Chapter 283 The Iron Khitan Codex—she, she saw it all! ...

On the roof ridge, the two sat close together.

The wind, which hadn't been exposed to sunlight for a long time, was colder than usual. Lin Feiran subconsciously wanted to shield the person next to her, but she saw that her hands were radiating a faint glow, neither warm nor cold to the touch.

My mother is now just a spirit remaining here; she will no longer be affected by this cold night wind as before.

Lin Feiran paused for a long time before speaking: "I remember when you were little, you were very weak. Every time we went out to the night market, your father would bring a small fur coat. He would put it on you when it was windy and take it off when you got hot so he could fan you."

"Because I was still recovering from my injury at that time, my body was a bit weak."

Jin Lan looked at her, her gaze slightly lowered: "...When we went to pay our respects earlier, I didn't dare ask you how he passed away?"

Lin Feiran looked up at the night sky, recalling the three years after her mother's death.

"Love has become an illness."

Since you left, his situation has deteriorated day by day, and his health has worsened. He only smiles occasionally. However, he still takes great care of me, but I can see that he is truly struggling to hold on any longer.

On the day he couldn't hold on any longer, he called Lin Feiran to his bedside. His once handsome face had become withered, but he still smiled at her and carefully instructed her on many things before finally saying goodbye.

"Slowly, our departure is not your end. You still have your own path to walk. Live well."

The words he uttered weren't very convincing. Lin Feiran hadn't understood them before, but now she realized that they were still tinged with confusion, and there should have been a follow-up: "As long as you live, there is infinity."

Perhaps the father understood, or perhaps he didn't, but in any case, he chose to end his life there.

Jin Lan seemed to want to laugh when she heard her words, but in the end she couldn't muster a smile. She looked quietly at the night sky, her eyes rippled slightly, and her slightly hoarse voice softened in the wind.

"Before I married him, I said that after I recovered from my injuries, I would still do that thing. This period of time is the last time I give myself."

During this time, I met you, and I built a home.

After years of wandering, she spent the warmest six years of her life in Luoyang.

"When you were six, my injuries had fully healed. He didn't say anything, but just like always, he took you and me to the market. In the evening, we ate a bowl of wonton noodles, went home as usual, and then..."

Lin Feiran withdrew her gaze: "Then, you left, and didn't come back for three months."

Three months later, she returned covered in wounds, standing in front of the door with a jade ruler in hand, quietly watching them, her body as red as the sunset.

Jin Lan lowered his eyes, realizing he could no longer interact with her as a sword spirit, and the unease he had been hiding in his heart surfaced.

"You should hate me."

She left so resolutely, leaving everything, them all behind.

From the very beginning, she dared not acknowledge Lin Feiran, not only because she did not want to cause her further distress, but also because she feared seeing any hatred or dislike in her eyes.

Lin Feiran shook her head, her gaze still as clear as the bright moon: "Why should I hate you? Father has always only had longing for you, not hatred... and so have I."

Everyone has their own path to walk, and everyone has their own things to do. The three of us understand this, don't we?

I just feel a little regretful that I couldn't be with you when you left alone.

She looked down at her hands and whispered, "If it were me now, I could definitely fight alongside you."

Jin Lan's eyes, which had calmed down, reddened again. She lowered her head and slowly recounted the past.

"Just as you found out, I went to see the Dao Master, but I was still defeated. Bi Sheng led many disciples to pursue me. I passed through Chuncheng on my way out, and I left the umbrella sword nearby. I was in a hurry to return to Luoyang City to see you one last time, so I did not look for it."

Later, I died from my grievous wounds, thinking I would simply vanish. But unexpectedly, the saints of the Pilgrimage Valley intervened, preserving my last wisp of soul within their swords, awaiting an opportune moment.

"Defeated?" Lin Feiran asked. "You went to see the Dao Lord to...kill him?"

Jin Lan nodded, put her arm around Lin Feiran, and looked up at the night sky.

"Do you remember those wisps of energy flowing backwards to the sky? I saw these unusual white mists when I was very young, but I was just a little beggar who couldn't even get enough to eat, so I didn't have the time to care about anything else."

Later, by a twist of fate, he began to cultivate Taoism, and his courage grew. Driven by curiosity, he began to explore.

Her voice suddenly stopped there, not as if she had stopped intentionally, but as if she had been forced to fall silent.

A few moments later, she swallowed back what she was about to say and instead said, "I met the Dao Master, but at that time I didn't know his identity. I only thought he was a master who was imprisoned there by the Secret Sect, and I even got to know him for a while."

Later, as more and more things were uncovered, and it was discovered that he was a leader of a secret cult, they began to take action.

