Chapter 56 - 53: Please Enter the Urn
The Fairy’s elegant brows were unruffled, her tone as matter-of-fact as the coming rain. "Right here."
Hanyi Master suddenly sensed a dangerous aura.
"Hanyi Master, I don’t really hate you that much anymore. If it weren’t for you, I might never have met him."
As the Fairy’s words fell, her sword arrived before Hanyi Master.
"Stubborn fool!"
Hanyi Master clashed head-on with Xia Lianxue and was thrown back several steps. She carefully set down the coffin, then once again met Xia Lianxue’s sword.
Xia Lianxue had just entered the Fifth Realm, while Hanyi Master had been established in the Sixth Realm for a century. This should have been a fight with a foregone conclusion.
But that was not the case.
Hanyi Master was already injured, to say nothing of the strange and powerful aura of Xia Lianxue’s Dao Realm.
Xia Lianxue’s relentless Sword Technique gave Hanyi Master no time to breathe. "As an Elder of Miao Yu Palace, you slandered a True Inheritor and committed treason. Hanyi, you deserve to die."
"What do you know!? It’s all that old hag Han Shui’s fault! If not for her, I would have spent my life with Lin Lang!"
Hanyi Master raised her sword, bringing it down with immense force.
But the White Skirt Fairy simply stood in midair and uttered a single word: "Reverse!"
Hanyi Master’s sword suddenly reversed its course, its momentum dissipating completely.
Lu Changyuan’s eyes widened.
’Is this the Power of the Time Path?’
Hanyi Master froze in midair for an instant. But in that same instant, Xia Lianxue’s sword, wrapped in a piercing wind, was already at her face.
SLICE.
A severed piece of an ear fell to the ground.
If Hanyi Master hadn’t dodged so quickly, that single strike would have been fatal.
Hanyi Master stared in disbelief. "You reversed my Magic?"
Xia Lianxue said softly, "Your husband accepted the new wife the Immortal Palace arranged for him."
’Not like the Young Physician, who steadfastly refused a new wife.’
"You seem to hold it against him, but if you truly loved your husband, why have you never left this mountain since you came here? If you truly hated Han Shui, why didn’t you challenge her to a battle to the death after you reached the Sixth Realm? You weren’t being held captive, were you?"
’Hanyi Master wasn’t important enough for Miao Yu Palace to create an entire illusory town just for her.’
’She simply saw that her husband had a new wife and lost all desire to return to the Mortal World.’
Hanyi Master’s expression suddenly turned savage. "What do you know!? Have you ever had your mortal ties severed? Have you ever loved someone!?"
In truth, she hadn’t loved Lin Yi that much. Her obsession had simply festered into hatred, a hatred so deep it became three hundred years of bitter resentment.
Xia Lianxue sighed and said no more. The autumn wind gently rustled her white skirt.
The Fairy’s voice seemed to drift in on the wind. "I have no desire to debate the rights and wrongs of the past with you. I am simply going to kill you."
’You crippled my Cultivation and tortured me to the brink of death.’
’You wanted to kill me, so I must kill you.’
So Xia Lianxue raised her sword. A desolate intent clung to the blade, carrying with it a sorrowful chill.
What is autumn?
It is passing and harvest, death and new life.
The Cold Pool reflects the flowing azure clouds; a forest of gold and crimson, a forest of fall.
Therefore.
Autumn is Bai Cang.
The sword struck.
Hanyi Master stared blankly at her chest before collapsing to her knees.
The sword had pierced straight through her heart. Death was certain.
"Lin Lang... Lin Lang, Lin Lang!" Hanyi Master murmured. "My Lin Lang."
She crawled toward the coffin, leaving a trail of blood that stained the earth red. With the last of her strength, she pushed open the lid, tears streaming down her face.
But there was no Lin Lang inside the coffin—only a shriveled Corpse Puppet.
Hanyi Master looked as if she’d been struck by lightning. She realized she had been deceived by the Corpse Puppet Sect and the Canglan Sect, but it was too late to take back her mistake.
