A surging tide crashed against Ling Xuanxiao's chest and lungs.
He watched the divine lightning in the sky strike down his master's remnant soul.
In that instant, everything he had come to know over more than forty years of life seemed to collapse in a moment.
Fight for the world? This world did not need him.
Fight for his home? Where did he still have a home?
Fight for himself? What could he use to contend against all the forces in the world, even against the Heavenly Dao itself?
All his previous plans and calculations now seemed truly laughable.
What could a mere Nascent Soul cultivator like him—a greenhorn who had lived for just over forty years, not even a fraction of others' lifespans—use to shelter Shu Mountain...
He suddenly recalled traveling with the old man many years ago, when he had only just learned a few divination arts.
The first time he had asked the heavens for a reading and received the Fire over Water, Not Yet Fulfilled hexagram.
Back then, Li Xuanxiao had not understood. He had squatted on the ground, watching in confusion.
Then he raised his head and asked loudly:
"Old man, what does this mean?!"
That yarrow stalk swaying precariously amid wind and rain had been speaking of him all along...
Li Xuanxiao raised his head and looked at the split heavens.
The ruptured sky seemed to bare a smile at him, as though some scheme had succeeded.
Li Xuanxiao clawed at the ground with all five fingers, blood seeping through the gaps between them.
"I'll fuck your whole family!" Li Xuanxiao cursed aloud.
He could not die.
I... can't die!!
He rose to his feet and fled toward the Sword Tomb.
Shu Mountain would remember what happened today.
They would repay it someday.
Before