A Night in the Mountains

That night, none of the elders from the Four Great Sects could rest.

Like Dongfang Nishang, everyone had their guesses and discussions.

Why had that woman, who had vanished for ten years, suddenly appeared at the Kunlun Sword Sect?

Could it be that the martial world, quiet for ten years, was about to be swept by another bloody storm?

That night, Sima Jue suffered the most.

Not only had Wang Xian beaten him up, but Duanmu Xi had also been taken away by a mysterious woman.

Thinking it over carefully, had this trip to Kunlun truly been worth it?

If he had stayed at the academy, at least no one could have broken off his engagement to Duanmu Xi...

It was not until Dongfang Nishang sent a voice transmission to the academy elders, saying she wished to take Duanmu Xi's mother, Yun Yiluo, as her disciple, that Elder Wang and Sima Jue suddenly understood.

Some things were probably never going to return to how they had been.

The moonlight was dim, and the mountain breeze rustled.

Wang Xian, who felt as though he had died once, opened his eyes.

He had not expected that after hastily leaving the Sword Sect, he would once again be ambushed by an elder from Hundred Flowers Valley.

What he had not expected even more was that the person who had saved his life really was the woman in white he had encountered by chance on the road.

A shooting star streaked past his eyes, flying toward the stars at the edge of the sky.

It was much like the way he had fallen from the Sword Sect's cliff, carrying an indescribable meaning.

After a long silence.

Looking at the woman in white before him, Wang Xian smiled.

"Senior, I never expected Granny Hundred Flowers to ambush me outside the Daoist temple that day, only for me to be ambushed by one of their elders again today. Luckily, I didn't return the sword..."

Bai Youyue suddenly smiled.

With a wave of her hand, she said, "I never expected you to sweep through the prodigies of the Four Great Sects all by yourself. Truly impressive."

But Wang Xian thought of why he had gone to the Sword Sect in the first place. It had not been to battle the prodigies of the Four Great Sects.

He had only wanted to take a look, then immediately return to the Daoist temple.

Yet he had unexpectedly run into the academy's elders, Sima Jue, and Duanmu Xi...

With a trace of exhaustion on his face, Wang Xian only felt pain all over his body.

He could only say, "Senior, I think I was injured by an elder of Hundred Flowers Valley!"

Bai Youyue shook her head. "I've already examined you. You can either return with me, or..."

"I want to return to the Daoist temple. My master is waiting for me to come home."

Wang Xian shook his head and said softly, "Please send me back to the Daoist temple, Senior. My master will find a way to treat me."

"You're overthinking it."

Bai Youyue sighed. "You were struck by Granny Hundred Flowers before, and that trace of cold energy has yet to be fully expelled. Now you've suffered new injuries."

After a pause, she continued, "This is a cold poison. Even your master cannot completely remove it."

Wang Xian was stunned when he heard this. He asked blankly, "Then what should I do?"

Bai Youyue thought for a moment and placed her hand atop his head.

A stream of golden light, like water, slowly entered his body from the crown of his head before finally descending upon his sea of consciousness.

Golden light immediately flickered within his sea of consciousness, and a scripture gradually appeared.

"This is the first half of the Buddhist Undying Scripture. It can remake your skin, bones, tendons, blood, and divine soul..."

"Cultivate the first half to perfection, and you can forge a Buddhist vajra body."

"Unfortunately, you will still have to go elsewhere to find the second half..."

Upon hearing this, Wang Xian realized that it seemed to share the same principles as the five realms of physical cultivation he practiced.

After thinking for a moment, he asked, "Senior, where must I go to find the second half? What benefits are there to cultivating it?"

Bai Youyue sighed. "You cannot go to that place yet. Perhaps one day in the future, after cultivating the second half, you will be able to ignite the fire of nirvana."

"Only then will you have a chance to one day attain the legendary Buddhist realm of nirvana."

Gazing at the new moon in the sky, she wanted to say that so-called nirvana was actually the same thing as becoming a demon through nirvana.

But even she had not cultivated to that realm. After all, Wang Xian would still have to find the second half of the Undying Scripture.

At that thought, Bai Youyue smiled.

Stroking Wang Xian's head, she said, "I only hope that one day, you won't hate me."

"Don't worry, Senior. I won't hate you!"

