Chapter Seventeen: The Heavenly Book

  That young man was still lying quietly in the same place as when he had just fallen, while I was still crawling on his body. He was still breathing, but that white light had clearly pierced his body. No one could withstand such a powerful force.

  Tian Que! The greatest treasure of Master Shui Yue!

  Lu Xueqi slowly opened her eyes, had Tianyao really been destroyed? She didn't dare to look but couldn't help not looking. All she saw was that the giant sword and white jade bead were gone from the underground palace. The entire hall suddenly became dull, even the statues of gods lost their spiritual energy.

  Only a zhang away from him, a white sword lay quietly on the ground, which was Tianzhuo. However, at this moment, the body of the sword had turned white, and where the blade and scabbard met, there was an additional blue gemstone. Tianzhuo, who had followed her for twelve years, suddenly became so unfamiliar. What had happened to it? Why did it merge with that white gemstone?

  She slowly walked past, due to internal injuries every step would cause severe panting, but Master had passed Tian Que to her and yet ended up like this, how could she be worthy of the master who had nurtured and taught her.

  Tian Que!

  She slowly picked up the white Tian Jue, its weight still the same as before, only the white sword body seemed a few degrees colder and more solemn, matching her icy skin and snow-white clothes even better, but to her heart it was so strange, she was stunned, unable to accept this fact.

  Zhang Yu Fan slowly came to, rubbing his dizzy head, unable to recall what had just happened. The crystal-like hall had dimmed, and not far away, a woman in white clothes like snow knelt dejectedly in front of a white heavenly jade, as if confessing something.

  Zhang Yu Fan coughed twice and dragged his heavy legs towards him.

  "Is everything all right?" he asked softly.

  Lu Xueqi didn't say a word, as if silence was her best answer.

  Zhang Yufan stared at the white Tianjue sword in a daze, not speaking for a long time. For a cultivator, destroying their magic treasure is equivalent to destroying themselves. Lu Xueqi's temperament was strong-willed, and this sword had been passed down by her master, so the pain it brought was imaginable.

  Two people just quietly stayed like that, don't know how long had passed. Zhang Yufan really couldn't bear to see her like this anymore, slowly said: "Xue Qi, can I take a look at Tianyuan?"

  Lu Xueqi still didn't react.

  "I don't know if what I'm saying is right or wrong, but looking at this white Tianyue, it seems to have a warm and refined texture, the sword body is delicate, and there's also this blue gemstone that tightly binds the hilt and the sword body together as one, the quality is even better than before, maybe it's good fortune rather than bad luck? Zhang Yufan continued: "In your heart, you're just thinking about how to face Shuiyue Dashi, and she naturally passed Tianyue on to you, which means you have 120% confidence in her, but the current situation isn't what you intended, and besides, you don't need to account for anything to anyone. Just like Xiao Fang's Soul Devouring, he doesn't need to account for it to anyone, although it's a cruel and evil thing with a terrible background, but Xiao Fang didn't use it to harm people. Objects are inanimate, while people are alive, what matters is the human heart. Qingyun Dao Xuanmen views him as an abomination, but your Shifu never drove him out of the door, on the contrary, he even had someone keep Xiao Fang's room waiting for that disciple to return!"

  Lu Xueqi's body shook, she had thought that her current situation was impossible to have a result with Xiao Fan due to their family backgrounds. She had endured until the end, and it would undoubtedly be a tragic ending. At this moment, suddenly hearing Zhang Yufan say this, her heart couldn't help but feel a wave of excitement, finally opening her mouth to say: "Will Master Tian know? I...I don't believe what you're saying..."

  As expected, but Zhang Yufan could clearly feel the longing in Lu Xueqi's heart, and continued: "I know you don't believe it, at first I didn't either, but after almost being killed by your Tianyue that day, I inadvertently went to Dazhu Peak. I originally wanted to leave, but was discovered by Dahuang. That yearning prodigal son blocked my way, calling out 'Old Seven' and addressing me as Master. I couldn't bear to tell him the truth, and I also knew how much he hoped to return to his own place in Xiao Fan's world, living a carefree and ordinary life."

  Lu Xueqi's body trembled slightly, and her eyes, full of expectation, looked forward to a beautiful future. She said slowly, "Does Master Tian really think so?"

  "There's a saying that people from the same family don't enter the same door, but you and your uncle Tian are not alike in temperament, are you? Stubborn and strong-willed, yet dead set on saving face. What you think in your heart is what he thinks too. And as for Little Fan, aren't you all the same kind of people? Does this still need to be asked?"

  Lu Xueqi's body moved slightly, and she slowly stood up. With a flick of her wrist, the Tianyue floated quietly into her hand. She examined it carefully for a while, and found that after merging with the Tian Emperor Pearl, the white Tianyue had been reborn, its quality increased by several times.

  Zhang Yufan saw that she had figured out a lot and her face relaxed, as if reborn, overjoyed in her heart.

  "Thank you!" Lu Xueqi said suddenly.

  Zhang Yu Fan was stunned and smiled foolishly, but how could they leave this underground palace now? The two of them searched everywhere for a long time and even tried to exit from the deep abyss they came from, but the crystal top was as hard as cast iron and not even Tian Zhuang could chop it open. It's really unknown that when the two people arrived, the soft water domain had become so hard now.

  "Are we really going to be trapped to death in this underground palace?" Zhang Yufan punched the white pillar twice, saying angrily.

  Lu Xueqi also didn't know where she got the courage from to glance at him and say, "You resemble him in many ways, but you don't have his patience!"

