There were seven Sword Tombs in total, and three have already been conquered. When they went to the fourth one, the Taoist Priest shamelessly insisted on following. He sensed that Taiwu Xixi had gone through a tough battle and decided to share her burden.
Of course, he was rejected.
All of Wang Ping'an's concerns would be rejected by Taiwu Xixi.
The Taoist Priest's face flushed, "Aren't we husband and wife?"
"So what if we are?"
"What husband in the world would let his wife risk her life?"
"What, do you look down on women?"
Wang Ping'an stammered, "No, I don't look down on you. I'm just worried. How long have you been practicing martial arts? Even with the Buddha's Son's protection, what if something happens to you? How could I live?!"
"If I'm gone, you'll live just fine. We've only known each other for a year. You still have a great life ahead of you. You can spend another three to five years finding a few girls you like to live with." The usual joy in Taiwu Xixi's eyes faded.
Her gaze was so unfamiliar that it sent a chill down Wang Ping'an's spine.
Simon was playing with Xiao Huang Er, who insisted on touching his antlers. So, Simon carried the little girl on his shoulders. She gripped his antlers with both hands, leaning back as if she were flying freely.
Bai Zimo looked helpless. He also felt that his childhood friend was too calculating. Where in the world could be safer than by the Buddha's Son's side?
Taoist Priest Wang's face was serious, "I divined a hexagram for you. Do you know the result?"
Taiwu Xixi was indifferent, "I don't want to know."
..."Well, then, I will not leave your side from now on."
"Do you think you can catch up to the Buddha's Son's Divine Foot Technique?"
"I can't catch up, but as long as I know where the Sword Tomb is, I won't be wrong. With the Pure Land, everyone can travel thousands of miles in an instant."
Taiwu Xixi's heart skipped a beat. She had forgotten about the Pure Land.
"I want you not to follow me, okay?"
"Absolutely impossible. You and I are like a pair of lovebirds, we must never be separated."
"I can still live perfectly fine without you."
"If you are without me by your side, I will curse you."
"You wouldn't dare!"
"I curse you to always be able to laugh, but never to shed tears for me."
"You! Alright, alright, if you want to follow, then follow, really." Taiwu Xixi took the little girl's hand, walked angrily to the Swordsman, and kicked him, "You, you don't even manage him!"
Bai Zimo, who suffered an undeserved calamity, looked bewildered, but his eyes darted around, and he smiled, "Since Ping'an can follow you, I can too. Let's go together then."
After they had finished their antics, they each walked hesitantly to Simon, bowing their heads, looking as if they knew they had done wrong.
They had wasted the Buddha's Son's time.
Simon shook his head and smiled. How wonderful it would be if everyone in the world were so pure and kind.
The next Sword Tomb.
Ghost God Haze.
This tomb also radiated light, but unlike the majestic and noble Phoenix Cocoon Sword Tomb, this place was enveloped in dazzling, colorful, and ever-changing rays of light. Morning and evening glow, solar and lunar halos, and even rainbows, sun dogs, auroras, and almost all celestial phenomena were included. Looking up, it seemed as if there were countless suns, moons, and stars in the sky, making it difficult to distinguish between day and night, causing observers to be disoriented and unaware of their whereabouts.
There were also several literati and poets leisurely enjoying themselves nearby this Sword Tomb. When they saw the Buddha's Son and his party appear, they were greatly alarmed and knelt down one after another.
Taiwu Xixi was very unaccustomed to such a scene, somewhat at a loss, but Wang Ping'an, Bai Zimo, and even the little girl and Xiao Huang Er were very calm. As for the remaining little girl, she didn't even notice the presence of these people in her eyes.
Simon gently called them to rise, then led his group into the Sword Tomb.
After entering the tomb, they found themselves in a desolate ridge. After crossing a small hill, they reached the bank of a long river. Dozens of heretics were scattered along the riverbank. One of them, seeing their group, let out a shout, and everyone rushed towards them with howls.
