Chapter 8
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Chapter 8: The True Battle of the Gods
Ju Buyi’s condition is very poor.
This is visible to the naked eye.
However, his sudden appearance and the display of his power deeply engraved itself into everyone’s hearts!
The sky was dripping with black raindrops.
Occasionally, cold winds blew by.
The focus of the eyes of the living all gathered on Ju Buyi.
Along with their gaze, the candlelight seemed to converge around the Sword Washing Pool.
The orange-red light evenly spread out, as if adding a halo of holy spirit Qi behind him.
Indescribable!
Throughout the past many years, Ju Buyi has been an insignificant figure.
No one cared about his worth of existence.
No one cared about where he came from.
And certainly, no one cared about where he would go.
Even on many occasions, he himself didn’t ponder on this question.
From the day he had memory, he had led a very impoverished life.
It’s often said that human life is worth as little as a blade of grass, and his life is hardly more valuable than one.
His withered parents had attempted to sell him in exchange for food, but ultimately no one was willing to buy.
"If we can’t even survive ourselves, why would we buy a child? Are we going to eat it?"
Disasters show no mercy.
After the great flood came the great plague, and after the great plague came the great drought.
In mortal kingdoms without the care of cultivation sects, such disasters could destroy everything.
Ju Buyi would soon experience the pain of being eaten by his parents.
Just as the sharp stone was about to pierce into his body, he was saved by a passing Sword Washing Pavilion steward.
"Eyes not tainted by dust, body and mind pure, are the best containers!"
The steward took his hand and squatted down to ask.
"Do you want to live?"
His blue eyes were even clearer than the sky that day.
Ju Buyi instinctively nodded, "Yes."
He only wanted to live, without thinking more. In fact, at his age, he could not understand more.
Upon arriving at the Sword Washing Pavilion, he received a complete "Scabbard" cultivation education.
Ju Buyi is a man without dreams, so even when he learned that his future was doomed to a dead end, he didn’t feel sorrow or indignation.
"Being able to live for several more decades is a gain, no matter how you think about it."
The lifetime of a poor person is already so short, perhaps even shorter.
But as time passed, he still changed.
Tools are also humans, and tools also have emotions!
Every time he encounters another "Scabbard", his heart rate involuntarily speeds up and all the freedom he holds dear disappears.
However…
He dared not do anything.
Any emotion beyond the necessary is unbearable for him, as a "Scabbard".
To obtain something, one must sacrifice other things, and in this case, what he may have to give up could be their lives.
In fact, maintaining the status quo is quite nice.
Sitting together and chatting, discussing the way of the sword when idle, is enough to make his every day vibrant.
Unfortunately, even such peace couldn’t be firmly grasped by Ju Buyi.
During an outing, the "sword scabbard" he valued and her Sword Bearer fell into danger, and their companions became filled with fear and not only failed to help but also wanted to run away.
"Quickly report to the pavilion master!"
What’s the use in that?
By the time the pavilion master arrives, it will be too late.
Zhao Shuo’s voice urging him to escort them away echoed in his ears, but after standing still for a while, Ju Buyi’s impatience overcame his fear of rules.
Ju Buyi threw Zhao Shuo and rushed into the perilous situation.
That was a day he would never forget.
Chased by a powerful demonic beast, he could only save one person at most.
"If you choose to save me, we will both still face death after returning to Sword Washing Pavilion. If you choose to save her, only I will die, and your disobedience to Zhao Shuo’s command will be forgiven."
This is a very clear fact.
Ju Buyi could easily understand the girl’s meaning, but he couldn’t accept it. He came back to save the girl!
The girl lightly touched his face, "There’s no time for long speeches. Listen to me, I want to see you alive."
"…"
"I know what you want to ask. If I had no thoughts, I wouldn’t chat with you every day."
"…"
Ju Buyi didn’t know how to describe his feelings at that time.
In the end, he yielded to the girl’s words and chose to rescue the Sword Bearer who was deeply stuck in the mud pit, just as the girl had said. Because of the Sword Bearer’s help in pleading for him, he avoided punishment.
Although he might be targeted by Zhao Shuo afterwards, it would not cause any serious harm.
However, he ultimately lost something – something interesting, something that would never be forgotten after experiencing it once.
"This world has suddenly become extremely dull."
The wind lost its warmth.
The flowers lost their fragrance.
The sky lost its blue color.
…
"Pavilion master."
Ju Buyi stopped in front of the pavilion master.
He didn’t rush to speak with Bai Lian and Xiao Jinse.
He didn’t have much time left, but it was enough for him to deal with other matters first.
Bai Lian originally wanted to ask something, but after feeling the suppressed atmosphere between Ju Buyi and the pavilion master, she temporarily gave up on this plan.
"Let me first see what’s happening around."
