The Imperial Monarch returned to inspect the shrines. In one shrine, only six characters remained; in the other, only five were left.
Of the twenty-four-character seal, more than half had now been broken!
At that very moment, the six immortal dao runes—desolation, premature demise, perversity, sorrow, tyranny, and cruelty—seemed to sway as if caught in a tempest, flickering as though on the verge of snuffing out at any second. Clearly, that scoundrel had not given up and was still trying to shatter these six immortal dao runes!
His nerves fraying, the Imperial Monarch turned to his eldest disciple, Jiang Zhongfu, and asked, "Is Primordial Monarch's Perfected Jade Pot dead yet? Has he returned to the Immortal Realm?"
Jiang Zhongfu replied, "When Young Master Yuchuan hunted him down last time, he managed to slip away. He should not have returned to the Immortal Realm yet. Imperial Monarch, do you need this disciple to step in and execute him?"
The Imperial Monarch's expression shifted unpredictably. Shaking his head, he said, "I do not know what methods Xu Ying used to break these immortal dao runes of mine, but his Dao attainment grows ever more profound. To desolate his will and shatter his heart, I need to insert the character for lust among these runes. Of all vices, lust is the chief. As long as he falls into debauchery, this lifetime of his will be ruined. From what I know, Perfected Jade Pot is exceedingly lecherous and must be well versed in this path."
Jiang Zhongfu wore a strange expression, not daring to speak.
"Strange. That treacherous bone, Sword Monarch Jinhe, could help him break obstinacy and confusion, but who is helping him with these characters?" The Imperial Monarch frowned.
On Yingzhou, beside Xu Ying, Buddhist Child Jijue pushed his Buddhist arts to their absolute limit. Streams of Buddhist light blessed Xu Ying, swirling around his body from top to bottom. Jijue drew a circle with both hands, turning the Buddhist light into a halo that hovered behind Xu Ying's head. Paired with Xu Ying's robes of the Supreme Heavenly Fiend, he appeared strikingly righteous yet demonic all at once.
"Benefactor Ah Ying, as for the curse upon your body, this monk can only help suppress it; I cannot break it," Buddhist Child Jijue said with a slight frown. "The cultivation and Dao attainment of the one who cast the curse are exceedingly high, far beyond my knowledge."
Xu Ying came to his senses from his frenzied trance and only then realized what had been wrong with him, a shiver running down his spine.
Just moments ago, his mind had been thrown into utter chaos, driving him to clash head-on with an entity like the corpse lord. Though he had refined and slain his foe, he had suffered injuries and damage in the process. Most of all, his magic treasure, the Water-Fire Huntian Cauldron—formed from the Intertwined Refining stage realm of his first life—had nearly been battered into scrap by that corpse lord!
In the past, he would never have acted so recklessly. Yet this time, for some reason, he had been seized by an uncontrollable urge to eradicate every intruder who set foot on Yingzhou.
This was likely what it meant to be consumed by violence, obstinacy, and confusion—to lose all sanity!
"The Imperial Monarch's seals and curses truly catch one off guard at every turn."
Xu Ying felt a chill in his heart. He bowed deeply in gratitude to Buddhist Child Jijue and Sword Monarch Jinhe. The two returned the courtesy, and Buddhist Child Jijue said, "You flatter me. However, my Buddhist arts are not truly profound. I cannot restrain that great curse for very long; before long, I will need to cast the arts again to suppress it anew."
He could not help but add, "Looking at Benefactor Ah Ying's prayer beads, they seem to carry the aura of my master. That treasure should have been able to suppress such a curse. Yet for some reason, the Buddha Ancestor was unable to activate the beads, which allowed the curse to invade and seize control of your mind."
Xu Ying was taken aback and murmured, "Could it be because I was too calculating?"
The string of prayer beads had been given to him by Master Daoyuan, meant for him to wear regularly to contend with Jie Puti, embedding Buddhist karma within it. When Master Daoyuan handed over the treasure, his words subtly implied that if anything untoward befell him and no one in the world could counter Jie Puti, that burden would fall upon Xu Ying as the bearer of the prayer beads.
Ever since, though Xu Ying kept the prayer beads on his person, he well knew they were a troublesome liability; he had only accepted them because Jie Puti truly was his sworn enemy. Yet when the Returning Dao Jade Platter had dissolved the beads, he seized the chance to reforge them, layering imprint after imprint of his own to contend on equal footing with the Buddha Ancestor's imprint. Little did he expect his imprints would overpower the Buddha Ancestor's, preventing the prayer beads from helping him resist the eight-character great curse.
