Chapter 1749: Sword Ancestor for Me, I for the Flower; Awakening from the Great Dream Yet Forgetting Home

This voice...

The voice sounded quite ancient.

Yet, it was full of vigor, powerful and deeply penetrating.

Xu Xiaoshou had never heard this voice before; he didn't recognize its owner at all.

But that tone...

"Who would dare call Hua Weiyang by his full name like that? Could it be his master, which would mean..."

The thought ignited a fervent excitement in Xu Xiaoshou's heart.

He hadn't expected to meet the Sword Ancestor in such an unusual way.

And though it might sound absurd, just by listening to the voice, it didn't seem like a malevolent ancestor, but rather like an ordinary old man.

At least it didn't give off the eerie, sinister impression of a "Demon God" or "Ghost Ancestor" just from the name.

The wooden house...

The wooden house also appeared perfectly normal.

It bore no resemblance to the thirty-third heaven of the Divine Relic, or the malevolent shadow on the Divine Throne.

This place wasn't serious at all; it was like a schoolroom. What if the venerable elder was inside the wooden house teaching swordsmanship? Could he perhaps listen in?

With quick steps!

Xu Xiaoshou quickened his pace, chewing on a dry blade of grass, clutching the peach branch at his waist, and jogging towards the wooden house.

Sword God, I'm here!

Wait for me, start the lesson once I arrive!

A tug.

With a single stride, he leaped over the low yellow wooden fence, which could barely deter chickens and ducks. Before he could rush inside, he felt his sleeve being pulled.

"Senior Brother Weiyang!"

A low cry echoed in his ear.

Xu Xiaoshou spun his head abruptly. His vision blurred twice, and the figure before him overlapped for a moment before resolving into a panicked face.

The man had strikingly defined features and was exceedingly handsome, appearing to be around twenty years old. Dressed in a white robe, his posture seemed remarkably tall and upright.

"Senior Brother Weiyang, you went drinking again!"

"You reek of alcohol, and this cheap perfume... Ugh, where did you just come from?"

"You're going to see Master like this? You're asking for trouble, aren't you!"

The white-robed man grumbled, sounding exasperated, as if he were the head of the family and the person calling from inside the wooden house was insignificant.

Weiyang... Senior Brother...

Xu Xiaoshou froze for a moment.

But he reacted quickly, instantly realizing something, and pointed a finger at himself.

"Me?"

A surge of air swelled from his stomach.

No sooner had the word left his mouth than Xu Xiaoshou's Adam's apple bobbed, and he let out a foul, alcoholic burp that nearly knocked himself out.

One thing led to another; after a spasm in his stomach, his legs gave out, and he leaned on the man in front of him, vomiting profusely.

"Ugh—"

The white-robed man was so stunned by the vomit that his white robes were stained a yellowish-brown, and his face alternated between green and pale.

He finally sighed, pulling a water pouch from his waist. "Here, Senior Brother Weiyang, rinse your mouth. You're disgusting..."

Disgusting...

No, the main point is...

I... I became Hua Weiyang?!

After vomiting, Xu Xiaoshou felt much better.

He was conscious and vomited with a clear mind. He realized he seemed to have entered Hua Weiyang's perspective, jumping into his childhood memories.

What exactly did the Divine Rod break to cause such a mess?

Calm down, calm down. Don't get too excited. Even if this is the source of history, it's not a big deal...

He wiped his mouth and looked up.

Xu Xiaoshou's vision kept flickering between clarity and double images, as if switching back and forth between his own self and Hua Weiyang.

He then carefully examined the person in front of him with his perception...

He didn't recognize him!

Right, someone from Hua Weiyang's era, and the Sword God's era... how could I possibly know him?

"Who are you?"

The white-robed man, also a strong practitioner, continued to help his senior brother towards the well, and blurted out in response:

"Your father!"

Xu Xiaoshou slapped him across the face.

The white-robed man stumbled back a few steps with a 'poof,' but only dared to cover the swollen, reddened half of his face. He sheepishly walked back to support his senior brother, saying:

"Senior Brother, you're still awake? I was just testing, just testing..."

"Who are you?" Xu Xiaoshou asked, half-drunk, half-sober.

"It's me, Xiaoxue!" The man thumped his chest, looking utterly distraught. "Senior Brother, are you really drunk or just pretending?"

"Xiaoxue... Feng Chengxue?"

Thud!

The white-robed man stopped in his tracks, his body stiffening at the sound.

Wait.

You have a story!

