Chapter 212 Ascension:
The image reflected in Rong Xie's pupils was none other than Lu Yingqi, who had just sacrificed himself.
The scene of Lu Yingqi stabbing himself was so shocking that it was hard to forget. Even now, with Rong Xie's eyes closed, the scene could still be clearly seen in his vision.
A surge of spiritual energy erupted from Lu Yingqi's shattered dantian, transforming into showers of silver rain that scattered across the space above the cliff. Much of it even splashed onto the barrier wall in front of Rong Xie, thus accelerating the rupture of the Heaven-Sealing Formation.
However, the person in front of him was completely unharmed. Even the Xuan Tian Sect disciple's robe, which had been torn to shreds, had become brand new. His hair was also neatly tied in a blue ribbon. He looked just like when Rong Xie first saw him—the aloof and otherworldly Xuan Tian Yi Jian.
"Lu Yingqi, you... how could you..." Rong Xie was so surprised that he didn't know what to say.
Lu Yingqi looked at him without saying a word.
"Wait, you wouldn't be..." Rong Xie observed Lu Yingqi's appearance and realized that Lu Yingqi had not turned into a spirit body, which meant that Lu Yingqi was not dead and his body had been completely restored. "You wouldn't be using an avatar, would you?"
It is said that cultivators in the Integration Stage can create another body that is exactly the same as their own. If that's true, wouldn't Lu Yingqi have already reached the Integration Stage? When did this happen? The Integration Stage should involve tribulation lightning, but I haven't heard of anyone from the Xuantian Sect undergoing tribulation lightning recently.
“No, I have attained enlightenment,” Lu Yingqi said.
"What? Prove enlightenment? Didn't you already prove enlightenment a long time ago?"
“Junior Brother Rong, thank you for your help along the way,” Lu Yingqi continued. “Without you, I would not have been able to succeed in attaining enlightenment. I always feel that… something in the dark brought you to my side.”
"What are you talking about?" Rong Xie was both amused and exasperated. Lu Yingqi had successfully killed his wife to attain enlightenment, shouldn't he be thanking Xiao Zhi? What did it have to do with him?
“No, that time it failed,” Lu Yingqi said. “I’m talking about this time, now, this time.”
Lu Yingqi seemed to be able to read Rong Xie's thoughts, which gave Rong Xie a chilling feeling.
"Don't be afraid, this is an ability that all cultivators in the Dao Proving stage possess." Lu Yingqi's voice appeared in Rong Xie's mind. Then, a continuous stream of thoughts flowed over, and Rong Xie immediately understood what Lu Yingqi had experienced and why he was standing in front of him at this moment.
Without the Integration Stage or the Incarnation Stage, Lu Yingqi was indeed dead. He died from a shattered dantian and the dissipation of his spiritual power. At the same time, he also proved his ruthless path.
These days, he has been pondering what ruthlessness truly means, and why cultivating this path requires killing the one you love most. If killing the one you love most is merely to advance to a higher realm, is this so-called "most loved" truly the most loved?
Compared to Xiaozhi, what he loved more, wasn't it the resources of the Xuantian Sect? Wasn't it the cultivation of the Path of Ruthlessness? Wasn't it the advancement of one realm after another?
He should love himself more.
"So, you killed yourself." Rong Xie found it hard to believe.
Lu Yingqi did not answer; everything was understood without words.
The fact that he is standing here unharmed says it all.
The so-called ultimate method of enlightenment in the Path of Ruthlessness, which is to kill one's wife, is a misconception. The true method of enlightenment is to kill one's most beloved... If that most beloved is oneself—which is the most beloved of most cultivators of the Path of Ruthlessness—only killing oneself will be effective.
"Congratulations... to you." Rong Xie didn't know how to express his feelings. Lu Yingqi's understanding and decisiveness were indeed impressive, but for some reason, it seemed that his human side had been stripped away more thoroughly.
"Thank you," Lu Yingqi said. "Actually, there's nothing to congratulate you on."
