The Divide Between Immortal and Mortal

Youshen Temple. Just as Xu Bingzheng departed, only to be captured and interrogated by Wang Ping, Shen Monkey and Xu Dog also arrived at the grounds, running straight into the gathering fiends. As luck would have it, both were titled martial masters capable of perceiving the fiends through divine intent. More importantly, they possessed specialized methods for handling such anomalies. Thus, without expending much effort, they smoothly made their way into the Taoist temple. The entire process went so easily that Shen Monkey could not help sighing inwardly: 'Did the mastermind behind the curtain orchestrate all this thinking our Enshrinement Hall was full of fools?' First came Yan Weichuan's Tabai Battalion, where the clamorous anomalous celestial phenomenon suddenly vanished. Then came the fiend guards at Youshen Temple, clearly deployed in haste, while other guards that should have been stationed here were nowhere to be found. Evidently, someone lurking behind the scenes was deliberately steering events. 'It was done far too deliberately.' 'Or rather, the other side made no attempt to disguise it at all. Deliberately helping us enter Youshen Temple—are they planning to use us to test the waters?' Shen Monkey mused. In a sense, this was actually a good thing. After all, anyone who acted like this was likely an enemy of Perfected Youshen. The enemy of my enemy is my friend. With such assistance, their odds of success on this trip were somewhat higher. Thinking this, Shen Monkey dwelled on it no longer, merely grumbling inwardly that the other party's methods were too crude, treating elite operatives like them like fools. The next instant, Shen Monkey heard Xu Dog beside him remark with feeling, "I thought we were marching into a deathtrap and was prepared to lay down my life. Who knew everything would go so smoothly? We two really are incredible." "..." Hearing this, Shen Monkey could not help turning his head to shoot Xu Dog a look of disgust. "Hm?" Xu Dog returned a puzzled glance. "From now on, you'd better stick with me. Never go on a solo mission," Shen Monkey said after a moment of silence, patting Xu Dog's shoulder with earnest gravity. "???" Mid-conversation, the world before their eyes suddenly brightened. Looking up at the sky, they discovered that the night sky where the bright moon had hung had abruptly turned into broad daylight. What met their eyes was a picturesque scene of singing birds and fragrant flowers, an ancient Taoist temple, and a rising sun hanging high in the sky. The brilliant sunlight forced both of them, already accustomed to the dark, to narrow their eyes in utter astonishment. Xu Dog, stunned, took a step backward out of the temple, and the curtain of night once more enveloped the world. "How... how is this possible!" Xu Dog held his breath instinctively. "Don't panic." Beside him, Shen Monkey remained calm. Looking around, he exhaled a long breath. "Keep your head. There is something wrong with the sky inside this temple." With that reminder, Xu Dog stepped back inside and inspected their surroundings closely. Moments later, he noticed the anomaly as well. "The white clouds in the sky aren't moving, and you can look straight at the sun. None of it is real... Is this painted? The so-called Youshen Temple is actually just a painting?" "It isn't that surprising." Compared to Xu Dog, Shen Monkey was well-traveled and knowledgeable, appearing far more composed. "Thaumaturges, sinister evils—in this vast world, methods like this are plenty." With that, the two continued forward. Before long, they crossed past the screen wall before the temple gates, walked through the central sacrificial hall, and made their way to the rear courtyard, where they finally caught sight of their objective. It was a gourd. Purple-gold in hue and crystalline like glazed glass, it floated in midair, holding fully thirty-three clusters of golden radiance, churning them together into a unified mass as it swayed. "Found it!" The Longevity as Old as Heaven Gourd! Both Shen Monkey and Xu Dog beamed with delight. Soon, however, their gazes shifted to the slender figure seated cross-legged beside the purple-gold gourd. With that single glance, their eyes locked in place, unable to pull away. The pounding of their hearts grew thunderous within their chests, their breathing ceased involuntarily, and their divine intent shrieked frantic warnings—as if the presence seated there was not a human being at all, but a colossal beast honing its razor-sharp claws, poised to hunt. Before today, they had only ever felt this sensation from one person. The First Seat of the Royal Enshrinement Hall. At this realization, Shen Monkey could barely believe it. 'Perfected Youshen... is a thaumaturge on par with the First Seat? Could this be a true disciple among thaumaturges?' 'Are you kidding me?!' 