Chapter 625: The Back Mountain - The Quest for Immortality

Chapter 625: The Back Mountain In the depths of the Tai Xu Sword Tomb, the elder's eyes flickered with contemplation. "A thousand years ago..." "The cosmic order became tainted, the thoughts of all beings weakened, and no divine beasts could exist..." "What truly happened?" A mist shrouded his heart. The elder transformed his spirit into a sword, tracing the root cause of the demonic abominations' disappearance. His spirit, sharp as a blade, sliced through the mist, revealing a landscape awash in blood-red hues. The sky loomed crimson like blood over a field strewn with corpses, where a menacing and regal corpse king lay, bound by chains, slowly opening its eyes. Those eyes brimmed with brutality, gore, and a twisted essence of the Dao. "Dao Abomination!" The elder's gaze filled with shock. In an instant, a chilling wind rose. An endless horde of animated corpses and iron-clad cadavers surged into his sea of consciousness, fearlessly tearing at his awareness. The elder remained motionless for a moment before a trace of pride emerged from his withered face. His spirit condensed into an indomitable sword intent, akin to the primordial chaos of duality, the profound sword light blossomed, striking forth in annihilation. All the animated and iron-clad corpses that touched the sword light were ground to dust, obliterated completely. Seeing the tide of corpses eradicated by the sword light, the corpse king roared, its chains of causality trembling. In the blink of an eye, it followed the subtle chains of causality, closing in on the elder, opening its gory maw, and biting into the elder's arm. The elder's face showed resolve, and his spirit formed into a sword, delivering a decisive slash. The strike hit the corpse king. Yet, it felt as though it cut through empty air. The corpse king's body was enshrouded in layers of causality, as if existing in another realm of illusion. The elder frowned and slashed again. This time, the strike was aimed at the causality. The grandeur of the Tai Xu sword intent, like the Milky Way of heaven, severed the chains of causality, also cutting the corpse king’s horrific Dao abomination. The mountains of corpses and seas of blood vanished in an instant. The back mountain lay silent; the sword tomb desolate, littered with broken swords. As though nothing had transpired. But the elder knew his consciousness bore a bite mark. The wound wasn't severe, but a trace of bloodthirsty malice had seeped into his sea of consciousness, corroding his Dao heart, eliciting a chilling intent to kill. Meanwhile, within the elder's residence, as he read by candlelight, the expression of Mr. Xun suddenly changed. "A killing intent surges, spirit forming into a sword!" Mr. Xun's face turned grave. With a swift gesture, he tore open a dark rift in the void and stepped through. When he reemerged, he stood within the forbidden sword tomb of the back mountain. The mountain of swords appeared unchanged. Only the elder in the center seemed to have an unstable Dao heart, with his consciousness spilling over, the impending sword intent suffused with deadly killing aura, chilling to the bone. Yet, this kind of sword-infused killing intent was imperceptible to ordinary cultivators. The elders and disciples of the entire Tai Xu Mountain slept peacefully, unaware of what had occurred in the forbidden ground. But Mr. Xun knew. He looked at the elder in the sword tomb, his eyes showing complex emotions, and then sighed, "Senior Brother, you've drawn the sword once more..." The elder with long white hair and beard, pale-faced as if restraining something, his visage crisscrossed with sword qi and killing aura. After a long time, he managed to stabilize his Dao heart with immense cultivation, suppressing the killing intent, his expression returning to normal, yet his consciousness remained tainted by the cause-and-effect “corpse poison.” Thin, twisted strands of blood-red Dao essence entwined within. Seeing this, Mr. Xun gasped sharply. "What is this?!" The elder with the long beard looked at Mr. Xun with a bitter smile and said: "Unexpectedly, it's... a Dao Abomination." Mr. Xun's face turned serious and he asked: "What exactly happened?" The elder shook his head, "Mere demonic trickery invaded our Tai Xu. I intended to trace its causality and cut it down with a single sword, but inexplicably, I unshackled a Dao Abomination..." "Had this Dao Abomination not been of lesser realm, merely at the half-step stage, not fully formed..." "My weakened spirit and flawed Dao heart might have already been polluted, turning into the puppet of the Dao Abomination, with a human body but a Dao heart turned corpse..." The elder let out a long breath, his heart chilled. Mr. Xun's eyes grew solemn, "Someone is laying a scheme to nurture a Dao Abomination?" The elder pondered for a moment, shaking his head, "It doesn’t quite seem like a calculated plot to nurture a Dao Abomination, more like..." "My sword cleaved through causality, inadvertently touching upon something forbidden, provoking this monstrous creature..." Mr. Xun was puzzled, "Causality Dao Abomination?" The elder nodded, "This half-step Dao Abomination... seems already 'dead', but its malice lingers, residing in some 'thing'..." "Dao Abomination... already dead?" Mr. Xun's brows furrowed tighter, "In the realm of laws, how could a Dao Abomination die so easily?" "What entity