When I Mistook My Arch-Rival for My Dao Companion - Chapter 15

Chapter 15

A place that only dead people can leave—where exactly would that be?

Fu Guzhou had never wanted to regain his memories so quickly as he did at this moment. Without sufficient memory to support him, he was like a headless fly, not even knowing where he currently was. But the difficulty of finding his memories was no less than that of figuring out his location.

Fu Guzhou quickly calmed down and continued to question: “The world does not lack places that only dead people can enter, but as for a place that only dead people can leave, Senior, are you not tricking me?”

“Good lad, in thousands of years, you are the only one who has dared to speak to this old man like that. Why don’t you tell me where you think you have arrived?”

“Naturally, a secret realm suitable for ghost cultivators.”

“Since it is a secret realm suitable for ghost cultivators, why do you think you were able to enter?”

“Naturally, it was the Nine-Turn Yin-Slaying…” Fu Guzhou’s words cut off abruptly.

Something was wrong. The reason they thought this was a ghost cultivator’s secret realm was mostly because the ghostly qi here was dense and it could suppress a person’s cultivation; every other aspect was extremely similar to such a secret realm. But who said a place satisfying these conditions must be a secret realm? They had been biased by their first impressions.

Fu Guzhou threw the question back, “Senior is so powerful, why don’t you tell me exactly where this place is?”

“This old man naturally knows, but why should I tell you? However, I am an easy-going person. As long as you accept my legacy, what harm is there in telling you? This old man believes that even after so many years, this Evil-Settling Sword can still be called one of the top three swords. Although my sword underwent heaven-turning changes after I turned into a ghost cultivator, the matter with Xiyun still allowed me to achieve a sort of great enlightenment, from which I comprehended a single strike.”

In the Way of the Sword, more moves are not necessarily better; sometimes one strike is indeed enough. For a strike to be praised multiple times by the Venerable Dingxie himself—as long as the person wasn’t exceptionally narcissistic—it meant that strike truly deserved to be called peerless.

However, just for one sword strike, Fu Guzhou couldn’t bring himself to kill himself. Besides, this old man was quite wicked, hiding and clutching onto a single piece of information just to trick him into suicide.

Fu Guzhou put on a thoughtful expression, then still shook his head: “That won’t do. What if I strike myself and Senior was lying to me? Where would I go to cry? How about this: Senior tells me exactly where this place is first, and then I will consider whether to learn this sword art from you. After all, I am a man with a Dao companion and a family; how can I just die? If the conversion to a ghost cultivator fails, what will happen to my companion?”

Fu Guzhou’s argument was well-reasoned, putting on the air that if the white-browed child didn’t tell him, he would turn around and leave.

The white-browed child returned to his sword, standing atop the long blade to look Fu Guzhou in the eye. “You lad truly won’t listen to advice. Making you accept my legacy first is treated as if I am trapping you. But if you want to know, it’s not impossible. Seeing as there is still something in that head of yours, I wonder if you know of a place called Avici.”

Avici. Fu Guzhou’s face suddenly tensed up.

“Senior, please do not speak nonsense.”

“You lad are truly boring. On one hand you want this old man to tell you, and after I tell you, you don’t believe me. Otherwise, why do you think this seat would have meditated into death here?”

Fu Guzhou’s mind spun rapidly. “Senior, you just said this place only lets dead people leave, and you also said you converted to a ghost cultivator. Then why do you still have a remnant soul left here, with the Evil-Settling Sword remaining as well? Even if I am not some brilliant person, I am not a fool. Exactly what are you trying to achieve by tricking me like this?”

Simultaneously, the sword qi around Fu Guzhou surged violently.

The white-browed child remained calm facing such sharp sword qi, actually blocking it entirely with just one hand.

“A lad who doesn’t even have his natal spiritual sword on him dares to be so arrogant. Perhaps this old man has slept here too long and hasn’t kept up with your pace.”

Fu Guzhou, though mocked, remained in good spirits. “With Senior’s remnant soul’s strength, killing me would be as easy as flipping a hand. Since Senior hasn’t acted, you must not be a person of extreme evil. So why must Senior insist that I accept your legacy?”

“You lad are clever enough. In the three thousand worlds, where all laws coexist, those who can comprehend the Great Dao of Ascension are very few. In my early years, I was high-spirited, and after discovering I was deceived in love, I nearly suffered cultivation deviation and exploded. Since then, the only thing I can call my pride is that one strike. That strike was something I spent my entire life to comprehend. Unfortunately, before I could use this sword to verify if I could ascend the Great Dao, I silently disappeared within this Avici.”

