The years I was in the human world

Peacock watched Wei Ruge go away in silence. Only when the young man's back completely disappeared from her sight did she laugh softly: "Don't let them fool you, Junior Master."

Yaoguang did not keep her promise, and Kongque had no way to deal with her, but he could use others to cause trouble for her. With Wei Ruge interrupting, it would not be easy for Yaoguang and the others to carry out their original plan, and Kongque would have more time to make new plans.

Luocheng swordsmanship is the highest martial art, but it is not a secret method that is not passed on. There is a copied sword manual in the library of Wuxiang Peak. Peacock found it easily. The pages are old but well preserved, and it seems that it is often read.

There were no diagrams in the sword manual, and the language used to describe the sword moves was obscure and difficult to understand. Peacock had been taught by Xiao Jin, and could outline the general outlines of the first ten moves through abstract descriptions, but he could not learn the content after the tenth move no matter what.

It's not that Peacock couldn't understand the description of the sword manual, but the sword moves he performed based on his understanding were completely inconsistent, and his true energy was always inexplicably stagnant in his tendons, so even if the sword moves were thrust out, they were weak and powerless.

Three years flew by.

"No, no, still no..."

A candle flame was lit in the middle of the sword-fighting arena. Peacock held a peach branch in his hand and performed sword moves over and over again, which he had finally strung together. Each time, the sword energy just barely touched the candle flame, but dissipated before it could extinguish it.

"It took me three years to fully understand the sword manual. I don't know how long it will take to achieve mastery of the sword skills..." Peacock felt a little hopeless as she watched the candle gradually burn out. A month ago, she finally understood all the sword moves described in the sword manual, but she didn't expect that in a real fight, it would only be empty talk.

"Luocheng Sword? Have you been wasting your time on something like this for the past three years?" Ye Jin had come to Wuxiang Peak at some point and was leaning against the gate with his arms folded, looking nonchalant.

"If you can't speak, you can just keep quiet." Peacock turned around and pointed a sword at Ye Jin's face. The sword blade created an air flow when it was swung, and the hair of both of them flew. Ye Jin watched calmly as the peach tree branch stopped half an inch away from his eyes.

Seeing that he was not afraid at all, Peacock withdrew the peach branch with a bit of boredom, glanced at Ye Jin, and said indifferently: "Brother, what is the important matter that brought you to Wuxiang Peak today?"

"The old case of my mother ends here. Don't follow Wei Ruge into danger again." Ye Jin straightened up slightly, looked into Kong Que's cold eyes and said bluntly, "What Yaoguang and the others want to do is more complicated than you think. It's not something you can interfere with."

"Brother, I gave the answer to the same question three years ago. What position do you have to persuade me now?" Peacock laughed lightly, looking at Ye Jin with an extremely distant look. "Besides, what does this have to do with you? Even if it ends in failure like a moth flying into a flame, it is better than you being hesitant and accomplishing nothing."

Seeing that Kong Que was stubborn, Ye Jin was a little angry. It seemed that she had developed a little brotherly affection for this sister who had always been indifferent to her. She suddenly cared about Kong Que's life and death: "Even if she died like mother without a body left, you don't care?"

"If you want to accomplish great things, you must forget about yourself and the world, and why fear life and death?" Peacock said calmly, but with a ruthless madness that all Taoists have. "Moreover, I will not die like my mother. I will live and grind to ashes everyone who has been stained with her blood."

"Arrogant." Ye Jin sneered. He did not believe Kong Que's lofty words and regarded them as empty talk from a young and ignorant man. "Wei Ruge failed to advance and his realm dropped drastically. Why do you think that happened? A dead man is not worth sacrificing your future."

Ye Jin's words were too ruthless. Kong Que was instantly annoyed. She drew her Zhaoyang Sword and pointed it directly at Ye Jin's forehead. Unable to bear it any longer, she called Ye Jin by name: "She is also your biological mother! How could she be so cold and indifferent, Ye Jin? Has the ruthless way eaten up your conscience?"

"Since you are practicing the ruthless way, you should know how to cut off all emotions and desires. The Supreme Elder has unparalleled swordsmanship, but his disciples have many bumpy roads. No matter what you plan to do, you must leave Wuxiang Peak with me today." After Ye Jin finished speaking, he drew his sword and attacked Peacock, who quickly parried.

Ye Jin was determined to bring his sister back to the clan leader's mansion, so although he did not use any killing moves, he did not show any mercy. Kong Que had only learned the Luocheng Sword in the past three years and had not yet mastered how to use it. He was no match for Ye Jin, who had already made some achievements. He was beaten back after only a few dozen moves, and his sword-holding hand began to tremble uncontrollably.

