With a slight sigh, Esteemed Fu Ye said with regret, “That person has a good appearance, with red lips and white teeth, and his face was like a bright moon. Although he was a bit demonic, he was also soul stirring and had a different taste. Unfortunately, he had gone astray, and was covered in evil Qi and bloody Qi. The path underneath his feet was paved with white bones, and his hands were painted with red blood. It looked very ghastly and frightening.”
Lin Xuanzhi’s heart sank, and another sigh came from nowhere. The person that Esteemed Fu Ye saw in the evil spirit array was probably Youshan Lingyu. The Hidden Spirit Holy Sect valued the color white, and so white came first. Therefore, the robes of the disciples of the Hidden Spirit Holy Sect were all pure white, sub-white and jade white — they were all kinds of white. Looking around, it was a vast expanse of white.
Lingyu was naturally the same.
But Lingyu also liked all kinds of fancy colors. He always pestered Chang Sheng to refine complex and beautiful array patterns on his robes. It would not only make the robe look good, but also could be used for defense, killing two birds with one stone. Chang Sheng naturally wouldn’t refuse.
However, most of the patterns Chang Sheng refined for him were bright and beautiful things like clouds, waves, flowers, plants, butterflies, and birds. However, after Lingyu became Youshan Lingyu, he wore black and red, and never wore white again. He had a black robe with a golden dragon embroidered on it, and a red robe with a phoenix spreading its wings embroidered on the back. At that time, the North Land’s dragon clan had all been slaughtered by him, and the phoenix in the West Land was also beaten by him so much that he had to hide in the old nest on Mt. Wutong and weakly be reborn from the ashes.
Dragon and phoenix embroideries represented the fact that the aquatic clans headed by the dragons and the bird clans headed by the phoenixes had all fallen under Youshan Lingyu’s rule. Since then, the aquatic clans and bird clans surrendered to the Demon Emperor and had no more freedom.
And those bells were a pair of magic weapons. Lin Xuanzhi was even more familiar with them, because they were made by Chang Sheng. But this pair of silver bells were not refined for Youshan Lingyu. Lin Xuanzhi gently closed his eyes.
These bells dated back to many years ago.
When he picked up Fenglang from that land of despair back then, he passed by a small town. There was a peddler selling longevity bangles in the town. The child who was already ten years old didn’t want anything else, but he stood beside the vendor and stared at the pair of little bangles with bells for a long time. That pair of eyes was full of longing. Chang Sheng went to buy food for Fenglang next door and saw the child with a pair of black eyes, staring at the couple who bought a pair of bells and silver bracelets for their infant baby.
Chang Sheng asked, “Do you want a bangle?”
Cangdi Fenglang bit his lower lip stubbornly, shook his head and said, “I don’t want it. I don’t need this kind of thing. It’s not good-looking at all.”
Hidden within such an item was the love parents held for their children. His father didn’t care for him, and his mother didn’t love him. If he didn’t meet Chang Sheng, he might have been killed by his stepmother now. He didn’t want this kind of thing at all.
However, after they returned, Chang Sheng refined him a pair of anklets with bells. Fenglang didn’t want bracelets or longevity bangles. The anklets should be what he liked. When Fenglang took the pair of anklets, his eyes suddenly turned red.
Later, Cangdi Fenglang died by Youshan Lingyu’s hands. The anklets that he had been hiding on his body were also taken away by Youshan Lingyu. He wore it on his feet and every step he took, the bell rang. To Chang Sheng’s ears, it seemed like he was showing off his crimes all the time. How could Chang Sheng not know that Youshan Lingyu’s jealousy had turned into hate over time, so he insisted on wearing that pair of anklets to pierce his eyes and heart. It reminded him all the time that the younger martial brother he valued and took with him by his side had died in Youshan Lingyu’s hands.
“Shixiong.” Youshan Lingyu tilted his head slightly, curled a pair of bloody red lips, and looked at him with a smile, but his eyes were cold. “Do you regret being so good to him? Do you regret bringing him back? Shixiong, you should regret it. Everything is because of you.”
Every time Lin Xuanzhi thought about everything from that era, his heart felt like it was crushed by a huge mountain boulder weighing ten thousand catties, making him almost unable to breathe. Even if it was a long time ago and the wound should have been scabbed, it was still so painful that it felt like someone was digging apart those old wounds.
The people he cared for and loved all left him one after another and died at the hands of another junior martial brother whom he had exhausted his efforts on and treated sincerely. It was said that Sword Venerable Chang Sheng was the last hope of the Daoist sects, and he was also the one who stopped the war and saved the whole Nine Lands with a single sword. However, only Chang Sheng himself knew exactly how much pain and sorrow were in his heart when he killed Youshan Lingyu.
What crime did the common people commit?
What sin did they commit?
Lin Xuanzhi withdrew from the memory, looked at Esteemed Fu Ye, and said, “Is Esteemed Yue Wei still in this world?”
Esteemed Fu Ye shook his head. “My Master had already disappeared a thousand years ago. I heard that he once appeared in the battle to seal the demon in the Five Continents, but no one knew where he went after that.”
“The Battle of the Five Continents?” Someone asked, “The battle to kill Radiant Sky Demon Venerable?”
“That’s right.” Esteemed Fu Ye nodded heavily. “Precisely that Radiant Sky Demon Venerable. Over the past ten thousand years, the Nine Lands have always been safe and sound. Although no one was able to ascend, there had been no great wars. There was only Radiant Sky Demon Venerable from a thousand years ago, who, with the power of one person, tried to kill the entire Yan family of the Divine Clans. He also involved the Xuan family, the Yan family’s in-laws, and then the whole Nine Lands. They joined hands to tear up the soul of Radiant Sky Demon Venerable and placed him in five directions on the Five Continents, sealing him for a thousand years.”
