Chapter 319 - 314: Take Me to Find Junior Sister’s Reincarnation

Du Youqian was completely stunned.

Although he had never met this Master Luo Yan, the two of them were already bound by fate.

Originally, they were destined to, every so often, swing their swords together—one wielding the Celestial Dao Sword, the other the Human Dao Sword.

By achieving the Unity of Heaven and Man, they would regulate Yin and Yang, comb through the Earth Veins, and slow the process of Momenan’s decline.

But now... he couldn’t very well have Master Luo Yan’s corpse swing the Celestial Dao Sword, could he?

Of course, the Lingxiao Sword Pavilion could also cultivate the next person capable of inheriting the Celestial Dao Sword, regardless of the cost.

But was an inheritor so easy to find?

Talent, willpower, and luck—not one could be missing.

An inheritor for the Human Dao Sword hadn’t been cultivated in a thousand years, and in the end, they had to seek outside help.

The inheritor of the Celestial Dao Sword might not be as difficult to find, but it would be far from easy.

With good luck, they might cultivate one in a few decades. With bad luck, they might not be able to produce the next Core Formation Cultivator to inherit the Celestial Dao Sword even after one or two hundred years.

And during that time, who knew what level the Spiritual Qi in Momenan would have fallen to!

Elder Wu Fei had said that in three hundred years at most, no one in the world would be able to reach Core Formation.

By that calculation, perhaps in one or two hundred years, even those with Upper Grade Spirit Roots would struggle to reach Core Formation, and it would become exceedingly difficult for those with Earth or Celestial Spirit Roots.

With the Spiritual Qi density at that time, even Cultivators at the Golden Core Middle to Late Stage would find it difficult just to maintain their Cultivation.

Du Youqian certainly didn’t want to see such a future!

Because in one or two hundred years, he might not have been able to break through that passage yet.

’But what can be done?’

Du Youqian felt a massive headache coming on.

’I have to contact Lin Sha and the others later to find out exactly why Master Pang ordered the attack on the Core Formation Cultivators of the Nine Great Sects, and why he wanted Master Luo Yan dead.’

Du Youqian found it hard to believe there wasn’t a conspiracy involved.

Three Core Formation Cultivators had died, especially since one was the inheritor of the Celestial Dao Sword and another was a True Inheritor of the Taihe Sect. This was, of course, a monumental disaster.

The only good news was that their souls had supposedly reincarnated smoothly. They hadn’t been shattered beyond recovery, nor had they been captured by some nefarious means.

The follow-up investigation and any potential retaliation were matters for the future.

Right now, the most urgent task was to clean up the mess.

After the wounded received emergency treatment and the leading Core Formation Masters from each sect regrouped with their Foundation Establishment Disciples, it was time for everyone to go their separate ways.

The groups from the sects that had lost their leading Core Formation Cultivators looked particularly miserable and grief-stricken.

Du Youqian decided not to return to the Wu Kingdom for the time being. Instead, he had Fang Hua assist the Beautiful Daoist Wu Ai in returning Master Wu Jiu’s body, while he himself escorted Master Luo Yan’s body back with the Foundation Establishment Disciples of the Lingxiao Sword Pavilion.

He owed the Lingxiao Sword Pavilion a favor regarding the matter of the Human Dao Sword, and it had to be repaid.

He couldn’t very well refuse such a small task.

When Du Youqian’s Flying Boat descended before the Lingxiao Sword Pavilion’s main gate, a welcoming party adorned with white cloth had already emerged.

Amidst an atmosphere of bleak sorrow, Zeng Baoming accepted Master Luo Yan’s body. The straightforward man couldn’t help but sigh repeatedly.

Du Youqian attended the burial of Master Luo Yan to observe the ceremony and pay his respects.

After the funeral, Zeng Baoming pulled Du Youqian aside to drink with him.

"She was a few decades younger than me, but we were considered the same generation. She was my junior martial sister."

"Back when we went to the Cyan Yang Sect Relics, I actually hadn’t thought about learning the Human Dao Sword. I’m not good at it. I knew it would be very difficult for me if I tried to learn the Human Dao Sword. I should have learned the Emotional Sword. My master said I was full of emotion."

"But my junior martial sister learned the Celestial Dao Sword. The Celestial Dao Sword is a Sword Intent that severely tests one’s aptitude for sword practice. Her talent with the sword was immense, far beyond my own. However, anyone who learns the Celestial Dao Sword needs a practitioner of the Human Dao Sword to complement them. Whether for sparring during Cultivation or joining forces in Magical Combat, the Celestial Dao Sword and the Human Dao Sword are a perfect match. That’s why I went to learn the Human Dao Sword."

"But the Human Dao Sword requires one to lay the foundation during Foundation Establishment. Then, you plant the Sword Intent during Core Formation. You have great talent and have gathered enough Human Dao Fortune. Although you started learning the Human Dao Sword a bit late, that part was no challenge for you. It was different for me. The torment... I don’t even want to think about it now. It was too brutal."

