628: Chapter 618 Imperial Tutor (18)

Deep within the Heavenly Abyss, a green lotus suddenly shone brightly.

The rift, originally swallowed by darkness, was propped open by a layer of green light.

One.

Two.

Three.

Green lotuses bloomed in succession within the darkness, their green light shining into the Heavenly Abyss, causing the black mist to retreat continuously.

Lu Xingzhou knelt by the shattered stone wall.

He was covered in blood.

The Origin of his Supreme Body had burned almost to nothing, the dao rhyme of his Sword Book was reduced to a mere remnant of light, and the broken sword in his hand was thrust into the ground, supporting him so he would not collapse completely.

He had originally prepared to burn himself up.

To burn his blood.

To burn his soul.

To burn his Dao.

All to trade for a single moment to hold back the darkness.

But at that very moment, the green lotus awoke.

In the deepest part of the Heavenly Abyss, the ancient path that had been silent also began to light up, bit by bit, in the darkness.

One inch.

Two inches.

Three inches.

The ancient path emerged from the endless abyss, as if it had been buried by time for too long, and was now finally returning to the world.

Lu Xingzhou looked up, his eyes devoid of wild joy.

There was only confusion.

"Is this... the Immortal Path?"

His voice was very soft, so soft that it was instantly drowned out by the wind of the Heavenly Abyss.

He had never thought of achieving Immortal Ascension at this moment.

He did not come here to seek a path or to seek Immortal Ascension.

He came to hold back the darkness.

To buy a little more time for the Nine Continents.

To save those who had not yet managed to evacuate.

But this path had appeared precisely when he was prepared to die.

Deep in the darkness, the will that had always looked down upon everything finally fluctuated.

The power that the Emperor had been pressing down on Lu Xingzhou suddenly stopped.

In the darkness, a filthy palm slowly lifted.

He paid no more attention to the severely injured Lu Xingzhou.

He turned toward the Immortal Path.

He wanted to seize the path.

Lu Xingzhou saw this.

But he could not move.

His body had reached its limit.

Even lifting his sword had become difficult.

He could only watch helplessly as that filthy hand reached toward the Immortal Path.

In the dilapidated temple, the rain was still falling.

Qin Yun sat behind a wooden table.

On the table lay a thin piece of paper.

A single character was written on the paper: Immortal.

Beside the fire, several children were reading with him.

"The Immortal is on the mountain."

"People stand at the foot of the mountain; seeing someone on the mountain, they think that is an Immortal."

The voice suddenly stopped.

Qin Yun slowly looked up.

Outside the temple, the wind and rain intensified.

The thin paper with the character 'Immortal' on the wooden table was blown up by the wind and fluttered down into the muddy water.

The children only saw the teacher's figure flicker.

The next moment, there was no one left in the temple.

When Qin Yun appeared at the edge of the Heavenly Abyss, the light of the green lotus was pressing against the darkness.

Lu Xingzhou was kneeling, severely injured.

The Emperor was rushing toward the Immortal Path.

Qin Yun did not attack immediately.

His double pupils unfolded.

The Book of Fate and the Book of Time turned simultaneously within his body.

Countless scenes unfurled layer by layer.

Lu Xingzhou had suppressed the Heavenly Abyss with his own body.

The Nine Continents misunderstood him.

His former subordinates were purged.

He was blamed by the world, forgotten, and dragged down.

He fell to the bottom of the Heavenly Abyss.

Then, guided by Ye Yun's old body and the remnant light of the Body Scripture, he stood up again.

He guarded the Taichu Divine Sect.

He established the Nine Continents Academy.

He had been persuaded to retire, doubted, and had his spine bent by disappointment.

But in the end, he still came to the Heavenly Abyss.

Not for himself.

Not for Immortal Ascension.

He came to block the Emperor.

He came to block the darkness.

Qin Yun's heart trembled slightly.

The path he had searched for so long had actually appeared when Lu Xingzhou was facing death.

Qin Yun landed beside the green lotus light.

He raised his hand, the aura of the nine books and Nine Treasures spreading out, attempting to touch the green lotus.