Sword Monarch Jinhe spoke sharply, his words cutting like a blade's gleam: "With sword arts such as yours, why rely on any magic treasure to ward off curses? Break them directly with your supreme sword qi and sword intent!"
Xu Ying turned solemn and bowed. "Thank you for the guidance, Sword Monarch. Yet to my shame, though I have comprehended the Zhuxian sword intent, I am not particularly proficient in the Sword Dao."
Sword Monarch Jinhe laughed in exasperation. That Zhuxian sword intent moved with sweeping dominance—subduing the myriad daos, slaying gods and immortals, obliterating heaven and earth, and executing all living beings! It carried the sheer overbearing might to shatter every law and sunder every dao! And he called that not particularly proficient in the Sword Dao?
"Who was your master?" Sword Monarch Jinhe sneered. "For someone to train your Sword Dao to this degree, they must be extraordinary. How could they fail to teach even the methods of breaking restrictions and curses with the Sword Dao? I'd like to see just which old fool that was!"
Xu Ying hesitated for a moment and tested the waters: "Sword Monarch, when you saw my sword techniques, didn't you feel a sense of familiarity?"
Sword Monarch Jinhe blinked, an ominous premonition creeping into his mind. Though shrewd, he was an honest man at heart. Even knowing things looked bad, he forced himself not to run, thinking, Could I be that old fool?
Xu Ying smiled. "My introduction to the sword was Yuan Tiangang; from his sword intent, I grasped foundational swordplay. But my swordplay truly entered the gate because I received your benevolence, Sword Monarch."
Fighting back the urge to flee, Sword Monarch Jinhe asked, "When did I ever bestow benevolence upon you?"
Xu Ying gathered qi into a sword and performed the Sword Dao Return to Truth Art, executing the four sword intents of Sword, Dao, Return, and Truth one after another.
Hidden within the Sword Dao Return to Truth Art were four Sword Dao runes, each containing exceedingly profound sword principles. Back then, the founding ancestor of the Mount Shu Sword Sect discovered this sword art on a precipice, comprehended supreme sword techniques, founded the Sword Sect, overcame the tribulations, and ascended! Xu Ying had also obtained this sword art at the Sword Sect, and from that point onward, his Sword Dao cultivation had advanced by leaps and bounds.
Later, when he comprehended the Zhuxian sword intent in the Ancestral Court's Biyou Palace and grasped the principle of holding fast to the imperfect, he had likewise relied on the foundation of the Sword Dao Return to Truth Art. At first, he did not know who had created the Sword Dao Return to Truth Art, but when he rescued Great Emperor Beiyin at Mount Fengdu in the Nether Sea, he saw the lingering image of sword qi plunged into Great Emperor Beiyin's chest. That sword qi phantom had pinned the Northern Emperor dead within the jade coffin, and Xu Ying had recognized from that phantom that the person who slew the Northern Emperor was the very same who had carved the sword art on the cliff!
Then not long ago, when he and the Northern Emperor ventured to the ancient Nether Sea, the true owner of that sword qi phantom—the Jinhe Sword—reappeared. Though wielded by Immortal King Su Jingyan of the Myriad Gods Thunder Department, it still battered the Northern Emperor into utter wretchedness. Only then did Xu Ying learn that the Sword Dao Return to Truth Art had come from Sword Monarch Jinhe.
Seeing him perform the Sword Dao Return to Truth Art, Sword Monarch Jinhe looked astonished. A voice in his head screamed a warning: Run! If you run right now, you can still make it! Otherwise, if he acknowledges you as his master, you'll be the teacher of a rebel!
Yet his feet remained rooted to the ground like swords, utterly motionless. In a dry voice, he asked, "When I left sword arts in the lower realm, it should have been in the Yuanshou world. Do you hail from the Yuanshou world?"
Xu Ying nodded.
Sword Monarch Jinhe felt he shouldn't be so upright. If only he could bend sometimes, if only he could toss away his dignity and take to his heels, he could definitely change his fate. But had he truly been willing to bend his knees or thicken his skin, he wouldn't have been banished to Weixu to guard a graveyard in the first place.
"Back then, I was ordered to descend to the lower realm and lurked in the Yuanshou world, waiting for my peers from the Immortal Realm so we could charge into the Nether Sea together for the decisive battle against Great Emperor Beiyin. During that time, a sudden inspiration struck me at Mount Shu, and I created a set of Return to Truth sword arts, carving it onto a rock face on a whim."