"..." In any case, having achieved the goal I've always pursued and attained enlightenment and ascension, I should still feel a great sense of accomplishment.
“There is no such thing,” Lu Yingqi replied. “To prove the Path of Ruthlessness is to have nothing left.”
"..." Okay. Mind reading is really amazing. If I could take care of the flower demon and rescue Shen Bingsi before ascending, that would be great.
Lu Yingqi stared at Rong Xie and said, "Our karma is indeed not yet over. As a way of repaying you, I will get rid of the flower demon."
Rong Xie was overjoyed, for making a wish in front of a mind-reading master was easy to achieve.
"Thank you, Senior Brother Lu!"
Lu Yingqi turned around and flew into the air.
He raised his sleeve, and suddenly many points of light appeared in the air, like fireflies in a forest on a summer night, floating in the air and occasionally moving.
Hidden among those points of light was a faint, almost imperceptible, pale red spirit. It was shattered beyond repair, shrunk into a tiny fragment, and tried to conceal itself among the other points of light to evade detection.
Lu Yingqi turned his head, reached out and plucked it, as if plucking a petal from a branch, he held the spirit of the mimosa flower demon in his hand, gently rubbed it, and the hoarse cry shattered and dissipated at his fingertips. The evil spirit of the mimosa flower demon was thus annihilated and vanished forever into the world.
The moment Rong Xie saw the mimosa flower demon vanish, he felt a sense of relief. The grudges of the two lifetimes seemed to have vanished at that moment. He no longer had to worry about the world-ending calamity in the Book of Fate descending again. This world could continue peacefully for a hundred years, a thousand years... Perhaps there would be other calamities, but at least there wouldn't be one hundred and fifty years from now.
He no longer had to bear the pressure of changing fate. He no longer had to think that if it weren't for his selfishness in taking the savior for himself, Shen Bingsi could have continued to shine in his position as the demon-slaying official. He also no longer had to think that the fates of the two saviors had gone astray under his influence, and what would happen if, one hundred and fifty years later, the Heavenly Demon truly descended and no one could deal with it.
Whether you call it a twist of fate or a lucky accident, he started with good intentions and achieved a good result... This is the kindest arrangement fate has made for him.
Lu Yingqi turned back, something hidden in his sleeve, and carefully folded his hands together.
Behind him, the once clear sky had suddenly become filled with dark clouds, with purple lightning flashing through the churning black clouds, like a group of dragons swimming in giant waves.
“The flower demon has been eliminated. I don’t have much time left; the Nine Heavens Tribulation is about to descend,” Lu Yingqi said.
Rong Xie knew it was time to say goodbye.
Suddenly, Lu Yingqi's gaze passed over Rong Xie's shoulder and landed on his back: "Did you draw that magic circle?"
“Yes,” Rong Xie said. “Elder Bai taught me, and I remembered it.”
"Hmm," Lu Yingqi's gaze was momentarily unfocused. He opened his folded sleeves, revealing a pair of slender and clean hands. In his palm, a single white dot of light floated, one of the countless dots of light that had been floating in the air earlier. "Put him in and take good care of him."
Rong Xie held her breath and reached out to take it.
His fingers struck an invisible wall of air, preventing him from moving forward.
"Ah, the Heaven-Sealing Formation." Rong Xie remembered that there was another formation in between. He was about to explain to Lu Yingqi that his cultivation was insufficient to pass through the formation when he felt a surge of spiritual energy enter his body. At the same time, Lu Yingqi's thoughts arrived in his sea of consciousness:
"My spiritual power allows you to freely travel between the inside and outside of the barrier for a short period of time."
Rong Xie's hand indeed reached over the barrier and caught the light spot that Lu Yingqi brought.
The speck of light was only the size of a chestnut. Holding it in the palm of your hand, it felt warm, like holding a warm cloud. Rong Xie knew that this was Xiao Zhi's spirit.