The green lotus swayed gently.

The light did not harm him, but it blocked his power outside.

Rejection.

Qin Yun stood in place, his eyes wavering.

The green lotus knew him.

It also knew what he had done.

Guarding the Nine Continents.

Suppressing the darkness.

Repairing the Seal.

Experiencing the Mortal World.

Yet, it still would not let him approach.

Qin Yun was silent for a moment, then withdrew his hand.

There was no time to think, because that hand was almost touching the Immortal Path.

Qin Yun stepped forward.

The nine books and Nine Treasures rose simultaneously.

Qin Yun stood between the Emperor and the Immortal Path.

He looked at the darkness, his voice calm.

"You cannot enter this path."

The Emperor did not respond.

The filthy palm pressed down horizontally.

With just a single strike, a large expanse of space at the edge of the Heavenly Abyss was crushed.

Qin Yun pressed his fingers together to form a sword.

Sever Self.

Punish Heaven.

Return to One.

The three swords merged into one, slashing toward that palm.

The sword light collided with the filth, and the entire Heavenly Abyss roared.

Qin Yun retreated half a step.

The Emperor's hand was also stalled by the slash.

The darkness immediately swirled, turning into countless thin threads, attempting to bypass Qin Yun and pollute the edge of the Immortal Path.

The green lotus light surged, blocking the pollution for the Immortal Path.

Qin Yun seized this moment.

The Immortal Sutra unfurled.

His Acquired Chaos Body was pushed to its limit.

The Taihuang Holy Venerable Sun Body and the Heavenly Immortal Body exerted their power together.

He pressed down with one palm.

The Chaos Qi and the power of the nine books and Nine Treasures intertwined, forcing the Emperor back half a step from the front of the Immortal Path.

Half a step.

Yet it made the entire Heavenly Abyss go silent for a moment.

Lu Xingzhou looked up, watching this scene.

He finally saw his teacher's true power.

So, the old teacher who taught in the dilapidated temple had always stood at such a high place.

High enough to confront the darkness in the deepest part of the Heavenly Abyss head-on.

Qin Yun stood before the Immortal Path.

The path was right before his eyes.

Ancient radiance spread out, appearing distant.

He had searched for too long.

The azure pagoda.

Old friends.

The Immortal Path.

Mortal World Immortal.

All the answers seemed to be ahead.

Qin Yun looked at that path, and a thought arose in his heart.

He was already strong enough.

He had the nine books and Nine Treasures.

His three Physiques were supreme.

The Immortal Sutra was at Perfection.

He was at the Peak of Pseudo-Immortal.

He had guarded the Nine Continents, suppressed the darkness, and experienced countless Mortal Worlds.

He should be qualified.

Qin Yun took a step.

The light of the Immortal Path vibrated gently.

His footsteps were blocked outside.

It was not an attack.

It was a rejection.

Qin Yun looked down at his foot that had been blocked, and was silent for a long time.

"Why?"

These three words fell, and no one answered.

At that very moment, the light of the Immortal Path suddenly turned toward Lu Xingzhou.

The green lotus also vibrated along with it.

The Supreme Body, the Sword Book, and the remnants of the Body Scripture on Lu Xingzhou's body all lit up at the same time.

He had originally been so severely injured that he could barely stand up, but he was lifted bit by bit by the light of the Immortal Path.

Lu Xingzhou was stunned.

He felt no joy.

His first reaction was actually to retreat.

"No."

The light of the Immortal Path enveloped him.

He used his broken sword to support himself on the ground, trying to hold his body down.

But that pull was not something he could resist.

"I do not wish to."

He said it very softly.

Yet it made Qin Yun's eyes tremble.

He wanted to enter.

He was rejected.

Lu Xingzhou did not want to enter.

Yet he was chosen by the Immortal Path.

The Emperor also sensed this.

He did not rush directly at the Immortal Path again, but suddenly turned toward Lu Xingzhou.

The filthy palm tore through the edge of the green lotus and lunged straight at Lu Xingzhou.

He wanted to use the Karma of Lu Xingzhou being recognized by the Immortal Path to forcibly step into it.

