Chapter Thirty-Four: The Twin Swords of Destiny

After the old woman swallowed the pattern, she began to stretch her limbs, and sprouted leaves and branches from both her hands and feet. The branches pushed outward from her already shriveled skin and nails, and in an instant, she had transformed into a hybrid of human and plant, her form swelling to twice its previous size. Not only that, her once frail arms had become two long, whip-like vines.

“What is this thing? It’s neither human nor spirit, nor celestial, nor even a beast. Where did it come from!” Xuanwen shouted at Huasheng, “You wretch, what’s going on? Are you in league with this monster?”

The Young Lord of Supreme Heaven interjected, “Xuanwen, don’t be hasty. Huasheng is just a mortal, how could he be connected to this creature?”

“You, descendant of the immortals, why do you protect this insect? Don’t disgrace your celestial lineage!” Xuanwen retorted.

The Young Lord pointed at Xuanwen, “Is this the time for infighting?”

“It’s all your fault, all because this insect brought the monster! He’s a monster too!” Xuanwen shouted, “I want to leave! I want out of here!”

His eyes darted anxiously as he muttered, “What kind of wretched trial is this! I want to leave this immortal formation!” With that, he leapt into the air, braving the torrential rain, and soared upward in an attempt to break through the sky.

“Foolish.” Tianjizi glanced at Xuanwen, now a shrinking dot in the distance.

As Xuanwen flew further and further away, dozens of thunderbolts suddenly crashed down from the sky, striking him with deafening explosions. He plummeted from midair.

Tianjizi remarked, “If this immortal formation can be corrupted, it means the invading force is far stronger than the formation itself. Unless we shut down the trial formation at its source, brute force alone will never free us.”

“Why didn’t you stop him!” Huasheng, seeing Xuanwen had lost consciousness, hurriedly stepped onto a cloud, trying to catch him. But as soon as his feet left the ground, something ensnared him, dragging him back onto the deck. He looked down to see the vine wrapped around his ankle had grown from the old woman’s arm.

“You’re not going anywhere! Tell me, where is Mingyou?” The monster yanked Huasheng toward her.

“How should I know what you’re talking about?”

Feeling his body move against his will, Huasheng panicked and hastily cast a fire spell on the vine. “By the urgent command of law!” A jet of flame shot from his fingers.

To his horror, the vine refused to burn. As it pulled him ever closer to the monster, the Young Lord of Supreme Heaven hurtled toward them, a flash of golden light in his hand as he snatched the earring from his left ear.

What had always looked like two tiny sword-shaped pendants now grew larger in the golden light, transforming into two gleaming, formidable swords!

With a single stroke, the two swords severed the vine that fire could not burn through, and deep red blood spurted from the cut.

Huasheng could never have imagined that the ornament always hanging from the Young Lord’s ear—so much like an ordinary earring—was in fact a pair of lethal weapons. He’d often wondered, if there were two, why not wear one on each ear? Now, as the Young Lord appeared in the manner of a true savior, that seemed a childish question indeed.

What mattered was that the sword-turned-earring had just saved his life.

“Let me open your eyes! Behold the Divine Swords: Ganjiang and Moye!”

Huasheng had heard the legend of Ganjiang and Moye, the famed swords said to have been forged by a master swordsmith couple at the cost of their lives during the Warring States period. They were paired as male and female, renowned as the greatest weapons under heaven. He’d always thought such legendary swords could not possibly exist, or if they ever had, had long since faded into history.

Yet here and now, the swords of legend were in the Young Lord’s hands!

This attack, however, had enraged the branch-covered monster, who roared at Huasheng, “Where is Mingyou!”

A strange feeling welled up in Huasheng’s heart as he protested, “Why are you fixated on me? I’ve never seen you! How would I know where your thing is?”

“You have seen me!” the monster thundered, “Mingyou! That little girl—where have you hidden her?”

A little girl? The monster was searching for a little girl?

Suddenly, Huasheng recalled his dream—the one that had left him so uneasy. If the bizarre old woman and the cruise ship were real, then the girl in the black dress from his dream must be real too. But he couldn’t remember at all. If the girl was Mingyou, why was the monster searching for her? Why accuse him of hiding her?

Unexpectedly, the Young Lord frowned and eyed Huasheng suspiciously, “It seems someone’s accusing you of hiding her daughter? Huasheng, is this child trafficking? If you’ve done something so base, I can’t help you.”

Huasheng shouted, “What nonsense! I don’t know any little girl! May lightning strike me if I’m lying!”

“Isn’t it thundering right now?”

“No, I mean it as a metaphor! If I’ve hidden her, may I die a miserable death!”

“Haven’t you already died a miserable death to end up in Shengpingning?”

