Chapter 64
Helan Xue closed his eyes, his hand tightly pressing on Lin Queli’s back, his clothes wrinkled.
He was speechless for a moment.
His first reaction was definitely happiness. He and A’Li had a child, a child that belonged to them, who had inherited their appearance, cultivation, spiritual energy, and personality. It was a tangible connection between him and Lin Queli in this world.
This feeling was too difficult to describe. If it were just an ordinary child, then it would be nothing, but if the child was born of Lin Queli, then Helan Xue’s love for this child was unusual.
No wonder…
Helan Xue had found it strange. His temperament was indifferent, and it was difficult for him to have any emotions for people. Lin Queli was an exception, but towards A’Xue, he always had a bit more patience and attention.
At first, he thought it was because Lin Queli was also there. Now he knew that it was because of their flesh and blood connection.
And after calming down, he only felt a little sad and disappointed.
It turned out that Lin Queli had not really loved him before, but only because he had a mission and needed to dual cultivate with him and have a child.
He was truly Lin Queli’s tool for dual cultivation.
But after these complicated emotions were mixed together, all that was left was… heartache.
What if he didn’t love him?
This could not offset the many grievances Lin Queli had suffered before. Even if it was just one in ten thousand, after losing the protection of the Myriad Sword Sect, he had given birth to the child alone in the Tiandi tribe while pregnant, and he had not participated in this process at all.
Helan Xue did not know how Lin Queli had given birth, but no matter how hard it was, Lin Queli’s heart must have been a little uneasy.
No wonder Lin Queli’s attitude was so strange when they were dual cultivating in the sea of consciousness before…
Helan Xue was a little annoyed and guilty.
On the one hand, this was the “heavenly dao’s” mission, to bring the son of destiny to ensure peace in the three realms. Then he should protect this child and Lin Queli.
On the other hand, as Lin Queli’s Shizun, dual cultivation partner, and the child’s other father, he had not taken good care of Lin Queli and had even let the child wander outside for many years.
Fortunately… fortunately, everything could still be salvaged now.
“Brother Wen Chen… what’s wrong with you?”
Lin Queli looked up doubtfully at the man who was no longer speaking.
Helan Xue said in a hoarse voice, “It’s nothing.”
Lin Queli frowned. “Your face doesn’t look very good! Are you really okay?”
After Lin Queli diverted his attention to Helan Xue’s situation, his previous uneasy emotions had actually dissipated, and he had no time to worry about the illusion or not.
Helan Xue’s gaze sharpened. After finding a flaw, he held Lin Queli’s waist with one hand and drew his longsword with the other, stabbing at a weak spot on the side.
“Hiss—!”
With the barrier around them shattering, Lin Queli saw a ray of sunlight shine in from the crack.
Then, with a loud crash, the barrier broke!
In a dizzying spin, Lin Queli grabbed Helan Xue’s hand, and when he opened his eyes again, the two had already left the illusion and returned to the forest.
But the forest around them had already returned to calm, leaving only a mess of broken trees and bloodstains.
Lin Queli blinked. “Has the Phantom Spirit Crane been subdued?”
“Not yet.” Helan Xue frowned. “It should have pulled the cultivators into its illusion. We have to defeat it in the illusion to subdue it.”
The moment they left the cave, the three of them were separated by the illusion. Helan Xue used the aura of the jade bracelet to find Lin Queli. Now that they were out of danger, their top priority was to find A’Xue.
Helan Xue chanted a spell and drew a talisman with his finger. After the golden light dissipated, a crack tore open in the sky not far away, like a ferocious eye opening.
After the two got closer, they could vaguely see the situation inside.
The Phantom Spirit Crane had indeed pulled many cultivators into its illusion and was now hunting them down one by one!
The Phantom Spirit Crane did not eat people. It must be that it had been moved out of the cave and woken up from a thousand-year slumber, and was now killing in a rage.
Lin Queli saw A’Xue inside. Although A’Xue was unharmed, his heart was still in his throat. “Is-is there any way! Can we rush in to help, or destroy this barrier?”
Helan Xue frowned. “We can, but the formation of every illusion comes from a person’s sea of consciousness. Acting rashly will harm the person connected to this illusion.”
And as luck would have it, the illusion before them belonged to A’Xue. He didn’t know why the Phantom Spirit Crane was so interested in A’Xue, and had even dragged many cultivators in with him.
Helan Xue stared at the illusion. “There is another way. As long as we let the people in the illusion defeat the Phantom Spirit Crane, it will be fine. I can personally teach A’Xue how to break the formation.”
Lin Queli was stunned. “Huh?”
Lin Queli was even more worried. Although he wasn’t sure if A’Xue was the Long Aotian, they were already on the main plot of the original novel, and even the plot before them matched.
Although there were still subtle differences, for example, A’Xue’s temperament was gentle and kind, even sunny, and occasionally a little dazed. Now he was mostly saving people and helping in the illusion, and he was not absolutely confident in dealing with the Phantom Spirit Crane. And in the original novel, the decisive and gloomy Long Aotian could easily defeat the Phantom Spirit Crane.
But Lin Queli was very glad.
If he could choose, he would rather A’Xue be the happy A’Xue he was now.
After all, in the original novel, after the Long Aotian and Li Xiangxiang, Li Chou, and the others were trapped in the illusion, they fell into their inner demons.
In the original novel, the woman who was abandoned was a low-level demon. The inner demon mocked him for being a mixed-blood of immortal and demon, and for being looked down upon because he had no parents and no support since he was young, and for having suffered so much bullying and injury since he was young.
[It’s one thing to not be loved by your father or mother, but you’re neither an immortal nor a demon. The Righteous Path won’t tolerate you, and the Demon Clan will also see you as a traitor! What’s the point of you living?!]
