After I Died My Dao Companion Drowns in Endless Regret Chapter 112

Bei Xuan and her companions’ expressions changed slightly. After being trapped in the water, she found it difficult to move under the various pressures, and her senses seemed to be cut off, as if she were in a different dimensional space from the other Daoists. Her expression sharpened, and she secretly rejoiced that this person was only at the Xuan Immortal cultivation level. She took a precious pearl from her clam shell and threw it forward. Instantly, brilliant rays of light fell, pushing the water back a little. She turned her head to look for the other cultivators, not because she cared about their lives, but because with their help, the chances of success would be greater.
“Luo Lingfeng.” On the other side, Wei Yunshu finally emerged from her trembling. Her moving lips silently formed three words.
“You, step back,” Yuan Chu said calmly, lifting her eyelids.
Wei Yunshu did not reply. The Taiyi Sword transformed into a speck of bright light, circling around her like scattered starlight. She formed a hand seal, and a sky-covering thundercloud rolled in. Amidst the deafening roar, it fell into the vast tide. Lightning flashed, and purple sparks leaped. The area before them quickly turned into a sea of thunder with an even fiercer aura.
Bei Xuan’s movements suddenly stopped. She held a hand seal, and a clamshell glowing with a pinkish-white light appeared around her, opening and closing in the flowing water. An immense force washed over her, wrapped in lightning. It was already very inconvenient to move using teleportation arts. She deflected the sword qi coming from the water, raised her hand, and summoned a dharma seal, sending it toward the person in front.
Seeing Wei Yunshu draw her sword, Yuan Chu didn’t say much. She urged the Abyssal Heavy Water forward, and it collided with the dharma seal. A loud roar sounded, and the tide surged, crashing down again in an instant. Wei Yunshu stared straight ahead, her face tense, her thin lips pressed tightly together. Countless emotions of sorrow and joy churned in her heart. Illusory and real phantoms overlapped across the long years, rushing toward her like a torrent, urgently needing a release. The Taiyi Sword let out a sharp cry. She spun the sword light, and instantly, a brilliant sword light like the sun’s radiance flashed out, falling upon the high-crowned Daoist. The high-crowned Daoist’s figure was frozen in the water, unable to dodge at all, and he could only take it head-on. But just as the sword light struck, his body melted away like snow under the blazing sun. A few breaths later, he returned with a deathly pale face, looking at the swordswoman in front of him with great fear. Assessing the situation, he flicked a golden talisman from his sleeve. A light enveloped his body, and in an instant, he turned into a stream of light and fled. He had chosen to leave.
Seeing the high-crowned Daoist flee, Wei Yunshu had no intention of pursuing him. Her sharp sword light turned toward another person. Her heart was heavy, a mix of relief and anger, a kind of resentful feeling of being fooled, a hundred flavors difficult to describe. The sword hummed. She ignored the highest-level cultivator, Bei Xuan, and instead forced back the lower-level cultivators one by one. If they were unwilling to leave, her sword would not hesitate to draw blood. After an unknown amount of time, only the female cultivator from the Wu Shi Sect sitting on the clam shell was left.
Bei Xuan watched as the Daoists with the same goal were forced away one by one, and she sighed softly. Rays of light fell, protecting her body. Her eyes shone brightly as she bowed to Yuan Chu. “The Essence of Red Water, can you truly not share a little with me?”
Wei Yunshu answered, “I cannot.” She was in a terrible mood, her immense spiritual power venting without restraint, wishing she could bring down the heavens.
Bei Xuan smoothed her hair and said earnestly, “If you are willing to retreat, any condition can be discussed.” She herself didn’t need the Essence of Red Water for her cultivation, but her junior sister had encountered a problem in her practice and needed this Essence of Red Water to replenish her depleted foundation. She was unwilling to let go. Her eyes flashed, and she turned to Yuan Chu. “You cultivate a water technique, but I see your aura is complete. Taking the Essence of Red Water would only be adding flowers to a brocade. Why not exchange it for something more valuable? What do you think, Daoist friend?”
Yuan Chu met Bei Xuan’s gaze and smiled faintly. “No, thank you.”
