Chapter 407: Pulled Xuan Xiao

Qingluan Peak.

This was within the territory of Huangshan; Gu Qing held Lin Qing’er in his arms, walking calmly until he reached the summit of Qingluan Peak, where he saw a waterfall plunging straight down and clouds surging like seas. On the peak stood a small wooden cabin, and before it lay a grave inscribed: “Tomb of My Beloved Wife, Han Lingsha.”

Shang Ruan truly deserves to die!

Oh, you’ve already died once—and won a resurrection match…

Gu Qing stepped forward and gazed at the Wangshu Sword planted before Han Lingsha’s tombstone.

In Immortal Sword Legend IV, besides the Demon Sword where Long Kui hid, there were two divine swords: Xihe Sword and Wangshu Sword—yin and yang paired, capable of binding the Illusory Dream Realm.

Gu Qing reached out and drew up the Wangshu Sword.

Wangshu means moon; Gu Qing felt its supreme yin power, pondering deeply, when a voice came from inside the cabin: “Don’t bring a little girl near this sword.”

As the voice spoke, Yun Tianhe pushed open the wooden door and stepped out. He had once used the Houyi Bow to destroy Qionghua—and lost his eyesight. For these three hundred years, Yun Tianhe had silently guarded Qingluan Peak day after day.

“This little girl has a tough fate, and her destiny differs from Wangshu Sword’s—she won’t be affected.”

Gu Qing answered first, then turned to Yun Tianhe and asked tentatively: “All these years, haven’t you been with Liu Mengli?”

Immortal Sword Legend IV had four protagonists: Yun Tianhe, Han Lingsha, Murong Ziying, and Liu Mengli. Among them, Yun Tianhe was cursed by the Candle Dragon’s Breath, freezing his time and rendering him immortal; Liu Mengli was a spirit, now the master of the Illusory Dream Realm, with an equally long lifespan; Han Lingsha’s lineage carried a curse, her life span short, and she was ultimately killed by Wangshu Sword’s backlash.

As for Murong Ziying, he likely ascended to immortality.

Yet in Immortal Sword IV, the romantic arrows pointed to both heroines loving Yun Tianhe. Liu Mengli, bound by the Illusory Dream Realm, had to part from Yun Tianhe; after Han Lingsha’s death, there should have been no obstacle between them.

“We’re friends.”

Yun said.

“Hehe…”

“You’re laughing?”

“Nothing. I just thought of something joyful.”

Gu Qing waved casually and sat beside Yun Tianhe, chatting freely.

Yun Tianhe possessed a pure heart and sensed no malice in Gu Qing, so he was willing to talk more.

“In today’s world, when it comes to mortal cultivation, there are two: Shushan and Qionghua.”

Gu Qing said: “I have a secret manual of Taiji Xuanqing Dao. I’d like to trade it for Qionghua’s cultivation techniques.”

In Immortal Sword, Qionghua Sect was founded by the Nine Heavens Goddess. Its techniques—Thousand Reflections Sword, Nine You Chilling Sword, and Shangqing Breaking-Cloud Sword—were among the supreme sword arts. As for Shushan Sword Sect, during the time of Immortal Sword I, the Wine Sword Immortal took Li Xiaoyao as a disciple and said: “Master this sword art for a year, and you’ll dominate the Three Realms.”

Unfortunately, as the Immortal Sword world expanded and the Six Realms emerged, Li Xiaoyao—a genius of the highest order—fell into obscurity before the chosen ones of later versions.

“Qionghua’s manuals…”

Yun Tianhe recalled the past—his days learning swordplay at Qionghua, and his departed friends who had ascended.

“I don’t want manuals. I don’t want immortality. I only wish to quietly stay here on Qingluan Peak with Lingsha.”

Cursed by the Candle Dragon’s Breath, Yun Tianhe had no need to struggle for a mere thousand-year lifespan or flee to the New Immortal Realm. With this unique detachment, he said: “If you want Qionghua’s techniques, I’ll tell you… because you’re a good man!”

Yun Tianhe’s pure heart sensed benevolence in Gu Qing.

“Qionghua’s sword techniques emphasize unity of man and sword, rooted in Daoist sixteen levels…”

Yun Tianhe explained sword arts to Gu Qing. When Qionghua still existed, it, Penglai, and Shushan stood as the three great sword sects, with Qionghua the most renowned. Qionghua even achieved collective ascension—a feat whose depth and methods Yun Tianhe now conveyed, and Gu Qing absorbed every detail.

“In sword arts, there are Sword-riding Technique, Still Sword, Eight Trigrams Sword, Taiyi Sword Art, Three Qi Converging…”

Before his ascension, Murong Ziying often accompanied Yun Tianhe here, and Yun Tianhe had absorbed every secret of his cultivation. Now, as Yun Tianhe recounted them, his mind grew clearer. When he finished explaining the Shangqing Breaking-Cloud Sword technique, his eyes tingled with itching and pain; he rubbed them lightly, opened them—and all things in heaven and earth naturally reflected in his gaze.

“Huh?”

Yun Tianhe did not rejoice wildly—only looked at Gu Qing, then at the infant in his arms, with quiet astonishment.

“I’ve been blind for many years. How did my eyes heal?”

Yun Tianhe asked, puzzled.

Gu Qing soothed Lin Qing’er in his arms and said: “I heard that calamities must end. Your blindness was a calamity—now, it seems your suffering has reached its completion.”

Yun Tianhe found it absurd, yet believed it. After all, during the transmission of the manuals, Gu Qing had never healed his eyes, nor had he felt any change—until suddenly, the itching came, and then he could see.

Perhaps this truly was a miracle.

Now that he could see, Yun Tianhe walked naturally to Han Lingsha’s grave, gazing at the small mound, touching the tombstone, silent for a long time.

“Are you the strange one on Qingluan Peak?”

Zi Xuan’s figure had arrived at Qingluan Peak. Seeing Yun Tianhe, she regarded him with curiosity.

Yun Tianhe’s deeds were recorded in Shushan and among the descendants of Nüwa; all had silently avoided disturbing him. Zi Xuan came to Huangshan’s Qingluan Peak solely because Gu Qing was there.

Yun Tianhe nodded, sensing Zi Xuan’s aura, and asked curiously: “Are you the child’s mother?”

Zi Xuan smiled faintly, her gaze turning to Gu Qing.

Yun Tianhe looked between the two, then at the child, feeling like a family drama unfolding. He whispered: “Don’t fight on Qingluan Peak. If you must fight, go outside.”

“Come!”

Zi Xuan cried sharply.

“Alright.”

Gu Qing nodded and chanted a sword incantation.

At that moment, sunlight altered. Far beneath the East Sea, where sunlight never reached, Xuan Xiao was imprisoned. Xihe Sword lay silently beside him—when suddenly, it trembled faintly.

“Xihe?”

Xuan Xiao’s crimson hair flew wildly, his eyes blazing with heat as he chanted the sword incantation.

He had been betrayed three times: first by Su Yu, his beloved—he believed they would fulfill Qionghua’s dream together, but she fled with Wangshu Sword and Yun Tianqing; second by Qionghua’s elders, who attacked and sealed him; third by Qionghua’s own belief in ascension—after crossing Kunlun’s Heavenly Light, their ancestral ancestor, the Nine Heavens Goddess, descended like a deus ex machina and cast them all into the depths of the East Sea.

In the end, only Xihe Sword remained with him.

Now, Xihe Sword trembled, then, as if summoned, transformed into a streak of flaming light, splitting the sea and flying far away.

“No…”

Xuan Xiao screamed in anguish!

(End of Chapter)