"The Luocheng Sword is useless. If you want to learn swordsmanship, go back to the Sect Master's Mansion and I will teach you in person." Ye Jin said as he fought with his sister with ease, looking at the peacock who was gradually losing his resistance, "It only takes three months to defeat you in three years of training."

"Brother, you can't teach me." Peacock replied reluctantly while accepting the attack in embarrassment. Ye Jin's swordsmanship was indeed good, but still inferior to Wei Ruge, and even more so compared to the red-clothed young man in the ghost house that day. There was no reason for her to give up the supreme martial arts and learn Ye Jin's ordinary swordsmanship.

After that, the Zhaoyang Sword stabbed out diagonally with great momentum. The upper part of the Luocheng Sword was taught by Xiao Jin, so it was not as flawed as what she had figured out on her own. For three years, Wei Ruge had said that the upper part of the Luocheng Sword she practiced was a sword that could freeze fourteen states, while the lower part was incomplete and ugly.

Ye Jin was caught off guard for a moment, and a strand of black hair fell down. It was the hair that was cut off by Kong Que's sword. His eyes suddenly became sharp, and his attack became more fierce: "What kind of sword technique is it that allows you, with your cultivation level, to have such a powerful attack?"

Seeing that the Zhaoyang sword in Kong Que's hand was about to be picked up, a long sword blocked Ye Jin's sword from the air, and a clear young man's voice sounded: "You can't even recognize Luo Cheng's swordsmanship, but you want to teach others. Isn't it too conceited, nephew?"

Wei Ruge, who had failed in his tribulation and whose realm had dropped drastically, interrupted the fight between the two with a sword, and then bounced off Ye Jin's sword with another sword, and the sword tip landed directly on his heart. The young man looked at Ye Jin who was defeated in an instant, and said arrogantly: "Two swords, my nephew is no more than this."

"Uncle Master has unparalleled swordsmanship, but it's easy to dodge an open spear, but hard to guard against an arrow from the dark." Ye Jin did not react at all when Wei Ruge mocked him in person. Instead, he looked at the young man with a look of pity and contempt and said, "Even the Grand Elder couldn't protect Zhu Huang, so Uncle Master, do you think you can protect Kong Que?"

"What Master hasn't investigated clearly, I will continue to investigate for him; what Master wants to protect, I will defend with my life." Wei Ruge said in a sonorous and powerful voice, and every word was full of the enthusiasm of a young man, "I am certainly not as profound as Master, but since I am here, I will not repeat the same mistakes."

Ye Jin went back in disgrace again. The first time, he was not as brave as Kong Que and was determined to fight to the death; the second time, he was not as upright as Wei Ruge.

Peacock was protected by the boy. She looked at the boy's back, which vaguely had the outline of a man. Suddenly, she had an inexplicable feeling in her heart: she was not walking this road alone. Her junior master was accompanying her: "Junior master——"

Before Kong Que could finish her words, the young man standing in front of her suddenly staggered and spat out a mouthful of blood. But he was Wei Ruge after all, and even though he was at the end of his strength, he still stuck his sword into the ground and knelt on one knee to barely maintain his dignity.

"Uncle Junior Master!" Kong Que was startled and hurried forward to check on the boy's injuries. He looked up and saw that his face was as pale as paper. "Are you injured?"

Wei Ruge exhaled, shook his head and said: "...Nothing."

Peacock didn't believe what he said at all. Her gaze followed Wei Ruge's pale face to the young man's sword-holding hand - from the moment he blocked Ye Jin's sword just now, he used his left hand, and Wei Ruge did not wield the sword with his left hand.

The sleeve of his right hand, which he usually used, was cut off at the shoulder as if it had been burned by fire. The upper arm and the lower part were all charred black, with flesh and blood turned outward, tendons and veins broken, and bones exposed. The blood could not coagulate and dripped along the fingertips in a sticky manner. With such injuries, even the best medical practitioners would be powerless to save him.

The right hand that this extremely talented young man relied on was completely disabled.

"Junior Master, your hand...how could it be like this?" Kong Que choked with sobs as she spoke every word. She didn't even dare to look at it any longer. For a sword cultivator, if his hand was disabled, half of his path would be ruined.

"..." Wei Ruge did not speak. Instead, he looked up and gazed at Peacock deeply, as if he was thinking about something carefully. There was a look of anxiety in his eyes that was not as heartless as usual.

"Junior Master?" Peacock asked doubtfully.

"Anyone who tries to spy on the secrets of heaven must pay a price." Wei Ruge suddenly took Kong Que into his arms, as if he was afraid of leaking something, and whispered in her ear, "Little niece, your brother is actually right. You should have stayed away from these things."

"Uncle Master, are you going to stop me too?" Kong Que turned her head abruptly, staring at Wei Ruge intently. She looked extremely paranoid. She said softly, "You know why I live."

