I Reborn on the Night I Divorced the Sword Deity, My Childhood Friend - Chapter 40

At this moment, the sword-light that pierced through heaven and earth slowly made contact with the massive, verdant-gold Peacock Dharma Form. With a force capable of crushing dry weeds and smashing rotten wood, it began to shatter the Dharma Form piece by piece, starting from its outermost edges.

The Peacock Dharma Form raised its head to the sky, letting out a wail of weeping blood. Light and shadow splintered as those beautiful tail feathers began to wither and drift away, petal by petal.

Only that slender figure in black remained fixed like a mountain, firmly shielding the space in front of Shen Junyu and never retreating even half a step.

“Go!”

He said this word once more. This time, his voice was low and hoarse, carrying a tearing sensation of weeping blood as he neared the point of total exhaustion.

Shen Junyu finally regained his senses. He looked up at the azure sky, the boundless sea, and the high, cold moon above. Then, he looked at the vast, infinite sword-light, the crumbling Peacock Dharma Form, and that familiar black robe.

He fell silent for a moment, let out a soft sigh, and then smiled faintly.

He said, “I am not going.”

His voice was very soft, yet exceptionally firm.

Hearing these three words, the pupils of the Nine Nether Demon Lord suddenly contracted. His internal aura involuntarily surged with turbulence, and spots of fresh blood dripped from the corners of his lips.

At that exact moment, a figure in white rose abruptly against the wind from behind the Demon Lord’s shattered Peacock Dharma Form. Holding a sword in his hand, he stood upon the sea and gazed up at the sky. The bright moonlight illuminated his white robes, making them appear untainted by a single speck of dust and completely flawless.

He pinched a secret seal with his left hand and pressed it against his chest. Closing his eyes, his voice was calm yet incomparably clear: “I humbly request the Divine Descent.”

In that instant, the fabric of heaven and earth suddenly tore open. Behind the vast firmament, a terrifyingly massive eye appeared. Like a small mountain, it rolled and pivoted, peering downward. Within that eye, a horrifying red beam shot straight down, slamming onto Shen Junyu.

The white robes were instantly dyed crimson, as if a Shura had descended upon the world.

Shen Junyu opened his eyes. His pupils had completely changed color, turning a bizarre scarlet hue identical to that terrifying eye in the sky. His entire aura exploded; waves surged over the sea, and thunder rumbled across the heavens, raging with abandon. Everything pointed to one fact: the Shen Junyu of this moment was no longer the Shen Junyu of before.

Above the waves, Shen Junyu looked over coldly. He did not even draw his sword. In a mere flash, he appeared in front of the Nine Nether Demon Lord. Reaching out, he used only two slender fingers to slowly crush that world-shaking, dazzling snow-white sword-light.

Behind him, the Nine Nether Demon Lord stared fixedly at Shen Junyu’s back. His gaze trembled and the blood surged in his chest, yet he could not utter a single word, nor did he dare to speak.

Meanwhile, the figure in green on the sea had long since abandoned the bamboo raft and was sprinting through the wind. He had completely lost his previous steady and righteous bearing, which had remained unbowed even under the weight of Mount Tai.

Shen Junyu watched that retreating figure quietly. Suddenly, a bizarre smile flickered in his blood-red pupils.

“I recognize you.”

The voice had changed too. Deep and heavy, it was not a sound that could ever come from Shen Junyu’s mouth. With just those four words, the figure in green fled even faster.

Expressionless, Shen Junyu pointed a finger. Red light erupted, striking down the figure in green with unerring precision. The waves instantly swallowed the shadow in green.

Shen Junyu stopped where he was, no longer pursuing. After a long while, he looked ahead and spoke indifferently, as if to himself: “Kid, if you do not wish for me to kill him, you will likely regret it in the future. Cherish your last wish well.”

The sea breeze blew and the waves surged, but no one responded. After an unknown amount of time, Shen Junyu gave a slight scoff. “It is time to go.”

The moment his voice fell, the space around him vibrated violently, and a massive, blood-red rift tore open in the sky once again. With a thunderous boom, countless gallons of seawater exploded upward like an undersea volcanic eruption. An arc-shaped red light radiated outward from Shen Junyu with a majestic tremor, knocking back the Nine Nether Demon Lord who was frantically trying to get close.

In the next instant, the red light converged into a single beam and shot toward the heavens. In the air, Shen Junyu’s body swayed slightly and fell straight down. The waves surged up from all sides, rushing toward the white-clad figure suddenly plummeting from the sky.

The sea breeze was chilly and the seawater was freezing, carrying a bitter, salty stench mixed with the smell of blood as it poured into his nose and mouth.

After an unknown amount of time, the moonlight shone upon a tattered, soaked black robe on the beach. On the Nine Nether Demon Lord’s flawlessly handsome face, there was mud and sand along with spots of blood. His skin was so pale it lacked a hint of color, and his black hair was disheveled, clinging to his cheek and neck.

Finally, his fingers twitched very slowly as the veins on the back of his hand bulged. Then, his eyelashes fluttered and he slowly opened those bloodshot, verdant-gold eyes.

After a brief, slow moment of daze, the Demon Lord suddenly jolted awake. He then scrambled up with his heavily injured body, frantically running toward the nearby sea. After an unknown amount of time, with a splash, he pulled a completely soaked white-clad figure from the water. With trembling hands, he frantically funneled demonic energy into him while carefully carrying him inch by inch back to the shore.

Shen Junyu’s injuries were more than a hundred times worse than the Demon Lord’s. At this very moment, nearly all the meridians and bones in his body were shattered, and his blood had almost run dry. Only a very faint wisp of spiritual energy at his chest temporarily protected his heart. Otherwise, his soul would have long since departed. Thus, even as the Nine Nether Demon Lord held him, he did not dare use too much strength.

This was the consequence of the Divine Descent. Gods come from a higher world. The strength of their souls exceeds that of a cultivator in this realm by tens of thousands of times. To invite them to descend, even for a Great Transformation stage cultivator, would result in being heavily injured for years. Yet, Shen Junyu had done so without looking back.

Now, the Nine Nether Demon Lord sat on the beach. His black robes were completely stained and filthy with sand and mud, but he, who usually possessed a deep obsession with cleanliness, could not care less. While funneling demonic energy, he stared deathly at Shen Junyu’s face, which was pale and colorless yet incomparably quiet and indifferent. After a moment of silence, he asked hoarsely, “Junyu?”

No one responded. The Nine Nether Demon Lord called out again: “Junyu.”

This time, his voice carried a hint of a tremble. Still, there was no response, only the sound of the sea breeze and the waves quietly hitting the shore.

The Demon Lord’s face, which had been forcing a facade of composure, completely crumbled at this moment. His eyes suddenly turned red. Finally unable to hold back, he closed his eyes trembling and slowly lowered his head, gently pressing his soaked, disheveled cheek against Shen Junyu’s currently ice-cold face. After a long time, a hot drop of water fell from the corner of his eye onto Shen Junyu’s cold skin.

Suddenly, a very weak but incomparably familiar voice echoed softly in the Nine Nether Demon Lord’s heart. “Go.”

The Demon Lord’s entire body jolted. He snapped his eyes open, looking at Shen Junyu in front of him in disbelief. However, from beginning to end, Shen Junyu had not moved a muscle. Even those beautiful eyelashes had not flickered once.

The Demon Lord thought he was hallucinating, but soon he realized something. He hurriedly reached out and, with extreme care, gently pulled out Shen Junyu’s left hand. That pale hand hung limply and weakly, but as soon as it was turned over, one could see a circle of pale gold formation runes on the jade-white palm glowing faintly.

Seeing this formation rune, the Nine Nether Demon Lord’s breath caught for a second. He once again tremblingly reached out his own left hand to compare. Under the moonlight, two slender hands were joined together. Two identical golden formation runes lay on their palms, both glowing faintly as if they were breathing.

The Nine Nether Demon Lord grew quiet for a breath as a surge of wild joy flooded his heart.

The news that Yuan Muzhou had returned in defeat with Shen Siyuan and the six elders spread throughout the entire Sword Sect within a few days. This was during the period of the Sword Fighting Assembly. People were coming and going like a school of carp crossing a river, and the inspections and guards between sects were much looser than before.

Upon hearing such news, everyone in the Central Province felt a sense of personal danger. After all, no one knew where Shen Junyu and the Nine Nether Demon Lord had gone. What if they suddenly appeared near the Sword Sect and went on a killing spree? How could ordinary cultivators like them resist?

Consequently, they all began to resent Yuan Muzhou, feeling it was his act of releasing the tiger back to the mountain that allowed his demonic former fiancé to remain at large.

“Is the Young Sect Master Yuan’s handling of this matter not too inappropriate? Could it be that he was truly blinded by that demon-cultivating fiancé and intentionally let him go? Otherwise, it is impossible to imagine six Void Refinement stage cultivators losing to one and being toyed with.”

“Exactly. It must be that the Young Sect Master went easy on him, failing the elders and the rest of us ordinary people.”

“How about we find the elders and ask them to beg the Sword Venerable to severely punish the Young Sect Master?”

“Good, that is a great idea.”

As a result, many Sword Sect disciples and experts from external sects went together to visit the Elders’ Hall, but they were all turned away. They assumed the elders were shielding Yuan Muzhou, and for a time, their resentment toward him grew heavier. Later, they even began to harbor grievances against the Sword Sect itself.

In truth, these people did not know that the elders were also extremely resentful of Yuan Muzhou. After all, they could see that night that Yuan Muzhou had clearly held back when capturing Shen Junyu, which allowed Shen Junyu the opportunity to strike later. This man was truly beyond saving.

However, at this time, Yuan Muzhou was heavily injured and unconscious. Even if the elders hated him to the bone, they did not dare release the news, fearing that other sects would take the opportunity to stir up trouble and fearing that the Sword Venerable would blame them for Yuan Muzhou’s heavy injuries.

But strangely enough, since Yuan Muzhou returned heavily injured, the Sword Venerable had shown no movement at all. He had not even inquired about how things were handled or why they had failed. The elders felt that perhaps the Sword Venerable was too disappointed to see them, while also secretly feeling lucky, wishing for the Sword Venerable not to pursue the matter.

Just then, an elite disciple walked in. After dismissing the others, he said to the elders guarding Yuan Muzhou: “Elders, that Second Young Master of the Shen family has arrived. He is outside, saying he has a way to treat the Young Sect Master’s injuries.”

One of the elders heard this and immediately scolded: “Nonsense! That Shen Siyuan is still under a bloodline curse. How could he possibly run here?”

The elite disciple’s face burned, but he still argued: “He said his curse has been lifted, and right now he looks to be in good spirits, as if he has recovered. Since the elders cannot cure the Young Sect Master’s injuries right now, why not let him have a look?”

Hearing this, the elders’ expressions shifted. After hesitating for a moment, they said: “Fine, let him in. If he really has some skill and can save the Young Sect Master, it would not be impossible to let him atone for his crimes.”

The elite disciple bowed and withdrew. A short while later, Shen Siyuan was brought in. When the elders saw the current Shen Siyuan, they were indeed shocked. Shen Siyuan now appeared ruddy-faced with steady breathing. Not only was there no sign of the curse, but even that withered state from losing his Golden Core was gone. No one knew what he had done to end up like this.

The elders were suspicious and skeptical. They swept their spiritual senses over Shen Siyuan and found that while his Golden Core was still not recovered, the spiritual energy in his body was much more abundant and his bones and meridians were very well-nourished. There were no signs of any medicinal use.

Seeing the elders’ suspicion, Shen Siyuan smiled faintly and said, “Have the elders ever heard of an epiphany between life and death?”

The elders were stunned, then suddenly understood.

Shen Siyuan continued: “Between life and death, I realized a set of cultivation techniques to attract the spiritual energy of heaven and earth. Not only did it break the curse, but it also restored my health. It seems the Heavenly Dao is fair after all.”

The elders were half-convinced.

Shen Siyuan said, “I was partially responsible for Big Brother Yuan’s injury. Now that I have obtained such a great opportunity, I naturally must come to treat his injuries. Can the elders make it convenient for me to try?”

The elders looked at each other and hesitated. “You truly can make him wake up?”

Shen Siyuan joined two fingers and swore an oath to the heavens. After finishing the oath, he added: “Besides, with the elders here, you could kill a useless person like me with a single palm strike. How would I dare to act recklessly?”

