My enemies became my companions

Chapter 718 The River of Time (Part 2)

Decades have passed, and finally...

The Holy Maiden's already ethereal face, outlined by a hazy white light, became even more ethereal at this moment, resembling a pure humanoid source of light, formless and shapeless.

Buddhist scriptures say, "All forms are illusory. If you see all forms as non-forms, you will see the Tathagata." The Buddha statues that people kneel and pray to are nothing more than incarnations of the Buddha. The so-called Buddha is the reality of all dharmas, and the Dharma is inherently formless. Therefore, she, who has long since transformed into the Dharma, also has a formless Dharma body.

The Pure Saintess was already formless and without eyes. Her "gaze" was slightly lowered, falling on the bright palace in her palm. Realizing that she was making such a mortal movement, she smiled.

However, I adapted quickly.

She stood quietly, holding the Ming Palace in her palm. For decades, she had walked through the world of ignorance, waiting patiently, and now her time had finally come.

The figure, formed from pure light, seemed to have stood there since time immemorial, merging seamlessly with the aura of the Ming Palace in the palm of one's hand.

Since Chen Yi stepped into the Southern Frontier, she had vaguely sensed something from the world of ignorance. The reason was simple: she initially sensed a unique sword intent on him that resonated with the Ming Palace yet also formed its own world. Even her heart, which had been dormant for many years, was stirred. Upon closer contact, it was indeed an unexpected and delightful surprise.

Such a fitting "container" meant that she tacitly approved and even guided certain processes, and abandoning pawns like the Boundless King was an inevitable consequence of weighing the options.

Later, there were some twists and turns. He originally intended to secretly guide her to achieve her wishes and become immersed in a dream, so as to possess her body. However, the woman surnamed Min was surprisingly perceptive with her sword mind. At the last moment, she vaguely sensed his intention and almost ruined the whole thing.

Then, at the final step, she was still startled by the sword and armor, but looking back now, it was all a close call, and the Ming Palace was already in her hands.

Everything is settled.

Some setbacks may occur, but they cannot ultimately change the overall trend.

The position of the Bright Lord has been vacant for countless years, or perhaps the Bright Lord never existed at all. From beginning to end, there has only been a Bright Palace, which is the authority of the Bright Lord and the foundation of the Bright World.

The Pure and Holy Maiden deduced these secrets from ancient texts.

Whoever commands the Ming Palace is the Ming Emperor.

The key to this was that Gongsun Guan was not entirely unaware of this, but the future seen by the person revered as the leader of the Ming An Divine Cult was unpredictable, and the Pure Saintess knew that even he was unsure whether the Ming Zun was Chen Yi.

He glimpsed a faint but present variable within that destiny.

According to his deduction, Chen Yi will become the Mingzun, almost certainly, but there is still one "one" left, and the Pure Saintess grasped that "one".

This is the final move she has made in silence after decades of patient waiting. Now, she has seized this "one" and overturned the "eight or nine".

After decades of planning, the Holy Maiden of Purity was finally overjoyed. It was as if the plan had simply come to fruition, completing a step that had been predetermined.

The mind without form reflects all things, yet remains unmoved by them.

She raised her hand and pressed down, and a hazy river appeared, with no source and no end in sight. Light and shadow floated within it, and what flowed was not river water, but all things in the universe and countless scenes from the past.

Ordinary people regard time as an iron law, but in the eyes of some beings, it is a wide, long, and endless river.

Those ordinary mortals, unaware of the great power of the Venerable One, actually went head-to-head with the vengeful demon lord of foolish nature, thus falling into a very lowly position.

The world of light originates from the palace of light, just as the Lord of Resentment is the ruler of the world of ignorance. The Venerable of Light is the ruler of the world of light. Therefore, changing time and altering the flow of light, though requiring a price, is not an impossible feat.

Fingertips lightly trace the surface of the long river, and countless fragments of light and shadow swirl rapidly.

She saw herself stepping into the temple gate with youthful innocence, studying scriptures diligently under the lamp, and being venerated as a saint by the masses. She also saw herself standing on the opposite side of the doctrine, making the earth-shattering declaration that "man can replace God," which ultimately led to the split of the religion... All these past events, each and every one of them, were now as clear as the lines on her palm.

Lingering on the fingertips.

That was a bleak period.

On that very day, Gongsun Guan personally took action and executed this "unorthodox" pure saintess in front of everyone, allowing her to completely disappear into obscurity and continue her schemes until now.

And so... this is the final step.