Xu Xiaoshou wasn't Hua Weiyang, nor had he ever been truly drunk. He could see the embarrassment welling up on the man's face but continued to press him:

"Feng Chengxue, what is Feng Wuchen to you?"

The white-robed man, Feng Chengxue, stared blankly for a long time. He gazed intently at his senior brother, as if trying to discern something.

Finally, he sighed, just as he had done earlier when slapped without reacting, and merely said:

"Senior Brother Weiyang, please don't tease me."

"I have long since left the Feng family. Master's way of the sword is the one I truly aspire to. I have no connection whatsoever with my father or the Feng family anymore..."

So Feng Chengxue is Feng Wuchen's son?

And after becoming a disciple of the Sword God, he called himself 'Chengxue,' dropping the 'Feng'?

Xu Xiaoshou mused thoughtfully.

The two arrived at the well and drew a bucket of water.

Xu Xiaoshou didn't wash his face; instead, Feng Chengxue, feeling disgusted, took off his clothes and began scrubbing furiously.

But the yellowish-brown stains truly wouldn't wash off. He soon gave up, slumping helplessly onto a wooden stool, legs spread wide. "I'm done for..."

"Yes, not only did you vomit, you vomited all over yourself."

Xu Xiaoshou's jab instantly broke Feng Chengxue's composure. "It was Senior Brother who vomited! I've never been to a place like that! Master won't believe your nonsense!"

This person was so vivid.

He was almost so angry he could jump.

Could such an innocent person later be killed by his senior or junior brother with a single sword, leaving only a tombstone and a famous sword for posterity?

That profound and desolate feeling originating from history made Xu Xiaoshou sigh, but it was just a sigh... He then changed the subject and asked:

"What was our Master's name again?"

"Huh?" Feng Chengxue's mouth dropped open, his eyes wide with disbelief. "You dare to forget that! Are you really forgetting, or just prete—"

"What's his name? Why are you so slow to speak!"

"Oh, oh, Master, he's just..."

Creak!

The wooden house door was pushed open.

Feng Chengxue, by the well, jolted. His foot kicked over the bucket with a splash, and he sprang up in fright, turning to bow respectfully.

"Master!"

Xu Xiaoshou remained seated on the ground with his knees tucked up, a blade of grass still in his mouth, and the peach branch tucked into his waist.

He didn't stand up, merely turned his head to look, chuckling faintly:

"You're just the sword..."

Suddenly, his head swam.

Because the ancient figure appearing at the wooden house entrance, using four swords as a staff, holding the Yanmang teaching whip, with a slightly hunched back, and a face beneath silver-white temples—was distinctly his own aged face!

"Me?!"

Xu Xiaoshou's body trembled violently, and he fell backward in shock.

The Sword God is me?

I am the Sword God?

He was at the well; he was at the wooden house entrance.

He was sitting by the well; he was standing at the wooden house entrance.

Before him lay an overturned water bucket, its contents spreading and wetting the hem of his robe. He stood at the entrance, impeccably dressed in black, clearly the attire he wore in the Dead Sea...

The Sword God, Gu Louying!

That black silhouette atop the solitary tower was never anyone else, but myself?

"Ah—"

Xu Xiaoshou clutched his head, screaming hoarsely.

Flashback!

The scene flashed back!

His self wildly alternated!

As his gaze met 'him/me' in that single moment, Xu Xiaoshou felt his spiritual world completely unravel.

His sense of self was lost, shifting from his younger self by the well to his aged self at the wooden house entrance.

His perspective, originally able to see only the solitary ancient figure at the wooden house entrance, now allowed him to see two young men by the well—one startled and standing, the other sitting dazedly.

His consciousness constantly flashed back and forth, switching between his younger self and his aged self, between Xu Xiaoshou and the Sword God Gu Louying.

The world's frequencies scrambled.

Selves overlapped.

Vast and heavy history, past and future, were like countless books torn into fragments, then forcibly crammed into his brain all at once.

Xu Xiaoshou couldn't even grasp the essence of these 'historical stories'; his brain was swollen and aching from being crammed with countless fragmented pieces of knowledge, on the verge of rupturing.

He felt as though he had lived through countless eras.

Yet, in reality, he had only met the gaze of the Sword God Gu Louying, or his aged self, at the wooden house entrance for a single moment.

As the water from the bucket Feng Chengxue kicked over spread beneath him, reflecting the sky and bringing a cool touch...

Xu Xiaoshou clutched his head, eyes wide with fury, and was in unbearable pain.

