Help, I’m Being Forced to Marry a Frail and Sickly Immortal Doctor! 120

Chapter 120: Towards the Mortal World

“I love all living beings, so naturally, I love you.”

Remembering Yin Buran’s words, Ning Ruoque wanted to take a look at the anchor, the Startling Swan sword.

The cultivator whose spiritual soul had been taken was too strange to think about, and she had to personally confirm it.

The place where the anchor was stored was in the waterfall cave. Ning Ruoque passed through the water like a swallow and brushed past the two sword cultivators on guard by the wall.

One of them drew his sword warily. “Someone seems to have just passed by!”

Something also flashed above her head. It was the warning formation set up by Chu Xuan.

Ning Ruoque revealed her figure and did not deliberately hide her tracks.

The Sword Pavilion’s young girl was stunned for a moment, then lowered her head and bowed. “It’s… it’s the Sword Venerable.”

Ning Ruoque nodded. “Mm, where is the Startling Swan sword? I want to go and observe it.”

“The room on the left, Elder He is guarding it.”

Ning Ruoque: “Thank you.”

She disappeared at the end of the passage in the blink of an eye, and everything returned to its original state, as if no one had come.

The young girl was still bewildered. “She just passed by like that?”

Given Ning Ruoque’s good reputation, no one suspected her motives.

She just didn’t expect that the Sword Venerable was so polite, and she looked so approachable, without any airs.

The other pouted, her tone faintly disappointed. “I thought she was here to spar with us.”

The young girl clicked her tongue at this. “You really dare to think.”

After a long while, her sigh sounded again in the quiet passage. “Ah, actually, I also want to…”

Which sword cultivator does not yearn for the ultimate swordsmanship and want to have a match with it?

As for Ning Ruoque, she turned a corner and stepped into what seemed to be a warehouse, and as expected, she saw the sword box sealed under heavy restrictions.

Even though the room was dim and the sword box was simple, it could not hide its incomparably sharp aura.

It was said that the cultivation world of a thousand years ago was not like it was now. At that time, the gods of the Ninth Heaven were still there, and the human world was prosperous with incense. Countless cultivators had exhausted everything just to prove their dao and ascend.

But Ning Ruoque had been to the Ninth Heaven, and she just felt that there was nothing good there.

She just stared at the sword box for a long time, and the Dao is Hidden and Nameless sword in her hand was silent.

Until the sound of footsteps suddenly came from outside the door, Ning Ruoque looked around, and lightly landed on the wooden boxes piled in the corner, concealing her figure.

But the person who came was not the “Elder He” that the Sword Pavilion’s young girl had mentioned, but an acquaintance.

Dressed in clothes like mourning clothes, her face was also very pale, and she just walked towards the Startling Swan sword at an unhurried pace.

For some reason, the restrictions had lost their effect, and they actually let her get closer and closer.

The candle shadow suddenly jumped, and a long sword broke through the air, pointing straight at Jiang Ai’s throat. Ning Ruoque’s calm face was reflected on the bright sword.

One more step and there would be blood.

With such an impolite action, Jiang Ai just smiled without a care and actually took several steps back.

She quickly composed herself and said faintly, “The Sword Venerable seems to have misunderstood something. After all, it is a secret treasure of my Sword Pavilion. I was just doing a routine check.”

Ning Ruoque, on the other hand, performed a light sword flourish. “It is indeed a misunderstanding. I was so engrossed in observing the Startling Swan sword that I didn’t recognize you.”

Then her tone changed. “What do you think of this sword?”

Her tone was very frank, as if the confrontation just now had been an illusion.

This time, Jiang Ai was silent for a few breaths before she spoke, “A divine object of old, it is a rare divine sword that can be compared with the ‘Dao is Hidden and Nameless’.”

Without waiting for her to continue, Ning Ruoque said again, “Since I have nothing to do, I would like to ask Fellow Daoist Jiang for a few pointers.”

In fact, it was that she had had a few moves with Jiang Ai at the Taiyi Sect last time, and she always felt that something was not right.

