Chapter 431 - Making a Choice
The sound of Zhang Ruoxu chopping the stone bamboo combined with the voiceless sound that came from a faraway time and s.p.a.ce caused Yanxu"s always unrestrained soul to become slightly heavy, as though it was being tangled up in a shapeless rope.
The dark clouds in the outside world dispersed and the steady stream of celestial armies was no longer there. Yuming finally felt a thread of hope to retaliate. Now, Huanzhen"s injuries had already recovered a lot and both master and disciple looked at each other. Even though they did not know where this wisp of voiceless sound came from, but it did shake Yanxu"s Sky Demon Heart. They would definitely grasp this thin line of chance.
Both green and yellow pairs of Huanzhen"s flesh wings slightly contracted and it then expended with a bang. Two streaks of hurricanes engulfed everything in its surrounding in a split second. Innumerable celestial armies were torn within these hurricanes and they finally went up in smokes.
Finally, both master and disciple looked at each other and they began to brew each of their own strongest blow.
It seemed like the thick layers of dark clouds was being stirred apart by that wisp of voiceless sound that came from faraway. Yanxu was sitting in a lotus position on a dark cloud, his eyes were shut.
Yanxu now was very irritated. He always had moments where he was irritated but this was not the same as before. This was because Zhang Ruoxu was truly one part that he did not wish to recall.
After all, he was the one that caused Qing Xuan to be in that bad spot. Zhang Ruoxu too did not really had any true resentment towards him. Even until Zhang Ruoxu pa.s.sed away, Yanxu could feel that Zhang Ruoxu did not have any obsessions entangling him.
Zhang Ruoxu did what a chief was supposed to do and no one did it better than he did. To Qing Xuan, he was the one who, like the person who saved a gigantic building from collapsing at the last critical moment, had reversed an overwhelmingly adverse situation. There was no predicament that could strike him down or had him complaining. Even Yanxu still clearly know that Zhang Ruoxu had actually thought that the incident back then happened because he did not manage him well.
It was exactly because of this temperament that Yanxu could not find any reason to hurt Zhang Ruoxu. Nonetheless, in the end, Zhang Ruoxu died because of him.
He was cold and merciless but when he faced this memory in the deepest corner of his mind, the obstruction-free Sky Demon Heart was finally a little slow.
Back then, Yanxu had always thought the person he felt the most regret in his life was Biyun. It was not until the voiceless sound that was played by Shen Lian that stirred his inner mind that he realized that he was wrong. He could see past the love and hatred but when it came to dealing with people like Yanxu, even though he had all kinds of disdain for him, how could it not be said that he also yearned to be the kind of person that he was from the beginning?
Life was full of change and those who could persist without changing were probably conservative or would have been eliminated by the general trend of the universe. However, they would also have won respect.
Zhang Ruoxu could not have Yanxu to go on the right path and that was why he cultivated Shen Lian. This same person who yearned for freedom and also had matchless talents. Shen Lian did not discard his humanity after elevating his strength and state and he still had the kind side in his nature. Shen Lian also had been quietly influenced by Zhang Ruoxu.
From the moment the voiceless sound infiltrated Yanxu"s spirit sea in his mind, he already knew that today was his trial.
The trial was not external, neither was it internal, but it was on his conscience.
The sky demon did not have any conscience, therefore it could not be totally obliterated; the human, however, does have a conscience and that was why they could find their true self and attained celestialism or Buddhism.
Shen Lian laid down this trial with the voiceless sound and this trial was to make Yanxu make a voice. Either he had lost his own self and become a demon entirely, or he had seen the error in his ways and repent and become a celestial right on the spot.
Yanxu was a person who did not like to make choices. He was truly someone who thought about something and would do it. He was who defied every law and regulation and therefore, he was unrestrained. As long as there were choices, Yanxu was no longer that Yanxu. For Shen Lian to elicit this trial of Dao was truly ingenious.
Zhang Ruoxu finally caused the chopped stone bamboo in front of him to fall. He wiped his sweat off and turned his head back towards Yanxu, who was sitting on the bamboo, and said, "Junior Apprentice-Brother, today"s task is finished. We can return now."
After he said that, Yanxu s.h.i.+fted from the top of the bamboos to the front of Zhang Ruoxu. With a faint smile, he said, "There is still one task that is not completed yet, we cannot go."
