After hearing Chu Xinghui’s report, Xie Liufeng glanced at the freshly revived Guan Feng and immediately gave him a sword.

Before he could harm his partner again, he’d better die first.

While Guan Feng was waiting to revive, Xie Liufeng rummaged through his storage pouch.

Chu Xinghui froze for a moment when he saw the motion: “How did you bring your storage pouch in here?”

Xie Liufeng pointed to the spot where his sword light had destroyed the area and explained: “I broke everything outside. The illusion is now connected to the outside world, and I’m using my main body.”

Hearing this, Chu Xinghui also tried to connect with his own body.

But he didn’t succeed.

He silently looked at Xie Liufeng.

Finally, Xie Liufeng found something useful and threw an array plate onto Guan Feng’s revival point. He looked at Chu Xinghui’s gaze and smiled, rubbing his head: “…Because before I came, I hid your body. You’ll be able to sense it once you leave here.”

Chu Xinghui realized something was off: “You hid me but not you?”

He felt that Xie Liufeng’s safety awareness was seriously lacking.

Xie Liufeng, unwilling to mention how roughly he had preserved his own body, casually pulled out a small bag of sugar hawthorn from his pouch, cleared his throat, and tried to change the subject: “Want some?”

Chu Xinghui: “…”

He continued to stare at Xie Liufeng.

Xie Liufeng surrendered and promised: “Next time, I’ll hide both of us together. Is that okay?”

Chu Xinghui reluctantly accepted, taking the bag and starting to keep an eye on Guan Feng’s revival.

This time, the revival process took even longer.

After Chu Xinghui ate a small portion of the sugar hawthorn, Guan Feng finally revived again.

This time, he was immediately trapped in the formation.

Guan Feng tried several methods but failed to break free from the formation, finally feeling a sense of danger: “What exactly do you two want to do?”

Neither of them responded, continuing to observe him while seriously discussing how they could completely kill him.

This person had an unusual form, and ordinary methods wouldn’t work to finish him off. Only special techniques could be used.

Xie Liufeng pulled out some tools specifically for dealing with spiritual bodies and spirits, intending to test each one.

Guan Feng overheard their discussion, feeling that these two were completely outrageous. Unable to contain himself, he began to loudly curse.

But still, no one responded to him.

Suddenly, Chu Xinghui felt the spiritual sword in his hand stir again.

The black bird wanted him to let go.

He glanced down, unsure of what the black bird was planning this time, and released the sword’s hilt.

The sword flew into the air and transformed back into the black bird.

It expanded slightly and then split into two birds.

The two black birds looked at Chu Xinghui and simultaneously let out a loud, annoying screech.

Chu Xinghui: “…”

Xie Liufeng, who had been fiddling with the tools he planned to use, walked over, observing the situation cautiously and guessing: “Is it going crazy?”

Chu Xinghui took a step back in fear, thinking to himself.

He started to wonder if a mad sword spirit was still useful.

One of the black birds flew determinedly in front of Chu Xinghui, then transferred most of its energy to the other black bird.

The bird in front of them immediately became semi-transparent.

At that moment, the two of them realized what was happening.

The black bird was simulating what had happened in the illusion.

The semi-transparent black bird landed beside Guan Feng and began hopping around.

Chu Xinghui sensed its intentions through the contract and guessed: “You mean, the essence of the two of you is the same, and Guan Feng is also a sword spirit?”

The two black birds thought for a moment, agreeing with the general idea, and nodded politely. Then, they merged into one again and landed on Chu Xinghui’s shoulder.

Chu Xinghui glanced up at the sky.

There had previously been a projection of a divine book summoned there, but after he destroyed the formation on the altar, it had vanished.

However, a faint trace of its aura still lingered.

Xie Liufeng also looked up at the same spot, guessing: “To be more precise, it should be a weapon spirit. For example… someone might have used dark arts to turn themselves into a weapon spirit when they were struck by heavenly lightning and about to die, transforming into their life weapon.”

