Chapter 67: No Regrets About Death
Xisheng and Wei Qiang also stepped forward, overlooking the riot below. Xisheng asked, "Where is Nanjiang Zhaoxia?" Cangming asked, "Wasn't the Yunxia Sect wiped out a long time ago?" Wu Lu just crossed his arms and smiled mysteriously.
As he spoke, the ghost ship had already flown onto the Forgotten Immortal Terrace, leaving the chaos behind. You Xiao quickly disembarked and stood before Cang Ming, a pure smile on his face. "Master Daoist, Brother Wu Lu asked me to come!"
Cang Ming felt sweat pouring down his spine: "This... So your relationship has become so good... Wu Lu, is this the helper you called?"
Wu Lu said proudly: "That's right."
Xisheng said, "Why are Xunyan and Mixia here too? I don't think these three know any magic."
Wu Lu laughed heartily, trying his best to suppress his arrogance. "Remember that time when the old man was hit? Didn't I run into Brother You? We had a heart-to-heart chat! You wouldn't know it if I hadn't heard it, but the "You" in Brother You's name is exactly the same as the "You" in Yunxia Sect!"
Cang Ming was confused by what he heard, and Wei Ci raised an eyebrow.
You Xiao said shyly, "The Yunxia Sect only accepts young people from the same clan. All the disciples in the sect have the surname You. My grandfather was the head of the Yunxia Sect, but that was forty years ago! Afterwards, all the disciples in the sect were massacred, and the You clan quickly declined. I was the last one to die. Everyone died before me..."
Cang Ming was speechless. Although she knew the Yunxia Sect's surname was You, she had never imagined that this Young Master You, who always smiled timidly, was actually the last heir of the Yunxia Sect. She praised him, "No wonder the old man is so battle-hardened and able to break the barrier. He comes from a famous family."
Wei Qiang rubbed his hands hard on his red robe and grabbed You Xiao's hand: "I didn't expect that I could see Nanjiang Zhaoxia in my lifetime instead of meeting her in the underworld after death..."
You Xiao was flattered and blushed with joy: "No, I didn't practice cultivation during my lifetime. After death, I will just live a disappointing life..."
Wu Lu cleared his throat and said, "Now, I'd like to reintroduce Xun Yan and Mi Xia to you. To be more precise, it's You Xun Yan and You Mi Xia."
Everyone looked at the brother and sister, who looked uneasy, with their hands clasped in front of their chests, the smiles on their faces getting bigger and bigger, and their eyes staring nervously.
You Xiao held one of them in each hand and said with emotion, "These two are the children of the great-granddaughter of my great-uncle's son. They took their mother's surname and are also members of the You family."
Cang Ming suddenly realized: "So that's it!" Xisheng also nodded thoughtfully, looking at the brother and sister again.
Xun Yan said embarrassedly, "Actually, my sister and I are the offspring of a marriage between a human and a demon. We are just an insignificant branch of the You family and have never been taught the magic of the Yunxia School. We want to revive the sect, but we lack the ability and position."
Mixia added, "When my mother was alive, she taught us a few tricks. When we were performing on the streets, the shopkeeper took us in and settled us down. I'll never forget his kindness."
Wu Lu said modestly, "No, no, it's a waste of your talents to keep you here to help at the inn."
It was almost dawn, and the tense atmosphere before the battle spread silently. You Xiao said, "Master Daoist, my people and I will lend you a helping hand!"
Cang Ming wanted to ask in detail, but was interrupted by overwhelming shouts.
Countless evil spirits, thousand-year-old floating corpses, zombies, and evil spirits rushed in from beneath the Forget Immortal Platform. Although he knew it was Tian Xinshu who came to help, Cang Ming still closed his eyes in annoyance. Wei Ci consoled him, "General, we will rebuild the Forget Immortal Source here in the future."
The deputy general, Panmu, rode on a black undead horse and shouted loudly. Behind him, the forest moved. A closer look revealed that the deputy general had brought with him a tree spirit of his own clan, and the tree spirit had brought with him a poor ghost.
This motley army cleared a path, pushing the embroidered shoe zombies to the sides. Tian Xinshu slowly approached from the end of the path, monster identification compass in hand, treading on the rustling snow as he walked towards Li Xianzhen and Old Guilian.
Li Xianzhen looked at Tian Xinshu numbly. Her height had shrunk so much that she had to raise her head with great effort to see Tian Xinshu's face.