Zhang Ruoxu was stunned as he asked, "What is it?"
Yanxu pointed towards his left chest and quietly said, "I need to trouble Senior Apprentice-Brother to hack this place of mine open, and see if there is a heart inside my chest."
Zhang Ruoxu did not really understand and replied, "Are you pulling my legs again. Of course, a human has a heart. How could one live without a heart?"
Yanxu shook his head and said, "Who said that a person could not live without a heart? Furthermore, without seeing or hearing about this matter, one cannot simply a.s.sume it. I too also want to know whether I have a heart or not."
Zhang Ruoxu replied with a severe countenance, "Your thoughts are too trippy and you constantly think up of weird matters. You"re wasting your energy. You should know that the chief said that you are the first genius Qing Xuan has within this three thousand years. If you could put half of that energy into your cultivation, you should have surpa.s.sed all of us already by a long stretch. Let us go back now and not speak of this matter again. And you should not even look for other Senior or Junior Apprentice-Brothers about this or else they would think of you as a joke."
Yanxu leisurely replied, "Do you see me as someone who really cared for all this? If you are not willing to hack open by left chest and allow to me whether I have a heart of not, I"ll just let someone else do it."
"You and your horseplay." Zhang Ruoxu dumped the axe, pulled him along and returned to the lower house of the Qingliang Peak.
As Yanxu was pulled along, his form became fainter and fainter. Yanxu sighed, "Even in this illusion, you still would not harm me. This truly leaves a bad taste in my mouth. Nonetheless, Shen Lian, why did you not temper that moment slightly? Just now, you should have him hack me with the axe, I would definitely not have resisted."
Zhang Ruoxu heard Yanxu"s words and he was dazed and confused. He only saw Yanxu"s form fainting away and finally disappeared.
Yanxu did not choose. He only returned the choices to this trial of Dao and Shen Lian who was behind this. It was up to him to choose whether Zhang Ruoxu would hack him with that axe.
At Qingliang Peak under the bamboo forest, the setting sun, like a streak of blood, tainted the clear light that flowed out from Shen Lian. He pulled the flute-like instrument from the side of his lips and the voiceless sound was cut off.
He clasped his hand behind his back as he looked towards the far horizon of the sky, "Jinchan, do you know that there is no immortal that could live forever, no one is an exception."
Chen Jinchan placed this saying in his mind and until the time he finally understood it, it was already a very long time.
Yanxu, who was on the dark cloud, opened his eyes. There was a faint b.l.o.o.d.y color in his eyes. The celestial soldiers in the front had already vanished without a trace and it seemed that both Huanzhen and Yuming too had vanished in this universe. However, two ma.s.sive and terrifying vital force suddenly exploded before him, destroying everything.
The evening had completely pa.s.sed by and the dark night descended. There was the most concentrated and the purest Sky Demon Strength and the constant stream of Qi of Xuanqing that completely covered his entire body.
The Sky Demon Body was torn to bits from the exploding Qi of Vitality. It was as though his entire thinking was fragmented into many pieces and he could not concentrate at all.
However, no matter how powerful the block was, there was a moment when it stopped. The two strongest force was not enough to destroy this part of the universe and finally, the tides of this power came to a rest.
In midair, uncountable spots of light began to converge one by one. Yanxu quietly erected himself in midair, his long cuffs fluttered in the air, his black hair cascading like a waterfall and his cloud robes was pure white. He was more than eye-catching.
In the dark night skies faraway, Huanzhen was flapping his green and yellow wings. Yuming, who was divine as a G.o.d, was standing face to face with Yanxu from afar.
Nonetheless, their stomach sunk to the bottom. Just now, Yanxu definitely did not come back to his senses but with both of their most powerful blows, they still could not exterminate him. Could this person even be killed off?
Could it be that he had truly adept the imperishable body, that no one could ever exterminate him?
Huanzhen himself thought that he already understood Yanxu, Now, he realized just how shallow his understanding was."
"Do you know why I look down on your Guangqing? Because like the frogs in the bottom of the well, it thinks that the opening of the well was already the entire sky, and you two are no different than the frog at the bottom of the well." Yanxu smiled with disdain.
If they had immediately run off, perhaps they could have escaped as well. Unfortunately, they have missed this opportunity.