Chapter 102 You are his
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The Heavenly Dao looked at his puzzled expression. After a while, she felt an uncontrollable emotion rising inside her. It seemed like a cold sneer, mixed with a sense of satisfaction. It felt like icy water, gradually pouring over her heart.
She rolled up her sleeves, her dress floating in the air, crushing the emotions that shouldn’t belong to the rules.
The Heavenly Dao was fair and fearless, but from the moment she awakened, it was destined to deviate. After competing with Chu Junyu in secret for thousands of years, that feeling of being out of control accumulated over time, eventually causing her gentle facade to break apart.
Pei Jing asked in a bewildered tone, “Me?”
The Heavenly Dao calmly narrated the past, “You were an outsider, and after exhausting your cultivation, you had an epiphany about the true power of chaos. The Execution Sword once recognized you as its master. Even though I forcibly severed the connection, half of its power still resided within you. However, what I didn’t expect was that the hatred in your heart ran so deep, gradually shattering this sword of utmost sincerity into powders.”
As soon as the words “shattering” and “powders” were spoken, Pei Jing’s body froze. He felt confused, unsure of what the Heavenly Dao was talking about. The hilt of his sword pressed tightly against his palm, and every pattern on it was incredibly familiar.
For sword cultivators, the sword was their soul, their devotion. “With the sword, there was life. Without the sword, there was death.” He couldn’t even dare to imagine that one day he would personally shatter this sword, his long-time companion.
The Heavenly Dao laughed coldly and said, “The Execution Sword only recognizes one master throughout its life. Even after keeping it in the heart of the Celestial Demon for ten thousand years, I couldn’t gain its acknowledgment. In just a hundred years, you made it recognize you as its master. Truly impressive, being the greatest cultivator in the immortal world.”
She said “impressive,” but her tone lacked any praise. It was chilling and filled with darkness. “Your body and soul separated. The physical form of the Execution Sword fell into the hands of the Celestial Demon, while its spirit went with you to hell. You are the first sword cultivator I have seen who destroyed a sword to attain enlightenment. Perhaps you are also the only one.”
She paused for a long time before letting out a brief laugh. It sounded desolate and complex.
“To be reborn through destruction. Your meridians were severed, your spiritual roots were uprooted, and your dantian was destroyed in an instant. I really didn’t expect that you, you managed to come back to life. Destroy the Execution Sword and take its place as the entity that surpasses all spirits in this world. Absorb the chaos energy into your body from hell. Start from scratch, refining the void for a hundred years.
“—And ruin my plans!”
The last four words were spoken with determination, as if blood was spilled. The air near the ladder distorted and became restless. Dark clouds gathered, signaling an approaching storm.
Pei Jing became alert.
However, soon, the Heavenly Dao withdrew the intense hatred, and the world regained its clarity. Pure white light and gentle breeze enveloped everything.
Her dress gently descended, her lips curved perfectly, and she softly said, “It’s okay, I can also start anew from the beginning. Since the moment I awakened, I was no longer bound by rules. Beyond the rules, there were more rules. I couldn’t personally intervene to sever the Heavenly Ladder or eliminate cultivators. But my children could. I spent a long time nurturing them.
“But you killed him.”
She resembled a mother in the mortal realm, displaying a pained and compassionate expression. “I distorted space, reversed time, exerted all my strength, and spent thousands of years just to barely return to four hundred years before my child’s birth.
“Starting anew, for the third time, and the final time. I absolutely won’t repeat the same mistakes. But… you have come back.”
The Heavenly Dao laughed deeply.
“You’re right, even if the heavens crumble and the earth overturns, you will exist alongside this universe and this timeline, forever, never dying.”
In a near-frenzied manner, she asked, “Pei Yuzhi, why didn’t you die? Why didn’t you die?! Back then, in the Abyss of Ten Thousand Ghosts, if you surrendered and died, you would have returned to your original world. Why didn’t you die?!”
Pei Jing’s mind went blank, but his gaze remained calm as he looked at her. His throat felt dry, and his heart involuntarily tightened. He felt as if an absurd truth was slowly appearing before his eyes.
“Why didn’t you die? Can one person’s hatred truly be so deep?”