possesses such power to bypass the heavenly laws and slay a Dao Abomination?" The elder closed his eyes, taking a deep breath, then opened them again with a solemn expression, speaking slowly: "All things in the world, where there's life, there's also death." "A Dao Abomination is merely a malformed product of the great Dao, undefeated under heavenly laws within a realm, but it doesn't mean it's immortal and indestructible..." "It can come to life, naturally it can die." "I just didn't expect, that while guarding the sword tomb in seclusion, I could still inexplicably get bitten by a Dao Abomination..." The elder looked up at the starless night sky, sighing: "That person is dead, the celestial fate of the Sky Burial revealed, the heavenly machine is subtly shifting, and inexplicable occurrences are becoming more frequent..." Mr. Xun frowned. In Qianxue State, the prosperous clans have enjoyed peace for a long time, and the term "Dao Abomination" had indeed not been heard in ages. Hearing it now, it felt oddly "as if it were from another world." Mr. Xun calculated with his fingers, suddenly felt a twinge in his heart, quietly withdrew his hand, and asked: "What kind of Dao Abomination?" "In the mountains of corpses and seas of blood, a corpse king..." Corpse King... Mr. Xun silently noted it down and then looked at the elder with deep concern: "Are you alright, Senior Brother..." The elderly man coughed a few times, his voice hoarse as he replied: "With some rest, I'll be fine... Though times have changed, a causality Dao Abomination alone isn't enough to severely damage my spirit..." After speaking, he coughed several more times. His aura gradually weakened, as though the original injury had worsened. Mr. Xun, feeling sympathy, sighed and said: "Senior Brother, using spirit as a sword... refrain from doing so." "I know my limits..." "Senior Brother!" The elder with the long beard wore an indifferent expression. Mr. Xun sighed, his gaze heavy, spoke with emphasis: "In cultivating the Spirit Sword technique, you are well aware that while spirit formed into a sword holds supreme sword intent, able to cut both tangible and intangible foes, however..." "Sword intent can make one, and can also break one." "This sword intent isn't from an external sword artifact, but from your own essence." "Once the sword intent is unleashed, it either harms others or oneself; even while harming others, it depletes one's own spirit." "Ordinary sword cultivators use sword artifacts to attack. If a sword gets damaged, it can be repaired, if it breaks, it can be reforged, if destroyed, a new one can be crafted..." "But spirit differs..." "With spirit as a sword, if the sword is damaged, the spirit is harmed; if the sword breaks, the spirit dims; if the sword is destroyed, the spirit perishes..." "And this isn’t the most terrifying aspect..." "The most terrifying is..." Mr. Xun gazed at the elderly man, "When spirit forms a sword and the sword intent departs the mind, it's easily tainted by malevolent forces, and once polluted, the Dao heart becomes stained, impeding one's path to the great Dao, eventually..." Mr. Xun's heart ached, leaving the words unsaid. Yet, the elder with the long beard let out a self-mocking laugh: "...Eventually becoming like me, neither human nor ghost, guarding a hollow shell, imprisoning oneself in a drawn circle..." "Senior Brother..." "I understand..." The elder sighed, "I understand, this sword technique cannot be practiced further..." "I am the last of this sword technique's practitioners..." "Hereafter, no disciple of Tai Xu shall train in the 'Spirit Sword True Technique', nor be informed of its existence..." "This lineage shall end with me." "And with me, it shall vanish and perish in this Tai Xu sword tomb." "Yet, I am not dead..." The elder's face was withered, but his eyes shone with sharp tenacity: "I am still an inheritor of the Tai Xu Sword Technique..." "Those who dare to offend our Tai Xu will face the sword, born from spirit, causality, and destiny's killing intent. Even if it means the depletion of my spirit, or the demise of my soul and path..." "This is all I can do now." Mr. Xun felt a mix of admiration and sorrow, letting out a sigh as he tried to comfort him: "The Qianxue State is home to powerful clans and prosperous sects. No mere specters or demons would dare to challenge the great eight sects..." "Senior Brother, there's no need for you to..." The elder with the long beard smiled coldly, "Do you believe in those words yourself?" Mr. Xun was taken aback. The elder looked at him and sighed, "Junior Brother, you are a master of arrays, surely you understand better than anyone..." "Our Tai Xu Sect lacks inheritance in the art of heavenly calculation." "Our strength has always lain in swordsmanship, not calculations..." "When demons and devils invade, we counter with the Tai Xu spirit sword to vanquish the evil, cut the causality, and block the risks within fate’s machinery..." "We can only kill..." "The true art of calculation eludes us; hence some things remain unseen..." Mr. Xun fell silent. He knew deep down that his senior brother was speaking the truth. The art of heavenly calculation surpasses the array algorithms he knows. His deductions were all based on arrays and not the elusive art of celestial foresight, meaning he could glimpse causality but not its origins... The elder continued, "Since we can't predict, merely observing with eyes—how do