Chapter 48: Lovers End Up as Siblings – Is This a Love Triangle or a Love Quadrangle...?
During the teleportation, the consciousness of all the immortals was briefly extinguished. In the previous round of the competition, Bitao was teleported and didn't even know how she descended to the mortal realm.
But this time, Bitao clearly felt the entire process; her body and consciousness were completely disassembled and reassembled, a process that felt as long as a lifetime, yet also seemed to last only a moment.
When she regained a sliver of consciousness amidst the exploding immortal spirit that had shattered her divine sense, before her vision had even cleared, she realized that she was already in another world.
Her nostrils were filled with the earthy smell of forest plants, and the mountain wind rustled, making her long hair dance wildly.
She opened her eyes. The sky was overcast, dark clouds gathered, and the air smelled of water—signs that a heavy rain was about to fall.
She had great difficulty breathing, as if a mouthful of dirt was stuck in her throat, or as if a gash had been opened. The smell of blood mixed with the smell of dirt kept rising up, making her want to vomit, wishing she could vomit her internal organs down her throat.
Bitao reached out and touched her throat, and sure enough, she found a huge hole.
She must have had her throat pierced and her cervical vertebrae broken by something; she should have died silently in the mountains.
However, at this moment, beneath his palm, the wound on his throat was healing rapidly.
The sound of her cervical spine returning to its proper position was like a wake-up call, making Bitao realize with absolute clarity that she had come from the lower realm for the competition.
The Thunder Pattern Curse Seal has already extinguished the evil energy within her body and is now gathering her consciousness and memories, intending to take root on her spiritual platform.
At that moment, Bitao had only one thought in her mind: I have to die again as soon as possible—"twice"!
So, relying on a cultivator's instinctive perception of danger, she immediately got up the moment she could use her limbs.
With countless celestial beings overseeing the competition above, Bitao dared not reveal the fact that she was still conscious at this moment.
Stumbling and looking distressed, he covered his neck, which had grown back completely in the blink of an eye, pretending that he had suddenly grown back and had no idea what was going on.
He quickly looked around and realized that he was right on a cliff edge.
Almost without hesitation, she rushed towards the cliff. As she "stumbled" and fell off the cliff, she looked back and saw a corpse, similar in shape to hers, with its throat wide open, slowly disappearing from the spot where she had just stood up.
This is what the Heavenly Rules say: “Choose a deceased person whose appearance resembles theirs, imitate their form, inherit their memories, and continue their loves and hates.”
A foul wind blew down from the cliff, accompanied by the sounds of fighting. A blinding golden streak flashed by, "Whoosh—"
Countless giant birds, flapping their wings, took off from below the cliff.
This was completely unexpected. The falling peach blossom was struck by the flock of birds, causing her to deviate from her descent trajectory in mid-air. The birds' sharp claws and wings tore her already tattered robe to shreds, and she fell rapidly like a butterfly torn apart by a gale.
She curled up in mid-air, the stench assaulting her nostrils. Bitao looked up at the flock of giant birds with wings on their backs and four claws on their bodies.
A skull, a rotting body, it flies up with a mournful cry.
Upon hearing the bird's song, Bitao felt a sharp pain in her eardrums, as if steel spikes had pierced her skull, instantly damaging her soul.
This is—the Wounded Soul Bird! ①
Bitao coughed up a mouthful of blood, but a secret joy welled up in her heart.
The moment the mournful cry of the soul-wrenching bird reached her ears, the lightning-patterned incantation already rooted in her sea of consciousness sensed the dark energy penetrating her body. Like an enraged dragon, it unleashed its claws from Bitao's consciousness, charging fiercely towards the mournful sound—
In an instant, powerful thunderbolts erupted from Bitao's body, tearing apart swarms of wounded soul birds with lightning and thunder!
—The Thunder Pattern Protective Seal is broken!
The Wounded Bird is a ghost that was innocently injured, unjustly killed, and unable to avenge its grudge.
When such a large number of wounded soul birds gather together, it is like a group of vengeful spirits howling and wailing. Wherever they pass, there will be widespread mourning. Mortals who hear this will be heartbroken and unable to recover.
Bitao's fingers swiftly formed the Sun Seal, and she silently chanted: "Supreme Star, ever-responding. Exorcise evil and bind demons, protect life and body. Wisdom clear and bright, mind at peace. Three souls eternal, spirit without loss or decline. Hasten as the law commands! Seal!"②
With a "bang," Bitao fell solidly to the ground. The impact was quite severe, and she had deliberately taken no precautions.
She was thrown into a coma and was now truly half-dead.
