I Reborn on the Night I Divorced the Sword Deity, My Childhood Friend - Chapter 39

On the Sword Sect’s building boat, six Void-Refining Stage elders remained as the escort. However, the elder who had been severely injured previously had been replaced by another elder with the highest cultivation level. This change demonstrated the high level of importance the Sword Sect placed on capturing the Nine Nether Demon Lord and Shen Junyu.

Since boarding the ship, Yuan Muzhou had maintained a heavy expression and remained silent. After the previous events, the six elders had lost all trust in Yuan Muzhou, viewing him as a “lovestruck” young sect master; consequently, they ignored him for the moment.

After standing still for a brief while, their sharp gazes shot toward Shen Siyuan, who was sitting in a wheelchair. “Second Young Master Shen, what are you waiting for?”

Shen Siyuan was actually desperate to perform a merit to prove himself. Hearing the elders’ urge, he did not decline. Struggling to sit up, he brushed back his sleeve to reveal a pale, skeletal wrist. Gritting his teeth, he used a dagger to cut it open, slowly bleeding out a cup of blood.

After drawing the blood, Shen Siyuan leaned back in his wheelchair, panting heavily. Though the elders were dissatisfied upon seeing this, they still threw him a medicinal pill to let him adjust his breath for a moment. The leading elder took the cup of blood and began to perform a technique according to the bloodline tracing method Shen Siyuan had previously handed over.

On the other side, after taking the pill, Shen Siyuan’s complexion regained a bit of color, and he thanked the elders. The elders did not even bother to give him a glance, only saying coldly, “Once the targets are found later, Second Young Master Shen, make sure you are not soft-hearted when performing the bloodline curse. Otherwise, our injuries would be a small matter; the big matter would be our inability to take you with us when we flee for our lives.”

Hearing this, Shen Siyuan felt a slight chill in his heart. He knew the elders were making a veiled threat: if he dared to tamper with the bloodline curse, they would abandon him directly. At that point, he feared he truly would be in a state where he could neither live nor die. Thinking of this, Shen Siyuan immediately said with a serious expression, “Please rest assured, Elders. Siyuan would never dare to be a burden to you all.”

The elders gave a faint snort and ignored him. Shen Siyuan had finally managed to curry favor, only to be treated this way again. His face turned blue, then white, then red. But forced by the situation, he had no choice but to bow his head. After a long while, he could only silently clench his fist inside his sleeve. He slowly pushed his wheelchair and turned to look at Yuan Muzhou, who was standing by the ship’s railing in the distance.

Yuan Muzhou stood with his hands behind his back by the railing, his black robes fluttering in the wind, leaving Shen Siyuan with only a cold, aloof, and solitary back. Shen Siyuan watched quietly for a moment. Seeing that the elders still could not be bothered with him, he pushed his wheelchair over to Yuan Muzhou’s side.

Yuan Muzhou noticed Shen Siyuan’s arrival but did not grant him a single extra glance, maintaining his long-standing cold and aloof posture. Finally, Shen Siyuan’s Adam’s apple bobbed as he said in a hoarse voice, “Brother Yuan, do you resent me in your heart?”

Yuan Muzhou finally turned his eyes back. In those narrow, deep phoenix eyes, there was only a type of extremely suppressed distrust. After a long silence, he said, “You should not have lied that day.” He was referring to Shen Siyuan spreading rumors in the Discussion Hall that Shen Junyu had colluded with a demonic cultivator to shatter his Golden Core.

Hearing this, Shen Siyuan suddenly gripped the armrests of his wheelchair tightly. He said with some agitation, “That matter was indeed my deduction, but I had logic and evidence. It was not just nonsense.”

Yuan Muzhou replied, “Enough. There is no need to mention this again.”

Shen Siyuan was stunned. Yuan Muzhou looked at him with an icy gaze of extreme disappointment and said deeply, “You know very well in your heart why I did not expose you.”

Shen Siyuan froze, and then a mocking smile surfaced in his eyes. He knew. Of course he knew. How could he not know Yuan Muzhou’s character? Yuan Muzhou appeared like a solitary moon in the high sky, keeping people thousands of miles away, but in reality, he was an extremely soft-hearted, “good” man.

