VGAB Chapter 50

Thunder rumbled, and lightning flashed in the sky.

It seemed that the Tianyan Sect had been facing this kind of situation frequently this year. The disciples in the inner sect looked up at the sky in the central square.

“Is this another Heavenly Thunderstorm? Is the peak master of the Jade Sword Peak advancing again so soon?”

They still remembered the spectacle from the previous tribulation vividly.

“No, this direction is not the Jade Sword Peak…” someone frowned. “It seems to be—”

“It’s the tower!” a voice screamed, “Someone is undergoing a tribulation in the tower!”

Like a calm surface of water suddenly disturbed by a storm, the previously nonchalant inner sect disciples were all startled. “The tower is a restricted area; how could someone enter it? Are the people from the Punishment Hall all dead?”

However, before the inner sect disciples could react, a bolt of heavenly lightning struck the top of the tower, and then a fierce fire rapidly engulfed the entire tower.

Even the dark sky turned red from the flames.

Qi Heng stood in the sky, and Xiao Mo, still in pendant form, clung tightly to the cord hanging next to his pendant, fearing that he might fall from the heavens.

As the fire burned, countless souls flew out of the tower, circled in the air for a moment, and then headed toward the inner sect without looking back.

“Eh? My soul fragments seem to be fine?” The first disciple who was found by his soul fragments stopped trying to extinguish the heavenly fire.

“Mine are back too!”

“Me too!”

“…”

Soon, everyone realized that their soul fragments hadn’t been struck by the heavenly thunder but had returned to their bodies intact.

So…

“Since everyone is fine, do we still need to go and save them from the heavenly fire?”

“Don’t you think it’s best not to intervene? That’s heavenly fire…” The remaining words were drowned out by the silence of the crowd. The heavenly fire wasn’t something that fell casually. If the heavens unleashed it, there must have been something extremely heinous inside the tower.

One after another, purple lightning bolts struck the tower, and the inner sect disciples in the square watched in silence as the tower turned into ashes amidst the lightning and fire.

A day later, the spiritual energy of the illusion dried up. The outer sect disciples who had been sacrificed by the Tianyan Sect in the illusion woke up first.

And then, they fled the Tianyan Sect in panic.

By the time Qing Xu and the others woke up, it was too late to stop them.

“The Tianyan Sect… it’s over…” Xuan Wei, in his spiritual form, showed a trace of pain in his eyes.

“It’s all over.”

Whether it was sacrificing living beings or the lives of their disciples, it was no different from dealing with demons. Even if the current Tianyan Sect hadn’t committed such acts, the illusion was a test of inner choices. The fact that these outer sect disciples had fled would surely be widely publicized. Who would dare to come to the Tianyan Sect in the future?

The greatest fear for a sect’s legacy is the lack of successors.

Qi Heng, with Xiao Mo in his miniaturized state, found the entrance to a hidden realm.

This was one of Xiao Mo’s opportunities in this life. In the original storyline, he was supposed to enter this secret realm during a trial after joining the inner sect. However, due to the machinations of the antagonist, Xiao Mo stumbled into this secret realm under unfortunate circumstances.

But in this lifetime, Xiao Mo hadn’t even entered the inner sect, let alone undergone any trials. The future of the cultivation world and the fate of the Tianyan Sect were uncertain.

Finally touching the ground, Xiao Mo’s silent scream of fear subsided, and he managed to calm down enough to focus his consciousness and observe his surroundings.

However, being in a miniaturized state, even a single leaf felt like an overwhelming obstacle, not to mention the large rocks around him.

“Senior Brother, where is this?”

“A cliff,” Qi Heng’s voice was ice-cold, and Xiao Mo jumped in surprise. “A cliff?”

“What’s wrong with you, Senior Brother? If you’re feeling uneasy, we can go back to the Tianyan Sect and set a few fires. Please don’t think about doing something drastic like jumping off a cliff.”

“I’m not thinking about jumping.” Qi Heng took Xiao Mo off his jade pendant, holding him up to his eyes, and asked thoughtfully, “You seem to be afraid of heights?”

“No, not at all,” Xiao Mo denied without even thinking. He couldn’t believe that he, a cultivator, was afraid of heights. It would be too embarrassing if his senior brother found out.

“Is that so? It’s good you’re not afraid,” Qi Heng squinted. “There’s a cave below, and inside, you’ll find your opportunity.”

“Ah? My opportunity?” Xiao Mo was briefly puzzled, and then he felt his fingers loosen their grip on himself, causing him to drop straight down.

Before Xiao Mo could scream, he felt like he passed through some kind of barrier.

The enchantment flickered, the magic faded, and Xiao Mo returned to his normal size, landing in a cave.

It didn’t hurt, as if he had landed on a soft, fluffy cloud.

Xiao Mo touched the ground, but it was firm as if it were telling him that the soft, fluffy cloud was just an illusion.

“Could it be Senior Brother’s magic?”

Xiao Mo muttered to himself and began to examine the cave, searching for the opportunity that Qi Heng had mentioned.

“A bare cave like this, can it really have opportunities? Did Senior Brother get swindled by some charlatan from the martial world?”

Xiao Mo walked along and accidentally tripped over a protruding stone. He fell to the ground with a thud, raising a cloud of dust.

Xiao Mo cursed and quickly got up, picking up the stone and throwing it away in frustration.

“Boom!”

The cave suddenly shook, and Xiao Mo felt a moment of dizziness. When he opened his eyes again, he wasn’t in the barren cave anymore. Instead, he found himself in a lush meadow, an enchanting realm with blooming flowers. The grassy ground was covered with various spiritual stones, martial arts manuals, and dazzling weapons that seemed to be of the highest quality.

