From a loser to an immortal sage

Chapter 504 Battle for Honor

Xuanfeng Immortal Venerable pressed down on the edge of the token with his fingers, and the breathing on the viewing platform seemed to be cut off.

I heard a soft gasp escape my throat, not from fear, but from the cold wind that suddenly rushed into my chest from the dilapidated temple three hundred years ago—back then I was huddled in a haystack, listening to the sound of wild dogs scratching at the door; now I stand in the center of the arena, the bluestone slabs beneath my feet, cracked by Wen Chen's previous actions, are a hundred times more solid than the haystack.

"Give the order and we shall fight." Xuanfeng Immortal's voice was like striking bronze, the echo reverberating against the demon-suppressing lamps at the four corners of the arena.

Almost at the same instant, the spiritual energy around me and Immortal Venerable Lingyun exploded simultaneously.

His aura was a pungent smell of rust, mixed with the crackling of thunder. The purple lightning on his thunder-patterned armor shot up half a meter high, making his face look bluish-purple. My aura was filled with the fragrance of lotus flowers, which was the glowing pattern on my neck. Yue Li's soul was humming a spell deep in the sea of ​​consciousness, like the lullaby my mother used to sing to me when I was a child.

"Watch out!" Wen Chen's voice came from the left side of the arena, accompanied by the sharp sound of sword energy cutting through the air.

The instant I turned my head, a sword shadow formed of purple lightning grazed my ear and blasted a charred crater at my feet.

The pebbles flew up and grazed the back of my hand, making me gasp in pain—this was hardly a friendly sparring match.

They were clearly trying to take my life.

"Transmigrators are indeed cowards who fear death." Immortal Venerable Lingyun stepped forward, lightning patterns creeping up his arm and fingertips. "Three hundred years ago you took the original owner's life, and three hundred years later you still want to take the honor of the Immortal Alliance?" His sword pointed at my heart, purple lightning condensing into a snake's tongue at the tip. "Today I'll let you know that what doesn't belong to you will eventually be returned!"

I reached for the Cloud Shadow Sword Sheath at my waist, and the moment my palm touched the cool jade patterns, a clear phoenix cry suddenly exploded in my mind.

Yue Li's soul transformed into a white light and rushed into the sword sheath. Yun Ying was unsheathed with a "hum," and the silver light flowing from the sword wrapped around my wrist, just like when Wen Chen first held my trembling hand.

"Return?" I gripped the Cloud Shadow sword and spun to avoid the second lightning sword. The shockwave from the sword tip overturned the demon-suppressing lamp beside the arena, and flames rained down on me. "The original owner had already given me her fate the day I transmigrated." I remembered lying in the haystack of the dilapidated temple when I first transmigrated, the original owner's soul kneeling on my heart, her tears falling on my face like scalding rain. "She said, 'Live for me.'"

The cloud shadow suddenly resonated, and golden incantations appeared on the sword—the Breaking Illusion Technique that Yue Li had carved with his divine soul.

I swung my sword in a backhand motion, and the silver light wrapped in golden light collided with Lingyun's lightning net. With a "crack", the lightning net actually cracked open with spiderweb-like patterns.

A gasp erupted from the viewing platform. I saw Fairy Mingyue stand up, clutching her handkerchief, the corners of which were twisted into a pretzel. Elder Wu leaned against the railing of the judges' stand, his beard trembling like a reed in the wind.

"Impossible!" Immortal Venerable Lingyun's lightning patterns suddenly surged, spreading from his armor to his neck, even the whites of his eyes flashing with purple lightning. "You're nothing but a piece of trash without spiritual roots, how could you possibly..."

"Having no spiritual root three hundred years ago doesn't mean I'm still useless three hundred years later." I leaped into the air, stepping on fragments of his lightning net, the cloud shadows drawing a silver river above my head. "I've studied under the old head of the Medicine Pavilion, learned the most basic Qi-inducing technique; I've mined thousand-year-old mystic ice in the far north, and slain the nine-headed serpent in the abyss of the South Sea; Wen Chen shielded me from the Immortal-Slaying Sword, and Zi Ling boiled three vats of medicine for me." The light patterns of the cloud shadows burned my palms red. "Is all of this enough for me to stand here?"