She hugged the Second Martial Sister, who was slightly emotional, and then scattered her Divine Sense to sweep through the entire Mount Yun range, preventing any of the Demons of the Outer Realm from escaping.
The Demon of the Outer Realm was not found, but Bai Lian made another discovery.
The sea area near Yingzhou was filled with gloomy black mist, which entangled together to form a terrifying vortex.
With the Demon of the Outer Realm and the black monsters rushing out of the blood pool one after another, the vortex seemed to lose its support and began to collapse at an extremely slow speed.
Bai Lian roughly estimated that if the speed remained the same, Yingzhou would return to normal in another three days.
It must be said that this is good news.
She was just agonizing over how to dispel these strange things.
Besides blowing hard, she couldn’t come up with a good idea.
After all, compared to those cultivators with similar abilities as hers, she was an ignorant "villager".
"We’ll be able to leave here soon."
Bai Lian smiled at the Second Martial Sister and felt good after surviving the crisis.
Xiao Jinse nodded.
She was still puzzled by what Ju Buyi had said, but she was looking forward to the upcoming outing with Elder Martial Sister Bai Lian.
Are they going to the beach to sunbathe, or skiing in the snow mountains, or strolling in the towns?
Xiao Jinse was like a student who had just finished the final exam and was waiting for the master’s last speech before the holiday.
Over there, the pavilion master of Sword Washing Pavilion responded.
A forced smile squeezed out onto his face, which was covered in beads of sweat.
"Ju Buyi, if you hadn’t arrived in time, the Sword Washing Pavilion would have been destroyed by the hands of the Demon of the Outer Realm."
The person who fell beside him quickly nodded in agreement.
"That demon’s strength was unmatched. For the sake of preserving the last remaining people of our sect, we had to endure silently."
"Ju Buyi, you have bestowed upon us the gift of rebuilding the Sword Washing Pavilion!"
"It’s a shame that although the demon is dead, those disciples who were thrown into the Sword Washing Pool will never come back. Alas…"
A sigh resounded.
In a moment, all the praises on the ground turned into angry accusations against the Demon of the Outer Realm.
"Ahem, ahem…"
Suddenly, Ju Buyi covered his mouth and coughed violently.
By the time he removed his hand, it was already covered in blood.
Shaking his head to dispel the blood, he weakly uttered, "I already know."
As his voice flowed, a dim white light flew out from his palm.
The restrictions on those who had not yet been thrown into the Sword Washing Pool were released one after another.
However, due to the sudden oppression earlier, they were still unable to recover for a while.
Seeing this, the pavilion master quickly exclaimed, "This is really great. Although we have encountered a disaster, I believe that under your leadership, the Sword Washing Pavilion will definitely shine again!"
Ju Buyi remained unmoved, just quietly gazing at the pavilion master.
The pavilion master’s mouth twitched, hurrying to appeal to Ju Buyi’s emotions.
"Seeing these saved young disciples reminds me of Steward Meng Binglu. If she were still alive, she would definitely be pleased to see your achievements and compassionate heart."
Steward Meng Binglu was the one who brought Ju Buyi back to Sword Washing Pavilion.
"She passed away early," Ju Buyi gazed afar at the dimly lit Sword Washing Pavilion Cemetery, "Perhaps it’s a good thing."
"What does that mean?" the pavilion master asked in retort.
Ju Buyi turned his gaze back, "Her strength was ultimately lacking. If she were still alive at this time, she would probably be thrown into the Sword Washing Pool like those disciples. Once you are thrown into the Sword Washing Pool, your soul and body disappear, and you will never have a chance to reincarnate."
The pavilion master stared at Ju Buyi with a dumbfounded expression.
After a long while.
He awkwardly laughed, "Ju Buyi, is there some misunderstanding here?"
Ju Buyi shook his head, "No misunderstandings. I just said that I know everything."
"I was forced by circumstances. The Demon of the Outer Realm had formidable strength. If I didn’t listen to them, everyone would have died."
"Yes, indeed."
Another person stood up.
This time, Ju Buyi didn’t even turn his head. He seemed to have made up his mind. In the darkness, his sword light flashed and the person was directly cut into nothingness.
Bang!
This sudden killing caused the people who had just stood up to falter and fall to the ground.
"You…"
The pavilion master trembled.
Ju Buyi slowly said, "After leaving Hening City, I wanted to find a beautiful tomb for myself, but then I encountered a dense fog, a fog so thick that I couldn’t even see my own hand in front of my face…"
He lost his way in that fog.
He took one step after another, moving forward.
That’s it. Wherever he falls, that will be his tomb.
To Ju Buyi’s surprise, he dragged his broken body for an hour, a day, a month…
This is simply unbelievable.
Considering his physical condition at that time, he would have died in a few hours at most.
