Chapter 48: She was the last person to inherit the title of Kunlun Immortal Master.
Huang Menglu never mentions Xu Qiubai in any of his sentences, but every word he says is aimed at Xu Qiubai.
Xu Qiubai was a typical example of the kind of person she was talking about. He inherited the ability to see the secrets of the heavens at a very young age, and he was perfunctory in his studies. However, he relied on his intelligence to pass all the assessments.
If he were to retake the assessment this year along with Shen Cangyu and the others, he might not pass either.
But even if someone like him passes the test, he will ultimately find it difficult to survive when faced with real combat.
After all, the purpose of the assessment is to test their learning ability, not their ability to cheat or take shortcuts.
Shen Cangyu suddenly remembered that Xu Qiubai's death in his previous life might have been related to this aspect of his personality.
Xu Qiubai died during his previous life's trials, but what about the life before that? In a world before the time traveler arrived, Shen Cangyu should have been involved in that trial.
If Shen Cangyu had been in the training at that time, would Xu Qiubai still have died?
"When you enter the second test, you may bring all your weapons and magical artifacts. The test is limited to one hour, and your task is to do everything you can to survive within that hour. However, each person's test area is independent, and you will not have the opportunity to cooperate; you can only rely on your own abilities to survive."
As Huang Menglu spoke, she raised her hand, and the surrounding fog gradually thickened. Before the scene changed, Shen Cangyu heard her last reminder: "Remember, you must have the will to survive."
The world before me was plunged into darkness, and suddenly, flames spread from beneath my feet.
"Earth Dragon!" Shen Cangyu reacted, summoning the Earth Dragon and stepping on it. The Earth Dragon carried her into the air, escaping the sea of fire on the ground, leaping across the fireless open space. The fire beside them seemed to have eyes, relentlessly pursuing her.
"Overwhelming force!"
The floodwaters appeared out of nowhere and crashed onto the ground, colliding with the flames and creating billowing white mist. Immediately afterwards, a thick layer of soil covered the area, preventing the flames from reigniting.
With the flames no longer appearing, Shen Cangyu finally breathed a sigh of relief.
But instead of jumping off the earth dragon, she kept her eyes fixed on her surroundings.
Sure enough, the moment the flames disappeared, countless birds suddenly appeared all around her, swarming towards her from all directions.
Shen Cangyu released a barrier that seemed to seal and close off his body. When the birds crashed into the barrier, they made a series of thumping sounds like raindrops.
She braced herself with her hands, enduring wave after wave of impacts, while the earth dragon beneath her had long since turned into a lump of mud by the impacts of the flying birds.
Elder Huang said that the second test is to see how long they can last in the illusion. As long as they can use every method to survive, they can pass the test smoothly.
The assessment tests their self-preservation ability and endurance.
These are all things that Shen Cangyu has no shortage of.
She is very hardworking, like a piece of iron being forged a thousand times. She will not fall down, but will turn into a sharp sword.
"The sword in my hand!"
She raised her hand, and a cyan sword appeared in her grasp. She swept it towards the wolf pack in front of her, cleaving each shadow in half.
She had no sword.
Qiu Sheng had promised her that he would take her to the Sword Pavilion to retrieve a sword that belonged to her. But Qiu Sheng broke his promise.
At first, Qiu Sheng was too busy, busy recruiting new disciples and arranging competitions for outer disciples, busy and busy... By the time Qiu Sheng returned to Dragon Ridge Mountain, Shen Cangyu never heard her mention the Sword Pavilion again.
She probably forgot.
But Shen Cangyu did not remind her.
After all, since Qiu Sheng returned, they had never practiced swordsmanship together again, and even the chances of meeting each other were few and far between.
Shen Cangyu thought that she still had to rely on her own abilities to find the sword that belonged to her.
All things return to the heart, thoughts take form, and the sword is in the hand.
The sword light vanquished all evil, and finally returned to its sheath.
She had also mastered the sword technique, and from then on, she was a legitimate disciple of the Wanqi Guixin sect.
Before she could even feel happy, Shen Cangyu looked at the green sword she held in her palm, her expression momentarily dazed.
She stood for a long time in the hall where all weapons belonged to the deceased. The shelves in the hall were filled with the weapons of fallen predecessors, each weapon possessing a unique aura. Their bodies and minds had become one with their weapons, and after death, their souls resided in the weapons, remaining in the world.
She looked at all the weapons, but her gaze finally settled on the sword in the very center.
That was the sword of the Kunlun Immortal Lord, but unlike other weapons, it seemed to be an unclaimed sword, with no aura emanating from it.
An unowned sword means that anyone can become its master. Whoever is chosen by it can become the next successor of the Kunlun Immortal Lord.
Although she had always wanted to seize the throne of the Kunlun Immortal Lord, she never expected that she would actually be able to take the sword, after all, there were many people who were competing with her.
As the magic dissipated, the sword she held in her hand also vanished.
Shen Cangyu watched as the mess around him gradually disappeared.
Suddenly, she heard a voice: "I've put your things on the table."
It was Pei Wenjing's voice.
Shen Cangyu raised her head and saw the older Pei Wenjing. She realized that she had seen another piece of her forgotten memory.
On the Star-Picking Tower, Huang Menglu suddenly opened his eyes, staring intently at the rotating star gauge beside him, and murmured, "What's going on?"