And just as Li Xiangxiang was about to be killed, the Long Aotian finally forcibly tore his meridians and woke up from his inner demon. In adversity, he broke through to the Golden Core and killed the Phantom Spirit Crane.
Although he had defeated the Phantom Spirit Crane and broken through to the Golden Core cultivation, he had also paid the price of having his meridians completely destroyed in a life-or-death situation.
Such a novel was naturally exciting, with ups and downs, but if it became a living person before him, then it would be no fun.
Lin Queli said worriedly, “Can A’Xue do it? Can he really defeat the Phantom Spirit Crane?”
Helan Xue: “He can.”
—That’s his and Lin Queli’s child.
…
…
“Clang!”
A’Xue protected Li Xiangxiang and Li Chou behind him and blocked the flying golden feathers with his sword, but the aftershock still sent the three of them flying.
A’Xue used his sword to rub against the ground to slow down the force and landed steadily.
And the two siblings were not in such a good situation. Seeing that they were about to hit the mountain wall on the side, they saw Li Ren rush up.
“Xiangxiang!! A’Chou!”
He caught the two children and protected them in his arms, while he himself slammed heavily against the stone wall, vomiting a mouthful of blood.
A’Xue paused, then looked around warily and frowned.
There seemed to be a faint voice talking to him.
[Looking at them, aren’t you envious? Hmm?]
[Others have both parents, a mother’s love and a father’s care. You’ve also been secretly hoping for that since you were young, right? But you’ve waited and waited, for ten years, and finally realized that one of your parents is long dead, and the other has cruelly abandoned you!]
This voice was actually his own!
A’Xue leaped again, nimbly dodging the Phantom Spirit Crane’s attack, and jumped to a high place to concentrate.
This is an inner demon…!
This illusion can actually induce an inner demon!
A’Xue took a deep breath.
“Get out of my head!”
[Hahahaha… but I am you! Child, I am a part of you that you have secretly hidden in your heart!]
[I know the wishes you’ve made on your birthday every year that have never been fulfilled, and I know even more the secret jealousy in your heart when you look at others!]
Birthday…
That’s right.
A’Xue opened his eyes. “You’re wrong.”
His eyes were bright and clean. “It’s envy and longing, and also being happy for others. It’s not jealousy. I’ve never been jealous.”
When Lin Queli was washing his hair for him, he had also fantasized about whether his father would do the same for him if he had one.
But the older brothers and sisters in the tribe were very good to him and celebrated his birthday every year.
On his birthday, the entire tribe would celebrate and pray for him. Sister A’Lin would make him delicious food, Brother A’Yu would give him a handy weapon, and Sister Ganlu also told him that his father loved him very much, and he had just had to leave first out of necessity.
A’Xue firmly believed it.
He remembered.
He remembered that before he was born, when he only had a bit of consciousness, he had roamed in his father’s sea of consciousness. At that time, his father would speak to him in a very gentle voice.
Sister Ganlu had pinched his longevity lock and said that only those who loved their children very much or had a special opportunity could meet their children in their sea of consciousness. Not everyone had this opportunity.
And that longevity lock was even more full of spiritual energy and contained a deep blessing.
He was a child who had grown up with blessings.
“Rumble—!”
A’Xue opened his eyes. A huge amount of spiritual energy rushed around him, crushing the voice, and even went towards the Phantom Spirit Crane not far away, leaving a scorched black mark on its body.
He adjusted his breathing and stared at the Phantom Spirit Crane.
He had to defeat this spirit beast and go out to find his two brothers!
Just then…
“A’Xue, can you hear me?”
A’Xue was stunned.
This is… Brother Wen Chen’s voice?
He looked around. It seemed only he could hear it. Was this some kind of sound transmission talisman?
“A’Xue, concentrate. I will teach you how to use the immortal and demonic spiritual energy in your body.”
A’Xue thought he had misheard. “Immortal and demonic spiritual energy…?”
“Mmm.”
Helan Xue’s voice was not hurried, so A’Xue could clearly understand.
“The immortal and demonic energy in your body complement each other. This is your advantage.”
“A’Xue, you are not inferior to anyone.”
…
…
Outside the barrier, Lin Queli listened to Helan Xue’s words and was stunned.
Even if they were now on the main plot of the original novel, whether A’Xue was the Long Aotian… it didn’t seem to matter anymore.
He and the Long Aotian had already walked a different path, and their fates were greatly different.
Lin Queli looked down and saw A’Xue beginning to circulate his cultivation and fight with the Phantom Spirit Crane under Helan Xue’s guidance.
Helan Xue guided A’Xue on how to draw out the spiritual energy in his body, how to absorb the spiritual energy from the surroundings, and even how to use his sword.
A’Xue was a smart child. After being enlightened, he was actually able to apply what he had learned.
With the help of the others, A’Xue, a child, actually fought with the Phantom Spirit Crane with his sword, and it was a back-and-forth battle!
The heavens and earth shook within the barrier. One beast and one person fought to the death, and the stone walls almost collapsed.
Lin Queli couldn’t understand the sword moves. He just watched A’Xue’s small figure jump and shuttle around the huge spirit beast, hitting the Phantom Spirit Crane with one wave of spiritual energy after another.
“Immortal arts come from heaven and earth. Gather the spiritual energy in your dantian, absorb the qi of heaven and earth, and add it to your sword.”
“One of the Phantom Spirit Crane’s vital points is its eyes. Go north and stab upwards.”
Lin Queli saw A’Xue raise his sword and stab at the Phantom Spirit Crane’s eyes.
“Rumble—!”
With a golden light coming from within the barrier, Lin Queli looked up and saw dark thunder in the sky.
The heavenly thunder was about to descend!
—A’Xue had broken through to the Golden Core cultivation.
Thanks for chapter 😋