My Heart Is Uneasy

Lei Yunche knit his brows and said, "I won't hide it from you, Senior Brother, my heart is uneasy."

Yun Zheng glanced at the other three and asked, "You all as well?"

The three looked at each other and nodded in confirmation one after another.

Yun Zheng sighed softly. "I, too, am uneasy!"

"Senior Brother, should we find someone to perform a divination?"

Yun Zheng frowned. "You still believe in fate?"

"I do!"

Yun Zheng laughed helplessly.

"Senior Brother, give us the bottom line. Is it an omen of good or ill?" one of them pressed.

Yun Zheng pondered for a moment before saying something seemingly out of nowhere, "Little Eleven said that for our Wendao Sword Sect, it is good; for the world outside, it is ill."

"Hmm?"

The four were suspicious, their expressions shifting.

Everything was fine, so why mention Little Eleven now?

Yun Zheng seemed to recall the conversation from that night six years ago. He suddenly smiled and said softly, "I think what he said makes some sense."

"What did Little Eleven say?" asked the eighth senior brother, a white-haired man with muscles bulging across his frame.

Yun Zheng looked at Lei Yunche out of the corner of his eye. "The same as what Little Seven said. A divine sword being born in the Sword Mound indicates that our Wendao Sword Sect's providence is at its peak. No matter how you slice it, it is a good thing for the sect."

The others looked thoughtful.

Lei Yunche folded his arms and grinned. "Heh, it seems Little Eleven and I truly are great minds that think alike."

The elderly man sneered. "Keep bragging. Didn't you just say your heart was uneasy?"

Lei Yunche shrugged and curled his lip. "That sword intent just now carried too much killing intent. It made my heart race a bit."

The white-haired man nodded heavily. "Indeed."

The woman in red lowered her eyes and said in a heavy voice, "Eight years ago, when our Little Junior Brother entered the Sword Mound to claim a sword, the five-colored aurora appeared over the gate for the first time. Two years later, the crimson sword intent soared into the sky. In the four years since, that aurora has appeared frequently. And now, four years later, another sword intent has appeared. Can all of this really be just a coincidence?"

The elderly man frowned. "Are you saying these disturbances in the Sword Mound are related to our Little Junior Brother?"

"At the very least, they shouldn't be unrelated," the woman in red replied.

The group fell into a brief silence.

Lei Yunche leaned toward Yun Zheng and asked tentatively, "Senior Brother, didn't you and Little Eleven talk all night? You didn't ask him?"

The other three subconsciously turned their gazes toward him, their eyes full of expectation.

Yun Zheng slowly shook his head. "I didn't ask."

The others looked slightly disappointed.

Yun Zheng continued, "However, what Little Seven said aligns with my thoughts. None of this should be unrelated to our Little Junior Brother. Since he says it is an auspicious sign, then I shall believe it is so."

Hearing this, the others subconsciously nodded.

"That makes sense!"

It wasn't much, but it did have some logic. As Yun Zheng said, all of this began when Xu Xian entered the Sword Mound, and the disturbances only manifested after he came out.

Thinking back, Xu Xian had stayed in the Sword Mound for four whole months. Something must have happened inside.

It was just that Xu Xian was unwilling to speak of it, so they hadn't pressed him.

Therefore, their Little Junior Brother very likely knew the truth. If he said it was a good thing, perhaps it really was.

"Let's hope we are just overthinking it."

Yun Zheng let out a long breath and said with a trace of bitterness, "Disturbances in the Sword Mound, the birth of an auspicious beast, the flickering of the heavenly stars... whether it is good or ill, Fanzhou is likely to lose its peace. We are facing a shift not seen in thousands of years; it is best if we all prepare ourselves."

The four nodded in understanding.

The elderly man said with some concern, "Speaking of that auspicious beast, I wonder how the situation is?"

Yun Zheng replied calmly, "Little Ten and Little Eleven have both gone. They will handle it. Let nature take its course."

The woman in red said wistfully, "I just fear the demon race won't be able to afford the loss and will break the rules."

