Chapter 56: My Sword and Coffin

Bù Kě Guān was the Taoist temple where he had practiced cultivation in his previous life.

This temple was situated high above the end of Great River Town, hidden among the mountains. The peak was extremely high; during the day, the view was a sea of clouds, and at night, one could reach out and touch the stars and moon. It was indeed unobservable by the mortal world.

Previously, when Zhao Xiang'er asked him for the temple's name, he could only vaguely recall the character 'bù' (不).

Now, upon opening the marriage contract and seeing the three crooked characters, the full name of the temple finally became clear in his mind.

Such a thing naturally wouldn't be easily forgotten. The only explanation was that even the three characters 'Bù Kě Guān' carried an inherent secrecy, making them unmentionable and difficult to recall in the human world.

In the snow fox's line of sight, the three characters quickly became difficult to see again.

She vaguely saw a Taoist temple with its gate tightly closed under a bright moon. It appeared so peaceful, yet it made one dare not look at it for long, as if a giant sword, capable of cleaving heaven and earth, stood before her.

She didn't know what this truly was; what the young man before her had conjured had already exceeded her imagination.

But fear and awe were fleeting emotions.

After all, it wasn't a real sword; it was just a dazzling illusion, a sharp, empty shell.

Even if these three characters could momentarily obscure her vision, what of it?

This ancient scroll could last at most two hours. Before nightfall, even if heaven and earth collapsed and all things ceased to exist, who could still trap her?

Suddenly, she felt a pair of hands grasp her shoulders.

In this world, there were only two people, and naturally, they were Ning Changjiu's hands.

"I couldn't find you, yet you dare to deliver yourself to me?" The snow fox, already vexed by the entanglement of the three characters, erupted in fury upon sensing the young man's hands pressing on her shoulders.

The snow fox's sharp claws shot out abruptly like springs, stabbing straight forward.

On the long street, blood splattered.

At this moment, Ning Changjiu also couldn't see Ning Xiaoling's figure. His hands pressed down in the air, as if trying to forcefully suppress something.

In the empty space before him, claws emerged, piercing through his chest like tearing paper, ripping through the clothes on his back, and a long stream of blood splattered out.

The intense pain distorted his face in an instant. He gritted his teeth and slowly raised his head, as if he could see through the world obscured by the three true characters and clearly see the other's eyes.

He exerted force with both hands.

Beyond that obscuring mist, the snow fox suddenly felt as if her shoulders were pressed down by a small mountain weighing a thousand jun, and her entire body involuntarily pressed downwards.

How could that young man possess such immense strength?

She suddenly understood that these three characters, 'Bù Kě Guān', had created a small world! Within the laws of this world, her own power had been greatly weakened, which was why the claw strike, which should have instantly killed the opponent, had only severely wounded him.

To create a profound small world solely from three characters from a seal decades ago—what kind of power was this?

The snow fox had no time to think because she realized that if he wanted to kill her at this moment, she might truly die.

As this thought crossed her mind, her shoulders suddenly grew heavy, her knees bent, and she involuntarily began to kneel. She exerted strength in her arms, wanting to tear apart his body directly, but the Taoist temple and the bright moon in this small world were like cold, devouring abysses, slowly draining her body's strength.

All monsters in the world could devour the essence of heaven, earth, and moon. Yet now, with the bright moon overhead, she felt an urge to avoid it as if it were a scorpion or a snake.

What on earth was this? Why was it completely contrary to the laws of heaven and earth?

Crack...

The snow fox's knees hit the ground, the ground cracked, then collapsed, turning to dead ash.

The fox tail behind her swayed and danced incessantly like a banner in a strong wind. The snow fox's arms trembled uncontrollably, and her teeth chattered. She said, "Hahaha... You really haven't disappointed me, but you dare not kill me... If you kill me, this foolish girl will die too!"

The snow fox's eyes suddenly widened.

On her forehead, a red mark appeared.

Across the world of 'Bù Kě Guān', Ning Changjiu pressed his forehead against hers.

Ning Changjiu gasped for breath. Those sharp claws were still piercing his chest, and blood gushed out, flowing into the realm of dead ash where all things were shattered, dissipating like stardust and cloud-sand.

He raised his head, his bloodshot eyes wide. The ancient, unyielding calm in his eyes had also vanished. Although he seemingly saw nothing, his gaze seemed to be focused on a single point.

It was clearly an illusory world, but this was the first time since his rebirth that he felt so acutely alive.

In the snow fox's heart, a remarkably strong premonition of danger suddenly arose.

"She's Ning Xiaoling! She's your junior sister! Indeed... you're also a devil; your feelings for her are all fake. That's right, how long have you truly been with her? How could you protect her so recklessly? You finally want to kill someone; you want to kill both of us... Hahahaha, the Zhao Kingdom wants to eradicate me, but they'd never imagine they'd unleash an even more terrifying ghost!"

The snow fox's voice was like snowflakes swirling wildly in a strong wind, carrying chaotic and biting extreme cold.

Ning Changjiu held his head high. In his eyes, the calm intent condensed and shattered repeatedly, but he paid no heed to the fox demon's soul-stirring words.

"Master..."

"If you truly wanted to kill me back then, I should have died long ago, right..."

"Since you could sever my innate spirit, and I am your last disciple, now, I want to try it too."

"Until today, I finally somewhat understand your thoughts from back then..."

Ning Changjiu's voice was very soft, but even if heaven and earth were crumbling, the snow fox could still hear him clearly.

"Master? What master?"

Her eyes wide, she suddenly looked up at the illusory moon in the sky. For some reason, she suddenly had the illusion that the temple gate was about to open, and a sword, brighter than the moon, was about to surge forth like a mountain flood.