Wang Xian took out three storage rings after thinking for a moment and said with a smile, "These spirit stones were exchanged for Senior's spirit sword. Two rings for you, one for me. Hehe, now Master won't lack spirit stones."

Bai Youyue hadn't expected Wang Xian to give her two of them, and she froze for a moment.

A moment later, she couldn't help but laugh.

Everyone in the world is greedy. I never expected this little Daoist to be different from what I imagined.

Shaking her head, she stuffed the two storage rings back into Wang Xian's hand.

Bai Youyue said with a smile, "I have spirit stones. Keep these—you'll need them later."

"Thank you, Senior."

Wang Xian put away the storage rings and grinned.

After thinking for a moment, he added, "As for that Netherworld Sword, I promised Martial Uncle I'd take it back and give it to Master, so Granny Hundred Flowers can come to my master to claim it..."

Wang Xian had originally wanted to return the spirit sword to Bai Youyue, but he suddenly remembered his promise to Martial Uncle.

"Then let your master teach that old demoness a lesson!"

Bai Youyue continued, "Tonight, I'll help you cultivate the first level of the Undying Scripture. Once you complete the five levels of the cultivation method, you'll become immune to all poisons..."

"Alright!"

Wang Xian clenched his fists. "One day, I'll make the elders of Hundred Flowers Valley taste my strength."

Bai Youyue: "..."

With Bai Youyue's guidance, Wang Xian picked up the Undying Scripture very quickly.

So quickly that even Bai Youyue found it unbelievable. Yet Wang Xian never told her about the ten years he had spent in the Heavenly Book world.

In her astonishment, Bai Youyue told Wang Xian that it might not even take him ten years to cultivate the first half of the Undying Scripture to perfection.

That day, Wang Xian was both shocked and exhausted.

Before the moon reached its zenith, he had already fallen into a deep sleep beneath a snow pine tree.

He had a dream.

He dreamed that the Undying Scripture in his sea of consciousness had long since vanished, while the ancient Coiling Dragon Divine Sword hung before his eyes.

Wang Xian was stunned, unable to say anything for a while.

Only after a long time did he ask softly, "Master, how did the Coiling Dragon Divine Sword..."

The old Daoist smiled. "When you were on the verge of death, I'm afraid you had no way of reaching Kunlun... It was the Coiling Dragon Sword that brought you to see me, allowing me to take you as my disciple."

"Back then, was this disciple riddled with wounds, covered in blood?"

Thinking of how he had looked when he was dying, Wang Xian sighed.

He muttered, "Master, you and Martial Uncle are both peerless geniuses, unmatched experts among all under heaven. Why did the Coiling Dragon Sword seek you out?"

The old Daoist shook his head and sighed. "The Coiling Dragon Divine Sword is not an object of this mortal world, nor can ordinary people wield it. Perhaps only someone like you, with a body that has survived countless deaths, can control it?"

Wang Xian understood those words.

So he gave a bitter smile. "This disciple is still far from the Divine Transformation realm."

The old Daoist sighed softly and said, "Back then, your Martial Uncle and I considered ourselves unmatched under heaven and looked down on all else, never realizing that we would ultimately be burdened by our inner demons."

"Only those who have endured a thousand trials and tribulations, tempered into steel through countless hardships, can become the master of the divine sword! How old are you now? What's the rush?"

As he spoke, the Coiling Dragon Divine Sword slowly floated before Wang Xian.

Wang Xian stretched out his hand and grasped the divine sword's hilt.

Rumble!

A clap of thunder tore apart the sky of his sea of consciousness. In an instant, lightning flashed, thunder roared, and winds and clouds surged.

Moonlight flowed across the night sky, and divine radiance gleamed.

Gradually, it gathered into a seven-colored pillar of light that descended from the heavens and fell upon Wang Xian's head!

"Ah..."

In that instant, Wang Xian felt as though he had been struck by five bolts of lightning, and he fell backward onto the ground.

At that moment, the meridians within his body erupted into turmoil, while spiritual energy surged like a breached riverbank.

Everything was on the verge of spiraling out of control!

The seven-colored divine light instantly transformed into seven divine swords, rampaging through his body...

Clang! A sword cry rang out.

With one stroke, it cleaved open Wang Xian's dantian...