Qin Yun's expression turned cold.

With a fold of the void book, the entire space of the Heavenly Abyss was forcibly displaced by him.

But the Emperor's strike was too fast.

The polluting black Qi had already entangled with the radiance of the Immortal Path behind Lu Xingzhou.

At this critical moment.

Deep within the Immortal Path, a green light shone.

The azure pagoda manifested.

It was as if it had been waiting in the path all along.

Just as the Emperor's power touched Lu Xingzhou's Karma of the Immortal Path, the azure pagoda crashed down with a boom.

Boom!

The green light pierced through the Heavenly Abyss.

The filthy palm was pinned outside the path.

The Emperor's will let out a low roar.

The black tide rolled back.

The green lotus light flared brightly.

The rift in the Heavenly Abyss was forcibly pushed back several zhang.

Qin Yun looked at the azure pagoda.

His heart sank even further.

The azure pagoda, the green lotus, the Immortal Path, all were protecting Lu Xingzhou.

And all were rejecting him.

Lu Xingzhou's body continued to be drawn away by the Immortal Path.

He was still struggling.

He looked back at the Nine Continents.

He looked at the mountains and rivers outside the Heavenly Abyss that were still collapsing.

He looked at the human world that was still crying out in the darkness.

He did not want to leave.

He did not want to go to the so-called Immortal Path alone.

His body floated up bit by bit.

The light had already swallowed his legs, washed over his waist and abdomen, and climbed onto his chest.

Lu Xingzhou suddenly gave up struggling.

Within the light of the Immortal Path, he knelt down toward Qin Yun.

He was not kneeling to the Immortal Path.

He was kneeling to his teacher.

He looked at Qin Yun, his eyes devoid of resentment or hatred.

There was only a final plea.

"Teacher."

"I beg you."

"Save the Nine Continents."

Qin Yun stood in place, not speaking.

Lu Xingzhou's voice became lighter and lighter.

"The world can exist without Immortals."

"It can also exist without mountains."

"But it cannot exist without people."

"People, are everything."

The light of the Immortal Path had already washed over his shoulders.

Lu Xingzhou looked up one last time, looking at the path he did not want to walk.

Then he looked at Qin Yun.

"If Immortal Ascension only means leaving people behind."

"Then I do not wish to achieve Immortal Ascension."

As his voice fell, the light of the Immortal Path completely swallowed him.

The azure pagoda suppressed the Emperor.

The green lotus shone upon the Heavenly Abyss.

Lu Xingzhou's figure disappeared into the ancient path.

In the Heavenly Abyss, only the sound of the wind and the roar of the black tide being pushed back into the depths remained.

Qin Yun stood in place, not moving for a long time.

Lu Xingzhou's words echoed in his heart over and over again.

The world can exist without Immortals.

It can exist without mountains.

But it cannot exist without people.

People, are everything.

Qin Yun looked down at his own palm.

Many years ago, it had held a bowl of hot porridge.

It had also received a piece of candy.

It had once propped up the beams of a dilapidated temple.

It had once written characters for children.

It had once wanted to grasp the moonbeams as Ling'er dissipated.

It had once wanted to pull back old friends swept away by the Immortal Path.

After Xuan Zhao fell, his palm had been empty.

He had experienced the Mortal World.

Yet he had once treated the Mortal World as a ladder for Immortal Ascension.

He had guarded the Nine Continents.

Yet he had once treated all living beings of the Nine Continents as a grand word.

He thought he had seen the mountain.

And he had seen the foot of the mountain.

But Lu Xingzhou had told him with his final choice.

The most important thing was never the mountain.

It was the people.

Within Qin Yun, the nine books and Nine Treasures hummed simultaneously.

The Immortal Sutra turned its pages on its own.

Qin Yun gazed at the direction where Lu Xingzhou had disappeared, silent for a long time.

The wind blew from the depths of the Heavenly Abyss, brushing past the green lotus, and also brushing past him.

He finally spoke softly.

"So, the path has always been in the human world."

"It has always been right beneath my feet."