My Enemy Became My Cultivation Companion
Chapter 117 - 99 His Sword

Chapter 117: Chapter 99 His Sword

"His ego attachment is too heavy."

Facing Master Tongxuan before her, Lady Yu Zhen shook her head.

Yin Tingxue gazed at the compassionate face of the female immortal, always feeling as though she might ascend to the heavens at any moment.

"So, the Taoist sect also speaks of ego attachment?"

Yin Tingxue instinctively asked.

Lady Yu Zhen turned her face slightly and smiled gently.

"Indeed. It seems you understand what ego attachment is."

"Hmm, my mother once said that ego attachment is selfhood. People always believe there is an unchangeable essence within themselves and call that their ’self.’"

Yin Tingxue recalled briefly before reciting a scripture verse:

"Clinging to the notion of an eternal sovereign within oneself, all afflictions and obstacles arise from this."

Lady Yu Zhen’s gaze reflected appreciation as she softly said:

"Well said, well said."

Yin Tingxue shyly pinched her fingers.

Lady Yu Zhen turned her face towards Zhou Yitang and continued:

"Master Zhou, among the Three Corpses, the easiest to sever is the Lower Corpse. However, he is not like ordinary people; his ego attachment is anchored in love and solace, making the Lower Corpse difficult to cut.

Ego attachment always has its roots. If his attachment is not resolved, the Lower Corpse cannot possibly be severed."

Zhou Yitang nodded slightly and responded:

"I understand."

Lady Yu Zhen softly continued:

"Resolving ego attachment requires untangling it thread by thread. Even the most esteemed monks of the Buddhist sect cannot achieve enlightenment in a single day—it takes years of chanting sutras and meditating before grasping it. Previously, you attempted to sever two corpses in one day; it was rather presumptuous. While you did cut one corpse, it only deepened his ego attachment."

What Lady Yu Zhen said was something Zhou Yitang naturally understood.

When Chen Yi entered the Heavenly Altar, if he had emulated Xia Qi’s act of matricide, he might have blurred the lines between honoring the matron and the Tushan Clan, himself and Xia Qi, eventually resolving his ego attachment and transcending into an extraordinary realm. Yet surprisingly, he went against this path—not killing his mother, but rather annihilating himself, thereby intensifying his ego attachment even further.

Yin Weiyin had realized what it meant to declare "I am myself," and had Chen Yi not done the same?

"Moving forward, I still have plans."

Zhou Yitang stated calmly.

Lady Yu Zhen nodded and replied:

"I will, of course, provide my utmost support. My disciple may appear to have succumbed to madness this time, but in fact, misfortune has already turned to fortune for him. Having stumbled into pitfalls, he will know which paths are erroneous; witnessing the collapse of the grand road, he will understand that so-called immortality is but a fleeting cloud. Forgetting love once will illuminate the value of forgetting and yet possessing."

As she spoke, Lady Yu Zhen turned to look at Yin Tingxue with a soft gaze,

"This moment sees my wishes fulfilled, but still, I have one more aspiration."

Zhou Yitang, understanding her intent to take on a disciple on behalf of her master, saw Yin Tingxue blink with confused curiosity as Lady Yu Zhen’s eyes lingered on her.

"Princess Xiang, you are blessed with great affinity for the Dao and have a sharp mind. Would you be willing to come to Taihua Mountain to cultivate the Way?"

Lady Yu Zhen spoke plainly, avoiding subterfuge.

Though the princess had lost her primal yin, the balance of yin and yang was only pivotal during Foundation Establishment. The higher stages of cultivation concerned such matters less and less, especially for one like her, endowed with the Heavenly Ear Technique and blessed with the Six Divine Abilities, born to ascend into immortality or Buddhahood.

Yin Tingxue, knowing Lady Yu Zhen admired her, hesitated briefly before asking:

"Then... will Chen Yi go?"

Lady Yu Zhen shook her head with a helpless smile and answered:

"He probably won’t."

Yin Tingxue drooped her neck at this. If Chen Yi wasn’t going, she dared not go either. What if she achieved cultivation success and became a demi immortal, but he suddenly stormed Taihua Mountain and dragged her down to be his concubine? What if he bullied her recklessly? She had worked so hard to soften his heart toward her.

Even if he didn’t ascend the mountain, what if he went to burn down Yintai Temple? What if he reduced Bodhisattva Sister and Aunt Feng to ashes... then what would she do?

Zhou Yitang glanced at her and softly said:

"Her heart holds reservations; no need to compel her, Lady Yu Zhen."