Bai Zimo took down the ink-jade broken sword hanging around his neck and gently swung it. Invisible sword qi flew out, striking down the faster ones, and their filthy blood splattered everywhere.
Taiwu Xixi didn't have time to tell him to show mercy when she saw those Ashura's minions, who had been struck by the sword qi, turn into flying ash, their bodies terrifying even in death.
She stopped the Swordsman and rushed forward to meet the enemy herself.
The Taoist Priest, seeing this, followed without hesitation.
Bai Zimo watched Taiwu Xixi's movements with surprise, how she attacked or dodged, truly displaying the demeanor of a master. He sighed, "What great talent!"
The Taoist Priest flanked her, a flying sword like a fish, circling around the little sister, who was like a bird, hovering and blocking attacks for her.
The Ashura's minions grew more numerous and stronger, indicating that without the Taoist Priest's help, Taiwu Xixi would likely not be able to handle them alone.
After these heretics died, they left behind various relics: martial arts manuals from various sects and aristocratic families, true transmissions, handwritten copies, complete ones, fragmented ones, a large pile. The Taoist Priest joked that if there were dozens more Sword Tombs, they might be able to collect all the martial arts in the world.
Wang Ping'an spoke of some ancient legends.
The current top martial arts were all inherited from ancient times.
In that legendary era, Kuafu chased the sun, Hou Yi shot down the sun, the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors... countless powerful individuals roamed the vast divine land of China.
For example, their Ran Mountain Sect was the inheritance of the alchemists of that time.
And the most outstanding alchemist in the world was said to be an eccentric named Shu Fang. He possessed a bronze token called the Fangtian Amnesty Edict, which could command heaven and earth.
There is also a legend about this Shu Fang.
In ancient times, there was a divine general named Yinglong, who helped the Yellow Emperor kill Chi You. His son, Huang Gubo, naturally loved to create rainbows. He heard that a Taoist Priest in the south named Shu Fang was the best at collecting and creating colorful clouds, possessing incredible divine powers. So, he transformed into a beautiful woman to steal the technique, but Shu Fang saw through him at a glance.
Shu Fang, moved by his sincerity, taught him the true words, saying: "A rainbow is a mist of light. Mist is drawn by the sun and moon. A sun rainbow is a dazzling mist, a mist of shining gold; a moon rainbow is a full mist, a mist of pure jade. Both are ordinary rainbows, but a mist drawn by both sun and moon is truly a rainbow of the heavens, a mist of ghosts and gods."
This Huang Gubo was extremely audacious. To make the sun and moon appear together in the sky, he secretly ascended to the Heavenly Palace to borrow the sun from Xihe, the Sun Mother, and the moon from Changxi, the Moon Mother. Unfortunately, he did not succeed; instead, he was discovered by the Heavenly Emperor and had his head cut off.
Although Huang Gubo died, his spirit did not. He returned to the lower realm, lying on the eastern coast, filled with grief and indignation.
Shu Fang, seeing this, could not bear it. Knowing that he had leaked heavenly secrets and harmed this dragon, he took out the Fangtian Amnesty Edict and performed a supreme divine ability, causing the sun and moon to appear together in the sky. The East Sea rose by tens of thousands of feet with the tide, creating a great fog. The water vapor, borrowing the light of the sun and moon, instantly produced a nine-colored long rainbow, ever-changing, possessing the power of ghosts and spirits, imbued with the divinity of the sun and moon, shaking heaven and earth, unparalleled. Huang Gubo observed it with his heart, overjoyed. When the rainbow light extinguished, he died peacefully, transforming into a reef. This is the Wangxia Stone on the coast of the East Sea. Locals say that whenever a rainbow appears over the sea, the stone grows eyes and gazes out.
Due to this heaven-defying act, Shu Fang suffered heavenly punishment and was assimilated into the Fangtian Amnesty Edict.
