Chapter 1316
Three million years ago, when Ancient Sword Gorge was breached by Tongtian Pavilion—
Zhu Cangwen did fall with her sectmates.
But by a twist of fate, a wisp of her divine soul did not disperse entirely; part of it clung to the obsession bound to her divine sword.
Perhaps because it was too faint, the demon gods of Tongtian Pavilion noticed nothing amiss.
While looting, they even took that divine sword obsession away.
The sword was of extremely high grade and sold for an astronomical price.
A god bought it.
He nurtured it day and night, intending to refine it into his life-bound sword.
Little did he know, most of that divine power was being siphoned by Zhu Cangwen’s remnant soul.
She slowly awakened, using the divine power to continually strengthen her soul.
She was convinced that at most two more years would be enough to gain the ability to seize a body—then she could be reborn in someone else’s flesh.
As one who had “survived” Ancient Sword Gorge by a fluke, she would restore the Divine Alliance and avenge the Gorge.
If she succeeded, her merit would rival the Founder’s.
Her name might even resound across the God Realm.
Just as Zhu Cangwen was reveling in future prospects, that god fell—killed by an enemy.
The divine sword obsession remained buried in his storage ring, never again seeing daylight.
Endless loneliness descended, inescapable.
Worse, she worried about how to get out.
With the soul power she had, she couldn’t even break the storage barrier.
The only way out was to wait for a fated passerby to pick up the storage ring, inject divine power to open it, and finally take out the divine sword obsession.
She hoped the wait wouldn’t be too long.
Otherwise, she truly didn’t know how long she could endure in that darkness.
She simply never expected this:
She had underestimated her own endurance—and overestimated her luck.
She waited in the storage ring for over two million years.
Through that immeasurable span, life was flat as still water.
Not a ripple.
The divine power taken from the first god was nowhere near enough to sustain so long.
So every so often, Zhu Cangwen had to sink into sleep.
Only thus could she persist.
At last, one day, when her soul was on the verge of scattering—
Her lucky moment finally arrived.
A god picked up the ring and took out the divine sword obsession.
His divine power was not high—only the early True God realm.
But so what? At least she was out again. As long as she was out, there was hope.
Seeing the sword’s extraordinary grade, the True God decided to refine it as his life-bound treasure as well.
When divine power poured in again, Zhu Cangwen’s soul swelled with strength once more.
Once, perhaps because the absorption spiked too high, the god noticed something strange.
He immediately prepared to examine the divine sword obsession.
Given how much her soul had grown, she was likely to be discovered.
And then this god would certainly act against her.
With her soul still so frail, to pit herself against a True God was nothing but suicide.
After brief thought, Zhu Cangwen refused to sit and wait for death—she acted first.
She transformed into the persona of a sword-soul “old master” and told a tragic tale to win the god’s trust.
Perhaps the tale was moving. Zhu Cangwen succeeded.
From that day on, she diligently instructed the god in cultivation.
A kindly elder on the surface, she was actually hoarding strength, preparing to seize his body.
At last, today, Zhu Cangwen completed the possession.
Hence the sword intent in Ancient Sword Gorge’s Heart-Sword Grounds condensed anew.
In fact, when she met Ye Yu and Luo Shu the second time, the reason she didn’t strike wasn’t that Luo Shu’s aura cowed her.
It was because the body she had just taken hadn’t fully fused; the original will still resisted.
So Zhu Cangwen chose to withdraw of her own accord.
But she did not forget, before leaving, to plant a Shadowless Sword Sever mark on Ye Yu.
She wanted this man dead too much.
If not for Ye Yu, how would Heng Xuanzhen have defied her senior and shamed her?
As long as this man died, she would not only have her revenge but also plunge Heng Xuanzhen into agony.
What could be sweeter than avenging oneself?
Zhu Cangwen knew Shadowless Sword Sever wouldn’t be hidden from Heng Xuanzhen.
But she had no intention of hiding it.
If you do it, own it.
To forestall Heng Xuanzhen’s retaliation, Zhu Cangwen chose this place specifically, laid a grand formation, and hid from divinations.
She planned to complete body–soul fusion as soon as possible, then push hard to step into the God Monarch realm—
So she would have the strength to arm-wrestle Heng Xuanzhen.
If she could even eliminate that disciple who betrayed teacher and forebears, so much the better.
Only, haste makes waste.
Forcing body and soul to fuse brings backlash.
It seemed she could only go slowly.
By now, perhaps Ye Yu was drowning in pain.
At that thought, Zhu Cangwen couldn’t stop the smile from overtaking her face.
Elsewhere, inside Tongtian Pavilion—
Wave after wave of pain in his palm gave Ye Yu a sense of crisis, so he began pressing Luo Shu: what exactly was this?
At first, Luo Shu kept his mouth shut.
Liu Yuenuo’s glare from before still hovered before his eyes.
Since she didn’t want him to talk, he would hold his tongue—at first.
But Luo Shu badly underestimated Ye Yu’s methods.
After a round of combined bodily and mental “persuasion,” Luo Shu yielded.
Clutching the shorn dog fur from the floor to his chest, he confessed everything in agony.
And at the end, he muttered a tiny rebuke at Ye Yu—that this was not good.
“Shaving my dog fur and calling it some kind of Renaissance, and ‘killing Sp—’ whatever.
Utterly wicked!”
Ye Yu ignored the drivel that followed.
He raised his hand and looked into his palm.
“A divine sword mark? It siphons my power to fatten itself, then kills me?”
“Tsk, tsk. What a ‘genius’ idea.”
“It’s just a bit unbecoming to use it on me.”
After a moment’s thought, Ye Yu headed straight toward the depths of Tongtian Pavilion.
He understood very well: if there was only one way to lift the mark, then Zhu Cangwen would surely hide herself well.
So he did not expect Heng Xuanzhen and Liu Yuenuo to find her.
Only self-rescue was his one path forward now.