Seeing that there was no reasoning with them, Bei Xuan became a little annoyed. She bit her lower lip and bowed. “Then pardon my offense.” With a wave of her hand, she summoned a large number of precious pearls that emitted a soft glow. These were refined from the spiritual pearls nurtured by the King Clam and were no ordinary items. They were specifically used to deal with sword cultivators, as they could add a burden to the sword, affecting its power and speed. Sure enough, as soon as these pearls were thrown, the scattered sword lights either passed through them or were absorbed, and the overall sword momentum was greatly dissipated.
Wei Yunshu looked at Bei Xuan coldly. A divine presence manifested on her sword. As long as one sword light landed on Bei Xuan, it was equivalent to the full force of that sword strike also landing. When several sword qi approached, Bei Xuan also noticed the change. She calmly formed a hand seal, and the clamshell behind her suddenly grew, enveloping her completely. The sword light killed the barrier in front, landing on the clamshell with a clang. With a loud bang, the clamshell shook violently, and the flowing light trembled, while the sword light was also scattered. A few breaths later, Bei Xuan emerged from the clam, looking at Wei Yunshu with a solemn expression.
This sword strike had landed on the clamshell, but it had also left a mark on her heart. A portion of her aura being whittled away with each blow. If she let it continue to strike, sooner or later, it would be broken. These sword cultivators were just annoying. After all, at any level, a cultivator proficient in sword techniques could attack faster than those with other divine abilities. Could two Upper Immortals working together display such strength? Or had they suppressed their cultivation? If so, she would have to reconsider the matter of taking the Essence of Red Water. In fact, she had another treasure on her, but it could only display its power in water. However, this area of water was already controlled by the other party. She was practically unable to move in the true water. Perhaps she had to find a way to leap out of it. Perhaps when she made a move, that swordswoman would strike. But the other party had already fought with Daoist Chi Xiao. To win against Daoist Chi Xiao, her spiritual power must have been greatly consumed. She formed a hand seal, preparing to abandon the clam. As long as the clamshell could hold for a while, she could leap out of it.
While she was thinking, Wei Yunshu once again summoned her Taiyi Sword. After slaying Daoist Chi Xiao, the thin barrier covering the Taiyi Sword had disappeared, and the sword had become complete, able to display its full power. Her divine abilities were grand in scale, but her control over her spiritual power was also extremely precise. There was no waste at all, so her previous consumption was not too great, far from being at the end of her rope. The Taiyi Sword split into thousands of copies in mid-air, and at this moment, Yuan Chu also coordinated with Wei Yunshu, sweeping away the sword qi that was hindering the pearls in the water. The sword lights quickly landed on the moving clamshell, and the sword momentum erupted in an instant. In Bei Xuan’s astonished gaze, the clamshell shattered and collapsed like glass. This artifact of hers had lasted for an even shorter time than she had expected.
Spiritual light flashed like brilliant fireworks. A new sword light flew over, and the protective treasure light on her body was shaken from side to side, and even her aura became chaotic. Bei Xuan’s eyes darkened. She had spent most of her time in the Wu Shi Sect and had rarely fought with others. This time, she had suffered a great loss at the hands of cultivators with lower cultivation than her. She looked up and saw Wei Yunshu calmly summoning her sword. She knew that if she didn’t make a decision soon, it would be over. She immediately activated a golden talisman and fled. Having cultivated to such a realm, she naturally cherished her own life greatly and had many means of escape. It was just a pity that she had failed to obtain the Essence of Red Water. Her heart was filled with regret.
The vast sea calmed, and the clustered Red Algae was swept away by the spiritual energy and sword qi, unable to get close. The surroundings looked like a burning fire, with only a patch of clear water in the middle, untainted by the Red Algae. The surging aura gradually receded inward, and the forcefully suppressed presence rushed forth, swallowing the usual tranquility. And no matter how the undercurrents surged, between Wei Yunshu and Yuan Chu, only an ancient silence remained.
Wei Yunshu stood there quietly, a trace of blood trickling from the corner of her lips. She raised her hand and gently wiped it away. She met Yuan Chu’s desolate gaze and asked in a low voice, “Don’t you have anything to say?”
Naturally, she did.
But thousands of words, if not spoken at the right time, were better left unsaid.
Yuan Chu raised an eyebrow and smiled. “Thank you, Daoist Bo. If it weren’t for your help, I’m afraid I wouldn’t have been able to handle these people.”
