Chapter 287: Cultivator

Outside the city.

A streak of sword light landed, revealing three figures.

It was Chi Jiuyu, Zhang Yunlu, and the sword-clasping woman formed from martial energy.

"Not bad, little Yunlu—you actually thought of this." Chi Jiuyu grinned.

She carried on her shoulder a tree much taller than herself, its roots still caked with large clumps of soil, while her other hand rested on the sword-clasping woman's shoulder.

Sure enough, Sister still packed up and took this tree.

Zhang Yunlu was utterly unsurprised; this was exactly the sort of thing she would do.

"Sister must've thought of it too—I just got there first."

"... That's right!"

Chi Jiuyu set the tree aside: "By the way! I paid for this tree—I left two catties of silver!"

Back at the Sword Sect, after obtaining the data on this 'Three Heaven Realm,' she had exchanged it for some gold and silver as backup.

A whole pile of it!

Gold and silver aren't precious in the Xuan Realm.

But their purchasing power here seems quite substantial.

The sword-clasping woman she was holding looked strangely uneasy.

Two catties?

She had never heard anyone use such a term before.

But soon, she asked: "Why haven't I died yet?"

Her life contract was tied to the Dingnan Prince Heir; logically, the moment he died, she should've died with him.

"What, do you really want to die?" Chi Jiuyu glanced at her sideways.

Beneath the Grand Void's True Seeing Golden Eyes, nothing could hide—not even the restriction inside her body.

Right now, that restriction was being firmly suppressed by magic power.

"No." The sword-clasping woman shook her head lightly.

She certainly didn't want to die—she could even say she desperately wanted to live.

"Then that's settled!" Chi Jiuyu reached up and plucked a fruit. "Considering your nature is still... simple."

After all, she was formed from martial energy—she had nothing to do with 'kindness.'

Yet almost no resentment clung to her...

"And you've never harbored malicious intent without cause—I'll help you, and remove that restriction."

"But if you ever do evil again, I won't spare you."

"Alright, you're free now."

As Chi Jiuyu released her hand from the woman's shoulder, a thread of sword qi silently shattered the restriction within her. The sword-clasping woman felt her entire body loosen.

Like chains binding her body had been severed, like the Weight on the Body had been lifted—she felt an indescribable ease and lightness.

The sword-clasping woman froze.

Free?

Since the moment her consciousness first awakened, she had been found and bound with a restriction.

After finally taking human form, she was forced to live and die at another's whim, becoming part of the Mi Sect cultivator's legacy.

Honestly, the thing she most wanted before was to kill the one who first bound her—and then survive after the Dingnan Prince Heir's death...

After the series of events today, she had assumed she was going to die.

Yet she never expected this Nascent Soul Laozu would spare her—and even remove her restriction.

The thing she had dreamed of for so long had arrived so easily—it left her utterly unprepared.

But Chi Jiuyu didn't look at her again.

Instead, she began complaining to Zhang Yunlu about the books she'd read.

"Those books are useless—we shouldn't have learned to play it safe!"

Crunch!

She took another big bite.

"By the way, where are we going next? This time, I'll follow your lead!"

"..." Zhang Yunlu fell silent for a moment.

"Sister, should we split up for our cultivation trials?"

Thud.

Chi Jiuyu dropped the fruit in shock.

Little Yunlu... was she rejecting me?

She suddenly felt a tiny bit hurt.

"Sister, you're too strong—staying with you doesn't let me gain any real trial experience," Zhang Yunlu said seriously.

Oh, so that's why...

She glanced at the fruit now dirtied on the ground, but ultimately chose not to pick it up.

"That does make sense—your understanding truly requires constant risk-taking."

The faint hurt she'd just felt vanished completely.

"Alright then, let's split up—each go our own way."

Chi Jiuyu Laozu wasn't one to be timid or hesitant.

"Mm." Zhang Yunlu nodded lightly.

She was too lazy to correct "dangerous" and "asking for death"—her senior sister always got it wrong anyway.

"Hehe! But before we go, let's have one last good meal together—just to experience the local customs."

"Alright."

The two discussed other matters and ultimately agreed to meet in Jingcheng.

Immediately, Chi Jiuyu turned to collect the fruit tree, only to see the sword-holding woman still standing in place.

"Thank you, Hehuan Laozu."

So she really calls him Hehuan Laozu?

Chi Jiuyu raised an eyebrow.

"Huh? Why haven't you left yet?"

"..."

…………

In the Impure Realm of the Three Realms, the Mortal Realm has been in turmoil due to incursions by cultivation disciples from the Xian Sect.

And as the highest level of the Three Realms,

the luminous, pure, and sacred Tai Xuan Tian was also far from peaceful.

Not long ago, Tai Xuan Tian was thrown into chaos by the descent of the "Ascension Platform," even drawing the Demon Sovereign from the Impure Realm up to attack—though eventually, several Void-Return Elders joined forces and drove him back.

But the corruption's power inflicted irreversible damage upon Tai Xuan Tian itself.

Yet before the Ascension matter had even settled, a group of body cultivators—extremely low in cultivation etiquette but terrifyingly strong in combat—emerged and utterly annihilated the Xian Sect's Zi Qing Guan.

And not long after, cultivators of Tai Xuan Tian in the Three Realms discovered that these body cultivators who destroyed Zi Qing Guan were only part of the picture.

In addition, there were sword cultivators, pill alchemists, artifact forgers, and more…

Their cultivation levels varied, from Jin Dan to Void Return.

Yet each possessed extraordinary divine abilities and absurdly powerful combat strength!

……

……

The Ascension Sacred Site.

Stretching before them was a vast, deep valley, but its entrance was extremely narrow, covered by a faint, translucent golden curtain.

!. Read

Through the curtain, a magnificent, altar-like structure of gold and white could be faintly seen within.

The Ascension Platform!

This valley had not existed before—it formed only after the Ascension Platform's descent.

Yet not a single cultivator of Tai Xuan Tian has yet entered it, let alone used the Ascension Platform to ascend.

At the valley's mouth.

Figures sat silently at the valley's entrance.

One lay upon a golden lotus throne, expression tinged with compassion, his entire body radiant with Jin Guang like a Buddha.

Another hovered in midair, clad in blue brocade robes, a pair of crystalline dragon horns on his forehead, his face partially scaled, strikingly handsome.

A Daoist with immortal bearing, white-haired and ruddy-cheeked, sat upon a Daoist platform, a dust whisk in hand.

A sword cultivator in white robes, elegant and free-spirited.

A body cultivator, bare-chested, muscles coiled like ropes, broad-shouldered and thick-waisted.

Each carried a heavy, powerful aura—among the rare few Void Return Elders of Tai Xuan Tian in the Three Realms!

The Daoist flicked his dust whisk: "Those cultivators who suddenly appeared in Tai Xuan Tian—I believe they are connected to the Ascension Platform."

His voice was calm and detached, light yet carrying far.

"Alas~ The arrival of outsiders has brought such chaos—how the living beings have suffered." A compassionate voice echoed.

It was the great monk lying upon the golden lotus throne.

The others' eyes flickered with unusual expressions.

In the past… they might have believed him.

But since testing their cultivation merit before the golden curtain at the valley's mouth not long ago…

You've got such abysmal merit—what the hell are you pretending for?

No one expected that this monk, who constantly preached "living beings" and claimed to be Tai Xuan Tian's most compassionate, had cultivation merit so shockingly low.

The sword cultivator shook his head slightly.

His own merit, while not high, was several times greater than the monk's.

Truly fucking hypocritical!

"The Master speaks truly," the dragon-horned youth nodded slowly. "But what is the origin of this 'Ascension Platform'? Why did it draw even the Demon Sovereign to attack?"

"Alas~ My dragon clan has suffered heavy losses—I sometimes wonder if this 'Ascension Platform' is not a curse?"

His tone was deeply weary.

But soon—

"Brother Long, be cautious. If you anger the Immortal Realm, we cannot bear the consequences," the sword cultivator said solemnly.

The others cast glances at him, cold and warning-filled.

The dragon-horned youth paused, then simply closed his eyes.

To be honest…

He didn't care how many dragons died.

As long as he could ascend, what did it matter?

But the problem is, it's impossible!

Previously, during the Merit Assessment, others received evaluations like "short by so much," but his was—

【Cannibalistic Dragon, countless lives lost, sins piled high, slay him to gain great merit】

Slay him to gain great merit…

He was stunned, his whole body frozen.

This is just insane!

Don't these other human elders kill countless beings? Then why don't you count those?

It's blatant discrimination!

Fortunately, the Monk's case left the human elders shaken, and afterward none of them wanted anyone else to see their merit assessments, so his evaluation went unseen.

Otherwise…

Those human elders would have torn him apart that very day!

Sigh~

Everyone else came for the feast, but he only realized after arriving that he himself was the dish!

What a fickle fate for a dragon…

Yet he did not realize it.

The muscular, burly body cultivator was quietly observing the back of the horned youth, as if pondering something.

Body cultivators are born with divine strength; even as youths they can tear tigers and leopards apart with brute force alone.

Yet his parents died during a sudden demonic clan invasion when he was young.

Had his parents not hidden him in a cesspit, he would not have survived.

Later, by chance, he entered the path of cultivation; his talent gradually emerged, and his progress became unstoppable.

He eradicated demons, destroyed monsters, braved thorns and brambles, intervened wherever injustice arose, and pushed forward relentlessly until reaching the Void Return realm.

He even slew a powerful demon of his own realm who had committed atrocities.

Yet youthful passion could not overcome the tide of this world—how could one man stand against those Void Return demons and the many great sects?

Until now, when the Ascension Platform descended, everything seemed to have turned.

Previously, during the Merit Assessment, his evaluation was—

【Exterminate demons, eradicate monsters, relieve suffering, gain great merit, outer path complete】

Great merit…

The body cultivator's eyes flickered.

He still did not know exactly how to gain great merit, but if he could use this opportunity to trick and kill this fool…

Within the secluded valley, a space that did not exist in reality.

Xu Xing's sword intent spirit remained silently observing all of this. (End of chapter)