Otherworldly Desert Dust-Chapter 459 - 414: Remolding the Dao Heart
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Battle Song Hall, the stone gate slowly opened.
A man with half-length hair that was stern-faced walked out alongside a slender and fair-skinned man, both with faint smiles on their faces and an involuntary sense of superiority in their eyes as they glanced around.
"Congratulations to you both on succeeding in Soul Casting," said the red-robed elder guarding the stone gate.
"There were not a few peers who were successful in Soul Casting this time, but not many lived to walk out," another guard commented.
"Do you two know what has happened within War Song Mountain?" the red-robed elder asked seriously.
"This is a long story. We, along with many peers, embarked on a campaign for Totems and stepped into the third level of War Song Mountain. Who would have thought that a guy named Cai Ting, in his quest to snatch the Thunder God Totem, would turn against us violently, killing nearly three hundred of our peers—utterly brutal!" said Yin Zhiyu at that moment.
By shifting all the blame onto someone else, the Holy Sect would not trouble them.
While the Holy Sect encouraged competition among peers, competing and massacres were two different matters.
Leng Shu naturally knew that the harvest of the War Song Alliance had been somewhat hasty, especially since there was a survivor.
But it was unlikely the survivor could leave War Song Mountain in a short amount of time. It was best if he died—dead men tell no tales—and even if he survived, it wouldn't be of much consequence. He wouldn't be able to stir up too much trouble, and with his own successful Soul Casting, the entire Holy Sect would have to respect him.
"Junior Brother Leng, congratulations," said a woman dressed in a red robe, walking towards them with a beautiful face and an outstanding demeanor.
Leng Shu was momentarily stunned and almost didn't recognize her, but upon a closer look, he realized it was Qingxi, who had left War Song Mountain earlier than they had.
Qingxi had succeeded in Soul Casting, and what she obtained was a Purple Cloud Chi.
In just two short months, Qingxi's demeanor had changed, as if she had become a Purple Cloud Saintess with great confidence, calmly and magnanimously adorned in an even more luxurious Master's red robe, clearly having undergone a transformation.
Moreover, this red robe was clearly temporary, and it wouldn't be long before she would be promoted to Female Ming Venerable and wear an Honored Robe.
"After so many days, Sister Qingxi has completely transformed. Not even the phoenixes in the sky can compare to your radiant beauty," said Leng Shu, again with a smile, his gaze revealing a hint of fervor.
"Junior Brother Leng, have you seen Cai Ting? It's been so long, and there has been no news of him," Qingxi inquired.
At these words, the smile on Leng Shu's face lost its warmth.
He seemed to not even want to give a pretense of a reply, just turned his body away and walked towards the outside of Battle Song Hall, leaving a comment, "Sister, I need to retreat for a while, let's get together when there's time."
Qingxi still wanted to ask about the events inside War Song Mountain, but Leng Shu was already striding away.
"Junior Brother Yin," Qingxi called out, seeing no point in stopping Leng Shu, and turned to inquire of Yin Zhiyu, walking by her side.
"How foolish you can be, Sister Qingxi. Junior Brother Leng has completed his Soul Casting, and the soul he cast is the Thunder God Qilin. Before long, Junior Brother Leng will become an existence second only to the Qilin Girl. You could have said some flattering words but instead you brought up the most inappropriate topic," said Yin Zhiyu with a laugh, half-closing his eyes as he stared at Qingxi.
"I don't quite understand. Why would mentioning Junior Brother Cai Ting displease Junior Brother Leng?" Qingxi said.
"It's nothing, just think it over yourself," said Yin Zhiyu, his gaze quickly sweeping over Qingxi's figure with a snort of derision, before he too strode towards the outside.
Stepping out of War Song Mountain at this moment, they were no longer what they had once been. In the exceedingly flourishing Tongtian City and that Heavenly Divine Mansion like the Cloud Holy Country, countless people would kneel before them. It was also time to settle scores with old enemies, and naturally, they could subjugate those once unreachable beautiful Saintesses!
Qingxi watched the two men leave, a surge of unease rising in her heart.
When she left War Song Mountain, the War Song Alliance had grown to more than three hundred people. According to Leng Shu's philosophy, every one of them should have returned loaded with gains.
But shortly after that, few peers came out, and even those who did step out had not been in contact with the War Song Alliance…
More than three hundred people, why had none of them come out, especially when just now several red-robed elders were also implicitly blaming Cai Ting for the brutal killings, causing the deaths of people from the War Song Alliance.
How could she explain this to the Ming Venerable and Qilin Girl?
"Could it be that Junior Brother Cai Ting and Leng Shu clashed?"
"If that's the case, the odds are against the brother."
"Sigh..."
Qingxi let out a long sigh, momentarily uncertain about what to do next.
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Inside the Mountain and River Stele,
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Bai Ze raised his head and watched a figure fly from this side of the mountain to the other side of the sky, then touch down to the earth with such force that an exaggerated mountain of dust rose up, reaching up to Cloud Peak.
The mountain of dust took who knows how long to slowly return to the ground, leaving a person lying there, half dead.
This person was Wu Hen.
His injuries were extremely severe, to the point that one could describe him as being on the brink of death, but this was nothing compared to the collapse of Wu Hen's inner world.