He had been certain that Yuan Muzhou would not expose him in front of the Sword Sovereign that day. Because if he were exposed, it would be the capital crime of deceiving the Sword Sovereign. With his current physical condition, if he entered the Hall of Punishment, he likely would not come out alive. He had exploited Yuan Muzhou’s soft-heartedness, but he also knew that by doing so, the little trust remaining between him and Yuan Muzhou would collapse.

But at this moment, Shen Siyuan still wanted to fight for himself one last time. So after a long silence, he gave a cold, thin smile and whispered, “Brother Yuan, I know what I did was not entirely right. But now my Golden Core is destroyed, my parents have personally abandoned me, and my elder brother personally injured a Sword Sect elder and is colluding with the Demon Race. If I do not find a way to perform a merit, it will be hard for me to even linger on in this life, and people will point fingers at me every day. You are the Young Master of the Sword Sect; it does not matter even if you make mistakes many times. But I do not have many chances left.”

“Shen Siyuan!” Yuan Muzhou finally reached the limit of his patience and rebuked in a low voice, “You were not this kind of person before. How did you end up with this kind of face!”

The moment those words landed, the air in this space stagnated. Shen Siyuan suddenly fell silent. Yuan Muzhou also realized he had voiced something that should not have been said aloud. His throat moved; he gave Shen Siyuan a cold look and wanted to tell him to leave.

Unexpectedly, at this moment, in Shen Siyuan’s beautiful, calm, yet slightly red eyes, he read an extremely familiar emotion.

Yuan Muzhou reached out abruptly, gripping Shen Siyuan’s thin shoulder. He leaned down and spoke via a suppressed, slightly trembling voice transmission, “You remember as well, do you not?”

Shen Siyuan remained motionless. After a long while, he gave an indifferent smile and replied via voice transmission, “Yes, so how could I not hate him? After all, everything I did in my past life was for you, Brother Yuan. But he specifically hated only me and turned me into this state. Tell me, how can I be satisfied? If you want to blame me for these things, I have nothing to say.”

These few sentences almost completely inverted black and white. Yet falling into Yuan Muzhou’s ears, they were like a basin of bone-chilling ice water poured over him, making his entire being shudder. After a long time, the expression on Yuan Muzhou’s face turned gray and defeated. He slowly released his grip on Shen Siyuan’s shoulder, turned around, and walked toward the cabin.

This time, Shen Siyuan did not chase after him. He only watched from a distance as Yuan Muzhou’s black-clad figure, suddenly devoid of vitality and looking exceptionally lost, walked away, showing a hint of calm relief. He thought, “Yuan Muzhou truly has not changed at all; he is still so easy to deceive. And fortunately, he did not remember too late.”

Traveling from the Central Continent to the Eastern Sea required crossing several large rivers. With the accumulated injuries on the Nine Nether Demon Lord’s body, he found it difficult to sustain the journey after one day. Shen Junyu switched to a White Jade Boat, operating it himself while letting the Nine Nether Demon Lord heal in the cabin.

The White Jade Boat could travel eight hundred miles a day by water; they would likely arrive at the Eastern Sea Demon Domain in about another day. Currently, no one from either the Sword Sect or the Demon Domain had come to hunt them down. It was essentially the calm before the storm.

On this night, it happened that strong winds and thick fog arose; it was hard to see even within a yard on the river surface. Under such weather conditions, it would be even harder for anyone to track them. Shen Junyu took this opportunity to cut out a Nascent Soul paper man again, letting the paper man take the helm while he entered the cabin to check on the Nine Nether Demon Lord’s injuries.

When Shen Junyu entered the cabin, the Nine Nether Demon Lord was sitting in meditation with his eyes closed. At this moment, a cyan-gold light slowly bloomed and fluctuated on the Demon Lord’s body. His waterfall-like black hair moved without wind. His face was peerlessly handsome, making him look like a descending deity, though his thin lips were still pale, clearly indicating a great loss of Qi and blood.

Seeing this, Shen Junyu felt a slight worry in his heart but did not show it. Instead, he silently took out some spiritual herbs and a small medicine stove from his storage ring and began brewing medicine for the Nine Nether Demon Lord. Suddenly, the Nine Nether Demon Lord opened his eyes and looked at him.

“The spiritual medicine can be taken directly. Why go through such trouble?”

Shen Junyu explained, “Spiritual medicines also follow the Five Elements. When paired correctly according to their generating and overcoming relationships, the medicinal power is greatly enhanced.” He paused and then added, “There is not much I can do for the Demon Lord right now, so I can only brew some medicine.”

