I don't know how long I struggled. Just as Wang Xian was about to break down,
"Bzzz..."
With a sound, the crescent moon in his Divine Sea suddenly split and transformed into a blazing sun.
The sudden change brought such agony that Wang Xian threw his head back and howled.
He shouted with all his might, "Master, save me!"
He suddenly opened his eyes. Wang Xian had returned to the Daoist temple.
Staring blankly at Old Daoist before him, Wang Xian murmured, "Master, I had a dream..."
"Have something to eat first!"
Master and disciple drank a pot of tea and ate a few pieces of flatbread. Only then did Old Daoist let out a sigh.
He said, "Your martial uncle spent a whole day and night worrying about you, and you just blew back here like a gust of wind..."
"I doubt your martial uncle expected that after disappearing, you'd not only survive, but break through to the Golden Core realm. Bear Two probably can't beat you now."
Wang Xian was shocked. "But when I was at the Sword Sect, I hadn't broken through yet!"
He examined himself inwardly and asked, "Master, is this my Golden Core? Why is it the size of an egg? Will it grow any bigger?"
"No, unless you break through to the Nascent Soul realm."
Old Daoist took Wang Xian's small hand and examined it from every angle, then smiled.
"Of the Four Great Sects, it seems that all but Hundred Flowers Valley owe you a favor."
Wang Xian silently took out the Netherworld Sword and three Storage Rings, and placed them on the table.
He said, "There are five hundred Spirit Stones in here. My martial uncle gave them to me."
"These two Storage Rings contain ten thousand Spirit Stones from the Mystic Heaven Sect and the Sword Sect. The East Sea gave me five thousand, half of which I gave to senior sister, and I kept the other half."
"There are also some I won by competing against them... Now you won't have to worry about Spirit Stones anymore, Master!"
Finally, he pointed to the Netherworld Sword on the table and said, "Master, you can deal with this sword. Don't let Hundred Flowers Valley get their hands on it!"
Old Daoist laughed at that. "Exactly. We can't let that madwoman get it."
As he put away the Spirit Stones, Old Daoist said with a smile, "The grudges surrounding those four spirit swords have nothing to do with you. You were only delivering them for her, earning a little for your trouble..."
Wang Xian was dumbfounded.
After a long pause, he cautiously asked, "Could it be that you know that white-robed senior, Master?"
Old Daoist nodded. "You met her on your way to the Sword Sect?"
Wang Xian nodded and smiled. "I met Senior White and had a dream..."
"Afterward, she gave me a jade disc. It recorded evidence that Sima Jue of the Academy had framed me..."
"Later, I showed the recording to my martial uncle and senior sister. The jade disc could replay it one more time, so I gave it to my martial uncle."
"Senior White helped me refine the inner core of a thousand-year-old black serpent. She said she'd only refined a small part of it, and that I could refine the rest slowly."
Wang Xian said nothing about the four swords. They were already on the table, so there was no need to say more.
Old Daoist sighed at that.
He gently stroked the Netherworld Sword and sighed. "That means you now have a karmic connection with her. If trouble flares up because of it in the future, it may sweep you up too. Are you afraid?"
"Not afraid!"
Wang Xian shook his head. "Last night, I dreamed of the Divine Sword. It said that only someone like me, with a body that can survive a hundred deaths, deserves to become its master one day..."
Old Daoist was taken aback, then burst into laughter.
He said solemnly, "Remember, in this world, there's no such thing as absolute right or wrong, good or evil..."
"Otherwise, why would the Academy's Law Enforcement Elder and his son have framed you?"
Wang Xian nodded. "I'll remember your teachings, Master."
Old Daoist continued, "The principles of being human and the principles of heaven and earth are all in that Dao Scripture. They're already etched into your bloodline and Divine Soul..."
With that, he put away the Netherworld Sword.
With a flick of his hand, he placed a three-foot Azure Edge Sword in front of Wang Xian.
Wang Xian couldn't help asking, "Master, this sword?"
Old Daoist smiled and said, "Until you reach Spirit Transformation, use this three-foot Azure Edge Sword of the Daoist Sect. I used it to slay plenty of fiends back in the day!"
Wang Xian lifted the long sword with both hands and stared at the two characters on its hilt, momentarily stunned.
