Chapter 482: If You Want to Train to the Death, Then So Be It

The sudden turn of events left Xuan Xing, who had been about to strike, stunned.

Before he could figure out what had happened, he saw a deep-blue water-ripple pattern appear on Mu Yong's brow.

Divine light flowed within his eyes, and divine patterns flickered into view.

Gurgle~

The instant their gazes met, a strange sound reached his ears, and before his eyes there seemed to appear a gently flowing brook.

In a daze, Xuan Xing even felt himself become a single drop of water in the brook, flowing downstream together with the water beside him.

Passing through a thousand ranges of mountains, tributary streams kept converging from all directions.

The brook that had once been a single step across had now become a roaring, surging river, vast and mighty, a full hundred feet wide.

He too had become a single insignificant spray among the ten thousand waves of the river.

When one wave crest crashed over, he was ruthlessly flung onto the bank, and under the scorching sun he evaporated into a wisp of vapor that rose into the high heavens.

He did not know how long after, accompanied by a torrential downpour, he became a stagnant pool in the mountains…

Brook, marsh, or lake and river.

Frost, sudden rain, or a wisp of mist between heaven and earth.

One form after another, one cycle after another, he experienced every phase of a single drop of water, every shape it could take.

Just like that, after who knows how many times, he finally followed a great river and poured into the boundless ocean.

Myriad acres of azure waves shimmered with rippling light beneath the sun.

As a single drop within the endless sea, he drifted along the ocean current, yet instinctively gazed toward the depths of the sea…

Vaguely, he seemed to see a deep-blue water-ripple pattern, and the boundless ocean became a single eye, impossibly vast, gazing at him with calm indifference—

Chishui Dijun!

The honorific title that suddenly surfaced in his mind let him understand everything in an instant.

Chishui Dijun Mu Yong!

Wielding the Chishui Zhangyuan Emperor Seal, presiding over all waters of the Xuanxiang Realm, commanding every water-attribute within the realm!

Startled in his heart, Xuan Xing finally broke free from that state of being "a single drop of water."

Thud thud thud!

Retreating three steps in a row, Xuan Xing dropped to one knee on the ground, one hand pressed against his chest, his chest heaving ceaselessly, cold sweat dripping from his forehead, his eyes filled with lingering dread.

The divine-sovereign Dijun who presides over the very concept of "water"—a supreme existence comparable to a Return-to-Void cultivator!

This Mu Yong, he had actually obtained such a heaven-sent opportunity?!

Thinking of this, he felt both shock and fury in his heart.

As expected, those beings behind the Heavenly Transcendent Soul Transformation cultivators had left contingencies!

Around them, the other Return-to-Voids whose realm had dropped were not as wretched as Xuan Xing, but they were not in much better shape either.

They did not even dare to raise their heads to look at Mu Yong.

By contrast, Mu Yong's bearing was entirely different.

Wondrous and matchless divine power flowed within his body, so that every gesture of his could pry open the world's rules and unleash boundless might.

'The Divine Dao, guiding others toward goodness, wielding the authority of heaven and earth…'

As he kept pondering the information conveyed by the Chishui Zhangyuan Emperor Seal, the more he examined it, the more confused he became.

Where exactly did this Divine Dao authority come from?

And why had it chosen him?

Could it be… it had something to do with those brazen Soul Transformation cultivators?

Thinking as he went, he raised his head to look at the Return-to-Voids before him, whose realms had dropped and who now behaved like so many quails.

Heavy black-red clouds gathered above each of them, dark and oppressive, weighing on the heart.

Evil deeds!

Or it could also be called—karma!

Before the influence of the 'Mu Ling' lineage was dispelled, these Return-to-Voids had received worship from the world, and had also used the Heavenly Track to harvest living beings.

Their various direct and indirect actions naturally led to their accumulating heavy evil deeds, with karma clinging to them.

【This is the sorrow of a realm; the people within had no choice, though some preserved goodness in their hearts】

【Killing them can increase one's merit; guiding them toward goodness can also increase merit, and dispel one point of evil karma】

The Chishui Zhangyuan Emperor Seal also promptly gave feedback.

The meaning was that this world itself had problems, and many people within it had no choice, so those with good hearts could be given another chance.

The duty of the Divine Dao is to teach people to turn toward goodness.

Of course, for those burdened with grave evil deeds and entangled in karma, simply killing them was also acceptable…

But that way one could only increase merit, and could not dispel one's own evil karma.

'Teaching people toward goodness, huh…'

If everything he was now experiencing truly had something to do with those brazen Soul Transformation cultivators.

Then the various behaviors he had witnessed before could also be explained.

Those Soul Transformation cultivators really were a rather strange lot—morally, their standards were almost abnormally high!

Not only had they never shown the slightest malice toward this world, they had even left behind this Divine Dao system that teaches people toward goodness…

They were even willing to give these Return-to-Voids another chance.

