The Heavenly Gate Sword Immortal lived roughly fifteen hundred years ago, in the transitional era between the end of the Wu and the beginning of the Yan. Perhaps because he had seen too many ancient monsters, Xu Yuan was not overly shocked by this woman's age.
"To think Your Ladyship was of the same era as that Sword Immortal. But by my reckoning, Great Yan's Founding Ancestor should have also been around in your time, shouldn't he? Did that venerable elder not meet with your approval either?"
"Li Shouchen?"
After a brief silence, the woman surnamed Wen spoke slowly. "Neither in methods nor in cultivation was he truly at the pinnacle. His ability to seize the realm was largely because the war between Qian and Zhou had completely exhausted the two nations' strength, and the sects needed someone to pacify the chaotic world."
Hearing this, Xu Yuan smiled.
"Is Your Ladyship not being a bit overly dismissive toward the man who founded such a towering empire?"
The woman surnamed Wen shook her head gently and said with a smile, "History books can be rewritten, but facts cannot. If Li Shouchen truly possessed the power to sweep across the realm as the chronicles claim, why did he leave the sects for future generations to resolve?"
"..."
After a moment of silence, Xu Yuan stared at her and asked, "There is truth in that. But since Great Yan's Founding Ancestor was so unremarkable and Your Ladyship speaks with such lofty pride, why did you not try to contend with him for the Nine Cauldrons back then?"
The woman surnamed Wen pondered for a short while, as though reminiscing, or perhaps carefully weighing her words. Only after a good while did she reply in a clear voice, "At that time, my mind was wholly devoted to the Dao. Seeking the path to immortality, I took no part in that clash of chaotic times."
Xu Yuan narrowed his eyes and followed up smoothly, "So Your Ladyship has attained your method of immortality, and now your thoughts turn to contesting the realm?"
"Compared to ordinary cultivators, I can indeed be considered immortal now. But if the scale is stretched to ten thousand years, I still fall far short."
"If so, wouldn't it be better to remain detached from the world and continue pursuing that immortality? Why meddle in this great tide of affairs?"
"Heheh~"
The moment the words left his mouth, the woman surnamed Wen let out a soft laugh.
Her crisp laughter echoed across the deathly silent ruins. Only when she had laughed her fill and restrained her smile did she ask softly in return, "Why do you think I want to contest this realm?"
Xu Yuan frowned slightly.
When a person's standing reached a certain height, all material things were theirs for the taking; very little remained for them to pursue.
Looking at the woman who had lived for over a thousand years before him, Xu Yuan pondered for a moment and said quietly, "Given Your Ladyship's stature, the things you could seek in taking a step further amount to no more than two or three: the power to rule over all living beings, the fulfillment of a vision in your heart, or the burden of duty on your shoulders."
The woman surnamed Wen's eyes were as serene as a lake, shimmering with rippling light. She smiled and asked, "Well said. So which kind do you think I am?"
Xu Yuan met her gaze directly and slowly uttered two words: "For power."
"..."
The woman surnamed Wen's lovely eyes widened slightly, carrying a hint of surprise. Then, she sighed softly. "So in your eyes, what an elder of a thousand years pursues is actually something so vulgar?"
Xu Yuan raised an eyebrow and said softly, "Is it not?"
The woman surnamed Wen did not answer him directly. Glancing across the entire city that had been reduced to ruins, she said, "Power is merely an instrument to realize a vision. It is so for your father, and so it is for me. It is just that what he and I seek are different."
Xu Yuan picked up on her words. "I would be glad to hear the details."
The woman surnamed Wen fell silent for a short while, then suddenly curved her eyes with a smile and asked, "If I were to say that I wish to rebel and strike down the Heavens, would you believe me?"
"The Heavens?"
Xu Yuan was stunned for a second, then asked in a low voice, "Why strike down the Heavens?"
The woman surnamed Wen lifted her eyes toward the stars cascading across the sky. "So long as the Heavens remain undestroyed, the tribulation of the human race will eternally endure, and the upper limit of all living beings will forever be confined to entering Sainthood."
Xu Yuan's brow knitted into a tight knot. The sheer amount of information in her words was overwhelming. "Do you have proof?"
A trace of gentleness showed in the woman surnamed Wen's eyes, as though looking upon an amusing junior. She asked in return, "Even if I had proof, could you persuade your father to abandon his ideals and cooperate with me? Or rather, would you truly believe evidence that exists solely from my mouth?"
"..." Xu Yuan fell silent.
The woman surnamed Wen paid it no mind, merely continuing, "...So long as you have not experienced it for yourself, you will never believe the words I speak."
Having said this, the woman surnamed Wen suddenly let out a sigh. She looked around at the gradually fading ruins and the boundary of life and death slowly manifesting beneath her feet. "If it were you, perhaps you truly might experience what I speak of one day. But the premise is that you survive today."
Hearing this, Xu Yuan's vigilance instantly spiked to its peak. He bared his teeth in a strained smile. "Your Ladyship's willingness to speak so much with me before killing me surely isn't just to satisfy a desire to vent, is it?"
A hint of reminiscence flashed in the woman surnamed Wen's bright eyes, and she chuckled softly. "No, I simply wanted to chat with you."
"..." Xu Yuan.
"Of course, the main reason is that your Blood Yuan Heart Calamity Art reminded me of that fellow after so long." A certain nostalgia permeated the woman surnamed Wen's serene eyes.
