IS Chapter 86

Chapter 86

As the words fell, Ye Zhuo’s sword was drawn again.

The raging fire was extinguished, and his swordplay changed.

The red clothes blended into the night, his figure traversing the sky without a sound. The sword was as ghostly as lightning, the blade pitch-black, without a trace of light, the killing intent restrained within, not revealing itself at all, yet every move was aimed at taking a life.

Just seeing it sent chills down one’s spine. To meet it head-on would be to have one’s soul scattered.

——This was a technique of the Guanhua Cave.

Assassins moved at night, appearing without a trace and disappearing without a shadow, only taking lives, without asking the reason.

For a hundred years, it had been forgotten by the entire Immortal Dao.

Few people still remembered what kind of dark and windy night would come to mind when Guanhua Cave and the Lord of the Four Divisions were mentioned back then.

…Perhaps, like tonight.

Tonight, at this moment, such a style was reappearing in the world—on the sword of someone so beautiful, so dangerous, who already controlled life and death, and behind whom were grudges like the sea.

Li Yuan watched with interest as Tai Qing’s formation, which was obviously disrupted. Assassin sword techniques were mostly unconventional moves, inherently difficult to parry, especially when they changed so abruptly. Used by Ye Zhuo, these sword moves were even more ghostly and sharp than those assassins who had lost a soul and become puppets, like poisonous flowers and leaves tempered between life and death.

If this person became an assassin, it would cost more to hire him than to hire the Guanhua Order, Li Yuan thought.

In this entanglement, Tai Qing exhausted all his methods and was soon unable to parry. At this moment, he suddenly widened his eyes and saw that behind Ye Zhuo, the threads of cause and effect between him and Guanhua Cave were spreading out.

He had not only learned the methods of Guanhua Cave, but also comprehended his Great Dao of Cause and Effect?

The threads were like a net, rushing towards Tai Qing’s face.

Tai Qing could swear about the events of Illusion Sword Manor. But he couldn’t swear about the events of Guanhua Cave.

Because this sect was personally destroyed by him.

And those famous assassins who still had value – he watched the figure of Jade Pavilion True Master disappear, the main sect’s gate closed, and sealed all nineteen of them within.

So today, he would also die in the Mirage Realm.

“Senior brother,” Tai Qing suddenly heard his junior sister’s clear, cold voice in his ear.

He lowered his head in astonishment and suddenly saw that he was holding his junior sister’s body in his arms.

“Senior brother,” his junior sister said, her face pale, suddenly spitting out a mouthful of blood, her eyes already unfocused, but still stubbornly looking at him.

“This Immortal Dao is like a swamp, this mountain is like a cage,” his junior sister said, “Senior brother, withdraw. Senior brother…you…withdraw.”

These were the last words his junior sister left him.

——The final sword, a move entirely belonging to the Guanhua Cave, pierced Tai Qing’s heart.

Tai Qing had not killed the people of Illusion Sword Manor, but he had killed the people of Guanhua Cave.

Guanhua Cave took people’s money to eliminate disasters for them.

Then taking people’s inheritance could avenge them. If a reason was needed, this was the reason. If this reason was not enough, there were other reasons, but unfortunately, Tai Qing only had one life.

“Where is Jade Pavilion?” Ye Zhuo asked.

Tai Qing opened his mouth, making several hoarse sounds, but not answering Ye Zhuo’s question.

“Junior sister,” he sighed, “Senior brother has no other choice.”

Having said that, he suddenly self-detonated.

This move was not only to make a last-ditch effort but also to disregard the lives of everyone present.

But the speed of his self-detonation was obviously not as fast as the Cold Pool Flood Dragon’s flight.

As early as when there were no signs, Li Yuan had swept up Ye Zhuo and flew straight into the high sky, transforming into an indistinct figure and disappearing into the distance.

And Wei Sheng Xian unfolded his Dao Domain, where heaven and earth were like warp and weft, and all things revolved, protecting everyone present.

When the Dao Domain slowly receded, the aftermath of the self-detonation also dissipated. The ground was covered with broken chess pieces and ashes, creating an exceptionally desolate scene.

