Chapter 323 Where is the present (Part 1) Winning by half a point The past is almost over...
The moment Bi Sheng triggered the incantation, Ru Xian also happened to invade her altar. The speed of searching her soul was very fast. So many memories appeared before her eyes in a few breaths. At the same time, Lin Feiran saw them as well.
As mentioned at the beginning, they didn't have much time, but seeing these fleeting glimpses of the past still touched Lin Feiran's heart.
It was a cold, bloody, and corpse-strewn era. Life was both incredibly precious and incredibly fragile. Before the winter snow could be touched by the sunset, it was already tinged with pale pink. Newborns had not yet learned to observe before they picked up dulled daggers.
When it comes to survival, nothing else matters.
Memories gradually slowed down and became blurred, and everything before my eyes showed signs of freezing.
At the moment Bi Sheng knelt down, the Dao Lord still did not have a physical body, but he was no longer a mass of various limbs and bits of flesh pieced together.
The dissipating mist became increasingly condensed and different, even taking on human form. He discarded the pieces of flesh, severed the limbs of the demon beast, and put on a light gray robe. The robe clung to the white mist, looking somewhat oversized, which accentuated his tall and slender figure, but it was still clear that he was an adult.
Unable to conjure human form with illusions, this spell was useless against him. So he put on a similar gray-white straw hat, covered his hands with a pair of black gloves, and picked up a fairly thick long stick from the ground to use as a walking stick to support himself as he moved forward.
"You don't need to help me anymore."
I helped you survive, and you and I found the sun and moon shining together. Thus, the cause and effect between us is settled.
"You don't need to make any vows to me on this path of spiritual practice. You are already able to walk it yourself. This wish doesn't need my response, so you don't need to do anything for me. Let's part ways here."
He walked forward, perhaps because it was the first time he had walked in human form. He seemed unaccustomed to it, and his steps were unsteady, somewhat unsteady and slow.
The voice also came on the wind: "Live well in this life. Sometimes forbearance is not a bad thing. Don't be reckless and bold just because you can be reborn. Rebirth is not endless."
The past is almost over, and it's chasing me. If I die in this life, I won't be able to take you back to when you were seven...
If you still want a next life, then for now, you'll remain dormant.
He walked very slowly, and even after saying so much, he was only seven steps away.
Bi Sheng remained kneeling on the ground, unable to hold back her question: "My lord, where are you going? I don't want to become a disciple again in this life, I want to go with you!"
"Me? I'm going to fulfill my wish, if I have the will."
"Yes! I've made up my mind, I'm going to follow you! You've saved me so many times, I'll definitely help you this time!"
"In that case, let's go."
It was unknown which of Bi Sheng's reincarnations she had become, but she had once again become that six or seven-year-old girl. However, this time, she did not stay in that war-torn wasteland, nor did she make the same choices as before.
This time, she chose to follow her heart and went out with the Dao Master.
A little girl in tattered clothes follows a man in ragged clothes who is carrying a wooden cane, from little to big.
The man was completely covered by cloth, not a single inch of skin was exposed, and fluttering talisman paper hung from his veil. He was as if shrouded in a light mist, and no one could see his true face.
Only occasionally, when a breeze blows, will the veil lift slightly, revealing a left eye that gleams with gold.
Bi Sheng's memories began to flicker. She had just triggered the spell and would soon dissipate, so her memories became fragmented.
The two could only seize the time and focus more intently on leaping through their memories.
The obscure incantations flowed down the skin like ripples on water, shimmering faintly, resembling scattered shards of glass.
Bi Sheng collapsed to the ground, staring blankly into the air.
There, the white bird flew back from the horizon once more. It did not approach, but hovered at a distance from the window. A faint mist clung to its sharp wings, and in a daze, a single eye seemed to appear and disappear.
"..."
That was the Dao Lord's Heavenly Eye. This gaze was so familiar, just like every time before, without sorrow or joy, carrying a quiet gaze that was completely different from that of humans or demons, just like the gaze he gave her when she first secretly cut off a piece of his leg flesh with a knife.
