Evil Venerable of the Sword Dao
Chapter 417 - 067: Life and Death Nirvana

Chapter 417: Chapter 067: Life and Death Nirvana

Zhou Yan merely glanced at it, and a chill immediately surged in his heart.

He had no reaction himself, but half of his soul consciousness was immediately extinguished by the black light.

As for the Evil King and others, true Nine Origin Sword Saints, they were crushed and slaughtered by the black light in the space within the Purple Flame Lotus’s inner flame, just like ants.

Zhou Yan took a deep breath and felt somewhat astonished and unsure.

He was now feeling grateful, grateful that he had not impulsively split all his soul consciousness into the Purple Flame Void earlier, and even more, that he had not entered that terrifying space with Yanyan earlier.

This was unimaginable danger; this was also an extremely cruel method, killing saints like slaughtering dogs.

However, Zhou Yan could no longer use such a method.

After all, without the Primordial Magnetic Pole Light column suppressing the outside space, even with Purple Flame Void, it was impossible to capture a creature whose realm was far above his own.

Moreover, even if it were possible to capture, there was no way to trigger the space within the Purple Flame Lotus’s inner flame again because doing so would mean his own soul consciousness would also be extinguished.

Soul consciousness being able to split in two was possible after understanding small success of the Original Dao and after understanding the merging of the two great Sword Bodies into one.

But now, there was only one soul consciousness left, which proved that there must be a Sword Body that possibly faced catastrophic destruction.

With this thought, Zhou Yan could only smile bitterly.

In this battle, he had won and saved the Holy Daughter, Zhou Lingyao, and Ni Chang.

But it was a tragic victory, and he suffered extremely severe injuries.

Ni Chang and Zhou Lingyao were even left with only a thread of soul, like candles in the wind, about to vanish at any moment.

Zhou Yan sighed and went to the place where the Evil King and his five had fallen. Here, aside from a scythe-like curved sword left by the Evil King, there was only a Soul Token left by the Netherworld Eight Soul Envoys, which was a guide.

A guide to the Netherworld Life and Death Illusion Realm.

Only with this item could one live normally in the Netherworld Life and Death Illusion Realm, without being enslaved.

Zhou Yan was silent for a moment, picked up this Soul Token, and placed it in the storage space of the Purple Flame Lotus.

Then, he picked up the curved sword and felt the dried-up strength within it, feeling a slight pity in his heart.

Such a Holy Sword, even approaching divine level, was now wasted by the black light’s impact. The only redeeming feature was that the material was extraordinary.

Zhou Yan kept it, planning to refine it into his sword during the next Artifact Refining session.

After handling these matters, he then went to where Zhou Lingyao and Ni Chang were.

Previously, the two had separated from the Evil King and his five, which Zhou Yan had done intentionally so they would not be affected.

Under such circumstances, when the two could not find the Evil King and his five, they immediately began to sit and practice cultivation to recover, and Zhou Yan did not disturb them.

Now that he had dealt with some affairs and saw that the two had regained consciousness, a thought crossed his mind, and he appeared beside them.

"Zhou Yan..."

"We’re sorry, we couldn’t stand against the Evil King, we’ve done our best..."

Zhou Lingyao and Ni Chang spoke simultaneously.

Their eyes were extremely dim and desolate.

"They’re dead."

Zhou Yan made a sweeping gesture with his hand, and the Sword Illusion Realm manifested, bringing the scenes of the Evil King and his five dying close in slow motion.

Ni Chang and Zhou Lingyao watched in a daze. After a long time, both sighed and finally relaxed.

However, upon relaxing, their souls became unstable and nearly dissipated.

"To live as to die, to die as to live, life can achieve Nirvana, death can be reborn. The Nirvana Path, the root of the origin..."

Seeing that the two were nearly scattered, Zhou Yan immediately read a mysterious scripture passage.

"This... is this the Nirvana Scripture?"

Ni Chang cried out in shock.

"Hmm... the Nirvana Scripture."

"Even if we survive, now... I’m in my third life, and Ni Chang is in her second life; we no longer have a path to follow," Zhou Lingyao said with a wry smile.

"No, there is still a path. Didn’t you leave a Void Body in the Great Zhou’s Sealing Mountain Range? And I too left a Void Body. This way, I will live out my third life, and we can start over. Let’s leave the past to dust and soil," Ni Chang said after some thought.

"Huh? You, you also left yourself a way out? But you said you would leave with me..."

Zhou Lingyao’s breath caught.

"In death, there’s actually a form of liberation, isn’t there? If we fail, I’ll accompany you in death, you can depart peacefully, letting the real Zhou Lingyao live unburdened. While I... I’ll have to endure loneliness and solitude, watching our daughter have a good future."

Ni Chang Fairy spoke from her heart.

Zhou Yan could feel the love between the two of them.

In a merciless world, in a cruel world, sometimes love is just so moving.

The Holy Daughter, in her resolve to survive for him, could appear utterly heartless—this is great love.

Ni Chang Fairy, in her resolve to survive on her own, endured all the pain, and could deceptively accompany her husband to death, allowing him to reincarnate without the agony of enduring pain again and again.

This is also love.

Simple, yet profound.

...

Both were prodigies of exceptional talent and beauty, and they immediately grasped the essence of the "Nirvana Scripture," stabilizing the injuries to their soul consciousness over time.

"We hope you can keep our matter a secret from everyone. We just want to live this last life as ordinary as possible.