Sword Monarch Jinhe still honestly explained the causes and consequences. "I never expected you would learn it."
He stared at Xu Ying with trepidation, dreading that Xu Ying might call him "Master."
If Xu Ying called him that, he would become the teacher of a rebel, with no hope of ever returning to the Immortal Realm in this lifetime!
Back then, to deal with the Northern Emperor—one of the Netherworld's four titans—three Immortal Monarchs led the powerhouses of the Immortal Realm and the Heavenly Dao world, storming into the Netherworld and besieging Mount Fengdu. The strongest among them was Sword Monarch Jinhe. At that time, the other five palace lords of the Six Heaven Palaces of Luofeng saw the terrifying spectacle of the three Immortal Monarchs besieging Mount Fengdu, which terrified them out of coming to the rescue, and they fled for their lives. Great Emperor Beiyin ultimately died by Sword Monarch Jinhe's hand. Yet after slaying him, Sword Monarch Jinhe gave him a lavish burial rather than exposing his corpse.
"After I slew the Northern Emperor, not an ounce of merit was granted to me. The higher-ups claimed I had frightened the ghosts of the Netherworld, so I was dismissed from my post and investigated."
Sword Monarch Jinhe's eyelid twitched. "Later, it was only because the Heavenly Venerable pleaded on my behalf that my cultivation was spared, and I was banished to Weixu."
Frightening netherworld souls? What kind of crime was that?
Xu Ying was thoroughly flabbergasted. "Then what about the other two Immortal Monarchs?" he asked.
"You mean Immortal Monarch Liang Yue and Immortal Monarch Yin Yu? Their lives aren't any easier. I heard they were also sent to the lower realm, convicted of the same charge—frightening netherworld souls," Sword Monarch Jinhe said. "Back then, very few of those who rendered meritorious service actually received any credit. Immortal Monarch Yin Yu is likely serving as a guard in the Primordial World. As for Immortal Monarch Liang Yue, his patron fell from power, so I have no idea where he ended up."
Saying this, his expression dimmed. In that battle at Fengdu, the three Immortal Monarchs who had achieved such illustrious military feats had not met good ends—none of them.
Buddhist Child Jijue suddenly exclaimed in surprise, "Benefactors, I've calculated it—you two are master and disciple after all!"
Sword Monarch Jinhe's face instantly paled. "We are fellow Daoists! I merely happened to carve a sword art on a cliff face, and Fellow Daoist Xu happened to see it and reap benefits from it; that is his great fortune. I never intentionally taught him."
Xu Ying observed his reaction and understood his reservations, smiling. "We are fellow Daoists."
Sword Monarch Jinhe breathed a sigh of relief.
In the Immortal Realm, he had the moniker "Tight-Shoe Sword Monarch," meaning he was so upright and unyielding that he was constantly forced into tight shoes.
If he got entangled in a master-disciple relationship with Xu Ying, those tight shoes would never come off! After all, he had merely been demoted for being upright, whereas Xu Ying was an outright rebel!
Xu Ying said, "Aside from learning your Sword Dao Return to Truth Art, Sword Monarch, in my first life I also comprehended remarkable Sword Dao divine arts, and when I encountered the Zhuxian broken sword in the Ancestral Court, I finally realized that supreme sword intent. As for the technical art of the sword and the foundational Sword Dao, I have never truly studied them."
"So that's how it is."
Sword Monarch Jinhe came to an understanding. Hesitating briefly, he said, "To reach such achievements without ever systematically studying the Sword Dao is truly extraordinary. Why don't the two of us exchange pointers here for a few days? What do you say? Once we exchange insights, you will naturally understand how to wield the Sword Dao to counter curses."
His purpose in coming to Yingzhou was to suppress Heavenly Monarch Pingnan; that was his duty. However, Heavenly Monarch Pingnan's cultivation and power had grown tremendously, and with his current strength, Jinhe was no longer Pingnan's match.
Inwardly, he thought, If my lifetime of skills can have a successor to carry the mantle, then even if I die in battle, I will have no regrets.
Xu Ying hesitated. "My father might be hiding on Yingzhou..."
Sword Monarch Jinhe said, "Just now, you unleashed the prayer beads and made a tremendous ruckus across Yingzhou. If he is hiding here, he will certainly notice and come looking for you. If he isn't on Yingzhou, you won't find him even if you search."
