Daoist Master of Qing Xuan - Chapter 169

Chapter 169: Receive and Dispatch by the Spirit

At that very moment, there were no words to describe the brilliance of the sword aura. The quiet and lonely artistic prospect permeated in the endless sword aura. There was the occasional fierce experience with a breath of massacre mixed in, just like the clear floodwaters. Even though it did not have that monstrous power and influence, but the overflowed water was still enough to shock one to the core.

The giant palm was formed from the majority of Chao Xiaoyu’s psyche power. It also came from within her psyche mind. Originally, aside from those masters who were one thread away from powang, the rest would discover that such appalling psyche power was hard to find.

Chao Xiaoyu sat steadily on the lotus throne, like the true body of the Goddess of Mercy as she clearly saw the sword aura’s invasion. It was as if the emotionless expression predicted that the victory was hers to be held.

Shen Lian’s intention to meet her palm that was created by most of her psyche power on a narrow road was genuinely arrogant.

However, a stunned look suddenly appeared and replaced the emotionless expression.

The chilling and quiet sword aura had a fierce experience hidden within it. There was also a lingering charm that was detached from the world. It was as though it wanted to restrain all the living beings in this realm and that they all deserved to be eliminated by it. In the end, Chao Xiaoyu’s wusheng did not have a true path or the true meaning of the wusheng. She existed, and therefore there was a birth, which naturally would be followed by death. To put it simply, she could be extinguished. The highest purpose of wusheng was to not be born. To not exist.

Chao Xiaoyu had only acquired the form but did not really understood the true meaning of wusheng. Or perhaps she understood its meaning but could achieve it, not even in the psyche world.

There were things that you knew but could not imagine. Or perhaps it was already wrong to imagine it because there was no reference to be had.

The endless grey air flow spun around the giant palm. The giant palm was huge and tall, but when faced with the chilling and quiet killing intention of the sword aura, it did not put up a fight. It was like how the snow and ice would melt once it met the warm sum. There was no resistance.

The grey air flow dissipated like dust and broke the illusion of the giant palm.

The sword aura broke the silence of space mercilessly. Time seemed to have stopped then, or perhaps it had lost its original meaning.

Once the giant palm was stabbed and its illusion was vanquished, the sword aura continued its way toward Chao Xiaoyu.

Its thorns were absolute and cold. Its martial arts power was also brilliant. It brought a cruel indifference that seemed to have been there since the beginning of time to plunge one’s entire mind into a chill.

Even though Chao Xiaoyu was shaken to the core, she did not lose her bravery to fight back.

The petals on the lotus throne that she sat upon flew out. One by one, each of these petals fought against the sword aura. They were able to slow it down, but they could not stop it. The nine lotus petals resisted for as long as they could until all of them were broken by the absolute thorns of the sword aura.

The lotus flower was smashed into tiny little bits of petals, and it scattered around like pieces of a beautiful painting. However, that did not stop the sword aura until it finally sliced into Chao Xiaoyu’s body.

Chao Xiaoyu only felt her consciousness weakened as she was caught in a blur.

Then, the long groaning of the sword was the only thing left in her mind. It was exactly like the time when she was on the martial sect’s mountain. The waterfalls of a thousand feet were like a galaxy hung upside down. The never-ending thundering of the waters resounded in her mind, and it was so much better than any music score that could move one’s heart. That was why it was hard for her to forget.

The sword aura suddenly disappeared, and the pain stopped. They were back in reality, and there were streaks of fresh blood at the corners of Chao Xiaoyu’s lips. The lotus blade that was in midair looked really faint. Her complexion was slightly pale then too.

Shen Lian’s Dao robes swayed in the wind, and the sword aura that was in front of him had already disappeared. Without the fierce and formidable sword aura and with a sense of calmness and serenity, he then studied her. He looked thoroughly at ease. His eyes were gentle and warm with a jade-like shine to it, something that was out of that world.