The promise of three lifetimes, now, can be the last one," Ni Chang Fairy pleaded.

"Um, so the next life for Lee Jidao is Zhou Lingyao. Then... who is the next life for Ni Chang Fairy...?" Zhou Yan pondered slightly and asked.

"My next life has actually been alive but has existed between life and death. She is the Ghost Rain Sword Soul, Lee Xinyu... Because of this, Zhou Yan, I must apologize to you."

Ni Chang Fairy said, her face blushing slightly.

Zhou Yan was startled; he immediately thought of the time at Blood Water Lake when Ghost Rain Sword Soul, Lee Xinyu, stripped naked to seduce him.

"Actually, that was just a derivation, and it might not be true. After all, Ghost Rain Sword Soul, Lee Xinyu, ’died’ when she was very young. So those things, they are real, but also fake. Although you saw my body, I did not lose my virginity to you.

Besides, there were times when you saved me and my husband, and we were both seen naked by you a few times, which doesn’t matter anymore. Rest assured... my husband doesn’t mind."

Ni Chang Fairy said with a hint of shyness.

"Um... After all, I am not the kind of petty person like Zhou Lingyao and don’t mind. Of course, just don’t do that again in the future. However, I had some confused moments in the past at the Great Zhou Family, so please forgive my many, many past mistakes."

Zhou Lingyao, who was also Lee Jidao, rubbed his nose, feeling somewhat helpless.

"In that case... let’s put this all behind us. From now on, you are Zhou Lingyao and Lee Xinyu. I will help you arrange everything for your future. Now that we have dealt with the Evil King and others, breaking the conspiracy of the Netherworld Eight Soul Envoys, they probably haven’t returned yet and can’t surmise the situation. Their plans and layouts will be difficult to carry out, and at least we’ll have a few months of recuperation. You two stay here to comprehend the Nirvana Scripture, and I will go take care of the Holy Daughter."

"Alright, go ahead. The Holy Daughter hasn’t had it easy; she has given up too much for you. Treasure her," Ni Chang expressed her concern.

"I will," Zhou Yan nodded, but then thought of another question. "Lee Jidao... um, Zhou Lingyao, your second life was as Lee Jidao, the first Emperor Qi Sword Body, so..."

Zhou Yan didn’t finish asking the question because he knew Zhou Lingyao understood his meaning.

"The first Emperor Qi Sword Body was indeed represented by me, but both I and the Thunder Origin Sword God—the Nine Origin Sword God from the Thunder Flame Breaking Path Mountain—share the same starting point. In my very first life, I was known as ’Hou Yi,’ and the Emperor Sword Lineage are my descendants, hence they carry the ’Hou’ surname, derived from me.

My contact with him was very initial, and his Sword Body was inspired by my Constitution... This is a very ancient past.

The first generation Emperor Qi Sword Body, after all, is not a single individual; there is no contradiction here.

Of course, there are deeper connections involved. The Lee Ran behind you owes his path to me, yet I have, in turn, ended up owing him far too much... This, you will slowly come to understand in the future.

Explaining it now is of no benefit to you."

Zhou Lingyao explained thoughtfully after a moment’s consideration.

Zhou Yan seemed thoughtful and nodded, deciding not to inquire further about the matter and took his leave from the two.

...

After resolving these issues and uncovering the situation and secrets surrounding Ghost Rain Sword Soul Lee Xinyu, the doubt in his heart was significantly lessened, and he finally breathed a sigh of relief.

At this moment, he felt relieved, thankful that he hadn’t engaged in a Yin Yang ’battle’ with Ghost Rain Sword Soul Lee Xinyu. It was certain that back then, Lee Xinyu didn’t know she was the ’Void Body’ of Ni Chang Fairy, which made it easier to move past this incident.

If such a ’battle’ had indeed occurred and he had taken Lee Xinyu’s virginity, there would have been trouble now.

No man wants to bear the fact that his woman had been deflowered by a ’friend.’

Even though Zhou Yan was the one who had saved their lives, such a shadow would not be easily erased.

Fortunately, he hadn’t lost his mind to his desires back then, and Zhou Yan was now very grateful.

...

Zhou Yan’s soul consciousness made a round through the Purple Flame Void and then visited the location of the Enlightenment Purple Flame Lotus.

Here, the Crystal Coffin was still present, Gu Xi was still resting quietly, and Sword Spirit Xiao Xue lay peacefully next to the coffin, the entire sword covered in cracks, almost shattered.

"Xi’er, now that the Evil King has perished and the greatest hidden danger has been removed, with Saint Yao’s care, at the very least there shouldn’t be any Saints targeting me anymore. Even if there are, the problems won’t be severe. So, I can safely proceed to rescue you."

"Xiao Xue, now that your Sword Spirit is broken, leaving only a sliver of Spiritual Wisdom, I can’t refine you anew, or you would truly vanish, replaced by a new Sword Spirit. Don’t worry, I will find your sister, and when I do, she will definitely have a way to save you."

"I’ve heard of a place called ’Frost Tears’ in the Ten Thousand Ghosts Sword Tomb, and I feel that may be where your sister is. Moreover, Gu Xi’s father, my Uncle Gu Yan, has also been trapped in that place, and now I don’t know if I will encounter him."

After contemplating for a moment and softly sharing some thoughts, Zhou Yan sensed the Purple Flame Void, found no abnormalities, then with a shift of intention, he left the Purple Flame Void.