After understanding Yue Yao’s request, Chu Xinghui and Xie Liufeng went to find the ever-resourceful Fang Yan.

Since Xie Huai had been left behind by the Beiyue Sword Sect last time, he had been confined in their dungeon. As of now, he was still alive, so finding him wouldn’t be difficult.

As for Qin Suyun’s body, it had long since been taken by Yue Yao to help handle her master’s remaining soul. The fact that Yue Yao specifically mentioned her again likely meant that she was trying to find Qin Suyun’s soul.

Given how many things had been happening recently, Qin Suyun had faded into the background. After a moment of recollection, Fang Yan finally remembered that peculiar rat and led Chu Xinghui and Xie Liufeng to check on Qin Suyun’s current condition.

The last time Qin Suyun’s soul had been consumed by the black bird’s golden light, he had been reinserted into the rat’s body. Now, he was still in the same place where the rat had originally been kept, but after the incident with the black bird, the external protective barriers had been significantly strengthened to prevent any other strange birds from taking him again as prey.

Fang Yan opened the box, used a bit of spiritual energy, and picked up the rat by its tail, showing the two of them the rat that looked like it had pure bloodlines: “After you two went to Changyang Mountain, it fell into a deep coma for a long time. When it woke up… this is what it became.”

The rat, suddenly dragged from its dark resting place and held by its tail, immediately began scrambling wildly, squealing in distress.

It was completely unable to communicate with humans anymore.

Chu Xinghui stared at the fully transformed rat, and for a moment, he doubted whether Qin Suyun was still inside it.

Xie Liufeng stepped forward and carefully checked. After a while, he confirmed: “…The soul inside is indeed Qin Suyun’s.”

“A mouse is different after three days, one should look at it with new eyes.”

Chu Xinghui thought for a moment and released the black bird.

The black bird aimlessly flew around, finally spotting the mouse that was close by.

After Qin Suyun lost the golden light around his soul, the black bird had lost interest in him. However, driven by a natural curiosity towards moving creatures, the black bird landed on the table, extended a foot, and nudged the mouse on the table.

The mouse immediately let out a terrified squeak, scrambled wildly across the table, and directly ran into Chu Xinghui, leaving two black paw prints on his clothes.

It was evident that Qin Suyun hadn’t been very hygienic during the time he had been a mouse.

Chu Xinghui felt extremely upset. He grabbed the panicked mouse that had rushed toward him and shoved Qin Suyun back into the box.

He cleaned the black paw prints off his clothes, then used spiritual power to cleanse his hands, which had touched the mouse, and looked at Xie Liufeng.

Xie Liufeng couldn’t hold back and chuckled quietly.

Chu Xinghui continued to look at Xie Liufeng.

Xie Liufeng stopped laughing, adopted a serious posture, and said: “Alright, we understand. Let’s ask Yue Yao later if this thing is still usable. If it’s not… weren’t there two others caught by another sect? If it comes to that, we can use them as replacements.”

His tone sounded like he was just confirming the quality of a material.

Although, in essence, that was the purpose of their visit today.

After checking the materials, the group planned to leave the place.

Chu Xinghui glanced at the black bird still flying aimlessly outside, trying to summon it back into the spirit sword, but suddenly felt a faint resistance.

He furrowed his brow and stared at the black bird, which refused to return to the spirit sword.

The black bird circled around aimlessly for a while before starting to fly around Fang Yan.

Fang Yan glanced at the bird and casually grabbed a bottle of idle medicinal pills to feed it.

But this time, the black bird refused to eat and continued flying around Fang Yan.

Chu Xinghui tightened his brows: “Sect Master, did you… come into contact with something strange today?”

Fang Yan thought carefully about the day’s events and replied: “No, I just returned from Wanfa Sect, and there was nothing there…”

Xie Liufeng suddenly remembered something and asked: “Didn’t you say another sect caught two souls from the upper realm? Was one of them from Wanfa Sect?”

Fang Yan paused, then nodded.

Chu Xinghui exchanged a glance with Xie Liufeng.

Chu Xinghui tilted his head and silently observed the black bird for a while.

The black bird consuming the golden light from Qin Suyun’s soul outer layer wasn’t a coincidence, nor was it aimed only at Qin Suyun.

If nothing unexpected happened, it should be able to consume the protective golden light from all pseudo-god souls.

The black bird landed on the table, its pair of black bean-like eyes staring foolishly at Chu Xinghui.

Chu Xinghui reached out and poked the bird’s belly.

The black bird understood his meaning, burped, and a sliver of golden light leaked out from its mouth.

Chu Xinghui pondered, then shoved the black bird back into the spirit sword.

Although the origins of this sword were still a mystery, after the incident with Cultivator Fu Guan, it was likely that this sword was meant to sever the Heavenly Ladder.

He didn’t believe that someone without ascension-level cultivation would possess the strength to sever the Heavenly Ladder. After thinking it through, the only power that could be comparable to the Heavenly Ladder was probably his status as the Son of Heaven.

So, if everything truly went according to the prophecy, to sever the Heavenly Ladder, he would probably have to use his own soul as a sacrifice to fully unleash the power of the Heavenly Dao within him.

