Having Personality, I Like It

Xu Xian was about to leave. There were many unfinished matters outside the Sword Pool. This period of meditation for him and the little book spirit had lasted several days. Even though Li Shuhe had promised to look after things, he couldn't help but feel worried.

But as he was leaving, he was held back by the Old Tortoise.

The Old Tortoise had a fawning look on his face as he said ingratiatingly, "What's the rush? It wasn't easy to get here, let's chat for a bit. It's been hundreds of years since we last met..."

Xu Xian could see right through its thoughts and didn't waste any words, getting straight to the point. "What do you want to ask?"

The Old Tortoise knew Xu Xian quite well and didn't beat around the bush. "Did you ascend?"

"Yes."

The Old Tortoise's heart filled with joy. If Xu Xian had ascended, then the laws Above the Heavens would change. Unlike Fanzhou, that cage where Daoist laws always suppressed him, things would be different here.

Now, he was trapped in the Sword Pool, but if he could get out in the future, he could break through the seal in an instant and regain his freedom. His little schemes were already in motion.

"That's good. I knew you could do it."

Xu Xian asked calmly, "Any other questions?"

The Old Tortoise quickly said, "How is the outside world now? Is it still the Era of Ancient Immortals?"

"You're asking what you already know," Xu Xian said.

The Old Tortoise didn't beat around the bush and revealed all his confusion. "A few days ago, you summoned the swords from the four sword pools. When the swords returned, they were stained with baleful qi. Why was that?"

Xu Xian didn't answer but asked back, "Do you recognize that baleful qi?"

The Old Tortoise told the truth. "Of course. I've been to the Boundary Sea before, near that chaotic star cluster. I caught a glimpse of it from afar at the edge of chaos."

Xu Xian nodded thoughtfully. "I see. That makes sense."

The Old Tortoise continued to press, "The place you ascended to wasn't the Sword Province, was it?"

"Yes."

The Old Tortoise was confused and muttered to himself, "Then why is it like this? I remember the Sword Province is extremely far from that part of the Boundary Sea, separated by the Nine Heavens and Ten Lands and over a thousand provinces. An ordinary person might not reach it in their entire life..."

Xu Xian asked coolly, "What do you think?"

"Those guys... broke the seal?" the Old Tortoise guessed.

Xu Xian didn't answer directly, instead leaving him in suspense. "Do you want to know?"

"Yes, yes."

"Why don't you just go out and see for yourself?"

The Old Tortoise was excited. "Okay, okay! When?"

Xu Xian said ambiguously, "We'll see."

Then he left, leaving the Old Tortoise alone in the Divine Sword Pool, shouting toward the vast sky, "Don't go! At least give me a date! Hey... I haven't finished asking yet! Did the Sovereign come up yet...?"

No one responded!

...

In Cangming, in the former Sword Province, all the Small Spirit Lords of the province had been recalled to Black Spirit City by Ling Tang over the past few days to prepare for war.

As for whom they were fighting?

The news had naturally leaked long ago.

Over the past half month, spirits who had ascended from the lower realm had taken several territories to the west, and several Small Spirit Lords had fallen.

This was no secret.

They also knew that four living souls had been pushing westward, sweeping through everything. They had long since left the boundaries of the Sword Province. Therefore, the Great Spirit Lord's massive mobilization this time was definitely not for them.

That only left "her."

That outlier.

Although the Great Spirit Lord himself was planning and overseeing this operation, and they had strength in numbers, the opponent was that outlier. They couldn't bring themselves to be happy.

They were all unsure.

They all knew that the outlier was very strong and could resist the constraints of the darkness, but just how strong she was, no one in the Sword Province knew.

They could often be heard discussing and speculating in private with sharp words.

"Can we win this time?"

"Who knows? I'm more concerned about whether the fight will even happen..."

"It's definitely happening. Black Tiger said that monster is determined to protect the living souls from the lower heavens. How could the Great Spirit Lord tolerate that?"

"Don't be so sure. Didn't the Great Spirit Lord ignore those four guys in the west?"