Everyone present didn’t know what to say.

After rushing around all night, they didn’t get the inheritance treasure, didn’t finish watching the chess game, and the former Sect Master of the Dao Sect died. Whose fault was this?

Countless complex gazes immediately turned to Wei Sheng Xian.

——And Wei Sheng Xian looked at the dark night sky, watching the equally dark, blurred figure swiftly disappear into the distance, murmuring to himself in confusion: “…Then what about me?”

This voice was very soft, only Yin Ye beside him could hear it.

A few breaths later, Yin Ye Abbot suddenly let out a burst of breathless laughter.

He laughed so happily that anyone who didn’t know better would think his six senses had recovered.

Barely managing to stop laughing, Yin Ye clapped his hands in praise: “Brother Wei Sheng, the Second Palace Master of your esteemed palace, in collusion with an alien beast of unknown origin, actually rebelled against the Micro-Snow Palace and snatched your treasure, Brother Wei Sheng. It has truly opened my eyes. Has Brother Wei Sheng thought about how to explain this to the Guardian True Master? Will you be clearing the ranks?”

Three full calls of “Brother Wei Sheng” caused Wei Sheng Xian to reveal a meaningful smile.

The people around looked at each other, still without saying a word.

Tai Qing was dead, and the highest-ranking people present were the leaders of each sect.

The Sect Leader of Hongmeng was not here, and the Sect Master of Taiyue was also a master of compromise. And because of various past events, Yin Ye Abbot’s position in the Immortal Dao was transcendent, and his words carried considerable weight.

Now that he called him “Brother Wei Sheng”, defining this matter as the Second Palace Master of the Micro-Snow Palace rebelling and extracting Wei Sheng Xian and the Micro-Snow Palace, what could they say?

Even if Wei Sheng Xian was colluding from within and stealing from himself, it was just a matter of passing the treasure from his left hand to his right, anyway, the treasure would not fall into their hands. Since it was none of their business, there was naturally no need to create additional problems.

Yin Ye spoke again: “Such a major event, and the Dao Sect has no True Master who can come forward, it seems necessary for us to personally report to the Guardian True Master of the main sect. Why don’t you all go with us to the edge of the Ghost Realm and wait for the True Master?”

This man had a sickly appearance, and his words were eerie, not like he was going to lead them to anything good.

But because of the events of tonight, they could no longer escape the consequences.

The several Sect Masters exchanged glances and realized that they all had the same thought.

——Where did Sect Master Lin of the Danding Sect die? Such a great disaster, why hasn’t he come to share the suffering?

Could it be that Shen Jingzhen’s disciple was released by him on purpose? Wouldn’t that be a good way to quietly escape?

The group felt quite dejected and headed in the direction of the Ghost Realm.

Li Yuan didn’t care where they were going, he found a deserted mountain and put Ye Zhuo down. He also took out the inheritance pearl that had been snatched.

Looking at this item obtained through robbery, Li Yuan pondered for a long time and said to himself, “It’s true that one is influenced by one’s company.”

Ye Zhuo took the inheritance pearl from his hand: “Who is the ink?”

The Ink Dragon said: “In any case, it’s not me.”

The long worm was truly good at sophistry. Ye Zhuo ignored him and took the inheritance pearl, striding forward.

Li Yuan followed him: “So, who is Yun Xiangxi to you?”

Ye Zhuo: “You’re not pretending anymore?”

Li Yuan: “If I keep pretending, it will be when everyone in the world knows who Yun Xiangxi is to you, and I’ll borrow a little light and know it together.”

Ye Zhuo: “It all ends up being known, what’s the difference?” It seemed that four-legged creatures had less patience than humans.

“There is a difference, I don’t want to know with them,” Li Yuan said, “Coming to the human world, everyone loves to tell me stories, but they all tell them differently. Listening here and there, I feel like I’ve understood seven or eight parts.”

