Who is spreading rumors that my filial piety towards them has changed?

"Something's not right. There really is a problem. With so many sword marks just now, they should have already gotten out of the Yin-Yang Chaotic Soul Formation. We haven't even seen a trace of Donglu yet."

Following her will, Zuo Qiuchi's sword intent manifested, halting with her to gather strength. The heavy sword in her hand gleamed like a red-hot iron, flashing with a dark light, and then—

"boom!"

The Extinction Greatsword slammed into the array patterns on the ground, and two dazzling white lights burst forth from her and her sword intent avatar. The white light spread outward rapidly, and the violent explosion engulfed everything within its range.

The large circle of sword intent that had been blocking her way vanished, leaving only a few scattered flying swords with extraordinary sword intent, but Zuo Qiuchi jumped over and destroyed them one by one.

Zuo Qiuchi gasped for breath, her full, high chest rising and falling. She circulated her internal energy to regulate her breathing. That was her full-force attack, and not wanting to waste time, she chose to clear the area directly.

This is a risky move. If one or two sword intents at the Sword Immortal level were to emerge, she would be in a very passive position for a short period of time.

Of course, the situation isn't much better now. Sword intent has started to emerge from the Yin-Yang Chaotic Soul Formation again, seemingly endless and inexhaustible.

Zuo Qiuchi looked around, but Zuo Donglu was nowhere to be seen, and even the exit was nowhere to be seen.

The sky was still the same sky, but the Sword Dynasty below the great formation felt somewhat unfamiliar; it was not as prosperous as the Sword Dynasty we knew.

The Sword Emperor's Palace appeared to be newly built, with everything in need of rebuilding. The buildings were old and dilapidated, and groups of craftsmen came and went, carrying stones to build this nascent nation.

This seems to be the Sword Dynasty from its early days?!

"Could this be... that I've been affected by Donglu's destiny?" Zuo Qiuchi couldn't believe it; he had unknowingly fallen into the illusion of mental tribulation.

Aside from being surprised by this "unawareness," Zuo Qiuchi was even more surprised that someone as carefree as her could have such an unexpected mental tribulation lurking within her.

Yes, when one's sword intent goes astray, it is often because one has failed to overcome one's inner tribulations while comprehending the sword. Past experiences leave behind knots in one's heart, and these knots, whether big or small, will transform into the inner tribulations of a sword cultivator, requiring a lifetime to comprehend, heal, and challenge.

Zuo Qiuchi's past process of comprehending swordsmanship was quite simple. He hadn't encountered any bottlenecks yet. He would just get to the point of enlightenment as he fought. Occasionally, when he encountered a slight block, he would just pick another lucky guy to beat up.

She continued to regulate her breathing, waiting for the tribulation in her heart to occur.

"Aren't you coming out yet? We're in a hurry, come on!"

After waiting for a long time, Zuo Qiuchi felt anxious and was eager to reunite with Zuo Donglu. She tried to forcefully break the illusion of the Heart Tribulation, but to no avail. The illusion did not even tell her what the Heart Tribulation was.

Even with inner turmoil, at least you still know what you need to deal with.

The mental tribulations that don't involve mental tribulations might be the bigger problem.

--------------

Chu Mingkong followed Balan and soon climbed the transparent cloud ladder again, reaching a high place outside the Yin-Yang Chaotic Soul Array.

On his way here, Chu Mingkong had already noticed the anomaly: the extreme yin and yang forces were converging here.

The entire population of the Sword Dynasty was watching this side, and the sky seemed to be divided into yin and yang sides, making it difficult not to notice.

"What's going on?" he asked anxiously.

Within that grand formation, countless sword intents transformed into swirling tornadoes, their dense blades obscuring the outside view. Any attempt to probe inside was severed by the sword intents, making it impossible to ascertain the situation within.

The power drawn from the Abyss and the Yang Valley coexisted in a delicate balance within this grand formation, slowly melting away the sword intent.

Queen Ba briefly explained what had happened, and Chu Mingkong's expression remained uneasy after listening.

Zuo Donglu encountered her master's sword intent, which soothed and comforted her, allowing her to resolve her inner conflict and strengthen her destiny.

They should have been reborn from the ashes, but instead, the sword intent within the formation was all corrupted, resulting in this mess!

"I can't easily use the extreme yin power to destroy the formation right now. If it encounters the extreme yang power inside, the two forces will explode, which will be detrimental to them." Chu Mingkong was extremely anxious.