As the last word fell, Yunying's golden light had already pierced through Lingyun's lightning net.

He staggered back two steps, a deep gash cut into the armor plate on his chest, the lightning patterns twisting into a hideous shape at the wound.

I saw his fingertips trembling, not from pain, but from anger—his lips were pressed into a thin line, and his Adam's apple bobbed up and down, as if he were trying to swallow some foul words.

"Xiao Yao!" Wen Chen suddenly called out to me, his voice tinged with a tense smile, "It's time to use the third move of Cloud Shadow."

I turned to look at him.

He stood by the arena, his Cold Sky Sword half-drawn, frost dripping down the blade and crystallizing at his feet.

He looked at me, the darkness in his eyes long gone, replaced by a clear light, like the bowl of ginger tea he offered me when I was frozen speechless on the icy plains years ago.

“Okay.” I smiled at him, and when I turned back, the light patterns of the cloud shadows had already covered my entire arm.

This move was taught to me by Yue Li before her soul dissipated.

She said that the final strike of the Breaking Illusion Technique is not to cut off the enemy, but to cut off the fear in one's own heart.

I gripped the Cloud Shadow tightly, feeling the lingering warmth of the Moon Departure sword seep into my heart. Suddenly, I remembered the medicine pouch that Zi Ling had clutched as she ran away—she always said I didn't cherish myself, but she didn't know that I cherish my life more than anyone else now.

Because I want to live long enough to see Wen Chen's white hair tousled by the spring breeze, to see Zi Ling's medicine hut filled with the snow orchids she planted, and to see the young disciples of the Immortal Alliance pointing at me and calling me "Grandmaster Xiao".

“Go,” I said softly.

The cloud shadow slashed down with a phoenix cry, and this time, even the air itself was torn open with a crack.

The lightning patterns of Immortal Venerable Lingyun surged wildly under the sword blade, but they were like paper lanterns, tearing with a "rip".

His armor shattered into pieces, revealing his blood-stained undergarment. He was thrown against the Demon-Suppressing Pillar beside the arena by the shock, and the blood he coughed up was crackling with purple lightning.

The commotion on the viewing platform suddenly rose. I heard someone shout "We won!" and someone else shout, "Is this the power of the Immortal Venerable?" But these voices seemed to be shrouded in mist.

I looked at the slumped Lingyun Immortal Venerable, whose lightning patterns were still barely moving, but his eyes had already lost their light. Only then did I notice that the purple lightning mark between his eyebrows was deeper than it had been three days ago, like a scar etched into his bones.

"You lost." I sheathed my sword, the cloud-like patterns slowly fading into my skin. "Not because I stole anyone's life, but because..."

"Shut up!" Immortal Venerable Lingyun suddenly roared. He stood up, supporting himself on a pillar, and the lightning patterns on his fingertips suddenly twisted into snake shapes. "You think this is the end of it?"

"I still have..." His voice trailed off, his Adam's apple bobbed, and a frenzied light suddenly filled his eyes.

I saw the lightning patterns on his forehead climb up the pillar, leaving charred marks on the Demon-Suppressing Pillar, and the purple lightning between his brows cracked, as if something was about to split open.

Wen Chen's Cold Sky Sword was fully drawn with a "clang," and frost flowers wrapped in sword energy slashed towards the ground. The new cracks in the bluestone slab connected perfectly with the one from three days ago.

“Xiao Yao,” his voice was like ice, “step back behind me.”

But I didn't move.

I stared at the fine crack between the brows of the Immortal Venerable Lingyun and smelled a sudden, putrid, acrid odor in the air—it wasn't the smell of lightning patterns, but the smell of a burning soul.

His lightning patterns continued to grow, so much so that even the fragments of his armor reformed, forming a giant lightning shield behind him. The purple lightning at the center of the shield was buzzing, as if some living thing was about to break through the shield.

"This is..." Fairy Mingyue's voice trembled with tears, "...he's using forbidden magic?"

Elder Wu's beard trembled even more violently. He grabbed Xuanfeng Immortal Venerable's sleeve and shouted, "Stop it now!"

He wanted to die together with them—"

But it was too late.

Lingyun Immortal Venerable's lightning shield suddenly exploded, and purple lightning poured down like a torrential rain.