Taking in this expression, Xu Yuan swallowed hard inwardly and asked with a smile, "So Tianmen Mountain was the result of a battle between Your Ladyship and the Heavenly Gate Sword Immortal?"
"Pfft—"
The woman surnamed Wen sounded as if she had heard quite a funny joke, her voice gentle as flowing water. "If I said yes, would you fall into despair?"
"..." Xu Yuan.
He would, because a man knew his own limits.
Paying no heed to being enveloped in the Domain of Life and Death, the woman surnamed Wen let out a long breath, lowered her gaze, and smiled. "I was merely teasing you. His death was not caused by me, nor could I ever have raised a hand against him. After all, that fellow was the only bosom friend who walked this path alongside me."
Xu Yuan let out a small breath of relief.
If this woman truly were on the same level as the Heavenly Gate Sword Immortal, he might as well just lie flat and give up.
Pulling himself together, Xu Yuan's eyes gradually shifted into black and white. He said quietly, "Then I thank Your Ladyship for dispelling my doubts. However, this junior has no intention of perishing here just yet."
The woman surnamed Wen looked around at the surging Dao charm of life and death, calm as if merely stating a fact. "Since I have made my move, there is no possibility of your survival."
Xu Yuan gave a soft laugh and replied, "Longevity does not equate to strength. You might not believe it, but quite a few of the close friends around me are over ten thousand years old."
"It seems you have misunderstood something. In my lifetime, I have encountered many who lingered in this world through methods of stealing life, but without exception, they are fundamentally different from me."
The woman surnamed Wen's voice was neither hurried nor slow as she gently lifted a finger. "Do you want to know how?"
Even as she spoke,
Buzz—
A ripple resembling disturbed water spread out from her slender fingertip. Within a few breaths, it expanded across the entire Domain of Life and Death.
The next moment,
Heaven and earth shifted violently.
The River of Life and Death beneath the woman surnamed Wen's feet was peeled away layer by layer like blocks of tofu, followed by the pitch-black Realm of Death and the dazzling Realm of Life.
The entire space shattered piece by piece like a puzzle, spinning like a top, before countless spatial fragments emerged to overlay the fractured sections, recombining everything anew.
By the time the tremors ceased,
The Domain of Life and Death had vanished without a trace,
Replaced once more by the prefectural city ruins where they had stood just moments before.
The woman surnamed Wen gazed serenely at Xu Yuan and said placidly, "The essence of their longevity is prolonging their lives through deep slumber, whereas I have no need for such inferior means."
"..."
Frowning, Xu Yuan attempted to condense his Dao domain once more, but failed.
A failure without reason.
Everything needed to condense the Dao domain was fully formed, yet for some unknown reason, he simply could not manifest it into the world.
His heart quickened slightly. Xu Yuan frantically circulated the Blood Yuan Heart Calamity Art and demanded in a deep voice, "What did you do?"
Perhaps out of affection extending to all related things, the woman surnamed Wen showed great patience toward Xu Yuan, who cultivated the Blood Yuan Heart Calamity Art. "The world's cultivators only know of using the Three Dao-Entering Realms to break through to Sainthood, but is entering the Dao truly correct? In my experience, if one wishes to walk beyond the realm of Saints, Dao charm actually becomes a stumbling block.
"Yet there is no denying that something like a Dao domain provides immense amplification to a cultivator. Thus, to deal with enemies, I created this Void Realm that isolates Dao domains.
"Simply put, a technique that interferes with a cultivator's ability to commune with the Dao charm of heaven and earth.
"Well now, I have answered your question. Is there anything else you wish to say, Xu Changtian?"
"..."
Listening closely to the end, Xu Yuan swallowed hard and said in a low voice, "You said just now that the Heavenly Gate Sword Immortal was your only bosom friend, right?"
"Yes."
"Do you think I could be the second?"
"..." The woman surnamed Wen.
After a moment of silence, the woman surnamed Wen laughed in spite of herself, her expression gentle as water.
"If there were a choice, of course you could.
"However, your identity dictates that there is no choice. Therefore..."
Before her voice could finish falling,
Xu Yuan's figure abruptly vanished from where he stood.
Throughout their lengthy conversation, Xu Yuan had already pushed the Stacked Inscription Secret Art within him to its absolute limit.
Yet this time, he did not choose to flee.
Because he could not flee, and because there was no escaping.
By the time Xu Yuan reappeared, he had already reached right before the woman surnamed Wen. A black sphere upon his palm was warping the space around it.
Technique: Nameless.
And the moment she saw this technique,
The woman surnamed Wen's brows, usually soft as water, furrowed for the very first time.
She remembered that fellow's technique.
However,
Was this not something that could only be stably executed after breaking through to Saint?
She had been somewhat careless.
The woman surnamed Wen realized she seemed to have underestimated this junior.
She was a proper cultivator, not a monster like him who sacrificed his upper body at the drop of a hat.
Therefore, she had to dodge.
Yet at that very instant, another turn of events unfolded.
The spellcaster's Blood Killing Trapping Formation took shape in a flash. Countless scarlet threads bloomed and shot out from the ground, binding the woman surnamed Wen's slender, voluptuous body like steel wires and pinning her in place.
High in the firmament,
Countless blood-colored crystals manifested from the void.
A deadly trap was forged in a single breath.
Chapter 694