The Heavenly Dao murmured, “I have exhausted myself by reversing time and am about to fall into sleep, but what should I do about my child?”
The Heavenly Dao distanced herself from anger, appearing ethereal and elusive. She said, word by word, “From you, I really wanted to know how far a person could go based on hatred alone. The once proud Son of Heaven, fallen to the dust in a single day, subjected to constant humiliation and loss of dignity. Such people are plentiful in this world. From Kunlun to the mortal realm, from the sea of the afterlife to the confinement of a mayfly’s jar, I have encountered four individuals. I divided my remaining power among them, making them my emissaries in the mortal realm while I slept, to protect and guide my child, and incidentally… to kill you.”
The once proud Son of Heaven, now as humble as dust. The Queen Mother of the West. Thousand-Faced Woman. Zhang Qingshu.
Pei Jing couldn’t express his current feelings clearly. His mind felt hazy, and the only thought that crossed his mind was, “So, it was like this.”
The Heavenly Dao said, “I suffered severe injuries by reversing time, but it seems you haven’t fared well either. No one could kill anyone, which is good.
“You are the villain in my eyes, the one who harms all living beings. Perhaps only those who have experienced what you have experienced are qualified to confront and judge you. I chose those four individuals to judge you, but they all failed. They told me that the power of hatred isn’t as strong as they thought.
“But I didn’t have much hope in them either. My child is awakening step by step, and the entire Nine Hidden Demon Realm is awakening, and so am I.
“I once gave you a chance, in the confines of a mayfly’s jar. My child, he is so kind-hearted, his hands have never been stained with blood. His mission is to sever the Heavenly Ladder. He is the savior of all things in this world. He even admired you so much, but you… killed him once, and it wasn’t enough.”
The Heavenly Dao took a step forward, getting closer to Pei Jing.
With a temperament resembling dust and radiance, there was a hint of the fragrance of mountains and rivers in the vastness.
Looking through eyes that had traversed the void, a cold frost covered everything.
“In the previous life, you were merely fortunate to have killed my child when I was unprepared. This time, I won’t let you have your way.”
Pei Jing quietly watched her as the Heavenly Dao spoke those confusing words. His gaze remained clear and calm.
The Heavenly Dao’s words were cold and clear, “Pei Yuzhi, I’ll give you one more chance. I will now send you back to your original world. Will you go back?”
Pei Jing snapped back to attention. The Transient Jade Lotus continuously provided him with refreshing spiritual power, preventing his consciousness from becoming hazy under the Heavenly Dao’s overwhelming pressure.
Pei Jing said, “Finally, it’s my turn to speak?”
The Heavenly Dao remained silent.
Pei Jing smiled and said, “Sever the Heavenly Ladder? You never mentioned the purpose of the Heavenly Ladder, but from what I know, it not only serves as a path for cultivators to ascend, but also as a channel for the transmission of spiritual power.”
The Heavenly Dao remained silent, but later let out a cold chuckle.
Pei Jing asked, “Why do you make yourself sound so noble? Cultivators have existed since the dawn of the world, and so has the Heavenly Ladder. What qualifies you to sever the Heavenly Ladder? You keep harping on about the fear of spiritual power depletion, but isn’t the Heavenly Ladder the source of the world’s spiritual power?”
It was truly self-contradictory. Pei Jing lazily smiled and said, “I think it’s simply because there have been increasing numbers of cultivators in the Demigod stage in the past tens of thousands of years. They disregard your authority and challenge your power, making you furious enough to come up with such a malicious scheme.”
Pei Jing said, “Demigod Ascension, living as long as the heavens, surpassing the cycle of birth, aging, sickness, and death. The existence of rules seems to have lost its meaning. Are you very angry?”
“Demigod cultivators can command the winds and control the seas, ruling over all things. Does it make you feel useless?
“I suspect you are not the Heavenly Dao. Perhaps you are a spirit born in this world along with the Execution Sword. You rely on the creation of the heavens and the earth, and you claim yourself as the Heavenly Dao just because you’re ancient?”
The Heavenly Dao: “……”
Pei Jing said, “Maybe you were the Heavenly Dao originally, but when Dao developed emotions, then it ceased to be Dao. Because selfishness disrupts the functioning of this world. Virtue is not in harmony, and those who lack benevolence deserve punishment.”