My hand holding Yunying was trembling, not because I was afraid, but because I suddenly saw clearly the writhing black shadow in the shield's core—it wasn't lightning patterns at all, but the remnant soul of a sealed lightning beast.

The purple lightning between his brows is the key to the seal.

"Xiao Yao!" Wen Chen's sword energy, wrapped in frost, slashed down, but I knew that this time, I had to take it myself.

Because some challenges can only be overcome on your own.

I raised Cloud Shadow, feeling Yue Li's soul burning in my sea of ​​consciousness, feeling Wen Chen's sword energy condensing into a barrier behind me, feeling Zi Ling's medicine pouch bumping against my thigh at my waist—then, facing that purple lightning, I took a step forward.

As I took that step, I heard Immortal Venerable Lingyun laugh.

The laughter, mixed with the roars of the thunder beasts, was like wind crawling out of hell.

The moment the purple lightning and torrential rain struck, I smelled the stench of blood and rust—not mine, but the smell that welled up from the throat of the Immortal Venerable Lingyun.

His laughter, mixed with the roars of thunder beasts, made my eardrums ache, but as I stared at the fine crack between his brows, I suddenly remembered the tattered scroll I had picked up in the dilapidated temple three hundred years ago.

The text states that the remnant soul of the Thunder Beast will devour the host's soul until the host becomes a living vessel.

It turns out that for the past three hundred years, he wasn't cultivating the path of thunder, but rather serving as nourishment for thunder beasts.

"Xiao Yao!" Wen Chen's sword energy, wrapped in frost, struck my back. The chill ran down my neck and into my limbs. Suddenly, I saw the patterns in the purple lightning—each bolt of lightning was wrapped with translucent soul threads, the remnants of cultivators devoured by the thunder beast.

They opened their mouths, silently crying out "Help!", and I gripped Yunying's hand even tighter.

Yue Li's soul burned even more fiercely in her sea of ​​consciousness, like a ball of fire rolling in her brain.

The scabbard was burning red against my palm. I heard her voice, softer yet clearer than it had been three hundred years ago: "A-Yao, you are not alone in this fight."

Yes, I am not alone.

The snow of the far north ice plains suddenly filled my eyes—I was digging into the mysterious ice with an ice axe, my fingers frozen like carrots, and Wen Chen squatted beside me, warming my hands with his spiritual energy: "Dig out half a piece more, then we'll go drink ginger tea." The fishy smell of the South China Sea abyss surged up—when the venomous fangs of the hydra grazed my waist, Zi Ling's medicine pouch exploded, and she rushed over to shield me with her body, her face covered in powder, yet she still smiled: "My Golden Wound Powder is more effective than your broken sword." And then there was Yue Li, before she turned into particles of light, she engraved the Breaking Illusion Technique into my bones and blood: "This isn't my magic, it's the strength gathered by all those who want to live."

All of this power surged towards the tip of the sword along with the cloud shadows.

My hand holding the sword no longer trembled; instead, it became as steady as an ancient pine tree standing firmly on a mountaintop.

"Broken." I exhaled.

The phoenix's cry from the cloud shadow drowned out the thunder beast's roar.

Silver light wrapped in golden light cleaved through the purple lightning. The lightning bolts wrapped with soul threads shattered into stars upon touching the light blade, but the soul threads followed the light blade and drilled into my sea of ​​consciousness—not to attack, but to attach themselves.

I suddenly understood what Yue Li meant by "breaking through illusion": it wasn't about severing the enemy, but about allowing the devoured souls to find their own light.

The remnant soul of the Thunder Beast let out a shriek, and it shrank back, wrapped around the divine soul of Immortal Venerable Lingyun. But the light blades of Yunying seemed to have eyes, chasing it and drilling into the scorch marks on the Demon Suppression Pillar.

Lingyun Immortal Venerable suddenly screamed in agony. His lightning patterns began to peel off, revealing his pale skin underneath. The purple lightning between his brows cracked into a spider web and finally shattered into dust with a "crack".

As the last bolt of purple lightning dissipated, the arena suddenly became eerily quiet.

I could hear my own heartbeat, each beat hitting my ribs.

