My Enemy Became My Cultivation Companion-Chapter 696 - 453: Killing the Bodhisattva (Combined)

The word "Please" fell, as if a resounding bell of the Great Dao echoed by the ear. With a thunderous boom, Lu Ying's mind suddenly emptied, leaving nothing behind, and in the next instant, as the Daoist scripture describes, "Great sound is rarely heard; great form is without shape." In the void, there seemed to be something, and amidst the mysteriousness, Lu Ying discerned a peculiar magic power emanating from the golden light, as if it were the gate to all wonders before her.

Purple qi gathered and enveloped her, making Lu Ying appear to be in the state of half immortal, half human.

The Immortal slightly nodded, as if in approval, and uttered again, "Please."

Behind him, golden light from the ranks of divine statues grew even more radiant than before, transforming the entire Ancestor Master Tablet Tower into a bejeweled pagoda, layered with a golden body.

A hundred years ago, Chongyang Temple invited the Loulan Sword Emperor and Wu Buxu to a duel in the Sword Pool. Both possessed Sword Intent at the pinnacle level, striving to ascend to a higher realm. However, the duel also marked a confrontation between two philosophies—Sword Dao focused on killing versus Sword Dao devoted to preserving life. Using this battle as the trigger, Chongyang Temple broke open the Heavenly Gate of the Sword Pool, leading numerous Taoists to ascend into immortality and achieve eternal life.

To open the Heavenly Gate and allow immortals to ascend was an indisputable act of benevolence. Yet, the impending collapse of the Sword Pool due to the unsealed Heavenly Gate foreshadowed calamities. For many years, Chongyang Temple strained to maintain the integrity of the Sword Pool Secret Realm, preventing its collapse. Losing this Cave Heaven Blessed Land was minor; the fear of a termite undermining a great dam was major. Alas, as the saying goes, inviting deities is easy, sending them away is hard, opening the heavens might be simple, but sealing them again is arduous. The ascended immortals never found anyone suitable to mend the heavens. Xiao Daoping was once a prospect. However, despite his compassion for all beings, his obsession with the sword led to his death at Wu Buxu's hands. Successive generations of ancestors from Chongyang Temple and the ascended immortals understood that the collapse of the Sword Pool could either bring great calamity or none, but like a parasite clinging to the bone, it was a source of constant unease.

Now, through the observation of the divine tablets, they finally spotted someone with a pure and transparent heart who seemed to forget themselves and things, merging harmoniously with heaven and earth.

Indeed, heaven never seals all paths.

Wu Ling True Lord saw Lu Ying had already reached a state of purity, free from worldly distractions, and once again intoned:

"Please…"

The immortals made three invitations:

First, inviting this woman to become Chongyang Temple's successor, receiving six hundred years of its fortune.

Second, inviting this woman to endure twelve hundred years of tribulation before ascending into immortality and enjoying eternal bliss.

Third, inviting this woman to merge with heaven and earth, returning to the Great Dao to mend the calamity caused by the immortals secretly opening the Heavenly Gate.

The word "Please" fell three times, and Wu Ling True Lord held out a willow branch, which extended outward, nearly reaching Lu Ying's palm. It hovered just an inch away. Around her, radiant golden light permeated, and purple qi filled the air, resembling clouds and mist ascending.

The willow branch stood right before her, yet Lu Ying felt no urgency; in the state of forgetting herself and things, it seemed as though there was nothing before her, and yet there was everything. She knew not what urgency meant, only that... everything seemed predicated on a single thought.

A single thought could lead to immortality.

Lu Ying's fingertip unconsciously reached out.

Whoosh!

A fierce wind abruptly flung open the door, crashing and banging against it. Lu Ying instinctively withdrew her hand and turned her head to look. Even Wu Ling True Lord, bathed in golden light, raised his head slightly to see a man with a sword on his back and a blade in hand burst through the doors.

His eyes narrowed slightly, and before the immortal, there was a hint of disdain.

A mere mortal?

Wu Ling True Lord looked at him again, and his golden eyes scanned toward the intruder's spiritual abode, noticing a speck of golden light as small as a mustard seed.

And yet, it was a cultivator in the Golden Core Realm?

If it were merely a mortal who, ignorant like a frog at the bottom of a well, looked down on celestial beings, one might shrug it off. After all, they had but coarse ignorance. But this person had clearly stepped onto the path of cultivation and already experienced what immortality signified. And yet, he looked down upon those who had attained the Dao?

Chen Yi silently reached out, tugged Lu Ying's collar with one hand, and pulled her back a little. She acted almost like a wooden puppet as she complied passively.

He placed himself between Lu Ying and the immortal.

Wu Ling True Lord showed no displeasure. His gaze remained calm and smooth, and he spoke evenly:

"This fellow Daoist... could it be someone our foolish disciples from Chongyang Temple had invited earlier?"

Chen Yi was unaware of Wu Ling True Lord's intention, nor did he rush to respond. He raised his head slightly, noticing the increased radiance of the divine tablets, far more dazzling than when those Daoists had invoked it with blood.

He exhaled lightly and remarked, "Tsk, it's quite pretentious."

The disdain in his words was evident. Yet Wu Ling True Lord's expression remained placid, for having cultivated the method of slaying the Three Corpses and ascended to immortality long ago, he was unmoved.

Chen Yi raised his eyes and coldly swept a glance at the True Lord, asking, "What do you want with my senior sister?"

Finally, the topic reached its crux. Wu Ling True Lord straightened slightly, purple qi swirling around him, and replied casually, "The Heavenly Gate of Chongyang Temple's Sword Pool has remained open for almost a hundred years. Throughout this time, celestial energies have overflowed, nurturing Sword Intent, making it increasingly powerful and sentient. In just four days, the Sword Pool will collapse. If the hole in the heavens is not sealed, it may bring catastrophic disaster to the world. We seek to make this female Daoist our disciple, gift her Chongyang Temple's fortune spanning twelve hundred years, and have her seal the Heavenly Gate."

"Mending the heavens, huh? I've done that before."

Chen Yi was thoroughly familiar with it. Even though many memories from his previous life were still unclear, the matter of dying to mend the heavens was crystal clear.

Wu Ling True Lord sensed the sarcasm in his tone and responded slowly, "Fellow Daoist, though you are not of the Quanzhen Sect, all Taoists are disciples of the Supreme Lord Lao, belonging to the same family. If the Sword Pool is not sealed in time, it will undoubtedly bring calamity to the world. Previously, you killed our Chongyang Temple disciples—those unworthy individuals were at fault, and we will not pursue it further. Moreover, considering that those of us cultivating the Dao share an affinity, if we retreat one step, then it is only fitting for you to yield one step as well. Besides, to this female Daoist, it may yet be an encounter bestowed by fate."