Huasheng nearly coughed up blood in exasperation. “Then may my body be reduced to ashes!”

The Young Lord turned away, righteous and solemn. “You foul-mouthed old monster, perhaps you’re mistaken. My friend here is not such a vile character.”

“Hey! You change sides awfully fast!”

“Is it wrong for me to trust you?”

“No, you’re absolutely right!”

Catching his breath, Huasheng remembered Xuanwen. Looking up, he saw Mieying had already caught Xuanwen and was sheltering under the eaves of a nearby building. Mieying set Xuanwen down and flew over.

As she drew near, Huasheng asked, “Is Xuanwen all right?”

Mieying flung her soaked hair back. “It was likely a lightning art of the Lingxiao level. I checked his pulse—he’s gravely injured, barely breathing.”

“Does anyone have an elixir? Something like a Ninefold Resurrection Pill?”

“Who brings such things to a Tianmu trial?” Mieying replied. “We have to get him treated quickly. The Academy of Daoist Arts should have emergency medicine.”

“Then we must end this Box Seizure Game quickly!”

“First, we have to deal with this old monster!” Mieying shot a mysterious smile at Huasheng. “And as we agreed, we still owe Tianjizi a lesson.”

Seeing her smile, Huasheng recalled the idea he’d proposed to Mieying back in the Divine Heart Calculation. To his surprise, she had agreed, saying, “So that’s what makes it so interesting.”

But now was no time for such thoughts. The monstrous old woman was clearly targeting Huasheng. In a flash, her arms sprouted more vines, stabbing toward him.

Huasheng was already close; the vines shot to within a meter. “Frost Art!” Mieying formed a seal, and the vine, sharp as a dagger, was instantly frozen by her spell. The Young Lord followed with a sword strike, severing it.

Yet the monster’s vines grew back ever faster and in greater numbers. The Young Lord fought with both divine swords, slashing the deck to pieces, but nothing could halt the onslaught.

Mieying turned and shouted at Tianjizi, “Aren’t you going to help? How can you let a girl fight this old hag alone?”

Tianjizi replied calmly, “This is the trouble that insect brought, let him handle it.”

Mieying cursed, “No one can leave while we’re trapped here! If you won’t help, can you still call yourself a celestial?”

“You could always hand the insect over.”

“With that ferocity, she’d devour him whole!”

“How will you know if you don’t try?”

“Not everyone is as lucky as you!”

Seeing Tianjizi unmoved, Mieying had no choice but to keep fighting. The monster was relentless; beset by both the Young Lord and Mieying, her arms were cut down and regrown endlessly.

“We must strike at her weak point!” Huasheng flew to help, grabbing the monster’s outstretched arm, but her strength was immense—he was nearly flung into the air.

“By the urgent command of law! Gravity of a thousand catties!” Huasheng cast his spell, his body sinking and the deck bending under his feet. He tried to exert more force, only to crash through the deck, dragging the monster’s vine with him. By chance, this wedged the vine in the hole.

Mieying soared into the air, immobilizing the monster’s other arm with a sweep of her hand.

“Quick! Young Lord, strike at her heart!” Mieying shouted.

The Young Lord flung his swords, which flew from his hands and pierced the monster’s chest, spraying blood.

The monster shrieked a piercing cry, her head drooping at last.

“Yes!” Mieying clapped in midair, cheering in relief. “We’ve won!”

Descending, she approached for a closer look. The monster lay motionless.

“Fire Art! By the urgent command of law!” Mieying intoned, sending twin streams of flame from her fingers. The monster was instantly engulfed, yet did not move.

Circling the burning corpse, Mieying declared, “Looks like she’s dead!”

Huasheng finally climbed out of the hole. Seeing Mieying so near the monster, he rushed to her just as the monster’s head suddenly jerked up, and a vine shot from her mouth straight at Mieying.

Huasheng tackled Mieying to the ground. The vine grazed his cheek as they rolled aside, slamming hard into the railing.

“Mieying, be careful! Fire can’t kill this thing!” Huasheng cried, “You almost died, do you understand?”

A deep wound bled freely down Huasheng’s face onto Mieying.

“You saved me again…”

“Why can’t you protect yourself?”

Mieying hesitated. “You’re hurt?”

Only then did Huasheng feel the sting. He wiped his face and rolled off her. “Be careful, this monster is tough!”

Mieying’s tone softened. “I’m sorry…”

“What? What did you say?”

“Nothing…”

When Mieying didn’t answer, Huasheng pointed at the monster’s head. “The weak spot’s probably in the head. We need to restrain it and let the Young Lord strike.”

Mieying said nothing.

“Hey! Did you hear me?”

“What did you say to strike?”

“The head! Restrain her together.”

The Young Lord’s voice called from above, “Got it! Let’s try again!”