“We have no way to stop this great formation, and it’s even difficult to destroy it… Every time we infuse it with sword intent, it’s like adding a brick to the city wall,” Balan said heavily.

"However, there is still a chance to cut through the external sword tornado with sword intent. The entire Yin-Yang Chaotic Soul Formation is not large. If we can cleave through the external sword tornado, there should still be a chance," Empress Ba speculated.

Her level of understanding is not as high as Ba Lan's and Chu Mingkong's, but her insight is not shallow.

Despite being limited by her own swordsmanship talent, she had made many efforts over the years in order to reach the throne of the Sword Dynasty.

"Just be careful. If the sword strike fails to cleave through in one go, it will be tempered by the great formation and become even stronger. We must strive for a successful strike. Also, when entering to rescue people, we must be careful not to fall into the influence of Zuo Donglu's fate."

Without saying a word, Chu Mingkong followed the example of the Taoist Peng Bao he had just met, taking out a bunch of pills and consuming them. Although the help would be limited, every little bit helped.

Balan also took out his own pills and prepared to fight.

Both of them sensed that within this sword tornado, there were occasionally sword intents from the Sword Immortal realm, which they needed to avoid and strike at the weakest point.

Holding their breath, the time had come.

Two sword energies were unleashed simultaneously, their power soaring high. The sword energies met the sword tornado, and in the contest of strength, Chu Mingkong and Balan ultimately prevailed, cleaving a gash in the sword tornado.

Chu Mingkong dared not hesitate and immediately transformed into his Abyss Transformation, rushing into the breach.

Chapter 53 Connecting with Aunt

Balan and Empress Ba stood guard outside, and high-ranking disciples and the Sword Peak Master gradually gathered to check the situation. Balan managed to calm them down.

But it was just verbal reassurance. She herself had no idea what would happen next, and right now she wasn't even sure if the Two Elements Chaotic Soul Array had been fully activated.

"Balan, when you broke through this sword tornado just now, did you see what was inside?" Queen Ba asked, as she sensed the aura of the Tribulation of the Heart.

"Yes." Balan nodded firmly.

My thoughts wandered through my memories, searching for related experiences.

"That's a 'trouble'? It seems to be two kinds of 'trouble', one is being trapped in trouble, and the other is being free from trouble. The sisters of this generation of the Zuo family are really... extraordinary."

"I also feel this is a calamity." Queen Ba nodded.

The Sword Dynasty is dominated by sword cultivators, and they have summarized various aspects of sword cultivation. They have even categorized the mental tribulations that sword cultivators may encounter. However, no matter how complex the categories are, the higher the level of cultivation, the more dangerous the mental tribulations one will encounter.

The Tribulation of Sorrow causes everything around it to fall into mental turmoil, leading to inner demons, and the external influences then backfire on the person undergoing the Tribulation of Sorrow.

The Tribulation of Freedom of Worry: Those with a heart as clear and pure as crystal are free from worries and troubles, making it difficult for demons to arise in their hearts. It may seem difficult for this to become a tribulation of the heart, but freedom of worry is itself a tribulation. Without knowing what worry is, one does not know what suffering is, and consequently, one does not know what to cherish. In the end, freedom of worry is like living a life of drunken stupor, losing oneself.

"Even if one comprehends the sword and reaches the realm of a sword immortal, one can still be troubled by mental tribulations? Did Donglu's master really fail to overcome his own tribulation because of her?" Empress Ba asked Balan.

Balan's mind was mostly focused on the situation inside the great formation. He didn't want anyone who entered the formation to fall into it. If even Chu Mingkong, who was protected by the power of extreme Yin, was trapped inside, then there would be a big problem.

She pulled her attention away and responded:

"Yes, the mind should be like a clear mirror, constantly wiped clean to prevent dust from settling. Even a sword immortal needs to examine their sword intent frequently to make further progress. Beyond the realm of sword immortal, there is no end to advancement."

I just hope everything goes well...

------------

After Chu Mingkong squeezed through the breach, he indeed encountered a sticky feeling, as if he were being watched by something.

However, this feeling did not come from the outside, but from within. His consciousness was briefly dazed, but fortunately, the influence was quickly dissolved by the power of extreme yin.

"This is outrageous! Even I got caught in it. Luckily, it didn't have a serious impact. It would have been hilarious if I had gotten stuck here too," Chu Mingkong said thankfully.