And conveniently, the prophecy also stated that he would die after severing the Heavenly Ladder.

But now, it seemed like there were some unexpected developments.

The spirit of this sword could consume and store the golden light from the pseudo-gods of the lower realm… And perhaps the golden light used by the Heavenly Dao to protect gods could be used to replace part of his soul.

He even suspected that if the black bird ate more, it might remember what it really was.

While thinking, Chu Xinghui shared his speculation.

Fang Yan carefully considered the logic and immediately ran out.

Chu Xinghui snapped out of his thoughts and froze for a moment: “Sect Master?”

Fang Yan calmly said: “I’m going to contact the other two sect masters and have them send the two pseudo-gods from the lower realm here.”

He paused, then continued: “Right, two might not be enough. I’ll go find other people to discuss and check more thoroughly. See if there are any others left. In extreme cases… since we’ve already caught the artifact spirit of the Destiny Book, let’s have Yue Yao see if there’s a way to bring a few more pseudo-gods down from the upper realm.”

No matter if they were gods or not, regardless of the reason, the troublemakers should be put to use.

Seeing how dangerous this train of thought was, Chu Xinghui quickly stopped him, sincerely thanking him: “Thank you.”

He was deeply grateful for everything this senior had done for them.

Fang Yan chuckled and shook his head: “Our sect has no tradition of abandoning disciples. Once you’re in, unless there’s no other option, we always try to preserve every disciple’s life. Moreover, since we’re doing this to save the world, adding a little more protection for you is adding more protection for this world. I’m sure everyone would be happy to hear this news.”

Fang Yan, eager to put his new plan into action, left quickly.

Chu Xinghui and Xie Liufeng stayed behind, first closing the restrictions around Qin Suyun’s place, and then walked home side by side.

Now, it was just the two of them.

Since earlier, Xie Liufeng had not spoken, only staring at the spirit sword in Chu Xinghui’s hand.

Chu Xinghui instinctively felt that the things Xie Liufeng was thinking were dangerous.

He grabbed Xie Liufeng and stopped walking, silently signaling him to quickly explain his thoughts.

Xie Liufeng shifted his gaze to Chu Xinghui, a smile involuntarily appearing in his eyes. He reached out and pinched his face: “Not likely, right? I was just thinking, and you could tell?”

Chu Xinghui rejected his playful banter, removed his hand from his face, and insisted: “Say it.”

Xie Liufeng sighed and had no choice but to admit: “I was just thinking, if your guess just now is correct, I could take this sword to the ‘Upper Realm’ first. After feeding the sword well, I could bring it back down. That way… when it’s time to sever the Heavenly Ladder, the damage to you will be minimal.”

His words sounded as simple as if he were going for a stroll in the city.

Upon hearing Xie Liufeng’s suggestion, the black bird got excited and tried to fly out of the spirit sword.

It thought the idea was great and was very interested in getting fed.

Chu Xinghui forcefully restrained it.

While holding down the restless sword spirit, Chu Xinghui turned to his equally troublesome partner and asked: “What about you? If you go to the Upper Realm, how do you plan to come back?”

Xie Liufeng thought for a moment before giving a shameless answer: “Where there’s a will, there’s a way. Why are you allowed to gamble but not me?”

He looked at Chu Xinghui with a grin: “At the very least, you should trust my abilities. I’ve never failed in anything I’ve wanted to do.”

Chu Xinghui: “…”

He silently grabbed Xie Liufeng’s sleeve.

Xie Liufeng smoothly took his hand, trying to change the subject: “Alright, no need to rush that. Right now, Yue Yao’s invitation hasn’t expired. We should settle the matters of Bihai Taohua Island before thinking about anything else.”

Chu Xinghui didn’t respond, listening as Xie Liufeng started casually talking about recent events.

The two of them continued walking back.

As they neared Qingjing Peak, Xie Liufeng shook Chu Xinghui’s hand and skillfully asked: “There shouldn’t be anything urgent today. Do you want to eat something later?”

Chu Xinghui looked at him and blinked.

Xie Liufeng accurately predicted his answer and shrugged: “We didn’t leave the sect today, so no sugar hawthorns.”

Chu Xinghui nodded and averted his gaze with a disappointed “Oh.”

He accepted this very valid reason but still felt a bit let down.

Xie Liufeng pretended to be troubled for a moment and started teasing him: “But if someone’s willing to ask a kind-hearted stranger, maybe the kind-hearted person will fulfill their wish.”

Chu Xinghui looked at him again.

He felt his partner was getting more annoying by the second.

Xie Liufeng’s eyes were full of smiles, and he got even more into it: “What’s the matter? Do you want me to teach you how to ask?”

Chu Xinghui watched him for a moment before leaning in and kissing his cheek.

Xie Liufeng felt wavered but still held his ground: “No, you haven’t asked me yet.”

Chu Xinghui directly grabbed his shoulder and kissed his lips.

Xie Liufeng couldn’t hold out anymore. He immediately surrendered and pulled him into an embrace: “Alright, alright, what do you want? Just say it.”

 

Support translation: