Su Zhuyi came back to her senses and directly performed the Great Grasping Technique, catching the ring that was slowly sinking to the seabed in her hand.
She originally worried about the primordial spirit in the soul weapon harming people, which was why she hadn’t directly made contact. But now she couldn’t care about all that. Su Zhuyi carefully separated a strand of divine consciousness and injected it into the ring, wanting to establish contact with the primordial spirit inside the ring.
“Sword Ancestor, if I fall under his temptation and become immersed in it for a moment, you must wake me up!” While injecting her divine consciousness into the ring, Su Zhuyi didn’t forget to instruct the Sword Ancestor. Once he discovered her mind wasn’t clear, he shouldn’t be soft-hearted but must show the same vigor he used to smash her head before, and ruthlessly slap her skull.
The Sword Ancestor stopped humming and happily agreed with an “mm,” appearing extremely excited.
Su Zhuyi: “…”
Her divine consciousness extended inward bit by bit, but the ring was filled with chaos. Su Zhuyi didn’t sense anything within the chaos. She carefully scanned inside and out thoroughly, yet still made no discoveries.
Su Zhuyi withdrew her divine consciousness and surfaced with a heavy expression.
The Liuguang Mirror was a Dao weapon.
Was the primordial spirit in that soul weapon the person who refined the Liuguang Mirror, or someone who had once used the Liuguang Mirror to be reborn?
Since the Liuguang Mirror had always existed between heaven and earth, perhaps many, many years ago, someone had also tried using the Liuguang Mirror for rebirth. After living again, did he achieve what he wished for?
For some reason, Su Zhuyi felt inexplicably heavy-hearted, as if that ring’s collision with her heart had left her chest stuffy and painful. Yet in reality, that ring hadn’t even broken through her defensive barrier. She squeezed the ring and asked: “Who are you? Do you know the Liuguang Mirror?”
“Do you know about the world inside the Liuguang Mirror? If someone is trapped inside the mirror, how should they be released?”
Su Zhuyi asked several questions in succession, but after the other party said those three words “Liuguang Mirror,” there wasn’t the slightest sound. Even that originally shiny antique ring had now become dim and lightless.
The primordial spirit in this soul weapon should be extremely weak, which was why he used such methods to absorb the resentful energy and remnant souls of the dead to maintain his primordial spirit’s immortality. Could it be that being stimulated by the Liuguang Mirror just now had caused his already feeble primordial spirit to become even more fragmented, so she couldn’t find him, and he had no way to respond?
Or perhaps he could peer into people’s hearts, knew that what she most wanted to know now was information about the Liuguang Mirror, so he deliberately called out “Liuguang Mirror” twice, waiting for her to find the primordial spirit to feed him?
Su Zhuyi felt somewhat restless. She slowly walked toward the sea surface, and by the time she stood on the water, Qinghe, who had originally avoided the area, had already returned.
“What was that thing below?” Qinghe asked.
“A soul weapon ring.” Su Zhuyi opened her hand, revealing the ring in her palm.
But Qinghe shook his head, “It’s not a soul weapon. There’s no primordial spirit inside.”
“There isn’t?” Su Zhuyi was stunned.
“There isn’t.” Qinghe nodded.
“Just now the primordial spirit inside spoke and called out a few words…” Su Zhuyi was certain there had been a primordial spirit before. She frowned, “Could it be that our primordial spirits aren’t strong enough, so we can’t sense whether there’s a primordial spirit inside?”
Qinghe didn’t answer, only looked at Su Zhuyi expressionlessly. His expression carried a trace of arrogance, with black energy billowing behind him.
He was now the Longquan Evil Sword. If even he couldn’t tell, how strong would the primordial spirit in this soul weapon have to be? If it were that strong, could they have so easily dealt with that ghostly thing under Tinghai Pavilion?
That ring had crashed toward her heart, and then the primordial spirit inside disappeared…
Gone?
Su Zhuyi’s heart jumped. Could it be that the primordial spirit was absorbed into the Liuguang Mirror? Then wouldn’t he have gone inside to keep Qin Jianglan company? Unfortunately, she couldn’t contact Qin Jianglan at all. Su Zhuyi felt anxious and didn’t even hear Qinghe’s subsequent questions.
“Do you know who the person who ambushed you was?” He had originally wanted to drag the person out, but when the seaweed broke apart and his divine consciousness invaded them, he discovered there was no longer any living person’s aura inside.
The person who ambushed her had died in the seaweed. He didn’t know who he was or why he wanted to kill Su Zhuyi – whether it was just for seizing treasures or for other reasons.
After Qinghe asked but didn’t hear Su Zhuyi’s answer, he noticed that Su Zhuyi seemed somewhat absent-minded at the moment, so he stopped asking.
…
“True Spirit Realm.”
Little Skull ran back to Qin Jianglan’s side with a terrified expression, shouting as he ran: “Little Uncle, Little Uncle, they’re all motionless, completely motionless.”
He covered his eyes with his hands as if he didn’t dare to look, running unsteadily, stepping on stones and nearly falling. Fortunately, Qin Jianglan caught him in time, preventing him from tumbling to the ground.
Little Skull looked up with teary eyes and said: “That city is all misty, and the people inside don’t have a trace of a living person’s aura. They’re all completely motionless, just like, just like…” He pulled out that clay figurine from Little Butterfly, “just like molded clay figures.”
All those people were completely motionless and didn’t have a trace of vitality, which terrified Little Skull. He was already afraid of ghosts, and now he hugged Qin Jianglan’s waist tightly, trembling all over.
Qin Jianglan soothingly patted Little Skull’s back, “Don’t be afraid, Uncle is here.”
Though he was comforting Wu’er, Qin Jianglan’s heart was also very heavy and oppressed.
Indeed, it was as he thought.
Originally, his heart still held a trace of hope, but now his guesses had all become reality. Where was this any True Spirit Realm? He was inside the Liuguang Mirror. He had sacrificed himself to the Liuguang Mirror, so he became the sacrifice, gradually becoming part of the Liuguang Mirror.
When his memories and his life were completely erased, he would be like all the others, sleeping eternally in the mirror, waiting for other sacrifices to appear again.
Qin Jianglan looked at the Songfeng Sword in his hand and suddenly smiled bitterly.
He said softly: “Wu’er.”
“Mm?”
“Didn’t you say there’s also a Songfeng Sword at your house’s entrance?”
“Yes, it grew into a big pine tree, green and lush, very beautiful to look at.” Mentioning other things shifted his attention, and Little Skull’s emotions stabilized. He stopped trembling and spoke enthusiastically: “Big Sister discovered it in the Sword Tomb. It’s very powerful – it’s grown on a cliff edge and never fallen, staying tall and straight. Big Sister said the Songfeng Sword is verdant like green pines, growing stronger through adversity. Even after experiencing wind, snow, and tempering, it remains unbending, just like Little Uncle.”
Qin Jianglan’s face showed no expression. He gently patted Little Skull and said indifferently, “The Songfeng Sword is good. Wu’er is also a good child, innocent and kind. Little Uncle will teach you Songfeng sword techniques. In the future, you should be upright and tall like green pines. After returning, use the Songfeng Sword to protect your Big Sister, alright?”
But Little Skull shook his head, “But Little Uncle, I already have a sword.” He took out his Zhuying Sword and waved it around a few times. “I like it.”
Then Little Skull added: “The Songfeng Sword is Little Uncle’s sword.”
Qin Jianglan was slightly dazed. He reached out, grasped at empty air, and a green glowing flying sword appeared in his grip.
Before, how had he never noticed?
Sword cultivators didn’t need to contract flying swords as natal magical treasures. When they cultivated to the pinnacle of the sword dao, they could achieve unity between person and sword. But the unity of person and sword was when he was wielding the flying sword, not turning himself into a sword. On the Wangtian Tree, he had sacrificed himself to the Liuguang Mirror, and the sacrifice was only himself – it didn’t include the Songfeng Sword.
He hoped he could return to over a thousand years ago, before Su Zhuyi entered Xueluo Sect, or even earlier would be fine. But actually, he also didn’t want to return to the distant past. What if he went back to when he was one or two hundred years old? Wouldn’t Su Zhuyi not have been born yet?
So he felt he should be three hundred years old.
So he felt his three-hundred-year-old self should already have the Songfeng Sword in hand.
His appearance in the Liuguang Mirror only depended on how he imagined himself to be.
If the Songfeng Sword were real, how could he still wield this sword after falling into demonic cultivation? The Songfeng Sword in Su Zhuyi’s hands was the real Songfeng Sword, while this Songfeng Sword in his hands was just an illusion formed by the Liuguang Mirror to satisfy him.
This mirror hoped he would live muddleheadedly in this world, forget muddleheadedly, and when his memories completely disappeared and he was thoroughly erased, he would never again be able to stir up any storms. The reason he could persist for so long was because in that outside world, someone still remembered him. Otherwise, he would have long ago merged with other living beings.
Also, the variable of Little Skull being here had finally made him aware of what he was experiencing. Instead of forgetting muddleheadedly, he had learned the truth of the matter.
The Songfeng Sword in his hand gradually disappeared. Qin Jianglan looked at his empty hand with a somewhat melancholy expression.
Could it be that he really could never get out?
Just then, Qin Jianglan suddenly heard a human voice behind him. That voice was ethereal and elusive, as if very far from him, and for a moment he couldn’t hear clearly what it was saying…
Qin Jianglan listened intently, and then his whole body shook. He heard that voice saying: “Liuguang Mirror, Liuguang Mirror!”
He whirled around and saw not far behind him a phantom human figure stumbling forward while muttering: “Liuguang Mirror, Liuguang Mirror…”
Little Skull stared blankly at the figure approaching. After a moment, he screamed: “Ahhhhh, a ghost! A ghost!”
Shaken by his soul pressure, that stumbling figure became even more inhuman, as if directly scattered by the shock. Qin Jianglan immediately covered Little Skull’s mouth. This person was a soul body, completely different from the other people in the mirror. He knew about the Liuguang Mirror – perhaps he would also know how to get out!