Embers of Sword

Chapter 489 Alive
"Master Dao..."

Chi Wu's face flushed slightly. She lowered her head, her voice trembling, not daring to look directly at the magnificent body before her, which looked as if it had been carved by a knife and axe.

"Straighten my clothes."

Lu Yuzhen left the Longevity Pool and raised her hands. Chi Wu quickly followed, took out a white paper Taoist robe and inner shirt, and carefully helped the Taoist Master put them on.

A moment later, Lu Yuzhen put her cloak back on.

The fierce battle within the white paper barrier seemed as if it had never happened.

Although his face was slightly pale at the moment.

But the pool of blood in the Longevity Pool had nothing to do with this clean attire... The white paper, as white as snow, fluttered and rustled as the cloak billowed.

Chi Wu stood respectfully to the side, looking at the man before her with eyes full of joy. This was the true master of the Paper Doll Path.

"Staying at the foot of Pure White Mountain all the time must be getting boring, right?"

Lu Yuzhen slightly shifted her head, looked at Chi Wu, and said softly with a smile, "Want to come for a walk up the mountain with me?"

Upon hearing this, Chi Wu bowed deeply without the slightest hesitation.

"As you wish."

……

……

Lu Yuzhen led Chi Wu along the pure white mountain ridge, climbing the steps and passing the heads embedded in the mountain path, until they arrived at the cave with the flickering fire.

Chi Wu had never been here before.

The Longevity Pool has a fondness for cold and icy conditions, and has spent the last few years keeping company with the Mysterious Mirror.

The candlelight flickered here, and the temperature was unusually high.

Chi Wu, dressed in a white shirt, had sweat beading on his forehead.

The furnace is burning fiercely.

She took a deep breath and struggled to reach the blazing fire.

The light and fire were blinding.

Chi Wuyin vaguely saw a small cauldron that was just beginning to take shape.

"This is... Dao Jiu?"

"Ah."

Lu Yuzhen stood with his hands behind his back and said casually, "Dao Jiu is different from Xiang Ba and Xiao Qi. His 'death' is a true 'death'... The life of Qian Yuan Dao Ren has come to an end. His spiritual consciousness needs to return to the [Cheng Furnace] and be forged again. This process will take a long time."

Chi Wu looked at the fire in the stove with a hint of envy in his eyes.

she knows……

Dao Jiu and Xiang Ba Xiao Qi are not the same.

Dao Jiu is different from everyone else in Chunbai Mountain.

The Dao Master seemed to treat Dao Jiu with exceptional tolerance and gentleness...

Of the eight Immaculate Venerables of Pure White Mountain, all were transformed from magical artifacts, but Dao Jiu alone attained true "human life." If Dao Jiu had followed the Dao Master the earliest and had the deepest seniority in Pure White Mountain, then this arrangement would be quite reasonable. However, Dao Jiu was the one who joined Pure White Mountain the shortest.

"...That's not fair."

Chi Wu spoke softly, "Your actions have puzzled us all."

"I know."

Lu Yuzhen said calmly, "I promised you that I would let you truly 'live' once... You are all waiting to taste the flavor of 'living,' but I handed this power over to Dao Jiu first."

“If you give this chance at ‘life’ to Jing San, then everyone’s complaints will be reduced a lot, and that would be relatively fair.”

Chi Wu said respectfully.

"Is it?"

Lu Yuzhen smiled and said, "But there has never been fairness in this world. There is no fairness in the outside world, and there is none in Pure White Mountain... If you only have one chance to 'live,' and Jing San takes it away, can you really accept it?"

"..." Chi Wu opened his mouth, but had nothing to say.

After a moment of silence.

She lowered her eyes and said softly, "But Dao Jiu did not cherish this opportunity."

"So he died."

Lu Yuzhen sighed and said, "After dying once, it's very difficult to get another life...."

The magical artifact took human form and appeared to have come to life.

But actually, that's not the case.