Walking beside Ye Zhuo, he said: “But there are still people who say that human stories have many different versions, so I should just listen to them and leave it at that. So I thought, it would be better to hear the remaining two or three parts from that person himself.”

He was really full of eloquent arguments.

Stopping beside a withered tree with a branch that extended sideways, Ye Zhuo looked towards the distant horizon. The sky in the Mirage Realm always seemed to stop at a gloomy night.

Unlike Illusion Cloud Cliff, standing on the edge of the cliff and looking out, there were green mountains, clouds, and then the moon sinking and the sun rising.

The long worm loved to hear stories, but unfortunately, his past seemed scarce.

“There’s actually nothing much to tell,” Ye Zhuo said, “Yun Xiangxi was the one who taught me how to use a sword.”

Using a sword, starting with the basic sword moves.

Grip the sword, draw the sword, sheath the sword.

Point, thrust, chop, slash, lift, pierce, intercept, cut, twist, parry.

Learn one hundred and eight styles, transforming into three thousand six hundred moves. After learning the changing moves, connect them all together. As for how to connect them, every move and every move in the three thousand six hundred moves could be connected, it was just a matter of practice makes perfect.

In the end, there would be thousands of changes under the sword, and the martial world would say that they all came from Illusion Sword Manor.

After that, one would practice complete sets of sword techniques. For example, the seventeen lineages of inheritance sword techniques of Illusion Sword Manor, and also, Yun Xiangxi’s sword techniques.

Once, from gripping the sword to sheathing it, from pointing and thrusting to twisting and parrying, then from one hundred and eight styles to three thousand six hundred moves, and then to all the subsequent sword techniques.

Every move he made was taught by Yun Xiangxi.

“If we’re talking about blood ties,” Ye Zhuo withdrew his gaze from the distance and looked into Li Yuan’s eyes, “Yun Xiangxi is my father.”

Li Yuan looked at his eyes in astonishment.

Actually, it seemed to be within expectations.

But hearing this person say it in such an understatement made him feel like a thunderclap in silence, leaving him at a loss for words.

“He taught me with his sword, and I learned a lot,” Ye Zhuo said, “Later, I forgot all those swords.”

Li Yuan: “Swords can also be forgotten?”

The sword that a sword cultivator trained with from the very beginning was like his innate bones and blood.

If such a sword was broken, there would be excruciating pain.

And if such a sword was to be forgotten, it would take cutting out one’s heart and scraping one’s bones to do it.

“It can be forgotten,” Ye Zhuo looked at him, “If you want to forget, you can do it too.”

Li Yuan stared blankly at Ye Zhuo.

There were some things he wanted to know, but he had never asked before.

Why bother remembering things that had been forgotten?

Just to dissect what had happened for those hypocritical and fame-seeking sects, for those taciturn fellow immortals, for those treacherous schemers who calculated the secrets of heaven, and show them what had happened?

Were they worthy?

But they kept jumping out one by one, one by one making their appearances, all coming to Ye Zhuo to talk about the events of that year.

What exactly happened back then, if it had to be made public, had to be known to everyone, then let him listen to Ye Zhuo first.

But Li Yuan couldn’t ask any further.

Even if he only wanted to ask, what exactly happened to make you forget all the swords you had learned in your life?

Like the Red Dust Sword Immortal abandoning his ruthless sword path?

But Li Yuan knew that it would be a thousand times, ten thousand times more difficult than what the Red Dust Sword Immortal had done back then.

The Red Dust Sword Immortal was not from Illusion Sword Manor, not a born sword cultivator. He admired Yun Xiangxi, whom he had only met a few times, and then cultivated the same ruthless sword path as Yun Xiangxi, that was all.

But for Ye Zhuo, it was not like that.

In the end, in a silence devoid of sound, Li Yuan spoke.

“Then who killed the people of Illusion Sword Manor?”

“Yun Xiangxi killed them,” Ye Zhuo said calmly.

“——Why?” Li Yuan asked.

“For no reason.”

“Maybe he wanted something and used the sect to exchange it with Upper Purity Mountain. Maybe he wanted to prove the ruthless sword path and killed them all along the way. Maybe, there was no reason at all, he killed them because he wanted to.”

