Concentric Life and Death Tribulation

In the forest, Li Jiusheng turned around and looked at the Fox Woman, who was fully dressed but deathly pale and breathing unevenly. He asked, "This is where Shangqing Palace's Scripture Repository Pavilion is located. How did you get here?"

"Shangqing Palace's defenses are far weaker now than they were four hundred years ago," the Fox Woman said weakly.

Four hundred years ago!

Li Jiusheng's pupils contracted slightly, as if he had realized something. He studied the Fox Woman carefully and thought, Just as I suspected. She is the wife of the Thousand-Year Sword God of the Old Land.

Earlier, Li Jiusheng had used his comprehension to seize a trace of aura and trace it back through the past. He had witnessed the wedding battle between the Thousand-Year Sword God of the Old Land and the Fox Woman. Back then, she had been breathtakingly beautiful and immensely powerful. Though she had still lost to Emperor Wu of Zhou, she had nevertheless caught his attention.

It was difficult to imagine that this middle-aged woman, who had given birth in the forest and now looked pale and haggard, was the Fox Woman whose beauty had once astonished the world.

"Just as I thought. I crossed countless mountains and rivers—I did not come in vain." Upon seeing that Li Jiusheng recognized her, the Fox Woman became agitated. She actually coughed up blood, and her aura grew even weaker.

"The Thousand-Year Sword God of the Old Land said you had been trapped in the Demon Refining Tower of the Luochuan Sect for hundreds of years. Now that you have escaped, why not find a place to live in seclusion, cultivate, and restore your strength? Why come here?" Li Jiusheng asked.

The Fox Woman smiled foolishly. "Because he is here."

Then, with tears shimmering in her eyes, she asked, "I sensed his aura on you. You have seen him, haven't you?"

Li Jiusheng nodded lightly. Under the Fox Woman's expectant gaze, he told her everything the Thousand-Year Sword God of the Old Land had done after appearing.

In particular, the main purpose of that sword strike had been to save her.

"He still went ahead of me." After hearing this, the Fox Woman wept, tears streaking down her face. Her aura became illusory. Her body, already extremely unstable from giving birth, seemed to have reached its end. The seven enormous tails behind her had dispersed, and she could no longer maintain them.

"You must not grieve too deeply, or your life will be in danger. What is going on with this child?" Li Jiusheng asked with concern. He did not want anything else to happen to the Thousand-Year Sword God of the Old Land's widow.

Through her tears, the Fox Woman said, "After I was captured and thrown into the Demon Refining Tower, Emperor Wu of Zhou bound me with chains of laws. Day and night, I endured torment from thunderfire and earthflame as he demanded that I reveal the plan for entering the Old Land. Heh... I told him that I merely wished to use the Old Land's methods to strengthen myself, and that I happened to fall in love with a man. He did not believe me. He thought love between a man and a Fox Woman existed only in storybooks, fabricated by destitute scholars to deceive the masses. He believed I was hiding something and tortured me day and night. It was then that I discovered I was pregnant. But thunderfire and earthflame filled the Demon Refining Tower every day. The moment this little life was born, she would suffer disaster. I could not let his only descendant come to harm, so I used as much of my lifelong cultivation as possible to suppress her growth. I also used a secret technique, sacrificing my life to improve her physique. After several hundred years, my cultivation was exhausted, and so was my lifespan. Just when I could no longer hold on, he came to save us mother and daughter."

"That sword strike broke open the Demon Refining Tower, and we mother and daughter escaped alive. But I had no time left. Sensing his faint, ethereal aura between heaven and earth, I exhausted my last shred of strength to cross ninety thousand li and come here. I only wished to give birth to this child where he last appeared, then follow him in death."

The Fox Woman wept as she spoke. Every word came from the heart, and her love for the Thousand-Year Sword God of the Old Land overflowed from her words. Even Li Jiusheng was moved. He had never experienced love before and had never had an answer for it, but now he had witnessed it with his own eyes, and he was deeply shaken.