Tian Xinshu waved his hand, rolled up the sleeves of the rag doll wearing red shoes, and jumped onto the Wangxiantai. Wu Lu said, "Hey, don't you want to catch up with me, Senior Sister?"
Tian Xinshu glared at him fiercely, then turned to Cang Ming and said, "Leave those ragtag bunch down there to my army to deal with." Cang Ming nodded heavily and said, "Thank you very much. Then we'll concentrate our spiritual power on dealing with the Guardian God."
A streak of golden light pierced the eastern clouds, and the snowy plains welcomed the sunrise. Along with the golden glow of the morning light came another golden hue. The guardian deity descended from the sky, his robes fluttering as he hovered in mid-air. He smiled charmingly, "Who mentioned my name?"
But soon, he found that everyone on the stage was staring at him with indifference and contempt, and no one paid any attention to his godly demeanor.
Cang Ming suddenly felt the relief of impending release. She flexed her wrists and stared at the Guardian God: "Why are you here so late? Where have you been hiding?"
Wei Ci laughed heartily and said, "It's quite amusing to think that the guardian deity didn't dare to return to the Heavenly Palace and hid in the snow all night."
The Guardian's eyes narrowed gloomily, like an eagle's. He whispered, "What a shame! What a shame! I thought you and I could accomplish something great, something unprecedented since the beginning of time..."
"That's your regret, not mine." Cang Ming looked at him coldly. Wangxianyuan was deserted and dilapidated, a far cry from what it once was. But within her old home, Cang Ming's heart was suddenly shaken, a surge of pride rising spontaneously. That pride, eternal between heaven and earth, was a mixture of both pride for the Wangxian Sect's former prominence and sadness and relief for its eventual infighting. That pride was for everything that had happened. She looked at the Guardian God and said, word by word, "I come from an orthodox and prestigious sect. I'm free and unattached. To save Cang Ling, I deserve no pity for dying."
The Guardian God smiled secretly. He pointed at Wei Ci and asked, "What about him?"
Cang Ming said nothing.
The sky was at once dawn and dusk. Between the half-lit sky and the snowy ground, Cang Ming suddenly soared into the air and stabbed the Guardian's belt with his sword, sending his saber flying.
Wei Ci stared at Cang Ming, his eyes filled with her past and present lives. This preemptive move, a victory in the first battle, excited everyone on the stage. They cheered loudly and started to prepare.
The Guardian God calmly smoothed the corner of his clothes and said, "You silly child. In my situation, do I still need weapons? Without a sword, there is also a sword."
A dark shadow suddenly teleported in front of her, its arm reaching out like lightning, false and real, intending to move left but then right. Cang Ming's sword and Wei Ci's palm simultaneously met her, and the three of them engaged in a clash, tumbling through the air with thunder and lightning, and in a blink of an eye, they had exchanged hundreds of blows.
Wu Lu and Xi Sheng checked for deficiencies and filled in the gaps, waving their crutches or plucking their pipa from time to time, and their magic power accompanied by a gust of wind blocked the guardian god's retreat.
On stage, gods fight, while demons and ghosts clash below. However, the people on stage don't care about what's happening below. Everyone knows that no matter how many ghosts, traps, and baits there are, they can only disrupt the situation temporarily. The final fierce battle will be fought alone by General Wu and the Guardian God.
Amidst the chaos, no one noticed Li Xianzhen climbing onto the Forget Immortal Terrace. As Cang Ming turned around, he seemed to catch a glimpse of her darting around, reaching out to pick up the pair of pottery figurines.
Wei Qiang roared, wielding his tickler, and slashed at Li Xianzhen's arm. Li Xianzhen's hand trembled, and he accidentally threw the pair of pottery figures. The figures rolled to the center of the battlefield, and Li Xianzhen hurriedly crawled over on his knees, but he was a step too slow.
The Guardian God landed lightly on the ground, his foot landing squarely on a clay figurine, like a seabird stepping on a rock emerging from the sea. With the power of this light tap of his toes, the Guardian God bounced back into the air and continued his battle with Cang Ming Wei Ci.
The two clay figures were crushed to pieces, emitting short, shrill screams before dying. It was the first time Cang Ming knew that clay figures could make sounds. Li Xianzhen knelt on the ground, looking at the fragments, muttering to himself, "It's all gone."
Cang Ming had no time to think, yet he felt relieved. His parents' death had been avenged, and his worldly worries were now one less thing. The Guardian Deity gradually grew weary and impatient, seemingly wanting a quick resolution and no more lingering battles.