  There was a beautiful woman who said that to him, especially since it was Lu Xueqi who took the initiative to talk to him. In his heart, he felt an overwhelming joy and thought: "Compared to me, Zhang Yu Fan is far inferior. I just want to be myself - Zhang Yu Fan. Xiao Fan has always lived in self-abasement and pain, but I don't want that. I'm not willing to die like this. I think people live for the sake of living, happiness and suffering are both a kind of enjoyment. Those who take their own lives are cowards, they're all greedy for the comfort of death, but I don't want that!"

  Lu Xueqi said: "Indeed it's a demonic cult heretic, and another absurd argument!" But she was smiling as she spoke.

  Zhang Yufan saw her smile for the first time, it was so elegant and touching, thinking that he was so happy to be the first person to see her smile, haha, it's not in vain to come to this world.

  "Are you afraid of death?" Lu Xueqi asked again.

  "Scary!" Zhang Yufan replied succinctly, "So I've decided to thoroughly study the layout of this underground palace first. The Heavenly Emperor shouldn't be a fool, right? How could he bear to trap his successor to death in this underground palace? There must be some unsolved secrets hidden within!"

  He said this as he walked up the crystal stone steps of the Heavenly Emperor's throne.

  Lu Xueqi slightly furrowed her brow, carefully inserting the white Tianjiao into her back. Looking at this passionate young man, she thought of Xiao Fan again. If both of them could put down all their burdens and dare to love and hate, perhaps by now they would already... She suddenly shook her head, a layer of worry added to her frosty face. The carefree her from just now seemed like just a dream. What about Bi Yao? When Xiao Fan really let go of Bi Yao, was he still Xiao Fan?

  She thought to herself, Zhang Yu Fan had already climbed up to the feet of the Heavenly Emperor, his height just reaching the knee of the Heavenly Emperor. This person seemed not to believe in gods, and even the divine dignity of the Heavenly Emperor was something he wanted to touch, such blasphemy against the gods, did he never think about the consequences?

  "Xue Qi, if we can both make it out of this underground palace alive, will I still be able to call you like that?" Zhang Yu Fan naturally understood Lu Xue Qi's temperament and sat on Tian Di's lap again, repeating the same words as before.

  Lu Xueqi was originally very unaccustomed to others calling her like that, but Zhang Yufan had an irresistible temptation for her. Was it the same face as Xiaofan's that was haunting her? But at this moment, Zhang Yufan's actions still shocked her, and she hastily said: "Are you not afraid of blaspheming against the Heavenly Emperor?"

  Zhang Yu Fan's originally limp legs suddenly stopped, as if he had thought of something, and jumped up to stand on the knees of the Heavenly Emperor, then knelt down and said: "Heavenly Emperor above, Yu Fan has paid his respects to you in this way, please do not see my blasphemy as a crime!" As he spoke, he bowed down on the Heavenly Emperor's knee, it was indeed absurd to pay respects on the knee of a god.

  Lu Xueqi just found it funny, but still didn't laugh out loud, suddenly shouting: "What are you doing?"

  Zhang Yu Fan had just finished the ceremony and immediately stood up, took a step forward, his hand stretched into the Tian Emperor's arms, and his body leaned in to take out an ancient grayish-brown scroll from inside, which was incredibly old.

  Zhang Yufan held the ancient scroll and knelt down again on the knee of the Heavenly Emperor to pay his respects, then flashed his body to appear in front of Lu Xueqi.

  "Xue Qi, what do you think is in this ancient scroll?" Zhang Yu Fan asked.

  Lu Xueqi slightly furrowed her brow, unable to see through what was actually a treasure, but since the Heavenly Emperor could put it in his bosom, it definitely wasn't an ordinary object. When Zhang Yufan slowly turned it over to reveal the two characters on the bottom, even Lu Xueqi let out a cry of surprise: "Heavenly Book!"

  Zhang Yufan was greatly shocked, and the thing in his hand was actually the Heavenly Book. Weren't they scattered among the various major sects of the world? How could there be a Heavenly Book here? Even if it did exist, which volume would this be? This was a material that was as soft as animal skin yet as solid as soft armor, and he couldn't help but be amazed at the wonder of the heavenly emperor's objects.

  "Xue Qi, I don't recognize this character. Can you tell me what's written on it? Is there a sixth volume of the Heavenly Book?" Zhang Yu Fan asked curiously.

  As the ancient scroll slowly unfolded, Lu Xueqi said slowly: "It's not!" Zhang Yufan was somewhat disappointed, but then he heard Lu Xueqi say: "Although it's not the sixth volume of the Heavenly Book, all five volumes of the Heavenly Book are here!"

  Zhang Yu Fan exclaimed with great joy: "They're all here!" He also said: "It turns out that the Heavenly Emperor is also a person who doesn't follow worldly conventions. If it weren't for me, this madman, I'm afraid even if many people came, they wouldn't dare climb onto his body. Indeed, there's truth to the saying 'a sage knows a worthy name'!"

  As he spoke, the ancient scroll had unfolded to the fifth volume of the Heavenly Book. Lu Xueqi was even more shocked, as it turned out that all the cultivation methods in the world originated from this Heavenly Book. Zhang Yufan indeed didn't lie, but how did he know what he said was true? The ancient scroll was fully unfolded, revealing a purely blue object with countless talismans on its surface.

  Two people were puzzled at that moment, and then it suddenly burst into brilliant light, taking away all feeling, in an instant everything was gone except for the thought.