Chapter 276: A Similar Flower

This body was forged by the sword.

As if the sorrow of primordial times had reached him, the red-haired youth's entire body cracked with countless fissures.

Steel is my body, flame is my blood.

From those fissures erupted sword qi of annihilating power, splitting the void into countless fragmented regions.

Unconquered across countless battlefields.

Unaware of what was lost, unaware of what was gained.

Always standing alone upon the Sword Mound, lost in the ecstasy of victory.

It felt like a farewell, yet also a recounting of his own life—clearly, this red-haired youth was about to meet his end.

Thus, this life has no...

Tears streamed from the red-haired youth's eyes, filled with sorrow; he could not help but gaze at the girl in his arms, tears falling upon her.

No meaning whatsoever.

He knelt helplessly in the void, holding the girl tightly, and whispered his final words in a hoarse voice.

This life is defined as

The creation of Infinite Swords.

As if creation in the age of chaos, within a flame that split heaven and earth, the youth's physical form utterly shattered—universe, sky, earth, and Infinite Swords appeared in the former void.

Sword qi surged like an ocean, infinitely extending along the emergence of the earth.

The leaping flames became an endless horizon, carving the path ahead—at the cost of his own dissolution, he forged a complete world filled with countless ownerless sword gravestones.

Countless swords, each the size of a star, dotted the universe—sword qi of slaughter, protection, destruction, redemption, flame, frost—endless sword intentions converged, enveloping every peerless blade within the cosmos.

Every shining star in the heavens represented a distinct sword intention; what illuminated the earth was not starlight or sunlight, but countless sword rays descending across light-years onto this crimson wasteland.

Only now did Qu Yanping understand the difference and similarity between the Divine Eye and the Heavenly Eye technique.

'A Great One sacrificed himself for the Dao! This sword graveyard was born from a Great One's martyrdom!'

He had once heard that some Great Ones, after death, transformed their bodies into planets to nurture new life—but now he witnessed a Great One's martyrdom creating a world!

'Each sword has its own history, its own past! Yet these swords were forged from this Great One's flesh and blood?!'

Qu Yanping felt slight discomfort in his Divine Eye, as if a razor-sharp sword had been halted just an inch before his eye.

Yet he still had to endure the discomfort to observe—only thus could he survive in this utterly lethal sword graveyard; if he encountered danger even a Jin Xian could not withstand, his own cultivation, not even that of a cultivator, would be utterly incapable of survival!

Suppressing his inner excitement and unease, Qu Yanping seized the opportunity to continue watching—he saw that after the Great One's physical form shattered, his nascent soul had not yet dissipated, still standing in the exact position of the former void, with the painting-like space behind him.

Upon the Sword Mound, the nascent soul, like a candle flickering in the wind, gently caressed the elf-like face of the girl in his arms; from the fractured space behind him, a terrifying aura subtly emerged, growing exponentially.

Cold, crisp gales carried peach blossoms drifting from the space, yet in an instant, those petals ignited with pitch-black flames—deep and netherworldly, like karmic fire.

The peach tree within the painting emitted sounds like firecrackers—the crackling of flames burning within its trunk.

In less than a few seconds, the once magnificent, scenic landscape had become a scene of hell.

That sun began to warp and twist; its golden light gradually darkened until it resembled tea steeped too long.

Karmic flames flickered; the silver waterfall cascading downward turned blood-red. Floating islands in the sky plummeted; the earth fractured into pieces, as if something were about to burst forth from beneath.

'I pray to the Holy Grail,' the red-haired youth gently pressed his forehead against the girl's.

Behind him, a transparent, spectral shadow gradually emerged—white-haired, red-eyed, clad in a white evening gown—undeniably, the girl's soul.

The girl embraced him from behind; in stark contrast to the tragic scene, her expression radiated joy and bliss.

'I pray'

'That my sword may reach past, present, and future.'

The girl in his arms opened her eyes—her wine-red irises held not a trace of vitality.

'I pray to the Holy Grail,' the red-haired youth continued speaking to the girl in his arms, his voice tender, brimming with boundless longing: 'May my sword sever the karmic ties, fate, existence, and time of all beings.'

A complex pattern of seven-colored radiance spread outward from the center, stretching for thousands of miles, outlining a boundary fifty kilometers in diameter beneath their feet.

All that was beautiful in all beings was condensed within this seven-colored radiance; no discernment was needed—merely seeing this light revealed it as pure soul energy, unlike the tiny, dust-like forms of individuals, devoid of desire or impurity, containing only hope and purity.

It could not be measured by any unit—only given the concept of 'infinite,' just like this sword graveyard.

Immediately afterward, countless crystalline circuits rose from the girl's body, rapidly spreading skyward, converging at the zenith into a deep-blue Kong Dong.

