No Falsehood

The foot in Lin Sui's hand was lovely and small enough for his fingers to wrap around. He focused entirely on drawing out the cold breath and only gave it an unconscious squeeze, making the foot jerk sharply away.

Lin Sui showed no reaction. It took him another stick of incense to draw out the cold breath. Both feet had lost much of their color because of it, so he used spiritual power to drive out the chill before tucking them into the fox-fur coverlet to warm them.

Su Fuxi's whole body was stiff and cold. Only when her spiritual power began to circulate more smoothly did she feel somewhat better. She remained on the stone bed, unwilling to move at all. Watching Lin Sui with her spiritual sense, she asked in a slightly strained, hoarse voice:

"At this rate, removing the poison once a day, will it take three months?"

"Yes, three months." Lin Sui covered her with a blanket, his expression gentle, then picked up a cup of warm water and offered it to her. "Master, have some water."

"Then... if we remove the poison like this twice a day, morning and evening, could we shorten the time?"

As Su Fuxi asked, she pushed herself up to take the cup, but he brought it straight to her lips. Her fingers were indeed still trembling slightly, so she had no choice but to drink it that way.

Her eyelashes lowered, making her look very well-behaved. Lin Sui's lips curled up in secret. "We could, but it would be very painful for you, Master."

"I'll draw out more cold breath each time. That should shorten the process somewhat, so there's no need to rush, Master."

Su Fuxi gave a faint "Oh," concealing her disappointment.

She held the fire-attribute inner core against her dantian. It gave off heat continuously, soon warming the whole space beneath the covers. She closed her eyes for a light doze, not expecting to actually fall asleep.

When she woke again, it was already a starry night outside the cave abode.

"Master, the No Falsehood Sword took me to an unknown place, where I obtained a crystal fragment. It seems to contain a trace of Origin Power."

The cliff beneath the starry sky was quiet, a gentle night breeze blowing as master and disciple sat alone in meditation beneath the moon.

"What Origin Power?" Su Fuxi paused in surprise. She had never heard or seen anything like it.

In the blink of an eye, a large crystal fragment floated before Lin Sui, radiating waves of multicolored light. A rich aura reached her in an instant, filling her with longing.

"This! This is-" Su Fuxi swept it with her spiritual sense and was shocked. Wasn't this the same aura that filled the garden protected by restrictions?

Origin Power! So this is Origin Power. Is it a kind of Heaven and Earth Origin Power? She touched the fragment with a fingertip and immediately felt an immensely rich and boundless power. If this thing were refined into a magical treasure, wouldn't it become a divine artifact?

"This fragment is extraordinary. Put it away for now." Sensing a cultivator's spiritual sense and a great demonic beast's pressure approaching from several hundred li away, Su Fuxi immediately withdrew her hand.

This is no ordinary treasure. This brat just took it out like that-isn't he afraid I'll disgrace my age and snatch it from him?

"Master, can this Origin Crystal help you break through your cultivation realm?" The young man obediently put the fragment away, causing its aura to vanish at once. He did not speak directly of forming a Nascent Soul, choosing a more tactful expression instead.

Meanwhile, a cultivator who had faintly sensed the emergence of a treasure's aura spent some time turning a treasure-seeking compass this way and that. The aura had appeared only to vanish abruptly, disappearing in a single breath. The cultivator could only curse his slow reaction, beating his chest and stamping his feet in bitter regret.

A third-tier demonic beast let out a bewildered howl and retreated into its den.

Only then did Su Fuxi look at Lin Sui in surprise. He had obtained a treasure that would make countless mighty experts fight over it in the outside world, yet he was asking whether it would be of use to her?

"Break through my cultivation realm?" She suddenly gave a soft laugh and shook her head. "My talent is limited, and forming a Nascent Soul is difficult. This trace of Origin Power cannot help me do it either. At most, it could delay the onset of the five decays of heaven and man."

If she tried to form a Nascent Soul again and failed, she would probably lose a large portion of what little lifespan she had left.

Lin Sui was disappointed. "So it can't..."

"Of course it can't. Your master is already destined to enter the five decays of heaven and man. The Origin Power the crystal carried has been depleted, leaving only a trace. Naturally, it can't help her form a Nascent Soul."

At that moment, the No Falsehood Sword's thoughts reached his mind.

"Why? Then what could help her form a Nascent Soul?" he immediately asked.

