What Should I Do?

Li Taibai was nearly at his breaking point. He looked at the youth with an indifferent expression and asked, "Are you always this tedious?"

Xu Xian feigned innocence and looked at the other four. "Am I? Is this tedious?"

The four caught his drift and immediately shook their heads, expressing their stances one by one.

Yan Yi said, "No."

Wu Shuang said, "Not at all."

Feng San said, "It's quite interesting."

Chen Si said, "I agree."

Xu Xian spread his hands as if to say, 'See? The masses have sharp eyes.'

It was as if he were telling Li Taibai that the truth was on his side.

Li Taibai's withered cheeks twitched slightly.

With a sigh, he yielded. "I loved her."

After all, they were all men at death's door; there was nothing left to hide. He didn't want the four people who had stayed by his side for a lifetime to go to their graves with regrets.

A smile played on Xu Xian's lips. It was the answer he had expected.

In the future, if Kongkong ever asked, he could tell her that her father was a devoted sword immortal.

Xu Xian pulled the letter from his robes and held it out in mid-air. "The Tushan Immortal Fox asked me to bring this to you before I came. I'm handing it over now."

Li Taibai was somewhat surprised, but he didn't press for details. Without moving a muscle, the letter left Xu Xian's hand and floated toward him.

There were five words on the envelope: For Li Taibai's Eyes Only.

A flash of spiritual light flickered in Li Taibai's eyes as the letter opened, and he began to read.

Xu Xian didn't know what was written, and neither did the other four.

They tacitly remained quiet, offering only silence.

Li Taibai's expression remained calm, like a pool of stagnant water.

Perhaps his skin had grown too stiff over the long years, or perhaps his state of mind was already as still as a frozen lake, unshakeable even in the face of life and death.

He finished reading and remained lost in thought for a long time. Once the spiritual energy sustaining it vanished, the paper instantly burst into flames and turned to ash in less than a second.

The ashes fell into the Flame Lake.

Xu Xian clicked his tongue in regret.

He hadn't even read it yet, and it was already burned.

The other four felt the same.

What a waste. Why burn it like that?

Regardless, Xu Xian had fulfilled his task. A promise made was a promise kept.

However, Li Taibai couldn't help but ask, "Are they... doing well?"

He didn't ask about 'her,' but 'them.'

Xu Xian spoke truthfully. "Kongkong is doing fine. She pulled out an immortal sword and became the twelfth disciple under your name. Despite her young age, she's already at the core formation stage. As for Senior Tu... well, she lost a tail recently. She should be fine; she's not going to die from that, anyway."

The look in Li Taibai's eyes shifted between light and shadow.

"She lost a tail? Who did it?"

Xu Xian remained silent.

Li Taibai tested the waters. "You?"

Xu Xian emphasized, "I only borrowed it."

Li Taibai didn't say anything to that, instead asking, "Her name is Kongkong?"

Xu Xian nodded.

Li Taibai said without provocation, "She should have been surnamed Li."

Xu Xian was stunned. What was that supposed to mean?

Patriarchy? Even you, Li Taibai, care about that?

Men really are all the same, he thought.

Xu Xian cared about such things too, after all.

The other four said nothing, but their expressions showed silent agreement and approval.

Li Taibai offered a deliberate explanation. "She is very likely the only remaining bloodline of my Li family."

A family that had been passed down for millions of years.

The Li clan that had spanned three great eras: the Era of Primal Chaos, the Era of Ancient Immortals, and the Dark Era.

Now that it had reached this point, only a single seedling remained. It was no wonder Li Taibai said she should be surnamed Li.

It wasn't that he was being stubborn or traditional.

Perhaps he just wanted to give an account to his ancestors.

The Li bloodline was not yet extinct.

Xu Xian took a deep breath and sat up straight. "That matter is settled, and I've finished my questions. Now, what should I do?"

Li Taibai retracted his wandering thoughts and slowly looked back at him, answering with a question of his own. "What is it that you want to do?"

With a tone of compromise and resignation, Xu Xian said, "Since I've become the Sword Bearer, I'll do what a Sword Bearer is supposed to do. To put it nicely, it's for the sake of the world; to be realistic, it's for myself. I suppose I have no choice but to resolve this Great Cataclysm."

"I am gratified that you think this way," Li Taibai said.

"So... what exactly should I do?" Xu Xian asked again.

Li Taibai glanced at the other four as if engaging in a silent exchange. Then, he spoke again in a meaningful tone.

"You shouldn't ask us what you should do. You should ask yourself."

"What do you want to do?"

"What should you do?"

"What can you do?"

Xu Xian was surprised. They were passing the buck quite decisively.

Li Taibai explained, "As you can see, the five of us are already the living dead. We can't change anything, and we can't help you. Since we can do nothing and change nothing, it's not our place to tell you how to act."

"We won't force you to achieve what we couldn't."

"If you are willing,"

"Then just go ahead and do it with everything you've got."

"Step into the unknown."

"No one knows whether you will succeed or fail."

"As long as you have a clear conscience and leave no regrets, that is enough."

More grand lectures. First it was Ye Xianyu, then Yun Zheng, Jiang Wanyin, the High Priest, and even the Twilight Emperor.

And now, he was hearing it from Li Taibai.

Xu Xian thought that perhaps old people just loved giving lectures to make themselves seem profound.

Who knew?

In any case, logic was logic. Everyone understood it, but no one could truly figure out how to put it into practice.

Li Taibai continued, "What I'm saying might seem annoying to you, as if I'm just nagging..."

Xu Xian remained silent.

"...However, a dying man's words are sincere."

Xu Xian nodded solemnly.

"I understand!"

Li Taibai stopped his lecturing and asked Xu Xian, "Do you know why we waited until you reached the eighth stage to meet you?"

Xu Xian originally wanted to pretend he didn't know, but he couldn't bear to deceive this tragic old man. He answered truthfully, "Geniuses have often met early deaths since ancient times. My Master's intention was likely that only at the eighth stage would I be qualified to know the truth and have the ability to bear these burdens."

A kind light appeared in Li Taibai's eyes. "That's half-right."

"What about the other half?"

Li Taibai's withered hand moved, slowly reaching into his decayed and mottled sleeve. After a moment, he pulled something out.

He held it in his palm.

It was a cluster of light emitting a white glow, as if it were bathed in divine radiance.

Immortal essence rippled upon it, flowing serenely.

"Do you recognize this?"

Xu Xian's heart tightened, and his expression froze. In his mind, the little Shuer was already screaming.

"Master!"

"It's an Immortal Soul!"

"It's really an Immortal Soul!"

"Oh my god, we hit the jackpot!"

Indeed,

it was an Immortal Soul.

And it wasn't just any Immortal Soul; it was the key for Xu Xian to reach the ninth stage of tribulation transcendence.

It was also his only hope of breaking out of the cage he was trapped in.

If he obtained this Immortal Soul,

he could raise the fifth floor of the Sword Tower and manifest the five swords. He would have the foundation to solely protect Fanzhou and the capital to face the coming waves of the Great Cataclysm.

There were no immortals in Fanzhou, so none could be found.

But now,

there was one.

Xu Xian's thoughts were complex. He was joyful at the appearance of the Immortal Soul and happy that there was a way to break the deadlock, yet he was also worried because the item came from Li Taibai's hand.

He remembered what Li Taibai had said.

【A dying man...】

【It's up to you...】

【Only half-right...】

The Immortal Soul.

The five-colored chains.

The five saints.

He seemed to already have the answer in his heart.

But that answer made him instinctively resistant.

He didn't answer, keeping his gaze lowered.

Instead, he asked Li Taibai, "How did you know?"