159: Chapter 159 Backlash Against the Heavenly Dao

Bai Wuji was supported by him as they walked into the mountain gate. The lamplight grew brighter with every step, as if it grew more excited the closer it got to something.

When they reached the entrance of the small courtyard in the back mountain, the transparent thread on the wick suddenly changed color.

It changed from transparent to gold.

From gold to white.

Medicine Not So shuddered, staring fixedly at the wick.

White.

The same white as the cluster of white light deep within Bai Yu's Divine Soul space.

The courtyard gate opened.

Xu Kong stood behind the door, his complexion even worse than last time. Pure Void Master stood in the center of the courtyard and immediately looked at the lamp in Bai Wuji's hand, his expression changing.

The Nameless Old Man stood up from the stone bench, his gaze passing over everyone to land on Bai Wuji's face.

Bai Wuji walked into the courtyard, his gaze sweeping over everyone before finally landing on—

The stone bed.

A person lay on the stone bed, pale and lifeless.

The lamp in Bai Wuji's hand erupted with light.

Bai Wuji's pupils dilated sharply, his fingers gripping the lamp base tightly, all ten knuckles spasming.

His mouth opened.

There was no sound.

But everyone saw his lips moving.

One word.

Two words.

Medicine Not So was closest to him and saw the shape of those two words clearly.

His knees went weak, and he knelt directly on the ground, covering his face with both hands.

Gu Dusheng rushed over: "What did he say?"

Medicine Not So looked up from between his fingers, his face covered in tears.

"He said—"

"Master."

No one in the courtyard made a sound.

Bai Wuji stood three steps away from the stone bed, the lamp in his hand burning him into a ball of white light. The thread on the wick had turned completely white, shining so brightly it almost melted through the bronze lamp base.

His mouth had moved just now.

Medicine Not So knelt on the ground, covering his face with his hands, his shoulders twitching. Gu Dusheng stood there, his mouth agape, unable to close it. Lin Tian leaned his spear against the ground, his hand gripping it slick with sweat.

Bai Wuji didn't recognize them.

But he said "Master."

Those two words were squeezed out of a blank body; it wasn't the mouth speaking, but the bones screaming. Eleven years of habit, three thousand mornings, ten thousand sword strikes—all compressed into these two words, surging up from his throat.

Pure Void Master moved.

He took a step forward, blocking the path between Bai Wuji and the stone bed.

"The lamp, give it to me first."

His voice wasn't heavy, but that Heavenly Dao will was like a transparent wall, standing in front of Bai Wuji.

The temperature in the courtyard plummeted.

Medicine Not So suddenly looked up, his eyes bloodshot: "You—"

"Shut up." Pure Void Master didn't look at him, his eyes fixed on the lamp in Bai Wuji's hand. "This is the condition. The Lord of the Void promised."

Xu Kong leaned against the doorpost and said nothing. His complexion had worsened to the extreme, his lips were gray, and he even struggled to stand straight.

The old man stood up from the stone bench, a bone knife already in his hand.

"You're stopping him now?" The old man's voice sounded like grinding rusty iron. "Are you sick in the head?"

"A condition is a condition." Pure Void Master's expression remained unchanged. "The lamp must pass through my hands first before being given to Bai Yu. I need to confirm something."

"Confirm what?!"

"Confirm that this lamp hasn't been contaminated by the Laws of the Sea of Reincarnation." Pure Void Master said, "The soul guiding lamp was taken from the depths of the Underworld River and passed through layers of Reincarnation Law barriers. Who among you can guarantee that there's no hidden agenda? If the wick is tainted with the power of the Underworld River, pouring it into Bai Yu's remnant soul wouldn't be a restoration, but a cleansing."

The old man opened his mouth, but his curses got stuck in his throat.

Because those words made sense.

Medicine Not So lowered his head, his teeth grinding. He was a physician; he knew Pure Void Master wasn't just being alarmist. Using something taken from the depths of the Underworld River on a remnant soul without inspection was indeed no different from gambling with a life.

"Move."

Everyone was stunned.

The one speaking was Bai Wuji.

He looked at Pure Void Master, his gaze blank, without anger, without plea, without any emotion at all.

He simply took a step forward.

Pure Void Master's Heavenly Dao barrier immediately pressed down. That invisible force pushed against Bai Wuji's chest; with his current body, having exhausted his cultivation, he should have been sent flying.

Bai Wuji's feet slid half an inch on the ground.

Then they stopped.

The lamplight flared up significantly.

The white light spread from the lamp base to his entire arm, diffusing along his Meridians, illuminating his body until it was semi-transparent. Beneath that layer of transparency, everyone saw something.

Bai Wuji's bones were covered in carved patterns.

Not formation patterns, not runes, but sword marks.

Line after line, densely packed, from finger bones to wrist bones to arm bones, every single one at the same angle and with the same force. They were the imprints left by ten thousand sword strikes, carved into the bone, deeper than any Seal.

These sword marks were glowing. The same white as the wick.

Pure Void Master's pupils constricted.

Bai Wuji took another step forward. The Heavenly Dao barrier pressed against him; his knees buckled for a moment, then straightened back up. His soles scraped a white mark onto the stone slabs.

He didn't know who this person in front of him was.

He didn't know why something was blocking him.

He only knew there was a person lying on that bed behind him, and he had to get there.

His bones told him so.

Pure Void Master watched him approach.

One step. Two steps. Three steps.

With every step, the Heavenly Dao barrier strengthened. A trail of blood seeped from the corner of Bai Wuji's mouth; his dissipated cultivation couldn't support any defense, so he was using his Physical Body to endure the Law suppression of an upper realm heavenly dao.

But the lamp did not go out.

Not only did it not go out, it grew brighter and brighter. The white light began to backlash against the Heavenly Dao barrier—not by shattering it, but by permeating it. That cluster of white light squeezed through the cracks in the barrier like water soaking into parched earth.

Pure Void Master's expression finally changed.

Not anger, not surprise.

It was something very complex that flashed across his face, so fast it was almost invisible.

He looked at the glowing sword marks on Bai Wuji's bones and remained silent for three seconds.

Then he stepped aside.

No one spoke.

Bai Wuji walked past him, his pace not fast, but without pause. He reached the side of the stone bed and looked down at the person lying there.

The lamplight erupted between the two of them.

White light gushed out from the wick; there was no heat, no impact, just pure, soft light. The light fell upon Bai Yu, and the faint cicada-wing-like light formed by the nine revolutions life-sustaining pill was gently pushed aside, replaced by the white light of the wick, which permeated into Bai Yu's body along his Meridians.

Bai Wuji placed the lamp on Bai Yu's chest.

As the lamp base landed, it emitted a very soft hum. The white thread on the wick began to melt, turning into countless tiny specks of light that penetrated Bai Yu's skin and sank into his body.

Bai Wuji's hand was still pressed against the lamp base.

He lowered his head, watching the lamplight seep in bit by bit, his face still expressionless.

But his hand did not let go.

Medicine Not So stood up, walked to the side of the stone bed, and placed his fingers on Bai Yu's wrist.

As the lamplight entered the body, Bai Yu's pulse changed. The originally faint, almost non-existent beat throbbed heavily the moment the light permeated.

"There's a reaction." Medicine Not So's voice was incredibly hoarse. "The lamp is searching for his remnant soul fragments."

"How long?" the old man asked from behind.