Lingyun Immortal Venerable collapsed beneath the Demon-Suppressing Pillar. His eyes finally regained their clarity, but that clarity was filled with despair. He stared at his increasingly transparent palms and suddenly laughed: "So...so I was just an empty shell all along..." Before he could finish speaking, his body fell to the ground like dust scattered by the wind.

"Lingyun!" Fairy Mingyue called out, trying to rush over, but was stopped by Immortal Venerable Xuanfeng.

Xuanfeng Immortal Venerable placed his hand on her shoulder, his gaze sweeping across the arena before finally settling on me: "In this battle, Xiao Yao wins."

The viewing platform was initially deathly silent, then erupted into a deafening roar of cheers.

Young disciples jumped and danced with banners in hand, while elders pounded on the railings and laughed, but all these sounds seemed to be muffled by a layer of frosted glass.

I gazed at the cloud-shadow sword pattern on my palm. Yue Li's soul was as weak as a lamp about to go out, but the newly attached soul threads in his sea of ​​consciousness shone brightly, like a handful of stars scattered on the ground.

"A-Yao." Wen Chen's voice came from beside her.

His Cold Sky Sword was not yet sheathed, but the frost flowers had already stopped, leaving only a drop of ice crystal hanging from the tip of the sword.

He reached out and touched my wrist; his fingertips were surprisingly cold. "Are you hurt?"

I shook my head and took his hand in return.

His palms, calloused from years of wielding swords, tickled the back of my hand—exactly the same as when he first held my trembling hand three hundred years ago in that dilapidated temple. "I'm alright," I said, "Yue Li...she's dying."

Wen Chen's fingers paused for a moment, then she gently squeezed mine back: "She will know that you didn't let her down."

"Fairy Xiao!" Fairy Mingyue pushed through the crowd and ran over, her handkerchief still clutched in her hand. This time, it wasn't twisted into a knot, but instead stained with tear stains. "You... your move just now... was too powerful!" She suddenly lowered her voice. "But when Immortal Venerable Lingyun used a forbidden technique, were you injured?"

I had the medicine shop send over some wound medicine—"

“No need,” I smiled at her. “I’m really fine.”

Elder Wu walked over, leaning on the railing of the referee's stand. His beard finally stopped trembling, but it was furrowed into a knot: "Immortal Venerable Xiao, although we have won this battle, the matter of Immortal Venerable Lingyun using forbidden techniques must be reported to the Immortal Alliance Grand Competition Committee."

His remnant soul of the Thunder Beast... is probably related to the seal of the ancient battlefield three hundred years ago.

I nodded: "I will write a detailed battle report."

Xuanfeng Immortal Venerable walked to the edge of the arena, his token still clutched in his palm, his knuckles turning bluish-white: "Xiao Yao, come with me to the main hall."

Some things need to be confronted face-to-face.

"A face-to-face confrontation?" Wen Chen's voice turned colder. "She won, so what's there to question?"

Xuanfeng Immortal Venerable glanced at him, then looked at me: "Just now, some people on the viewing platform were talking, saying that you used Yue Li's divine soul power to cheat, and some even... said that you provoked Lingyun Immortal Venerable's forbidden technique." He paused, "I believe you, but there are always some people... who love to gossip."

I suddenly heard whispers coming from a corner of the viewing platform: "Transmigrators are definitely outsiders; their methods are too ruthless. If it weren't for the Thunder Beast's backlash, how could Immortal Venerable Lingyun have lost? I heard she had no spiritual roots back then, and now she's suddenly so strong... Does anyone know if she secretly learned any forbidden techniques?"

These sounds were like needles, pricking the back of my neck.

Wen Chen's hand tightened in my palm. I looked up at him, and a dark look resurfaced in his eyes—not the sinister look of the past, but heartache.

“I’ll go.” I let go of his hand. “The innocent are innocent; we should always make things clear.”

He seemed to want to say something, but in the end he just nodded and tidied my hair, which had been ruffled by the gust of wind: "I'll wait for you outside the palace."

I followed Immortal Venerable Xuanfeng toward the main hall. As we passed the arena, I saw the soul threads that had been attached to us earlier drifting into the sky, like a swarm of fireflies that had finally found their home.

But the whispers behind me continued to drift, growing clearer and clearer, like a dark cloud slowly descending.