you distinguish true prosperity from illusion?" Mr. Xun frowned, "Though we lack expertise in calculations, other sects..." The elder shook his head, "Throughout Qianxue State, both array and off-the-chart celestial calculations have deteriorated..." "In past times, Qianxue was a realm teeming with cultivators whose hearts were firm, possessing great vision, leading to an abundance of celestial scholars..." "But now..." "The calculations exist, yet sects and clans use them for personal gain, neglecting the populace, ignoring destiny itself." "Those in power—sect leaders and clan elders—are blinded by their desires, unable or unwilling to see the truth." "When greed clouds judgment, destiny becomes veiled." "And when the will of heaven is obstructed, demons and barbaric gods from beyond will stir, using human hearts as fertile ground for growth..." The elder's expression turned icy with indifference: "These people see only the facade of prosperity, missing the decaying foundation..." "They cannot foresee the corruption of hearts within the web of fate, the hideous demons that lurk..." "One day, these demons will seek to destroy the Tai Xu Sect's legacy." "As long as I live, I can strike them down with a sword." "If I am gone, then what..." The elder voiced a grim resolution, tinged with melancholy. Mr. Xun sighed deeply: "Senior Brother, you exaggerate..." "The Qianxue State boasts many strong figures; surely, something can be done. You must focus on rest and recovery..." The elder remained mute, sealing his lips. Mr. Xun ceased speaking, yet his gaze betrayed deep worry. What cannot be seen is often the most terrifying... With this thought, he turned and walked away. After some time, the elder slowly opened his eyes again, gently caressing the broken sword beside him, murmuring softly: "I'm sorry..." "To have you accompany me..." "To 'die' together in this sword tomb..." The old sword lay silent, the air thick with the stillness of death. The entire back mountain remained empty and desolate. Within the blackened sword tomb. The elder sat emaciated upon the ground, surrounded by the remnants of swords, entangled in ancient chains, as if imprisoning himself within the forbidden grounds of Tai Xu, never to escape for eternity. ... In the disciple quarters. The "little mythical beast" Mohua, after "eating" the demons and resting for a while, resumed his lessons as if nothing had happened the next day. Obscured fate and hidden causality. He remained unaware that a sect's ancestor had been bitten by the corpse king residing on him. He continued his cultivation and classes as usual. Except now, he had an additional task during his spare time: Taking on second-level array tasks, earning merit! Mr. Xun had adjusted his permissions, so although he technically hadn't ranked, within Tai Xu Sect, Mohua was at least considered a "second-grade array master" in terms of the Tai Xu token. During his periodical break, he preferred accepting tasks related to capturing rogue cultivators, which earned him considerable merit. However, drawing second-grade arrays offered a better ratio of effort to reward. After all, the periodical break lasts only two days, allowing for only one task. By contrast, with the eight days of lessons in the sect, Mohua could take on tasks and draw arrays whenever he had free time. Moreover, the two activities didn't conflict. He could earn merit by drawing arrays in his spare time and during break periods, go "relax," capture a few culprits, test and refine his techniques, confiscate a few spells, and earn more merit. With both strategies combined, merit accumulated faster and more abundantly... For second-grade level array tasks, Mohua no longer needed Murong Shijie's assistance and could accept them independently. Gazing at the Tai Xu token, he persistently searched for tasks. Having applied all morning unsuccessfully, as expected, no one was willing to assign him a task... In the Tai Xu token, beneath a disciple's name, entries are recorded, including task details and completion records associated with Mohua. A new entry under Mohua's name noted: Second-grade Initial Array Master. This entry contained some descriptions, detailing how many arrays Mohua had drawn, how many tasks he had accepted, and how they were completed. This served as a record of merit. Also as proof of one's qualifications. But under Mohua's "second-grade initial array master" entry, it was completely empty. Because to date, he hadn't accepted or completed any second-grade tasks within the Tai Xu token, leaving the entry blank. Essentially, he was a complete "newbie." Thus, others were generally reluctant to have him draw arrays for them. So, Mohua continuously lowered his standards, going from second-grade thirteen-sigil, to second-grade twelve-sigil, then second-grade eleven-sigil... Even with his "shallow experience," no one agreed to trust him with their tasks. Unyielding, Mohua resolutely kept applying... Finally, after nearly thirty applications, he obtained his first task: A second-grade ten-sigil array, Firework Array. Mohua let out a sigh. Second-grade ten sigils, truly too basic! But there's no helping it; starting is always difficult. Without accumulating foundational experience, he couldn't progress to higher-level arrays; others wouldn't entrust their advanced arrays to him. Mohua adjusted his mindset, preparing to complete his first second-grade array task within Tai Xu Sect...