Ye Zhuo’s voice was just as calm as ever, perhaps with a faint smile, not knowing who he was laughing at.

Or perhaps, it was simply because, on such a good night, thinking of the past made him suddenly feel that time was like an arrow, all like dust and smoke.

Li Yuan looked at him, but only felt all kinds of thoughts surging into his mind. His heart was beating, but every beat was a dull pain.

He heard his own voice choked: “Then what about you?”

“I’m alive,” Ye Zhuo said, “But not because I escaped, but because he didn’t kill me. If he wanted to kill me, I wouldn’t be here today.”

“Just didn’t kill you?” Li Yuan looked at him.

So Ye Zhuo thought about it again.

“Xuanwu asked me, what would happen if I lost one day. Nothing would happen, I had already lost back then,” he said.

Li Yuan wanted to reach out and touch his cheek, but he didn’t, he didn’t move, just looked at him: “You said, when people are the knife and I am the fish, you don’t like it.”

“What if I don’t like it. When people are the knife and I am the fish, I have already experienced it,” Ye Zhuo said.

Having said that, Ye Zhuo didn’t speak anymore. The so-called two or three parts, he thought, that was all he had to say.

Actually, he didn’t like telling stories.

But piecing things together, people could always guess his origins.

One day, Feng Jiang didn’t know where he had heard something, and suddenly burst into tears for a day, and then stayed in the kitchen for a long time, and finally tentatively presented him with a plate of candied peach blossoms.

He ate them and only felt that they were too sweet.

Dragon Li Yuan had also finished listening.

But his gaze was not as Ye Zhuo had expected. If it were really like that, Ye Zhuo would have found it uninteresting.

Li Yuan’s gaze was calm, like the sea.

Ye Zhuo: “What are you thinking about?”

“They say that Yun Xiangxi was born with a Golden Core and underwent tribulation at the age of twenty. Ye Zhuo, you are twenty-five this year, and you are also at the Tribulation Transcension Realm, and so am I. But you forgot your sword and then practiced it again. You started over and cultivated the sword path again. I am not as good as you, and Yun Xiangxi is not as good as you.”

Ye Zhuo looked at him, seemingly interested, waiting for him to continue.

“What can make you cultivate again after forgetting all you’ve learned must be a better sword than before. You didn’t learn anyone’s sword path, for thousands of years, tens of thousands of years, all their swords are not as good as your own sword. So, Ye Zhuo, you are really amazing.”

Li Yuan paused, looked into Ye Zhuo’s eyes, and said seriously: “Meeting you and fighting you to a draw is my fortune.”

“You flatter me,” Ye Zhuo said, “Actually, I was also born with a Golden Core.”

Looking at him, Li Yuan smiled.

“I am also a Golden Core,” Li Yuan said.

Ye Zhuo blinked.

“After incubating in the Yuanhai spiritual vein for thousands of years, it would be embarrassing not to be born with a Golden Core,” Li Yuan said.

If such news spread to the three thousand worlds, the Dragon Realm would not be able to hold its head up.

Ye Zhuo also smiled softly.

When he smiled, it was like ice and snow melting, and the biting spring chill was scattered by the wind. To those who saw this smile, it was like seeing a lotus swaying and about to bloom in cool water.

Li Yuan: “Then ten years ago, when you were fifteen and I saw you for the first time in the East Sea—”

Ye Zhuo: “That was when I had already re-cultivated the sword path.”

Li Yuan’s eyes were still full of smiles, and he suddenly said: “Ye Zhuo.”

“Mm?”

“Want to hug you. May I?”

“?”

Ye Zhuo’s “No” had not yet been uttered when he was suddenly embraced.

The clear, refreshing aura suddenly drew near, Li Yuan hugged Ye Zhuo tightly, lowered his head, and buried himself in this person’s neck.

He slowly closed his eyes, all the smiles disappeared, even the genuine smiles.

All the emotions that had surged, roared, but had never been revealed, sank down, sank into the bottomless abyss.