To truly "live," one needs to break free of constraints and possess flesh and blood... Transformation artifacts differ from transformation demons. Demons possess a physical body, a divine sea, a purple palace, and a dantian. Artifacts are merely inanimate objects that develop sentience through chance encounters, thus gaining will. The "constraints" of transforming an artifact into a human are far more difficult than those of a demon.

But it's not entirely hopeless.

On this point alone... those who cultivate using magical artifacts face similar difficulties to the heretical cultivators of the Southern Frontier.

The heretical cultivators of the Southern Frontier, who wish to achieve the Great Dao, need to advance to the Yang God realm, but the path to the Yang God realm has been severed!
For a magical artifact to truly become a living "life," it also needs to cultivate a complete path...

In a sense.

Like evil cultivators, those who possess magical artifacts need to cultivate to the Yang Spirit level in order to break free from their shackles.

however.

The prerequisite for a magical artifact to cultivate into a Yang God is to possess its own flesh and blood... These two prerequisites are paradoxical, yet they are interconnected, forming an almost unsolvable "circle".

"Xiao Chi, do you know... how much time it took me to find Daoist Qianyuan?"

Lu Yuzhen looked at the Dao furnace burning in the light and fire.

He slowly said, "To give a magical artifact 'flesh and blood,' we need to find a suitable candidate. This is not a common possession technique. It is extremely difficult to select a candidate for the reconstruction of a magical artifact. From the birth chart to the destiny and spiritual root attributes, everything needs to be compatible for even one or two out of ten chances of succeeding in 'defying fate.'"

Chi Wu listened quietly.

"Initially, Daoist Qianyuan was not the most perfect candidate either."

"So I thought of many ways... to get him to swallow the appropriate cauldron."

Lu Yuzhen said regretfully, "The people that the Hehuan Sect abducted from Lingqu City were actually the 'elixirs' I gave to Daoist Qianyuan. After consuming these 'elixirs,' his cultivation level rose rapidly, and his physique also changed... Jing San and you need the 'Ice Cold' Dao Realm, Qin Liu and Xiao Qi need the 'Wind Cutting' Dao Realm. The Dao Realms that Mo Si and Xiang Ba need are even rarer, and they almost never appear in the Southern Frontier... It's a pity that Daoist Qianyuan ultimately cultivated the 'Fire Element' physique. The only person who can be compatible with it is Dao Jiu."

"You don't actually need to explain these things to me."

Chi Wu's expression was solemn, and he quickly said apologetically, "As long as it's your arrangement, there must be a deeper meaning. Everyone is just puzzled by letting Dao Jiu 'live,' but there's no dissatisfaction..."

"……ten years."

Lu Yuzhen ignored Chi Wu.

He looked at the fire in the hearth and said softly, "It took me ten years to make Daoist Qianyuan a 'destiny-changing vessel.' It's not that this step was particularly difficult, but I had to keep my promise... If Daoist Qianyuan can really make Daojiu 'live' as a human, then you will all have a chance."

Chi Wu was stunned again.

Actually, she had always been very curious...

Dao Jiu is "dead" just like that, why isn't Dao Master angry or furious?
Now she understands.

Dao Jiu's "life" was actually just an experiment.

From the moment Dao Jiu became Qian Yuan Dao Ren and lived in his place, the Dao Master's attempt was a success.

"I brought you here to tell you some good news."

Lu Yuzhen smiled and said, "Do you want to 'live'? The second person after Dao Jiu is you... but this time you might leave Pure White Mountain and go to a very far place."

Chi Wu pursed his lips.

She was at a loss.

After hesitating for a long time, looking at the small cauldron burning brightly in the furnace, Chi Wu murmured, "My lord... I want to 'live'."

……

……

(PS: I know this chapter is short, but I can't stay up all night. The main storyline will be updated tomorrow, and there will be another update during the day, but the exact time is still uncertain.)
(End of this chapter)