Chapter 124: Lovers
Translator: Larbre Studio Editor: Larbre Studio
Cangxu’s words had invoked the eight deities’ anger. Their expressions darkened as they berated him, “Cangxu, there’s a clear boundary between the three worlds. Those from the underworld are not allowed to enter the world of the living, or have anything to do with the human tribes. You used the Yin Talisman to enter the world of the living, which is against the rules! We have the right to arrest you as the enforcement body of the three worlds!”
Cangxu smiled faintly, “That’s weird… weren’t you afraid that the humans would start another upheaval? Why don’t you just get rid of them? Why bother with setting rules for the three worlds? You’re just a bunch of hypocrites.”
“You… are you trying to spark a war between the world of the immortals and the underworld?”
“Those are purely my words, this has nothing to do with the underworld! I just can’t stand hypocrites like you. Aren’t you here to arrest me? Come and get me!”
Cangxu levitated himself in mid-air while staring expressionlessly at the eight deities.
The eight deities could not stand being taunted by him anymore. They made some hand seals in sync and soon enough, multiple blue swords appeared and hovered in the air.
“Demon Slayer Formation – Slaughter.”
The formation enlarged abruptly as the countless blue swords that were scattered around started to combine together, forming a blue Greatsword. The eight deities stood behind the Greatsword and directed it to stab right toward Cangxu’s head.
Cangxu was perfectly calm despite facing off against the deities’ powerful attacks. He shook his right hand lightly and an Ancient Longsword appeared in his grip. He then tilted his body and swung it forward with tremendous force.
A hundred-meter long sword ray flashed through the sky and came into contact with the blue Greatsword.
The whole sky was instantly enveloped in white light, and the energy from the impact spread out like ripples.
“Cangxu, how dare you attack us! Do you really want to start a war between the two worlds?”
“As I said, whatever I do has nothing to do with the underworld!”
“Boom!”
A loud crash resonated as the blue Greatsword tore the sword ray apart.
Once again, Cangxu swung his Ancient Longsword through the air.
As the violet beam of the sword ray tore through the sky, it absorbed the soul energy from its environment and increased in size and power. Once again, it collided with the blue Greatsword, blocking off the attack of the eight deities.
Right at that moment, several silhouettes jumped up into the air.
“Your Majesty, Riying is here to support you!”
“Your Majesty, Fenshui is here to support you!”
“Your Majesty, Elong is here to support you!”
……
All of them appeared right next to Cangxu in the air, and glared at the eight deities with fury.
The eight deities’ expressions became grim upon seeing them.
They thought that Cangxu was going to follow them back obediently. They didn’t expect that he would put up a fight.
If Cangxu was the only one that they needed to face, then it would not be that big of a problem. However, with the other Ghost Kings and Ghost Generals standing together with him, the eight deities would never stand a chance against them.
“This battle has nothing to do with all of you, leave!” Cangxu glanced at his subordinates, touched by their loyalty, but his tone was stern.
“Your Majesty…”
“I said leave! Can’t you understand that?” Cangxu’s expression turned cold.
The Ghost Kings and Generals trembled under Cangxu’s intimidating aura, which was the result of ruling the Land of Cangxu for more than ten thousand years.
“Please leave me be, this is a war between a traitor of the underworld and the deities. Unless you guys intend to be criminals of the underworld, too?”
Cangxu waved his hands and knocked his subordinates down onto the ground when he saw how conflicted they looked.
After that, he turned to the sky, “You have always been an eyesore to me. Now that we’re here today, show me what you’ve got!”
A layer of violet energy appeared on Cangxu’s body, which corroded and ate away at his clothes before condensing and solidifying into a suit of violet golden armor.
“Surrender now, you lunatic!” the eight deities’ expressions soured upon seeing that Cangxu was planning to go all out against them. The blue Greatsword’s radiance amplified as it swung down toward Cangxu with powerful force.
Cangxu charged forward and countered the blue Greatsword’s strike with his Ancient Longsword.
Boom! Strong turbulence was formed above Cangxu’s palace.
“Take this!” Cangxu’s long hair fluttered in the wind as he thrusted his longsword upward.
Multiple cracks appeared on the blue Greatsword, which spread over its entire surface in just a matter of seconds.
Crack… Boom!
A mushroom cloud was formed in the air, forcing Cangxu and the eight deities to take a few steps back.
“You call yourselves deities? Weak!” Cangxu steadied himself and pointed his Longsword at the eight deities, a condescending smirk appearing on his face.
“You…” the eight deities were extremely displeased as they had clearly misjudged Cangxu’s capability. They would definitely be regarded as laughing stocks if they were to return empty-handed.
