After three rounds of drinking,
night had fully settled in.
Inside Fragrant Pavilion, the lights burned bright.
Yu Tianheng slammed the table and sang at the top of his lungs; Feng Buyu struck the rhythm in response. Huo Wushuang and Oscar were red-faced, arguing fiercely over who could drink more.
Dugu Yan and Ye Lingling laughed softly in low voices. Ning Rongrong and Xiao Wu huddled together, whispering conspiratorially, their clear laughter ringing out from time to time.
Qian Renxue and Zhu Zhuqing sat on either side of Li Zhexian.
One poured him wine, the other served him dishes, tenderness filling their brows and eyes.
Huo Wu dragged Shui Bing'er over, swaying as they reached Li Zhexian, declaring they still had three hundred more rounds to fight.
The waiters darted between tables, loudly calling out dish names.
At the neighboring table, wandering cultivators played drinking games, their shouts shaking the rafters.
By the window, merchants spoke in hushed tones, calculating profits and losses.
As spirits ran high and ears grew warm with drink,
Li Zhexian suggested listening to storytelling while eating noodles. Everyone burst into laughter and cheers, heading out together.
The venue was bustling at its peak.
The storyteller in a blue robe spoke with unrestrained eloquence, reaching the part where "Lord Sword Wine single-handedly battles the twin Douluo of the Clear Sky Sect."
With a clap of his clapper, the hall erupted in cheers.
Li Zhexian smiled and declined offers of seats from the people of Heaven Dou, only to spot seniors like Chen Xin and Dugu Bo there as well.
Squeezed into the crowd, listening to the dramatic story, Yu Tianheng and the others used the opportunity to continually tease Li Zhexian.
Finally, Feng Xiaotian was goaded into the excitement again, his face flushed as he demanded a spar with Li Zhexian.
That night—
Li Zhexian drank himself thoroughly intoxicated.
"Remember…"
"Remember to go to Li Village…"
"No… another day I'll go pay a visit…"
Back in the quiet courtyard, moonlight poured down like spilled mercury.
He staggered as he walked.
In his mind, the myriad sights of the mortal world surged endlessly…
The clamor of the tavern, the bustle of the storytelling hall, the sincere smiles of friends, the reverent gazes of the people of Heaven Dou, the affectionate eyes of Qian Renxue and Zhu Zhuqing…
The hundred flavors of life—joy and sorrow, love and grief—spun past like a lantern carousel.
In his drunken haze,
he drew the Qinglian Sword and began to dance at will.
At first, the sword forms were scattered and chaotic, mirroring his tangled thoughts.
Gradually, the sword followed his body, and intent followed his heart.
In the courtyard, the four-season plum trees stirred without wind. Petals fell like rain, swirling endlessly under the pull of his sword momentum.
No Spirit Power radiance appeared on his body—
yet the sword edge seemed to tug at the rhythm of heaven and earth themselves.
Li Zhexian saw—
the frostbitten hands of the noodle stall owner who always gave him an extra scoop of meat;
the bent back of the waiter, bearing hopes for his child;
the resolve with which Qian Renxue stained her sacred countenance with blood for his sake;
the quiet determination in Zhu Zhuqing's heart to share life and death with him…
The myriad forms of sentient life, the towering dust of the mortal world—
all of it, in this moment, transformed into the purest realization and flowed into the sword.
Humm—!
The Qinglian Sword let out a clear, resonant cry.
Yet this time, it was not the sound of slaughter—
but one filled with longing for the world, and compassion for all beings.
The sword momentum suddenly changed.
At times it was like the bustle of the marketplace—lively and vivid.
At times like tangled love and hate—aching and moving.
At times like the prayers of the masses—heavy and sincere.
Countless visions unfolded within the small courtyard…
Curling cooking smoke, lights in ten thousand homes, reunions and partings, birth, aging, sickness, and death.
At last—
all imagery converged,
merging into a single, plain, unadorned sword strike.
This sword carried no sharp edge, showed no ferocity—
yet contained all the warmth of the human world.
The drunken haze in Li Zhexian's eyes deepened.
Having experienced the mortal world, he had only grown more enamored of it.
"Hic… so that's how it is…"
Li Zhexian let out a drunken hiccup and gently stroked the sword body.
Feeling the sword intent flowing within—utterly different from before—he laughed freely and with great satisfaction.
"This sword does not contend in slaughter,
does not argue victory or defeat,
it only asks the heart, and sees the mortal world."