I lost the first time, and I lost the second time too...

His body is different from ordinary people; he seems to be unkillable.

Unconvinced, I searched far and wide for ancient texts and painstakingly forged the Golden Wave Sword. I then turned to swordsmanship, achieving some success. Afterward, I went to the ends of the earth to find him, and this time, my sword wounded him.

People who could never be harmed by her before were now cut by this sword, but what flowed out was not blood, but a radiant light and a faint mist.

“At that time, I knew that my method of forging swords was correct, and my guess was also correct.”

Jin Lan spoke slowly, and Lin Feiran stared intently at her, completely absorbed: "He's neither human nor a demon, right?"

Jin Lan nodded: "It is precisely because he is neither that ordinary magical artifacts can harm him that I had to find another way to forge the sword. It is also because of this sword that the saints left my soul behind."

They want me to wait for someone, someone who can overthrow Tantra, and then pass on this sword.

I waited ten years on Sword Mountain... and you came.

Jin Lan turned to look at her, his gaze complex: "Manman, I recognized you as soon as you entered Chuncheng. Seeing you again, you've grown even better than I imagined, but I still have some worries in my heart. I'm afraid you're here to take the sword."

Taking this sword means endless troubles; I only wish for your peaceful life.

But Lin Feiran still went up the Sword Mountain.

She pulled out every spirit sword and faced the giant beast alone, displaying a solitary and awe-inspiring aura. It might be intimidating or remarkable, but for a mother, it was undoubtedly heartbreaking.

This means that Lin Feiran has not had a good life over the past ten years.

Having already gone through so many setbacks, should she also be expected to shoulder the burden of stopping esoteric Buddhism?

The moment she met Lin Feiran, she heard the words of the saints.

"Jin Lan, that's her."

She is the one everyone has been waiting for.

And this sword will eventually be used by her.

Jin Lan sighed softly: "I can tell you really like this sword. I think, if it's fate, then so be it."

She accompanied Lin Feiran as a sword spirit, always standing behind him, and then disappeared at some point while traveling for cultivation.

It's better to lose a sword spirit than to lose your mother again.

Upon hearing this, Lin Feiran fell silent. She sat with her knees drawn up to her chest, her chin resting on her arms, and turned her head to look at the person beside her.

She didn't mention parting, nor did she talk about the future.

"I don't care about the future, I only care about the present. Before anything happens, no one knows what the outcome will be, but if we start to worry now, we won't even have this time together."

Jin Lan paused for a moment, then smiled and patted Lin Feiran's head: "...You are smarter than both your father and me."

The two sat on the roof, seemingly having endless things to say. People gradually gathered in the courtyard, but they all tacitly refrained from disturbing them. Until one moment, Ru Xian walked under the eaves and looked up at the two.

"Lin Feiran, Grandmaster has something to discuss."

Lin Feiran looked up and immediately responded. Just as she was about to get up with Jin Lan, she suddenly remembered something and abruptly turned her head to look.

Ever since she returned from Sword Mountain, the sword spirit—no, her mother—has been by her side. So, she saw everything that happened afterward, from her meeting with Ru Xian to her confession of feelings.

Lin Feiran's ears turned bright red, as if she had been boiled alive. For a moment, she felt neither sorrow nor tears, nor did she reminisce about the past. She simply stood there, her mind replaying her time with Ru Xian, feeling a sense of utter despair, as if she had fallen into an abyss.

Jinlan could tell what she was thinking. Considering her child's feelings, she didn't tease her. Instead, she pretended not to know and led her to the courtyard.

...

In the quiet of the night, a single lamp burned in the courtyard, surrounded by a number of people. The warm, pale yellow light illuminated several faces with different expressions.

With the Wheel of Reincarnation Beads stolen, the esoteric sects began to act increasingly strangely. The patriarch, filled with doubt, appeared here to discuss the matter with everyone.

After all, no one knows what benefits this bead will bring to the Dao Lord, or what use they will have for it.

The courtyard was not spacious. As a junior, Lin Feiran should have stood behind her grandmaster. However, she was now entangled with the Dao Lord and when she mentioned the bet, she was pushed to the grandmaster's side by everyone and became the focus of attention.

Murong Qiudi pondered, "The first round is about the spiritual veins of heaven and earth, the second round is about the Revolving Pearl, and the stakes are both lives... Now it is rumored that he is the incarnation of the Heavenly Dao, could it be true?"

The Grandmaster shook his head: "The Dao is the Dao. The Great Dao is formless, silent, and without god. It is impossible for it to have an incarnation, let alone appear in this way. However, even today we have not been able to figure out who it really is."