'How could a tiny place like Longxing County draw a figure of this caliber?!' In an instant, Shen Monkey's hope of survival plummeted. No one knew better than he how terrifying a powerhouse of the First Seat's caliber truly was. Yet the arrow was nocked; it had to fly. *Clang—!* The next instant, the glabella between Shen Monkey's brows blazed with brilliant light, surging like tidal waves into a vast river, accompanied by the melodious hum of a blade ringing closer from afar. In a flash, the river tore from the earth and surged straight into the clouds, the blade's ring echoing like crashing ocean waves. Yet in the end, all these phenomena converged, condensing into a single streak of azure light spanning heaven and earth, cleaving yin and yang, fixing dusk and dawn, as though intent on cleaving everything in the world in two! "...Slash!" In the unseen realm, an overbearing shout seemed to thunder forth, only to be instantly swallowed by the heaven-shaking ring of the blade. The blade light, filling the entire world, drove straight for the purple-gold gourd. *Rumble!* The blade light arrived in the blink of an eye. Yet a figure proved even faster, stepping in front of the purple-gold gourd and raising a hand to intercept the catastrophic strike. It was Perfected Youshen. Such a head-on collision should have produced an earth-shattering commotion. Bizarrely, however, the clash produced no shockwave and no sound whatsoever. All of the power seemed condensed entirely within that single line of blade light. This was a feat achievable only when one's efficiency in wielding power reached absolute perfection without the slightest waste. Even Perfected Youshen, intercepting the blow, could not help letting out a soft murmur of surprise. Only when a smear of bright crimson surfaced within the blade light did the clash come to an abrupt halt. Immediately after, the blade light recoiled and dissolved. Only then did Shen Monkey and Xu Dog barely make out the true form of the blade light: it was a dismantled guillotine blade, emblazoned with dragon markings... "The Dragon Head Guillotine!" Seeing this, Xu Dog looked invigorated. "So you had this half-divine weapon! No wonder you dared to stake your life on this strike, Shen Monkey. It's truly suited for this moment!" Rumor held that after the founding ancestor of the previous dynasty established the realm, he forged a divine weapon known as the Three Guillotines of the Clear Sky to enforce the law and demonstrate authority. The upper blade severed royal kinsmen, the middle blade severed corrupt officials, and the lower blade severed local ruffians and tyrants, signifying that "the law of the realm shows no mercy." When the previous dynasty fell, this divine weapon shattered along with it. Both the Tiger Head Guillotine and the Dog Head Guillotine had vanished without a trace. Only the Dragon Head Guillotine was preserved. After the founding ancestor of Dashun obtained it, he chose to melt and reforge it, barely managing to restore it to the level of a renowned treasure. Because its origins lay in a divine weapon, it was called a "half-divine weapon." In truth, the Dragon Head Guillotine's might far surpassed ordinary renowned treasures. Furthermore, it possessed a trait rare even among divine weapons: fortune-slaying. True to its name, this blade could sever destiny and fortune. 'The restoration of the Longevity as Old as Heaven Gourd requires the fortune of the previous dynasty, which this blade directly counters. As long as it strikes, the matter will be settled!' Meanwhile, Shen Monkey was far from as optimistic as Xu Dog. Frowning deeply, he muttered, "The first strike failed to achieve its aim. The situation is grim..." The Dragon Head Guillotine was not easily invoked. The closer a weapon was to a divine weapon, the more taxing it was to drive, placing immense strain on a martial artist's divine intent. Prolonged use risked madness at best and idiocy at worst. With his divine intent, he could execute at most two more strikes. 'Even if I collapse and Xu Dog takes over, that's only two more strikes.' Five strikes in total—that was Shen Monkey's entire foundation. If the first strike had managed to wound the opponent, the remaining four would have held great promise of ending the threat once and for all. Yet as matters stood, the very first strike had fallen short. Thinking this, Shen Monkey looked toward Perfected Youshen. Perfected Youshen stood with one hand raised. On the palm that had just blocked the Dragon Head Guillotine, a thin, elongated fissure had appeared. "Interesting. It actually breached the invulnerability of Qi Restriction." "To deliver such a strike, you are more than qualified to serve as a divine general." As the words fell, Shen Monkey watched with wide eyes as the crack on Perfected Youshen's palm rapidly knit together, vanishing completely within a few breaths. This weighed even heavier on his heart. On the other side, Perfected Youshen—or rather, You Xuexin, whose spiritual sense inhabited Perfected Youshen's body—felt irritated to the extreme. 'What are Xu Bingzheng and Yan Weichuan doing? How could they let people reach this place?' 