"The tenth form of the Qinglian Sword—"
"Aspect of All Living Beings."
"Completed."
Li Zhexian nestled drowsily into a reclining chair.
Suddenly sensing something, he lazily lifted his eyelids and cupped his hands toward some place in the heavens.
Then—
soft snores gradually rose.
...
Watching through the light screen as the youth cupped his hands toward them from afar,
Ji Dong and the Asura God fell into long, silent contemplation.
At this moment,
a wisp of mortal-world aura crept up into the Divine Realm.
Mortals cannot surpass gods—this is an established truth.
Yet Li Zhexian not only slew a god with a mortal body, he has now comprehended the intent of the mortal world itself, shaking the Divine Realm.
"His power has already reached the divine tier, his faith has gathered like clouds. If he gains the approval of three God Kings, Li Zhexian will be able to carve out his own god position and ascend to godhood on the spot."
Ji Dong spoke with deep emotion.
"I have observed Li Zhexian for only a few days, and yet he has already reached this step."
"But there is no need to rush…"
"Once Destruction finishes dealing with the Sea God, I must persuade him—along with the Goddess of Life—to agree to Li Zhexian embarking upon the path of creating a god."
"We shall see whether he can become a God King."
"How strange."
The Asura God did not respond to Ji Dong.
Those crimson eyes gazed at the youth sleeping soundly within the light screen, a rare trace of confusion appearing within them.
For countless ages, he had presided over the laws of the Divine Realm and witnessed many mortals ascend into divinity.
Yet every god, at the moment their life essence sublimated, would naturally give rise to a kind of transcendent "divinity."
It was an aloofness that gazed down upon all beings, gradually distancing itself from the mundane world.
A detachment that stood above the clouds, no longer stained by mortal dust.
Only Li Zhexian was different.
In the Asura God's perception—
Though Li Zhexian's aura had already surpassed the limits of the mortal realm, there was not the slightest trace of cold solitude about him.
Instead, he was tightly enveloped by a mortal-world warmth so rich it could not be dissolved.
He had not transcended the human world.
Rather, he had sunk even deeper into it.
He had refined joy and sorrow, love and hatred—indeed, the vast mortal world itself—into a part of his sword intent.
"This child's state… even I cannot see through it."
"His power has reached the divine realm, yet his heart remains rooted in the mortal world."
"To be so deeply entangled with the boundless dust of the world—how did he reach this step?"
"If he becomes a god, then by what title should he be known?"
...
Above an endless blue sea,
an island lay like emerald set upon blue silk.
At its center stood the Sea God's statue, towering like a spine connecting sky and ocean.
Among the seven Sacred Pillars standing across the island, one suddenly dimmed. The pillar let out a mournful tremor as cracks rapidly spread across its surface.
Several vast auras shot skyward from within the island, stirring the sea into raging waves.
"Something has happened to Seahorse!"
"I said long ago that sea Spirit Masters should never set foot on land!"
"Arguing right and wrong now is meaningless. No matter who the killer is, blood must answer for blood!"
In the deep sea, Tang San stood atop raging waves.
His blue hair drifted with the currents, every strand flowing with golden-blue radiance.
Behind him,
towering waves rose to form a watery curtain. Countless droplets froze midair, each reflecting his figure holding the Golden Trident.
The sea that once required immense effort for him to cross now behaved like the most loyal of subjects, rising and falling with his breath.
Wherever his gaze reached, waves calmed and storms retreated.
"Li Zhexian…"
"And the Clear Sky Clan…"
"When I become a god, the humiliation I suffered in the past shall be repaid ten thousandfold!"
...
On the cloud road leading from the Star Dou Forest to Heaven Dou City, layers of clouds rolled for ten thousand miles.
Da Ming and Er Ming followed behind a mysterious man clad in black-and-gold robes, utterly bewildered.
The two great beasts exchanged looks, still unable to process what had happened.
They had been sleeping peacefully—
when suddenly the earth split open.
A dragon claw lifted them from the lakeside as easily as cubs, and in the blink of an eye, they found themselves amid this vast sea of clouds.
Now their bodies were taut with tension, even their breathing cautious, as they watched the Three-Eyed Golden Lion and the Divine Butterfly joyfully playing atop the mist.
They felt deeply uneasy—
until they spotted the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger, its fur disheveled and its blood-red eyes unfocused.
Da Ming and Er Ming grinned broadly.
That sight alone greatly improved their mood.
..
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