After she went back, she couldn’t figure it out, so she simply decided to find a chance to have another fight with Jiang Ai.

The other frowned with hesitation. “This… to be honest, my injuries have not yet healed.”

Since she had already said so, Ning Ruoque couldn’t possibly force an injured person to spar with her.

She sized the person up and down openly, and then turned to leave.

As far as she knew, the sect master of the Sword Pavilion, Mu Chengxue, was not a person who would “exploit” her fellow sect members. Or was it that Jiang Ai had taken the initiative to request this trip?

Before she had even stepped out of the room, Jiang Ai’s voice suddenly sounded behind her. “But forget it. It’s a rare opportunity. Please be merciful, Fellow Daoist Ning.”

Ning Ruoque paused for a moment, and while she was taking out a transmission talisman to notify Chu Xuan, she slowly made a request, “Let’s fight outside.”

The two of them walked out of the waterfall and found a deserted and open riverbank.

Remembering Jiang Ai’s injuries, Ning Ruoque’s sword tip tapped the ground. “Fellow Daoist Jiang, please.”

The other was not polite. Her long sword was unsheathed, and her sleeves fluttered like a white crane.

The fierce wind and spiritual pressure it brought with it tore open Ning Ruoque’s sleeve. Ning Ruoque glanced at it lightly and moved sideways to let it pass.

Jiang Ai’s sword qi was different from her own. It was like wind and rain, and it suddenly swept across the riverbank, breaking the grass and trees.

Ning Ruoque raised her sword to block. Her movements were very slow, but she had defended against Jiang Ai so tightly that not even a wisp of wind could get through.

She did not make a move and just watched. Occasionally, she would suddenly slash out with her sword, but it was just to force Jiang Ai to defend.

The sound of the blades clashing was particularly piercing, and the escaping spiritual energy even caused a thin layer of ice to form on the river.

People gradually noticed the situation here, and they did not dare to go forward, only watching from a distance.

Another clash, and the Nameless sword pressed down on Jiang Ai’s sword-wielding hand, letting out a hum.

But Ning Ruoque suddenly said softly, “Your swordsmanship is very strange.”

This was the problem.

Jiang Ai was forced back a few steps, her face even paler.

She calmly looked at Ning Ruoque, and Ning Ruoque also looked back at her. “The swordsmanship of the Sword Pavilion is righteous and grand. Your swordsmanship has its form, but not its meaning.”

“Miao Hongxiang said that your temperament has changed a lot since your Dao companion fell in battle. Although it’s understandable, a sword cultivator’s sword never lies.”

Ning Ruoque did not believe that a sword cultivator would use a swordsmanship that was not suitable for them.

Not to mention that Jiang Ai was the law enforcement elder of the Sword Pavilion. Even if she really couldn’t get over it and was possessed by an inner demon, her swordsmanship should not be as rigid as it was in the books.

She was not good at those twists and turns, so she asked directly, “Who on earth are you?”

The night wind brought a thick water vapor, so cold that it was bone-chilling.

The person before her rarely smiled, her eyes curving. Regarding Ning Ruoque’s questioning, she seemed to have no temper at all.

“What a unique way of identifying. The Sword Venerable does not believe in people, but she will believe in a sword. My soul lamp has never been extinguished. The sect master can also prove this.”

She also cultivated an orthodox swordsmanship, and there were no signs of a backlash. After she was chosen as the Deputy Alliance Master of the Immortal Alliance, her biggest mistake was just that she loved to play the peacemaker.

But Ning Ruoque blurted out, “There’s nothing in the sword box that the Sword Pavilion sent.”

This sentence sounded out of the blue. Jiang Ai naturally raised an eyebrow. “Hmm? So you suspect that I did something?”

Ning Ruoque shook her head. “No. I just think that Mu Chengxue has as many tricks up her sleeve as her sword. If you really have no problem, she probably wouldn’t have deliberately sent an empty sword box.”

She had confirmed before that Chu Xuan did not know that the sword box was empty. If it were just to avoid any accidents with the anchor, there was no need to hide it from Chu Xuan as well.