“That is indeed the truth.”

The elders believed him and silently moved aside.

Shen Siyuan maneuvered his wheelchair, slowly approaching the bed where Yuan Muzhou lay. Looking at Yuan Muzhou’s pale face and tightly furrowed brows, the smile on Shen Siyuan’s face gradually faded. An inexplicable trace of melancholy flickered within him, but it vanished as quickly as it had appeared.

He reached out and grasped Yuan Muzhou’s hand. To an onlooker, it appeared to be a comforting gesture, but in reality, his nails slowly pierced both Yuan Muzhou’s finger and his own palm. Blood dripped and mingled, coiling into an inseparable contract.

Shen Siyuan remained motionless. The moment the contract formed, his lips curled into a bizarre, twisted smile that looked more painful than crying. He did not know what to feel. The Life-and-Death Soulmate Covenant required both parties to harbor feelings for one another to succeed. No matter how faint those feelings were, as long as they existed, it was enough.

Finally, one of the elders noticed something was wrong and shouted, “What are you doing?!”

As he spoke, he struck out toward Shen Siyuan with his palm.

Shen Siyuan was no longer afraid. He jerked his hand up, displaying his joined palm with Yuan Muzhou to the elders. The purple patterns of the Soulmate Covenant were flowing slowly between his hand and the unconscious Yuan Muzhou’s.

The attacking elder, seeing the pattern, was so shocked that he had to forcefully retract his strike, causing him to cough up a mouthful of blood from the internal recoil.

At that moment, Yuan Muzhou let out a low groan. His long eyelashes fluttered, clearly showing signs of waking. The elders had not expected Shen Siyuan to actually succeed in waking him, and for a moment, their expressions were extremely strange.

However, in the next breath, Shen Siyuan raised his hand and tapped Yuan Muzhou’s brow with a Sleep Hex, sending him back into a deep slumber. He then turned to look at the furious elders by the bed.

“Elders, Big Brother Yuan can indeed wake up now. You saw it, did you not?”

The elders’ expressions were chilling as they rebuked him, “This is nothing but a sinister trick!”

“The reason I could recover my health is because I used the Fleeting Radiance,” Shen Siyuan stated calmly.

The side hall suddenly fell into a deathly silence. The elders’ faces turned ghastly. The Fleeting Radiance was a technique that folded and merged a person’s lifespan to the greatest extent, all to gain a few months or even just a few days of peak physical condition. Once that time passed, death was inevitable.

One elder sneered, “You claim to be a master of curses and contracts, yet do you not know that once your lifespan ends, the Life-and-Death Soulmate Covenant will be severed as well?”

“I know,” Shen Siyuan replied. “However, I am not a good person. Therefore, before I die, if you elders do anything to dissatisfy me, I will use every means possible to ensure Big Brother Yuan’s life is miserable. Tell me, if the Sword Venerable finds out about this, will he punish me, or will he punish you?”

The elders’ faces changed instantly.

After a long silence, Shen Siyuan said indifferently, “Within three days, I want a Golden Core.”

An elder snapped, “Extracting a living person’s core to nourish you is barbaric and the success rate is incredibly low. This is the conduct of a demonic path!”

Shen Siyuan smiled. His expression was calm, but his eyes were filled with madness. He said, “I do not care. I must have it.”

One elder, seeing Shen Siyuan’s state, looked as if he wanted to strike him dead on the spot, but he was held back by another. Eventually, after a tense standoff, they said in low voices, “In three days, we will give you an answer.”

“If I do not see the Golden Core, I will harm myself,” Shen Siyuan added coolly.

The elders said nothing, their faces darkened with rage as they swept out of the hall. For a moment, only Shen Siyuan and Yuan Muzhou remained. After the elders left, Shen Siyuan gradually calmed down. He looked back at Yuan Muzhou and gave a small, mocking laugh.

“If I had known that becoming a villain made everything so easy, I would not have bothered pretending in my past life.”

After saying this, he fell silent. Then, with an extremely gentle motion, he reached out and tucked the blanket around Yuan Muzhou, looking exactly like the devoted Sect Leader Shen of his previous life.