He was about to slam his head into the ground to alleviate the headache, but as he lowered his gaze, he was horrified to discover...

The sky reflected in the water puddle on the ground was astonishingly not a blue sky with white clouds!

What appeared within was none other than the thirty-third heaven of the Divine Relic!

"Ah—"

Xu Xiaoshou incredulously lifted his head, staring at the sky.

He finally realized that while the scenery of mountains and water was all around, the sky of this world was genuinely composed of the reflected thirty-third heaven of the Divine Relic.

The Divine Rod, which he had constructed with all his might, was wielded by the Tyrant. Its form was frozen mid-air, fixed in the sky he now looked upon!

"Hua Weiyang!"

"Hua Weiyang, it's you!"

Under a searing pain that felt as if his skull was about to rupture, Xu Xiaoshou finally realized the most terrifying truth:

The Tyrant's strike had not shattered Hua Weiyang's second world, or rather, it hadn't had the chance yet.

At the last possible moment, after the Divine Rod descended, it became stuck just before the Flower World was on the verge of disintegrating...

Perhaps the outcome would be as he had imagined.

Hua Weiyang lost; in the very aspect he excelled at, he was shattered by a single blow from him.

But precisely because of this flicker of hope, in the instant before the battle's outcome was decided...

Hua Weiyang seized that very moment!

He even prolonged that moment!

Thus, his efforts came to naught.

What he had actively stepped into was not the deep memory of Hua Weiyang being shattered and pierced.

Instead, it was a self-created illusion of 'Hua Weiyang's deep memory after being shattered and pierced'—a successful self-illusion, a trap Hua Weiyang wanted him to willingly enter, a second world nested within the second world of Illusionary Swordsmanship!

Flowers in a mirror, the moon in water.

The moment he looked down and saw the sky reflected in the puddle beneath him, Xu Xiaoshou also glimpsed his true self within the water, regaining his identity!

But just as he barely grasped these insights...

"Pop!"

His body disintegrated, vanishing like a ripple.

The world within the water puddle erupted with a terrifying suction, gradually pulling him away from this 'deep memory' and sending him back to the thirty-third heaven of the Divine Relic.

"I..."

The well, the wooden house, Hua Weiyang, Feng Chengxue, the Sword God Gu Louying—all were gone!

Xu Xiaoshou found himself back.

But he hadn't returned to his own self in the thirty-third heaven of the Divine Relic; he realized he had become the consciousness of the Flower World, he had become Hua Weiyang!

"I'm still Hua Weiyang, I haven't switched back?"

"No, I'm still in the second world!"

The Flower World was at his command.

Xu Xiaoshou's thoughts didn't stir, yet when he felt anger, the earth bore angry flowers; when he felt sorrow, it bore sorrowful flowers.

He felt as if his state was akin to being dismembered by the Malevolent Shadow Hound Feast, then intentionally transforming into a grand dao to absorb the power of the Flower World.

But the only difference was...

He couldn't find his self, Xu Xiaoshou!

What he was currently experiencing was Hua Weiyang's perspective, the one about to be shattered by the Tyrant's Divine Rod!

"Haa!"

The Tyrant brought down his rod.

The Divine Rod was evidently consumed by a murderous frenzy.

This heavy weapon from the Top Weapons List was literally bent out of shape by the explosive surge of power.

"Wait..."

"Hold on..."

Xu Xiaoshou had no arms; his body was the world itself. He could only barely manage to utter this panicked sound before it abruptly ceased!

No.

Why did that sound feel a little familiar?

He lost all subsequent sensation. What his perception last saw was the entire world curling inward under the Tyrant's rod, compressing beneath it, and then utterly shattering.

"Grandpa Shou?"

"Wake up, Grandpa Shou?"

His face felt cold, as if someone had slapped it twice.

Xu Xiaoshou's body jerked violently, and his legs instinctively kicked out, because in his dream, he had been struck and sent falling into an abyss.

He abruptly opened his eyes and shot upright.

The newly awakened Absolute Repulsion instinctively activated, maintaining a safe distance from everything.

His clothes clung to his back, clearly soaked with cold sweat, or perhaps it was the Dead Sea purified water? Xu Xiaoshou couldn't tell.

"Young man..."

This ethereal voice faded deep within his memory.

Xu Xiaoshou didn't even notice whether it had appeared in his dream or in reality.

In any case, he couldn't hear it now!

The Flower God's dream, a grand dream lasting a thousand years.