Hearing this, the corners of Yun Zheng's mouth curled up into a smile. "Haha, that would be for the best. My lifespan is nearing its end, and I happen to lack a justification. If they don't move, fine. But if they do, I shall take my sword and personally sever another five thousand years of the Great Desolation's providence."

The four remained silent, unsure whether to feel joy or sorrow, and even less sure how to respond.

In Fanzhou, the Dao is present, but the gate to immortality is nowhere to be seen.

All living beings have an end. Ephemerals live for a day, mortals for a hundred years, and even a sage at the ninth stage only lives for ten thousand years or so.

Without glimpsing the gate to immortality or becoming a true immortal, one cannot escape the cycle of life and death.

Yun Zheng's life had spanned nearly ten thousand years. His end was approaching; this was an indisputable fact that could not be changed.

Seeing the atmosphere turn inexplicably heavy, the woman in red was the first to break the silence, offering comfort. "Senior Brother, don't be so pessimistic. There are plenty of old fellows in the world older than you, and they aren't necessarily living any better."

The others quickly chimed in with words of persuasion.

"That's right, Senior Brother. Without looking too far, just those three old fellows have already lived past ten thousand years."

"Exactly. Our Master and the four senior brothers and sisters above you are all older than you, and their everlasting lamps are still burning."

"And then there are the beast gods in the Great Desolation, the demon gods in the Demon Abyss, and those big fellows in the North Sea. They are all living just fine. There must be ways to obscure the heavenly secrets and forcibly extend one's life."

Yun Zheng shook his head and laughed. "The lifespan of beasts is naturally longer than that of our human race. Especially those who can cultivate to become ninth-grade beast gods; their bloodlines are incredibly powerful. Every single one of them is an ancient divine beast, an ancient ferocious beast, or some rare species. We can't compare. The demon gods of the demon race are much the same."

Pausing for a moment, Yun Zheng narrowed his eyes and said with a smile, "As for those old fellows in the Central Plains, those who should have died are long dead. Those who haven't died are merely clinging to a dishonorable existence. They hide and skulk, either using secret techniques to extend their lives or forbidden arts to conceal themselves. Without exception."

"In my life, while I haven't achieved anything extraordinary, I have lived openly and honestly. How could I be like them, dragging out a miserable existence? If I am to live, I shall live with dignity. If I am to die, I shall die with a clear conscience. I cannot bring myself to engage in such cowardly acts."

"One should live as a hero and die as a legend!"

The group fell silent, their eyes dimming.

Having lived for so long, they had perhaps grown more accustomed to the concept of life and death—not just their own, but that of others as well.

Wendao Sword Sect cultivated the sword.

A person, too, should be like a sword.

Rather break than bend.

Rather die than surrender.

This was their Dao, the unique path each of them followed.

Beyond life and death, there were always things more important. Yun Zheng was their Senior Brother, the oldest presence currently active in the Wendao Sword Sect.

After the Sword Ancestor traveled far away, he had supported the Wendao Sword Sect alone for over eight thousand years. He naturally had his own pursuits and ideals.

They could not change his mind, and they knew full well that once their Senior Brother decided on something, they were powerless to persuade him otherwise.

Yun Zheng swept away the gloom and said heartily, "Alright, I was just joking. Who can say for sure what the future holds? Perhaps before my time is up, I will glimpse the Sky Gate and attain the Dao to become an immortal?"

The four smiled, but their expressions were forced.

The Sky Gate?

Heh...

In today's Fanzhou, where could one find a Sky Gate?

On the other side.

Inside Demon-Slaying City, Xu Xian had completed the construction of the second floor of his Sword Tower and broken through to the soul transformation stage.

He stood up and pushed the door open. Wen Qingxue had been waiting for a long time, and Yao Xiaoxiao also came running over.

"Little Grand-Uncle, this is wonderful! You've finally finished your seclusion!"

Xu Xian nodded to the two of them, then shifted his attention toward the sky over the Demon Suppression Abyss outside the city.

There, the Spirit Eye and Demon Eye hung high in the sky, accompanied by a crimson moon. The thunderous roars of beasts could be heard from time to time, and the air smelled sharply of blood.

He opened his mouth and asked, "What has happened at the Demon Suppression Abyss?"