Hearing the young man’s words, Feng Ci only gave a faint smile.

“What nonsense are you saying?” The corner of Feng Ci’s mouth curved upwards, but the smile did not reach his eyes: “A shell that has absolutely nothing inside it,  a puppet that had been created by who-knows-what. You really think you can be discussed on equal terms with this Venerable One?” 

The long sword in his hand pulsed and instantly, its golden light expanded substantially.

“—As if you’re worthy.”

If Xiao ChengXuan wanted to recall the most unforgettable moment in his life, this day in Broken Sword Manor, this battle which even changed the colors of the Heavens and Earth, undoubtedly ranked number 1.

To become the LangFeng City Master, establish the Immortal Alliance on his own, and sit steady in the position of Immortal Alliance Leader for 300 years, Pei QianYue naturally didn’t rely solely on the legacy that he had inherited from Grandmaster QianQiu. As a powerful demon(妖) who has cultivated 3000 years, there might not be a second person in the entire cultivation world who can compare with him in power. 

However, it wasn’t until the young man next to Pei QianYue joined the battle that Xiao ChengXuan finally understood the concept of ‘There’s always someone stronger’.

The cacophony in the sky rumbled unceasingly, as if all the dark clouds gathered in the air above Broken Sword Manor.

Beneath the sky, three figures battled fiercely, practically indistinguishable from each other. Every sword strike so fast, they were hard to capture with the visible eye. The sword aura created from each swing fell from the air and created deep gashes on the ground.

Even the slightest brush against the aura can instantly take a person’s life.

There was a constant spray of gravel around him. Xiao ChengXuan supported the disciple next to him and climbed up with great difficulty, yelling loudly: “Hide… hurry and hide! Get inside the buildings—!”

The crowd finally moved, as if waking up from a dream.

The still conscious disciples carried the already unconscious ones and staggered towards the houses.

Xiao ChengHuan also stumbled over to Xiao ChengXuan. 

Just now, he was too close to the disciples maintaining the sword arrays, so he was also hit by the impact when the magic arrays shattered. Thrown and acquiring a limp as the result, his delicate face was covered full of dust and dirt, looking especially battered.

“Elder brother, those two people are—”

Before he finished speaking, Xiao ChengXuan suddenly charged towards him  desperately. The next second, a sword qi fell from the sky. The place where the two people stood originally instantly became a deep crater.

The two brothers rolled several meters away. Xiao ChengHuan’s back slammed hard onto the ground. He could smell the heavy aroma of blood nearby. 

“Elder, elder brother……”

Just now, that sword qi unfortunately landed right next to the two people. Xiao ChengXuan had protected Xiao ChengHuan and evaded with his fastest speed. However, he was still hit by some of the sword energy.

Covered in blood from head to toe, Xiao ChengXuan opened his mouth to say something, but he first hacked out a mouthful of blood.

Boom— 

A sudden clap of thunder exploded in the air. Xiao ChengHuan’s shout of alarm was engulfed by the noise: “Elder Brother!”

“……Are you wailing at my funeral?” After a long while, Xiao ChengXuan finally spoke once again. His voice was extremely weak. After saying this one sentence, he coughed several times again: “It’s nothing…… I won’t die.”

The originally beautiful and elegant JiangNan courtyard has already become a devastated wreck. Xiao ChengXuan flipped over onto his back and laid on a random pile of rocks. He looked towards the skies at the entangled figures: “ChengHuan, you were right.”

“Ah?” Face covered in tears, Xiao ChengHuan didn’t understand what his elder brother was suddenly saying. 

Xiao ChengXuan smiled in self-deprecation: “I actually thought I had a chance at victory.”

A man’s determination can conquer fate— Ultimately, this was nothing but humankind’s far-fetched dream.

Xiao ChengXuan closed his eyes. Suddenly he felt a slightly cold sensation on his face.

The rain… finally fell. 

The pitter patter of light rain very quickly transformed into a downpour. Under the heavy rain curtain, a splendid white light fell rapidly from the skies, the impact of the landing spreading out in an arc.

Broken pieces of stone flew outward, sending dust in all directions.

Feng Ci was knocked back a few dozen meters. He stabbed his QianQiu Sword forcibly into the ground and drew a deep gash before coming to a stop.

