560: Chapter 560 Everyone's Path, Struggle

On the other side, in front of a sword-shaped stone stele, Ye Hongfu sat cross-legged.

The stele towered like a sword, piercing directly into the starry sky. Its surface was covered with sword marks, each containing a different Sword Intent.

A pitch-black ancient sword hovered in front of her.

The sword body was lusterless, black as if it had been fished out of an abyss, swallowing even the surrounding starlight.

In Ye Hongfu's eyes, there was a sword in each.

A black sword in the left eye, a white sword in the right.

Intertwined in black and white, they rotated slowly within her pupils, like Yin and Yang fish, or perhaps two peerless divine weapons clashing.

"You actually found your way here."

The ancient sword spoke, its voice deep, like an old man who had lived for endless ages.

"Worthy of being a Chaos Sword Body."

"I have refined the Ancient Sword Soul, and the Taisu Sword Body is formed. Is it feasible to attain the Dao through the sword?" Ye Hongfu asked.

She had waited for this moment for a long time.

"Your sword Dao is a bit special."

The ancient sword did not answer directly; the cracks on the sword body glowed slightly, as if it were scrutinizing her.

"It has taken the shape of a person."

"Is it someone you love?"

Ye Hongfu was silent for a moment, then nodded gently: "Yes. Is there a problem?"

"Some Ancient Great Emperors believe one must overcome the trial of emotion."

"You can also sever your emotions."

"Kill him, and confirm your Dao. You don't need to learn from me and stop forever."

The ancient sword's voice was as calm as water, as if it were speaking of a trivial matter.

"Kill him to make your sword the sharpest and coldest."

"Only a heartless sword can reach the end of the sword Dao."

"My heart is not cold."

Ye Hongfu shook her head, her tone indifferent.

"Then you are cultivating a sentimental sword."

The ancient sword shook, seemingly displeased.

"That is my old path. Are you willing to stop at my height?"

"Your end is not necessarily the end of the sword Dao."

Ye Hongfu retorted.

The Senior reached that point, but just because the Senior could only go that far did not mean that was her end.

The ancient sword fell silent, as if lost in memories.

After a long time, it spoke again.

"My sword does not follow Heavenly Dao rules, nor does it follow the Great Dao. Every sword I forged, every inch of Dao I achieved, was in the image of the person I loved."

"But in the end, she didn't love me. She changed, and I stopped here."

"Perhaps this path was wrong from the beginning."

It looked at Ye Hongfu, and a faint light lit up the cracks on the sword body.

"How can you be sure that his heart won't change?"

This was a question that struck the heart!

But Ye Hongfu did not care!

She looked at the ancient sword, her eyes as calm as autumn water.

"Does it matter if it changes?"

"The person I love is just the person I love. Whether he loves me or not does not affect my Dao."

The ancient sword fell silent again.

The starry sky remained silent for a long time, with only the black and white swords slowly rotating in Ye Hongfu's eyes.

"What a... 'just the person I love'."

The ancient sword's voice sounded again, much softer than before, like a sigh.

"If I had your mindset back then, perhaps I wouldn't have stopped here."

It stopped speaking.

The pitch-black ancient sword hovering in the air slowly sank and merged into the stele, and the sword marks on the surface lit up one by one.

Ye Hongfu closed her eyes, and the black and white swords froze in her pupils, turning into imprints.

She continued to comprehend the Dao.

...

On the other side.

Mu Bingyun sat cross-legged in front of an iceberg.

The iceberg was not large, exuding a suffocating chill, as if it had stood here since the beginning of creation and had never melted.

The ice surface was as smooth as a mirror, reflecting Mu Bingyun's cold face.

An ice-snow woman sat beside her, surrounded by cold air, her long hair falling like an ice waterfall, her skin white to the point of transparency.

She tilted her head to look at Mu Bingyun, her beautiful eyes turning, and couldn't help but sigh: "Whether you come here or not, it's actually the same."

"You have walked a path that has never been taken before; you don't need me."

"Every path taken by a Senior is experience."

Mu Bingyun's tone was cold, as if she were stating a matter of course.

"We don't necessarily have to take any of those paths, but we can learn from them."

"Before coming here, I had already sought out many Seniors and observed their Dao, which was of great benefit."

She continued: "It won't take long before I can Breakthrough the Quasi-Emperor Realm."

The ice-snow woman shook her head immediately after hearing this.

"Not so."

"You are making progress, but it has nothing to do with whether you learn from them or not."

"It is your state of mind that has progressed."