After being eaten by the flower fairy, most of its soul dissipated, leaving only this tiny clump.
Rong Xie gently protected it and placed it into the drawn spirit-locking array.
No matter how eloquent the flower fairy was, Rong Xie still held onto a sliver of hope that he could save Xiao Zhi's soul, so he drew a spirit-locking array from memory.
After entering the spirit-locking array, the tiny specks of light, like birds entering a new home, would flit here and there, moving slowly and full of curiosity about their surroundings.
Rong Xie gazed at the tiny point of light, his heart filled with warmth.
"It seems I owe you another favor," Lu Yingqi said.
“No, saving Xiaozhi is my own wish,” Rong Xie said. “Even if you don’t help, I plan to find Xiaozhi’s soul after I’ve destroyed the flower demon.”
Lu Yingqi looked at Rong Xie: "You... I always feel like you know something."
Rong Xie was silent for a moment, then smiled and said, "It's better if you don't know, so that you can transcend the tribulation without getting entangled in karma."
"Yes." Lu Yingqi nodded, turned around, and took one step into the air, then another.
He threw himself into the rolling thunderclouds in the sky.
Against the dark background, the blue figure turned around again, raised its arm, and waved goodbye.
Rong Xie also raised his hand and shook it.
Behind him, within the spirit-locking array, tiny specks of light floated unaware, intently exploring their new environment.
Once, in the main hall of the Mirror Palace, many people gathered there, and a few words reached Rong Xie's ears.
"It seems the prophecy of the Heavenly Demon destroying the world is about to come true!"
"If Lu Yingqi, the Sword Master of the Profound Heaven, were still alive, perhaps he could have joined forces with the Demon-Slaying Sword Saint to fight against the Heavenly Demon, but alas..."
That was the first time Rong Xie had heard the name of Lu Yingqi, the Xuan Tian Sword Master, and he remembered it.
He never imagined that he would be so deeply involved in Lu Yingqi's fate, and even, to some extent, reverse Lu Yingqi's destiny.
etc!
A flash of lightning streaked through my mind, and something that had been shrouded in mist suddenly became clear.
"If Lu Yingqi, the Sword of Xuantian, were still alive..."
Rong Xie had always wondered why it was Lu Yingqi in particular? Among the countless powerful figures in the cultivation world, why was it Lu Yingqi who was mentioned by that group of cultivators?
Why not Sect Leader Xue, Sect Leader Feng, or even Official Jiang or Official He Lu...?
Because Lu Yingqi is gone, not that he died young.
A person's talent and enlightenment are predetermined. Lu Yingqi can attain enlightenment and ascend to heaven in this world, and he may not be unable to do so in the world of the Book of Fate. His "absence" may mean that he has ascended to the upper realm and is no longer in the mortal world.
That explains everything.
The thunderclouds, carrying the blue shadow, vanished in an instant.
The sky above Wenxin Gorge has once again become clear and cloudless.
Rong Xie stood there, feeling as if he had broken out in a cold sweat, as if witnessing the scene had taken a great deal of energy.
He pressed his temples, a torrent of emotions surging within him. He forced himself to calm down; the most important thing now was—
"Brother Jiang, the flower demon has been eliminated, don't self-destruct!"
Rong Xie passed through the barrier and flew towards the ball of light in the air.
He didn't dare to catch his breath, and didn't even bother to glance at Shen Bingsi on the ground.
Lu Yingqi had been talking to him for a long time, then eliminated the flower demon and captured Xiaozhi's spirit to send over. After all this trouble, the agreed time had long passed!
After Shen Bingsi fell asleep, Judge Jiang returned to the ball of light and focused on self-destruction, completely unaware of what was happening outside.
If, after all the problems are resolved, the failure to promptly inform Judge Jiang of the latest developments leads to Judge Jiang self-destructing as originally planned, then that would be the most ridiculous thing imaginable!
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Everyone can start brainstorming ideas for what kind of side stories they'd like to see! [doge emoji]
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