Hard to understand, truly hard to understand.

Slightly shaking his head, Mu Yong raised a hand and pointed.

Silently, the moisture in the air condensed into slender, delicate, crystalline threads of water, drifting down around Xuan Xing, who was half-kneeling on the ground.

Xuan Xing suddenly raised his head: "Wait!"

As he spoke, his Nascent Soul magic power surged, and he raised his hand to push aside those water threads before fleeing.

Yet those seemingly frail water threads were like the sharpest blades in the world, effortlessly slicing through the magic power he had unleashed and sinking into his solid body.

Slicing—

A very faint, soft sound—countless densely packed water threads sliced into Xuan Xing's body.

Boom—

Another equally faint, soft sound, and Xuan Xing's entire body suddenly exploded into a cloud of blood mist.

His vitality scattered, body and spirit both perished!

With a casual wave of his hand, the blood mist filling the sky dispersed.

The second-generation patriarch of Tianling Sect, once the strongest in the Xuanxiang Realm, the sole Void Return Perfection cultivator—had thus fallen.

Teaching people to be good?

He didn't feel he had the ability to teach that old ghost Xuan Xing to be good, so he simply took a more direct approach.

【Merit: Twenty-three】

【This is not a life-and-death divine authority; the merit gained from killing is limited. Be cautious!】

Just as expected.

Mu Yong had anticipated this long ago, so he paid it no mind and instead looked toward the others.

Although there wasn't much emotion in his gaze, the ruthless method of casually raising his hand to erase Xuan Xing still made everyone's hearts a little uneasy.

"Explain—what exactly is the situation with those Soul Transformation cultivators."

Too many things had happened during this period that he couldn't figure out.

Huh?

The crowd was stunned.

You already received the gift from the existence behind the Heavenly Soul Transformation, and you're still asking us?

"Based on my guess, those Soul Transformation cultivators come from other worlds beyond the heavens. The current upheaval in the world is all because the existences behind them shattered the Heavenly Dao, causing the foundation of the cultivator realm to collapse and everyone's cultivation to plummet." Sheng Qingqing said quickly.

The times had changed.

This Mu Yong now controlled a power comparable to Void Return. Counter-questioning him would be the stupidest move; what they needed to do was obediently answer.

"That's right, and those Heavenly Soul Transformation cultivators are in competition with each other, likely belonging to different factions." The fallen Void Return cultivator from Tianji Palace also added quickly.

They might not understand the existences behind those Heavenly Soul Transformation cultivators, but didn't they understand the local cultivators?

Just then, Sheng Qingqing spoke again: "Earlier I became friends with the strongest Heavenly Soul Transformation cultivator this time. Based on the information he told me, I do have some speculations."

Just as expected!

This woman had been hiding a lot of things!

Specifically pointing out that she had become friends with the strongest Heavenly Soul Transformation cultivator was nothing more than wanting Mu Yong to have some reservations.

The others cursed inwardly.

"Speak." Mu Yong's expression didn't change.

Although the divine power was strong, it also had many restrictions.

One such restriction was that he could not pry into others' memories out of personal desire, or else it would increase his evil deeds.

With the world in upheaval now, who knew what would happen next. So to avoid the divine position detaching, he absolutely would not break the divine path's restrictions to act except in life-and-death situations.

It could only be said that having the memories of a past life's Void Return was at least something.

So there wouldn't be a situation where, having gained power, he became arrogant, or became anxious and did something foolish.

"Although this batch of Heavenly Soul Transformation cultivators belong to different factions, the existences behind them are not in a competitive relationship. The reason they came to our world is nothing more than using our world as a trial ground to temper themselves."

Sheng Qingqing's words made Mu Yong pause.

Shattered the Heavenly Dao, dispelled the 'Heavenly Dao Spirit-Drawing System,' cleared the contamination left by Xuan Qi, and even left behind such a divine path system of 'teaching people to be good.'

Such a huge commotion, and it's just a trial?

He suddenly felt this world was really somewhat fantastical.

…………

Xiang Jianzong Inner Gate.

Xian Sect Grand Competition venue, spectator stands.

Because this Xian Sect Grand Competition was not open to the public, the procedures were quite simple.

After distributing the prizes, Du Ruoheng announced the competition concluded. The participants respectfully saw the Sect Master off, and the competition truly ended.

After that, if nothing unexpected happened, the participants would follow their own team leaders back to their sects.

Of course, they could also arrange their own itinerary.

But according to past惯例, the vast majority of participants would also choose to stay at the Xiang Jianzong Inner Gate for a period of time.

After all, the Xiang Jianzong Inner Gate was normally not open to outsiders, and this place gathered the most powerful sword cultivators in the world.

Under the permeation of sword intent, the Heaven and Earth Qi gathered at the Xiang Jianzong Inner Gate possessed a 'sharpness' characteristic not found elsewhere, making it an excellent material for refining spells, pills, weapons, and even body cultivation.

