Chapter 165 Seven Days (Part 1) It's time to break that seal...

Betrothed to Qiu Tong was a future he had known since childhood.

Zhang Chunhe's voice came from the jade tablet: "I already know about the affairs of the demon realm. Now that King Qingping has been defeated, where are you and Qiu Tong?"

"...Qingqiu".

Wei Changzai released the lens, thinking that he had seen this sword spirit too late.

"Master, if you want to cultivate the unity of heaven and man, why do you want me to be involved with Qiu Tong? Since you already know the future, why not cut off all possibilities first?"

On the opposite side of the jade tablet, Zhang Chunhe stood up and looked at the vast Sanqing Mountain. Many disciples were moving back and forth among them, like ants scurrying through the cold snow. There were also quite a few people who secretly gathered together, smiling and holding hands.

"You two are destined to meet. Even if I forcibly stop you, you will meet somewhere. So why bother to guard against it?"

Changzai, I told you long ago that only by taking something up can you truly put it down.

How can you know love if you don't love?

Wei Changzai lowered his eyes: "Now that I've taken it on, how can I put it down?"

"You know that."

Zhang Chunhe formed a mudra with both hands and, as always, performed a Taoist ritual and worship at a certain place in the Daohe Palace.

Nestled among the mountains, the grand hall stands tall, with a stone statue of a woman raising her eyes to look at spring and smiling with her lips parted.

“I’ve told you since you were little that you’ve always known how to let go.”

"..."

Wei Changzai opened his eyes and gazed at the person in the mirror for a long time before turning around and leaving. He walked out of Mirror Lake, and with a thought, the sword realm dissipated. He stood once again in the empty medicine hut.

"Master, where is my senior brother now?" he suddenly asked.

Zhang Chunhe seemed surprised that he would ask about Ji Changying's whereabouts. After a moment's pause, he replied, "He had some things to take care of, so he went down the mountain a few days ago."

Wei Changzai no longer ignored it as before, but asked again, "Senior Brother, have you arrived in the Demon Realm?"

Zhang Chunhe picked up the jade-handled whisk, his eyes deep and unfathomable: "Why are you suddenly asking about this? How could I possibly let him go to the demon realm? You saw him?"

"No. It's just that Master received the news too quickly and thought that he had heard rumors beforehand, so he sent him here to investigate."

Wei Changzai only spoke these words, without revealing her suspicions about Qingzhu.

Honestly, his relationship with Ji Changying was the most delicate among all the people in Daohe Palace.

Although the two were fellow disciples, their relationship had always been merely a gentlemanly friendship, and they maintained a distant relationship.

They often met after Lin Feiran went up the mountain and was handed over to Ji Changying by Taihui and the other two.

From childhood to adulthood, Lin Feiran only had one friend, Ji Changying, who was not among them, but he held a special place in Lin Feiran's heart.

Aside from him, Lin Feiran had only asked Ji Changying to help him with the plum blossom search.

Wei Changzai felt an inexplicable sense of rejection and indifference towards him, and he knew that Ji Changying felt the same way about him.

He rarely showed obvious likes or dislikes towards people; this feeling of mutual dislike only occurred when he met Ji Changying.

But upon seeing the green bamboo, an uncontrollable aversion almost immediately surfaced from the bottom of his heart.

Nothing in this world is certain, and he is not one to stick to old ways or be complacent.

He couldn't help but wonder if Qingzhu and Ji Changying were related.

"This news had nothing to do with him; it was sent by a friend of mine, and then it spread throughout the main road."

Zhang Chunhe spoke up to explain.

Wei Changzai said softly, "Is it that senior who often visits late at night?"

Without hesitation, Zhang Chunhe replied, "It is him. Now that you have broken through to the Free Realm, you are different from before. It is time to get to know him. I will find an opportunity to introduce you to him."

"yes."

Wei Changzai agreed, having already found the answer he wanted. He then used the excuse of consolidating the spiritual veins to close the jade tablet on his own.

He leaped to a high place and looked around. There was no one around Xingzhi Palace except for a few palaces in the center that were guarded. The rest of the palaces were completely silent.

When the people on patrol saw him and estimated the direction he was going, they assumed he was going to visit an old friend and did not ask any further questions.

Wei Changzai found one of the places very easily without needing anyone's guidance.

The courtyard was deep and secluded, with familiar sword marks on the tall trees and blue stones. He closed his eyes and walked in. Almost without thinking, he knew that the left side was denser and the right side was sparser.