Xu Ying thought about it; that was indeed reasonable.
They returned to Xujiaping. Sword Monarch Jinhe snapped off a branch, whittled it into wooden swords, handed one to Xu Ying, and kept one for himself. He said, "Though you comprehended extraordinary sword arts from the sword intents of great masters, to truly master the Sword Dao, you must start from the very beginning. The sword is the weapon of a gentleman, an extension of the arm."
Like a mortal martial artist, he danced with sword in hand, executing each basic sword movement one by one. "To attain the sword of an immortal swordsman, one must first attain the sword of a mortal. One must begin cultivation as a mortal."
He performed shaking, pointing, clouding, snapping—all manner of mortal martial arts moves executed with absolute precision, exuding the bearing of a mortal grandmaster. His voice rang clear in Xu Ying's ears: "The sword of a mortal: first is gathering qi. The sword gathers the qi of the Five Peaks, refining qi to nourish the origin, letting the five qi face the origin and flow into the sword. Second is knocking on the pass. A sword is like a gentleman and also possesses three passes. The first pass is the blade's edge, analogous to the human body's Weilu mystic pass. Opening this pass allows the sword to transform at will with the heart, pointing wherever one directs. Third is intertwined refining. The intertwined refining of water and fire uses the sword as a furnace vessel, tempering the sword with water and fire to form the Golden Core within the sword, known as the sword pill. Once the sword pill emerges, it can fly into the heavens and burrow into the earth, sundering everything in its path. Fourth is knocking on the second pass. Knocking on the central spine mystic pass, analogous to the body's Jiaji mystic pass. Opening this pass unlocks the deeper mysteries within the sword, tempering a sword heart that is unyielding, upright, and crystal-clear. Fifth is refining the sword's primordial spirit, analogous to the human Twelve-Storyed Mansions."
From gathering qi to ascension, there were nine steps in total, which Sword Monarch Jinhe termed the Nine Essentials.
What Xu Ying lacked was precisely the foundation. Everything he had learned in this lifetime had either come from deciphering immortal scriptures, his own realizations, or awakened memories of his first life. He had never had a teacher; neither Master Bell nor Ruan Qi was suited to be a teacher—both only leeching off him whenever they could. Sword Monarch Jinhe instructed him step by step along the Nine Essentials, and as Xu Ying practiced the sword methods taught by Sword Monarch Jinhe, myriad subtleties of swordplay opened up to him. Things he had never considered before, things he had misunderstood in the past, all suddenly became crystal-clear!
In just two short days, Xu Ying's Sword Dao attainments advanced by leaps and bounds. Exactly as Sword Monarch Jinhe said, his foundation had previously been unstable; though he had attained supreme sword intent, he had not understood the subtle applications of the Sword Dao. Now, having cultivated with Sword Monarch Jinhe for two days, he discovered countless further applications of the Sword Dao.
Even for using the Sword Dao to break the Imperial Monarch's seals, he now had a viable method!
Though Sword Monarch Jinhe ostensibly taught him basic sword arts, in truth he had laid out the entire cultivation path of the Sword Dao from gathering qi all the way to ascension.
Two days later, having finished his explanations, Jinhe prepared to leave. Xu Ying said hurriedly, "Why doesn't the Sword Monarch stay for two more days? I can teach you the Zhuxian sword qi!"
Sword Monarch Jinhe shook his head. "That supreme killing intent is not something I can learn. To cultivate that sword intent requires an imperishable body and an undying physique. I have never cultivated Nuo methods, and it is impossible for me to start from scratch in this lifetime. Fellow Daoist Xu, farewell!"
He turned and took his leave, vanishing into the azure sky.
Xu Ying watched him depart into the distance, overcome with a sense of loss.
Suddenly, a fierce, vicious air surged within Xu Ying. The corner of his mouth twitched, and he snarled venomously, "If anything untoward happens to the Sword Monarch or my father, I'll butcher everyone here and bury Yingzhou to accompany them into death!"
Buddhist Child Jijue cried out in alarm and rushed over in a panic. From a distance, he drew a halo of Buddhist light and placed it behind Xu Ying's head, helping him suppress the Imperial Monarch's five-character curse.
"Just a moment's inattention and the Buddhist light went out! Thank goodness I didn't wander far. Amitabha, Amitabha!" Jijue murmured, lingering fear clutching his chest.
Chapter 433