Previous collapses at least had a bottom. The collapse during the battle with Disaster was an unending fall, speeding up as it went. Just as he had barely started to build a little confidence, feeling that he could crawl out of this deep pit of despair, he found the entire pit within a vast Bottomless Abyss—a multilayered fall!
His cultivation heart was completely shattered.
Forget a million years, even a hundred million years wouldn't be enough to defeat Disaster.
On his right arm, a slight trembling could be felt. Wu Hen lay on the ground, head tilted to look at the Black Divine Death Sword.
The Black Divine Death Sword's radiance remained unchanged, and Little Yi, although it lay on the ground like a Witch Dragon that had been struck down, clearly showed an undying fighting spirit.
"We are no match for it right now; continuing to fight is pointless. How about we find some other way to escape first and challenge it again when we're stronger?" Wu Hen said.
Little Yi, however, did not agree.
Little Yi was surprisingly calm in the face of failure.
Perhaps because it had been through various trials of the entire Alternate Universe since its birth, and had been reborn countless times on the brink of extinction, it was a soul indestructible, fused with the Sword Spirit, and it only yearned for power beyond itself, without any fear.
During the struggle within the Female and Male Dragon, Wu Hen had also caught a glimpse of Little Yi's past. It was not an eternally invincible being. In fact, most of its long life was filled with destruction and shattering, but perhaps due to being a sword in essence, all this was but a form of tempering…
Wu Hen lost track of time.
And he had forgotten how many times he had challenged Disaster.
The Chaos Moon still hung high, like a vermilion eye of the Cang God, gazing down at Wu Hen with a silent authority.
Wu Hen could see not even a speck of hope, much like how humans, after exhausting all their wisdom, might finally step out of the Solar System, only to realize that our solar system is like dust within the Milky Way, and that the Milky Way itself is but a negligible spot in the entire universe—a universe filled with countless such spots.
The confrontation of strength was no different. The terrifying aspect of Disaster was that it allowed you to observe it, showing you its vastness, just as people can see constellations light-years away, yet logic tells you that you can never reach them.
Wu Hen couldn't find any breakthrough.
He had just barely withstood Thunder Mountain and Thunder River, these two instances of Emperor's Thunder Power, only to find that they were merely the tip of the iceberg of Disaster's Divine Skills.
Each time Disaster used the Emperor Divine Power, Wu Hen would be tormented thousands of times. Only after finding a glimmer of opportunity and breaking it did Disaster leisurely use another form of Divine Power…
And that wasn't even the worst part. The worst was that Disaster could transform into Canghuo Yinglong, Jade Emperor Qilin, Moon Palace Wind Lady, Houtu Divine Phoenix, Feiyu White Emperor, Sha Chiyou, Blood Punishment Sky… all mythical beings so powerful that Wu Hen wasn't even qualified to see them in the Scroll Realm.
Taken individually, each was a figure from humanity's ancient myths who could create heaven and earth. How could he, with neither the capability nor the qualifications, duel with them, let alone be mercilessly beaten by them!
Once the cultivation heart is shattered, the spirit cannot be restored.
Wu Hen felt like a half-dead sapling, drooping in the soil. Each time he tried to sprout and grow, he was baptized by Heavenly Thunder, torrential rain, floods, droughts, plagues, and also by more than a dozen robust Divine Generals, who would stomp down on him the moment they saw a hint of budding, crushing him until he was battered and his soul extinguished.
To continue this fight would be to lose himself!
Seemingly sensing that Wu Hen's Divine Soul had been extinguished, Little Yi turned into Little Witch Dragon, coiling around Wu Hen's arm, bringing its dark, smooth head closer.
"Could I be the worst host you've ever had?" Wu Hen said to Little Yi with a wry smile.
Little Yi's ability to speak was actually not very strong, not because it lacked high intelligence, but because, in its wisdom, simplicity reigned supreme. Bai Ze always referred to it as brainless.
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In actuality, being 'brainless' meant having fewer concerns. Millennium to whet a sword, eon to forge an Artifact Spirit; the concept of time belonged to humans. For the immortal life of a Sword Spirit, it only needed to focus on doing things it found worthwhile, without caring about the passage of time.
Humans are anxious and easily broken inside because they are chased by their lifespans, fearing the waste of time, and even more, the waste of their brightest youth…
"Are you trying to tell me not to care about time?" Wu Hen felt the message Little Yi was conveying.
Wu Hen understood that Little Yi was encouraging him, helping him rebuild his soul.
"You're right, you've lived in this universe for who knows how many years, yet you still keep such a happy spirit just from being full. I really do worry and ponder too much."
"I only need to focus on one thing: to defeat it. Let everything else fall by the wayside. Time is a concept we humans have conjured to box ourselves in. Thoughts, spirit, soul, these are all like Dark Matter in the universe—eternal. And I am eternal."
Having adjusted his mindset, Wu Hen finally stood up and grasped the Black Divine Death Sword firmly in his hand.
The Thunder Seed bloomed once again in Wu Hen's body and soul. Shrouded by darkness, Divine Miracle imminent, once more, in the vast world, a hazy silhouette emerged—both a human and a sword's shadow.
At the same time, the Chaos Moon transformed once again. Within the Mountain and River Realm, winds of disaster stirred, and the Moon Palace Wind Lady, like Chang'e Fairy in a painting, stood upon the rolling winds of disaster, casting a superior gaze upon Wu Hen, once again manifesting the Black Divine Miracle!