'Where is the Six Desires Heavenly Demon Flag? Why would it turn on its master?' You Xuexin gritted her teeth, her spiritual sense diffusing outward without limit in an effort to sense the flag's location, completely disregarding Shen Monkey and Xu Dog. Yet even though You Xuexin's spiritual sense paid them no heed and merely brushed past them, it still bore down upon them like Mount Tai. An uncontrollable, biting chill swept over them, threatening to freeze their very blood and leaving them locked stiffly in place. 'This... this is...' Shen Monkey's heart churned with dread. Merely standing there without lifting a finger had stripped them of their combat capability, leaving them paralyzed where they stood. Even a martial arts grandmaster could hardly achieve such a feat. Could a great grandmaster do it? Could the First Seat do it? Shen Monkey did not know. Even so, he gathered every shred of his divine intent and internal force, desperately spurring his body and forcing it to move against the terror. At last, his trembling lips parted, and he barely managed to speak: "Honored thaumaturge..." "Insolence!" In an instant, the world in Shen Monkey's eyes lost all color, reduced to black and white. His divine intent, pushed to its utmost limit, caught the long-forgotten scent of impending death. Without hesitation, Shen Monkey ducked low. At the same time, he did not forget to yank Xu Dog down beside him. The very next instant, a clear streak of sword light swept through the air at the exact height where their necks had been, grazing their scalps before vanishing into the distant horizon. At this moment, even their divine intent ceased its frantic warnings, calmly conveying the inevitable conclusion to Shen Monkey. 'Certain death... is it?' Even having the Dragon Head Guillotine was useless. Weapons were merely supplementary; the crux of victory or defeat ultimately rested on the person wielding them, and the disparity between the two sides was simply insurmountable. Shen Monkey even suspected that the figure standing before them was no longer human. Thus, his thoughts shifted from accomplishing the mission to another goal entirely: 'If I must die, I must at least send word back.' 'Fortunately, Xu Dog and I are listed on the Enshrinement Hall's roster. Just like the Weapon Register, if we die, the First Seat can use the roster to review our final moments, including the cause of death. That way, at least the others will be on their guard against this Perfected Youshen.' This was the only thing left within his power. "How truly pathetic." You Xuexin let out a sigh, her voice cold and detached. It was not the attitude of a person toward another person, but rather the lament of an observer watching a moth throw itself into a flame. Why resist? There was a divide between immortal and mortal. A mortal's limits reached only so far. Why resist? Why couldn't they accept it peacefully, as one would accept a natural disaster? How could human strength contend against heaven? *Rumble!* A flash of sword light flared once more, poised to engulf Shen Monkey and Xu Dog. Yet in the next second, You Xuexin, who had already looked away and ceased paying them any attention, froze mid-motion. She whipped her head back, staring once again. "Hm?" Soon, the smoke and dust dispersed. With the banner of a flag fluttering behind him, Wang Ping stood nearby holding Shen Monkey in one hand and Xu Dog in the other, wearing an easy expression as he bore the full brunt of You Xuexin's pressure. "It's you..." Looking at Wang Ping, Shen Monkey showed both shock and realization. "You're the mastermind... I should have guessed. How could someone who mastered the Thirteen Taipo Horizontal Training Hard Qi Art be an ordinary armed cavalryman?" "A pity you arrived too late." "I'm not late," Wang Ping replied casually. "Senior, you misunderstand. I actually arrived long ago. I just didn't show myself, crouching outside to watch the fight." Shen Monkey: "..." "Then why aren't you running?" After a brief silence, Shen Monkey let out a bitter laugh. "You've seen the divide between immortal and mortal. Run quickly. At least leave a seed for the Enshrinement Hall's future..." From his tone, Wang Ping could hear sheer helplessness. It was like a mortal facing an earthquake, a flood, or a hailstorm—anything one did was utterly futile, leaving no choice but to surrender and pray for heaven's mercy. Fortunately, however... "This time, it hasn't come to that." Wang Ping set Shen Monkey and Xu Dog down, speaking in an easy tone: "The divide between immortal and mortal... Describing her that way is thinking far too highly of her, Senior. She is nowhere close to that." With that, he looked toward Perfected Youshen. Even beneath the bronze mask, that delicate charm could not be concealed. The presence behind Perfected Youshen was undoubtedly You Xuexin... but that was all. Wang Ping smiled. "Thanks to you two seniors, I have already seen through this puppet's true nature."