“You ask why, since I said only dead people can leave, I cannot leave myself and am trapped here? That is naturally because Avici only ferries ‘Avici people,’ and ‘Avici people’ are those who do not exist in this world. Therefore, this Avici truly only lets dead people leave. Though ghost cultivators have become ghosts, they are still cultivators, people who exist in this world. You said this old man was tricking you? Congratulations, you were actually right.”

Fu Guzhou wanted to speak but stopped, wanting to curse but unable to find the words.

“…Senior is truly unique.”

Avici—Fu Guzhou had heard of it. The so-called Avici was an existence similar to a spatial rift. Many things that do not exist in the cultivation world might exist here. However, once one arrives here, they are bound to be suppressed by the space of this realm, and it is a place with an entrance but no exit.

It seemed he and Wenren Qian had just left the wolf’s den only to enter the tiger’s lair.

“Senior has stayed here for so long, is there really no other way?”

“This old man did obtain a method before I was about to pass away, but why must I tell you? After all, you won’t learn my sword art; to me, you are just a stranger. For a stranger, it’s already good enough that I haven’t directly kicked you out of my space.”

Since strength didn’t work, Fu Guzhou planned to speak nicely with this senior. “Senior, you come from the Ten Thousand Swords Sect ($万剑宗$) of the ‘Ten Thousand Swords Returning to the Ancestor’ era, right? The sword cultivators of the Ten Thousand Swords Sect were all courageous and righteous, each a legendary figure. You—”

“Stop. I’ve had too many ‘high hats’ (flattery) put on me. It’s useless even if you try to flatter me.”

Fu Guzhou endured it, then couldn’t help himself. “You crusty old man, you just want to trick me into learning your sword art. Why all the twists and turns? Just teach me that one strike directly.”

“But this old man cannot bear to see his beloved sword gather dust.”

“…Regardless, suicide is impossible for me.”

Fu Guzhou was exceptionally firm. At worst, he would just be thrown out.

The white-browed child actually laughed at this. “You lad are interesting. Becoming a ghost cultivator is no big deal; ordinary people would have done it long ago to get my legacy. Yet you push and pull. However, among the true and false things I said earlier, there is one thing I didn’t lie about: this sword is filled with my resentment from back then. It truly can only be used by the dead. If a living person uses this sword, they will be swallowed and obliterated by my thousands of years of resentment in an instant.”

“Then I will find a powerful ghost cultivator to be the sword’s master for you in the future,” Fu Guzhou suggested.

“You lad,” the white-browed child scolded with a laugh. “But this old man truly admires you. You have a bit of the flair I had when I was young. A person with sword bones like yours—even in our era, not one was produced. Such top-grade sword bones, combined with my sword art—would it not be wonderful? Lad, watch closely.”

He was actually going to teach him the sword art now. Fu Guzhou quickly focused his mind to watch.

One strike. There truly was only one strike.

However, Fu Guzhou’s eyes widened at this single strike. It looked like one strike, but when it surged toward him, it seemed to undergo ten thousand changes. One strike could become ten million strikes. No wonder he dared to call this strike peerless and matchless.

“Lad, how is it?”

The wind from the sword brushed past Fu Guzhou’s cheek, but it didn’t harm him in the slightest. Fu Guzhou, with his cold face, pondered for a long while before giving an answer: “If I can learn this strike, it will be enough for me to show off for half a lifetime.”

“Why only half a lifetime?”

“Because in the future, I will surely comprehend a strike even more stunning and extraordinary than this one.”

The white-browed child burst into loud laughter. “What arrogance! This old man indeed did not misjudge you. You clearly don’t even know where you lost your natal spiritual sword, yet your body has a ‘sincerity’ rarely seen in the world a sincerity toward the sword.”

“Senior praises me too much.” Fu Guzhou kept a straight face, feeling a bit embarrassed by the compliment.

On the other side, Wenren Qian played with the spiritual grass in his hand, walking leisurely toward that direction.

Staring at the bloodstains left every few steps on the ground, he eventually frowned. “You lot hurt him.”

The vines and Nether Ghost-Flame Flowers that had been so overbearing before Fu Guzhou, chasing him for hundreds of miles, all curled themselves into balls. Amidst that dense demonic energy, they didn’t dare move a single bit.

“My enemy should be finished by my own hands. It seems you lot didn’t take this seat seriously!”

The vines and Nether Ghost-Flame Flowers all cowered. The Nether Ghost-Flame Flowers, whose intelligence was relatively better developed, tried to plead for mercy. However, before they could make any reaction, crimson flames completely enveloped them.

Gazing at the sky full of crimson, Wenren Qian touched the red-eyed little snake that had reappeared in his hand. “Avici Prison… it is indeed a good place to trap someone.”

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