Chapter 118: 118. Chapter 118

118. Chapter 118

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However, Zhao Kuo had poured his heart and soul into controlling the flying Sword at this moment, but the "Mountain Breaker" beneath his feet was truly a Life-bound Spirit Sword that shared his mind; it could be said that its tendency to drop the ball at critical moments was exactly the same as his.

Seeing the young cultivator still drenched in sweat while changing his hand seals, Atian withdrew her hand and swiftly snatched the hairpin that had been blown away; her meticulously styled bun had already come undone, and the fierce gale brought on by their rapid descent billowed her long hair and robes, bringing with it a familiar yet strange salty, damp scent.

That was the scent of the sea.

Ignoring the weightlessness brought on by the fall, Atian hugged the hilt of her Sword and looked around, only to see the crimson sunset of the sky painting the entire firmament, even spreading to the shimmering surface of the sea. Between the sky and the sea stood a massive Floating Island wreathed in clouds and mist; through the thin veil of fog, one could vaguely see the pavilions and towers within, and what was most eye-catching was a massive Broken Sword slanted into it, its cold glint and awe-inspiring Sword Intent piercing through the dreamlike, orange-red scene.

Atian could not tear her gaze away from the Broken Sword; it was so beautiful, yet so terrifying. The terrifying Sword momentum that came like a landslide almost crushed her, yet the Sword Intent, clear as a breeze and bright as the moon, offered her the gentlest consolation.

She could not remember that she was falling and would be smashed to pieces at any moment, nor could she hear Zhao Kuo's panicked shouting; she simply stared intently at that Broken Sword, as if it were the only lover of her life.

"Plop!"

The Mountain Breaker Sword plunged into the sea with Atian and Zhao Kuo. The high-intensity impact was enough to smash a person to pieces in an instant. Zhao Kuo, who entered the water headfirst, fainted from the impact immediately, and the Mountain Breaker Sword instantly emitted a faint halo of light to protect its master.

Atian was not so lucky; she was shaken off the flying Sword. Seawater surged in from all directions, completely enveloping her and dragging her into the colder, pitch-black depths. Strings of bubbles rose from her nose and mouth, but these traces were quickly wiped away by the currents.

There was no struggle, no self-rescue. Atian's mind was still immersed in that fleeting glimpse from just a moment ago; her thoughts even traversed time and space, returning to fifteen years ago.

A sea of fire filled the sky, burning everything to ash. A woman's weeping sounded like a grievance. She sat in the center of the sea of fire, the tongues of flame licking her skin and devouring her clothes, yet she felt not a shred of heat or pain; instead, a warm emotion swept through her entire body, mixed with a touch of languor that only comes after venting.

A man whose face she could not see came before her. He wore a dark purple long robe, the hem of which had already been burned away, leaving only ragged edges. The man bent down and gently picked her up. Some cold liquid dripped onto her cheek. Atian looked up, but in the end, she only captured a blurry mass of light and shadow.

"You must die." The man's tone was very, very light, as if he were afraid of scaring her.

The young Atian giggled, reaching out as usual to hug the man's arm. The man supported the girl with his right hand and placed his left hand on her head, rubbing it gently, then followed the line of Atian's face all the way down, finally resting on the child's thin neck.

The liquid dripping onto her cheek fell faster, making it impossible for Atian to open her eyes.

The woman's weeping suddenly grew louder, and along with it came the sound of messy footsteps. Atian saw a figure lunging into the sea of fire from the outside, grappling with the people who were blocking her.

It's useless.

It's useless.

She cannot pass through this sea of fire.

As the woman's resistance grew more violent, the hand on Atian's neck slowly tightened. The suffocation brought on by the lack of oxygen caused the girl to struggle, but no matter what, she could not shake off the shackles on her neck. Her vision began to darken, and her sight became blurry...

Then, she saw that Sword.

Raging flames coiled around the long, narrow blade, and dark gold inscriptions flickered on the pitch-black edge. Clearly suspended in the deep sea, it seemed as if it could ignite even the water itself.

Atian could not help but walk toward the black Sword; her eyes could no longer hold anything else. The black Sword seemed to sense her presence as well; the blade turned, and the red-and-black hilt was slightly extended toward Atian.

To grasp, or not to grasp?

This was not a multiple-choice question at all.

Although surrounded by flames, the hilt felt warm and smooth to the touch. Even though it was her first time seeing it, Atian found that she was not unfamiliar with it: the Sword was three feet and seven inches long, weighed one catty and ten taels, was ground on eight sides, and was indestructible...

Her fingers lightly touched the blade, and all kinds of information surfaced in her mind one after another. However, there was one most important thing she could not recall at all.

The Sword's name...

The Sword's name...

What is the Sword's name?

"Haa!"

Suddenly poking her head out of the sea, Atian wiped the water droplets from her face and looked around blankly. Even at the end of her trance, she could not remember the name of the black Sword. By the time she reacted, her body was already floating upward, as if the Sword that had stolen her soul was merely a phantom born at the moment of Life and Death.