Wei Yunshu looked at Yuan Chu’s expression and suddenly felt uncertain. Her initial memories of entering the divine realm were completely sealed. If it were Luo Lingfeng, would she be the same as her? Yuan Chu’s figure was reflected in her dazed eyes. Wei Yunshu was silent for a long while before she managed to say, “You’re welcome.” Anxiety and frustration gradually crept up, coiling around her body and mind like poisonous snakes. She stared at Yuan Chu, wanting to see traces of her old friend in her, but the more she looked, the more blurred everything became. Not only could she not find any evidence beyond their Daoist techniques, but she couldn’t even see Yuan Chu’s original appearance clearly. A heavy sorrow suddenly broke through her complex emotions, like an invisible hand gripping her throat. She opened her mouth, wanting to say something more, but at that moment, she seemed to have lost the ability to speak. She only managed to lift the corners of her lips into a pale, weak smile.
The world was very quiet. A sigh seemed to come from the distant void.
Wei Yunshu tried hard to maintain her clarity, but the blurriness before her eyes intensified. In a trance, she seemed to see a faint smile on Yuan Chu’s lips. Her frozen heart began to beat, thumping, getting louder and more powerful, pounding against her eardrums. Vaguely, she seemed to hear someone’s voice, urgent and tinged with the desperation of a dead end.
—Won’t you take a look at the new world we’ve created?
And another voice, soft, unhurried, its content completely unrelated to the first.
—You will not perish. I will find you again.
Who is speaking? Wei Yunshu thought. A roaring sound suddenly exploded, and the blurry scene before her was swallowed by darkness. Her entire train of thought entered a state of oblivion.
Yuan Chu reached out and caught the falling Wei Yunshu.
She lowered her eyelashes, holding Wei Yunshu as she walked toward the center of the Red Sea. The water currents spontaneously parted, forming a great path leading straight down. The Red Algae sensed the cultivator’s aura and rushed forward desperately, but was soon swallowed by a large vortex. After the two figures disappeared, the sea surface closed again, and all was calm, as if nothing had happened.
In the water.
The Essence of Red Water was slowly growing.
After an unknown amount of time, the mass of water essence burst forth with a brilliant light, as if it had developed its own consciousness, and fled in the opposite direction. But before it had gone a zhang, it was caught by a fair hand and gradually transformed into a heavy drop of water. The Essence of Red Water was a great supplement for cultivators who practiced water techniques, but it wasn’t useless to others. With Yuan Chu’s cultivation, she had long since had no need for such heavenly materials and earthly treasures. She had never intended to use it on herself from the beginning.
Looking down at Wei Yunshu lying on the stone, Yuan Chu reached out a finger and sent the mass of Red Water Essence into her body. There had once been a crack between Wei Yunshu’s body and her divine soul. Although she had later refined her body anew, that was a Cavern Heaven method from below and was by no means complete. The essence of water was also the essence of the Dao. If refined, it could mend the flaws in her physical body.
Wei Yunshu’s thoughts were muddled. Sometimes she saw the Luo Lingfeng from the shadows of her past, sometimes she crossed thousands of years and saw Sang Buwei, and even the always-blurry face of “Que.” Her two-hundred-year life was stretched infinitely in her dreams. The figures that had walked into her body manifested in her consciousness, attempting to piece together a complete scroll of her life.
“Your Majesty.” A very soft voice sounded.
Yuan Chu looked up and calmly gazed at the True Nature Sword spirit that had walked out. This was a treasure forged from the Wu Xiang Imperial Seal, originally the sharpest weapon in the world. However, after severing the Realm of Ruin, it had been destroyed and become incomplete. Yuan Chu ignored True Nature. She did not retrieve the imperial seal either, but continued to help Wei Yunshu refine the Essence of Red Water to mend the remaining flaws in her Dao body.
True Nature bit her lip and said no more. Her fragmented memories had finally returned a little after seeing a familiar face. When her consciousness was first born, she had heard the ancestors mention the matter of “stealing the sword seal,” but Sang Buwei always smiled without speaking, never defending herself. In her silence, fact and fiction gradually blurred. “After she got the imperial seal and forged the sword, she rarely talked about the Wu Xiang Heaven Domain. Yun Huai and Si Jun thought it was out of guilt.”