If that "death" is erased and the situation is turned upside down, then her decades of lurking, forbearance, and scheming will come to an end.

As her fingertips slowly approached, the river of time, like a lake with a boulder thrown in, suddenly boiled and surged like a raging waterfall, stirring up all the scenes into chaos. Changing one point would change countless causes and effects, affecting everything in a single move.

The entire river of time trembled violently, continuing to flow like a waterfall, and countless scenes began to distort, collapse, and recombine, emitting an unbearable hum.

Those fingertips had just touched the surface of the long river of time, and ripples spread out as it boiled.

After the boiling waterfall, a blurry shadow slowly emerges.

The Saintess of Purity's fingertips hesitated for a moment.

It wasn't that she stopped on her own initiative, but rather that a surge of powerful martial intent, across the boiling, cascading river of time, forcefully lifted the finger that was about to change the world.

boom!
The fist's energy forcefully shattered the waterfall.
A figure in green stepped out and squeezed into this world of ignorance.

A hole was blasted open in the boiling river of time, and the flowing water never rejoined. Countless moments were shattered and disordered, and countless memories were distorted in people's minds from then on.

Come,
Xu Qi was a true celestial being.

………………

The dark tide surged ever more fiercely, while the rain of swords was swallowed up like mud oxen entering the sea. Inch by inch, the light was swallowed up, and Chen Yi felt the light on his body growing thinner and thinner.

Chen Yi stood still, the golden light in his eyes not completely faded, but it was no longer as intense and dazzling as before.

He clearly felt that the once inexhaustible and all-encompassing power within him was being depleted and dissipated at an alarming rate. It wasn't just being consumed; it was more like... the source was being forcibly severed.

The Demon Lord of Resentment seemed to sense the prey's weakness as well. Its gray-white giant eyes remained indifferent, but its attacks became increasingly ferocious.

The darkness no longer simply surged in from all sides, but transformed into countless twisted bolts of lightning, frantically devouring the remaining sea of ​​fire.

"what happened?!"

Chen Yi was shocked and tried to summon that great power again, but he only felt empty. It was as if the feeling of controlling the world and having his words become law was just a dream.

His connection with that vast light became extremely weak, like a thread about to break.

The light emanating from him flickered like a candle in the wind.

In her palm, Yin Tingxue felt the protective light weaken rapidly. She could almost feel the suffocating darkness and resentment outside through the thin light barrier. She looked up at Chen Yi's tense profile, her heart in her throat.

Donggong Ruoshu was so frightened that she huddled in the corner of the temple gate, her face, which had just regained some color, turning deathly pale again. The shadows loomed like mountains, slowly pressing down.

In that churning darkness, countless obscure images became clearer and clearer. They howled, tore, and shrieked as if they were alive, forming a demonic sound that directly invaded the soul, attempting to dismantle Chen Yi's last will.

The light was compressed to cover only a small area around the temple gate, and it was still fading.

Chen Yi groaned, feeling as if he were carrying a mountain on his back, his bones creaking under the weight.

He gritted his teeth.

Now that the cheat code was gone, he could only resort to the method he was most familiar with. The golden light in his eyes suddenly sharpened. He stopped trying to draw on the light from the outside world and instead poured all the remaining power, along with his own boundless martial intent, into the Hou Kang Sword.

With a single sword stroke, he was slain.

The vast, dark tide seemed to be violently parted, erupting with a dull, deafening roar.
The dark tide was briefly halted by this concentrated power, and the ground beneath Chen Yi's feet cracked inch by inch. However, the darkness was too vast, and the golden light of the sword's edge dimmed and dissipated rapidly at a speed visible to the naked eye.

Chen Yi took a deep breath.

The immense power of the Venerable One within him was almost completely depleted, and an unprecedented sense of weakness washed over him like a tidal wave.

In a flash, he activated the last remaining power of the "wish fulfillment" ability.

A barely perceptible glimmer of light flashed across his heart, and like a spark igniting a wildfire, instantly igniting his nearly parched meridians and dantian.
The energy flows like dragons and snakes, its power permeates the entire body.
The meridians that had been broken and severed due to a qi deviation healed at a speed visible to the naked eye, almost completely restored.

Returning to the third rank, Chen Yi did not feel overjoyed. Compared with the previous power of the Mingzun, even if the sword formed heaven and earth, it was just a drop in the ocean.

At that time, he clearly felt that he had entered the first-grade realm, and even if he fell into the martial arts rankings, he would be able to sit in the top three and look forward to the top one.

"go!"

Chen Yi gave a low shout, his voice hoarse but carrying an undeniable determination.