The lightning-patterned incantation that had been used to seal away the past lingered in her mind, but because her mind was scattered and difficult to gather, it also dissipated silently.
The flock of wounded birds still covered the sky like dark clouds, flapping their wings and crying mournfully incessantly, but Bitao had sealed her five senses, so at least she no longer had to worry about dying from the wounded soul.
Meanwhile, the people who had been struggling to resist below the cliff gathered together, back to back, forming hand seals to seal their five senses.
They didn't even have time to be shocked at where the five thunderbolts that had just swept across the sky came from.
However, it was too late to seal off the five senses at this moment.
There were too many Soul-Wounding Birds. Their souls had already been damaged when they fought against them before, and now they were all at their last gasp.
The spiritual light on a group of people dissipated, and before they could even form the hand seals, they were bleeding from all seven orifices and collapsed to the ground, exhausted.
"Senior Brother..."
"Second Senior Sister!"
"I can't hear or see anything anymore..."
They collapsed not far from Bitao, who fell onto an open space, surrounded by nothing but the corpse of the wounded bird.
It took a long time for his scattered thoughts to gradually return.
A fierce storm, carrying the mournful cries of departing birds, descended with overwhelming force, darkening the sky and plunging down upon us.
The mountains and forests were gradually stained with ink, as if a black cloth had been draped over the heavens and earth, concealing the corpses of the cultivators who had fought desperately and the corpses of wounded birds.
However, the Milky Way above the nine heavens can clearly see this scene.
Moreover, on the Silver River, a few days after the end of the first round of competition, discussions once again erupted.
The reason is that at the very beginning of the second round of the competition, someone's lightning rune seal was broken!
"The Thunder Pattern Spell Seal of the Fairy of the Peach Blossom broke in an instant? Isn't that the same as cheating? Now, only the person whose Thunder Pattern Spell Seal broke knows that they are in a competition."
"Stop yelling. She's not the only one whose lightning rune seal broke. Several other contestants broke their seals at the critical moment!"
“I feel like something’s not right. Don’t you guys think that when she jumped off the cliff just now, she was obviously trying to kill herself?”
"But the Soul-Wounding Birds come in flocks, and their mournful cries are enough to shatter one's soul. If she were deliberately seeking death, how would she know she could live?"
"Below the cliff were her senior brothers and junior sisters, all fighting to the death. She was clearly delirious and thought she was still alive, so she went down to help!"
...
Controversy continued on the Silver River Gull. Although a few people initially targeted Bitao, accusing her of cheating, fortunately, many of the contestants who went down to the lower realm managed to break the Thunder Pattern Curse Seal at the critical moment of life and death.
Among the Thunder Generals from the Thunder Department alone, in another group of cultivators fighting against the poisonous gas of Dao Lao Gui, five contestants in the "selection of replacements" competition were hit by the poisonous gas spewed by Dao Lao Gui as soon as they woke up, thus breaking the Thunder Pattern Seal.
Moreover, everyone soon discovered that even though the Thunder Pattern Seal was broken, the competitors who were "chosen to replace" had no idea that they were competing.
Instead of having a sudden realization, they followed the main force and hastily retreated.
It turns out that the Thunder Pattern Seal has two functions: firstly, to lock and solidify the sea of consciousness and prevent people from spying on and searching the soul.
Secondly, there is the protective seal of General Kunyi for these competitors.
The Heavenly Way of All Realms is Compassionate.
They broke the Thunder Pattern Protective Seal of the Left General of Kunyi, which was used to protect competitors from a fatal blow at the critical moment of life and death.
Even after the lightning-patterned protective seal was broken, their past lives remained sealed, and their self-perception became that of the person they "chose to be their successor."
Only when one is on the verge of death again, or when one has achieved perfect merit and is about to ascend to heaven to attain their position, will the thunder pattern seal that binds past lives be broken, and one will learn that they are in a competition.
But in the perilous Xuanxing Realm, their life-saving lightning-patterned protective seal has already broken. If they face near-death experiences again, can they truly survive?
The outcry over alleged "cheating" was quickly suppressed.
Those on the Silver River could only sigh at how incredibly unlucky these people were.
Bitao lost consciousness for a while, and when she woke up again, she was awakened by a torrential downpour.
She was drenched in cold water. She lay there, gathering her strength to get up and straighten her disheveled clothes and hair.
Looking around, he sat cross-legged and mobilized the wood spirit within his body to heal his injuries.
The rain was so heavy that you couldn't open your eyes, as if it wanted to wash away all the sins of heaven and earth in one fell swoop.
She had regained some of her strength and roughly figured out her current cultivation level. She originally planned to choose a direction and leave this mountain forest first.