“Is that so?” Yuan Chu finally glanced at the self-talking True Nature. She chuckled softly and said, “Your cultivation is not high enough to see the entanglement between her and me. She did not steal the imperial seal; she took it with her own ability.”
Thousands of years was such a long time.
With the return of the Origin Stone, the Taiyi Sword became complete. As the Dao body returned to a state of flawlessness, the old phantoms that had been folded into her body could step out again. The memories deeply imprinted on her divine soul were finally stirred, replaying in her dreams.
The person walking in the Wu Xiang Dao Palace had a complex light in their eyes—confusion, sorrow, unwillingness, and even a hint of resentment. But as they walked forward with heavy steps, it all eventually turned into a helpless sigh. Not to mention the Wu Xiang Heaven Domain, probably in the entire Shang Qing Divine Realm, nothing could escape the Tai Sui’s sight. Stealing was impossible, and Sang Buwei had never thought of doing so.
The blood of her former companions blurred before her eyes, gradually winding into a river of blood. The Emperor she thought she could walk with all the way finally revealed her “emotionless” true nature. It turned out that in her eyes, all living beings were the same, and all Daoist techniques were the same. Then why was she, Sang Buwei, the most special one? It was this “specialness” that made her think she could sway the Emperor’s emotions.
“What are you doing here?” a cold voice sounded. A white-haired, blue-eyed girl burst out from the corridor, her eyes full of displeasure.
“Where’s Little Black?” Sang Buwei raised an eyebrow and smiled, even having the leisure to ask.
The White Tai Sui just glared at Sang Buwei unhappily and said, “You insisted on leaving the Wu Xiang Dao Palace before, so what are you doing back now? There was clearly a smooth path before you, but you had to give it up to walk that thorny road. You people are really hard to understand.” It wasn’t just Sang Buwei; there were also Yun Huai, Si Jun, and Luo Wuqing. Weren’t they all famous Supreme Immortals in the divine realm? To abandon the Dao in one day, to be betrayed by everyone, was simply not worth the loss.
“We are seeking the ‘true self,’ we are seeking the future,” Sang Buwei explained. “Let’s not talk about whether the Realm of Ruin can last. When all cultivators walk the same path, all severing their selves to merge with the Dao, the heavenly order will gradually become fixed. I want to push for a change in the Dao from the bottom up. What I want is a path of endless exploration, not a set of shackles.”
“Oh.” The White Tai Sui didn’t take Sang Buwei’s explanation to heart. She said again, “So what are you here for?”
Sang Buwei said, “To borrow the imperial seal.”
Hearing this, the White Tai Sui burst out laughing. She looked at Sang Buwei and said, “How are you still so naive?” But as her words fell, she looked up and met Sang Buwei’s calm expression, and her own face turned a little ugly, because her master was very likely to indulge Sang Buwei’s “naivety.” She wished she could sweep Sang Buwei out of the Dao Palace, but her master clearly had no intention of not seeing her. Her face red and white, the White Tai Sui turned her head and walked away.
Sang Buwei saw the Tai Sui in the Dao Palace.
At this moment, several hundred years had passed since she had left the Wu Xiang Heaven Domain for Gan Yuan, but all the familiar furnishings gave her a sense of daze, as if it were yesterday.
“I know why you are here,” the Tai Sui said.
Sang Buwei pressed her lips together and said, “Can you really not help me?”
The Tai Sui said coolly, “If Heaven wants to let you win, why would it need me?” She looked at Sang Buwei, raised her hand, and a nine-story pagoda appeared before them. She added, “The imperial seal is in there. If you can get through it and take the imperial seal yourself, then it is yours.”
“If you fail, I will not help you. I will only bring back your divine soul after you die and let you be reborn in another life.”
“Like ‘Que’?” Sang Buwei laughed. “My one true spirit is immortal and indestructible. Does that mean I have nothing to fear? Your Majesty indulges me, why not a little more?”
“Sang Buwei.” The Tai Sui called Sang Buwei’s name. A soft light shone on her face, like a veil, shrouding her in a mist.
Sang Buwei tilted her head up slightly to look at the Tai Sui. When she had turned to go to Gan Yuan, the distance between them had suddenly become vast. Or perhaps she had never been close to the Tai Sui? The Tai Sui in her memory was pure and gentle, but it wasn’t until the moment of their disagreement that she was suddenly shocked to realize that the Wu Xiang Emperor only wanted to be human, but she was not truly human after all. And she, Sang Buwei, had foolishly thought she could pull the Emperor down from the clouds. Her past was a fake, a sweet but unreal dream.