Perhaps seeing that they had not moved for a long time, the crowd of onlookers gradually dispersed, and that familiar white figure became particularly conspicuous.

So much so that an even more unrestrained gaze fell on Ning Ruoque, as if it wanted to stare a flower out of her.

Ning Ruoque’s whole body stiffened, and she was a little distracted, wanting to probe Yin Buran’s expression.

Just as Jiang Ai took a few steps forward, Ning Ruoque subconsciously raised her sword, but she didn’t expect Jiang Ai to just brush past her.

Her voice sounded by her ear at the same time, “The you of now, can you still kill me like you did a hundred years ago?”

A chill ran up from the soles of her feet to her spine, as if she had fallen into an ice cave, and the Dao is Hidden and Nameless sword trembled uncontrollably.

Ning Ruoque turned her head and caught a glimpse of the curve of Jiang Ai’s mouth, and the blood-red demon core that she was playing with in her hand.

“You—”

She had assumed a lot, such as that Jiang Ai was actually a nine-tailed fox that was good at illusions, a chibird that could control people’s minds, or some kind of possession secret art.

But she never would have thought…

Taotie, the Taotie that fed on human desires and brought countless disasters.

The Taotie that Ning Ruoque had once fought with her life.

She suddenly thought of Si Mingyue’s prophecy, of Yan Lingge, whose memory had been changed for some reason, and of the Mirage Sea Realm that had been forcefully operated.

She thought of those who, for various reasons that could and could not be said, had chosen to hold the demon core.

Her voice was hoarse. “Was it you who led me to find my sword and also restored my memory?”

Jiang Ai showed a gentle smile.

She did not answer, but Ning Ruoque clearly read an emotion from it that had left a deep impression on her.

When the former Ning Ruoque had drawn her sword at Taotie, it had also looked at her like this.

Contempt.

There was no need to hide it. It didn’t matter if she was discovered. The ending would not change in the slightest.

Taotie was just like that. A person’s joy, anger, and sorrow were all its food.

But what it loved the most was to watch people struggle. The stronger the emotion, the deeper the desire it could stimulate.

That blood-red demon core flew between ‘Jiang Ai’s’ fingers and was thrown high up.

A light flashed, as if something had been sucked into it, making the demon core even more full and tempting.

As if in response, a cultivator in the crowd suddenly fell to the ground and began to convulse violently.

At that time, Yin Buran, who was by the riverbank, was still saying to Chu Xuan, “Jiang Ai and we are a little too fated.”

The more they got along, the more unhappy she became. She always felt that this was not a coincidence.

Seeing that the two people on the other side had stopped moving, she squinted her eyes. “Ning Ruoque’s expression doesn’t seem right.”

Before she could think carefully, a cry of alarm came from nearby. Yin Buran followed the sound and came to the side of the convulsing cultivator, and she was about to treat her subconsciously.

“Yin Buran!”

It was Ning Ruoque’s voice. Yin Buran turned her head. “Hmm?”

The Nameless sword brushed past her white hair and pierced through the dazed cultivator who was about to slap Yin Buran.

Chu Xuan had also reacted and had pulled Yin Buran behind her to protect her.

A spiritual pressure exploded with a roar, and the humming sound was almost about to pierce one’s eardrums. Even the waterfall water had stagnated for a moment.

The overwhelming water droplets poured down like rain. Chu Xuan cursed and continuously threw out spells and talismans to block.

After finally waiting for the smoke and dust to disperse, she suddenly widened her eyes.

A giant beast phantom with a sheep’s body, a human’s face, and eyes under its armpits was looking down at them.

Many people had never seen a Taotie.

But when it appeared, everyone knew that it was it. That sense of fear that came from the bottom of their hearts was a memory engraved in everyone’s soul.

The giant beast lightly raised its claw and pressed down on Chu Xuan and Yin Buran.

What was faster than Chu Xuan was Ning Ruoque’s sword. Thousands of sword lights were in front of the giant beast’s claw, illuminating the night as bright as day, and that beast’s claw was slow to fall.