After experiencing such a fall into the sea, the jewelry on her body had completely vanished, including the hairpin she had tried to save while the flying Sword was falling. It was a gift from Lady Bai for her coming-of-age ceremony, seemingly implying that she was about to be completely severed from her secular life.

Atian was not a sentimental person; she felt no annoyance at the loss of the hairpin. Instead, she looked around, earnestly searching for someone.

It was not close to the shore here, and the only person she could rely on was Zhao Kuo, who had fallen with her, even though the incident of falling into the sea had already proven that this "Immortal Elder" was not reliable at all.

However, soaking in the water for a long time was not a good choice; the current would constantly drain her body heat. Fortunately, Atian's luck was always good, and it did not take much effort to find Zhao Kuo, who was also floating on the surface of the sea.

At this moment, this half-baked cultivator was still in a coma, and the Sword light emitted by the Mountain Breaker Sword was wrapping him up just right, looking from afar like a bizarre "egg."

Atian swam to the edge of the "eggshell" and reached out to knock on it tentatively.

"Thump! Thump! Thump!"

The "eggshell" made a crisp sound.

She circled the "egg" once, but never found a way to wake Zhao Kuo or enter the Sword light, and the loss of body heat had already caused her originally rosy lips to turn pale.

Atian frowned; she was a little angry.

"If you don't wake your master up, I will snap you in half," she said to the Mountain Breaker Sword with an expressionless face.

Perhaps it was an illusion, but the threatened Mountain Breaker Sword seemed to tremble, then suddenly flew up and stabbed fiercely at the buttocks of the unconscious Zhao Kuo that were exposed above the water!

"Ah!!!"

Even a cultivator could not withstand such an attack; Zhao Kuo let out a pig-like shriek and woke up instantly.

"So, so painful! Mountain Breaker, what kind of madness are you in!" he complained, clutching his buttocks.

"Immortal Elder Zhao," Atian leaned over, her face full of concern, "are you alright?"

"Miss Bai!" Zhao Kuo called out in surprise. The moment the Mountain Breaker Sword lost control and fell into the sea, he knew he had caused a huge disaster. No matter how strange Bai Tian acted, it could not change the fact that she was a mortal. If something happened to her in such a fall, let alone the Senior Brother, the sect would definitely not let him off lightly.

Therefore, seeing Bai Tian, who was soaking wet but otherwise unharmed, he was happy from the bottom of his heart.

Seeing that Zhao Kuo was awake, Atian was not in a hurry to get ashore. She reached out and patted the youth's shoulder, pointing at the Floating Island in the distance, and asked softly: "Immortal Elder Zhao, that Sword...?"

Zhao Kuo, who had been violently awakened by his Life-bound Sword, was still dazed. He rubbed his eyes, "... You mean the Ancestor's Sword?"

"The Ancestor's Sword?" Atian repeated after him.

"Yes, that is the Sword of the founding ancestor of our Beihai Sword Sect," Zhao Kuo nodded. "Legend has it that the Floating Island where the sect is located was refined by the ancestor after he severed the dragon head of a dragon vein. When the ancestor reached Ascension, he left his own personal Sword behind to continue suppressing the dragon vein."

Speaking of this, he scratched his messy back of the head, "I don't know if the legend is true, but when I first saw this Sword, I was so suppressed that I almost fainted. Every cultivator in this world who learns the Sword must un-Sword when they come here; this is the Ten Thousand Swords Bowing to the Sect."

"Ten Thousand Swords Bowing to the Sect..." Atian looked at the massive Broken Sword that pierced through the Floating Island, feeling dizzy and enchanted.

Bai Tian's eighteen years of life before this had been self-abandoning and drifting with the tide. The Bai family raised her, so she stayed; the Beihai Sword Sect summoned her, so she came. Anything was fine, anything didn't matter. She had long since lost any expectations for the future.

But now, looking up at this sect-protecting treasure Sword, she discovered that every drop of blood and every piece of bone in her body was trembling with excitement, as if all these years of waiting had been for this very moment.

If one hears the Dao in the morning, one can die without regret in the evening.

"Ha."

She could not help but laugh out loud, starting from a muffled chuckle to a completely unrestrained laugh, overcome with joy.

Atian's unusual behavior naturally drew Zhao Kuo's sidelong glance; it was the first time he had seen this Miss Bai show such an expression, no longer the reserved smile of a refined lady, but a truly, genuinely happy laugh.

At this moment, Atian could be described as disheveled, with bangs stuck messily to her forehead and her clothes clinging tightly to her skin, yet her smile was brighter than ever before.

Zhao Kuo's heartbeat quickened by a beat.

"Immortal Elder Zhao, Immortal Elder Zhao," she called out with a beaming smile, "I am so happy."

This heartfelt joy soon infected Zhao Kuo as well, making him happy along with her; had he been more observant, he would have seen a ring of fire quietly appear at the edges of Atian's pitch-black pupils.

She had not yet forgotten the one that was submerged at the bottom of the sea.