“Sang Buwei bids farewell to Your Majesty.” After a long while, Sang Buwei spoke, her voice calm and steady, having worn away all those floating emotions. She was going to chase her own Dao. It didn’t matter if they couldn’t walk together.
The Tai Sui looked at Sang Buwei, her expression softening, and a slow smile lifted the corners of her lips.
The Great Dao’s lack, a tribulation body entering the world, turning again and again. She had sent Sang Que once, she could send Sang Buwei once more.
Sang Buwei turned and walked away without looking back. At that time, she didn’t know that the Tai Sui’s impartiality was also a form of favoritism.
There were seal guardians on the nine-story pagoda.
They would not relax just because of Sang Buwei’s friendship with the Tai Sui. Breaking through the nine-story pagoda to retrieve the imperial seal was no simpler than escaping from the hands of the Supreme Immortals of the major heavenly domains. Sang Buwei had been on the verge of death several times, but in the end, she had gritted her teeth and persevered. Their plan was to sever the Realm of Ruin, and the sword seal had to be obtained! When Sang Buwei got the imperial seal, she was actually only left with one breath.
She didn’t see the Tai Sui appear.
She didn’t even have the strength to get up, let alone take the imperial seal back to Gan Yuan.
How long would she have to lie on the ground? Sang Buwei didn’t know the answer. She closed her eyes and slept, her thoughts muddled. After an unknown amount of time, she managed to open her eyes amidst the sound of footsteps that made no attempt to be concealed.
It was an acquaintance.
But not the person she had hoped for.
In her muddled state, it was difficult for Sang Buwei to hide the disappointment and sadness on her face.
“Little… Little White?”
The White Tai Sui frowned and roughly pulled Sang Buwei up from the ground, stuffing several spiritual pills into her mouth. She complained, “If you die, the master will have to spend a lot of her foundational energy to create a new body for you. I don’t care if you live or die, but I hope that even if you die, you die far away, preferably with both your soul and spirit destroyed, leaving not a trace of your true spirit, so you don’t come back to harm the master, ruin her Dao, and damage her Dao heart.” Although the spiritual pills could not restore Sang Buwei to normal, they did give her back some strength, pulling her back from the brink of death.
The White Tai Sui looked down at Sang Buwei and said again, “What you want to break is the heavenly order of the divine realm, and you even intend to pull the Divine Lords down from their high positions. But don’t forget, the master is also one of the six lords. Once the heavenly order of the Shang Qing Divine Realm is changed, it will cause some unpredictable changes in the master. Do you still want to do this?”
Sang Buwei licked her lips, her eyes shining. “She taught me to be good, she taught me to seek the Dao. I will become her most satisfactory student. This is the path I must walk. I don’t know how to retreat, and I will not retreat.”
The White Tai Sui was speechless. She really wanted to punch Sang Buwei, but then she thought that if she did, those few spiritual pills would be completely wasted. She kicked Sang Buwei with the tip of her foot and said, “Why can’t you just go away?”
“I can.” Sang Buwei laughed, laughing so hard her chest heaved violently, and blood trickled from the corner of her lips. She raised a heavy hand and wiped her eye. “After I bid farewell, I will not come back.”
This was what the White Tai Sui had hoped for, but after hearing Sang Buwei’s words, a wave of dissatisfaction rushed up from the depths of her heart. She crossed her arms, looked down at Sang Buwei, and sneered coldly, “Sang Buwei, you are truly heartless.”
Sang Buwei did not refute it. She nodded and said, “Yes, you are right. It is my fault. She owes her a lot. She will repay it in the next life.” She struggled to her feet, ignored the White Tai Sui’s ice-pick-like gaze, took the imperial seal, and walked out. Her wide sleeves fluttered like flowing clouds, and the faint sound of a song could be heard.
“The long, clear dream scatters, like floating foam and morning dew, gone without a trace. I ask the rivers and lakes, who will remember my former self upon our reunion? How can this sorrow be dispelled? Better to let all things turn to dust. From now on, my mortal heart is washed clean, forgotten and no longer close!”