At that time, he just watched her do it.
The deep red blood flowed down, staining the fur of the unknown monster. The severed limb seemed to be tangled inside his body, already inanimate, but when the blade sliced through it, the muscle texture on it clearly contracted and tightened for a moment.
She always knew in her heart that, although it was made of pieces of flesh, it could feel pain.
But she ate it anyway.
He didn't blame himself then, so he's not saddened by her passing now. The rise and fall of heaven and earth make no difference to him.
She felt that perhaps only such a person could be called the Way of Heaven. The Way does not need to pity anyone, nor is it biased. At least, before Jinlan appeared, she had always believed this.
Her gaze shifted to the woman standing to the side, arms crossed and lost in thought. The flowing golden light of the runes almost obscured her vision, but she still managed to make out Jin Lan's face through her almost melting gaze.
It was this person who caused the path to deviate for a moment.
The reason she disliked Jinlan was not because of her tireless investigation into the truth or her intrusion into the Heavenly Palace on the Cloud Top to obstruct them, but because she saw the Dao Lord's different attitude and hesitation towards her.
Thus, a trace of injustice appears in the otherwise perfect fairness.
This wasn't out of jealousy; she simply couldn't accept that a path that doesn't treat all things as straw dogs could still lead to enlightenment. With bias comes injustice, and how is that any different from human behavior?
But isn't the Lord of the Dao just trying to become a human being?
The reason why the Dao Lord is the Dao Lord is because he is different from others. He has a kind of peace and gentleness that transcends the world. However, if he wants to become a human, he will inevitably be tainted by human emotions, and may even develop human vices. It is only natural for him to be biased and unfair.
All of this was actually a source of trouble for her in the past. When Jin Lan first broke into the Heavenly Palace on the Cloud Top, her cultivation level was not yet very high. The reason she let Jin Lan go was precisely because of this kind of trouble.
Fortunately, Jinlan did not live long. A few years after their first meeting, news came that Jinlan had passed away. She did not tell the Dao Lord about this, as she did not want any disturbance to occur.
Later, Jin Lan was not reborn, and she was destined to die of illness. But for some reason, before her death, the investigations became more and more in-depth, until in one of her lifetimes, Bi Sheng had no choice but to get rid of her.
After taking action, she thought she would be punished, so she went straight back to the Heavenly Palace on the Cloud Top to apologize. However, the Dao Lord was neither angry nor punished her.
Upon hearing the news of her death, he paused for a moment, but only for a moment, as swift and light as the passing wind.
"Given the current situation, she has investigated too much. It is understandable that you took action against her. Get up. You did nothing wrong, and I have no reason to punish you."
It was at that moment that Bi Sheng realized that he might stop for a butterfly that occasionally flew by, but he was still himself. A butterfly is not the way. There is a difference between a butterfly and a straw dog, but it is only the difference between a tree and grass.
A slight ripple in the heart, but it quickly subsided.
However, she was unsure whether this ripple would eventually escalate into a major crisis, so she tried her best to prevent the two from meeting and rarely sent back any news related to Jinlan, but with little success.
Now that her physical body is about to dissolve, she can almost feel her body melting into liquid, but there is no fear in her eyes.
Actually, it's nothing anymore. She has died too many times and been reborn too many times. There have been times when her death was even more terrifying than this one. For someone like her, the line between death and death is blurred. There is no fear, no reluctance.
"Ding Yi".
She spoke, her voice very hoarse, and only continued when she saw the person looking at her.
“I’ve lived so many lives, I’ve lived enough already, but I still feel that people are beyond saving. As long as there are people, the injustices of the world will not disappear. You’ve lived so many lives, haven’t you come to this yet?”
Ding Yi walked up to her, paused, and looked at his chest: "Even now, I still can't argue with you and determine who is better, but as for whether there is any hope, I think my heart has made the choice for me."
Countless golden threads flew out from his chest, almost illuminating the entire inner room, while a fallen astrolabe reflected a dull gleam of bronze.