Within the Two Elements Chaotic Soul Formation, it's impossible to distinguish between heaven and earth as soon as you enter; there are just too many flying swords!

Just like the thousands or tens of thousands of fish that move around in the deep sea, there are also a few inconspicuous sharks hidden among them.

Ordinary sword intent would hardly affect this extremely Yin Black Blood in the slightest, but the sword intent of several old sword immortals still had to be respected, and they drew their swords immediately.

"But there is also extreme Yang energy here, so I dare not move around carelessly. If I come into contact with extreme Yang energy, I will become a powder keg."

The Yin-Yang Chaos Array has begun to form a sword.

The two opposing forces acted as a furnace fire, and under the guidance of the great formation, they melted all the sword intent they touched into the prototype of a sword blank.

but,

Chu Mingkong, who was finding it difficult to move an inch in this place, confirmed that he had walked some distance but still could not find Zuo Qiuchi and Zuo Donglu.

Could it be that these sword intents are swirling around their bodies?

Chu Mingkong calmed down and observed carefully, finding a clue amidst the chaos:

"This great formation dares not let the extreme yin and extreme yang collide. No matter how the flames roll, they are always separated, each melting its own, just like the two yin fish of the yin-yang symbol swirling around."

Having found a clue, he decided to first swim around in the "Tai Chi Fish" on the side of extreme Yin power to see if they were hiding inside.

At least within this "dark fish," he could come and go as he pleased.

"Bai Niang, help me find her."

Chu Mingkong flung out the black python, which darted wildly through the "Yin Fish," searching for the woman hidden within. But the formation seemed to have a mind of its own, deliberately concealing them from Chu Mingkong.

Suddenly, Chu Mingkong felt a sluggishness in his consciousness again, and it was quite intense—was it the influence of Zuo Donglu's destiny, and she was just passing by him?!

Chu Mingkong's body language was faster than his brain's decision-making. He subconsciously reached back and grabbed a soft, slender hand.

The black blood on his body quickly wriggled and spread out, clinging to that slender hand and swallowing the woman into the black blood, before Chu Mingkong safely pulled her into his arms.

It really was Zuo Donglu.

Her beautiful eyes were narrowed, her delicate eyebrows were slightly furrowed, and a hint of pain would occasionally appear on her pretty face, which resembled Zuo Qiuchi's.

Her clothes, having come into contact with his black blood, were gradually "melting," revealing her fair and delicate skin.

Surrounded by this "yin fish," his black blood was made somewhat irritable by the sword intent of the sword immortal that attacked him from time to time. He would never have damaged a girl's clothes before, but fortunately, only her clothes were damaged and her skin was not harmed.

"Is she still struggling with her own inner turmoil? Didn't Queen Ba say that Donglu only ended up in this situation after resolving her inner conflict?"

Chu Mingkong helped Zuo Donglu into his arms, her long, beautiful legs draped over his chest, and then tried to continue groping in this "yin fish," hoping to also catch his master, the big salted fish.

But after several attempts, it was to no avail; they couldn't even catch a glimpse of it.

If Zuo Qiuchi is with "Yangyu", then finding him will be troublesome.

"Bai Niang, if I go directly to Ji Yang, will I be blown out?"

[Probably not, because there's a power harmonization at your heart, but I could go there. However, even if you do go, the search will likely depend on luck. Qiuchi doesn't have the same influence on the outside world as Donglu, otherwise Donglu would also be difficult to find.]

Chu Mingkong thought about it and agreed. When there's no other way, you can only rely on luck. But if you only rely on luck, nine out of ten times you'll fail.

In the matter of Zuo Qiuchi, Chu Mingkong could not leave the decision to luck.

"We need to try to wake Donglu up first and see if she can restrain her fate. If she continues to unconsciously indulge the influence of her fate, it feels like things will go wrong."

Chu Mingkong remembered the general outline of the true scripture he had just received from his mother...

"Everyone says that it's not good to force growth, but right now it seems that we can only give some of our strength to Donglu so that she can overcome her mental tribulation as soon as possible, or try to contact the power of this destiny through her and then remove it. As long as we can calm down these demonic sword intents, it should be much easier to find people."

However, in order to utilize the power of the Hehuan True Scripture, Hehuan is a necessary prerequisite.

"If I had brought Donglu into the bridal chamber back then, things might be much easier now."