After the second trial ended, they didn't leave the illusion but went straight into the third trial. These disciples had just suffered greatly in the second trial, and their minds were exhausted. They hadn't recovered yet, and entering the third trial in this state meant that very few of them would likely pass.
Huang Menglu was manipulating the star motion meter, but the instrument remained completely still.
“Oh no…” Huang Menglu frowned. She glanced to the side and said to the disciples who were sitting on the ground in a daze after being eliminated, “Go to Xingxiang Hall and find a doctor. Quickly, find as many as you can.”
She placed her hands on the star gauge and immersed her consciousness into it.
*
"Didn't you already give me a coming-of-age gift? Why is there a second one?" Shen Cangyu looked at the long brocade box on the table and opened it. Inside, a frosty white sword lay on the brocade cloth. This was Pei Wenjing's sword, or rather, the sword they had fought so fiercely for back then, the one neither of them was willing to give in to.
This sword was the prize for winning first place in their year's "Myriad Weapons Return to the Heart" disciple competition. They fought tooth and nail for that first place, neither willing to give up. In the end, Shen Cangyuqi was one step behind and lost to Pei Wenjing. Pei Wenjing held the sword and said to her, "I won. This year's top disciple is still mine. You still have to call me senior brother."
But Shen Cangyu was unconvinced. She felt that if Pei Wenjing hadn't revealed a false flaw to trick her into joining the game, she wouldn't have lost.
She then said ruthlessly, "Just you wait, I'll get my hands on 'Suyou' sooner or later."
"You're giving me 'Suyou'?" Shen Cangyu looked at the sword in the brocade box, her face devoid of any smile. She stared at Pei Wenjing and asked, "I don't want what you give me. I only want a sword that I earned through my own strength." Shen Cangyu and Pei Wenjing had always had a good relationship, but at this moment, she was truly angry.
"You are insulting me." Shen Cangyu slammed the box shut.
But Pei Wenjing stood at the doorway, remaining silent for a long time, and unlike before, he didn't come over to comfort her.
One of them stood outside the house, and the other stood inside. The small threshold in between seemed to separate the two of them, preventing either of them from going any further.
After an unknown amount of time, Pei Wenjing suddenly said, "I'm leaving. I can't take this sword with me; it should have been yours to begin with."
"Where are you going?" Shen Cangyu realized something was wrong.
“I want to leave Wanqi Guixin, leave Kunlun…” Pei Wenjing’s voice was light and airy. As he spoke, he smiled and said, “After all, this is not a place I should stay.”
"Pei Wenjing, what do you mean..." Shen Cangyu chased after him, but did not see Pei Wenjing's figure.
"Pei Wenjing!"
What exactly happened? Why did Pei Wenjing give up the Taoist arts he had studied for so many years? Why did he leave Kunlun? Where was he going?
A jumble of sounds mingled together, creating a buzzing effect.
Shen Cangyu raised her hand to cover her ears, only to realize that she had actually regained control of her body. Just now, while looking at the scenes in her memory, Shen Cangyu felt as if she were a wandering soul residing in her body. She could see the images and hear the sounds, but she couldn't control her body.
Now, she is free.
But those images were deeply imprinted in her mind, and she gleaned some subtle details from her conversation with Pei Wenjing.
For example, she and Pei Wenjing competed for the top spot in the "All Things Return to the Heart" competition. At that time, Pei Wenjing possessed the Daoist technique of "All Things Return to the Heart," but he had not yet come into contact with the Tai Chi Daoist technique.
Later, he suddenly left Kunlun, but only told Shen Cangyu.
What exactly happened behind the scenes?
A familiar feeling of palpitation washed over her. Shen Cangyu pressed her hand to her heart, her brows furrowed, but when she looked down, she saw her slender fingers.
She was stunned.
These are adult hands.
She suddenly looked up and saw a vast expanse of white snow before her. A figure stood in the distance, looking at her, his black and white eyes seemingly holding a thousand thoughts.
Shen Cangyu heard himself say, "You were the one who instigated Xu Qiubai to defect from Kunlun, you were the one who destroyed Xingxiang Hall, you were the one who set fire to the Sutra Repository, and you were the one who killed hundreds of Wanqi Guixin disciples. Am I right, Pei Wenjing?"
The person standing in the distance did not move or answer; his gaze remained unchanged, as if he already knew what she was going to ask.
"Do you really hate Kunlun that much?" Shen Cangyu asked, "To the point that you want to destroy the entire Kunlun?"
"If I said I didn't do those things, would you believe me?" Pei Wenjing asked, but when he met Shen Cangyu's eyes, he got the answer.
Indeed, if she truly believed in his innocence, she wouldn't have been ordered by Kunlun to personally come and kill him.
She is the epitome of righteousness, and he is the epitome of evil; they are destined to stand on opposite sides, it's only a matter of time.
Shen Cangyu heard his words but did not speak. She simply raised her hand, and a green sword appeared out of thin air in her hand.
Pei Wenjing looked at the sword in her hand and chuckled lightly: "As expected, you are the one who will eventually inherit the title of Kunlun Immortal Master."
“You killed so many disciples of the Myriad Weapons Returning to the Heart in order to prevent them from inheriting the throne. Unexpectedly, the throne ended up falling on me. You were disappointed that you couldn’t find an opportunity to kill me,” Shen Cangyu said. “As long as I am alive, you must die.”
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