Hearing this, the Nine Nether Demon Lord could not help but want to say, “You could help me expel the sword intent in my body, and even if you do not, just staying by my side makes me feel better.” But those words could not be said right now because expelling sword intent consumed too much of Shen Junyu himself. Furthermore, his own injuries were compounding, making the situation more complex. If they were caught while expelling the sword intent, they might both suffer a cultivation deviation.

As for that selfish thought at the end, it was even more impossible to voice. So he just quietly watched Shen Junyu’s gentle and serious profile as he brewed the medicine and fell silent. For a moment, the atmosphere became slightly quiet. Shen Junyu simply assumed the Demon Lord was too injured to speak much and did not think twice, continuing to brew the medicine with lowered eyes.

Suddenly, the Nine Nether Demon Lord asked, “Who is steering the boat outside right now?”

Upon hearing this, Shen Junyu snapped back to reality and raised his hand to lightly release a wisp of demonic Qi. The boat curtain was lifted by the demonic Qi, and the little Nascent Soul paper man standing at the helm appeared in their sight. The little Nascent Soul paper man was much more lively than Shen Junyu himself. At this moment, while steering the helm, it was also hopping and jumping, occasionally shaking its bottom, looking very happy.

Shen Junyu remained silent. The Nine Nether Demon Lord watched for a moment, and a faint smile appeared on his pale face. “It knows how to find joy in hardship better than we do.”

Shen Junyu’s brow twitched slightly. “I also do not know why it has such a temperament.”

The Nine Nether Demon Lord glanced at Shen Junyu. “I see you are widely experienced; do you not know that the Nascent Soul is the purest and simplest thing, and also the cultivator’s most innocent true self?”

Shen Junyu went quiet for a second. “It is precisely because I know that I do not understand.”

The Nine Nether Demon Lord laughed again. Although Shen Junyu wanted to argue that he was nothing like this hopping, somewhat silly little Nascent Soul, seeing the gentle laughter in the Nine Nether Demon Lord’s cyan-gold eyes, he silently refrained from speaking. At this moment, it was good to make the Nine Nether Demon Lord a bit happier. After all, a fierce battle was coming, and no one knew when it would arrive.

Half an hour later, the medicine was ready. Shen Junyu handed it to the Nine Nether Demon Lord, but the Demon Lord did not move, only watching him quietly. Shen Junyu was silent for a moment, understanding the Demon Lord’s meaning. He remained patient, using a spoon to scoop the soup medicine. While stirring, he brought the bowl to his lips and blew on it gently several times. Feeling it was no longer hot, he moved it to the Nine Nether Demon Lord’s lips.

Yet at this moment, a different thought arose in the Nine Nether Demon Lord’s mind. He watched Shen Junyu with his long eyelashes lowered, quietly blowing on the medicine. When the soup was brought to his lips, he suddenly pulled back an inch.

Shen Junyu looked confused. The Nine Nether Demon Lord looked at him and said, “Taste it first to see if it is hot. This Lord does not like drinking hot things.”

Shen Junyu tested the edge of the bowl with his fingertip. “It should not be hot anymore.”

The Nine Nether Demon Lord intentionally frowned slightly. “What would it hurt for you to just take a sip?”

Shen Junyu was speechless. Fortunately, he was already used to the Nine Nether Demon Lord’s difficult personality. After thinking about it, he simply lowered his head and took a shallow sip at the rim of the bowl. Confirming it truly was not hot, he looked up and said, “It is not hot.”

The Nine Nether Demon Lord looked at Shen Junyu’s thin, pale-red lips, which were now slightly stained and moistened by the medicine. He went quiet for a moment before looking away. “Fine, give it to me.”

Just as Shen Junyu was about to scoop the medicine to hand it over, the Nine Nether Demon Lord took the initiative to reach out and take the bowl. Then, without waiting for Shen Junyu to show a surprised look, he pressed his lips to the exact spot where Shen Junyu had just tasted it. Tilting his head back, he drank the medicine in the bowl in one gulp.

Shen Junyu did not notice that detail, assuming the Demon Lord was just acting willfully again, so he did not pay much attention.

But right at that moment, there was a sudden, loud boom. A wave as high as three people rose from the front. The White Jade Boat was struck unexpectedly by the crest of the wave. The boat curtains shook violently, and the entire vessel nearly capsized.

