Embers of Sword

Chapter 533 Xuanyi
The world was utterly still.

A golden flying sword hovers above the rain-soaked dome where the red leaves have all fallen.

All eyes were focused on the flying sword.

The silence at this moment is all because of this sword.

The wind and thunder roared and then dissipated.

The sword energy lingered and never dissipated.

The golden sword energy that pierced through thousands of feet passed through the chest of the Joyful Zen Master, piercing his skin, penetrating his flesh, and shattering his heart... The faint thunderous sound it created lasted for more than ten breaths before slowly dissipating.

The Joyful Zen Master clutched his chest, his face pale and his eyes filled with resentment.

She gritted her teeth and spat out two words.

"A chronic illness..."

These two words struck like a bolt from the blue.

In fact, some people recognized the golden flying sword the moment it appeared, but they were not sure.

This flying sword.

Ten years ago... everyone knew it!

In the Great Chu Imperial City's Refining Division, every refiner must learn how to forge this treasure.

The Imperial City Guard used the "chronic illness" as a template to forge swords for its envoys.

This is Xie Xuanyi's natal sword—

It is also the most famous flying sword of the Great Sui Sword Palace in the past hundred years!
However, ten years ago, Xie Xuanyi committed suicide in the North Sea, and the flying sword vanished without a trace... Some say the flying sword possessed a spirit, and with the sword's owner's death, Chen Ke also perished. This explanation has some merit, yet the various holy lands and powerful families have never given up on retrieving it from the North Sea. Everyone wants to know the whereabouts of "Chen Ke."

If the "chronic illness" is still present.

That might prove... Xie Xuanyi is still alive.

now.

The mystery that had plagued the world for ten years was shattered by the sword energy.

The golden flying sword hovered in the void, radiating intense divine light. After its master's "departure," it had fallen into the North Sea, suffering for ten years, lying dormant in obscurity. At this moment, all the pent-up frustration, all the anger, all the resentment, surged forth in the trembling of the golden sword—

Accompanied by the sound of sword energy surging.

The master of the flying sword emerged from the end of the mist.

……

……

The joyful Zen master, clutching his heart and soul, was nearly shattered, while the white ghost, who had escaped death, was still trembling with fear.

Having broken through several great formations in succession, the imposing Mo Daoren was the first to recover his senses. He stared intently at the direction where the void mist shattered.

A figure dressed in black appeared slowly.

"You little bastard surnamed Xie!"

Mo Daoren suddenly realized: "You and Ye Zu had been in cahoots all along, and you were just putting on an act earlier?!"

The moment Xie Zhen appeared.

Mo Daoren knew that he had been tricked!

"When minds are in sync, there's no need for collusion..."

Xie Xuanyi shook his head and said calmly, "Since Lu Yu really wants to frame me, then let nature take its course."

Mo Daoren's expression was extremely ugly.

If Xuehunzhu hadn't witnessed the battle between Ye Zu and Xie Zhen, confirmed the internal strife within Da Chu, and confirmed that the old man was seriously injured... they would never have revealed themselves so easily.

All of this was a scheme set up by Ye Zu and Xie Zhen!

The Snow Pearl is real—

But the fighting and infighting were fake!
A deafening explosion rang out.

Mo Daoren stepped forward and threw a punch without warning!
Xie Xuanyi did not retreat.

The Great Daos of birth and death merged and became one, transforming into a perfect circle. The golden divine embryo behind him suddenly stepped forward, also unleashing a punch—

boom!
The void shattered.

Xie Xuanyi took a few steps back.

The force of that punch was so great that it ripped Xie Xuanyi's lungs and internal organs apart.

But the injury healed in no time.

Xie Xuanyi suppressed the metallic taste in his throat, shook his sleeve to control his breathing, and the vapor of the Undying Spring boiled and burned within his Purple Mansion Cave Heaven. In terms of realm and cultivation, he was indeed inferior to pseudo-saints like Mo Daoren and Bai Gui, but when it came to life-or-death battles... it was a different story. Every wisp of the Undying Spring vapor on these three pseudo-saints was one less to be used.

In the midst of dealing with the great calamity of the Burning Flower Sword Style, the vapors of these Immortal Springs were almost completely depleted.

