Chapter 1734 Chapter 1727: The Red Dust Flows; Fourth Calamity (7) |
"Little Wei!"
A pleasant voice resounded throughout the air, warm yet stern. The sound of hurried steps followed as a young man ran through the courtyard in a rush, spirited and healthy. The young man arrived at a garden where an exceedingly unearthly woman with a pair of gardening gloves and a dark-colored dress. However, despite her looks containing an unearthly nature that defied feminine beauty, genuinely fitting of one with an Anima-Devourer's mystical lineage, she was incredibly earthy here, tending to her flowers with a hearty effort and a tinge of dirt on her chin.
She was extracting some stubborn weeds. Wiping the sweat from her brow with her wrist, her eyes gleamed as she watched the fruits of her meticulous effort. With a dazzling smile, she clapped her gloved hands.
After arriving by the garden, the young man, whose silver eyes shine brightly, his breath containing incredible strength, aged roughly thirteen years of age, smiled a silly and dazed smile.
"Mother?"
This young man was none other than Wei Wuyin. Since all those years ago, his mother's condition had been solved by an item of great value. Her original self, all of her previously consumed incantations, and her iconic self exuding warmth and motherly love returned in full force. Since Sage Xiaotian had solved her problem, she no longer suffered any amnesia. Moreover, she had regained her old memories that were thought once lost.
Wei Wuyin had begun cultivating at home while his older brother had ventured off to the capital before being inducted as a disciple at one of the Five Great Sects, the Earthly Titan Sect. Meanwhile, his father had elevated in status as an elder to an incumbent Clan Leader after his cultivation leaped two stages, from the Second Stage of the Qi Condensation Stage, the External Qi Phase, to the Fourth Stage, the Yin Form Phase. Given the precious Clan Master was only at the Elemental Birth Phase, the third stage, and was thirty years his senior, it was a natural process with very little resistance.
The Wei Clan immediately became the number one clan of Red Dove City and its official, uncontested leader. This was reinforced with Wei Wuyin's brother's position in one of the Five Great Sects. A fabulous development. For the Wei Clan, specifically this family, their lives were only getting better and better.
"Help your mother dispose of these weeds," Wei Wuyin's mother said as she stood up with a puff of breath. She was not a cultivator. Moreover, she had no intention to cultivate. This was a decision they all respected, and she was content with it. There was no dissuading her either.
The two walked. The two talked. The two laughed.
"Ha!" A tall young man, in his mid-twenties, slayed a bloodthirsty beast that was rampaging near Red Dove City with a few swings of his saber. The now-corpse slammed against the ground and reeked a stench of freshly spilled blood.
"I've gotten justice for all the lives you dare to take!"
When he brought the beast back to the city, the citizens cheered. Holding the beast up with a single arm, roars shook the ground of praise.
"The Young Master is invincible!"
"The Young Master has the bearing of an expert and a great hero!"
"The dashing Saber Ascendant once again protects the city! Tch. If only I was a woman…"
The words echoed in his ears as he laughed heartily.
"Father, are you sure you want to take office?" Wei Wuyin, now in his thirties, yet looking just as youthful with a greater light of wisdom within his eyes as he had when he was twenty, asked his father.
His father barely seemed to have aged, while his mother was a stunning middle-aged woman who was well in her early sixties. She barely seemed to have entered her thirties, and with a touch of maturity, she genuinely felt more beautiful like fine wine, aged perfectly. This was the genetic benefits of having an Anima-Devourer lineage, especially her unearthly looks and her sharp mind.
"Of course. This is a great opportunity, and the elders are unanimously urging me to leave so you can take my position. Haha. I fear that if I don't leave now, they'll certainly call a meeting to impeach me on the premise of staying too long. After all, your cultivation has grown greatly since. You're already a Mortal God, while your brother has entered the ranks of Godlords."
Wei Wuyin's eyes shone brightly as he felt emotional. The Wei Clan had become a God Clan, a title given to those who had Mortal Gods within them. He had just entered the ranks of Mortal Gods while his father was an experienced Mortal God with a stage of cultivation above him. As for his older brother, his talent for cultivation was legendary. Within three decades, he had made literal leaps and bounds in his cultivation, becoming a Mortal Godlord!
He was truly in the ranks of the strong within the Wu Country.
"It's time for you to become a leader of this clan, and hopefully make some heirs. Your mother and I trust that you'll find great success," Wei Wuyin's father laughed happily. Wei Wuyin hadn't taken a wife yet, but there were many candidates. Furthermore, he was certainly virile.