The Nine Nether Demon Lord’s gaze sharpened instantly. Dropping the medicine bowl, he pressed a palm onto the floorboards, firmly stabilizing the turbulence of the boat. Inside the cabin, the two of them met each other’s eyes. Almost simultaneously, they transformed into two wisps of demonic Qi and abandoned the boat.

Across the vast fog, the two of them looked down from a height and saw a massive building boat sailing toward their direction. Yuan Muzhou, Shen Siyuan, and the six elders were standing at the bow. At this moment, the two demonic lights merged in the air, revealing the figures of the Nine Nether Demon Lord and Shen Junyu.

Seeing the newcomers, the Nine Nether Nether Lord gave a faint smile. “Elders, have you come to seek death again?”

The six Void-Refining Stage elders said nothing. However, they did not bring out their sword formation. Instead, they rose into the air simultaneously, attacking the Nine Nether Demon Lord together.

The Nine Nether Demon Lord saw that these elders were not attacking Shen Junyu; instead, they looked quite relaxed. At this moment, the smile on his pale face grew wider. While calmly manifesting his Peacock Dharma Appearance, he used his pressure to mock them, “You are not even using a sword formation. Are you elders perhaps too confident in yourselves?”

The elders’ expressions remained unchanged as they surrounded him. Not far away, on the building boat, the light of a longsword shone out. Yuan Muzhou also leaped up, flying straight toward Shen Junyu.

Seeing this, the Nine Nether Demon Lord’s eyes darkened. His first instinct was to kill Yuan Muzhou with a single finger.

The six elders had clearly learned their lesson from before and no longer acted recklessly. They joined forces to perform a set of heavy and solid sword techniques, seeking not to kill but to trap. Their abundant cultivation transformed into layers of sword nets that locked the Nine Nether Demon Lord firmly in the center. This left him with no way to distract himself or protect Shen Junyu from behind.

The Nine Nether Demon Lord’s expression darkened as he instantly realized that this was a trap specifically designed for Shen Junyu. A brief moment of distraction allowed a sword beam to graze him, leaving a trace of blood on his shoulder. Seeing this, the six elders were greatly encouraged, and their offensive became even more steady.

At this critical moment, a loud clash of metal rang out across the river. Shen Junyu’s longsword collided fiercely with Yuan Muzhou’s sword light, causing sword Qi to interweave and sparks to fly. Simultaneously, Shen Junyu’s indifferent voice reached the Nine Nether Demon Lord’s ears.

“I am fine. Do not be distracted, Demon Lord.”

The Nine Nether Demon Lord’s heart stirred, and a wild, arrogant smile curved his lips. Since Shen Junyu told him to fight without restraint, he no longer had any worries. His cyan-gold peacock dharma appearance suddenly erupted with dazzling light, and his attacks became bold and vast, carrying a destructive demonic power. He had to resolve these six annoying old men as quickly as possible.

On the other side, Shen Junyu shook his longsword, violently parrying Yuan Muzhou’s sword Qi. His figure moved like a startled swan, heading straight for Yuan Muzhou’s chest.

In a split second, Yuan Muzhou unexpectedly discarded his sword. He allowed Shen Junyu’s blade to approach his heart while urgently transmitting his voice. “Junyu, take me hostage quickly! The elders want to kill you because you leaked the secrets of the elders and the sword formation. Go quickly; do not stay to fight!”

The tip of Shen Junyu’s sword stopped abruptly an inch away from Yuan Muzhou’s heart. However, in that moment of hesitation, a sudden change occurred.

Shen Siyuan, who had been sitting in his wheelchair on the building boat looking terminally ill, suddenly flipped up and leaped forward. He released a cloud of eerie, blood-red mist from his palm, which carried a heavy scent of blood and curses, aimed straight at Shen Junyu’s back.

This was a calculated sneak attack. Yuan Muzhou cried out in shock, and the distant Nine Nether Demon Lord’s eyes nearly split with rage. His demonic light transformed into countless sharp arrows, instantly piercing the heart of one elder. He tried frantically to break through the encirclement, but he was still one step too slow.

The red mist had already touched the edge of Shen Junyu’s plain white robes. A sinister, triumphant smile appeared on Shen Siyuan’s face.

However, in the next second, Shen Junyu moved. No one could see how he did it, but his white clothes fluttered as he shifted like lightning. He appeared directly in front of the blood mist. With a rare, cold smile, he did not dodge at all. He reached out and caught the cloud of red mist.