"And in the end, I even failed at Planting the Sword Intent. It caused a mishap during my Core Formation. Although I succeeded in forming my Core, the lingering consequences are endless, and my Human Dao Sword will never have a chance at Great Success. But I don’t regret it. Since she learned the Celestial Dao Sword, I was definitely going to learn the Human Dao Sword. There’s nothing more to say. I would make the same choice ten thousand times over. My failure was due to my own incompetence, not because I made the wrong choice."

"Later, I thought about having you, fellow Daoist, learn the Human Dao Sword. This is because although the Celestial Dao Sword and Human Dao Sword are powerful, Cultivators of these two Sword Intents must spar with each other frequently to make progress. My junior martial sister achieved Sword Pill Formation, and it’s been a while since then, yet the Golden Core Middle Stage is still nowhere in sight. It’s all because there was no one cultivating the Human Dao Sword to spar with her and help her improve. For the past thousand years, it has been the same for everyone in the sect who learned the Celestial Dao Sword. Not a single one of them could break through to the Golden Core Middle Stage."

"I was very happy when you mastered the Human Dao Sword, fellow Daoist. My junior martial sister’s path on the Dao finally had hope."

"But why..." At this point, Zeng Baoming’s eyes were bloodshot, and the hand holding his wine gourd trembled uncontrollably. "Tell me, why... It was just leading a team to a Secret Realm to gather resources! Why did she have to lose her life!"

"The people who ambushed her... they all must die! I will find them, every single one of them, and I will kill them all!"

Towards the end, Zeng Baoming was completely drunk.

Normally, a Core Formation Cultivator shouldn’t be able to get drunk.

What a joke. How could a Core Formation Cultivator possibly get drunk?

Any alcohol entering the body of a Core Formation Master would be broken down instantly.

But Zeng Baoming was truly drunk.

He grabbed Du Youqian’s hand and said, "True Monarch, you understand reincarnation, don’t you? Can you take me to find my junior martial sister’s reincarnation? Please, I’m begging you, take me to find her! My life will be yours. Just take me to find her, okay? I’ll do anything you ask, short of betraying the Sect. And if it really comes to betraying the Sect... that’s not entirely out of the question either..."

Du Youqian could only remain silent.

「The next day.」

Zeng Baoming came to see Du Youqian, acting as if nothing had happened. "Fellow Daoist, I had a bit too much to drink yesterday and said some things I shouldn’t have. Please don’t take them to heart."

Du Youqian said solemnly, "Of course. We’re friends. I won’t go around blabbing about you wanting to betray the Sect, nor will I spread rumors all over town about you having a secret crush on your little junior martial sister."

Zeng Baoming could naturally tell he was joking and said, not knowing whether to laugh or cry, "What will it take for you to keep my secret, fellow Daoist? Why don’t you state your terms and I’ll hear them out."

Du Youqian smiled. "First, you can make good on your earlier promise."

Zeng Baoming laughed heartily. "Then I’ll take you to the Sword Enlightenment Pool first."

But behind his smile, there was always an unconcealable sorrow.

There was nothing to be done about it.

Zeng Baoming had said his master once told him he was better suited to cultivating the Emotional Sword.

Du Youqian felt it was quite the opposite.

’The Heartless Sword is more suitable for him.’

’Absolute Emotionlessness is true emotion; the Heartless is the ultimate emotion.’

’For a person of ultimate feeling and nature, the path of heartlessness is their true calling.’

’Just like Lin Sha.’

The Sword Enlightenment Pool was not a small pond.

It was a massive, naturally formed pit.

It was about the size of four or five soccer fields, though it wasn’t particularly deep. The bottom was uneven; the deepest parts were about four or five stories deep, while the shallower areas were still one or two stories deep.

There was no water in the pit, only countless Flying Swords and Sword Pills that looked old and dilapidated, though some newer ones were scattered among them as well.

Every now and then, a "SWOOSH" would sound by their ears as a Flying Sword or Sword Pill flew past them.

"This is the Sword Enlightenment Pool? It looks more like a Sword Tomb to me," Du Youqian remarked sarcastically to Zeng Baoming beside him.

Zeng Baoming said in surprise, "Why call it a Sword Tomb? These swords aren’t dead. Their masters may have fallen, but the swords themselves are still alive."

Du Youqian wisely decided not to debate the matter of a sword’s life or death with the Sword Madmen of the Lingxiao Sword Pavilion.

’Fine, if you say they’re alive, they’re alive.’

"Can you comprehend Sword Intent just by looking at these Flying Swords and Sword Pills?"

"No," Zeng Baoming said. "It has to be a specific Sword Pill."

He looked up and searched for a moment, then marked a Sword Pill with his Divine Sense. "Look, that’s the Sword Pill of a past inheritor of the Celestial Dao. If my junior martial sister’s Sword Pill hadn’t self-destructed... it would also be here."

Today, when he mentioned Master Luo Yan, there was no longer any visible pain on his face, and his voice was as calm as ever.

But Du Youqian could still sense the sorrow in his heart—a grief so deep he couldn’t rally from it, a feeling that nothing mattered anymore, that it wouldn’t matter even if the world were destroyed.

Perhaps the only thing driving Zeng Baoming forward now was Master Luo Yan’s legacy.