Chapter 168 - Birthless
Many years ago, the Deity Vanquis.h.i.+ng Sword was one of Shen Lian"s strongest means. Its directness in attacking spirits was as though it would tear apart all of the protection and everyone barely brawled.
Those who were strong would win. However, even the victor would suffer from injuries because of the blows that managed to hit their body.
Some said that the fastest thing in the universe was not light, but the thoughts of the human mind. The barrier in s.p.a.ce could be ignored with the movement of a single thought.
Shen Lian turned his spiritual consciousness into a sword, as though the gleam of that blade had existed since the beginning of time. He then stabbed right into Chao Xiaoyu"s mind vehemently.
Like the movement of thoughts, it was so rapid that she did not even have the time to react.
Chao Xiaoyu was a deity, and so Shen Lian had to vanquish that deity.
The Deity Vanquis.h.i.+ng Sword was created to vanquish deities.
His spirit no longer needed to leave his body every time he used the Deity Vanquis.h.i.+ng Sword. It was simply not the power of the Yin spirit. When the sword and the spiritual consciousness collided, it produced something that was between the spirit and the spirit"s consciousness.
Shen Lian suddenly had a resolution that he called "sword consciousness".
He would embrace his own sentience while the sword would embody the sword will of grandmaster Yuanqing. That was a different feeling from when the Yin spirit left the body. Even though the Yin spirit was real and condensate, it was still very fragile when compared to the flesh. Consciousness was a spirit"s ultimate essence of power. At times it was so powerful that it could almost materialize. Even ordinary charcoal could become an all-conquering diamond if it went through a pressure so immense that its quality changed.
Diamonds and charcoal had the same fundamental elements. However, one of those two underwent a miraculous transformation that turned one thing that was rotten and foul into something that was rare and ethereal.
A transition like that was like how the layers of life changed. It was also like how the apes evolved into men.
The sword consciousness was like a thought, as it freely jumped and moved. Shen Lian was using the sword consciousness as his eyes as he entered the universe. The surroundings were a huge borderless world with a lotus throne in the center. The lotus had nine petals, like the number nine that was the ultimate number of the universe. To be more precise, the world had "nine" Daoist techniques and supernatural powers. These techniques and powers described parts of how the universe worked.
One could only be detached from the universe by understanding its complexities.
People were born into the universe, and they died in it too, just like a cage. For many years, they could not break free from it. Those who pursued Dao wanted to leave the cage. A cooped up bird would long and strive for the world outside even though there were no worries from inside its prison.
Chao Xiaoyu sat crossed-legged on top of the lotus throne. She looked graceful even though she only wore a plain white dress. It was like looking at the true embodiment of the Bodhi in a deity"s ultimate teaching for mortals to wors.h.i.+p and for the Bodhi to command the fate of the world.
Shen Lian was no longer a human but a sword. Since the beginning of time, the blade"s gleam had never been extinguished as it vibrated continuously. It was both far beyond the horizon and close within the distance.
Chao Xiaoyu knew that that distance should not be measured like one would in reality.
That distance could be as far and as high up as the sun and the moon, or it could also be as near as an intimate pair of lovers.
Chao Xiaoyu felt a sharp breath that disregarded the barrier in s.p.a.ce and caused her to be extremely uncomfortable.
In the psyche world, she was a G.o.d. She was the G.o.ddess of Mercy, and she was also the dharma character of the ninth level of the lotus bier. The nameless dharma character was named "Chao Xiaoyu" because of Chao Xiaoyu. That instance was transformed from her divinity.
Divinity was like a kindling material, and the streams of pilgrims were like a pile of firewood. Once there was enough firewood, the divinity would lit up to become a divine fire. To build a celestial realm, she was no longer the divine for herself, but for the ma.s.ses. She would also become the Dao and would rule over the ma.s.ses.
Chao Xiaoyu was emotionless when she saw the gleam of the sword that came to destroy every living creature in that universe. She then lifted a finger.
The finger expanded without any limits, and it covered the land and the sky. The people lost their senses as if it brought chaos with it. It was called the "Wusheng Finger." It was one of the oldest and wisest lost arts of the Nine Lotus book. According to the legend, Maitreya Buddha was trying to achieve enlightenment under the longhua tree and he got it by accident. By then, countless sky demons came to invade and to destroy the enlightenment that Maitreya Buddha had attained. Maitreya Buddha"s mind stirred and he lifted one finger and transformed all the demons to its source as if they were birthless and beginningless.
Chao Xiaoyu could not use that lost art in the real world. However, since she was almost a G.o.d in the psyche world, she was able to use it there.
She was like an invincible and timeless deity for as long as her psyche power was not exhausted.
No matter how strong Shen Lian was, his strength did not surpa.s.s her spiritual level. Furthermore, that was her home court. The finger could not be stopped as it came. s.p.a.ce broke with just a simple touch, just like the thin paper on a window. Once the paper window broke, there was no light, but only darkness remained. The darkness had consumed all light.
However, the sword consciousness that Shen Lian wielded suddenly vanished. It vanished from within Chao Xiaoyu"s mind. If they were in the real world, Shen Lian"s sword aura would simply change between shaped to shapeless. Chao Xiaoyu did not find that strange because the psyche world was not without any Dao techniques. There were also supernatural powers that could erase one"s traces, and she was already familiar with more than ten of these skills.
However, to do what Shen Lian did and to hide from her in her own mind was simply indescribable.
Some would say it was enough to deceive the sea and the sky.
Chao Xiaoyu frowned. The still-expanding Wusheng Finger suddenly halted. Countless of lotus flower then bloomed. In that instance, the flowers scattered around the midair. If there were ever a saying for that, it would be "As the lotus flower came from all directions of the world, the Buddha"s breath can be found at every corner."
Shen Lian"s sword consciousness was partly hidden and partly shown in those lotus flowers then. Its presence was only vague felt.
It waved through like a divine dragon that left no tracks behind. However, its form was involuntarily shown because of the lotus flowers.
The white lotus flowers were like a vast sea of clouds. Shen Lian"s sword aura was like a divine dragon that swam through these seas of cloud. Even though the clouds obeyed the dragon, it also showed its tracks. Chao Xiaoyu"s G.o.d-like expression of indifference had a faint smile to it. The single finger became a palm. It then looked like a huge black cloud had suddenly appeared amongst the white clouds. It certainly stood out. The grey airflow was dim, and the palm was like the claw of the legendary golden-winged garuda bird.
The legendary garuda ate dragons for meals, and its wings could span up to 90,000 miles.
As the finger morphed into a palm, the entire s.p.a.ce became darker. Chao Xiaoyu"s figure faded a little bit more. Many of the white lotus flowers disappeared in the blink of an eye.
That was caused by the psyche power that was brought forth from the mind to be used to condense and defeat Shen Lian"s sword consciousness.
Shen Lian was like an a.s.sa.s.sin then, someone who infiltrated the heart of the enemy"s capital alone to take the head of the ruling king. He had a huge gut, but he was also in peril.
The sword aura did not evade the incoming claw. The sword"s groan sounded like the sea"s angry tides as it resonated throughout Chao Xiaoyu"s mind.
The sword aura continuously expanded as it accompanied the long groaning sound until it became a giant sword that could hold up the sky. It pierced the giant claw with great determination. The sword aura then showed its killing essence, as though it was condensed from mountains of corpses and seas of blood. The sword aura vibrated in one swift move and came in tide after tide, just like the Milky Way.
The endless sword aura came in like the ocean tides and pierced through Chao Xiaoyu"s palm vehemently.
It then simultaneously broke through s.p.a.ce as though it was made of paper mache.