Out of the blue, a giant golden palm appeared in the sky and descended slowly right when they were about to launch another attack. It stirred up a gust of wind which was so strong that even the Ghost Generals and Kings were sent flying.
“God Master!” the eight deities turned around at the same time and greeted the newcomer.
Accompanied by the prestige of the world, the gigantic palm’s appearance was as mighty as a mountain.
Cangxu’s face fell while staring at the giant golden palm. He had never expected that the God Master himself would show up just to capture him.
“I’ll take you down!” he waved his Ancient Longsword again and advanced forward.
Crack! The ancient Longsword shattered into pieces the moment it came into contact with the giant golden palm. Cangxu’s violet golden armor cracked as he fell backward and crashed heavily onto the ground, causing him to cough out blood.
“Die, you stubborn being!”
A booming voice was heard in the sky before the giant golden palm came down again with greater speed, causing the space beneath it to distort from the great pressure.
Cangxu’s gaze was filled with resentment. He struggled to make a counterattack, but he could not move an inch under the suppression of the giant golden palm, as it had already locked down the area around him.
Although he had been planning this for more than 10,000 years, it seemed that things were about to end this way. Cangxu laid on the ground motionlessly and stared at the giant golden palm that was descending toward him. A self-mocking smile found its way onto his face as his eyelids drooped slowly.
Am I going to die?
Her silhouette appeared in his mind, and he could not help but smile bitterly.
Back then, this place was known as the Land of Yuanxu instead of the Land of Cangxu. He was only a young man who was focused on becoming strong, with no intention whatsoever of becoming the ruler of this land.
The first time they met was at Pagoda Mountain. Dressed in rags, she was shivering inside a tree hollow while looking at everything around her with a cautious gaze.
After coming across her by coincidence, Cangxu gave her some food out of pity, which resulted in that girl attaching herself to his side. He could not get rid of her even if he tried.
She told Cangxu that her name was Xian Ke, and that she was originally from heaven. Her parents had been forcing her to cultivate every single day, so she could no longer take it anymore and snuck her way into the underworld one day by crossing the Spirit Channeling Gate.
She ended up in Pagoda Mountain, which was teeming with ferocious wild beasts. Due to her lack of cultivation, she could not defend herself and was forced to hide in the tree hollow for protection against the elements and hostile beasts.
As a naive girl who could not even defeat a wolf, she spent her time in Pagoda Mountain by hiding in a small corner. She would either fight or flee from wild beasts, depending on how strong they were. If it was not for Cangxu, Xian Ke thought she would have starved to death.
Their encounter led to a long-standing relationship that lasted for 10,000 years.
He kept his mouth sealed when it came to Xian Ke’s origins, and she eventually fell in love with Cangxu, who was passionate about cultivation.
They grew stronger together as their love started to blossom between them.
However, Cangxu refused to admit his feelings for her at that time. He ignored her advancements and even rejected her coldly. Nothing was more important than cultivation to him.
Things between them changed when Cangxu joined the army of King Yuan. He was involved in a feud with a Ghost King’s child and was almost beaten to death.
Because of that incident, Cangxu became even more fixated on the importance of power. He became obsessed with getting stronger in hopes to change his fragile fate.
Xian Ke watched as the changes took root in Cangxu, but she kept on supporting him.
However, the road to success was undoubtedly tough. In order to claw his way to power by rising through the ranks in the army of King Yuan, hard work was an important factor, but resources and power were also necessary.
Cangxu was incapable of being adaptable at that time, so he faced a lot of obstacles. He was constantly being bullied, and almost died a few times. If it was not for Xian Ke who took care of him, he would have been dead ages ago.
Xian Ke’s attitude toward his behavior started to change when she saw how often he came back with wounds. She knew that Cangxu would die one day if this went on.
Nonetheless, Cangxu did not listen to her. He thought that the path to success would definitely be riddled with adversity, and he would become stronger once he overcomes it.
That was when Xian Ke decided to sacrifice herself to fulfill his wish.
Everything changed after that. Others would always share cultivating techniques with him, and no one dared to bully him in the army anymore.
Things had become a lot easier after that, and paired with his determination to become stronger, Cangxu eventually became a Ghost General in the Land of Yuanxu.
However, Cangxu felt empty when he finally gained the power that he had always wanted, as though he had lost something important.
It was at that time when he realized he had fallen for the woman who had given her all for him.
He looked for her and confessed to her, telling her that he wished to marry her. However, she rejected him, saying that she was not worthy of him, and that she no longer loved him.