"I have already burned away everything I possess. I have no time to accompany this child as she grows up. I hope you can take care of her. I used the Fox clan's secret technique to reshape her for hundreds of years, and she also possesses her father's Sword God talent. Her future achievements will be limitless. If one day you can no longer care for her, please send her to the Fox clan civilization in the Outer Domain. She will become a new legend of the Fox clan." The Fox Woman pleaded as she struggled to rise and kneel. Startled, Li Jiusheng immediately transformed a strand of True Qi into a giant hand and stopped her from kneeling.

"I will raise this child. Wherever she wishes to go in the future, I will respect her own wishes," Li Jiusheng said heavily.

The remnant soul of the Thousand-Year Sword God of the Old Land had only just departed from this world, and now his wife was about to follow him. Little Fox had lost both her parents the moment she was born. No matter what, Li Jiusheng would raise her to adulthood.

"Thank you, thank you..." The Fox Woman thanked him. Reluctantly, she looked once more at her sleeping daughter, kissed her, and then handed her to Li Jiusheng.

Li Jiusheng took her. Inside the swaddling clothes was a snow-white Little Fox, so white that even Li Jiusheng felt she was somewhat unreal. What surprised him even more was that Little Fox had nine tails behind her, each no bigger than a finger and drooping weakly.

A Nine-tailed Demonic Fox!

Though Li Jiusheng had never encountered the Fox clan, he had heard of the famed Nine-tailed Demonic Fox. No wonder the Fox Woman said Little Fox would become a new legend of the Fox clan.

Now that someone would care for the child, the Fox Woman's final breath dispersed. Her body became increasingly illusory, and her consciousness was the first to dissolve. She let out one final sigh. "From now on, no one will ever be able to tear us apart again."

In the forest, the Fox Woman dissolved and scattered her Dao. Her body turned into specks of mottled flowing light, like fireflies in the night—brief yet bright. She died upon the same land, in the same time and space, as the Thousand-Year Sword God of the Old Land.

Li Jiusheng watched it all, from her dissolution and scattering of Dao to the return of all things to the Return to Ruins. Darkness enveloped the forest, and everything seemed as though it had never happened, like a dream. Only the nine-tailed white fox in his arms told Li Jiusheng that he had just witnessed a love that endured through life and death.

[You witnessed the most beautiful and sincere love. Your heart surged with emotion, filled with boundless envy. You have comprehended the Concentric Life and Death Tribulation.]

Li Jiusheng frowned. "My heart did surge with emotion, but I was not filled with boundless envy."

At most, he was a little envious.

A memory flowed into Li Jiusheng's consciousness like a babbling stream, and he began to examine it.

The [Concentric Life and Death Tribulation] was not a powerful cultivation technique, but an ancient spell used by couples to become Dao companions.

Once both parties formed the Concentric Life and Death Tribulation, they could not abandon, harm, or separate from one another. When their hearts held the same wish, every wish could be fulfilled; when their hearts held resentment, even mountains and seas could not keep that resentment apart.

However, as this spell became widespread, many people who did not love each other—or did not understand love—formed the [Concentric Life and Death Tribulation], resulting in all manner of tragedies. The spell was gradually abandoned. Those who truly loved each other did not need the [Concentric Life and Death Tribulation] to bind them, while Dao companions without love did not wish to wear shackles.

Later, cultivators altered some of the rules of the [Concentric Life and Death Tribulation], turning it into a bridge of mutual trust between fellow cultivators.

For example, when exploring a secret realm together, what if neither party could trust the other?

The [Concentric Life and Death Tribulation].

After forming it, the two parties would temporarily be like married Dao companions. Neither could harm the other. Only when the agreed time ended and the [Concentric Life and Death Tribulation] dissipated would they resume guarding against one another.

After this change, the abandoned [Concentric Life and Death Tribulation] regained its vitality.

Yet as the ages changed, it ultimately vanished into the river of history. Li Jiusheng had never expected to comprehend it now.