"That's not what I meant." Wei Ruge raised his left hand to touch Kong Que's hair, but his eyes fell on the fingertips that were stained with blood due to the cracked knuckles. His movements paused for a moment, and then he withdrew his hand silently, saying seriously,

"We all have an opportunity now, but once we choose this path, we will have no choice but to go all the way to the end. There is no turning back, nephew, you have a bright future ahead of you, and it is not worth wasting time on the past."

"But Uncle Master understands your obsession, and will not persuade you to let go of the past. I only ask if you are ready to face the difficult fate from now on, and the difficulty of achieving success?"

Kong Que did not expect that the seemingly careless boy would say these to her. He did not want her to let go. He only asked her if she had made up her mind. He was different from anyone else, not even like the Wei Ruge in her imagination. The boy was not a man of courage and bravery who acted on impulse.

Peacock looked into the boy's eyes, her heart filled with emotions. The boy's eyes were calm, with a steadiness that came from being on his own, as well as something deeply hidden, the same as hers.

"Have you made up your mind?" Wei Ruge's eyes were as deep as the abyss. He stared at Peacock and asked again.

Peacock understood everything in an instant. Her heart, which had been burning with the boy's heat, gradually turned cold. She smiled with her eyes curved, but it was not a smile of joy when she was relaxed, but rather a hint of irony.

What she saw in Wei Ruge's eyes, besides the usual enthusiasm, was also great ambition. So, the like-mindedness and the elders' trust were all superficial. The original intention of investigating the old case was that Wei Ruge also had his own selfish motives.

"The path of all living beings is full of ups and downs. Junior Master, do you want to change sides?" Peacock asked softly.

Wei Ruge frowned slightly, wanting to deny what Kong Que said, but then he changed his mind and realized that no matter how different the process was, the result would be the same, so he did not refute it, but said: "All living things cannot keep my faith."

"Ha." Peacock laughed in his heart. The junior master uncle was not frank either. He gave up the Tao if he wanted to. Why would he find a high-sounding excuse?

The secret of heaven that Wei Ruge had glimpsed at the cost of a sharp drop in his realm and the complete crippling of his right hand was indeed an adventure that ordinary people could hardly achieve. It was an opportunity, but also a danger.

"Little nephew, have you ever heard of 'Heaven's Way Chooses the Master'?"

The battlefield from a hundred years ago is still filled with resentment, and due to the deliberate management of the Ghost King, it has become a den of ghosts. Just walking in it makes Peacock feel extremely uncomfortable.

"Heaven chooses the master?"

Thick miasma blocked out the sun and the sky, so even at noon when the sun was shining brightly, it was as dark as midnight.

"Divine bones, demon blood, ghost corpse, spirit soul, phoenix vein, anyone who possesses any of them can pursue the heavenly way."

The evil spirits poked their heads out from behind the branches, their greedy eyes lingering on the peacock, sticky saliva dripping from the corners of their mouths. They laughed and whispered, salivating over the taste of flesh and blood.

"Phoenix Vein... Could it be that this is the reason why my mother died unjustly?"

"In the past, the gods were not even visible, let alone their bones. Demon blood and ghost corpses were unknown, so they could not be sought. Spirits were unknown, so there was no way to find them."

"Only the Phoenix Bloodline, Senior Sister holds the Phoenix Tempering Fire and is unrivaled in the world. She was also destined to be alone, so she naturally became the target of public criticism. Senior Brother once held the Phoenix Tempering Fire and was also among the perpetrators. The injustices of a hundred years ago were all caused by man."

Bony arms reached out from the swampy ground and climbed up to grab Peacock's ankles.

“The divine bone is not something you and I can get our hands on, but the Phoenix Tempering left by my senior sister is deep in this den of ghosts. Little junior brother, you have to get it.” Wei Ruge held the sword in his left hand and cut off the skeleton arm sticking out of the soil.

There is a strong and overwhelming ghost aura ahead. This ghost den is extremely dangerous.

"Me? Junior Master, don't you want to pursue the Heavenly Dao?" Peacock noticed that Wei Ruge didn't seem to have the intention of wanting to be tempered by the Phoenix.

"Of course I want to, but things in this world are not something you can achieve just by wanting or not." Wei Ruge sighed.

He casually rolled up the sleeve of his right hand. The wound that went through his arm was sewn crookedly with needle and thread, looking hideous and terrifying: "The thunder tribulation when I concentrated my mind to the level of refining emptiness was the test of my way to heaven. Unfortunately, my state of mind was lacking, and I failed. This hand is the price I paid."

After Wei Ruge finished speaking, he looked at Kong Que with a sidelong glance and smiled softly, then said in a seemingly brisk tone: "If you fail, you will be doomed forever, so Uncle Shi asked if you have thought it through - but if you regret it now, it will be too late."