Things had changed. Right when Cangxu realized his feelings for her, she had decided to leave him.
He felt so lost, not knowing what went wrong.
This continued until the day when he saw Xian Ke in a Ghost King’s mansion. Only then did he realize what Xian Ke had done for him.
He was filled with regret and despair, but he could not change the past.
Out of despair, he tried to drown out his feelings by drinking for three consecutive days, and he was completely hammered for three consecutive nights.
Three days later, he picked up a sword and barged into the Ghost King’s mansion, swearing to bring the woman he loved back to his side.
This time, he was badly wounded, and she got on her knees to beg for the Ghost King’s mercy with tears in her eyes.
Cangxu’s life was saved, and he regained the motivation to become stronger. However, this time, it was to get the woman he loved back.
Slowly, he rose from a Ghost General to a Ghost King, and eventually to the most powerful position in the Land of Yuanxu. He finally achieved his goal and killed the Ghost King with his own hands.
On that day, everyone from the Land of Cangxu came to congratulate him, but she still refused to marry him, even if he were to dress her in her wedding silks with his own hands. She said to him, “How can I marry Your Excellency with a past like mine?”
Cangxu was furious and questioned her. He said to her, “I am the ruler of the Land of Cangxu. Am I still not worthy enough for you?”
She gave him a deprecating smile, “If it were not for my past, would you still be the ruler of this land?”
Despite lasting for 10,000 years, this relationship ended up for naught.
It was until the final moment that he learned that although she had a divine nature, her divine source had been depleted from staying in the underworld for too long, and she was dying.
She did not wish to burden him, and wanted to leave this world quietly.
Cangxu heard about the news and looked for spiritual materials frantically, hoping to revive her wilting life.
The spiritual materials worked for a short while and slightly prolonged the woman’s life, but it was a futile effort. It seemed impossible to change her fate.
Cangxu was in despair when he could not find more spiritual materials in the Land of Cangxu that could save her life. In the end, he found his way onto the Thousand Tribulations Road in hopes to meet the Great Emperor of Feng Du, one of the rulers of the underworld, even if it meant that his spirit would be torn apart.
The journey was extremely dangerous and he almost died on his way, but he managed to meet the ruler of the underworld in the end.
The Great Emperor of Feng Du told him that the only way to save her was to send her back to heaven, and to find someone who was at the level of a Sky Deity to be her lifeline. Alternatively, he could obtain a divine source from heaven for her to absorb, which could keep her alive.
Now that he knew the way to save her, Cangxu brought Xian Ke along with him and embarked on a journey along Paradise Road, all the way to the Heavenly Gate.
However, the arrogant deities ignored his pleas. To them, Xian Ke was no longer worthy of being a deity since she was already corroded by Yin energy. They refused to acknowledge her status as a deity, let alone help her.
Just when Cangxu was wallowing in despair, he met a deity out front. The deity asked him if he was willing to betray the underworld and become his sword. He was willing to save Xian Ke in exchange for his service.
Cangxu was at a loss, but he nodded firmly after taking a glance at the dying woman in his arms.
Since then, he would go to the Heavenly Gate and have the deity replenish Xian Ke’s divine source once every ten thousand years.
He would collect information from the underworld and deliver it to the deity every ten thousand years in exchange for his help.
However, thirty thousand years ago, the deity refused to help him any longer.
He told Cangxu that the underworld seemed to have forgotten about their past hatred, and that there was no possibility for revenge. Cangxu had lost his worth as his sword, so he was no longer needed.
Cangxu was utterly infuriated this time. He hated the heavens for being unfair to him, as he had worked so hard to save her, but fate chose to pull a joke on him.
Cangxu’s hair turned completely white in the span of one night.
They said that the gods above are benevolent and kind, but all he saw was complete darkness.
Xian Ke knew that she was becoming a burden to Cangxu, so she tried to escape multiple times, hoping to find a place to die quietly. She did not want him to sacrifice so much for her.
Angry tears welled up in Cangxu’s eyes, as he had no choice but to lock her up. He told Xian Ke that he would find a way to save her, and that he would never let her die!
Since the heartless deities refused to help him, Cangxu diverted his attention toward the divine source of heaven.
However, the divine source was very precious to heaven, therefore it was actually easier to seek help from a Sky Deity than to actually obtain it.
No matter how slim his chances were, Cangxu had no intention to give up.
He had been planning for more than ten thousand years just to break into heaven to save the love of his life.
……
A mocking smile formed on his lips as he watched the giant golden palm descending toward him.
His ten thousand years of effort were nothing more than a joke!