Chapter 3089: When the Flower Blooms |
The atmosphere grew hushed at the mention of their eldest senior brother.
Zhong Qiu nodded slowly. “Back then, following your instructions, I extracted a trace of life force from the fragments of Eldest Senior Brother’s remains. It has been sealed in this bottle ever since.” As he spoke, he took out an azure jade vial and handed it to Lin Xun with utmost care.
Lin Xun accepted the vial and sent a strand of spirit sense inside. At once a faint, almost imperceptible vitality flickered before him. It was extremely thin, yet the power contained within it was terrifying beyond measure, like a dormant volcano, restrained yet violent, quiet yet domineering.
Lin Xun’s heart trembled. With this trace of life force…there is a real chance of bringing Eldest Senior Brother back!
“Junior Brother…how is it?” Zhong Qiu’s voice broke the silence.
Lin Xun looked up to see Zhong Qiu, Ruo Su, Li Xuanwei and the others staring at him intently, their faces taut with unease and their eyes filled with anxious hope.
Their eldest senior brother was the first successor of Fangchun Mountain. Unfortunately, back then, he was struck down by Immeasurable Buddha Xinhu, and his body and primordial spirit was shattered in a single blow. The news nearly broke them, plunging their hearts into grief and despair.
It wasn’t until Zhong Qiu explained to them the wondrous power of Nirvana that Lin Xun had mastered that they finally regained a sliver of hope.
Now, Lin Xun stood before them. Whether their eldest senior brother could live again rested on a single sentence from him!
He did not dare promise more. Back then, the reason he had been able to save Tang Jiang was because she was merely a child who had never cultivated.
However, his eldest senior brother was different. He had already stepped onto the Eternal Path and bringing an Eternal figure back from death was something Lin Xun could not be certain of. All he could do was give everything he had.
Even so, Zhong Qiu and Ruo Su were visibly moved. A sudden light bloomed in their eyes.
“That’s wonderful!”
“Having hope is already more than enough.”
“Little Junior Brother…we’ll have to rely on you.”
Voices overlapped, filled with anticipation and trembling emotion.
Before Lin Xun could reply, Zhong Qiu frowned and spoke firmly, “We must not place pressure on our little junior brother. If he succeeds, it will be a great blessing for Fangchun Mountain. But if he fails, we cannot blame him for it.”
“Of course.”
The others nodded in unison.
“Rest assured, Senior Brothers and Sisters,” Lin Xun said with a gentle smile. “I will do everything in my power.
“Well then, Young Friend Lin Xun, would you mind if we joined your banquet as well?”
From the distance came a burst of hearty laughter. Xing Jianxia, Fu Nanli, Ren Futian, and a host of towering figures from the Origin and Spirit Sects strode over in a grand procession.
Lin Xun rose at once to greet them with a smile. “We’d be honored. Please, seniors, this way.”
The banquet that followed drew Lin Xun closer to these great figures of the Origin and Spirit Sects, whom he had only just met, yet already deeply respected. After the feast, Xing Jianxia, Fu Nanli, and Ren Futian told Lin Xun that they would be setting out again that very day, heading once more to the enemy’s camp.
According to Xing Jianxia, the struggle within the Fate Lotus World would end in as little as half a month, or at most three months.
Of note, before that finale, any cultivator who could not endure the contest would be forced to withdraw early. Such a situation could very well happen even to figures like Xinhu and Leisong.
Xing Jianxia’s and Fu Nanli’s plan, therefore, was to wait in the enemy’s camp, lying in ambush and watching for any lone enemy who might return ahead of time.
Upon hearing this, Lin Xun couldn’t help but marvel inwardly. The old saying is true: the older the ginger, the spicier it gets.
Xing Jianxia’s and Fu Nanli’s move seemed bold, but if they seized the moment when an enemy returned from the Fate Lotus World, it would be enough to strike them completely unprepared! After all, those enemies still locked in fierce battle within the Fate Lotus World had no idea that the tides in Spirit Martial World had already turned.
Lin Xun had originally planned to go with them, but Xing Jianxia, Fu Nanli, and Ren Futian all refused, urging him instead to remain behind and hold the fort at Lotus Leaf Sacred Mountain. Left with no other choice, he could only agree.
……
Lotus Leaf Sacred Mountain was scattered with peaks shaped like lotus leaves. Most of them lay deserted. Lin Xun casually chose one of the peaks, carved out a cave dwelling within it, and made it his place of rest.
“From this day onward, you may cultivate here in peace,” he said. “I've informed everyone on the mountain about your backgrounds, so you needn’t worry about any trouble.”
Standing before the cave entrance, Lin Xun gave a light flick of his sleeve. At once, four figures appeared, led by the woman in the black dress.
Lin Xun now knew them well. The woman in the black dress was Ran Caihe, the towering man was Yin Ruhai, the thin elder bearing a great sword was Zhu Tongqi, and the white-robed man in a tall hat was Ping Taojing.
“Thank you, Fellow Daoist Lin!”
Ran Caihe and the other three bowed deeply, their expressions filled with gratitude.
“Once the enemy force has been completely dealt with, you are free to leave if you wish,” Lin Xun added with a faint smile. “I will not force you to stay.”
Ran Caihe and the others exchanged glances, then nodded in unison. Soon after, the four settled down on the same peak as Lin Xun.