'Mana?!' Qu Yanping involuntarily exclaimed—not Eastern spiritual energy, but another form of power he had encountered within the Yuzhe Sect and among cultivator gatherings.

A phantom tide emerged from the shattered hellish painting; within that space, earth and sky had long since shattered, the river of time rippling and churning, surging into waves.

Thus, countless disjointed scenes appeared within that space: dawn, night, and noon coexisting; desert, ocean, and mountains existing together; a lifeless starry void, a dusty village, a floating immortal isle...

Every second, every place the river of time passed through manifested a different scene—history and future twisted by chaotic time.

As if sensing the anomaly from this side, the river of time began to coalesce, eventually forming a colossal giant spanning countless fragments of time, reaching out a massive hand toward them.

Upon that phantom hand lay the meanings of birth and end, the dazzling golden luster of ages—any immortal here, merely by glancing, would have their spirit dragged into the past, drowning in it.

Yet even this was not the true terror.

Qu Yanping witnessed a scene that shattered his soul: as the giant's arm drew near, countless beings appeared within the phantom river of time—reborn endlessly, dying endlessly, their aura fluctuating between terrifying beyond Jin Xian and weak as mortals.

They wore varied attire: supreme deities, heroic immortals, corrupt demons, mages, dragon knights, elemental deities...

Celestial dragons, phoenixes, qilins, insect races, sea beasts, Jin Chida—all races ever recorded or long extinct, roaring, struggling, nearly fusing into the dimension of time and space to form that monstrous, terrifying hand, surging upward.

As the two sides had no escape, about to be gripped in that giant's palm—

Tzing—

The sword's cry rang out!

The girl's soul behind the red-haired youth dissolved into countless specks of true spirit radiance, merging into his nascent soul; his sword had long been drawn—two ancient trees, one withered, one flourishing, towered above, holding back the giant's hand beyond layers of worlds—but even so, the terrifying, monstrous time giant was shattering countless worlds as it reached for the red-haired youth.

'One last time, let me swing the sword with you, Dada Liya.'

'Yes, brother.'

The girl, her arms wrapped around his neck, slowly closed her eyes, a smile of bliss upon her lips—each time her form grew more ethereal, his nascent soul grew stronger, until—

When snowflakes drifted down from the sky, the girl's figure vanished as well.

"All things under heaven and earth are swords; gods, ghosts, demons, and evils are swords; calamities countless times over, even time itself is a sword—today, I wield all of this cosmos as a sword!"

The red-haired youth also transformed into a giant towering to the heavens, his snow-white sword slowly yet decisively swinging downward.

At this moment, the Great Dao resonated; countless dao principles, longed for by cultivators, manifested as sword-light, coiling and encircling the blade in his hand, while every sword within the Sword Tomb world turned into sword qi and converged upon the blade.

"You shall not!"

The red-haired youth's gaze was resolute; a phantom river appeared around him—but this time, it was the phantom of the Great Dao River, brimming with countless dao principles!

"Reincarnate upon all realms!"

Amidst a deafening horned sound, the red-haired youth unleashed all his strength to strike this sword—and at that instant, boundless soul power descended from the sky's deep blue void; the blade in his hand simultaneously slashed through past, present, and future!

Even so,

the time giant suffered no harm.

Yes, he had not struck the time giant's true body, but rather barred it from entering this world.

Countless swords flew from the sword-light toward dimensions beyond, forming a wall of sword qi with no distance between them; dao principles wrapped around each weapon, encircling the world where the time giant resided.

The waves gradually subsided; no one knew when the youth sheathed his sword, or when he collapsed beneath the slowly crumbling frost-laden trees.

The ruptured space in the heavens slowly repaired itself; the hellish world faded away, and countless swords descended like falling stars, embedding themselves into every corner of the world.

The white-haired, red-eyed girl rose from the ground, her wide sleeves fluttering, arriving before the red-haired youth; her dull, emotionless eyes stared blankly at him, and she whispered:

"There is one more wish."

"I pray to the Holy Grail," the red-haired youth's yuan shen was now only a thin, faint shadow; his lower body had already begun to vanish, yet he reached out like a drowning man grasping for the last straw:

"May, after countless eons, we bloom a flower similar to this one."

Though his soul was gone, the white-haired, red-eyed girl's eyes shed tears; she slowly knelt, cradling the red-haired youth's head upon her lap.

"I love you."

He wished to gently caress her face, but his outstretched hand vanished as well.

"I love you too."

Whether by instinct or the last remnants of his soul, the girl responded, bowing her head to softly kiss his lips.

The deep blue vault in the sky collapsed and shrank, finally—

"Are you alright, Master Qu?" 【Miss Kelaien】 waved his hand before Qu Yanping's face, puzzled: "This shouldn't be—it's been long since the impact of the Time River, yet you're still dazed?"

"Should we hold a grand funeral for Brother Qu?" Gao Sheng's voice rose beside him, tinged with indignation: "Why did you urge him to gaze upon the Time River?"