Chu Xinghui turned to ask the person involved: “What do you think, Senior Fu Guan?”

The person trapped in the formation immediately furrowed his brows: “What are you talking about?”

Chu Xinghui nodded: “It was just a guess, but based on your reaction, it seems pretty close to the truth.”

“There has never been an outsider who took over this illusion. The owner of this illusion has always been you alone. The ‘island lord’ the townspeople spoke of was also you.”

He calmly looked at the person trapped in the formation: “Senior Fu Guan, since you’ve become a weapon spirit, why hide here and avoid it?”

He was now surviving based on the divine book, it wasn’t like he truly wanted to destroy it.

Most likely, it was for the same purpose as other higher-ups who came to this world.

Fu Guan remained silent for a long time before weakly defending: “You ignorant child, you don’t understand!”

Seeing that he wasn’t going to explain, Chu Xinghui brought up another matter: “By the way, your handwriting is quite distinctive. We found a stele with similar writing in Changyang Mountain.”

Fu Guan scoffed: “Yes… that stele was indeed left by me. What does that prove?”

Chu Xinghui speculated: “According to the words on the stele, I had always thought the divine sword was used to suppress the fierce blade. But actually, it should be the opposite, right? The divine sword can suppress the fierce blade, but those fierce blades can also suppress the divine sword, am I right?”

The black bird’s desire to pierce Fu Guan might be because of this reason.

Chu Xinghui politely asked: “I’m very curious. What exactly did this sword do to offend you?”

Fu Guan fell silent, unwilling to speak.

When he didn’t respond, Chu Xinghui continued his guess: “Senior, you were quite the figure in the past. You found the divine sword but didn’t use it yourself or store it. Instead, you quietly sealed it away… I’m sure you saw something in the divine book, didn’t you? Perhaps this sword would eventually become the weapon that kills you, or maybe… this sword can sever the Heavenly Ladder, causing everyone to be unable to ascend?”

Fu Guan grew even more silent.

Seeing he couldn’t extract any more information, Chu Xinghui glanced at Xie Liufeng.

There were probably many things this man was hiding.

Since Fu Guan had become a weapon spirit of the divine book, they couldn’t destroy him just yet, before he fulfilled his purpose.

Xie Liufeng took out a transparent orb from his storage pouch, one used specifically to contain sword spirits and similar beings, and shoved Fu Guan into it.

The supernatural entity was successfully captured, and Chu Xinghui shook the orb in his hand with satisfaction.

Fu Guan was jostled inside, nearly shouting in frustration.

Xie Liufeng couldn’t resist shaking it too: “This thing hasn’t contained a higher realm’s weapon spirit yet. I’m not sure if the strength will hold. Let’s go back and get Senior a more spacious residence.”

Chu Xinghui nodded.

The illusion had already been torn apart by Xie Liufeng, and leaving was no longer difficult.

Xie Liufeng took a memory stone, preparing to leave a recording of the crime scene before they departed.

Chu Xinghui stayed behind for a while to keep an eye on the weapon spirit.

When Xie Liufeng was out of sight, Fu Guan suddenly spoke to Chu Xinghui: “Before, I did deceive you, but there’s one thing I didn’t lie about. The situation in this world… the Son of Heaven is bound to sacrifice himself. Even if you don’t die by my hands today, you’ll eventually die from something else.”

Chu Xinghui thought it was just another typical curse, so he casually shook the orb again and said: “Mm, and then?”

Fu Guan became dizzy from the shaking but stubbornly continued: “Young friend, you still don’t understand what I mean. The Son of Heaven is destined to sacrifice himself, but it doesn’t mean you are destined to die. Originally, the Son of Heaven wasn’t supposed to be you. Who do you think you’re substituting for with this fatal destiny of yours?”

Chu Xinghui stopped shaking the orb and gave him a look.

Seeing he had successfully gotten Chu Xinghui’s attention, Fu Guan adopted a mysterious, expert attitude: “What if I say that the original Son of Heaven was your companion beside you?”