In short, even if you couldn't use it yourself, gathering more to sell was fine too!

Steady-stream cultivation was that expensive…

At this moment, in the spectator stands.

"Who would have thought, who would have thought—Little Zhao, you with those bushy brows and big eyes, you're quite the one for hiding things, huh!" Chi Jiuyu draped an arm over Zhao Ruohan's shoulder, grinning cheekily. "You actually held back that move!"

Zhao Ruohan pressed her lips together: "Didn't you hide things too?"

Judging by the completeness of that 'Four Symbols of Destruction,' she had definitely comprehended it long ago!

"Pfft~ what was mine even." Chi Jiuyu said carelessly, then looked around. "Where's Little Ye? Why isn't she here?"

"She went out, someone called her."

Speaking of which, Zhao Ruohan had indeed noticed just now.

"It's her younger sister."

"Her younger sister?" Chi Jiuyu blinked, then looked around.

Sure enough, Dog Brother was gone too.

"What do you think Dog Brother will do after this?"

"No idea, that's his business."

Tsk tsk!

Just as expected!

"Let me know when there's any result, okay!"

Although she didn't want to get involved in these matters, Zhao Ruohan still nodded and agreed.

"Mm."

"Oh right, you're not leaving that soon, are you?"

"Mm."

"That's good! I'll go see Master with my junior sister later, then come take you out to have fun!"

"Okay…"

Fine, she really couldn't bring herself to use a nickname like 'Little Yu' after all.

Then, Chi Jiuyu looked to one side.

She saw Zhang Yunlu chatting with her little fangirl Lin Xuanxuan, and also with Nangong Ruo of Ling Yin Fang who had once 'slandered' her in the trial world.

……

……

Over ten minutes later.

Having left the venue, Chi Jiuyu and Zhang Yunlu arrived at the Sword Sovereign Hall.

Entering the hall, they made their way familiarly to the dao arena deep within the great hall.

The flames burning on the stone pillars on both sides were very bright, yet the dao arena was completely empty.

"Huh? Not here?"

Could she be in the bedroom?

"Master! Master, are you there! Your two loyal disciples have come to see you!" Chi Jiuyu shouted directly.

Loyal…

That word doesn't quite fit senior sister, does it…

Just as she was thinking, a figure in moon-white plain robes, sparse and elegant, appeared out of thin air at the center of the dao arena, looking calmly toward them.

The two paused, then bowed together in unison.

"Disciples greet Master."

"Mm."

Receiving Bie Xuening's response, the two straightened up, and Chi Jiuyu immediately opened her mouth to ask: "Where did you run off to, Master? Normally you don't like to move around much, right?"

"The moment we came in today, we didn't see you."

"Oh… I get it."

"You must have gone to Uncle-Master's place!"

"Is Big Ye Shijie there too?"

"Aiya! If I'd known, I and Little Yunlu should have just gone straight to Uncle-Master's Xiang Jianzong Hall, and you wouldn't have had to rush back specially."

After muttering out a whole bunch, even Zhang Yunlu glanced at her sideways.

Although senior sister usually talked quite a bit, it wasn't as much as now…

Bie Xuening remained calm, and only after Chi Jiuyu finished speaking did she add lightly: "Feeling sorry for me?"

Hearing this, Chi Jiuyu froze, then wilted like an eggplant struck by frost.

"Not at all…"

"There's no need."

She wasn't some overly strict master, and besides, she only had these two disciples in total.

What this rebellious disciple was thinking, she naturally knew perfectly well.

Like when she came back in first place from the last Xian Sect Grand Competition, this rebellious disciple deliberately stayed silent to play the expert, but this time it was the opposite, saying so much…

She had always thought herself invincible among peers of the same level, yet this time she was defeated by a peer of the same level.

Even if the opponent had cultivated a few more years than her, in her own view, that was simply no reason for her to lose in a direct magical duel!

Simply put, she had taken a blow.

"I am very satisfied with the results you two achieved this time." Bie Xuening said, a rare occurrence.

But this not only failed to lift Chi Jiuyu's mood, instead making her feel a sour ache in her heart, very uncomfortable.

Zhang Yunlu also felt a bit uneasy inside.

If even senior sister was like this, let alone her who was currently far inferior to senior sister…

"I've selected some suitable missions for you." Bie Xuening suddenly said.

Being competitive wasn't necessarily a bad thing; better to let them recover their spirits on their own.

Huh?

Chi Jiuyu raised her head: "Missions?"

"Aren't you the one who wanted to train me to death?"

"But I was only thinking it, the Grand Competition just ended..." she whispered.

Besides, she had promised Xiao Zhao she would take her around to see the sights.

Xiao Ye still owed her a question...

"Of course not now." Bie Xuening's gaze swept over the two. "The Grand Competition has just ended; you two should rest for a while before going."