"Later, I found out it was the Heavenly Lord’s doing."
"Heavenly Lord?!"
Everyone present, including Bai Lian, widened their eyes in disbelief.
Ju Buyi pointed to the murky Sword Washing Pool and said, "The Holy Spirit Sword Washing Pool is the legacy left by that predecessor."
"What?"
The shock in his heart overcame his fear, and the pavilion master suddenly stood up, but Ju Buyi blocked him; he, too, dared not recklessly move further.
Ju Buyi continued to recount his experience.
After walking for an unknown length of time, he finally emerged from the mist.
He didn’t witness the Heavenly Lord with his own eyes, but only a strand of Divine Sense that could extinguish at any moment remained in that foreign space.
He listened to stories there for a long time, stories that were related to the East Divine Land, the Demon of the Outer Realm, and many Immortals from other places.
"In a distant, forgotten era that even the strand of Divine Sense cannot recall, a great war erupted in the space where the East Divine Land was located, spreading far and wide."
For an elusive legend, these unfamiliar powerful beings engaged in a fierce battle.
This was the true "Battle of the Gods"!
With a single gesture, these powerful beings could destroy a whole domain. Although the space where the East Divine Land was located was stable, it was eventually shattered after a long period of fighting.
The once prosperous continent became a desolate wasteland.
As time passed, the perspectives of some powerful beings began to change.
"We can’t go on like this anymore!"
Together they aimed to put an end to all of this.
Ju Buyi sighed, "I don’t know what they did, only that in the end they failed."
Bai Lian asked, "What about the other group of people?"
Ju Buyi replied, "They didn’t win either."
"So, in other words, the result is not too bad."
"Divine Sense Fire tells me that this is a disaster that they cannot win, and thus will never end."
"…"
Ju Buyi continued, "Divine Sense Fire also says that Sword Washing Pool is one of the countless channels that connect the Mortal World and the Void Domain. The legend they pursued once resided in the Void Domain."
Bai Lian asked, "What is that legend?"
She thought of the Lord of Reincarnation.
The Lord of Reincarnation left behind some fragments of memory after disappearing.
Those memories mentioned that the Lord of Reincarnation had participated in a fierce battle, could that be the same one that Ju Buyi spoke of?
Ju Buyi’s face showed confusion, "I don’t know, because the waiting time was too long, and the memory of the Divine Sense Fire has become blurred."
"So what is he waiting for?"
"He is waiting for someone who can accept his inheritance, that senior was once famous as a sword master in his hometown. He has been waiting for someone to appear near the Sword Washing Pool that can accept his inheritance. And yet, so many years have passed, and no one in the Sword Washing Pavilion has been able to meet the requirements."
When Ju Buyi said this, he glanced at the pavilion master, his lips seeming to curl with disdain.
The pavilion master didn’t notice Ju Buyi’s small movement; he was completely immersed in his own world now.
"There is actually a Heavenly Lord’s inheritance hidden in the Sword Washing Pool!"
Is this a joke? It must be a joke!
That is the Heavenly Lord’s legacy, if one were to obtain that, why bother with the Taixuan Taoist Sect or Yaochi Holy Mountain?
As for the Demon of the Outer Realm, even if they cannot defeat them, they don’t have to grovel or bend their knees.
Just as Ju Buyi said, Sword Washing Pavilion has stood for thousands of years, yet not a single person has been chosen.
This is simply unreasonable!
The pavilion master doesn’t believe it.
"You are deceiving me, you beast!"
He pointed at Ju Buyi and cursed loudly.
Ju Buyi calmly said, "When the founder of Sword Washing Pavilion was young, he found the Sword Washing Pool and gained insight into the Bridal Attire Technique through the Great Tao energy that seeped out of the pool. In less than fifty years, the Sword Washing Pavilion he founded became one of the most reputable sects in Yingzhou. However, until the day he died, he never thought that he had come very close to an inheritance that could change the history of the entire East Divine Land. Unfortunately, he missed it because he went the wrong way."
The pavilion master breathed heavily and roared at Ju Buyi, "Impossible! This must be all made up by you. Ju Buyi, you traitor, you have disregarded the grace of the sect, and now you are attempting to disturb my mind with such lies. Your actions are heinous and unforgivable!"
After he finished shouting, those who had echoed him before retreated and distanced themselves from him.
The "sacrifices" who had just been restrained, although unable to move, all gazed at the pavilion master with cold eyes.
Are you watching monkey play?
Such a thought suddenly popped into Bai Lian’s mind.
The monkey was still jumping and splattering saliva.
Suddenly, some other monkeys couldn’t bear to watch and started attacking the monkey.
"Shut up!"
The two monkeys started fighting, and as they fought, the monkey group became completely chaotic.