He raised his hand to stroke it, and the shimmering sword he carried on his back trembled slightly, just like the pulsating strings of his heart.

Upon entering the state of freedom, he did not feel free; only an indescribable and irreparable emptiness remained in his heart.

Yet at this moment, as he caressed these sword marks, he finally felt a sense of fullness in his heart.

There was no one in the courtyard, but the inner room was not dark. A small firefly was burning, which could not be extinguished by the wind or water.

"..."

Wei Changzai suddenly stopped at the window, staring intently into the inner room, his gaze trembling like the faint glow of a firefly.

This is her house, yet it isn't.

The inner room was filled with too many things that didn't belong to her.

Curtains, blankets, incense, and two wooden chairs placed very close together beside the table.

One hard and one soft, blankets overlapping, armrests leaning against each other.

Just one glance is enough to imagine how close the two people on the chair are, and how they are whispering to each other.

Wei Changzai slowly tightened his grip on the Kunwu sword in his hand, lowered his eyes, and walked straight in without looking around. He left a letter on the table and covered it with a paperweight.

Now that his sword intent is visible, he must not let his master see even a trace of it. He must sneak back to Daohe Palace and destroy the Guanlan Terrace that is spying on his thoughts.

Despite these thoughts, he remained standing in the room, gently sensing the faint, cold atmosphere within.

It was cool but not cold, like the aura of swords and spears, like pine trees swaying in the wind—that was Lin Feiran's aura.

He walked to the bedside as if in a daze, bent down, buried his head in the bed, and finally sighed.

"Slowly..."

...

As dawn broke and all things began to awaken, a fierce battle had already raged throughout the night in a certain wilderness of the demon realm.

Lin Feiran flipped down and plunged his sword into the ground, but he still couldn't stop the attack's momentum and retreated several meters.

But in the next moment, she immediately drew her sword and rose up, and several of her appeared in an instant, each using their own sword techniques to attack the wounded Slender-Waisted King in the center.

On the outside of the battlefield, Ru Xian sat with his legs crossed, surrounded by dozens of snake-people kneeling on the ground.

Upon closer inspection, one would discover that he was sitting on a disciple's sword suspended in mid-air. The sword was simple in shape and slender in blade, large enough to support his tall figure.

His gaze remained fixed ahead, and there was no obvious smile on his face. He simply relaxed his eyebrows and eyes, and his lips were slightly upturned, but anyone could tell how happy he was at that moment.

What do you think of her?

Lin Feiran and his companion arrived an hour earlier. Without a word, they drew their swords and charged at the Slender-Waisted King. Those around them tried to help, but were stopped by Ru Xian.

They knelt there for an hour, not being killed, but inexplicably suffering physical and mental torment, having heard that same sentence more than ten times.

"Your Excellency is incredibly skilled; your sword is as swift as the wind, and your movements are as graceful as a shadow!"

They answered fluently and readily.

"What makes it so powerful?"

This was a question that hadn't been asked before. The kneeling crowd fell silent for a moment, exchanging glances. One of them, filled with resentment, couldn't help but speak in a trembling voice.

"Although His Majesty was seriously injured, the envoy was still able to confront her for a long time, which shows his extraordinary skill. Few people have been able to do this in many years..."

Despite the apparent praise that was actually a veiled criticism, Ru Xian was not angry; instead, she found it amusing.

"She is nineteen years old this year. Before anyone knew her, she directly entered the top of the Qingyun Ranking by virtue of her cultivation alone, and became known throughout the world overnight."

Cultivators of her age who can break through to the Advanced Realm are extremely rare, even in records. You are quite lucky to see her today.

Regardless of whether the Slender Waist King is injured or not, anyone who fights her now would only be a defeated opponent. If she hadn't just learned a new martial art and wasn't still not proficient in it, how could the battle have progressed to this point?

There will never be another Lin Feiran in this world; she is the best.

Everyone was speechless for a moment.

One of them was bold enough to look up at Ruxie, only to find that his gaze remained fixed on the front, an almost dense gaze, all of which was tightly focused on one person.

With a loud bang, dust rose from the plain.

The group of people who had been lying in wait hurriedly turned their heads to look, only to see Lin Feiran behead the snake with a single sword stroke, shattering the snake's shadow and spraying out a misty spray of venom, which she then quickly swirled in her palm and destroyed in the surrounding area.