On the Eastern Sea, the morning sun rose as a white jade boat sped along the current. Inside the boat, the Nine Nether Demon Lord held Shen Junyu in his arms, funneling demonic energy into him while carefully sensing the thoughts that Shen Junyu occasionally transmitted.

Both had changed into fresh clothes. The Nine Nether Demon Lord could clearly see the bizarre blood seal on Shen Junyu’s white chest. It was a mark identical to those strange, blood-red eyes. Furthermore, two-thirds of the pattern in the center of the seal had been filled in, radiating a faint spiritual light.

The Demon Lord recalled what “Shen Junyu” had said that night: only one wish remained. If saving him was the second wish, what was the first? And when had it been made?

His mind was clouded with questions, but he did not ask a single word. He simply held Shen Junyu quietly, healing his injuries. In truth, his own condition was hardly better, but he was forcing himself to endure.

Suddenly, a thought flickered in his mind: To the east.

The Demon Lord’s heart jolted. He immediately sent out a wave of demonic energy to flip back the boat’s curtain and remotely steered the rudder to change course. He then looked down at Shen Junyu. However, the man in his arms remained with his eyes closed, his face as pale and fragile as white porcelain, his long lashes unmoving.

The Demon Lord gave a bitter smile. After a wave of disappointment, he forced himself to focus and continued the healing process.

Time flew by. The sun climbed to its zenith and then slowly dipped, and the sea began to shimmer with a faint phosphorescence. Night had arrived. And with the night, the sword intent within the Demon Lord’s body became even more rampant.

Finally, while funneling energy into Shen Junyu, he could not hold back and coughed up a mouthful of blood. Within the verdant-gold blood, the presence of sword intent was seventy percent stronger than before, remnants of the strike that had shattered his Dharma Form.

Looking at the sword intent in his blood, the hatred in the Demon Lord’s eyes grew colder. The Sword Venerable, the head of a sect, the supreme master of the sword had actually committed such an underhanded act as an ambush. One day, he would tear that hypocrite into a thousand pieces.

As his emotions surged, the sword intent within him raged further. He closed his eyes against the pain, his thin lips pressed into a line and his lashes trembling. Yet, he refused to let go of the hand funneling energy to Shen Junyu.

Suddenly, he felt a light itch in his palm.

Initially, he thought it was a hallucination. But soon, he looked down at the hand he was holding. This time, as if to confirm his thoughts, those jade-white fingertips moved slightly, brushing against his palm.

The Nine Nether Demon Lord was completely stunned.

After an unknown amount of time, his Adam’s apple moved slightly. He gripped that hand and slowly brought it to his beautiful, pale cheek. Skin met skin; it felt like the touch of cold, frozen jade.

His lips moved several times as if he were excited yet found the words difficult to say. Finally, he regained a strange sense of calm and asked hoarsely, “Pinch me. I am not dreaming, am I?”

For a long time, the hand did not move again. Just as the expectation in the Demon Lord’s narrow gold eyes began to flicker out, turning into deep disappointment, that slender hand trembled with great effort. It slowly reached up to touch the Demon Lord’s eyes.

Because he could not find the exact position, it was merely a light, fleeting touch, the fingertips slowly brushed against his eyelashes before stopping.

A faint, cool sensation registered, and the Demon Lord froze. In the next instant, within his heart which had been as desolate as the empty sea countless brilliant fireworks seemed to shoot up and bloom magnificently.

After a long silence, he finally could not help himself. He gently rubbed the jade-like skin on the back of the hand with his thumb, then brought that beautiful, slender hand to his lips.

He lowered his eyes and kissed it slowly, then kissed it again. He kissed from the smooth, rounded nails to the soft fingertips, then to the long, elegant fingers and the delicate back of the hand, and finally… to the most sensitive part of the palm.

At last, when that final kiss fell as light as a feather on the palm, the hand seemed to grow embarrassed. The fingers curled slightly as if trying to retract. Only then did the Demon Lord regain his senses and stop his nearly “offensive” behavior.

A faint smile involuntarily appeared on his thin lips. He reached out and tightened his embrace around the thin figure in his arms, then leaned down and whispered into that white ear:

“I could not help myself just now. I am sorry. If you are angry, pinch me again, alright?”