Chapter 41 - 38: Back from the Dead
"Of course she’s a cultivation prodigy. To pursue her Dao, she blinded herself and imprisoned her desires. If that doesn’t make her a prodigy, what does? Though I don’t know what specific Dao she cultivates, it has most likely touched upon the authority of the Celestial Dao. That’s why she is the way she is."
Bodhisattva Supreme, therefore emotionless.
Xia Lianxue murmured, "So that’s the price she paid? To lock away all her emotions and desires for the sake of Cultivation... is it worth it?"
Lu Changyuan watched the clouds drift across the sky and said leisurely, "The most important thing in Cultivation is perseverance. But perseverance can be summed up in a single word."
Xia Lianxue really loved listening to Lu Changyuan speak about the Dao.
She always felt that although his teachings often sounded like twisted logic, they pointed directly to the Origin.
"Obsession," Lu Changyuan said. "The most important thing in Cultivation is obsession. Without obsession, there is no Dao. That’s why Su Wuxiang, despite being plagued by Demon Thoughts, could still glimpse Yao Guang."
But the more one obsessed, the more easily one was tainted by a Desire Demon. Cultivation was a process of repeatedly reflecting on one’s own obsessions, like the process of seeing mountains and rivers three times.
Seeing mountains as mountains, then seeing mountains as not mountains, and finally, seeing mountains as mountains again.
By constantly seeing through illusions while relentlessly pursuing one’s obsession, one could finally avoid falling prey to desire and ascend to the Great Dao.
Lu Changyuan suddenly scoffed. "That’s why a great majority of the people who make it to the end of the cultivation path are monomaniacs. There’s no ’is it worth it?’ There’s only ’am I willing?’"
"What about you, sir?"
Xia Lianxue’s sudden question made Lu Changyuan freeze.
’The Chang’an Daoist cultivates the Emotionless Dao, and also the Killing Dao.’
’So what kind of person was the Chang’an Daoist, really?’
The world only knew that the Chang’an Daoist had burst onto the scene, domineeringly thrashed the experts of the White Realm, and suppressed the Cultivation Realm for a thousand years. But in the end, no one knew his true personality—except for his one and only disciple.
"Me?"
"Yes. It’s clear you’re no ordinary person, sir. Even now that I’ve entered the Fifth Realm, I still can’t see through you. It’s as if you’re just a mortal with no Cultivation."
Lu Changyuan was at a loss for words.
’Right now, I really am just a mortal with no Cultivation.’
Xia Lianxue said softly, "I really want to know what kind of person you are. Could it be that you’re also someone whose Cultivation has made them obsessive?"
"Do I look like it?"
The Fairy shook her head. "You, sir, seem more like a rich young master from the Mortal World. All day long, when you’re not thinking about good food, you’re off listening to pretty girls sing. You don’t seem like someone who purifies their heart and limits their desires for Cultivation."
Lu Changyuan couldn’t help but burst out laughing.
"But I’ve never been a rich young master, not for a single day. The thing I’ve done most is count the stars from a rocking chair under an old tree, just outside a small courtyard."
In his youth, he had been arrogant with a sword that could touch the clouds. Now, the spring flowers had all fallen, and his heart was filled with desolation.
Xia Lianxue didn’t quite understand Lu Changyuan’s words, but she inexplicably felt a sense of ease.
This was a rare feeling.
But when she was with him, she often felt relaxed, as if there were no more difficulties in the world and everything was this wonderful.
Lu Changyuan closed his eyes, feeling the gentle breeze. "Fairy, in this world, nothing is a big deal except for life and death."
"You always sound like an old man when you talk, sir."
In the past, Xia Lianxue would have thought of many difficult and critical situations to argue against Lu Changyuan’s point. But after she had managed to Rise from the Ashes, she realized that as long as a person was alive, there was hope.
Lu Changyuan said with extreme shamelessness, "I’m eighteen this year."
Xia Lianxue seemed to be amused by Lu Changyuan and laughed. "In that case, I’m a few years older than you, sir. You should be calling me ’Big Sister.’ Little brother, why don’t you buy your big sister some tanghulu?"
’She still remembered the tanghulu Lu Changyuan had eaten in front of her in the dream.’
’Even now, she didn’t know if the Lu Changyuan in her dream was the real him. If she were to ask, he would surely deny it.’