Turning his head, he spat out a mouthful of blood. 

This body was too weak.

Usually he couldn’t feel it, but right now in a real battle, he finally perceived the limitations of this body. It was impossible for the body of this ordinary youth to bear the strength of his soul.

Feng Ci felt like there was a loud buzzing in his head. All of his muscles and bones also screamed in severe pain.

“Master…..” 

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Pei QianYue: “En?”

“You guys… one is a powerful demon(妖) who has cultivated 3000 years. The other is a puppet that can’t die……” Feng Ci knelt on one knee, the side of his face reflecting eerily white under the flash of lightning from the skies: “Trying to pick on me, right?”

He couldn’t even enjoy a good fight here.

“Master, don’t speak anymore.” Pei QianYue raised his hand and pressed it against Feng Ci’s back, slowly transmitting spirit energy to him. 

Feng Ci raised his eyes and looked ahead. Amidst the lightning and thunder, the slender young man slowly stood up under the heavy curtain of rain.

The young man’s wounds were actually not any less than his.

During the exchange just now, Feng Ci had already figured out that this thing had inherited his full strength at the height of his power. It possessed his cultivation level and weapon, but that’s all there was to it. Even though Feng Ci couldn’t employ his full strength right now, with Pei QianYue’s assistance, logically speaking there should be no issues in dealing with this thing.

But the troublesome part was that this thing had an immortal body. 

The young man stood up with the support of his sword. He was bleeding everywhere, entire body drenched by the rain. The rain and blood mixed into a puddle beneath his feet, but very quickly, the bloodstains on his body vanished entirely. [content=”Brandishing his long sword”]I don’t want to say summoning, but remember they’re using energy swords. So here, it’s probably describing something like activating a lightsaber xD[/tn], the young man looked at the two people in front of him with serene eyes.

“Another round?”

“……” Feng Ci turned to ask Pei QianYue: “Was I this infuriating when I spoke in the past?”

Pei QianYue said indifferently: “No.” 

Feng Ci acknowledged with an ‘Oh’ and felt relieved: “That’s good.”

Feeling energy returning to his four limbs somewhat, Feng Ci pushed away the hand Pei QianYue pressed against the center of his back and stood up with the other’s arm for assistance: “Save some of your strength.”

Brandishing his sword again, he said coldly: “There’s still a long hard battle waiting for us.”

“You still want to obstruct me?” The young man spoke nonchalantly: “You should be able to tell that I did not use my full strength.” 

Feng Ci: “So what?”

The young man sighed quietly: “Right now I only want the 80 lives within Broken Sword Manor. You’re still useful so there’s no need for you to be sacrificed in vain here.”

“Still useful?” Feng Ci’s eyes flashed faintly: “How so? Am I useful to you, or to the person who created you?”

The young man didn’t answer. 

Feng Ci didn’t mind either and started laughing: “I understand now.”

“That means……” The long sword in his hand suddenly shone radiantly. The light of the sword reflected in his eyes, projecting his bright and beautiful smile: “I still can’t die, right?”

Feng Ci let go of Pei QianYue’s hand. Creating a violent swirl of wind and rain, the sword in his hand swung aggressively towards the young man. Just like he had guessed, when he abandoned his defenses to engage in a full on attack, the young man’s movements, on the contrary, became more hesitant.

—This person didn’t dare kill him. 

With a soft puchi, Feng Ci pierced the young man’s chest with his sword. Then he took a powerful step forward and pinned the young man securely to the ground.

Stepping on his former body, Feng Ci gave a cold and chilling smile.

All of this happened extremely quickly. Feng Ci could practically hear the sound of his bones shattering piece by piece from the sudden burst of power from his soul. Yet he continued to smile, as if the intense pain didn’t bring him suffering, but rather an unprecedented sense of satisfaction.

A satisfaction that he has not experienced for 3000 years. 

Mouthfuls of blood gushed out of the young man’s mouth. He struggled with all his might but couldn’t break free from the sword that pierced his chest.

“I can’t die… because I need to kill you myself.” Feng Ci bent down and stared at the young man’s bloodstained face —which despite so, was still shockingly beautiful— and said calmly: “Am I right?”

The young man shook his head: “Not right now.”