Bi Sheng's voice was even weaker: "Is that so? But my heart has also made its choice. It's a pity that I won't be able to see the day when the Dao Lord's physical body becomes a saint."
She stared at the eye, and after a few breaths, it gradually disappeared from the mist. She swallowed, and with difficulty and indistinctly uttered, "Take care..."
The incantation flowed and covered her entire body. Just before it completely melted away, the white bird let out a mournful cry and crashed into the room. Its head broke off at the beam and fell into the dissipating liquid below.
...
The golden light of the incantation dissipated, and apart from a dark purple dress, there was only a white iron bird with a broken neck in the room.
With a few clanging sounds, the scattered iron feathers mingled with the glass, faintly reflecting the light in front of Ding Yi.
He bent down slightly, gathering all the fragments together. Then, golden flames ignited in his palm, turning everything to dust. He looked at Lin Feiran, who was lost in thought because of the flood of memories entering her mind. He then looked away and gazed at Li Changfeng.
“Junior brother, after I leave, if I pass away peacefully, that’s fine. But if I leave behind any remains, burn them all and scatter them in the wind… spread them under the feet of all people.”
Li Changfeng looked at him with a complicated expression.
Ding Yi walked to the window and flung the dust in his hand into the wind. Although there was no thunder in the sky, there was a flash of lightning. In the dim light, the dust had disappeared without a trace.
He turned to look at Lin Feiran, who was rubbing his forehead: "Well, can you see the road now?"
Lin Feiran nodded slightly: "I saw it."
Although Bi Sheng's later memories were fragmented and she didn't see many of the Dao Lord's secrets, she was the only one among the Nine Swords who frequently returned to the Cloud Top Heavenly Palace. With so many visits, even if the memories were fragmented, they could still be pieced together.
As far as she knew from her recollection, the Heavenly Palace on the Clouds had a special origin; it was a secret realm that had existed almost since the appearance of the Dao Lord.
The original secret realm was very empty. Apart from the Dao Lord, there was only the boundless sea. The other spiritual plants, mountains, and even the snow-white temple were built later.
Unable to leave the secret realm, he created a clone that traveled to the outside world.
Taking advantage of her rebirth, Bi Sheng seized many rare treasures ahead of others. Perhaps fearing that the Dao Lord would be bored alone in the secret realm, she also moved the spiritual treasures in for him to admire and play with.
The secret realm was born with the Dao Lord, but it was not created by him. Therefore, it is a naturally formed secret realm. The reason why it is so special is that this secret realm should have no owner, but it is closely related to him.
In an ordinary secret realm, the entrance and exit are naturally determined by the person who created it. However, the entrance and exit of a naturally formed secret realm are different, determined by the timing of heaven and not controlled by humans. Yet, he was able to create another stable entrance and exit.
Jinlan took the natural entrance, while Bisheng took the path set by the Dao Lord.
"It's good that we found it."
Ding Yi nodded, his complexion much worse than before, but he still walked steadily to the door and looked at the golden net in the sky.
"The path is hard to find. Bi Sheng is very wary of this and rarely takes us to the Heavenly Palace on the Cloud Top. On the rare occasions he does take us there, he shuts down all our senses and makes us unaware of everything, and then we arrive in a daze. So I don't know where the path is either."
He was no longer standing and gazing into the distance, but sitting cross-legged on the railing, his figure gradually fading away.
"I have something to remind you: the Heavenly Palace on the Clouds is a peculiar secret realm. To reach the temple, you must traverse a stretch of the Vast Sea Road, which is unavoidable."
You can simply think of it as the long staircase in front of a temple, but that's just the surface. Even if you don't walk up the stairs, and come from any direction, you still have to step onto this path.
Lin Feiran had calmed down a bit. She lowered her hand from her forehead and stepped forward to ask, "Is there any mystery to this road?"
Ding Yi nodded: "Once you enter the vast ocean, it's like sand sinking into a pool; the gloomy clouds disappear, and your heart is filled with the joy of complete fulfillment. Once you step inside, you forget yourself."
I've been there, but I can't tell you how to overcome it, because I almost drowned at sea myself.
Thank you for letting me know.
