Chapter 18: Ape Immortal Part 6

Xiao Kun murmured, “The Golden Crow will one day be eclipsed; the Jade Rabbit too shall retreat into night; the myriad stars will fade into obscurity; fierce flames must one day extinguish. Lightning and thunder will dim at last; the faint glow of Bone Phosphorus will eventually dissipate.”

Xiang Xian continued, “Myriad Laws Return to Silence, time without end, only the Heart Lamp endures eternally like daylight.”

These were also words his Master Shen Kuo had often said in life.

“We still need to find the Heart Lamp.” Xiao Kun circled back to their original goal after this long, fog-shrouded analysis of the grueling campaign against the Heavenly Demon.

“Mm.” Xiang Xian said, “With the Heart Lamp, we could’ve purified Ba She today.”

Xiao Kun recalled something else. “So during the reforging of the Wisdom Sword, part of the Heart Lamp was incorporated?”

“A portion of its power,” Xiang Xian answered. “I know what you’re thinking. Master mentioned before his death that the Wisdom Sword can sense the Heart Lamp’s presence. But it hasn’t given me any hints so far. Maybe it’s a matter of distance.”

“I see.” Xiao Kun replied.

The two fell silent. Xiang Xian stretched lazily and said, “I’m sleepy. Let’s go to bed. No matter how much trouble there is, a good night’s sleep will fix it.”

As Xiang Xian moved to sheathe the Wisdom Sword, he suddenly noticed a faint crack on the blade—barely perceptible to the naked eye!

Xiang Xian abruptly recalled Xiao Kun’s words about the moment the Demon Person gripped the Wisdom Sword that day.

Xiao Kun asked, “What is it?”

“Nothing.” When Xiang Xian examined it again, the crack on the sword nearly vanished. He even wondered if he’d imagined it.

Xiao Kun yawned, looking exhausted. “Let’s stay another day at the inn to sort out the intelligence before setting off.”

Xiao Kun rose and returned to his room. Xiang Xian examined the Wisdom Sword under the moonlight.

What was going on? He carefully ran his fingers over the blade and spotted the crack again. He felt certain he’d never seen it before.

He rarely inspected the Wisdom Sword closely because Master had said it hadn’t fully acknowledged him. As a youth, Xiang Xian harbored some rebellious feelings: if it didn’t truly recognize him, he mostly didn’t want to use it, relying instead on his own Cultivation Base to subdue Monsters. That was also why he instinctively resisted drawing the sword.

Nevertheless, the Wisdom Sword was the world’s number one sword, and its bearer held the title of Protector Martial God. One could say that fully seventy percent of the courtesy all the exorcists in the world showed him stemmed from this blade. Thus, Xiang Xian’s feelings were always conflicted: on one hand, he relied on the Wisdom Sword and Acalanatha’s divine might; on the other, he harbored a subtle defiance.

Driven by such emotions, Xiang Xian seldom took a serious interest in observing the blade. After all, as a Divine Weapon of this caliber, it couldn’t possibly be damaged.

When he saw that crack, an inexplicable panic stirred in his heart. Had this fissure appeared recently, or had it always been there? He gripped the hilt, held the blade level, and inspected the damaged spot under the moonlight.

No reflective sheen… not a fresh crack. Xiang Xian relaxed slightly. A new dent, break, or scratch would always show metallic luster.

He convinced himself the crack was an old one he’d simply overlooked before and shouldn’t affect its use. He sheathed the Wisdom Sword and went back to his room to sleep.

That night, only Xiao Kun and Xiang Xian were in the room.

But there was just one wide couch.

Xiang Xian went behind the screen first to remove his outer robe. Xiao Kun waited outside. Xiang Xian said in bewilderment, “Come in. What are you waiting for?”

“Waiting for you to change,” Xiao Kun said.

Their relationship was truly too intimate—even, to some extent, more intimate than that between Chaosheng and Wu Yingzong. Chaosheng’s closeness stemmed merely from fondness, but Xiao Kun and Xiang Xian were somewhat inseparable. Mentally, their thoughts aligned; in action, they moved together, bathed together, ate together, discussed matters, and after drinking, returned to the room together to sleep!

So, what difference was there between discussing over meals and discussing after returning to the room and lying on the bed? Their lives seemed inexplicably bound together ever since Shuhu had made that eerie prophecy.

Upon closer reflection, Xiao Kun realized that since reuniting with Xiang Xian, he had hardly any time alone for contemplation. Xiao Kun thought: Was this fate’s arrangement??

Xiang Xian asked Xiao Kun, “Do you sleep inside, or should I?”

Xiao Kun yielded the couch. Xiang Xian bowed in, lay down, and the two shared the bed. Xiao Kun was too lazy to comment on there being only one couch—he anticipated Xiang Xian’s response would be “It’s not like we haven’t slept together before,” so saying anything was pointless.

After the great battle that day, Xiang Xian fell asleep the moment his head hit the pillow that night.

The dream came abruptly. The instant Xiang Xian closed his eyes, it dragged him into a bizarre world—one that felt as though he had already traversed everything in it, yet was stranger than anything that had ever happened.

He held the Wisdom Sword, facing a mountain of corpses and sea of blood, Demonic Qi swirling around him, as if he had transformed into an Asura amid a bloody hell.

The Wisdom Sword ignited with a bloody Blazing Flame. Behind him, A Huang turned into an evil giant bird soaring amid black fire. Tens of thousands of Jin Troops lay prostrated beneath his sword, while behind him blazed the fiercely burning Kaifeng City.

“Put down your sword! You’ve fallen to the demonic path!” Xiao Kun’s voice thundered as he held his saber, blocking Xiang Xian’s path.

Xiang Xian’s eyes shot forth red light. He let out an enraged roar and lunged at Xiao Kun. The Wisdom Sword and Myriad Phenomena Blade clashed repeatedly, ringing out with resounding clangs. Each collision burst forth with shockwaves that swept toward the ends of heaven and earth!

Xiao Kun struck with flawless precision, every blow landing on the exact same point on the Wisdom Sword’s blade. Finally, both exerted their full strength, their bodies colliding. With a cracking sound, fissures spread out, causing the dream to collapse.

Xiang Xian abruptly opened his eyes, his heart pounding violently.