He made a grasping motion with his left hand, using his qi to firmly hold Yin Tingxue and the panicked Donggong Ruoshu together.

The next moment, he gripped the Houkang Sword, and poured all the remaining faint light around him and the surging new third-grade true energy into the sword's edge, transforming it into a brilliant sword beam that was extremely refined.

The sword light broke through the air.

Like a hot knife cutting through ice, this sword forcefully tore open a long, narrow rift in the depths of the ignorant world that had been frozen for countless years!

Beyond the rift, there was no longer pure darkness; faint yet real wind and aura, not belonging to this world, could be heard. In the distance, it was as bright as day.

Without the slightest hesitation, Chen Yi merged with his sword, carrying Yin Tingxue and Donggong Ruoshu, transforming into a shooting star-like afterimage as he crashed into the spatial rift.

Just as their figures disappeared into the rift, the dark tide that had been briefly split closed up even faster. The roar of the Lord of Resentment shook the entire shattered space, and countless dark forces surged madly toward the rapidly healing spatial rift.

However, it was ultimately a moment too late.

laugh!
The rift closed completely, shutting out the endless darkness and howls behind it.

All that remained was the raging, dark tide and the deafening roar of the Lord of Resentment.

Chen Yi looked up, and the towering pillar of light came into view along with the bright, daylight-like sky.

Along with that, what comes into view is a pure and holy maiden holding a bright palace, resembling a heavenly king holding a pagoda in a Buddhist painting.

Chen Yi lowered his eyes and couldn't help but curse.
"Damn it, that's why my cheat code disappeared..."

...............

Sword Village.

The snow fell heavily, swirling down like rain and waterfalls, turning the rows of houses and distant mountains into a pristine white.

The cold wind howled, swirling up snowflakes, but it couldn't dispel the heat rising from the simple shed in the valley and the clanging sounds.

Inside the shed, the stove was blazing, the crimson flames licking the air and instantly turning the drifting snowflakes into white steam.

Li Kang, the renowned female swordsmith, was completely focused on her work. Her hands were as steady as a rock, gripping a heavy iron hammer, and she rhythmically struck the red-hot sword blank on the anvil.

Each hammer blow was accompanied by a shower of golden and red sparks, like shooting stars flying backwards, yet suspended in mid-air.

The flying sparks seemed never to extinguish and fall, like light worms sealed in amber, slowly flickering.

Upon closer inspection, deep within each tiny spark, layers upon layers of phantoms are reflected—the afterimages of countless hammer blows Li Kang made over the past sixty years, condensations of thousands, tens of thousands, even millions of sword-forging experiences.

They are not static, but rather constantly hammered and forged on an extremely minute scale, as if compressing a long period of time into a single moment of blossoming.

This place is no longer an ordinary blacksmith's workshop.

Using his sixty years of cultivation and unparalleled heart-forging as a guide, Li Kang actually managed to move a tributary of the long river of time here, channeling it into each hammer blow.

What she forged was not ordinary iron, but iron imbued with the girl's past life memories.

The sword blank did not simply deform under the hammer, but under the erosion and hammering of countless overlapping times, it underwent a subtle transformation, the process of removing impurities was accelerated a thousand times, ten thousand times, until it reached perfection.

Sweat seeped from her forehead, drying before it could drip, as if her movements were one with the furnace, the anvil, and the weapon gradually taking shape in her hand.

The sounds of wind and snow, howling winds, seemed to be shut out by the monotonous yet powerful hammering; here, only sword forging and tempering remained.

clang!clang!clang!
Amidst the continuous clanging of metal, a very faint, suppressed, and apprehensive gasp came from not far behind.

Li Kang's hammering continued without pause, as if she hadn't heard a thing. Only after she had perfected a certain detail of the sword blank did she take the opportunity, without turning her head, to ask while returning the sword blank to the furnace:
"what happened?"

Her gaze remained fixed on the leaping flames in the furnace, but her hand slowly slowed down. In this secluded land of swords, anything that could cause the sword armor to lose its composure like this was no ordinary matter.

The one-armed woman suddenly stood up, her eyes narrowing slightly, as if she were about to transform into a rainbow of light and rise from the ground.

Today, everything has gone beyond her expectations and is not within the scope of the divination she had previously performed.

In an instant, she realized that there was no time to lose; she raised her hand, intending to communicate with heaven and earth.
In that very moment,
A very familiar, warm voice came from beside my ear.
"Master, leave it to me."

That voice seemed to travel through the long river of time and arrive here.

(End of this chapter)