The sword spirit said, "Because this is only a fragment of some Primordial Dao Artifact. After countless tens of thousands of years, only a trace of its own Origin Power remains. It's far too little... Let me devour it. Once my seal is lifted, I'll take you on a bloody path up to the Nine Heavens. Find a divine artifact or an immortal artifact, and it will be enough to help your master form a Nascent Soul..."

Lin Sui was only a little naive, not stupid. The moment he heard that, he knew it was unreliable. He also finally realized that the sword spirit had clearly been longing to devour the crystal's Origin Power all along!

He sneered inwardly, but still asked a string of questions with feigned innocence. "Are you the sword spirit No Falsehood? What kind of sword are you, exactly? How do you know about Origin Power? And what is a Primordial Dao Artifact?"

"Since you brought me out of the sword pool's seal, I'll reluctantly tell you."

The sword spirit's voice was neither male nor female and sounded somewhat weak. It seemed very young, yet its words were somewhat haughty and disdainful.

"I am Demon Venerable No Falsehood, supreme and unrivaled above and below the heavens of the Demon Prison Realm."

"Primordial Dao Artifacts were naturally Dao artifacts formed from all the Dao intent of each of the primordial sages born in the primordial era, when heaven and earth were first created. They contained all the sages' Primordial Power. This crystal fragment is merely an insignificant piece of a shattered Dao artifact."

Lin Sui silently committed these legends he had never heard before to memory, then suddenly spoke with feigned ignorance. "The primordial sages must have been very powerful, right? Then how did their Dao artifacts get shattered?"

"..."

The sword spirit fell silent for a long time. It had actually detected a trace of doubt in his words. "You ignorant junior, how dare you question the primordial sages... Hm, the ignorant know no fear... Countless epochs have passed since the age of the primordial sages, so it's no surprise you don't know."

"You ask why the Dao artifacts shattered? Naturally, it was because of the great calamity of that age. That calamity of heaven and earth befell all immortals, gods, demons, and yao, every living being in the world... You wouldn't understand even if I told you."

"Then how did you, a Demon Venerable, become a sword spirit?"

"...My body collapsed, and a wisp of my remnant soul fused with the sword spirit of my lifebound sword, which was on the verge of dissipating... Junior, I could never acknowledge you as my master. Be obedient, and I can lead you on a bloody path into the Immortal Domain."

Lin Sui cared about only one thing. "Then where can I find the divine artifacts and immortal artifacts you mentioned?"

His mind fell quiet for a moment. The sword spirit seemed to be thinking, and only spoke after quite a while. "So many tens of thousands of years have passed already. Hmm... I actually slept for so very long..."

"Divine artifacts and immortal artifacts... are naturally in the Immortal Domain."

The Immortal Domain... Lin Sui murmured in his mind, "Wouldn't I have to cultivate until I ascend, then? How many years would it take to... Can Master wait until I ascend?"

"Pfft!" The sword spirit suddenly scoffed. "Your master is quite a beauty, but what a pity. Her innate foundation is too poor, and she has less than seventy years of lifespan left. She certainly won't live to see you ascend."

Less than seventy years? Lin Sui's heart trembled.

"At the Golden Core Stage, don't even dream of reaching Tribulation Transcendence and going to the Immortal Domain in under a hundred years..."

"Where is the Immortal Domain? I only know the legends say that when we ascend from here, we go to the upper realm, the Mystic Realm." He was silent for a moment before asking.

"The Mystic Realm? What Mystic Realm?" The sword spirit, whose spiritual power was nearly exhausted, spoke in some shock. "What place is the Mystic Realm? Doesn't ascending from the Human Realm take you straight to the Nine Heavens Immortal Domain... How..."

Before it could finish, its voice vanished. Lin Sui sensed for it and realized it had fallen asleep again, leaving only a wisp of thought: "Refine the Origin Crystal to temper the sword body..."

Su Fuxi had noticed Lin Sui suddenly fall quiet earlier, only to realize that he had closed his eyes to meditate, so she paid him no further attention.

Her cultivation could no longer advance, so when she meditated, she merely immersed herself in her sea of consciousness to deduce the art of restrictions.

When the moon reached the middle of the sky, she opened her eyes and looked at the half of the moon obscured by dark clouds. She silently planned to take Lin Sui somewhere to cultivate Slaughter Qi after they left the secret realm.

She glanced at Lin Sui, whose eyes were closed. His cultivation was advancing far too quickly. If the Cauldron Mark couldn't keep up with his progress and his cultivation surpassed hers, what the hell would she do then?

Damn it, even with the Cauldron Mark, she had no confidence she could seize the body of a cultivator at the same level!