Chapter 1360: Chapter 1354: Li Yunlin's Tribulation
Chapter 1360: Chapter 1354: Li Yunlin’s Tribulation
[Special Event — Li Yunlin’s Tribulation]
[Your family members learned from Li Yunbing about a sword shadow Li Yunlin faced beneath the Old Tree’s omen.
Verbally, Li Yunbing agreed to help Li Yunlin find the half-immortal and immortal who wielded the sword. Secretly, however, he was unwilling to let his eldest brother face such a crisis.
Acting on the principle of striking first to gain the upper hand, he tracked down the ‘Sword Heavenly King’.
After much thought, he concluded that only the Sword Heavenly King could pose a threat to his eldest brother.]
[Acquired Spoils of War: Sword Heavenly King]
…
Border of Westfall Prefecture.
A spirit boat advanced, the sound of rattling chains echoing.
Li Dalong’s ‘Heaven-Imprisoning Lock’ finally lived up to its name one day, imprisoning a true immortal inside an iron cage.
On the spirit boat were the members of the Azure Cloud Li Clan after a massive battle.
They leaned silently against the spirit boat, checking their Dharma Treasures, inspecting themselves to see if they had been planted with a Dao Seed, and dividing the spoils of war from the spatial rings.
After all, this trip into the Blood Moon was not for nothing. Sweeping through along the way, anything that could be stuffed into a spatial ring was taken, and anyone who could be killed was killed.
Launching a lightning strike on the Sword Heavenly King did not hinder them from sweeping away the enemies like an autumn wind sweeping fallen leaves.
Inside the cage forged from Tier-4 materials, the Heaven-Imprisoning Lock bound a young man with a face as flawless as jade.
This was the Sword Heavenly King.
The Sword Heavenly King glared furiously at the Li Clan members surrounding him, as well as the Red Dust Immortal who was leaning against the mast with a peculiar expression, staring at him.
He had already cursed all the curses he could muster.
As a Heavenly Immortal, His revival had not been easy in the slightest.
He had actually awakened over a hundred thousand years ago, continuously parasitizing the body of a sword cultivator.
That sword cultivator was at the Void Refinement realm. To evade the pursuit of the Department of Immortal Suppression and the Imperial Dynasty, He had even fled to a small island in the sea domains.
Finally hearing of the Blood Moon’s revival, and that within it a Great Golden Immortal intended to restore the ancient Heavenly Court and recreate the glory of the immortals, He naturally wanted to reclaim His ancient status.
He wanted to gather kin far and wide, impart the Sword Dao to the world, and then absorb sword qi into Himself to advance further.
Who knew… upon arriving in Grandhaven Prefecture, hearing that taking down the Southern Frontier would earn Him a place, yet He had only been here for three years…
Just today, as He was guiding mortals to consume ‘Sword Seeds’ to become His kin, this group of people had already surrounded His stronghold.
Who could have thought the people of Azure Cloud would be so audacious?
“The Spirit Lord clearly stated that under His command, once the Heavenly Court is rebuilt, I would be His absolute foremost fierce general. He guaranteed my safety, I…”
The Sword Heavenly King muttered. Everything had happened too fast. Not a single one of the dozens of people was below the Void Refinement realm.
He even suspected that all the Void Refinement experts of Azure Cloud Prefecture had come.
Among them, the aura of a Great Golden Immortal even flashed briefly. Unable to hold out for even half an incense stick’s time, He had already been captured.
He looked unwillingly at the Red Dust Immortal. “Who are you? Why do you associate with the Human Race of Azure Cloud Prefecture? Why do you target me so?”
“…”
The Red Dust Immortal spread his hands, glancing at Li Yaoqing, who was healing Li Yaotie.
Li Yaotie acted as a shield; the Sword Heavenly King’s lethality was extraordinary, but fortunately, his body was tough.
Facing the Sword Heavenly King’s question, he had no choice either. He was just an errand boy. He wouldn’t dare to disobey the entity inside Li Yaoqing.
The historical records of the rolling red dust let the Red Dust Immortal know exactly who he could provoke and who he couldn’t.
Furthermore… he hadn’t even put the Sword Heavenly King in his eyes.
Seeing the Red Dust Immortal ignore him, the Sword Heavenly King was utterly furious, clearly exasperated to the point of spouting nonsense.
“A dignified immortal, actually associating with mortals, being used by the Human Race! You have completely disgraced the face of us spirits of heaven and earth!
And you mortals, the Holy Moon will sooner or later reach Azure Cloud Prefecture. Not a single one of you will escape.