Lin Feiran wasn't worried at this moment; the first thing to do was to go inside.
Although she found a way through it, opening the secret realm required forming hand seals. Bi Sheng's memories were fragmented, and her hand seal gestures were somewhat lacking, but she could still deduce the complete hand seals from the beginning and end.
The most crucial point is that after she formed the hand seals, she also used a certain pale white object, which together opened the secret realm.
That thing... it felt somewhat familiar to her...
Lin Feiran suppressed his thoughts, glanced at the somewhat sleepy Ru Xian, and then looked at Li Changfeng: "Midnight is approaching. Senior, will you come back with us, or stay here?"
Li Changfeng had already removed the tattered clothes from his body and put on a long robe. He carried his long sword behind his back, gathered his sleeves, and stood in the room, looking out the door.
“I’ll stay. I haven’t forgotten. I’m here to clean house.”
Earlier, when he was fighting with Ding Yi, Lin Feiran happened to use that formation to land in Princess Mingyue's bedroom, and then came here in time to tell her his plan.
Regardless, she must eliminate Bi Sheng before midnight to cut off the Dao Master's future plans.
Li Changfeng had no choice but to cease fighting and instead set up an ambush with Lin Feiran, waiting for Bi Sheng's arrival. However, he still did not forget his original purpose.
"I will wait here. After he passes away, I will come to find you. Now go."
"good."
Lin Feiran calculated the time and headed back with Ru Xian and Wei Changzai. Now that almost everyone who received the message was gathered at the Imperial Academy, she had to go back to verify her conjecture.
The battle with Bi Sheng had been extremely taxing, and Lin Feiran and Wei Changzai had relied almost entirely on pills to get through it. Halfway through their journey, they felt dizzy and found it difficult to control their swords.
Ru Xian then took over the burden of traveling, and while riding his sword, he treated Lin Feiran's injuries. He thought of the fragmented scenes he had just seen in his memory, and his gaze couldn't help but fall on Lin Feiran's face.
Bi Sheng is someone who has been reborn several times, so she shouldn't be paying attention to some junior figures. However, Wei Changzai and Qiu Tong appear many times in her memories, and so does Lin Feiran.
The Lin Feiran she remembered was almost completely different from the person she knew in front of her.
Although he had some doubts about Lin Feiran's identity before, he also knew Lin Feiran's answer. Knowing this was enough, but when he actually saw her, he was still a little surprised.
Without much thought, he could easily tell that these two Lin Feirans were not the same person.
He looked at the person in his arms and couldn't help but ask, "You are Lin Feiran, but you are not Lin Feiran. Who exactly are you?"
After being given the medicine, Lin Feiran was almost unconscious, and her spiritual energy was working hard to repair her body, so she was naturally unable to answer.
He paused, then couldn't help but chuckle: "We both have too many secrets. What's the point of digging them all out now?"
Besides, they had agreed to exchange secrets, which is a kind of fun between them now. I wonder if she has forgotten. Oh well, there's plenty of time, she can discover it slowly.
He looked at the rolling lightning beneath the dark clouds in the distance, his expression no longer as relaxed as usual.
Ru Xian Yujian was equally fast. He calculated the timing and brought the two of them to the Imperial Academy before midnight. There were already many cultivators gathered in the courtyard, with different expressions, but they were not quiet at all, and their whispers were like a buzzing.
Ru Xian's arrival clearly silenced the whispers. He lowered his sword, looked down at the crowd, and remained silent.
Behind him, Lin Feiran, carrying Wei Changzai in his hand, slowly walked forward.
Her gaze swept across the faces of the crowd, and soon settled on a certain spot.
Beneath the long corridor, Qiu Tong walked out of the house, her face filled with disbelief, her steps unsteady. After a moment, as if sensing this gaze, she stopped and looked up, her eyes meeting Lin Feiran's.
Qiu Tong thought, it's her.
Lin Feiran thought to herself, "She really is one of the people who received the message."
Author's Note: I'm so grateful to everyone... I'm about to go to war with the Daoist Master! [melted]
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