"The sword's called Azure Edge?"
"What else?"
"Master, I like that name!"
"Tell me, did you learn a sword technique from that woman?"
Wang Xian grinned. "I only learned a little of the basics. It's called 'One Sword Startles Gods.' Sounds pretty impressive, doesn't it?"
"Oh, very impressive!"
Old Daoist shook his head and set a large bundle of dried provisions on the table.
Wang Xian looked around, then asked tentatively, "Master, where's Bear Two? Why hasn't senior sister come back?"
"Bear Two went wild in the mountains."
Old Daoist smiled bitterly. "Don't worry about those troublesome matters for now. Go somewhere on my behalf and bring your senior sister back..."
"What happened to senior sister?"
Wang Xian jumped in alarm. "Could something have happened to the Daoist temple while I was away these past few days?"
As far as he could tell, who'd be bold enough to provoke the little princess of the Eastern Phoenix Family?
Old Daoist shook his head. "Nothing like that. Your senior sister went into the Kunlun Mirror to cultivate, and she's been in there for days without sending back any word."
"What is the Kunlun Mirror?"
"It's the Kunlun Mirror. Oh, it's a place of illusions."
"All right. I'll go check on senior sister and see if some monster has bewitched her."
"Each time you enter, it burns up two hundred Spirit Stones."
Wang Xian was speechless.
He finally understood why Master and senior sister were so poor. So there was a money-burning furnace waiting here for him!
He fell silent for a while, then smiled bitterly. "All right, I'll go take a look."
Old Daoist laughed. "Conveniently, you brought back Spirit Stones!"
With a wave of his hand, a pile of Spirit Stones turned to ash before Wang Xian's eyes...
A vortex of spiritual energy appeared in front of master and disciple.
Old Daoist said softly, "Go on. Come back soon!"
With that, he waved his hand and pushed Wang Xian into the vortex.
As the world spun around him, Wang Xian entered the Kunlun Mirror and felt himself trapped in a world of darkness.
So he simply closed his eyes.
His Divine Sense probed in every direction, but found nothing but dense fog and darkness.
The farther he went, the thicker the mist grew. A woman's figure appeared faintly, reaching out to strike him!
In that instant, Wang Xian was struck by terror, his scalp crawling as a vast shadow in his Divine Sense tried to swallow him whole!
Clang!
The Azure Edge Sword flashed out, and a streak of swordlight slashed into the shadow, twisting its form until it gradually faded like a ghost.
He walked about a hundred yards before finally escaping the shroud of mist.
He thought to himself that the illusory realm inside the Kunlun Mirror was indeed spine-chilling.
Luckily, he'd been tempered at the Sword Sect. Otherwise, entering this place would've meant certain death!
He walked on, crossing who knew how many mountains and rivers.
Walking along a riverbank, he looked up and saw a snow-capped mountain towering like a giant who held up the sky, standing in solemn silence and glowing faintly with divine light!
By day, it looked like a snow-capped mountain. At night, beneath the stars, it looked like a giant.
Sometimes, he couldn't help throwing his head back and shouting, "Senior sister, where are you?"
Farther ahead lay a barren plain.
The scattered, broken corpses of Gods and Devils and the weathered weapons strewn across the plain made him wonder: could there be an ancient battlefield of Gods and Devils here?
Some bones still carried divine or demonic might. They were clearly the remains of Gods and Devils!
In the blink of an eye, the moon rose.
Tired from walking, Wang Xian raised a hand to wipe the sweat from his forehead.
He looked down and cried out in fright. Both his hands had turned into stark white bones!
It was just like the dream he'd had on the way to the Sword Sect...
He pulled open his clothes. The flesh on his chest had vanished, leaving only a cage of ribs!
"Master..."
Wang Xian cried out. Naturally, Old Daoist wasn't there, and no one answered him.
He wailed inwardly, I've turned into a pile of bones, and you still haven't come to save me, Master!
You really have nerves of steel, don't you?
Just then...
A faint song drifted down from the sky, low and lilting.
It was just like when his mother used to call Wang Xian home for dinner...
Wang Xian wanted to cry, but couldn't.
He reached out to embrace the woman in the clouds, but all he had were a pair of arms made of bare white bones...
Before you continue