Ning Changjiu bared his teeth in a smile; blood continuously spilled from the corners of his lips, staining his lips and teeth crimson.

The marriage contract suddenly slipped from his sleeve and fell to the ground.

Ning Changjiu held her shoulders firmly, his forehead pressed against hers. The snow fox, with her Purple Court Realm cultivation, was firmly suppressed by the three characters of 'Bù Kě Guān', unable to move at all. The sharp claws that had pierced Ning Changjiu's body also began to tremble.

The marriage contract fell open.

The snow fox suddenly felt her right shoulder loosen.

It was Ning Changjiu's right hand, suddenly released.

His robe sleeves fluttered as he suddenly transformed his palm into a claw, as if to grab and lift, as if to grasp something from below.

The characters on the marriage contract, which began with 'a covenant to grow old together, an alliance for a pair of mandarin ducks' and ended with 'perfect union, forever of one heart', suddenly trembled at this moment. Then, four graceful and exquisite small characters floated out from it and were grasped between his fingers.

It was precisely the four characters 'forever of one heart' from the end.

These four characters landed in his palm, then flew away like a line of autumn geese.

In a hazy blur, the snow fox felt her body tremble violently. Then, the consciousness she had so painstakingly suppressed slowly awakened at this cursed moment.

In her eyes, a hint of confusion appeared.

Ning Changjiu pressed two fingers against her chest. The four characters 'forever of one heart' flowed in through his fingertips and inscribed themselves onto the opponent's Dao heart.

The two kneeling figures both trembled violently at this moment.

In the ethereal realm, an invisible iron chain seemed to pierce through their bodies, binding them together.

That was true unity of heart!

"What exactly are you doing?!" The snow fox's soul trembled violently because she discovered that these four characters had bypassed her and directly inscribed themselves into Ning Xiaoling's consciousness.

A strained smile lifted the corners of Ning Changjiu's mouth. His blood-stained white robes now fluttered wildly in the void's long wind. His disheveled long hair, also stained with blood, danced even more freely and wildly.

"You..." he whispered, "cannot escape."

In Ning Xiaoling's sea of consciousness, the four characters 'forever of one heart' shone like a blazing sun overhead, emitting dazzling golden light. The Purple Mansion and Qi Sea became brightly lit, and the snow fox, who had originally been the master of this place, scurried wildly like a light-fearing serpent or insect.

And those four characters were also like sunlight melting ice and snow. The previously dormant consciousness slowly awakened, and a faint, ethereal hook-rope connected the two of them!

From then on, they would be each other's anchor points.

"Hiding in junior sister's body for so long... shouldn't you come out now?"

Ning Changjiu's hand, which had been on her chest, abruptly moved to her lower abdomen. The snow fox's body suddenly arched backward. Her eyes widened; in the space before her eyes, the temple's closed gate suddenly burst open, and an invisible hand reached out from within the gate and firmly seized her!

With the bright moon overhead, all spirits in the world had nowhere to hide.

Ning Changjiu's smile was somewhat sinister. He transformed his fingers into claws, as if with an iron hook, he was about to forcibly drag something out of Ning Xiaoling's body.

This scene was all too familiar to him; he couldn't forget it even after three lives, so he performed it with extreme familiarity now.

The snow fox's soul trembled violently. She felt that even if heaven and earth were overturned, it would be impossible for an innate spirit to be separated from a human body. But that hand had clearly and firmly gripped her, bit by bit, pulling her out of the girl's body alone!

This... was impossible!

"You are defying the laws of heaven and earth... you will be annihilated by divine wrath!" Her eyes were bloodshot as she screamed desperately. The bright moon in the sky was like a mirror, clearly reflecting her horribly distorted face.

"Stop! If you continue like this, you'll die, and Ning Xiaoling will die too!"

"How can your current cultivation pull me out? Stop, there's still room for negotiation... I can let this girl go!"

The snow fox continued to shriek loudly.

Ning Changjiu ignored her. A sudden inspiration flashed in his mind; he extended his hand to a certain point in front of him and roared, "Sever the Spirit!"

From within the illusory temple gate, a light, as if accumulated for a thousand years, burst forth and shot up into the sky.

Inside the temple, a deep red ancient wooden box was pushed open by an invisible force. A long sword, seemingly condensed from moonlight, flew out from it and came through the temple gate.

The snow fox's eyes widened, staring at the sword enveloped in bright moonlight.

No, that didn't seem to be a sword!

It was a... tree branch?

But whatever it was, it instantly shattered her courage!

Ning Changjiu stared intently at the tree branch. It seemed to be covered in crystalline, snow-white flowers, with moonlight as their petals!

The snow fox's eyes instantly went blind, but her body still trembled instinctively under this aura. Unwilling to die with her eyes unclosed, she stammered, "What... what on earth is this?"

Ning Changjiu reached out his hand and grasped the jade-like long branch.

Time seemed to flow back countless years from this moment. Heaven and earth were dim, the great moon was silent, and a torrent of memories tore through everything and surged into his mind.

He remembered!

He finally remembered what his Master said before severing his innate spirit...

He gazed at this moonlit branch, like jade. His pupils burst open like fireworks, then instantly condensed back to a single point.

His lips trembled. His words seemed to span hundreds of years, so calm that not a single ripple disturbed them:

"This is my sword, and also my coffin..."

Under the moon of that year, as sword light filled the sky, her voice was light as a whisper, as she spoke these words.

At this moment, the voices of the two seemed to cross the barrier of time and overlapped.

Thunder roared between heaven and earth, and instantly, it became as bright as day.