"Speaking of that, I heard those four guys reached Great Spirit Lord Ling Han's territory and started fighting there too. I wonder how it's going..."

"If you ask me, this monster is harder to deal with than those guys. Why not just let her have her way? If she really has the ability to cross thirty-six provinces to reach the Spirit River, an Ancestral Spirit Venerable will surely step in to finish her. Why should we take this risk for such a thankless task?"

"What do you know? The Sword Province has been fallen for ten thousand years, and this outlier has stayed here the whole time. Those above have long been displeased. If she tries to escort those living souls to the Spirit River, she will inevitably pass through Black Spirit City. Our Great Spirit Lord wants to use this opportunity to use the Spirit Tower to kill or capture her. That would be a massive merit. Perhaps the Ancestral Spirits will be pleased and award her a drop of True Spirit Blood, allowing her to take another step forward, breaking through to the Immortal King stage and becoming a quasi-Ancestral Spirit..."

"That's why I count on you, brother; you always know so much."

"I'm just afraid we'll end up as cannon fodder..."

Some were dissatisfied, some complained, and some grumbled, but no one dared to disobey orders. From the moment they became dark creatures, the Dark Spirit Code had been carved into their very bones like a genetic sequence.

Subordinates had to unconditionally obey superiors at all times. If they were ordered to die, they could only charge forward until death.

That code was like a law of war, driving the Spirit-Devouring Tribe to become a nearly perfect war machine.

Everything prioritized the interests of the darkness; the individual was secondary.

Just like this time, hunting living souls and devouring their life sources was a grand cause for the interests of the darkness. Whether they wanted to or not, they had to do it. No matter how afraid they were, they had to go...

The darkness granted them power, and they bowed to the darkness.

Although the Spirit-Devouring Tribe was born immortal and indestructible, not entering the cycle of reincarnation, and thus was supposedly fearless, that only applied to the true True Spirits.

In the current Cangming, whether it was Death Spirits, Ancestral Spirits, or even First Spirits, all could be killed or refined by special means. They could also fall and turn into dust...

At least in their subconscious, they were certain that the outlier definitely possessed the means to erase them...

...

On the other side, Xu Xian opened his eyes as promised. He returned after drawing the sword, and the people around him gathered, all showing a sense of relief and joy.

It had been nine days. He was finally awake.

Lu Yuan was the first to speak, opening his mouth with a stream of colorful language.

"You're finally awake. I've had more than enough of this gods-forsaken place."

Not only was it cold, but they also had to consume true essence to resist the breath of darkness.

If they stayed any longer, their spirit stones would be exhausted, and their immortal plants and pills would be eaten until they were empty. They would eventually wither away under this grey sky.

Xu Xian scanned the group. Of the twenty-plus people, only nine remained now, including himself. More than half had left.

It was as expected and logical.

It was fine. What Xu Xian didn't expect was that Bai Ze had actually stayed behind, which was quite a surprise.

Tu Sisi asked, "When do we depart?"

Xu Xian told them to wait for a moment. He left the trapping formation to find Li Shuhe.

The little book spirit said, "Why is she still standing there? It's like she hasn't even moved a step. Is she really that dedicated?"

Xu Xian ignored it and approached Li Shuhe to thank her.

"Thank you for your trouble, senior!"

Li Shuhe remained quiet.

Xu Xian took the initiative to ask, "Senior, when do you think we should depart?"

Li Shuhe said slowly, "You decide."

Xu Xian said tentatively, "Now?"

As soon as he finished speaking, Li Shuhe's entire figure blurred and vanished. When she reappeared, she was standing silently on the peak of a mountain nearly a hundred miles to the east.

Xu Xian was stunned.

Leaving just like that?

That was certainly decisive.

The little book spirit snickered, "Tsk tsk. Master, it seems she's not interested in walking with you."

Xu Xian shook his head with a smile. Although they weren't walking together, they were on the same path, so it made no difference.

He leaped back into the formation. The little book spirit glanced at the bridal gown fluttering in the wind in the distance and said appreciatively, "She has personality. I like it!"