After walking a few steps, they discovered that some members of the group of cultivators who had died amidst the mournful cries of the Soul-Sorrowing Birds were still breathing.
Bitao stood in the pouring rain, her two "deaths" shattering all the lightning-patterned curse seals.
The impact on her consciousness was too strong, and only now did she slowly regain her rationality and remember these people... who were all her senior brothers and junior sisters.
This feeling was very magical. Bitao clearly knew who she was, but in her mind, there was another vivid and unforgettable memory.
It infinitely pulled and merged her consciousness with those memories, making her almost become a different person beyond self-awareness.
The woman whom Heaven "chosen" for her was a disciple of a third-rate sword sect called the Supreme Sword Sect, named Qingyao, or Yue Qingyao.
She had previously "died" on a cliff, and the large gash on her neck was caused by the beak of a wounded bird.
In this world, a hundred ghosts wreak havoc, life is desolate, and the cycle of reincarnation has collapsed.
Only the cultivators of various sects can still operate in the human world, dispel the ghosts, and secure a peaceful corner for the common people.
Yue Qingyao and her fellow disciples are sword cultivators. This time, they joined forces with body cultivators from the Thunder Sect, array cultivators from the Taixu Tower, and talisman cultivators from the Seven Star Palace to take on a mission to exterminate the Soul-Injuring Birds in the Wentian Pavilion.
They entered the Moran Mountains to exorcise the ghosts, but nearly suffered total annihilation.
Some of those still breathing at this moment are no longer from this world.
The condition for descending to the mortal realm to return to heaven and attain one's position is to accumulate 500,000 merits.
Bitao recalled the competition rules on the Silver River Fishing Net.
Once 500,000 merits are accumulated, the thunder pattern curse seal that sealed their past lives will actually be released on its own.
At that time, they will be able to choose whether to return to heaven or not, or they can stay in the mortal realm to continue accumulating merit within the competition time limit.
The merits accumulated beyond that will be converted into celestial spirits and introduced into the body by the Five Thunders upon the time of death and attainment of one's position.
Therefore, this second competition, apart from the tribulations of "separation from loved ones, unfulfilled desires, and encounters with those one hates" that one experiences for others, is a pure competition of merit.
The competition period, however, lasted a full forty years.
As Bitao bent down to pull at the survivors, her body was exhausted and in pain, and the wound from her broken soul was still lingering, but she felt relaxed and content.
Forty years is a long time to accumulate merit, so these "two" deaths of hers were truly worthwhile.
Besides, isn't doing good deeds simple?
Braving the heavy rain, she found a nearby cave and, with great effort, dragged the still-breathing person towards it.
She dragged in more than a dozen at once, not caring about the arrangement, just piling them together, like a pile of her "prey corpses".
Then, just as Bitao was about to go outside to check if there were any survivors, she suddenly saw fireflies, shimmering with a crimson-gold light, gradually flying out from the bodies of the people she had haphazardly piled up—and then swarming toward her like insects drawn to a fire.
Bitao subconsciously mobilized the spiritual energy within her body to resist, but she was currently severely injured and her wood spirit was thin, making it impossible for her to mobilize it to form a barrier.
It looked like he was standing there, stunned for a moment.
Soon, all these crimson-gold "fireflies" flocked to Bitao's side.
After circling her twice, it disappeared into a storage bag at her waist.
Bitao did not have a storage bag at her waist.
Her robes were tattered beyond recognition, and she had even lost her sword.
Where did the storage bag come from?
But when she looked down, she realized that she did indeed have it on her waist.
The storage bag was of ordinary design, but at this moment it seemed to be transparent, and the reddish-gold "fireflies" inside emitted a warm glow from the bag. After flying around inside a few times, they settled down contentedly.
The crimson gold faded, and the storage bag disappeared again.
Bitao reached out and touched herself several times but couldn't find it.
Then it dawned on her—this must be the merit bag used to store merits during the competition.
The second round of competition rules issued by the Silver River did not specify in detail how to store merits or how to carry them on one's person.
There was no mention of the merits being visible after the Thunder Pattern Seal was removed.
So Bitao became even more enthusiastic about saving people.
After dragging all the still-breathing people inside, Bitao threw the last person at her feet and, as expected, saw many more crimson-gold merit fireflies fly into her storage bag.
Bitao suppressed her urge to touch it again from a distance, sat down cross-legged, and continued to heal her body.
With so many people with her, she couldn't leave. She had to wait until the rain stopped and most of them woke up before she could return to the sect.
