Chapter 36 - 33: Illusion-Breaking
’In the very beginning, I was very fond of this sword strike from Jian Guyang, because it was domineering enough to cut down any enemy in the world.’
In a daze, Lu Changyuan recalled that rainy night when he was being hunted. They had stumbled into a cave. Inside were two skeletons, and next to them was a small cattail hassock. On the hassock lay two Cultivation Techniques.
One was called *Sixteen Bright Moon Flower Needles*.
The other was this very technique, *A Sword from the West*.
’Strike with absolute dominance, like the fury of the Great Sun.’
The darkness was an inky sea, its surging demonic waves crashing against a fragile shore, one after another, unleashing an earth-shattering tremor.
Some heard a tsunami.
Others heard the faint chanting of a Buddha’s Voice.
But most heard a single, calm word: "Disperse."
That single beam of sword light shattered the darkness of the Demon Country. The pitch-black night, the desiccated fire—all vanished before this one strike.
The light rose from where the sun had set, traveled through the entire city, and finally hung high in the sky, like a second setting sun. The colossal Demon Body disintegrated inch by inch, as if it had never existed in this world at all.
The entire sky began to fracture from a single fragile point, eventually peeling away like an eggshell. The black rain, which held a maddening demonic nature, was ultimately purged of its Demon essence by this sword strike. And after that came a brilliant burst of fiery light, released after being suppressed to its absolute limit, and a sun hot enough to scorch the skin.
’But later, slowly, I came to feel this strike had too many drawbacks. This sword is too vicious. It doesn’t distinguish between friend and foe, nor between Immortal and mortal.’
Lu Changyuan’s voice drifted on the gentle breeze, spoken to no one in particular. "But for purging Demons, it couldn’t be more fitting."
Xia Lianxue tilted her head back, her lips pressed together. The scorching aura stung her skin just by looking at it. Her long, slender eyelashes trembled, and her cherry-pink lips parted and closed several times, but ultimately, she said nothing.
Beside her, however, Li Qingcao suppressed the urge to draw his sword and asked, feigning nonchalance, "If I become sworn brothers with Brother Lu right now and ask him to teach me that sword strike, is it too late?"
No one answered him.
The blindfolded young woman finally said, "Fate is not for us to decide."
The entirety of Liuqing Lake was completely submerged in a vast white light.
~~~~~~~~~~~
"It’s been a long time."
In the blink of an eye, Lu Changyuan found himself in a place of pure white. Before him was a square table, and sitting in the chair directly across from him was a short-haired man wearing a black robe and a gilded crown.
It was Su Wuxiang.
Beside Su Wuxiang, Luan Rumeng, her hair styled in an elegant chignon and dressed in a pale gold Phoenix Robe, said, "Brother Lu, you’re here. Thank you. Please, sit."
Lu Changyuan was silent for a long moment before pulling out a chair and sitting down.
"It’s been a long time, Wuxiang."
Su Wuxiang waved his hand. "What’s with the formalities between us? This is the last wisp of my Thought. The Desire Demon is gone, but I was tainted for too long. I can’t live on. This is just one last chance to see you."
Lu Changyuan said nothing, but an indiscernible emotion flickered deep in his eyes.
Su Wuxiang said, "Don’t you dare cry. It took everything I have to see you one last time while I’m lucid, so don’t get all sentimental. Come on, it’s been ages since we had a drink."
A jar of wine materialized on the table. With a wave of his hand, Su Wuxiang created two Glazed wine cups, then frowned. "We’re brothers. We shouldn’t be using things like this."
So, the jade-green Glazed wine cups vanished, and two large bowls appeared in their place.
Luan Rumeng stood and filled the bowls for Su Wuxiang and Lu Changyuan. Su Wuxiang grabbed his bowl, drained it in one gulp, and then laughed heartily. "It’s been nearly a thousand years since we last raised a cup together."
"Yeah."
Lu Changyuan also picked up his bowl and drank all the wine in a single gulp.
Su Wuxiang smiled and shook his head. "It just doesn’t taste the same as drinking with you back in the day. Back then, before we even reached the Fifth Realm, we hunted the Ghost Daoist for three thousand li on horseback. After we cut off his head, we found a tavern in the Mortal World and drank that rotgut... I thought that was the most delicious wine I’d ever had in my life. I never tasted anything like it again."
Lu Changyuan seemed to recall the taste of that cheap liquor burning his throat, but he didn’t smile along. He just said, "If you hadn’t injured his leg, we probably wouldn’t have caught up."
Su Wuxiang seemed to remember that day too and laughed heartily. "And what about our Sun and Moon Palace? We said we were going to be the Demon Dao that devours the Demon Dao."
Lu Changyuan said, "No one dares to provoke it in the Black Realm."
’Once we vowed to be the best in the world.’
’To cut down legions of demons with our swords and never look back.’
The three members of the Sun and Moon Palace had once sworn to kill all the Demon Cultivators in the world, and so they became Demons who killed Demons. Even though the Sun and Moon Palace later faded with time, that Demon Palace had indeed once stood upon the earth.
"That’s good, that’s good. And, uh... forget it. You’re just like me, not the type to manage a household."
Lu Changyuan suddenly slammed his hand on the table. "Can’t you say something nice for once?! How could I be worse at managing a household than you?"
Su Wuxiang roared with laughter. "I got married and had a family to neglect in the first place. Unlike some people, who aren’t even married yet."
"Su Wuxiang, believe it or not, I’ll go dig up your grave myself!"
"Ooh, I’m so scared! Too bad for you, I don’t have a grave! As for the Imperial Mausoleum, feel free to dig it up if you want."
The founding Emperor of the Glazed Dynasty, clad in his Imperial Robe, jumped up like a child and made a funny face.
Luan Rumeng patted her junior brother’s shoulder and said softly, "Alright, stop acting like a child. Didn’t you say you had something to give Brother Lu?"
"Oh, right." Su Wuxiang dusted himself off. "I was wondering how you ended up in such a state. You’ve really fallen on hard times without your brother’s support, haven’t you? Look at your body—it’s a complete wreck, like you’ve been struck by lightning."
Lu Changyuan coldly threw the bowl in his hand at Su Wuxiang’s face.
"Hey, he’s getting mad! Senior Sister, look, someone’s getting mad."
Just as Lu Changyuan was about to speak, Su Wuxiang flipped his wrist, and a fragrant Elixir suddenly appeared in his hand.
The Pill had nine patterns, its brilliance contained within, emitting only the scent of herbs and wood.
"Look, what’s this?"
Lu Changyuan said, "Where did you get a Heavenly Repair Pill?"
The Drunken Red Simurgh wasn’t the only wondrous item in the world capable of repairing Lu Changyuan’s Five Deficiencies Body; the Heavenly Repair Pill could do the same.
Su Wuxiang staggered over to Lu Changyuan’s side and clapped him on the shoulder. "Fifteen hundred years ago, my Demon Body consumed humans and their resentment, and it also consumed Spirit. It then combined all that with the medicinal energy from some of the Spirit Plants in the National Treasury to form this Pill."
Lu Changyuan reached out to take the Elixir, but Su Wuxiang abruptly pulled his hand back, giving Lu Changyuan a cheeky grin.
"Su Wuxiang!"
"Hey, you’re getting desperate, aren’t you!"
Su Wuxiang casually tossed the precious Elixir into the air, and it landed perfectly in Lu Changyuan’s hand.
He turned away, hiding his desolate expression. "I will bear all the sins that went into making this Pill. Hurry up and eat it. I have to see you well and whole before I can leave without regrets."