Chapter 72: Du Xian Sect 30 Part 3

Oppressive silence fell, broken only by Linglan’s voice.

“Her body finally collapsed; even that faint Dragon Breath couldn’t save her. The Cultivation World mourned her sincerely, then quickly found another pregnant Biluo Sect female cultivator.

“They discovered: implant the Evil Curse into a pregnant body first to mark the mother, birth and kill it—then it could be reimplanted in the same mother. If the mother was strong enough, she could be reused repeatedly, steadily weakening the Evil Curse. The more human-like the birthed infant, the weaker the Evil Curse.

“But such trials consumed vast numbers of pregnant female cultivators. Biluo Sect, an all-female sect, shouldered the duty unflinchingly. Du Xian Sect guarded Passing Immortal Bridge openly with swords; Biluo Sect bound the Evil Curse in secret with their bodies.”

Linglan curved her lips in a smile, asking Xun Ji, “Jiyang Zhenren, don’t you think our two sects are truly great?”

Xun Ji was speechless. He looked at Lu Yun Ting, regretting for the first time bringing him to Biluo Sect.

Lu Yun Ting stood like a cold statue, the light in his eyes fading bit by bit. He asked softly, “These present—are they all…?”

Wei Luoheng hadn’t miscalculated. He truly had hundreds, thousands—more—mothers. He had crawled from those women’s wombs time and again, from formless monsters until becoming Lu Yun Ting.

“Yes,” Linglan said. “Women who have nurtured the Evil Curse bear its mark on their Divine Souls—we call them ‘cocoons.’ The Curse’s power and Dragon Breath coexist in the cocoons, preventing self-healing and making death difficult. These are the worn-out cocoons after repeated use, near death.”

“You too?” Lu Yun Ting looked up at her, as if he already knew the answer. “You birthed the current me, right?”

Linglan fell silent. After a long pause, she nodded faintly.

“For a millennium, most times you were a monstrous neither-human-nor-ghost thing. Rarely, birthed from powerful female cultivators, you briefly resembled a normal person.” Her lashes trembled ever so slightly. “I was Biluo Sect’s most talented in a century, yet it took five times to finally birth the current you.”

Long silence.

Lu Yun Ting raised his eyes to the surroundings, realizing that at some point, every Biluo Sect female cultivator on the plaza gazed at him.

These were all his “mothers.”

But their gazes held no pity, no sorrow, no maternal love. Only hate.

Only hate.

“Our Biluo Sect should have soared to the heavens and delved to the depths, free and unrestrained. Yet now we are trapped alone in a dark bamboo grove, shrouded in gloom and storms, on perilous paths with no sight of the sky! Sisters, you all know where this began and from what it arose!”

Yes, he finally knew. It all began with him, arose from him.

Lu Yun Ting closed his eyes, then opened them, returning to his usual calm demeanor.

“What must be done?” he asked Linglan. “What must I do for you to be freed?”

Linglan started, evidently not expecting this.

“Passing Immortal Bridge is the dragon’s bones—you share its origin. When your emotions stir, it resonates and trembles ceaselessly. Thus, at your birth, Du Xian Sect sealed your Emotion Vein, making you an emotionless sword. Alas, you still felt emotion.” Linglan continued, “Once the Emotion Vein Seal is fully undone, Passing Immortal Bridge may collapse. Du Xian Sect won’t allow that, so they sent you back to Biluo Sect. We need only kill this fleshly body of yours, rebirth you as the Evil Curse, and the bridge’s peril ends.”

“But you don’t plan to do that, do you?” Lu Yun Ting’s dark pupils were lightless. “I asked how you can be freed—not how to resolve Passing Immortal Bridge.”

“…Heaven is unjust—we repay blood with blood, curse with curse, purify our bodies in fierce flames, and cleanse the filth.” Xun Ji said softly. “Linglan Fairy, you plan to sacrifice all these worn-out cocoons, using the faint blood ties between you and him to fully excise his Emotion Vein, right?”

Linglan remained silent, her quiet confirming it.

“The Cultivation World cares not for his life or death, but Biluo Sect cannot let him die. You want to truly turn him into a heartless, emotionless sword, let him endure eternally in this world—that way, Biluo Sect escapes the ‘cocoon’ fate.” Xun Ji asked. “Am I right?”

Suddenly, faint cracking sounds like splintering ice rose across the Sect Leader Hall plaza. The thousand silent Biluo Sect female cultivators flashed resolve in their eyes, simultaneously forming hand seals and chanting incantations. Vast spiritual power surged skyward!

The black flames sealed by the Zhenliu Sword instantly broke through the ice layer and surged several times larger! The black flames blazed fiercely, like a devouring dark night that trapped everyone within.

“Jiyang Zhenren, were we wrong?” Firelight flickered in Linglan’s eyes. “The stability and survival of the Cultivation World—we, the Biluo Sect, have guarded it for so many years. In the end, what did we get?”

“Do you know what it feels like to watch your own body rot and stink away bit by bit? Do you know what it feels like to have a monster burrow out of your belly time and time again? We bear the indelible Malicious Curse Mark. As long as it exists for a single day, we cannot live as humans!” Linglan burst into loud laughter. “If the Passing Immortal Bridge is destroyed, so be it—what does it have to do with us?! At least the remaining cocoons can live a few more years as ordinary people. At least they can live like humans!”

“We want him dead too!” She pointed her blackened finger bones at Lu Yun Ting. “Day and night, every moment, we itch to cut him into a thousand pieces and cast him into eternal hell forever! But he cannot die!”

“As long as he lives, those cocoons can live!” Two streams of tears flowed from Linglan’s eyes, yet her smile grew even more unrestrained. “We will curse him, just as he curses us—curse him forever!”

“You weren’t wrong.” Xun Ji spoke in a gentle voice as he released Lu Yun Ting’s hand. That hand lay there spasming slightly, as if it had yet to realize it had been let go.

Xun Ji took a step forward and walked to the center of the altar.

“You weren’t wrong,” he repeated. “The wren nests in the deep forest, yet occupies only one branch; the mole drinks from the river, yet drinks only to fill its belly. You merely sought to survive.”

The crimson longsword unsheathed, dragging a trail of vivid red flames through the endless black blaze.

Xun Ji gripped the Chijun Sword and stood tall.

“You weren’t wrong. It’s just that Lu Yun Ting wasn’t wrong either.” His tone remained gentle, yet resolute.

“I won’t stop you, but I will protect him.”