Even if you kill me, so what? After ten thousand generations, the immortal body will revive again, and by then, you will all be gone…”
This tirade of furious curses was suddenly caught in His throat. He only felt a repulsive, monstrous demonic qi approaching.
A figure clad in a black robe, fiddling with a black dragon that resembled a winding snake on his left arm, slowly approached.
His wicked thoughts could almost pierce the heavens. Reaching the cage, he slowly squatted down, staring playfully at the Sword Heavenly King.
The Sword Heavenly King finally mustered His courage and shouted angrily,
“A demon who stole our immortal methods and cannot suppress his wicked thoughts! All that awaits you is a dead end!”
“You’ve been cursing the whole way. Are all immortals this kind of virtue?” Li Yunbing sneered mockingly.
Just as the Sword Heavenly King was about to continue cursing.
Li Yunbing reached in with a tightly clenched fist. The Sword Heavenly King glared coldly. “Going to use torture and abuse? I’ve seen it all throughout my long years. It’s useless.”
“I merely wanted to ask the Exalted Immortal to help me identify this item.”
“Hm?”
The Sword Heavenly King froze for a moment.
Li Yunbing raised an eyebrow and unfurled his palm in front of the Sword Heavenly King.
Seeing Li Yunbing’s palm, the Sword Heavenly King was even more bewildered. There were only palm lines. “There’s nothing here…”
“Slap!!!”
Before He could finish speaking, Li Yunbing’s unfurled palm tilted slightly to the side and slapped outward.
The Sword Heavenly King’s face had a lot of meat, and the sound was very loud.
Perhaps having never been slapped in the face before, nor toyed with like a child, He was in such disbelief that His eyes lost focus.
The family members glanced over upon hearing the sound, then went back to whatever they were doing as if it were a common occurrence.
They mused inwardly that Li Yunbing hadn’t eaten the immortal alive, so he was actually still quite rational.
Li Yunbing’s chilling voice echoed in His ear.
“There is always something you fear. I just so happen to be an expert at manipulating wicked thoughts.
With your immortal body, you wouldn’t want me to toss you down to the mortal realm, would you?
You’d better be obedient. Otherwise, I’ll make sure the commoners you look down upon the most can slap you in the face with absolute impunity.
I imagine the many mortals in the Southern Frontier, whose families were ruined and lives destroyed by you lot, have many more ideas on how to deal with you than I do.”
“You…”
The Sword Heavenly King burned with fury, but seeing Li Yunbing’s mocking gaze, He felt terrified in His heart and didn’t dare to speak.
The crowd gathered together.
Li Chang’an said in a deep voice, “This time, we took advantage of the Spirit Lord’s order to negotiate with Min Tiange, giving us the opportunity to capture the Sword Heavenly King.
This matter has both pros and cons. The pro is capturing a Heavenly Immortal; the con is that once the Spirit Lord notices, our future operations will become even more difficult.
It will simply be the day of all-out war.”
“He’ll notice sooner or later.” Li Tianqi grinned, “I saw Min Tiange. He finally came after all. We’ll settle the new scores and the old debts together!”
Immortal Martial Grotto-Heaven, Cliff of Reflection.
Li Yunlin and Fairy Hongxiu cuddled together.
Upon learning that her husband had died in Nangong Qingya’s memories of what resembled a ‘past life’, the anxiety in Fairy Hongxiu’s heart was beyond words.
However, she knew Li Yunlin’s temperament well; her husband dared to do what others would not.
Now, hearing of the Old Tree’s omen about a ‘sword shadow’ piercing his soul, it appeared to be an omen of near-certain death.
Yet her husband would undoubtedly still forge ahead in the face of death. He was stubborn to the bone and never knew when to retreat.
“In the past, when I was in Azure Cloud Prefecture, I loved doing foolish things. Aunt tried to stop me from going to the Skyveil Sect, but I came anyway.
There was a rift between my father and me, but I wanted to be like him, to be able to stand on my own. What man doesn’t want to be the hero of his village?”
Noticing the worry in Fairy Hongxiu’s eyes, Li Yunlin smiled at her.
“And then I messed things up. Sect cultivation is not that easy; the more outstanding one’s aptitude, the easier it is to fall into the whirlpool of power.
My master wanted to murder my entire family.”
“By the time I emerged from my secluded cultivation, everything was already over.
The elders of the family had sacrificed themselves. The Old Ancestor and my clansmen had fought their way to the Skyveil Sect, and I still hadn’t come out.
I’m not afraid of you laughing at me when I say this—I basically did absolutely nothing, stirred up a massive pile of trouble, and ended up sitting on the sect master’s throne of the Skyveil Sect.”
Li Yunlin said this with a smile.
Yet, Fairy Hongxiu could see the lingering gloom in his eyes.