While the group was discussing, Lin Feiran remained silent. Her face was flushed, but she tried to appear calm, staring straight at the lamplight. No one knew how vulnerable she was inside.

Surrounded by the crowd, she even recalled how she had just burst into tears. The different memories intertwined, and she wished she could find a crack in the ground to crawl into!

"Feiran, what do you think?" The grandmaster turned to look at her, his solemn expression faltering. "What's wrong with you? Why is your face so red?"

Lin Feiran shook her head quickly. Facing several pairs of eyes looking at her, she lowered her head, her face even redder, admitting that she had been absent-minded: "Grandmaster, I was a little distracted just now. What were you asking me?"

The grandmaster glanced behind her and saw Ru Xian standing there. He was also a little puzzled, so he checked her pulse and, after confirming that she was alright, shook his head. The grandmaster was relieved and continued.

"What I'm asking is, what is your third round?"

Lin Feiran composed himself, ignoring his flushed face, and replied, "He said that the third round would be wagered on the people of the world."

We were originally going to gamble five rounds, but after he won the Wheel of Fortune, he said everything was settled, and the subsequent rounds were meaningless; only one round remained.

The grandmaster frowned, gazing at the pitch-black sky. Even with his own thoughts, he still turned to her and asked, "What are you planning to do next?"

While Lin Feiran was still deep in thought, Gu Buhui spoke up: "Why don't we go and snatch that bead back? Is there still a chance for things to turn around?"

The grandmaster shook his head: "As you have seen, it takes many spiritual mines to extract that bead. Not to mention whether we can subdue it, the spiritual energy is so thin now that it is very difficult to extract it."

Lin Feiran did not give a hasty answer, but asked, "Grandmaster, what happened after I left with Shen Qi?"

Zhang Siwo sat to the side, swirling the light tea in front of him. He narrowed his eyes, recalling the past, and his expression became somewhat intriguing.

"You don't know, things have become quite novel since you left."

Ding Yi turned against Bi Sheng and began fighting him with magic. Many sect leaders rushed over and subdued the cultivators who had defected to the Secret Sect. Zhang Chunhe also arrived hastily, but surprisingly, he didn't help the Secret Sect. Instead, he confronted his own disciple. However, even more cultivators joined in to cover Bi Sheng and his group's escape..."

Zhang Siwo observed very carefully and explained everyone's actions in just a few words. Lin Feiran's mind flashed through the faces of those people, but suddenly stopped at a certain point.

"Among the Nine Swords of the Esoteric Sect, where is the cultivator who has always worn a mask and has not yet made a move?"

Zhang Si thought for a moment and said, "I really didn't pay attention to this person. He doesn't seem to have done anything."

“No, he did try.” Murong Qiudi suddenly spoke up. “Someone attacked him, and he didn’t dodge very well. He looked like he was still recovering from a serious injury, which is why he couldn’t make a move like the others.”

Zhang Si murmured, "Seriously injured? And he still came today? Hmph, it seems he really thinks victory is in the bag. Why did you suddenly ask about him?"

Lin Feiran snapped out of her reverie, lowered her eyes, and replied, "It just suddenly occurred to me."

The grandmaster didn't care about such a trivial matter and still asked her, "So what do you plan to do next? You are a variable, so everything depends on your ideas."

Lin Feiran pondered for a moment before speaking, "The Revolving Pearl is a variable along the way, but I still want to stick to my original idea and open the Iron Khitan Book first. Grandmaster, what exactly is recorded in this book?"

The grandmaster looked at her quietly, his gaze distant: "This alchemical book first appeared in the Pilgrimage Valley."

When it appeared, Pilgrimage Valley wasn't called Pilgrimage Valley yet; it was just a blessed land rich in spiritual energy, and I was just a minor cultivator in the Forgetfulness Realm.

Back then, this book wasn't so cold and austere, nor was it so thick.

The Iron Khitan Scripture is a treasure, a treasure refined by a sage hundreds of years ago.

According to records, this book of cinnabar originally came from the heavens and earth, and was later picked up and opened by a sage by chance.

This sage is the same one who, despite his white hair, attained enlightenment and entered the realm of true truth in a single night.

He cultivated a pair of heavenly eyes—open to the sun and moon, closed to the universe—through his own path.

His motto is "When you see it, flowers will bloom."

The Grandmaster sighed.

"The sage cultivated a pair of heavenly eyes, which could see what ordinary people could not. He found this treasure and shared it with his friends, but none of them could see it."

He found it novel, but after fiddling with it for a while, he forgot about it.

Several years later, this treasure underwent a change.

This time, the sage realized something was wrong.

When his master stopped there, Zhang Siwo immediately asked, "What's wrong?"