"Indeed, opportunities cannot be forced."

Lady Yu Zhen spoke as her fingers formed a sequence of gestures, and a scripture materialized,

"Then, like Wei Ying, you may cultivate the Way at home. Take this ’Qingyuan Scripture.’"

Yin Tingxue accepted the cultivation manual and nodded lightly.

Lady Yu Zhen chanted her invocation, and her figure suddenly vanished.

Yin Tingxue turned around, looking in vain.

"Let’s keep going."

Zhou Yitang said.

"Oh, isn’t this deep enough? I feel we’re approaching the main tomb."

Yin Tingxue paused briefly before asking again:

"Why must we go so deep?"

"To retrieve the sword."

"Whose sword?"

"His sword."

.........

In the haze of unconsciousness, Min Ning faintly heard the sound of flowing water.

She groggily opened her eyes, and upon realizing her surroundings were unfamiliar, she was startled awake, sitting up immediately and placing her hand on the knife hilt.

Min Ning nervously scanned her surroundings, slowly stood up, her legs wobbly and weak, unsure of how long she’d been lying in this cave.

"Where is this place?"

Min Ning rubbed her temples, forcing herself to focus,

"Chen Yi... where is he? Also Yin Tingxue, that Taoist nun, and the others... where have they all gone?"

Min Ning cautiously stepped out of the cave. Seeing no one around, she instantly realized she’d been separated from the group.

She furrowed her heroic brows, took a deep breath, unsheathed her blade, and with only the faint glimmers of light within the underground palace to guide her, proceeded cautiously.

A three-zhang-wide underground river came into view, its eerie waters flowing downstream. The Netherworld aura wafted in tendrils, while a wooden gallery bridge rose tall above the river, curved like fifteen halved full moons. Underneath the bridge hung a bronze sword, its rust tainted with mottled decay.

Below the bridge lay dragon bones, snapped cleanly into two halves.

As the wind swept through, the dragon bones crumbled into dust.

Min Ning gazed at the scene, her heart filled with dread. She approached the suspended bronze sword and examined it closely, discovering the rope suspending the sword was quite new.

"Someone hung this here?"

Min Ning frowned in confusion, carefully picked up the bronze sword, and cut through the rope.

Once the bronze sword was in her hands, Min Ning felt a profound and unfathomable energy within it. She closed her eyes to comprehend it.

It was an intent—an intent akin to the encounter with Xue Chengdong’s white-clad three-foot sword. Back then, the flowing Sword Qi had no choice but to follow this intent, moving as if guided by four ounces deflecting a thousand pounds.

Min Ning calmed her mind, immersed herself deeply, entirely unaware of something slowly approaching her.

Obscure feathers stirred a faint breeze, mixed with sinister laughter, rushing toward her.

Min Ning furrowed her brows tightly, slowly opened her eyes.

Suspended in midair were strands of pitch-black hair and a ghastly white human face, appearing alongside bizarrely vibrant five-colored feathers.

A green meng bird, human face and avian body.

Min Ning was no Yin Weiyin; she wasn’t terrified. Even though she couldn’t identify the creature, she slashed at it with a sword.

Following the sword’s intent, a flash of cold light cut through. The sinister smile of the green meng bird froze and then swiftly retreated backward.

The river, originally flowing downstream, suddenly surged as if swept by a tempest, gushing violently upstream.

The reversed flow of the Netherworld River dragged the green meng bird into the water. The bird then emerged, struggling frantically, flying towards the source of the river.

Min Ning frowned, glanced at the bronze sword in her hand, considered for a moment, then sheathed her family heirloom blade, "Without Impurities."

"Someone deliberately left this sword behind, and it holds Sword Intent."

Min Ning muttered to herself,

"What is its purpose, to pass on the teaching?"

Before she could ponder further, a massive rumbling echoed from upstream.

A colossal silhouette emerged, shaking the entire riverbed. A huge eye appeared first, followed by forked ox horns, while the wooden bridge beneath Min Ning’s feet trembled violently. A piercing cold radiated through her.

As the creature approached, the river beneath her swelled into torrents and cascaded relentlessly. Only moments later, the waters thinned until they dried up entirely, exposing the riverbed.

The "Classic of Mountains and Seas, East Mountain" recorded: Taishan hosts a beast, its form resembling an ox, white at the head, single-eyed, and snake-tailed, called the Feng. Wherever it passes, drought follows, worse than miasma. Its sight heralds great pandemics across the earth.