“What kind of place is this?” Xiao Mo complained, “Is this trap designed for fools? They put so many good things out here as if they’re afraid someone won’t notice. It’s definitely a scam.”

Xiao Mo surveyed his surroundings and noticed a plain, somewhat dilapidated small wooden house not far away. Without hesitation, he left behind the pile of precious items and walked confidently toward the wooden house.

“Pah!” The old and dusty wooden door was pushed open, causing dust to billow out. Xiao Mo quickly took a few steps back to avoid the dust.

“Young man,” a voice with a sense of age echoed, “you did well. You passed the test of the Heartless Sword.”

“What?” Xiao Mo raised his head, trying to locate the source of the voice. “Who are you? Who’s speaking?”

“I am a remnant of the previous owner of the Heartless Sword.”

The surroundings suddenly changed, and Xiao Mo realized he was still in the cave. When he looked back, all the treasures and spiritual stones that had been on his path had turned into white bones.

“Those are the cultivators who failed the test,” the remnant explained. “They couldn’t pass the test, succumbed to greed, and were wiped out by the sword intent of the Heartless Sword.”

Xiao Mo suddenly felt a chill down his spine. Fortunately, his extensive reading had made him familiar with these tricks. If he had been ignorant and picked up those treasures earlier, he might have ended up as one of those white bones.

“Young man, would you like to accept my legacy?” The remnant spoke again, though it was a question, the tone was extremely confident.

Xiao Mo replied warily, “What is your legacy?”

“The sword is the Heartless Sword, so naturally, my legacy is the Heartless Way.”

“No,” Xiao Mo immediately refused without hesitation. “No way, I don’t want to inherit any Heartless Way. Look at me, do I seem like someone with the potential to cultivate such a ruthless path?”

He had no desire to become a personification of an emotionless iceberg.

“What?” The remnant was astonished. “You don’t want my legacy?”

Is there a new and amazing sword art that has emerged in the world of cultivation after thousands of years? Even the Heartless Way can be discarded by a mere Qi Refining cultivator?

“No,” Xiao Mo refused once again and turned to walk out of the cave.

A gleaming sword, radiating cold light, blocked his path.

Not intending to let him go, the remnant was surprised to find itself frozen in place.

“Does the Heartless Sword mean that you have to insist on having a new master?”

Xiao Mo took a step to the left, and the Heartless Sword followed suit. He took a step to the right, and the sword moved right along with him.

Xiao Mo furrowed his brow. “What’s the matter? Are you playing hard to get, senior?”

Xiao Mo thought it was some mischief by the remnant.

The remnant gave a wry smile. “It’s the Heartless Sword’s own choice. It seems that fate has decreed that you should accept the inheritance of the Heartless Way.”

“I don’t want it. My senior brother is waiting for me outside!” Xiao Mo immediately refused without a second thought. What if accepting the Heartless Way’s inheritance turned him into someone who abandoned all family ties?

“The Heartless Sword has chosen you. If you accept the inheritance, it will also bestow you with its own five hundred years of cultivation, enough to advance to the Nascent Soul stage.”

The remnant reluctantly spoke. In his expectations, these cultivators should be humble and eager to please him to receive the inheritance. He never imagined he’d have to practically beg someone to accept it.

Oh well, once a sword is given away, it’s like water spilled out; the remnant sighed.

Xiao Mo rolled his eyes and, taking advantage of the Heartless Sword’s inattention, he bent over and slipped out from under it, then ran toward the entrance of the cave.

The Heartless Sword emitted a clear, long hum, and a massive boulder fell from above, blocking the entrance to the cave.

Xiao Mo narrowly halted his steps. The Heartless Sword was incredibly domineering; just because he refused to accept the inheritance, it wanted to crush him with a stone.

Xiao Mo became even more certain that the Heartless Path was not a good thing. Without hesitation, he resorted to his last escape plan.

“Senior Brother!! Help! There’s a sword trying to kill me!!!”

The loud cries echoed from the cave’s entrance and reached the cliff above.

Qu Heng, who had been planning to leave after believing that Xiao Mo had already started accepting the inheritance, heard this cry for help and stopped in his tracks.

Strange. Could it be that Xiao Mo had encountered some danger?

In the previous life, he claimed to have easily obtained the inheritance with no difficulties at all. Could it be a matter of timing? The previous Xiao Mo who fell into this cave seemed to be a Foundation Establishment cultivator.

With this in mind, Qi Heng didn’t hesitate any longer and swiftly descended the cliff.

“Help—Eh? Senior Brother?” Xiao Mo stared in shock at the white-clad figure that appeared out of nowhere. He had originally called out randomly, prepared for the worst under the pressure of the Heartless Sword.

However, he hadn’t expected that his senior brother would actually come down in response.

“Who are you? I can’t see through your cultivation!” The remnant spirit expressed surprise.

“Xiao Mo.” Qi Heng gazed at the unharmed Xiao Mo with an indifferent expression.

“I can explain!” Xiao Mo rushed to Qi Heng’s side and hastily spoke, “That sword forced me to inherit something called the Heartless Path, but I refused, and it won’t let me leave.”

He continued in a lower voice, “I was just shouting randomly; I didn’t expect you, Senior Brother, to actually come down.”

Qi Heng looked somewhat bewildered, “You don’t want this inheritance?”

“Of course not,” Xiao Mo vehemently refused, “I don’t want to learn some heartless path or become emotionless. What’s the point of life if I become like that?”

“You ignorant child!” The remnant spirit scolded angrily, “The Heartless Path values equality among all beings. It should not be equated with being emotionless!”

The Heartless Sword suddenly flew to Qi Heng’s side, and Xiao Mo noticed, stepping forward to block Qi Heng.

“Go away, don’t target my Senior Brother!”

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