He was an outsider, even though he had entered the world of cultivation for hundreds of years, he never truly revered the Heavenly Dao. That was why when he broke through the Golden Core Stage tribulation, it was so terrifying that even his master was astonished.
However, so what? Pei Jing displayed an elegant demeanor and smiled, revealing his teeth. “Curious about how I came to this world? I can tell you, it should be a book, a book called ‘Execution Sword.’ It told me that Ji Wuyou is the son of a Celestial Demon. He is the protagonist, the one who will completely change the world of cultivation in the future.”
The Heavenly Dao’s expression returned to normal, and she asked softly, “A book?”
Pei Jing nodded and smiled, “Yes, so this is how the world of cultivation changes. Why did I come across that book? I didn’t understand it even before I traveled through the thunderstorm. But perhaps my mission in coming here is to kill you. It was the same in the previous life, and it’s the same in this life.
“I have no feelings for Ji Wuyou. From beginning to end, he was nothing more than your pawn. Whether he becomes a demon or not, it doesn’t matter anymore. Since I killed him, you will try to manipulate time and space. So, it’s better to just kill you directly. For you, reversing the flow of time may not be considered killing, but for all living beings, it indeed means experiencing death. As the Chief Disciple of Yunxiao, slaying demons and exterminating evil is just a matter of course. So, at this moment—”
Pei Jing pointed her sword at her, the white-clad youth stood tall with a straight back, his eyebrows and eyes curved, radiating the colors of a spring dawn and illuminating the ends of the earth like a bright moon.
“Executing the Heaven and punishing the Dao, it is an obligation I cannot shirk.”
The pure white light dissipated, revealing the girl’s indifferent face. The gentle facade finally tore apart completely. Her aloofness, towering above all, even outshone the divine beings of the Nine Heavens.
The girl didn’t respond to his previous words. She just chuckled lightly. “Pei Yuzhi, I gave you a chance, but you chose to court death.”
She thought of something amusing, a smirk appeared on her lips, and her voice lowered.
Her tenderness was like the clouds beside her, soft and sweet, laced with the poison of a blade.
“Whether you go back or not, it’s all good for me. If you go back, I will be free from the threat of the Execution Sword’s master. If you don’t go back, then Chu Junyu is definitely no match for me.”
She smiled slightly, “He actually fell in love with you?!”
It was like an unexpectedly pleasant surprise.
The Heavenly Dao laughed. “Truly an unexpected delight. He destroyed his sword to achieve the Dao, stepping into ruthlessness.
“While human cultivators absorb the essence of heaven and earth, he directly absorbs chaotic true essence, surpassing the Nascent Soul stage and breaking through Demigod stage. The origin of the Dao, all seven emotions and six desires are suffering and sin. When he falls in love, when he falls for you, love and hatred will dissolve, and the power of the Execution Sword, fueled by hatred, will dissipate. No wonder he was so anxious, sealing the city and hunting down the Celestial Demon Realm to find me. No wonder he was so anxious! Hahaha.”
The Heavenly Dao laughed, shattering the gentle fusion with the sun, moon, mountains, and rivers, revealing her true self.
“He fell in love with you. Someone who returned from hell with a cold-blooded fervor, it turns out that the one he fell for was the spirited young version of himself.”
It felt like a lightning bolt striking directly into his mind, leaving behind traces of sizzling flesh and the scent of burnt blood.
Pei Jing’s face stiffened, and he stared at her intently…
What was she saying?
The Heavenly Dao continued, “Judgment. What is judgment? I knew it was the right decision not to kill you from the beginning. I merely sealed you with a trace of demonic energy, restraining you.”
The girl’s pristine white dress fluttered, her eyes pitch black with a ring of azure blue around the whites.
She smiled bit by bit.
“Judgment. It turns out that only someone who has experienced something similar is qualified to judge him. The one who can determine his guilt and administer punishment has always been himself.”
Every word of the Heavenly Dao’s pierced through Pei Jing’s already exploded and blank mind.
The girl calmed down and chuckled softly.
“So, you are the one who will ultimately pass judgment on him.”
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