However, the fountain of immortality within him remained "full"!
Mo Daoren was knocked back by the punch from the Divine Embryo.

He flicked his wrist, his expression extremely grim.

Only then did he realize that something was wrong.

"Approaching the perfection of the Dao of Annihilation..."

Mo Daoren looked down at his palm, which was being corroded by the dark sword energy. Xie Zhen was only seventeen years old!

How could someone of this age possibly comprehend the ultimate level of the Dao of Annihilation?

Gazing at the golden flying sword hanging high in the sky, Mo Daoren suddenly remembered the advice Lu Yuzhen had given the three of them when they entered the secret tomb.

At that moment, an utterly absurd thought popped into his head.

……

……

The Da Chu camp.

Most of the cultivators looked bewildered, confused, and utterly bewildered.

In their view.

The amount of information conveyed in those few short breaths was truly enormous.

Wasn't Xie Zhen guilty of the "sin" of assassinating Wu Zetian?

What does "chronic illness" mean?
What was the meaning behind Xie Zhen's conversation with Mo Daoren?
Qian San broke free from the "soul sound attack" of the Joyful Zen Master and struggled to regain his senses. He supported himself with his hands on the ground and looked at the black-clad figure in the distance with a complicated expression.

The very back.

Ye Qinglian, who was standing guard beside the throne, noticed that the old man's tense body gradually relaxed.

Her heart was filled with turbulent waves that lingered for a long time.

At that moment, she completely understood Ye Zu's intention.

From the moment the White Paper Barrier was defeated, everything Ye Zu did was to pave the way for this moment.

Ye Zu only wanted to accomplish one thing.

That is to ensure the survival of the people of Da Chu.

The moment when the chronic illness pierced the body of the Joyful Zen Master.

All the misunderstandings and conflicts that had been building up around Xie Zhen were shattered.

This ambush targeting the "false saint of southern Xinjiang" unveiled the last hidden plan.

So... the last sword strike left by Ye Zu.

It's not burning flowers.

It was Xie Zhen.

……

……

"You are not Xie Zhen!"

A woman's voice, filled with extreme resentment, suddenly rang out in the secret tomb.

The Joyful Zen Master, who had been clinging to life, was on the verge of death after being pierced through the heart by a flying sword.

The Dao of Annihilation invaded her heart lake like a maggot clinging to her bone, spreading continuously. The "Undying Spring Water Vapor" between her brows was completely exhausted in the Burning Flower Sword Style. Now, she was suffering a fatal injury again. The flesh and blood that she had painstakingly gathered on her body decayed and fell off at a rapid speed. The remaining bit of Undying Spring Water Vapor was simply unable to resist the erosion of the "Sword Intent of Annihilation"!

Two lines of bloody tears flowed from the eyes of the Joyful Zen Master.

She clenched her fists tightly, staring at the figure in black in the distance, feeling the excruciating pain that penetrated to her very bones.

She would never forget such a profound sword intent in her life.

It severs both the physical body and the soul...

He even severed the will of Heaven!

With a ferocious expression, the Joyful Zen Master shouted hoarsely, "You are not Xie Zhen...you are Xie Xuanyi!"

This is exactly what Mo Daoren was thinking.

How could a seventeen-year-old cultivator, no matter how gifted, possibly achieve the Great Perfection of the "Destruction Dao Realm"?
How can one comprehend the eleventh realm of Yin Shen and utilize the power of the perfected twentieth realm of Dao?
If he is a reincarnated human.

Then everything makes sense.

If it really is a reincarnation... then who is Xie Zhen Neng reincarnated as?
"..."

This place is now shrouded in a brief silence.

The chronic illness slowly flew back from the top of the sky and landed in the original owner's palm.

Xie Xuanyi patted the flying sword.

He glanced coldly at the Joyful Zen Master, his gaze no different from that of someone looking at a dead man.

"Yes."

His gaze didn't linger for even a moment.

Xie Xuanyi calmly said, "I am Xie Xuanyi."

……

……

(PS: 1. Sorry for updating so late. This chapter was really hard to write. I spent several hours revising it, and there might be minor revisions tomorrow. 2. There will be another update tomorrow at noon.)
(End of this chapter)