"The Eye of the Heavenly God can perceive all hidden secrets across realms and ages, piercing illusions; such a state should not occur," 【Miss Kelaien】 said, his tone still calm.

Gao Sheng asked: "The Eye of the Heavenly God has been gone for years—how do you know it wouldn't malfunction?"

【Miss Kelaien】 replied as if it were obvious: "Historical records state so."

Qu Yanping, just regaining consciousness, broke into a cold sweat—he had actually believed them and gone to spy on the Time River.

"You're awake, Master Qu. What did you gain?" 【Miss Kelaien】 adjusted the monocle on his right eye socket, took out a cup of coffee from the air and offered it to Qu Yanping with a smile:

"Don't forget we signed the agreement—now, tell me quickly: what did you see?"

When dealing with ancient secrets, Mr. Miss Kelaien of the Yuzhe Sect displayed immense interest; Qu Yanping once again revised his understanding of these ancient scholars—they were, in a sense, people who would stop at nothing for historical truth.

"Can the Time River possess its own consciousness?" Qu Yanping's face was grim; he should have returned to the present the moment the Time River's impact ended, yet—

he had seen it: atop the time giant's head, a beautiful black-haired woman had made a "shhh" gesture toward him.

So, his Eye of the Heavenly God had been granted by Him.

The chat group had already reached 99+ messages.

Ye Fan: "@Weigong Shilang, damn, you're really something."

Especially Especially Especially Xiao Yan: "6, can I go back and bring Xun'er over to join the scene?"

Zhang Chuyan: "Big boss, you've already nailed it—why add more drama?! Single women in the group, let me introduce myself—I'm Zhang Chuyan, 19, male, fond of females, heir of the Longhu Mountain Tian Shi Sect."

Song Shuhang: "Nice to meet you, the moonlit bird-walker."

Zhang Chuyan: "."

Zhang Chuyan: "Seriously, when I become a Dao Master, I'm deleting this scene."

Han Li: "Congratulations. @Weigong Shilang"

Lu Mingfei: "Loli has three virtues—damn, that's intense!"

Who could have imagined that the ever-reliable Weigong Shilang had quietly dropped a bombshell announcement?

Su Lin: "So that's why you had Tunyun Master rewrite the script—for this? Modern youth really understand romance~~~"

Yi Leina: "I thought you'd pick a banner girl, but whatever—congratulations on your happiness."

Xing: "Do you guys have Silvermane Iron Guards here? That girl looks about the same age as Clara."

Su Lin: "I have a question—is Clara's sole black?"

Xing: "It's quite pale—one of the Ten Unsolved Mysteries of Aetheria."

Su Lin: "So how do you know that?"

Xing: "Then why are you asking about it?"

After the topic drifted off, Weigong Shilang came online again, beside him a blushing Dada Liya, her face buried in her clothes.

If you're embarrassed, don't do it like this!

Though he thought this inwardly, Weigong Shilang didn't know how to speak—he too was flushed, his heart still trembling from the moment, the lingering warmth on his lips still present.

But seeing everyone in the group talking about it, his mind went blank, then he hastily typed: "Wait!!! It's not my fault! Dada Liya suddenly kissed me—I—I—"

Weigong Shilang: "I already deleted this scene!"

Weigong Shilang, immersed in the play, never expected her to ambush him—shouldn't it have ended with just a caress of the cheek!?

Penglai Shan Huiye: "I never explored this route in the Fantasy Realm—I didn't expect to see a hidden route here."

Mount Hōrai Hikari: "@Weigong Shilang, thank you for the hospitality! Now all CGs are unlocked."

Song Shuhang: "Brother Weigong, it's nothing—just like how I like Ah Shiyi, we're not lolicons, we just happen to like someone who… cough, cough."

Weigong Shilang: "This scene wasn't something I asked for."

Especially Especially Especially Xiao Yan: "A man must take responsibility!"

At this moment, Weigong Shilang seemed to understand what it meant to be unable to explain oneself.

Su Lin: "It seems Master Tunnyun has misunderstood something, but as the saying goes, the word 'fate' is wonderfully mysterious—if it's just a misunderstanding, then a single kiss is nothing."

Su Lin: "So, what do you think of this kiss? Just a little girl's playfulness? Or is it…"

Weigong Shilang: "."

Even if it was a script, what kind of feeling would you have when Dada Liya kissed you of her own accord?

Kleine: "My intuition tells me that when something inexplicable happens and you can't find an answer…"

Kleine: "First, let's see if it has anything to do with Su Lin."

Ye Fan: "?"

Zhang Chu'an: "?"

Lu Mingfei: "Sss! That makes perfect sense!"

Su Lin: "???"

Weigong Shilang stared at Kleine's words, utterly baffled and lost for words.

(End of Chapter)