Everyone was shocked.

Shen Junyu floated in mid-air, looking cold and indifferent. He held the struggling, corrosive blood mist firmly in his palm. Countless fine blood threads tried desperately to burrow into his skin, but they were blocked by a faint spiritual light and could not find a way in.

Shen Junyu spoke slowly. “Elder Wang, born in the Year of Jia Chen, Month of Ren Shen, Day of Wu Chen, and Hour of Gui Hai.”

One of the elders fighting the Demon Lord felt as if he had been struck by lightning, and his longsword nearly fell from his hand.

“Elder Luo, born in the Year of Ji Si, Month of Geng Wu, Day of Wu Shen, and Hour of Ding Si.”

Shen Junyu continued to recite the birth dates and times of the remaining elders without a single error. This was more intimidating than any divine weapon. With their birth information in the hands of such a master, it meant their lives were now controlled by another.

The elders lost all will to fight. In their confusion, they were beaten into a state of collapse by the Nine Nether Demon Lord. They turned and tried to flee.

“Stop if you do not want to die!” Shen Junyu shouted coldly. He summoned a small golden cage from his storage ring containing the Wuzu Blood Curse.

Shen Siyuan shrieked at the elders, “Run!”

Shen Junyu flicked his finger, and the specialized blood curse instantly wrapped around the slowest-fleeing elder. A blood-curdling scream echoed as the elder fell straight into the river. The remaining elders did not dare move another inch, standing frozen in the air with ashen faces.

Shen Junyu turned to look at the pale Shen Siyuan, who had fallen onto the ship’s deck. His eyes were cold. “I know you also remember the events of the past life. Since you tried to use this evil technique to harm me today, do not blame me for being heartless.”

With a wave of his hand, the blood mist he had captured flew out like a streak of light and crashed into Shen Siyuan’s body. Agonizing screams immediately rang across the river. Shen Siyuan’s already broken body began to tremble violently under the erosion of the blood mist.

Yuan Muzhou tried to rush forward to save him, but he was struck by a finger of demonic light from the Nine Nether Demon Lord. He was sent flying and crashed into a nearby rock, spitting out a spray of blood.

Shen Junyu looked at the remaining elders with a cold expression. “Go back and tell the Sword Sovereign that your Young Sect Master personally leaked the secrets. If you want to kill or punish someone, look for the right person. I will not be the scapegoat.”

He then asked the Nine Nether Demon Lord to send several golden-red restriction characters, marked with birth dates, into the foreheads of the elders. This was a “gift” to ensure they would never dare to pursue them again.

After handling everything, two demonic lights soared into the sky and disappeared into the night.

The moonlight was like silk, spreading over the sea. Shen Junyu and the Nine Nether Demon Lord sped forward. As the sea came into view, the sea breeze carried a salty scent to them.

“The Eastern Sea is here,” the Nine Nether Demon Lord said quietly.

However, just as they were about to cross into the sea territory, the Nine Nether Demon Lord’s body suddenly froze. His face showed a look of gravity and coldness that Shen Junyu had never seen before.

Shen Junyu followed his gaze, and his heart sank.

On the vast sea, a tiny bamboo raft floated. Standing on the raft was a figure in a simple green robe with white hair falling down. The figure stood with his back to them. That shade of green was so simple, yet it brought a sense of unprecedented despair to Shen Junyu.

The person in green turned around slowly, revealing a face as indifferent as a god. Then, a magnificent white sword light, as huge as a mountain, slashed out from his sleeve. it tore through the space and pierced through heaven and earth.

Under that overwhelming pressure, Shen Junyu found that he could not move even a single finger. This was the pressure of absolute cultivation. This was the sword of the Sword Sovereign.

Just as Shen Junyu thought he would be obliterated, a magnificent cyan-gold peacock dharma appearance blossomed before his eyes. The seven-colored light blocked the lethal sword Qi.

At the same time, a familiar and cold voice sounded in his heart through the heart-linking array on his palm. It carried a sense of finality and was only one word.

“Go.”

In that moment, the fragments of memory poured out like a flood. Wen Su’s familiar scent, the Nine Nether Demon Lord’s occasional smiles, the array on his palm, and that lingering cold fragrance.

Shen Junyu’s eyes grew warm as he finally understood everything. The Nine Nether Demon Lord had always been Wen Su, the person protecting him.