Amidst the smoke and dust, Lin Feiran casually twirled her sword, causing her clones to merge into one. She looked at the Slender-Waisted King lying on the ground, remaining silent for a moment.

The Slender-Waisted King glared venomously at her and Ru Xian, his voice hoarse: "The victor is king, the loser is villain. Your mindset is such that I accept this defeat today, but if there is a future..."

"How is it?" Ru Xian approached from afar, standing beside Lin Feiran and looking down at her.

"If there is a future, I will repay you tenfold! You killed my brother with your spear back then, and I swear I will not be a man if I do not avenge this!"

Ru Xian suddenly realized: "So the previous demon king was your brother. I almost forgot, he was also a snake."

Just as the Slender-Waisted King was about to get up from the ground, he suddenly felt a chill in his chest, and then his limbs went limp. His spiritual energy was blocked in his chest cavity and could not be released!

Her pupils contracted, and she glared at the person who had attacked her, shouting in a trembling voice, "What did you do to me!"

Ru Xian looked at her, raising her eyebrows slightly: "Didn't you 'swear never to be human'? You are a demon, and since you want to be a mortal, I will grant your wish and sever your yang meridians."

The snake clan's meridian being severed is no different from having its seven-inch mark shattered; from then on, they are unable to cultivate and are essentially useless.

"Of course you can find someone to continue your lineage, but the yang lineage of the snake clan is extremely difficult to find, and it changes constantly. Under heaven, apart from myself, no one else can do it."

The slender-waisted king's expression quickly turned ashen. For a demon, being unable to cultivate was tantamount to death. She tried to get up and fight back, but she collapsed from exhaustion and could only watch the two of them with resentment in her eyes.

"So what if you sever my pulse, Ru Xian? How long do you think you can remain so glamorous? At least I'm alive, at least I'm still alive! If you have the guts, kill me now. Otherwise, I'll be waiting, waiting for you..."

Before she could finish speaking, she fell backward as if struck by a heavy blow, blood seeping from her teeth, unable to utter another word.

Lin Feiran frowned and looked at her: "What's wrong with her?"

Ru Xian looked at the Slender Waist King with a slightly cold gaze and said meaningfully, "She made a vow before, but just now she said some things she shouldn't have said. The vow has backfired, and she probably won't live much longer."

Lin Feiran immediately tried to decipher the meaning behind her words, and couldn't help but wonder to herself, what does it mean that at least she's still alive...?

She turned her gaze, but Ru Xian's expression remained unchanged. Her gaze simply fell gently on the slender-waisted king, as if she were deep in thought.

Just as she was about to speak, she saw Ru Xian glance at her sideways, her eyebrows slightly raised: "Do you like staring at me so much?"

Lin Feiran paused for a moment, then immediately looked away, hurriedly straightening his robes, but forgot that he was still holding the extremely long Golden Wave Sword. With a swift turn of the sword, he severed most of the sleeve that was falling like hail.

"..." The two looked at each other, and Lin Feiran silently sheathed his sword, touched the back of his neck, and said, "Sorry."

Ru Xian glanced at her, raised her hand and waved it, teasingly saying, "Such good material, you chopped it without batting an eye. You truly deserve to be called a little hero who can buy two sprigs of winter cicada plum in one go."

He always managed to hit her sore spot with just a few words of banter.

Lin Feiran was speechless for a moment, feeling both embarrassed and amused. So, the corners of her lips curled into a strange arc, which made Ru Xian even happier.

He looked at Lin Feiran and said softly with a smile.

“Go back. You’ve already carried too much on your shoulders. You don’t need to take my share as well.”

Distracted like this, Lin Feiran knew that he didn't want to talk about what had just happened, so she didn't say anything more, but that didn't mean she would really forget about it.

The two flew back to the city on their swords. Lin Feiran looked back and saw that the Slender Waist King had already fallen into a pool of blood, seemingly beyond saving, but her gaze was still fixed on Ru Xian.

Since it's a vow of the heart, Prince Qingping must also have one. Perhaps she could contact Qiu Tong and ask about the reason behind it...

"By the way, Lord," Lin Feiran turned to look at Ru Xian sitting on the sword, "could I borrow your small world, the Bitter Sea Pool, for a while?"

Ru Xian looked at her and said, "Of course, what do you want to do?"

"I think it's time to completely break the seal in my mind."

Author's Note: Ahhh, I'm late! I'm so sorry, there are too many relatives and kids at home, so I haven't been able to write properly. They're going out to play tomorrow, so they won't bother me anymore!