He scoffed maliciously and looked at Chu Xinghui: “You trust him, don’t you? He’s the one who escaped the identity of the Son of Heaven, causing the fatal destiny to fall upon you. Who knows if he’s intentionally making you a scapegoat?”

Chu Xinghui, hearing this, immediately turned around and called out: “Xie Liufeng!”

Xie Liufeng had just finished making the recording. Hearing his name, he put away the memory stone and walked over from not far away: “What’s up?”

Chu Xinghui repeated: “Senior Fu Guan just told me that the previous Son of Heaven was you.”

Xie Liufeng thought for a moment and nodded: “I also guessed the same thing before, but it should no longer be the case, right?”

The “gods” who descended from the upper realms all had one goal: to obtain the divine title. The first targets were naturally those who were destined to become gods. Five hundred years ago, the god who descended immediately set his sights on him. It was very likely that he had been the Son of Heaven at that time.

But he didn’t waste time with tricks and directly killed the god who had come to cause trouble. He was now on the black list of the Heavenly Dao, as the Heavenly Dao couldn’t both imprison him and treat him like its own child.

Moreover, there could only be one Son of Heaven at a time. Now that Chu Xinghui was the Son of Heaven, Xie Liufeng naturally couldn’t be.

The two of them were discussing this matter seriously, but Fu Guan couldn’t hold back any longer and emphasized to Chu Xinghui again: “I’m telling you, the fate of your sacrifice now is to replace this person in front of you, can’t you understand?”

Chu Xinghui finally spared a moment to respond: “Senior Fu Guan, next time you try to sow discord, make sure you understand the situation first. We two have already been married and are Dao companions, naturally bound to live and die together.”

Xie Liufeng grinned and added: “And no matter whether we sacrifice or not, you still have to die first. Why worry about things you can’t see?”

It seemed he was really overthinking things.

Chu Xinghui stuffed Fu Guan’s nonsense into Xie Liufeng’s storage bag.

The two of them left the now dilapidated illusion together.

Chu Xinghui was still in his soul-separated state. It took him some time to find his body, and when he opened his eyes, Xie Liufeng was already in front of him.

He took in his surroundings and realized they were in the cave residence on Changyang Mountain.

Xie Liufeng was rummaging through the cabinets, clearly looking for something.

Having expended so much energy in the illusion, Chu Xinghui didn’t want to think too hard now that he was back to normal. He let his mind wander for a moment, watching Xie Liufeng.

After observing him for a while, Chu Xinghui asked: “What are you looking for?”

Xie Liufeng replied: “The sword sheath. I remember I put it here when I sent you in. Let me check.”

Although he had more than one usable sword sheath, the one from before was the most convenient.

Chu Xinghui’s mind was still a little absent, and he casually said: “It’s not here. It’s in your storage bag.”

He had no particular expression on his face, which made it a bit intimidating. Xie Liufeng, without thinking too much, started searching his own storage bag: “Is it? When did I put it there? Let me find it.”

Chu Xinghui thought about it for a moment but couldn’t come up with a better lie, so he just said: “I don’t know.”

Xie Liufeng vaguely sensed something was off, stopped what he was doing, and squinted at his Dao companion.

The two of them stared at each other.

Chu Xinghui finally snapped back to reality and honestly told him: “I was lying. It’s in my storage bag.”

He had seen it when he broke through here earlier, recognized it as Xie Liufeng’s, and casually stuffed it into his own storage bag. He wasn’t sure why, but in his unclear state, he had just made up a story.

He took the sheath out of his storage bag and handed it to Xie Liufeng.

Xie Liufeng: “…”

He took the sword sheath and felt something was wrong: “Where did you learn this from?”

Chu Xinghui raised his head and glanced at him.

Xie Liufeng: “…”

He pressed Chu Xinghui’s head down and self-reflected: “Alright, I was wrong.”

It was all his fault for setting such a bad example.

 

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