"You'll do great," Wei Wuyin's mother walked forward and fixed his hair and shirt. Only after she was sure it was tidy, trying to suppress the brimming wetness in her eyes, she took a breath and said with a struggling voice:
"Promise your mother that you'll write, every month, no, every week! And you'll eat your vegetables no matter if you don't like them. And you'll sleep properly. Don't fall too deeply into cultivation. Also, you must be careful of certain vixens that only want you for your status. And…"
Her words were flowing with endlessness and Wei Wuyin's father had to pull her away as he gave a wry smile. "Just take care of yourself, son."
"I will…" Wei Wuyin saw them off. Hot tears ran down his face. As they were far off, he hurriedly rushed after until he could see their carriage at the horizon of a rising sun, "Be sure to visit the Wu Tower! I love you both!"
After saying those words, he stayed staring at the horizon until the sunset. Then, and only then, did he decide to return to the clan and assume his position as Clan Leader of the Wei Clan of the Red Dove City.
Wei Wuyin.
Time passed.
Wei Wuyin looked at the setting sun. He had lived for over two hundred years. He had many children, and they had children, which had children, who had children. He was a father to many, and an Ancestor to most.
He sat in a rattan chair on the porch of a villa. He was resting as the wrinkles of his face were brushed gently by the warm air. Surrounding him were handsome and beautiful faces, some old and others young, and there were even a few that were carrying infants. They were all solemnly surrounding Wei Wuyin at the side, not blocking his view of the setting sun as they too observed. Even the infant was silent as the ambiance of the air was calming and peaceful.
It was the eve of his final day.
And it was surrounded by family. By familiar faces and newly introduced ones, including in-laws that extended for seven generations. Their cultivations were all over the place, and there were numerous Mortal Gods, Mortal Godlords, and even Mortal Godkings amongst them.
"So this is it…" Wei Wuyin's voice carried the extreme vicissitudes of age. "I've lived a great life…"
Surrounded by love. Surrounded by legacy. Surrounded by the future born from his past.
"Little Bro…" A young man flew over from the setting sun. His face was unchanging as his cultivation had reached the legendary Astral Core Realm. To many, this young man was a god amongst men.
"Big Brother…I'm…happy…you…made…it…" The weak voice of his displayed the last vestiges of his vitality ebbing away. Wei Wuyin was walking towards his dying light. The absolute of this world: death.
"I wouldn't have missed it for the world," Wei Wuyin's brother smiled warmly as he held Wei Wuyin's wrinkled hands in his own, kneeling. Who would have thought the younger brother would not outlive the older one? Life in the cultivation world was always cruel.
The older brother who once instructed him on the principles of wielding a saber and cultivation stood by his side in his final moments. As if given a burst of energy, Wei Wuyin's eyes lit with the glow of the setting sun.
"When you see mother and father, tell them that…I was happy. And I hope they…live well…and they—"
Wei Wuyin's voice trailed off as a silent atmosphere followed. The sun had fully set. A life had fully ended.
"I will," Wei Wuyin's brother clenched the hand that was slowly losing its warmth, his voice trembling with tears that could only pour out like a steady, heavy stream. Their mother and father had ascended beyond the sky with Sage Xiaotian and Minister Long, and their life talismans were glowing strong. They were still alive. Meanwhile, his cultivation talent wasn't enough to advance to the Godlord level despite numerous resources and such.
The family of four in this world of the living…would now be reduced forever to a family of three.
…
"The first life has been completed!"
The spectators were all extremely focused. However, when the red dust didn't scatter, many of their hearts eased. Somehow, the Dual Sinful Mortal had survived his first life without feeling an ounce of despair.
"What life was it? What was the first trial that he experienced?" The silver-winged figure asked curiously.
The dark-red figure replied, "The life of stagnation."
"Oh! For grand ambitious cultivators, this is the most brutal…how could he not feel the slightest sense of despair as Sinful Pride?!" Many of the winged figures were startled after hearing the first life of eighteen. A life of stagnation allows the surroundings of your life to flourish while you would stagnate, watching as everything and everyone rises instead of you.
Typically, at the end of their lifetime, their minds would be consumed by regret and despair, unable to continue living and hating death.
To be honest, this was the hardest trial for cultivators who were once peerless and ambitious. From time to time, they would feel glimpses of their past life, knowing that they were supreme and could very well be. But no matter how hard they tried, they would descend into the red dust of mortality, and stagnate before dying a death filled with abject failure.
Yet Wei Wuyin, a Sinner of Pride, had somehow succeeded in this life! There was once a Sinner of Pride with proper cultivation and a True Soul of Sin who lost immediately upon facing this life! It was the very bane of their existence. How could they possibly be content?!
"It's not over yet…there's seventeen more lives…"
Will Wei Wuyin be able to survive?!
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