In the cage designated by Ju Buyi, they each showed off their abilities. The pavilion master, outnumbered, could only lie on the ground cursing.
But he didn’t curse for long before his soul was crushed.
Someone turned around with a laugh, his face covered in blood. "Ju Buyi, the madman who sided with the Demon of the Outer Realm and sold out his own disciples is dead."
Ju Buyi nodded gently.
"I had intended to do it myself."
He clenched his right fist, and the cage he drew shrank instantly, crushing the trapped individuals one by one into nothingness.
"…"
"Ahem, ahem, ahem…"
Ju Buyi wiped the blood stain off the corner of his mouth.
Finally, he arrived in front of Bai Lian and Xiao Jinse.
"White Emperor Bai Lian, before we get to the main topic, I want to see someone else."
"No problem."
The person that Ju Buyi wanted to see was Zhao Shuo.
In the rugged mountain road, Zhao Shuo sat down in a pit.
He has not died yet, but as his Tao Heart shattered for the second time, he had become almost indistinguishable from the dead.
Ju Buyi crouched down and placed his hand on Zhao Shuo’s shoulder.
"The inheritance…is not like this…"
Zhao Shuo slowly lifted his head.
His eyes were grey and devoid of any light.
Did he hear it?
Bai Lian saw Ju Buyi raise his sword and thrust it through Zhao Shuo’s chest.
Half an hour later, they were by the purified Sword Washing Pool.
Ju Buyi looked intensely at Xiao Jinse.
"Actually, I am not the one that the predecessor was waiting for. It’s just that the time left for the Divine Sense Fire is running out, so he transferred the inheritance into my body."
He loosened his tightly clenched right fist, and a small red sword floated in his palm.
Then, he slowly handed the sword to Xiao Jinse.
"I thought it would take me a long time to find the true successor, but my luck is much better than I imagined."
"Ah, this."
Xiao Jinse didn’t reach out to take it, instead, she nervously gestured with her hand.
"This is yours."
Ju Buyi shook his head, "It should belong to you."
Xiao Jinse still shook her head.
Ju Buyi explained, "You should take it. In order to kill the monster formed by the grudges of the deceased in the Void Domain, my body has suffered serious injuries and can no longer withstand this sword intent. If you don’t take it, it will return to the Sword Washing Pool on its own."
Xiao Jinse turned to look at Bai Lian.
When Bai Lian nodded, she reached out to catch the sword, and the sword-light flashed directly into her body.
"Thank you."
Ju Buyi breathed a sigh of relief.
"So be it."
Xiao Jinse looked sorrowful and asked, "Will you die?"
Ju Buyi stared at Xiao Jinse with a dazed expression, then burst into laughter after a moment, "Of course not, I’ll simply continue staying here."
"Are you here to guard Sword Washing Pavilion?"
"No, I’m also waiting for someone. I don’t know if she’ll come back, but I’ll wait here nonetheless. In the meantime, I’ll keep an eye on Sword Washing Pavilion to prevent them from going astray again."
Xiao Jinse nodded vigorously. "You will wait for the person you want to wait for."
…
Another half-hour passed.
On the way down the mountain path, Bai Lian turned to glance back at the flattened Sword Washing Pavilion.
As they parted ways, Ju Buyi told her that the Demon of the Outer Realm had come here to search for the Sansheng Stele.
Bai Lian also remembered the three words that the Lord of Reincarnation left to her before disappearing, which were exactly the Sansheng Stele.
It seemed that she had to find the last piece of the Monument of the Next World as soon as possible.
"Elder Martial Sister."
At this moment, the voice of the Second Martial Sister suddenly sounded in Bai Lian’s ear.
"What’s the matter?"
She regained consciousness and saw the Second Martial Sister standing in the pink peach blossoms, as if in a dream.
It turned out that the wind had risen at night, blowing off the peach blossoms from the trees.
Xiao Jinse picked up one of them.
"Don’t move."
Saying this, she tiptoed and pinned the peach blossom in Bai Lian’s hair.
Bai Lian touched her smooth cheek.
"Beautiful!"
The teenager’s face bloomed into a joyful smile, the subtle blush on her cheeks just like the floating peach blossoms.
"Elder Martial Sister, I think the scenes I saw on the mountaintop are probably not the future."
"Why do you say that?"
"I looked closely just now and I saw that there were some differences between the environment of the Sword Washing Pool I saw and the real one."
"Don’t think too much in the future."
Bai Lian rubbed Xiao Jinse’s hair hard.
The young girl giggled.
"I see."
This monotonous night suddenly became colorful.
Beside the Sword Washing Pool.
Ju Buyi, who had turned into a spirit, gently smelled a peach blossom on his nose.
This is the flower that the girl likes the most.
The fragrance still remains.
He looked up, and the night sky of Yingzhou cleared up again.