But Taotie was still disdainful and did not even lower its head.

How can a human be a match for a demon god?

It swung its long tail, and the fierce wind had forcefully split the ground. The originally unstable formation began to flicker rapidly.

“My formation!”

Now Chu Xuan wished she could split herself in two. In the end, she still gritted her teeth and met the beast’s claw.

A muffled hum was constantly heard from the surroundings, as if she were trapped in a large bell, forcing her to shout in frustration, “What’s that noise? It’s so noisy!”

She did not know that this sound was very clear to Ning Ruoque.

The hand that was holding the sword did not move in the slightest, but Taotie was whispering in her ear.

“You’ve become very ‘delicious’ now.”

“Is your dao heart still as firm as it was back then?”

Taotie lowered its head, and its eyes reflected the terrified Yin Buran.

It asked with a teasing tone, “Do you dare—”

“To look back at her one more time?”

Her spiritual energy was in a mess. A sweet taste of blood welled up in Ning Ruoque’s throat, and even the sword formation suddenly swayed.

The beast’s claw pressed down by thirty percent. She readjusted her breathing, but the Dao is Hidden and Nameless sword, which was usually as easy to use as her own arm, was now as heavy as a thousand jun in her hand.

Seeing that the sharp tip of the claw was about to pierce her chest, Taotie’s laughter grew louder and louder.

A golden lotus rose from behind Ning Ruoque and quietly bloomed.

A vast spiritual energy rippled like water, and the sword light became majestic and unmovable, but it did not bring any sense of pressure, and only made one feel refreshed.

The phantom of Taotie squinted its beastly pupils, and without any reluctance, it turned and disappeared into the thick night.

After confirming that Taotie had indeed disappeared, only then did Ning Ruoque sheathe her sword.

The golden light of the lotus flower gradually solidified.

The clouds dispersed and the wind was clear. The moonlight shone down, covering Chen Suxin with a thin veil.

Compared to the meeting on the Ninth Heaven, the current goddess seemed to be even weaker. White hair had been added to her temples, and her figure could be scattered by the wind.

She looked at Ning Ruoque, her expression as gentle as ever, but she spoke, “You have to make a choice as soon as possible.”

Ning Ruoque blinked slowly, a little bewildered. “What choice?”

Chen Suxin answered patiently, “If you don’t become a god, you will only lose her.”

Ning Ruoque couldn’t help but want to refute.

But the words were swallowed back at the tip of her tongue, becoming a hidden thorn that was stuck in her throat. As soon as she thought of it, a bitter blood would be squeezed out.

She did not speak, and she heard Yin Buran shout, “Ning Ruoque, are you injured?”

The person who came anxiously grabbed her. Because she had run too fast, her hair was in a mess.

Yin Buran held Ning Ruoque’s hand. It was a completely different coldness from usual.

She frowned and looked at Chen Suxin.

Chu Xuan’s head was still buzzing. Seeing that the atmosphere between the three of them was so strange, she did not dare to make a sound.

What broke this silence was a shadow stained with the smell of wine.

It was unknown where the person had come from. She casually stood in front of Chen Suxin, separating Ning Ruoque from her.

She opened her mouth and let out a light-hearted sigh, “It’s really not easy to see you.”

Yan Ci waved her hand at Ning Ruoque. “You don’t have to worry about this matter. Go.”

Ning Ruoque pressed her lips together and did not move.

She had something to say, but Yan Ci didn’t care if she had left or not.

The smiling sword cultivator walked towards Chen Suxin, and the red string tied in her hair swayed lightly, particularly eye-catching.

She asked, “Does the goddess still remember me?”

Chen Suxin nodded. “I remember. You are my junior sister.”

Yan Ci’s smile became even more brilliant. “Does the goddess still love me?”

Chen Suxin: “Naturally.”

She lowered her eyes, and the gentleness in them was like a pool of clear and discernible water, which could reflect all the living beings in the world.

And there was no room for any reservation.

She said, “I love all living beings, so naturally, I love you.”