“I know.” Feng Ci’s eyes were ice-cold: “But why should I listen to you.” 

As soon as he spoke, a dazzling gold light suddenly appeared above the two people. The gold light poured down from the sky and in that brilliance, an upside-down bronze cauldron slowly emerged.

The Phantom Spirit Cauldron.

Capable of trapping all the immortals, demons(妖), gods, and evil(魔) within this world, to drag them into never-ending nightmares, unable to reincarnate ever again.

Trapping a soulless shell was naturally no issue. 

The young man’s pupils constricted abruptly.

A faint red light flashed at the base of Feng Ci’s right ring finger. He turned and looked over to the side. Pei QianYue stood not too far away, the hand seal he made still visible and not yet faded.

The Phantom Spirit Cauldron was the last killing blow that Feng Ci had prepared in advance.

To say it more accurately, if Broken Sword Manor didn’t have the Phantom Spirit Cauldron, Feng Ci might not have agreed so easily to using Broken Sword Manor as bait to lure the mystery murderer here. 

The young man realized what’s about to happen and began to struggle violently: “You can’t oppose…… You can’t—!”

Pei QianYue said coolly: “Capture.”

The air stopped for an instant.

Immediately afterwards, a strong gale rose and the rain flowed backwards. Like an enormous beast, the Phantom Spirit Cauldron opened its primordial mouth towards the two people below it, 

A huge vacuum dragged Feng Ci and the young man off the ground. No longer able to endure the severe pain of the shattered muscles and bones all over his body, Feng Ci released his grip. The QianQiu sword instantly transformed into fragments of light and dissipated into the void.

The next second, someone wrapped their arms around Feng Ci’s waist and brought him into their embrace.

Feng Ci didn’t even have the strength to raise his hand anymore. He looked at the man in front of him and was just about to say something when the expression on his face abruptly changed.

A pale white hand suddenly grabbed Pei QianYue’s shoulder. 

Feng Ci looked past Pei QianYue’s shoulder and saw that familiar, handsome and aloof face.

“You can’t…… You shouldn’t oppose him—”

With inexplicable strength, the young man dragged the two people, who had originally left the range of the bronze cauldron, forcibly back under the golden light. The wild gale whistled past their ears and in this critical moment, Pei QianYue only had time to give Feng Ci a powerful shove—

“Pei QianYue!” 

Feng Ci slammed back down onto the ground hard. His body rolled several meters away before finally coming to a stop after hitting a random rock.

The golden light above his head dispersed. The bronze cauldron flipped around in midair and landed with a huge noise.

The dust and gravel dissipated.

The young man and Pei QianYue’s figures both vanished. 

“Immortal……Immortal Master!”

Very quickly, someone arrived next to Feng Ci and attempted to help him up, but Feng Ci ignored them.

He only stared at the cauldron that had fallen dormant once again and chuckled softly: “Pei QianYue, you truly are a lunatic.”

The cacophony of noise in the surrounding grew louder and louder. Feng Ci practically couldn’t hear what they were yelling and shouting about. This body was injured too severely. All of his muscles and bones had pretty much shattered. There was nowhere that didn’t bleed. 

In the complete chaos, Feng Ci reached out with all his strength and grabbed someone’s sleeve.

“Heal me.” Feng Ci’s voice was extremely hoarse. With every word he spoke, fresh blood poured out of his mouth: “Don’t let me die.”

After saying this, Feng Ci closed his eyes gently and let his body fall back feebly.

No one saw that in the instant his body fell, a green wisp floated out of his forehead and transformed into a handsome young man in the air. 

After leaving the physical body, the bone piercing pain should have also subsided at the same time.

But it didn’t.

Feng Ci lowered his head and pressed a hand against the center of his chest. His heart was beating violently within his chest cavity and with every breath he took, it caused a new wave of intense pain.

“So it’s this kind of feeling.” 

Feng Ci laughed to himself as his figure transformed into a green wisp once again and floated inside the bronze cauldron.

The Phantom Cauldron was an unique treasure created by a cultivation master during the Great War between Mortals and Demons(魔). Later on, that master had bestowed this item to Feng Ci, the leader of the Human Alliance, to deal with the demon(魔) clan. However, after the war, this item had somehow gotten lost in the mortal realm and ended up in the hands of Broken Sword Manor.