Mu Bingyun thought for a moment and nodded slightly.

"Following my heart is just like this."

"My heart wanted to see their Dao, so I looked."

"If you could walk the path of no emotion, I think you would have already attained the Emperor Realm and be invincible in this world."

The ice-snow woman said this without any probing, only stating a fact.

Mu Bingyun was silent for a moment.

Her gaze fell on the ice, but what the ice reflected was not her face, but a blurred shadow of light.

"I have seen it before; it might be a dream, it might be a past life, or it might be an illusion."

Her voice softened, no longer so cold.

"No emotion is not a good path."

"The end of no emotion is emotion. Only by having emotion can one truly be without emotion. This is a cycle, and neither is as good as following one's heart."

The ice-snow woman looked at her, and a complex emotion appeared in her eyes.

"No wonder someone like you would also fall into the quagmire of love."

Mu Bingyun raised her head, the corners of her mouth slightly raised, revealing a faint smile.

That figure appeared in her mind!

"Then why can't it be an ocean of happiness in love?"

"Why must it be called a quagmire?"

The ice-snow woman was stunned for a moment, then laughed as well.

Her smile was very cold, like the sound of ice cracking, but there was a hint of warmth in her eyes.

"If it were truly a sea of happiness, and he only loved you and stayed with you, your heart could swallow the world, and you would be invincible."

Mu Bingyun smiled.

This time, her smile was more real than before, very gentle, like a spring breeze brushing against her face, as if a warm current beneath the iceberg had finally surged through a crack.

"My heart is just like that."

"Follow him, then just follow him, rather than being invincible in the world."

She looked into the distance, her gaze piercing through the starry sky and falling towards an invisible direction.

"To be invincible in the world, having him is enough."

The ice-snow woman did not speak again.

She reached out and patted Mu Bingyun's shoulder, her palm icy cold, and then slowly dissipated.

The iceberg still stood, and the chill was still bone-piercing.

But Mu Bingyun sat there without feeling frozen.

...

On the other side.

Qin Wushang sat cross-legged on that floating piece of starry land, closing his eyes and focusing his mind.

In his mind, everything from the past appeared like a revolving lantern.

The hundred years on Blue Star, the absurdity of conquering goddesses, the slaughter after restarting life, the sights and sounds on the Emperors Path...

He had thought for many days, but it was all for naught.

"System, oh System... Are you a means of the Heavenly Dao, or a means of my past life?"

He whispered to himself, a trace of self-mockery in his tone.

What is certain now is that he is in the chessboard of heaven and earth, still a chess piece.

Who is the chess player?

Heavenly Dao?

Past life?

Or some black hand hidden behind the ages?

He didn't know.

"Forget it, I won't think about it."

He shook his head and cast these distracting thoughts out of his mind.

"Now I should cultivate my own Realm... and comprehend my own Dao..."

He looked up at the myriad dao divine tree inside his body. Its branches were coiled like horned dragons, and every leaf was branded with the patterns of a Great Dao, swaying and shining in the inner world.

"Among the ten thousand Daos of the world, is there my Dao?"

He closed his eyes, his Divine Sense sinking into his body, and began to examine each of his Realms one by one.

Body Refining: He used the chaos golden body fluid to polish his Physical Body to the extreme, surpassing the limit, and no one in the same Realm could compare to him.

He had walked this path; it was flawless.

Spiritual Veins: He opened all nine Spiritual Veins, clearing all spiritual apertures, far exceeding the limits of ordinary people. Each spiritual aperture was like a small spiritual power furnace, endless and continuous.

He had walked this path; it was also flawless.

Cave Heaven: The Cave Heaven he opened was the Only True World, with unfathomable foundations.

He had walked this path; it was still flawless.

Dao Palace: His inner Dao Palace was now like a Chaos starry sky, boundless and vast. Not to mention the Quasi-Emperor Realm, even a Great Emperor could not compare to him.

This step was also flawless.

But the Realms that followed...

Qin Wushang frowned slightly.

Dharma Idol: He used the Kunpeng egg to hatch an alternative Dharma Idol and stepped into this Realm, but it seemed to have flaws...

There were flaws, and every step after the Dharma Idol had flaws.

"Need to re-cultivate."

He opened his eyes, his gaze like a torch.

"Not for the sake of Breakthrough, but for Perfection."

He took a deep breath, and the Qi and blood in his body surged like the sea.

He wanted to walk the path he had walked again in this starry sky, polish every flaw clean, and fill in every deficiency.

To strive for true Perfection.