When he awoke, he had almost forgotten what had happened in the dream, only vaguely remembering bits about Hua Weiyang, the tomb named Chengxue, and the Sword God Gu Louying...

He stood up and looked around.

Around him was the Dead Sea. The Holy Mountain Refugee Group and Feng Zhongzui, among others, were all huddled timidly in a corner.

Even Xiangrikui Kong Yuhan looked at him with extreme terror, as if he had just activated his 'Extreme Giant' form and given them a huge fright.

He stood up and looked around again.

This was a Flower World, with vibrant, blooming flowers in every direction, a riot of colors. There was no concept of heaven and earth, no sun or moon, no sense of time.

Nothing but flowers.

Ancient and eternal.

"Flower World..."

"Hua Weiyang..."

"Grand Dao transformation?"

Xu Xiaoshou frowned.

He found that he was still connected to this Flower World and could still control his body in the Dead Sea.

Like a fleeting dream or a journey to a peach blossom utopia, had nothing actually happened when he awoke?

"Who are you?"

He looked to his side.

Beside him, a short little daisy swayed. It was this daisy that had just patted his cheek and spoken.

"Do you want to see me?" the little daisy retorted.

Xu Xiaoshou remained silent for a long time this time.

He didn't speak presumptuously nor was he overly humble. Instead, he meticulously pondered if the question held any deeper meaning.

He seemed to understand what Dao Qiongcang had told him: that the power a mere Saint Emperor could exert on the Saint God Continent was comparable to, if not greater than, that of a newly resurrected Malevolent Shadow.

Yet, he also seemed not to understand why he understood this, for he had almost completely forgotten everything that had happened in the 'dream' just now.

"You are very cautious."

The little daisy waited for a long time without a response, found itself amused, and then shimmered, transforming into a human figure.

He was dressed in a large green robe embroidered with big red flowers, a clashing yet unique combination of colors and styles.

Most exquisitely, a small daisy was tucked behind his ear, and his smile was incredibly radiant:

"Nice to meet you. Just call me Alai."

"You are the new generation's First Sword Immortal, Grandpa Shou, the one who has countless avatars and many names... 'Xu Xiaoshou,' right?"

Alai?

The Seven Sword Immortals, Hualai?

Illusionary Swordsmanship, Hua Weiyang, Hualai...

So these are all related, and in such a simple, crude, and undisguised way? Xu Xiaoshou fell silent.

"Great illusion without falsehood, great thought as usual."

For no apparent reason, this realization popped into his mind, utterly bizarre!

The one who called himself Hualai chuckled, pacing around Xu Xiaoshou, muttering to himself while stroking his chin:

"You must have met my ancestor."

"I've heard that everyone who meets him ends up wanting to see him again. Is that true for you?"

Hua Weiyang?

Could I see him again?

Xu Xiaoshou didn't speak, feeling only that if he could see him again, he would perform better.

After all, this was the Sword Dao Disk's first super-dao transformation; everyone's first time is awkward...

No, wait.

Did I experience any setbacks in a competition?

Xu Xiaoshou lowered his eyelids, deep in thought. This was the first time the Super-Dao Transformation Intention Disk had produced a feeling of 'bewilderment,' which was terrifying to ponder.

Hualai stopped pacing, sat cross-legged on the soft, flowery ground, and looked up, smiling broadly:

"Have you heard the story of 'Youth emerges from Youtu, Taicheng beneath Green Mountains, journeying west through the great desert, seeking the Dao from Hua Weiyang'?"

Xu Xiaoshou hesitated, then slowly shook his head.

Hualai smiled, not telling the story, but with a hint of pride in his expression, he said: "He's still looking for an opportunity to pay respects to my ancestor, but I don't think my ancestor will see him anymore."

"Why?"

"You finally spoke..." Hualai didn't answer directly, but said, "My ancestor asked me to relay a few words to you!"

"What?" Xu Xiaoshou listened attentively, yet found it difficult to return the perceived goodwill.

Hualai didn't mind the deliberate distance the person before him maintained, and said:

"He said, 'Super-Dao transformation is easy; discerning me is difficult.'"

"He said, 'All ages are illusions; two lives can intertwine.'"

"He said, 'A position equal to an Ancestral God, yet not as good as an Ancestral God.'"

He paused, then Hualai's lips curled into an even more self-satisfied smile: "This last sentence is from me, but my ancestor also told me to relay it to you."

"What is it?"

"Skill and evil are one, gods and demons are their true forms, medicine ghosts arise and perish, the four ancestors reincarnate, only... time and space are eternal!"