As soon as Chu Xinghui left his place of secluded cultivation, he was caught by an old friend who had been waiting at the door.

Chu Xinghui glanced at the person grabbing him, a bit surprised: “Ming Xiao? Are you looking for me?”

After a few years apart, Ming Xiao had grown a bit taller, and now looked like a very steady and reliable young man.

If only he wasn’t holding a cane, he might have looked even more reliable.

Ming Xiao sized up Chu Xinghui carefully. Seeing that he was perfectly fine after his cultivation, Ming Xiao gave a proud snort: “It’s not like I came here specifically to pick you up, it’s just that I happened to be the only one at the sect, so I had no choice but to reluctantly come and get you.”

Chu Xinghui: “…”

He still talked in that same familiar way.

Chu Xinghui decided to take back his earlier impression of his friend being steady and reliable.

Those two words could probably never be associated with Ming Xiao in this lifetime.

When Ming Xiao saw his expression, he habitually put his hands on his hips, intending to defend his reputation.

But he forgot about his own condition and subconsciously tried to use his left leg. The moment he put weight on it, he grimaced from the pain and hopped on one foot.

Chu Xinghui couldn’t stand to watch and reached out to steady him, then helped pick up the cane Ming Xiao had tossed aside and stuffed it back into his hand: “What happened to your leg?”

Ming Xiao dejectedly leaned on the cane and explained: “A few days ago, I got injured outside. It’ll take some time to heal.”

Chu Xinghui glanced at the wound on his leg.

It had already been treated, but there were still traces of golden spiritual light around it.

Chu Xinghui realized something and furrowed his brow: “You fought with someone from the Upper Realm?”

When it came to this, Ming Xiao’s expression grew serious: “It’s not just me who fought people from the Upper Realm, a lot of people have fought them.”

There was no need for Chu Xinghui to ask, Ming Xiao explained his reason for coming right away: “I came here because of that. Sword Sovereign predicted you would finish your cultivation in these days and told me to come pick you up and tell you about the situation of the last few years.”

Chu Xinghui immediately became alert: “What about Xie Liufeng? Did something happen to him?”

If Xie Liufeng was fine, he definitely wouldn’t have let anyone else come pick him up.

Knowing what Chu Xinghui was worried about, Ming Xiao quickly said: “Don’t worry, he’s fine. It’s just that we don’t have enough people right now, and except for the wounded like me, no one else could come back.”

He continued to explain: “The problems of this period all basically come down to the Book of Fate and the Heavenly Ladder. Ever since those two false gods came down after Qin Suyun, several more false gods have come down. At first, because everyone was prepared, and these false gods were quite heavily restricted when they descended, it was still manageable. Until two years ago…”

Ming Xiao sighed: “From two years ago, those false gods who descended began to give up attaching themselves to human bodies, instead, like the one that Sword Sovereign killed before, they chose to descend with their true bodies… And this time, something was different about them. The restrictions on these false gods’ true bodies seem to have been lifted a lot, and they could attack people of this world directly.”

His voice lowered: “A lot of people have died or been injured by now.”

The casualties were far more direct than any previous, hidden danger.

Chu Xinghui guessed: “Because of the Book of Fate?”

Ming Xiao nodded: “Yes. I heard from the elders that the Upper Realm’s theft of this world’s fortune has probably reached some threshold. Because of the fortune from this world, those false gods who descended have already been tainted with the aura of this realm, allowing them to confuse the Heavenly Dao’s recognition in many situations, so they act much more recklessly.”

Chu Xinghui’s expression grew serious as well.

When there were more restrictions before, these false gods had already caused all sorts of trouble in this realm. Now that they could directly attack people here… it would be even harder to deal with.

And this was only the beginning. If things kept developing like this, those false gods would likely become more and more uncontrollable in their actions down here.

But now was not the time to dwell on the long-term, Chu Xinghui first asked about the immediate situation: “Does anyone have a way to deal with these false gods?”

Ming Xiao shook his head and answered plainly: “No, at best we can stall them. We can’t beat them, no matter how hard we try. That’s why Senior Brother Sect Leader specifically brought your Sword Sovereign out.”

He was rarely willing to admit defeat, but in this case, there was really nothing they could do.

Chu Xinghui still remembered when Xie Liufeng left.

Two years ago… That should have been when Xie Liufeng received the message from outside and left his retreat.

Ming Xiao counted on his fingers: “These last two years, there have been three false gods who descended with their true bodies. Sword Sovereign has already killed two, and now he’s hunting the third.”

Xie Liufeng usually drifted around casually and rarely acted like a powerful figure.

Only at times like these did people understand the true meaning of the title “Sword Sovereign.”

Chu Xinghui couldn’t help but press his forehead.

The two of them had exhausted great effort to remove the shackles on Xie Liufeng’s divine soul, but he had turned around and killed two more…

Perhaps Xie Liufeng really conflicted with the matter of Ascension.

Worrying about his safety, Chu Xinghui continued to ask Ming Xiao: “Was he injured?”

The last time Xie Liufeng killed a God, he had paid a heavy price.

Ming Xiao responded instinctively: “He didn’t allow it to be mentioned…”

Then he immediately realized and firmly said: “No, absolutely not.”

Chu Xinghui looked at him.