However, just as Bitao was about to form a hand seal and enter meditation, she suddenly spotted a familiar and startling silhouette among the group of people she had dragged in haphazardly without carefully examining their faces.
His tall figure was pinned to the ground upside down, his long legs stretched out in a split, seemingly with nowhere to go.
Bitao remembered these people; many of them dragged themselves on one leg and were never even turned over. They just let them plow the land with their faces through the muddy rain.
Now, the mud and water on the outline of the person flowed down on their own, and she was able to see the person clearly.
Bitao's eyes widened.
However, since the competition had just started and there were people watching her all the time on the Silver River Gull, she didn't rush to get up and go to verify it.
He showed no excitement whatsoever.
She had to act like someone whose past was "sealed away" in order to avoid provoking attacks and suspicion from those above the Silver River.
The Ice Wheel Seal will eventually be discovered. Even if it can't be discovered, it will be automatically exposed by Zhu Ming when she passes away and is settled.
This round of competition is for the general positions of the three Thunder Fighting Army divisions. The ancient immortals among these three divisions will certainly not sit idly by and watch the position of commander of the Nine Heavens fall into the hands of the Netherworld Merit Immortal.
The first round was nothing more than immortals descending to the mortal realm for fun.
This second round is the real, formal battle between those in power.
Bitao must not let anyone know that she has now broken through two layers of thunder pattern curse seals.
When the time comes for reckoning, it will be the ancient immortals who will strike first with their "black hand," and the Ice Wheel Seal will be the best bait to lure out those in the ancient immortals who have cheated.
When she has completed her mission, no matter how much she is investigated, it will not be considered that she violated the rules.
But before that, Bitao must act out a drama of "love and separation, resentment and hatred, and unfulfilled desires" according to the love and hate of the person chosen for her by the will of Heaven.
The thunder and rain outside continued unabated. Bitao had recovered about 30-40% of her strength before she could continue moving the group of people.
She turned the face she had long coveted to the person in the photo, her eyebrows twitching slightly with excitement.
Mingguang... my lovely Mingguang!
Bitao, her face cold, wanted to reach out and wipe the mud off his cheek, but ultimately refrained.
She couldn't do anything to Mingguang because, in her new identity as Yue Qingyao, she felt only hatred for this fellow disciple.
Moreover, their relationship is quite special.
When Bitao recalled Yue Qingyao's life in her mind, she felt as if she had a mouthful of blood rushing to the sky.
Le Qingyao's mother was the second elder of the Supreme Sword Sect. She married Wei Xiao, the sect leader of the Supreme Sword Sect, who is now Mingguang's biological father.
Mingguang is not called Mingguang; here he is called Wei Danxin.
Bitao and Mingguang are now step-siblings, sharing the same parents but not blood ties.
What a powerful principle of Heaven!
What a wonderful story of lovers becoming siblings!
Bitao looked at her "brother," her lips twitching several times, before finally setting him aside and pulling out another familiar face from the crowd.
Bitao dragged the person aside like a dead dog, showing great disgust, but she had to put on a concerned and pitiful expression, holding the person in her arms and carefully protecting them.
Yue Qingyao was only sixteen years old when she first fell in love. She had someone she loved, her fourth junior brother from the same sect.
That is, the one in her arms—Ice Wheel Heaven Immortal!
He's no longer called Binglun, but Xuantu, Lin Xuantu.
Bitao's face was contorted, and it took a great deal of willpower for her to restrain herself from strangling the person in her arms to death.
But I still couldn't help but crack his head, which was resting on my lap.
Lin Xuantu was orphaned and born a fire spirit.
Ten years ago, he was just a country bumpkin in Tonglu Township.
Seeing his fellow villagers being persecuted, the twelve-year-old rushed into the fire to save them. On the verge of death, he unleashed his fire spirit and used fire to burn and kill the evil spirits that were harming the villagers.
He was then taken into the Supreme Sword Sect by its leader.
He was accepted as his fourth personal disciple.
In Yue Qingyao's memory, she loved her fourth junior brother Lin Xuantu but could not have him. She chased after him all day, giving him spirit stones, food, resources, and even herself... but she never got a kind word from him.
Now that Bitao has become Yue Qingyao's lover, she naturally has to love Lin Xuantu, also known as Binglun, but cannot have her.
Bitao leaned against the dark, damp wall of her acupoint, as if she had given up on herself, while she was still channeling wood spirit into Binglun.
His face, covered in disheveled hair, was ashen; he had never looked so sinister in his life.
Her resentment is greater than that of a ghost.
Its breath is more poisonous than that of the Dao Lao Gui (a type of ghost), capable of killing a whole group of people.