The grandmaster shook his head: "We don't know either. We learned all this from the letters between the sage and his friends."

After that, the saint remained out of contact for several years. When he finally contacted his friend again, it was only with one letter, which was also the last one.

The grandmaster raised his hand, and a spiritual light appeared in his palm, slowly unfolding a letter.

"Respectfully yours, my friend."

The fact that we haven't seen each other for several years is not because I've gone into seclusion, but because I've been searching for a way to save the world. Please forgive me for not being able to tell you this clearly.

This is not a joke, otherwise I wouldn't have spent so many years working on this.

When the heavens are about to crack, calamity will befall the world. At that time, the human world will become a hell, and all living beings will suffer. The only way to save it is to mend the heavens.

What can mend the sky?

After years of wandering and exploration, I finally came up with a method: to find a variable to enter the game.

But now the celestial rift is about to appear, and it is imminent and cannot wait any longer. Therefore, I will use my body to mend it. Although it is useless, it can at least temporarily delay the rift and buy hundreds of years of time for future generations.

I also know that the matter of the sky splitting open is extremely mysterious.

Therefore, before I sacrifice myself for the cause, I will use my Heavenly Eye as a sacrifice to refine this thing into the world, which I call the Iron Khitan Scripture.

Only a true variable, only someone willing to take on the task of mending the heavens, can truly unlock it and save the world from disaster.

Before this, you must travel the world and warn all beings in both realms not to cause disaster or sow the seeds of trouble. Remember this well.

The letter's handwriting has become faded, perhaps due to its long circulation or other reasons.

Lin Feiran, however, saw it very clearly, as if the ink was still wet when it was handed to her, and she felt an indescribable shock in her heart.

The master continued, "After his friend received the letter, he immediately went to look for him, but when he arrived at the residence, the man was gone, leaving only this iron Khitan book."

But the sage did not expect that afterward, all was calm, and no one knew what the rift in the sky was. His friend, as he had said, traveled between the two realms to avoid causing trouble.

However, as you can see, the war between the two worlds still occurred.

Later, at some unknown time, a deep crack appeared in the sky, but few cultivators could see it.

Several sages began searching for a variable, and many others tried to emulate that sage, attempting to mend the heavens with their own bodies, but all to no avail. They all ultimately perished, leaving only a wisp of their divine souls temporarily residing in the alchemical text.

Lin Feiran paused, recalling the predecessors in the book who had taught her magic and sword techniques.

So that's why they were all recorded in the alchemical text.

Murong Qiudi raised her eyes: "Grandmaster, is this saint's friend... the Gengan Saint who once went to the demon realm alone?"

The Grandmaster nodded, his eyes filled with recollection: "It was him. The Gengan Saint felt guilty for failing to stop the war between the two realms, so he went into seclusion. Later, I heard that he went to the Demon Realm and has been out of contact ever since."

Murong Qiudi sighed and said, "If I remember correctly, the Esoteric Sect only appeared after the Great War between the Two Realms... Could this be related to the origin of the Dao Lord?"

The Grandmaster lowered his eyes: "Perhaps. We do not know what is written in it. Feiran, only you can open it now."

Lin Feiran pursed her lips and nodded: "According to what Senior Gu said earlier, this last thing can be my blood..."

"Yours?" The grandmaster frowned and said, "How could it be yours? You are the only variable, an outsider, and it could never be your blood."

He then turned to the other person: "Fellow Daoist Gu, is there really no one else?"

For a moment, no one in the room spoke.

...

A few breaths later, Lin Feiran looked at his grandmaster and said, "Grandmaster, I will go and collect the blood."

The matter was not yet resolved. Everyone was still discussing what the Daoist Master had said to Lin Feiran. She looked at Murong Qiudi, and their eyes met. The latter understood her meaning and got up to walk to the side with her.

"Do you have something to ask me?" Murong Qiudi looked at her.

Lin Feiran nodded, pursed her lips and looked at the shadow on the ground. After several breaths, she finally spoke.

"Senior Murong, I have another question about the three methods you mentioned earlier, but I haven't had the chance to ask yet."

Murong Qiudi nodded, put one hand behind her back, and said solemnly, "This matter is now considered closed. You can ask me anything, but I only know about the part I was responsible for."

"I'll only ask about this part."

Lin Feiran looked up, her clear gaze reflecting the firelight.

“You once said that the method of infiltrating the demon realm was done by cultivators from the Luoyang City lineage, including you. I want to know if Zhang Chunhe was involved in it back then.”

Author's Note: Jin, pull yourself together! The main story must be finished by mid-month! [crying][crying][angry][angry][melted]