As the Taoist Priest rambled on, everyone finally reached the end of the Sword Tomb. Amidst a hazy, colorful light, Taiwu Xixi unsealed the tomb door with her sword hilt.
A figure emerged from within, singing freely.
"Penetrating heaven and earth, transforming all spirits, every line a heavenly secret, every word gold. I give you a few profound words, why bother listening if you cherish your life? If you obey my command, I will offer my true heart. What are mere heavenly rules to fear? Do not live in vain in this vast human world!"
This person laughed heartily, revealing her true appearance.
Clad in a dark green robe, with two dots of black paint above her brows, her left hand forming a sword-finger, her right hand holding a bronze token, a Taoist bun on her head, and treading on mysterious qi, she was a true Taoist woman, proudly shining with spiritual insight.
Wang Ping'an stammered, "Shu-Shu-Shu—Ancestor Shu Fang!"
Simon took a careful look. This Shu Fang, she had not escaped the fate of an eccentric.
So he sighed and struck out with a wave of his hand.
Shu Fang frowned deeply, raising the token in her hand. Instantly, the haze light bloomed, one golden, one white, alternatingly appearing and disappearing.
Simon broke the golden light with one strike. The next moment, all his energy was absorbed by the white haze, returning with double the force.
The onlookers were greatly astonished. There was actually someone in the world who could withstand an attack from the Buddha's Son and not be defeated!
The retaliating white haze dissipated immediately three feet in front of Simon, having collided with his carefully restrained protective true qi.
With Simon's current internal cultivation—combining the techniques of the Vajra Sect, Shaolin Temple, and Lion Appearance Sect, the three most top-tier Vajra-attribute sects in the world, his physical body was already a solid body of metal. Even if mountains collapsed and the earth shattered, it would be difficult to harm him in the slightest. He was impervious to swords and spears, immune to water and fire, unaffected by lightning, and would not die even if buried underground for a hundred years—a true terrestrial immortal. Even without using any divine abilities or any moves, just the force of his palm strike could make all the heroes of the world helpless.
But the Divine Sword in Shu Fang's hand was truly too strong.
Ghost God Haze, its divine ability called Fangtian Amnesty Edict, manifested two halos of light. The sun halo's qi was utterly rigid, and the moon halo's qi was utterly soft. Opponents needed to use a combination of rigid and soft forces, breaking rigidity with rigidity and softness with softness. If the balance of rigid and soft was even slightly off, even by a single point of strength, then the light halos could not be broken, and the exerted force would be returned twofold.
Simon pondered for a moment.
When dealing with the Ashura's avatar, he shouldn't use the Lesser Thousand Worlds Palm. It wouldn't be good if the fragments of Ghost God Haze were all turned into flying ash.
With his understanding of martial arts, combining rigid and soft was a trivial matter. So, he executed a plain, common Taizu Long Fist move. Internal qi and blood qi mingled, thundering like thunder. Shu Fang dodged, but unexpectedly, this punch was right in her retreat path. She raised her sword to block, and the haze light flickered rapidly before instantly extinguishing. A solid punch landed on her shoulder, shattering all her internal organs and bones.
She fell to the ground, then stood up again in a blink of an eye. Holding the token, she pointed to the sky, then to the earth, and finally bowed deeply to Simon. She then rose into the clouds and drifted away.
The sky-wide haze light receded like a tide. Shu Fang seemed to have never appeared, but on the ground lay the hilt of the Ghost God Haze.
Simon transformed the sword hilt.
Amidst a burst of seven-colored haze light, a little Taoist nun jumped out, the two red dots of paint on her brows bright and vivid. It was little Shu Fang.
She made a face at Simon, "Hehe, I'm not afraid of you, you know. My master is very powerful, she already calculated that she would meet you!"
Simon shook his head and chuckled. Was it your master who calculated it, or your future self who traveled back in time?
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