My Enemy Became My Cultivation Companion-Chapter 98 - 81: Encountering the Sword Armor Again

Here is the translated text:

Upon realizing that Chen Yi truly possessed Heavenly Vision, Yin Wei Ying’s heart indeed rippled with emotion.

As for Chen Yi’s refusal, though she hadn’t anticipated it, upon reflection, she found it unsurprising.

It was only when he mentioned the "Sword Armor of Yin Sword Mountain" that Yin Wei Ying initially froze in astonishment, then sneered in disdain.

The Sword Armor of Yin Sword Mountain... How ridiculous that he even mentioned it.

Chen Yi is merely a Thousand Household of the West Factory, and even at the peak of his career, he’d only be promoted to a Commanding Officer. Without unexpected circumstances, he would remain a mundane mortal in this lifetime, with a lifespan of merely two cycles of sixty years.

Does he even know the chasm between himself and Master Tongxuan?

"He’s just saying that to deliberately provoke me."

Yin Wei Ying shook her head, but under her profound Daoist aptitude, she couldn’t refrain from ruminating further.

Clouds are clouds, mud is mud. When his lifespan is exhausted, he will return to the soil. By then, I can pour a jug of yellow wine over his grave and laugh about the bygone years.

Whether it’s him or Min Ning, both refuse to pursue the path of immortality, clinging to the mortal views of mundane men and indulging in the red dust. Yet the boundless Taoist arts atop the mountain and the infinite longevity they bring are things those living below the mountain could never imagine, never fathom.

The venerable Laojun once said: "Attain ultimate emptiness, uphold steadfast tranquility." If one remains unwilling to let go of mortal affairs, how can they achieve emptiness and tranquility, and how can they knock on the door of the Dao? If one doesn’t seek the Dao, is the purpose of life merely to live for less than two cycles of sixty years like him?

The path of immortality lies before Chen Yi, but he chooses to let it slip away.

"Rain may fall wide and far, but it will not nourish rootless grass.

If he is but rootless grass, why not forget grudges with him?"

Yin Wei Ying sighed softly, her Daoist heart growing ever resolute. Her thoughts cleared instantly. As she looked at Chen Yi’s retreating figure, her gaze gained a measure of transcendence.

Chen Yi glanced at the interface and noted that Yin Wei Ying’s negative emotions had decreased again.

He tilted his head to scan Yin Wei Ying with a sidelong glance.

At this moment, Yin Wei Ying’s transformation was truly intriguing.

It was as though...

The mortal, heart-tormented Princess of the Jing State momentarily disappeared, leaving the Supreme Forget Love Taichua Goddess to return.

Truly... fascinating.

Chen Yi couldn’t help but feel that Yin Wei Ying’s temperament often flipped back and forth.

At one moment, she resembled a thin-skinned daughter of a noble family; the next, she bore the cold indifference of the Taichua Goddess, detached from worldly dust.

Perhaps this was... an effect of the Supreme Forget Love Technique of Taihua Mountain that hadn’t yet reached completion. If she ever perfected it... there would likely be no Jing Princess left, only the Taichua Goddess.

This, perhaps, was... forgetting love.

To cultivate oneself in the end, turning oneself into a stone, forgetting the person one originally was—then even if one ascends to the highest peak and sees the most magnificent scenery, what would be the purpose?

"Must one forget oneself to become an immortal?"

Thinking of this, Chen Yi shook his head. If that’s the case, then no matter what happens, he must never let Min Ning be taken to Taihua Mountain.

Having walked some distance in the underground palace, turning a corner, they arrived at a comparatively spacious area where waves of Yin energy lingered. Yin Wei Ying sensed something and spoke up:

"Hold on."

Chen Yi stopped in his tracks.

Faint mist swirled around, and the scene before them was vast yet shrouded in darkness, nothing visible. Yin Wei Ying retrieved a Path-finding Cave Bright Talisman from her chest, recited an incantation, and the talisman rose against the wind, probing ahead swiftly.

A mile in, the talisman halted, and Yin Wei Ying said calmly:

"Up ahead is strong Sword Intent, disturbing the feng shui around it and obstructing the Cave Bright Talisman..."

Upon hearing this, Chen Yi immediately understood something.

Zhou Yitang...

This was... the place where he first encountered Zhou Yitang in the previous timeline.

According to the original storyline, after Tushan surfaced, the Sword Armor and Master Feiyuan of the Upper Qing Dao fought against it, but both were sent into the underground palace. Master Feiyuan’s fate remained unknown, while Zhou Yitang had been gravely injured, healing in a chapel chamber within the underground palace and leaving behind a trace of Sword Intent, which kept the palace’s monsters at bay.

"Let’s go."

Chen Yi quickened his pace.

Yin Wei Ying saw his recklessness and was about to object, but considering his Heavenly Vision, she refrained, merely following silently.

This truly ancient relic grew increasingly hazy as they progressed. Chen Yi felt that they were approaching the core area of the Tushan Underground Palace. Scattered pottery and bronze shards cropped up in greater numbers. Yin Wei Ying noted that the pottery depicted a mountain, while the walls bore inscriptions, with half of a golden character saying, "The Goddess Disquieted." Following that were images of a Nine-Tailed Goddess standing atop a mountain, imparting books.