The time had arrived. Following the previously agreed upon tactic, Cang Ming swung his sword and flipped over, drawing a circle. A hexagonal snowflake formation suddenly appeared in the air. Simultaneously, countless silver-white gulls flew in like heavy snow, swooping down towards the Guardian God, dazzling him.
It had been agreed upon previously that this was the signal for a decisive battle. Xisheng and Wulu understood the message and raised their hands to prepare.
Xisheng held the Qianjing Pipa, plucking the strings with his fingers, and the music as magnificent as the tide rushed out, sweeping across the world, as if there were tens of millions of musicians playing the harp and the flute.
Wu Lü struck the ground with his staff in time with the music, and the dull, thick snow was struck to the rhythm of rain falling on evening bells. The beats complemented the rhythmic rhythm of the music. Wu Lü said in a deep voice, "This move is called the Wave-Strike Huasheng Formation, also known as the Snow-Strike Huasheng Formation. Surrender now, you old charlatan!"
The guardian deity sneered, swung his arms, and came back. Before he could touch Cang Ming's shoulder, he withdrew his hand as if burned. The patterns on his sea-blue robe flickered and shifted, like a human shadow play, performing mountain and sea spirits, fairyland on earth, ancient times, the sun and the moon.
Cang Ming's heart was filled with warm nostalgia. Only when the three of them worked together to play drums and dance could such a patterned opera be awakened.
This arena, lost in the sky, was the scene of the most arduous battle in a thousand years. Suddenly, You Xiao shouted, "Yunxia, reappear!"
Suddenly, ghosts of all shapes and sizes emerged from the ghost ship's cabin, filling it completely. The leader, Old Man You, clapped his hands, and instantly, the entire crew lit candles and silently chanted incantations. You Xiao, Xun Yan, and Mi Xia stood below the ship, holding hands and chanting, before suddenly soaring into the clouds.
The You clan's candlelight illuminated the sky, and for the first time, Cang Ming saw the sunset glow before dawn. Xi Sheng's music ascended, entering a new movement. The sunset glow resembled a gorgeous dream, the waves accompanied the music, a full moon in the west, the morning light in the east, and the evening breeze greeted them, enchanting everyone.
On the Forget Immortal Stage, General Wu spun and leaped, while behind him, the three men, You Xiao, soared into the air, rising and falling, fluttering and dancing, stirring the clouds and sunset glow into a ethereal and mysterious spectacle, as magnificent as fireworks. At the brightest moment of the sunset glow and fireworks, General Wu performed a back-kick in the air, dancing with his sword and shadows.
Although the Yunxia School had vanished beyond remedy, it danced with the mist and clouds of Cang Ming, silently delivering gusts of cool and refreshing wind. Thus, the four major schools finally joined forces.
Wei Ci blocked the palm strike from the Guardian God, and the ink marks on the bodies of several seagulls condensed into dark raindrops, flying towards the Guardian God's vital points like hidden weapons.
The Guardian God's fists were like a torrential downpour, impenetrable. They protected the left side of his body, and Cang Ming attacked to the right. The Guardian God flew skyward, and the hexagonal snowflake hammered him to the ground. The battle went on and on, with neither side able to determine who was the better.
Seeing that dawn was about to break, the guardian god was exhausted both physically and mentally. He roared and used all his strength to hit Cang Ming hard, not hesitating to expose the wide-open gate to the enemy.
Facing the iron-like palm wind, Cang Ming danced with his sword, swung it diagonally downward, the wind blew back into the snow, and the long sword stabbed straight into the chest of the guardian god, without caring about the flaws on his body.
At the moment when the Guardian God unleashed his full might, General Wu chose to sacrifice himself, devoting all his magical powers to the fight. The collision of these two forces would result in their mutual destruction, a move the Guardian God would never have dreamed would be attempted.
Behind him, Wei Ci's mellow voice echoed in the clouds: "Cang Cang."
Cang Ming closed his eyes. In the split second before he drew his sword, a hexagonal snowflake formation stopped Wei Ci. The moment Wei Ci was held back was just enough time for Cang Ming to make a final move.
The tip of the sword pierced the chest of the Guardian God, and the Guardian God's palm also reached his eyes. The huge impact almost made the ice blade fall out of his hand, and Cang Ming felt dizzy.
But suddenly, everything was over. The ice blade flew out, pinning the Guardian to the ground. But Cang Ming was not dead.
Wei Ci stood in front of her, holding her tightly in his arms, and took the attack from the Guardian God on his back. Cang Ming hugged him back in confusion, and his tall body fell over, pressing Cang Ming backwards.
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