In her final moment, she tumbled into the coffin.
Xia Lianxue wiped her sword clean, then walked meekly to Lu Changyuan’s side and said, "Sir."
Lu Changyuan looked at the Little Fairy before him, wanting to speak but not knowing where to begin.
Xia Lianxue suddenly threw herself into Lu Changyuan’s arms like a young swallow, greedily breathing in his scent.
She asked, "Sir, was I amazing?"
It was just like that night, many years ago, when he and his fiancée had a contest to count the stars on a grassy field. His eyes had blurred, and he’d lost count. His fiancée had reached two hundred forty-seven and asked with a smile, "Brother Lu, am I amazing?"
Lu Changyuan patted her head. "Amazing. You used the White Hidden Sword very well."
Xia Lianxue suddenly grew flustered, stammering, "Severing Duan Hanyi’s mortal ties... that wasn’t my doing. I... I don’t get involved in palace affairs."
"I know. You’ve always had a gentle nature."
"Sir, are you looking for the Drunken Red Simurgh?"
Lu Changyuan grunted in affirmation.
’He still had no idea what the Drunken Red Simurgh even was.’
Then, text appeared in his vision.
[The Drunken Red Simurgh has matured]
Xia Lianxue’s eyes curved into crescents, and she smiled, as radiant and bewitching as a crabapple blossom. "I know where it is. Once this is all over, I’ll bring the Drunken Red Simurgh to you, Sir. How does that sound?"
’It’s that easy?’
’So this is what it feels like to be a kept man! I’m finally getting my turn!’
Lu Changyuan couldn’t help but think, ’Oh, crap. I don’t think I can beat her in a fight anymore!’
So Lu Changyuan just said, "Okay." He looked up at the sky. "It seems the True Masters of Miao Yu Palace are all a bit... unhinged."
The mist in the sky turned blood-red, and a blood moon slowly rose into the air.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The clouds churned and reversed.
They finally formed a bright, clear lotus flower.
The blood skull cracked like a mirror, then completely shattered.
Han Ze Master’s sword sliced through the blood skull. Scarlet blood rained from the sky, yet as she stepped through the air, her pristine white Daoist robes remained unstained, like a lotus rising clean from the mud.
In that instant, the wind died.
Han Ze Master said placidly, "It is about time."
And so, something began to fall.
At first, there was a crisp, tinkling sound, like raindrops on water. Then, the rain grew more and more torrential.
Until that final sound.
CLANG!
All the starlight in the sky fell with it.
The moon was falling!
Cyan Blood Master stared in disbelief as the enormous moon crashed down upon him. The resulting shockwave uprooted nearby trees, sending them flying into the distance.
A shapeless puddle of gore let out a piercing shriek. "Your Moonlight Method... you’ve actually cultivated it to this level!?"
Han Ze Master didn’t answer. Instead, she held out her hand, and a small Seal Sword slowly floated upward.
"This is the key to our palace’s Mountain Defense Array. Ever since Han Shui entrusted it to me before her seclusion, I have tempered it day and night."
The small sword began to melt, collapse, and reform, finally transforming into a miniature moon.
Qiu Yuehan raised her head and looked at the real moon in the sky.
The Seal Sword was resonating with the real moon.
’Resonating with the real moon!?’
’What kind of Dao does Han Ze Master cultivate?’
Han Ze Master said calmly, "Hanyi was a fool, capable of something as stupid as colluding with outsiders. But it worked out well. I was just shy of Entering Yao Guang."
Someone flew in from the distance, screaming, "It’s a trap! The Miao Yu Mountain Defense Array was changed into a blood sacrifice array! Someone is trying to refine us all alive!"
The one who had flown in was Withered Corpse Master. His face was a mask of terror. He only had half of his body, the other half seemingly devoured by something horrifying.
A smile finally appeared on Han Ze Master’s face. It was an indescribable smile.
She said.
"Didn’t Hanyi tell you that I modified the Grand Array?
All of you will now become the foundation for my Dao!"