Back then, Feng Ci had used this item to capture many demons(魔), but this was actually the first time he’s entered it himself.

Inside the Phantom Cauldron was a space composed of primordial chaos. 

Feng Ci had originally entered this area with his soul, but when he landed softly inside the primordial chaos, he discovered that he had returned to a corporeal body.

The young man’s appearance was handsome and aloof, with long hair practically hanging to the ground.

This actually wasn’t too strange.

Illusions were independent spaces. To make the fabricated illusions more realistic and bewitching, usually they’d automatically fill in the flaws. That’s why in this illusion, Feng Ci had returned to his original appearance. 

But Feng Ci couldn’t feel happy about this at all.

—Anyone, who just had a fight with their physical body, would feel awkward here.

Too absurd.

Living all these years, he has never imagined that he’d encounter such absurdity. 

Feng Ci shook his head and started walking forward.

Inside this darkened space, mirrors of light appeared one after another, reflecting images of Feng Ci’s past.

Feng Ci patiently looked through them one by one.

In the first mirror, an enormous rift was torn open in the sky. Tumultuous demonic(魔) energy poured out of the rift like a flood, instantly devouring all those casting magic and setting up arrays below it. 

In the second mirror, the people swallowed up by the demonic(魔) energy didn’t die. Their figures increased in size, growing wings and horns. They cannibalized each other, ripping and biting. Drenched in blood, they were changed beyond recognition.

In the 3rd mirror, the 4th mirror…… Feng Ci saw his younger self, stepping over the mountains of corpses and oceans of blood to battle to the death with these monsters.

In the last image, the young Feng Ci cut off the head of a demonic monster.

The head rolled next to Feng Ci’s feet. He half-knelt on the ground, raised his hand, and gently close the wide-opened eyes on the grotesque face of that demonic monster. 

“—Shizun.”

Feng Ci closed his eyes.

It’s said that the Phantom Spirit Cauldron can reconstruct a person’s most painful and desperate memory and trap them within this endless nightmare to torment them forever, life after life.

Those with poor willpower would feel so tortured by the illusion, they’d die of qi deviation and insanity. Naturally, they’d be unable to find a method of escape. 

This was indeed a very wicked and cruel magic weapon.

Feng Ci chuckled quietly and continued to walk forward.

The further he walked, the quicker the images on the mirrors’ surfaces changed. The light and shadow of the images crisscrossed and fluctuated irregularly. Countless mirrors of light surrounded Feng Ci, circling him at a dizzying speed.

Feng Ci stood in the center of this vortex and said quietly: “That should be enough, right?” 

The alternating images stopped abruptly.

Inside the mirror that stopped in front of Feng Ci, the young and inexperienced version of him knelt on top of a mountain peak, looking determined at a dark cloud-covered sky.

Feng Ci remembered. This was probably the day that he prayed to the Heavenly Principle to bless him with the Supreme Dao.

He shook his head at the sight of his past self, a hint of ridicule appearing in his eyes: “Which part of my life has not been in pain and despair?” 

“—Can you even pick properly?”

As soon as he finished speaking, the mirror in front of him suddenly started to shake violently.

The faint shattering of glass could be heard consecutively as cracks appeared and grew on the surfaces of that mirror. Breaking and falling into pieces, the mirror ultimately transformed into fragments that scattered into the void.

Thousands of mirrors shattered to pieces in this instant. 

The Phantom Spirit Cauldron used a person’s most painful memory as the base for the illusion it created, but it didn’t know what kind of illusion to weave for Feng Ci.

Because in Feng Ci’s heart, there was no memory that can bear the burden of being ‘the most’.

Even the master, who had created the Phantom Spirit Cauldron thousands of years ago, probably never imagined that the method of breaking the Phantom Spirit Cauldron’s magic can be just this simple.

Feng Ci took a deep breath. When he opened his eyes again, he was no longer in that primordial space. 

Soft grass was beneath his feet. The sunlight fell between the treetops. The air was permeated with the fresh fragrance of wet grass after a rainstorm.

Feng Ci tilted his head up and looked towards the sky. He had a rough guess to where he was right now.

This was LingWu Mountain 300 years ago.