. If we don’t get rid of all the evil people, how would the world know peace?”

He was still too young back then. He hadn’t yet fully understood that the world wasn’t just black and white. Even an immortal would be unlikely to be able to guarantee that they will always be clear on who was right and who was wrong.

So, in the end, his master just lovingly patted his head and sighed. “QingYun, you must walk your own path. This master can only leave you with this one piece of advice. Going too far is the same as not doing enough. So long as you have the perseverance, you will see the fruits of your labour. No matter what difficulties you will face in the future, never force yourself onto the path of no return. You have this master, your junior martial brother, and many friends who are willing to assist you. This world is everyone’s, you needn’t carry it by yourself.”

Since he was a child, he wasn’t particularly obedient. When Bu YaoLian was being responsible by studying and practicing his writing, he would always go down the mountain to buy some storybooks.

But master, you never taught me who would help me disperse the oppressive storm clouds hanging from the sky when I’ve lost my master, my martial brothers, my friends, and when everyone in the world has become my enemy.

Perhaps Xuanmen Righteous Sect’s successors really did have divine protection, when the sword energy had already reached his chest, he had already prepared the last incantation to the Soul Splitting Technique, all it needed was a final hand seal and the life of Demon Lord He Huan can thusly be concluded. The Jianghu will welcome a joyous finale.

Yet, exactly at this last moment, his body suddenly broke out from his control. His right hand reached to his waist and pulled his sword, the Cloud of Judgement, from its sheath. Its silvery light cut through the haze in front of it. His sword intent resembled the brilliance of the moon further highlighting the splendor of the sword’s blade. It unexpectedly met the coming sword head on.

They both harnessed the divine sword intent, but the difference in power between the two was wider than a canyon. In the collision of the two swords’ energies, He Huan only saw his body be harshly smashed into the ground, and only by leaning on his sword could his body barely stand upright and vomited a mouthful of blood. It was only after all of this that He Ku revealed his bright eyes and angrily yelled at He Huan who had been withdrawn into their heart. “Don’t you know to wake me up?!”

End of Chapter 32

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