Chao Xiaoyu then felt that Shen Lian’s temperament was like the mountain after the rain, it was clean and without dust. A saying echoed in her mind. ‘A person can dirty the water, but the water cannot dirty the person. The water comes and goes, there is no dust within it.’

The fierce and formidable sword will merged with Shen Lian’s spiritual consciousness, like the impurities that had fallen into the water. As the water flowed, it was washed away. Ultimately, it could not change the clean qualities of the flowing water.

Shen Lian was on a different path than Chen Jianmei. Chen Jianmei saw what the dharma meant to grandmaster Qingyuan, and he was inspired. He had acquired the dharma but forgotten about it. It was like when Buddha picked up a flower and Kassapa smiled. Even though the story had the same origins, but who could say that Kassapa’s smile was the will of Buddha?

That could not be said, and yet it could also be said clearly. It was not something meant to be understood, as it was only something Kassapa knew in his mind.

By creating his own dharma, Chen Jianmei was in the same situation. He did not know that he could outdo his master. However, even if he could, it was the wrong thing to do even though it appeared to be right. It was said that when one thought that something was, then it was. When one thought it was not, then it was not. However, he would not be confined to grandmaster Qingyuan’s path. He would only follow the grandmaster’s way but would not surpass him to become a craftsman who would do things without any thoughts.

Shen Lian did not have Chen Jianmei’s brilliance, but he combined the sword will with his own being. However, it was not in his nature to actively merge with the sword will. He understood the true meaning of the slaughter that combined the sword will with his anger within.

The water came in many changing forms. The floodwater came with monstrous power, and then there was also the peaceful flow of water that would not let the sword will control him but to become a form to his original Dao instead.

He did not kill or vanquish Chao Xiaoyu and that showed his control over the essence of the slaughter, that indulgence did not mean impudicity. The freedom that a cultivator had did not indicate a lack of restrictions, but the ability to restrain oneself from the control of certain emotions or actions that were against one’s nature.

Shen Lian finally understood the last step to complete the dan path. Like the filled qi water container[1] that would overflow, one must be able to keep a balance of giving and receiving so that one would not be skewed to a side and overflowed. Doing the opposite would mean failure on the verge of success.

Shen Lian smiled faintly at Chao Xiaoyu with both of his hands clasped behind his back. He flew to Chao Xiaoyu’s side, but the lotus blade distanced itself as if spooked.

Chao Xiaoyu watched as Shen Lian went further away. That was the most significant blow to her in her entire life. It was not about a difference in capabilities but more about her doubts as she second-guessed her path.

Why did she have such an attachment for the pursuit of Dao and why was her rapid progression of skills still not comparable to Shen Lian’s?

During the first encounter, if they were to fight to the death, she would still have a 70 percent chance of winning the duel. Then, during the battle in the imperial city, even though Shen Lian had a breakthrough and she was heavily injured, she still felt that Shen Lian was nothing more than a powerful enemy. Furthermore, it was not a true Dao fight between the two of them so their conflict would not be considered as formidable.

That was also why she felt that she could convince Shen Lian to lend her the merit instrument. After all, Shen Lian still had a breakthrough and did not suffer any injuries.

However, Chao Xiaoyu would not have guessed that someone like Shen Lian would still remember about that incident and would not even give her the chance to state her conditions. During their second life and death duel, Shen Lian did not take her seriously and he dared to toe the lines between life and death. Shen Lian’s true intention was clear, he did not want any revenge but only to treat her like a whetstone instead.

After the fight, there were many ways that he could have dealt with her. The fact that Shen Lian gracefully left after her defeat, which was probably retaliation for what happened before, meant that he no longer wanted anything to do with her.

It showed that his methods, aspirations, and tolerance were different than the rest of the world. It also enabled Chao Xiaoyu to understand Shen Lian more clearly.

[1] 欹器 is an ancient water container that is easily slanted and overflowed. It would slant if there is little water, enough water it would stand straight and when it’s full it would overflow.