Yin Wei Ying’s breath quickened as she took this in.

It was said that during Dayu’s flood control, he received assistance from the Wushan Goddess. The goddess depicted in the illustration had nine tails. Could it be that Wushan was actually Tushan? That the Wushan Goddess was Tushan Clan?

Could there be... the legacy of the Wushan Goddess here?!

The surroundings bore layers of dust, along with ancient, broken vessels—half-buried four-cornered cauldrons, shattered bronze bells reeking of prehistoric energy, all heavily corroded. Yin Wei Ying behind Chen Yi could tell that many items here were spiritual materials for crafting mountain relic treasures, and her astonishment grew. She struggled to imagine the status of the original owner of this crypt and how time had weathered these Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures into mere rusted scraps.

Chen Yi raised his head to find that the murals on the crypt resembled those on the pottery shards but included a continuation: the Nine-Tailed Goddess of the Tushan Clan imparted books to Dayu during flood control and soon after transformed into blue stone.

Beneath the mural, a bronze box lay on display.

Yin Wei Ying’s gaze gleamed brighter.

Chen Yi, on the other hand, felt a chill creep over him.

The Tushan Clan goddess transformed into blue stone... Yet he’d once thought, if Taichua Goddess perfected her cultivation, she’d also become a stone...

Was this truly sheer coincidence, or...?

Lost in thought, he felt an icy touch against his neck.

A heavily rusted bronze sword pressed against his throat, without him noticing its arrival.

Chen Yi’s back tensed in fear; in that instant, he sensed the fierce killing intent behind him.

"Who are you?"

A cold voice rang out from behind.

Chen Yi’s eyes widened slightly, immediately realizing who it was behind him—it was none other than Zhou Yitang, recuperating within the crypt!

Before Chen Yi could speak, Yin Wei Ying nearby involuntarily exclaimed:

"Master Zhou..."

Zhou Yitang glanced at Yin Wei Ying and asked:

"The Taichua Goddess? A direct disciple of Yu Zhenyuan Jun?"

"That’s correct."

Yin Wei Ying answered softly.

After a brief glance at her, Zhou Yitang shifted her focus back to Chen Yi.

Despite feeling the lingering killing intent behind him, Chen Yi no longer panicked and said:

"Sword Armor Zhou... Remember me? Chen Yi from the West Factory."

This was their second encounter, and it wasn’t certain Zhou Yitang would still remember him, so Chen Yi reintroduced himself.

After hearing this, Zhou Yitang showed a fleeting look of recollection and after a while said:

"I do recall a bit."

That said, the Sword Armor withdrew her heavily rusted bronze sword.

Chen Yi turned around to face Zhou Yitang again, momentarily feeling a sense of melancholy, recalling sweetbriar and peony flowers, but he quickly steadied himself and asked:

"May I ask what brings the Sword Armor to dwell in this place?"

While he certainly knew why Zhou Yitang was healing inside this crypt, it was necessary to ask regardless.

"I was injured during battle with the Tushan Clan and needed to remain here temporarily for recovery."

Zhou Yitang replied, seemingly unwilling to elaborate.

Chen Yi immediately pursued the question:

"Oh? Surely there’s more to it than that. As a Taoist and Martial dual cultivator, the Sword Armor possesses extraordinary skill. Even gravely injured, you wouldn’t fear the palace’s beasts. Yet you continue to hide here. Could it be... there are other reasons?"

He then observed Zhou Yitang lower her gaze, silently fixating on him.

As he expected, she spoke the same words she had in the previous timeline:

"You do have some insight. The reason I remain here is to avoid the pursuit of Tushan Clan’s ghost serfs."

"Tushan Clan’s ghost serfs?"

Yin Wei Ying looked puzzled.

"The beasts within this underground palace, including the donkey-headed Crown Prince, are among them."

Chen Yi said indifferently.

Zhou Yitang looked at Chen Yi with a fleeting expression of "surprise" before explaining:

"Indeed. Dayu encountered the Nine-Tailed Goddess Tushan and became a king. The nine tails were proof of kingship. Legend has it that Wu Zhao was formed from one of Tushan Clan’s entrails, which is why she could ascend as Empress despite being a woman. The donkey-headed Crown Prince is Wu Zhao’s son."

"So... the donkey-headed Crown Prince came to the capital to awaken the Tushan Clan and bring Tushan back into the world?"

This time, Yin Wei Ying showed genuine astonishment.

"Perhaps so; otherwise, why would he collaborate with the Lin household?"

Zhou Yitang paused before adding:

"It was precisely because the merit of the Praying Place was stolen that the Tushan Clan completely lost their suppression and thus emerged by possessing the former empress dowager’s body."

By possessing the former empress dowager’s body...

Listening to this, Chen Yi frowned slightly.

In the previous timeline, it was indeed possession of the former empress dowager’s body, but earlier, when he saw Tushan Clan, she clearly resembled the current empress dowager, An Hou, not the former empress dowager... Rather than emerging through possession of the former empress dowager’s body, it seemed more like possession of An Hou to reincarnate...

As Chen Yi pondered, outside the crypt, rumbling and scraping noises echoed.

The Ba Snake, a creature of myth and legend, was approaching.