Huasheng gripped Mieying’s shoulder. “Even the Young Lord heard us! Don’t drift off at a time like this, miss!”

“All right.”

“Don’t joke around—your life’s at stake! I don’t want to see you die!”

“You don’t want to see me die?”

“Of course not!” Huasheng stared into her eyes. “If you die, how will we handle Tianjizi?”

“Oh…” Mieying suddenly looked aside.

“What’s with that expression?”

The Young Lord shouted impatiently, “Hey! Should I brew some tea so you two can chat at leisure?”

Huasheng said, “Remember! We must work together to restrain the monster!”

“I will.”

“Why is your voice so soft?”

“I understand!” she retorted.

Seeing Mieying back to normal, Huasheng leapt at the monster. When the monster’s arm swept at him, he dodged, grabbed the vine, wrapped it around his arm, and jumped off the ship’s side, bracing himself against the hull. “By the urgent command of law! Gravity of a thousand catties!”

With all his strength, the bandages on his arm split open, blood spraying.

“Now, Mieying!”

She didn’t hesitate this time, flying up and pinning the monster. The creature let out an ear-splitting screech.

The Young Lord, wielding Ganjiang, struck down from above, the sword biting deep into the monster’s skull.

The monster howled, spitting another vine; the Young Lord barely dodged, but his robe was torn and his chest stained with his own immortal blood.

“Not the head?” Mieying cried. Distracted, she loosened her grip, and a vine flung her onto the deck with a thunderous crash.

“Mieying!” Huasheng shouted, “Young Lord! Try the Golden Light Incantation!”

The Young Lord, not daring to linger, spun in the air and summoned the Moye sword, reversing his grip and cleaving down with a shout, “By the urgent command of law! Golden Light Incantation!”

The Moye sword became a beam of golden light, splitting the monster in two with a piercing scream. The giant ship trembled as the monster vanished in the brilliance.

When the golden light faded, strange circles and “One” shaped symbols were scattered where the monster had been.

Seeing the monster vanquished, Huasheng leaped to Mieying. She lay unconscious on the deck.

“Are you all right?” Huasheng lifted the drenched Mieying, but she remained unresponsive.

Should he press her philtrum? As the thought crossed his mind, his wrist was suddenly seized with brute force, nearly snapped. At the same time, he caught the scent of lotus.

He looked down to see that it was Mieying who’d grabbed him.

She shouted, “What is this! Get away!”

With that, she struck him squarely in the chest, sending him flying back. He barely managed to stay upright.

Mieying glared at him, her hair now a deep red.

“So it’s Third Sister,” Huasheng sighed. “I’m injured too, you needn’t be so rough!”

“Bah! Shameless wretch, who’s your sister!”

Blood trickled down her forehead as she spoke. She wiped it away, her expression unsettled, but said nothing more.

He surmised that after Seventh Sister fainted, the red-haired Third Sister took over. At least she was unharmed.

Red-haired Mieying surveyed their surroundings. “What is this place? Why is there a mortal ship here?”

Huasheng quickly explained the situation.

She replied, “That mischievous Seventh Sister said she wanted me to rest, and now I wake to this. Well, at least I’m spared her cloying voice.”

She approached the monster’s remains.

“Careful! Don’t go near, Third Sister!”

She shot him a sidelong glance, still irked by the title.

“I don’t know what these remains are,” Huasheng added. “But the monster said these symbols on the ground are part of her body.”

“These symbols?” she mused. “They look like numbers—zeros, and ones.”

“But how can such symbols constitute a body?” Huasheng wondered.

She stroked her chin thoughtfully. “Words themselves hold immense power. Aren’t incantations made of words?”

“But these symbols seem so simple.”

“They only appear so. They may contain infinite transformations—like yin and yang, which is only two elements.”

At her mention of yin and yang, Huasheng suddenly recalled the image of the bloody taiji.

Of course! If the monster and these scenes were all spawned by the trial porcelain boxes, then all eight boxes—Heaven, Earth, Thunder, Wind, Water, Fire, Mountain, and Lake—must now be open.

The inscriptions on the stones must be the rules of the Box Seizure Game. Though many were unclear, from those visible, some information could be deduced.

The inscriptions read, “Guard the eight trigrams boxes… endure the trial of the box…” and “The path to victory lies within the Yin-Yang box… the challenger shall open and claim it.”

Thus, the challenger must first undergo the trial, then open the Yin-Yang box. The rules were clear: the path to victory is inside the Yin-Yang box. Whoever opens it may obtain the path, and the game ends.

Thus, the Tianmu trial would end, and the one who gained the path would be this year’s winner.

With this realization, Huasheng looked up at the great stone box, where Tianjizi now stood, about to touch the bloody taiji.