If Esteemed Yue Wei really made a final appearance in the Great Demon-Sealing Array, then matters would be simple. He would know the truth as long as he pulled Yin Chongyue over and asked him.
Lin Xuanzhi was suspicious. That Esteemed Yue Wei seemed to know what happened in the Great Immortal-Demon War. Otherwise, it would have been impossible to imitate Youshan Lingyu’s appearance.
Moreover, he had been inside the evil spirit array more than once. Although the evil spirit array was realistic, he had never encountered any small worlds associated with that era. It seemed that if he wanted to know what was going on, he still needed to ask Esteemed Fu Ye in detail.
The judge opened his mouth and said, “We can’t confirm that the evil Qi cultivator was born to destroy the world. The astrology platform is of great importance. Let’s first figure out what happened tens of thousands of years ago and what impact it has on today, then make a decision.”
Yin Chongyue said, “Everyone spoke so much, but it seems they’ve said it for nothing.”
The judge looked at him coldly. “How can you say that it was for nothing? This judge can’t just make a judgement just by listening to your few words. We must see the physical evidence. This is also for the sake of all living beings in the Nine Lands.”
Esteemed Fu Ye also nodded, stroked his white beard and said, “I also agree with Sheng Ya’s point of view. Although I can confirm the existence of evil Qi cultivators in this world, I can’t be sure that the evil Qi cultivator will have such a great influence on the Nine Lands that we must use the astrology platform. Every time the astrology platform is activated, there would be no chance to activate it again in a hundred years, so we must consider it carefully.”
Since he had spoken, the prophet family naturally couldn’t force it.
Yin Chongyue stood up and said with a cold voice, “What if you get the scroll behind the Rong clan’s ancestral shrine?”
Tianshu said with a smile, “Then I’ll admit that you have the ability, so I’ll give you my vote if that happens — how about it?”
Yaoguang looked at the smiling Tianshu and couldn’t help but lift the corner of his mouth. Anyway, as long as the Rong clan was unhappy, Tianshu would be happy. He really didn’t know what deep hatred there was between the Rong clan and Tianshu.
At the end of the discussion, the elders of Myriad Dao Academy and the Yin family reached a somewhat comical agreement in Lin Xuanzhi’s opinion. In order not to be kept in the dark and exercise the right to know the truth, both sides were ready to work together to find out the truth from the Rong clan. Lin Xuanzhi silently shed a tear of sympathy for the Rong clan in his heart.
After dispersing the discussion, Esteemed Lan Yue took Lin Xuanzhi with him. When they arrived at the place where he was staying at the sect, he put a barrier enchantment around the area before closing the door and said, “Xuanzhi, what opportunities did you run into at the Tomb of Youshan?”
“It was indeed what Master had expected.” Lin Xuanzhi’s eyes were slightly awe inspiring. After paying his respects, he continued, “As Master had said, as soon as I arrived at the Tomb of Youshan, I met an old acquaintance. The Youshan Capital is truly a place that has a great affinity with me. All my past memories have been recalled.”
Esteemed Lan Yue showed a rare hint of joy on his face. He patted Lin Xuanzhi’s shoulder heavily and said, “I really didn’t miscalculate. However, I only divined there would be fate between you and that place, but I couldn’t figure out what that fate was. Is your so-called memory that of a past life or those hidden by the Dao of Heaven?”
“It’s a past life.” Lin Xuanzhi didn’t hide things when he faced Esteemed Lan Yue. “Master, what Sword Saint Tianshu said was true. During the battle of the Immortal-Demon War in ancient times, the evil Qi cultivator appeared out of nowhere and almost destroyed the world. Several direct disciples of Dao Zu of the Hidden Spirit Holy Sect at that time died because of this.”
Esteemed Lan Yue heard a touch of anomaly. He raised his eyes slightly to look at Lin Xuanzhi. “Why are you so clear about these ancient events?”
Lin Xuanzhi said nonchalantly, “After my memory came back, I found that I was actually Chang Sheng.”
Esteemed Lan Yue was silent.
Seeing this, Lin Xuanzhi said with a faint smile, “Master, you don’t have to think too much about it. Those are nothing more than past events, Chang Sheng only lived in that era, and now he’s merely a person of the ancient times. Today’s Lin Xuanzhi is just Lin Xuanzhi.”
In the end, Esteemed Lan Yue was still someone who had experienced a lot. He soon regained his usual calm. His tone was slightly complicated, “At the beginning, when you bowed to me as a teacher and I accepted you as a disciple on Profound Sky Sect’s Sinking Sword Peak, I had the feeling that I couldn’t accept your obeisance. I didn’t expect that your identity would be so noble. Now it seems that it was pardonable that the Dao of Heaven prevented me from accepting your deep bow.”
Who was Chang Sheng?
The eldest direct disciple of Dao Zu. He was a sword cultivator who had already become a Venerable and was half a step away from becoming an Emperor. Not only that, but he also sealed the demons and killed the evil spirits with one strike of his sword. He transformed himself into a sword peak to guard the Nine Lands. He had long been regarded as a person with perfect merit and great virtue. On the other hand, Esteemed Lan Yue was just an ordinary person who could deduce and divine fortunes. How could he accept Lin Xuanzhi’s address of “Master”?
Lin Xuanzhi said with a smile, “How can one’s identity be noble? Noble and lowly are originally categories made by humans. Under the Dao of Heaven, all living beings are equal. Although they have different talents and opportunities and different circumstances, they are often the same. Master, how do you know that my meeting with you was not arranged by the Dao of Heaven? If I didn’t meet Master, how could I have known about my origins, and be guided by you to enter the Tomb of Youshan by searching for the blood cypress sap, and gain the memory of my previous life?”