“Do you know why I like being at the Cliff of Reflection?”
Fairy Hongxiu shook her head, looking at Li Yunlin’s smiling face.
Li Yunlin said, “When I’m at the Cliff of Reflection, it’s the time I cause the least trouble. No one imprisons me; I imprison myself.”
“When we were at the Tian Xing Grotto-Heaven, the Old Ancestor said that I am an elder in the family.
At that time, I realized the family had many, many younger generations, and it was finally time for me to take responsibility.
I also understood why, despite the massive pile of trouble I stirred up, neither my grandparents, my father, nor my uncles and aunts ever scolded me.”
“As elders, as long as the younger generation hasn’t committed a true sin, even if they cause trouble, we must still protect our own.”
“In Qingya’s memories, I died on the battlefield.”
“I actually felt relieved, because I died fighting on the front lines. On my battlefront, not a single clansman was harmed.”
“Yunlin…” Fairy Hongxiu looked at him with a reproachful gaze.
“I can only say these things to you,” Li Yunlin smiled.
“Rest assured. Since everything in Qingya’s memories is already known, and the Old Tree has given me the omen, then it isn’t a situation of near-certain death.
I’m not foolish enough to throw my life away.”
Shortly after, Li Yunlin had Nangong Qingya leave, and used the old cat’s spiritual item to comprehend the Great Dao.
[Your descendant Li Yunlin, with the help of the Skyveil Hall and the hall spirit, the old cat, as well as Li Zhiheng finding all the spiritual items in Azure Cloud Prefecture and incorporating them into the Skyveil Hall, has peered into 27 Great Daos over the years.
Acquired Trait: Dao Glimpser]
[Perfected rules are enough to form formidable combat power. For every rule perfected, combat power increases by 30% of the peak Void Refinement realm.]
[Acquired the ancient immortal art left within the Red Dust Immortal’s ‘Rolling Red Dust’ immortal method: Spirit-Pointing Art.
Gathers all rules into a single point for an instant detonation. The staggering power is enough to deal with the Body Integration realm.]
Inside the Skyveil Hall, it looked like a starry sky.
The old cat hopped onto Li Yunlin’s shoulder, its heart heavy.
The arrival of the Blood Moon would be the time Li Yunlin sought out the wielder of that sword shadow for a great battle.
Even if that weren’t the case, the arrival of the immortals from within the Blood Moon would result in a bloody battle for the Li Clan, placing everyone in danger.
Yet, warning signals of Li Yunlin’s impending danger arrived time and time again.
It had followed Li Yunlin for centuries; even keeping a bird for that long would foster affection, let alone a human.
“I have searched for a Great Dao suitable for me for many years, yet I still haven’t found the karmic opportunity.”
Li Yunlin let out a long breath and said to the old cat,
“Encountering that sword shadow will be a moment of near-certain death—either I see through the Great Dao, or I perish. The Old Tree’s omens have never been wrong.”
The old cat remained as arrogant as ever, though its voice was a pitch lower. “With me here, with me protecting you, kid, what are you afraid of?”
Li Yunlin smiled. Having spent centuries with the old cat, this feline had finally developed human-like feelings and grown attached.
“If something happens to me, flee back to Azure Cloud Prefecture. For my sake, help the descendants of my Li family.
Tell my Old Ancestor that from the day we were at the Tian Xing Grotto-Heaven, I have protected the children of the family just as he taught me. Tell my grandfather, let him…”
Li Yunlin gave his instructions one by one, and the old cat listened with a furrowed brow.
In the cloudy sky, a group of people remained hidden, shielding themselves from heavenly secrets.
On the spirit boat.
The cage was dragged to the edge. The family members also perceived everything happening inside the Skyveil Hall through the mirror surfaces, remaining speechless for a long time.
Until the Sword Heavenly King inside the cage asked through gritted teeth, “What do you want me to do?!!”
Li Yunbing kicked the cage and pointed at his eldest brother in the Skyveil Hall of the Immortal Martial Grotto-Heaven, saying in a deep voice,
“Help us assassinate my eldest brother. You must cast a sword shadow to slash across his soul.”
“…”
The Sword Heavenly King stared dumbfounded at the group of dead-serious Li Clan members.
As a cold breeze blew through the cloudy sky, He was in such disbelief that His voice grew faint.
“Are you serious? You kidnapped this immortal from beneath the Blood Moon just to assassinate your eldest brother?”
The family members stared solemnly at the bewildered Sword Heavenly King, nodding earnestly in perfect unison.
This reminded the Sword Heavenly King of the apocalyptic scenes back at His shrine within the Blood Moon, leaving Him utterly disoriented in the wind.
—
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