After all, Lotus Leaf Sacred Mountain was the stronghold of the Spirit Sect and lay extremely close to the Sea of Fate. Cultivating here meant having access to an inexhaustible flow of Fate Power, something Ran Caihe and the others had never even dared to dream of before. Before meeting Lin Xun, they had been forced to survive on the very fringes of Spirit Martial World.
After settling Ran Caihe and the others, Lin Xun paused for a moment in thought, then went to find Ruo Su.
“Senior Sister,” he said upon seeing her, “these are cultivation resources I’ve accumulated over the years. Please help distribute them among the other senior brothers and sisters.”
Before she could even protest, he had already placed a storage jade pendant in her hand. Seeing this, Ruo Su could only accept it, a gentle warmth spreading through her heart.
In the past, it had always been the senior brothers and sisters protecting their little junior brother. Now, it was he who was supporting them. The weight of that change moved her deeply.
There was no denying it. Among the current successors of Fangchun Mountain, Lin Xun’s achievements stood head and shoulders above the rest. None could compare to him. After parting with Ruo Su, Lin Xun returned to his cave dwelling.
Hu—
He slowly let out a long breath of turbid air, calming his mind completely. Only then did he take out the azure jade vial that sealed the life force his eldest senior brother had left behind.
“Eldest Senior Brother…no matter the cost, I will bring you back.”
Determination flickered in Lin Xun’s dark eyes and power gathered in his palm. With a soft crack, the seal on the jade vial dissolved, and a streak of blazing crimson light burst forth, overflowing with fierce, surging life force.
Chi!
“Condense!”
Lin Xun swiftly formed a series of hand seals. A cauldron forged from the profound power of Nirvana condensed before him, drawing in every ripple of life-force fluctuation and absorbing it all within.
He then closed his eyes, activating his cultivation. Streams of mysterious, unfathomable Nirvana power poured steadily into the cauldron, wave after wave. Days passed in the blink of an eye.
On the ninth day after Lin Xun settled on Lotus Leaf Sacred Mountain, news arrived…
A Greater Boundless Realm cultivator named Wu Donghe had returned early from the Fate Lotus World, only to be intercepted and slain on the spot by Xing Jianxia, Fu Nanli, and Ren Futian, who had long been lying in wait.
This was undeniably good news. With Wu Donghe’s death, the enemy camp was reduced to seven Greater Boundless Realm figures and three at the Lesser Boundless Realm.
That very same day, deep within his cave, the cauldron formed from the profound power of Nirvana before Lin Xun began to tremble violently. Waves of boiling life force surged from it in thunderous pulses. However, Lin Xun’s expression flickered with uncertainty.
For nine straight days, he had been using the power of Nirvana to reshape and rebirth the faint life force left behind by his eldest senior brother. Although that vitality had indeed grown stronger than before, the results were still nowhere near what he had hoped for.
He knew that compared to his senior brother’s former self, this spark of life was not even equal to the power contained in a single drop of his essence blood. It was…far too weak.
“If this continues,” he murmured softly, “even if I can save Eldest Senior Brother…who knows how many years it will take?”
Time itself was not the problem. What truly troubled him was that he could not guarantee success.
“Never mind. I’ll give it everything I have. No matter what…I must try.”
Taking a deep breath, he made his decision. From this day onward, unless something truly urgent arose, he would entrust all other affairs to his five dao bodies and dedicate himself wholly to using the profound power of Nirvana to rebuild his eldest senior brother’s life force.
……
On the twenty-third day after the Great Dao Fate Lotus appeared, the once tranquil Sea of Fate in the sky suddenly erupted in violent upheaval. Towering waves surged skyward, and in an instant it was as though countless peals of thunder were rolling across the firmament.
“The great contest is finally coming to an end…”
On Lotus Leaf Sacred Mountain, everyone was startled by the sudden disturbance. Cultivators poured out of their caves one after another, quickly gathering together as they looked up toward the heavens.
Lin Xun appeared as well, coming to stand beside Zhong Qiu and Ruo Su as they fixed their gazes on the Sea of Fate. Then, the nine interlinked petals of the Great Dao Fate Lotus suddenly unfurled once more, blooming open within the Sea of Fate and spewing forth billions of hazy strands of dao light.
Then, one terrifying figure after another emerged from the Great Dao Fate Lotus, their auras sweeping across heaven and earth.
“What a pity…Xinhu of Spirit Martial World managed to snatch that opportunity away…”
“There are still more than eight hundred years before the epochal calamity descends. In the years to come, more Great Dao Fate Lotuses are destined to appear. There’s no need to rush.”
“Hahaha! Although they occupied the Fate Lotus Dao Altar this time, the price they paid was enormous. I fear it will be difficult for them to contend with us in the years to come.”
Once voice after another echoed across the vast Sea of Fate. Among those awe-inspiring figures, some wore dark expressions filled with resentment, some heaved gloomy sighs, and others smiled with chilling indifference.
Soon, those terrifying figures scattered in different directions across the Sea of Fate, vanishing one by one into the vast expanse beyond. The news they left behind struck Lin Xun and the others dumb with shock.
So Xinhu and Leisong actually managed to seize the chance to enter the All-Wonder Dominion?
For Lin Xun and the others, this news was both good and bad. The bad news was that Ye Wuhen, Ji Tianqing, and Ziche Chong, three Lesser Boundless Realm experts with heaven-defying foundations, were about to leave for the All-Wonder Dominion.
The good news was that the fierce twenty-three-day battle had inflicted devastating losses on the enemy forces. Moreover, with the departure of Ye Wuhen and the others, the strength of the opposing camp would be greatly diminished!