’But it didn’t matter. She would just assume it was real.’
’Besides, he’d seen it anyway.’
Lu Changyuan smiled and shook his head gently. "Candy is for children. So, adults have to buy their own."
The clouds drifted by, creating a lighthearted atmosphere.
"In two days, I’ll teach you the Autumn Sword."
Autumn was approaching, so it was time to teach the second sword.
Xia Lianxue tapped her small, elegant chin. "Thank you, sir."
’I already owe him so much, what’s a little more? In for a penny, in for a pound.’
Lu Changyuan’s breath suddenly hitched.
Red text appeared in his vision again.
[The Drunken Red Simurgh is about to mature.]
’Xia Lianxue reached Enlightenment and entered the Fifth Realm, and now the Drunken Red Simurgh is about to mature. This Little Fairy is really something else.’
Before Lu Changyuan could think about it further, the flying skiff piloted by Xia Lianxue trembled violently.
A Buddha’s hand, wreathed in black energy, shot up from below, nearly striking the skiff. Xia Lianxue drew her sword and slashed a beam of light toward the hand’s origin.
The flying skiff was forced to a halt.
Lu Changyuan narrowed his eyes, looking at the Buddha’s hand.
Xia Lianxue said coldly, "Sir, that’s the Great Compassion Hand from Shifo Temple."
The Fairy’s pretty face was filled with killing intent. ’I was just enjoying the peaceful atmosphere. Who’s this mood-killer?’
"Show yourself!"
Her Fifth Realm Jade Balance Power whipped up a great wind throughout the forest. A monk with black hair and a baleful aura emerged from within the gale. He was the one who had used the Great Compassion Palm.
Lu Changyuan frowned and said, "The Heart-Eating Monk."
It was the very same Heart-Eating Monk whose head Lu Changyuan had previously chopped off.
Lu Changyuan had sliced off the Heart-Eating Monk’s head himself. He clearly remembered it rolling on the ground like a ball.
’Why has this person come back from the dead?’
Lu Changyuan narrowed his eyes and looked at the Heart-Eating Monk’s neck. Sure enough, he saw dense stitching there.
Someone had picked up the Heart-Eating Monk’s corpse and thoughtfully sewn his head back on for him.
"Sir, he’s not alive. It’s probably a Corpse Puppet."
Xia Lianxue quickly noticed what was off about the Heart-Eating Monk: his pale skin, lifeless eyes, and strange, lurching gait.
The thick stench of rot from the corpse withered the surrounding plants into a nauseating, slimy mush.
’Is it poisonous?’
Xia Lianxue’s pretty face tensed, her expression full of disgust.
Lu Changyuan handed Broken Thought to Xia Lianxue. "Use my sword."
Compared to Xia Lianxue’s own sword, Broken Thought, which had suppressed demons for a thousand years, was undoubtedly more effective against the undead and other demonic creatures.
Xia Lianxue took Lu Changyuan’s sword and was surprised to find it was even lighter than her own. She couldn’t help but look back at him.
Lu Changyuan simply said, "The lighter the sword, the fiercer the Swordsmanship. The heavier the sword, the more solid the Swordsmanship."
Qiu Yuehan’s sword was lighter than Xia Lianxue’s, and so her style was fiercer.
Xia Lianxue grunted in acknowledgment, then suddenly struck out with the sword.
Not with Miao Yu’s Thirteen Swords, but with the Vermilion Sword.
A blast of lightning erupted, striking the Heart-Eating Monk to the ground with overwhelming force.
There was a world of difference between a strike from the Fifth Realm and one from the Fourth Realm. The Heart-Eating Monk had only been at the Fourth Realm to begin with; now, as a Corpse Puppet, he had less than the power of the Third Realm. Xia Lianxue’s single strike blasted his body to pieces, leaving no chance for him to rise again.
Suddenly, a beam of sword light split the sky in the distance.
"Sir?"
Lu Changyuan nodded. "Let’s go take a look."
The Fairy, sword in hand, carried Lu Changyuan with her, flickering away like a streak of light. They stopped in front of a temple. The dilapidated, weed-choked building looked familiar.
Lu Changyuan dusted off his clothes and said, "Who on earth has nothing better to do than refine the Heart-Eating Monk into a Corpse Puppet?"