She loved Binglun, but could not have him.
ha.
On the Milky Way above, Zhu Ming, who was tracking Bi Tao, witnessed this scene and laughed so hard he pounded the bed several times.
Ever since it was announced on the Silver River that all the immortals would be experiencing the tribulation of "separation from loved ones, unfulfilled desires, and encounters with those they hate," he knew that the backgrounds of these immortals in the lower realms were anything but simple.
Originally, this star realm was on the verge of collapse, a state of purity and turbidity merging together.
People in such a star realm, even ordinary people, are extremely prone to excessive desires and hatreds.
Moreover, with such widespread chaos and division among the people, who among any family hasn't lost relatives or friends? Who doesn't have someone they love who they have to part with?
Who can gain anything in such a celestial realm?
He deliberately didn't remind Bitao, just wanting to see her current expression of enduring humiliation, hahaha—
But why did it have to be Binglun, hahaha...?
The identities of all the immortals in the lower realm have now been revealed on the Silver River Net.
Nowadays, Yinhan Gu is all about discussing these "love and hate," which is even more exquisite than traditional opera.
Bitao and Mingguang are actually siblings!
Brother and sister, hahaha!
Zhu Ming almost fainted from laughing when he thought of her patting her chest and making solemn vows about how she would torture Mingguang after descending to the mortal realm.
He wanted to see how she would deal with her "stepbrother"!
Just as Zhu Ming was about to burst into laughter, and a frenzy was brewing atop the Nine Heavens Silver Net because of this newly acquired "identity"...
Bitao kept supplying wood spirit, and saw that Binglun in front of her had awakened.
He opened his eyes, and the moment he saw Bitao clearly, his pupils contracted sharply.
It wasn't that he remembered anything; after all, he was now Lin Xuantu.
Rather, it was the way Bitao looked down at him that had absolutely nothing to do with love or concern.
It looked like they were going to tear him to pieces.
Binglun silently propped herself up on her arms, while Bitao finally managed to compose herself.
She hurriedly helped him up, mimicking Yue Qingyao from her memory, biting her lip slightly, and said in a low voice with a sorrowful expression, "Fourth Junior Brother... are you alright?"
"It's all my fault...it's my fault for not blocking that soul-wrenching bird, causing you..." (sighs)
Bitao choked so hard that she couldn't help but choke on Binglun's handsome face, which was considered dashing and heroic in the Nine Heavens.
Binglun glanced at her indifferently, completely unmoved by "Yue Qingyao's" concern.
He sat up straight, looked around, and then saw a familiar face. Ignoring his injuries, he immediately rushed towards her.
"Second Senior Sister!"
With a heartbroken and disappointed expression, Bitao bit her lip and retreated back into the shadows.
Seeing that Binglun was still unconscious on the ground, "Second Senior Sister" began to channel spiritual energy into him.
Yes, that makes sense.
After all, Lin Xuantu's sweetheart is not Yue Qingyao, but his second senior sister Zhang Yuluan.
Bitao was not familiar with the face of her second senior sister, Zhang Yuluan.
Bitao knew almost all the celestial beings in the Nine Heavens. Even those she didn't know, she had specifically looked for photos of the contestants in the second round to identify them before descending to the mortal realm.
This second senior sister, Zhang Yuluan, is not a contestant immortal; she is a person from this realm.
This is also Binglun's new identity: the person Lin Xuantu cherishes most.
A short while later, Second Senior Sister Zhang Yuluan also woke up.
"Fourth Junior Brother..." she smiled weakly at "Lin Xuantu".
Then, without stopping, she asked, "Senior Brother... how is Senior Brother? Where is Senior Brother?"
"My senior brother shielded me at the last moment..."
"Senior Brother..." she said, pushing "Lin Xuantu" aside and getting up to start looking for someone.
The eldest brother is lying in the mud.
Moreover, the senior brother is none other than Mingguang's new identity, Wei Danxin.
Second Senior Sister Zhang Yuluan quickly pulled Mingguang over and did what Bitao hadn't done: wiped the mud off Mingguang's face.
Then he began to channel spiritual energy into Mingguang.
Clearly, the second senior sister, Zhang Yuluan, didn't actually like her fourth junior brother, Lin Xuantu.
Instead, it is the eldest brother, Mingguang's new identity, Wei Danxin.
At this point, the relationships between these people are clear: I love him, but he doesn't love me; he loves her, but she doesn't love him...
Bitao gritted her teeth, almost wanting to clap her hands and bang a gong.
That's fantastic!
That's so exciting!
Is this a love triangle or a love quadrangle? She's really living the life of a goddess... "full of fascinating stories."
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