Ming Xiao grabbed a handful of his hair and could only speak honestly: “Alright, he said not to bring it up to you proactively, but if you asked, to tell the truth. He did get injured once before and lay bedridden for nearly half a year. He only fully recovered last month before fighting the third false god.”

Chu Xinghui was silent for a moment and asked Ming Xiao: “Where is Xie Liufeng? I’m going to find him.”

*

Xie Liufeng was around the East Sea.

This place was spacious and had few people or buildings that could be affected, Xie Liufeng had deliberately led someone here.

When Chu Xinghui arrived, the confrontation between Xie Liufeng and the last false god who descended with a true body was nearing its end.

It was midnight, the moonlight was bright and clear, casting a faint white glow over the sea surface.
Both men appeared physically exhausted, sparks of spiritual light flashed wildly in midair, making their moves indistinct.

Xie Liufeng was usually lazy most of the time, and when he fought, he often ended fights quickly with brute force, Chu Xinghui had hardly seen this side of him.

After a short duel, Xie Liufeng suddenly showed a small flaw.

His opponent’s eyes lit up and immediately seized the chance, striking Xie Liufeng’s chest with a palm.

Xie Liufeng fell like a kite with its string cut, dropping from midair.

Chu Xinghui’s heart nearly stopped from fright, he quickly flew forward and caught him.

Xie Liufeng looked pale and severely wounded, blood continuously flowing from his mouth.

Chu Xinghui’s fingers trembled as he touched the blood on his lips and frantically searched for pills in his storage pouch.

Xie Liufeng stretched out his hand, subtly tugging on Chu Xinghui’s sleeve and winked at him.

Then he weakly coughed and looked as if he was about to faint.

Chu Xinghui: “…”

He hesitated for a moment holding the pill bottle, then switched to a common restorative pill and fed it to Xie Liufeng.

Xie Liufeng still looked half-dead but swallowed the medicine weakly.

Seeing Xie Liufeng critically injured and near death, the false god beside him was delighted and immediately prepared to finish him off.

When one believed they were about to achieve complete victory, they inevitably relaxed their defenses.

Chu Xinghui gripped his spirit sword, ready to stand and fight, but Xie Liufeng tugged at him again.

He heard Xie Liufeng’s smiling voice: “Don’t rush. Want to see fireworks?”

Xie Liufeng tilted his head toward him and snapped his fingers.

In the next instant, a violent burst of spiritual power exploded in midair, brightening the entire sea area as if it were daytime.

The false god trying to finish off Xie Liufeng was blown apart like fireworks midair.

Xie Liufeng sat up and eagerly enjoyed the fireworks on the sea surface for a moment, then asked Chu Xinghui what he thought: “Pretty fireworks, right?”

This was something he had spent a great deal of effort secretly setting up during the battle.

Chu Xinghui was not pleased watching the fireworks, he looked at Xie Liufeng sternly: “…Is this the only tactic you know?”

Xie Liufeng shrugged helplessly: “I don’t use this tactic often, it’s just that you always run into it.”

Seeing Chu Xinghui remain silent, his voice softened: “Don’t be afraid. I’m this strong, it’s not so easy for me to get into trouble.”

Chu Xinghui still said nothing, slowly helping Xie Liufeng to his feet.

He smelled the scent of blood.

Although Xie Liufeng said he was okay, causing that kind of spectacle absolutely meant he was injured.

Chu Xinghui silently finished checking Xie Liufeng’s body, pulled out a large number of restorative pills, and fed them to him. Suddenly, he spoke: “Am I… too late?”

Not just Xie Liufeng—along the way, he had seen many cases of deaths and injuries caused by false gods.

If he had emerged earlier from seclusion and dealt with the Heavenly Ladder sooner…

Xie Liufeng roughly rubbed his head, lowered his eyes, and sheathed the spirit sword he had been holding: “It’s not that you were late, it’s that those things up there were overdue to be dealt with.”

He took Chu Xinghui’s hand: “Let’s go.”

Chu Xinghui asked: “Where to?”

Xie Liufeng explained: “That thing isn’t dead, we’re going to pick up the rest of it.”

Chu Xinghui was momentarily stunned.

Xie Liufeng pinched his face: “I have experience slaying gods. At this moment, I don’t intend to add another chain of shackles to my divine soul. None of these three are dead completely, we’ll feed them to your sword spirit later.”

Chu Xinghui silently followed him to retrieve the body.

It proved that Xie Liufeng really had great experience with god-slaying.

When the two dragged the false god out of the sea, the opponent was just barely holding onto life.
Fang Yan had been waiting nearby. Hearing that the fight ended, he had already been waiting on the shore.

Ming Xiao sent Fang Yan a message. Fang Yan was not surprised to see Chu Xinghui appear here. He exchanged greetings with the two and skillfully took the nearly dead false god away for disposal.

After Fang Yan left, only Chu Xinghui and Xie Liufeng remained by the seaside.

Chu Xinghui dragged Xie Liufeng to a clean spot and told him to rest for a while.

But instead of resting, Xie Liufeng seemed more interested in his recently emerged Dao companion and teased Chu Xinghui several times during that short period.

Chu Xinghui thought Xie Liufeng was really lacking a sense of boundaries.

So he held Xie Liufeng down, kissed him fiercely, then sternly told him: “Don’t say a word, just rest properly first.”

Xie Liufeng: “…”

He finally behaved and obediently began to heal his wounds quietly.

 

Support translation: