Chapter 332

Chapter 332: You’re Alive, and I’m Happy (4000 words, two-in-one)

“Red Sleeve, what do you think this world should be like?”

A woman with shoulder-length hair turned her head, looking at her sword spirit, a smile of ease and nonchalance on her lips.

“What else could it be? It’s just like this.”

The voluptuous woman in the red dress gave the short-haired woman a disapproving look.

“Killing each other, all for their selfish desires, capable of anything, no one has any firm beliefs. This world is utterly rotten.”

“Though this world is rotten, I am pretty~” The short-haired woman spoke some off-topic words.

Red Sleeve was speechless, “Jianjia, how can you say that with your short hair? No woman is like you.”

Jianjia laughed, “Short hair is better for fighting enemies. Otherwise, tying it up every time would be so troublesome. But come to think of it, don’t you think it’s ugly? I think it looks good.”

Red Sleeve snorted twice, “Only you think it’s good-looking.”

“Hypocrite,” Jianjia pinched the chubby cheeks of the nearby sword spirit, “When I cut my hair, your eyes were bright when you looked at me. Now that you’ve gotten used to it, you think it’s ugly, right?”

Red Sleeve slapped the girl’s hand away, “You were mistaken then. I’ve always thought your short hair looks bad.”

“Really,” Jianjia sighed helplessly, “At this point, you’re still so hypocritical and dishonest. I tell you, if you keep being like this, no man will like you~”

Red Sleeve rolled her eyes, “I’m a sword spirit; whether or not men like me doesn’t matter. Even if they do, there’s no outcome. Rather, it’s you who have been single for ten thousand years!”

“Hahaha, I’m single not because no one likes me, but because I look down on those men. How can those men conquer me? They aren’t as powerful as me.”

Jianjia laughed loudly, completely disregarding her image. Her boldness seemed contrary to her name.

Red Sleeve shook her head and looked forward, “People are about to die without ever experiencing what it’s like to be a woman. Your life has been quite a failure.”

Jianjia retracted her smile and followed Red Sleeve’s gaze toward the front, “As if you’ve experienced what it’s like to be a woman.”

In front of them, within sight, were a million warriors dressed in silver-white armor. These warriors stood eight feet tall, holding spears eighteen feet long.

They stood neatly in front of the two women, like a vast white ocean, the air filled with a solemn killing intent.

Above these silver-armored warriors hovered divine beasts such as true dragons, true phoenixes, Vermilion Birds, Qilins, Bashe, and Bifang.

Even higher up, ten ancient figures floated above, gazing down upon the woman and the sword spirit, giving an impression of overseeing all beings.

It was as if these ten individuals were conducting the final judgment on the woman and the sword spirit.

“Jianjia! We’ll give you one last chance! Surrender to our Heavenly Court! Spare your life!” One of them, appearing ethereal and refined, spoke.

Jianjia slowly stood up, gripping the blood-red longsword beside her, “You old fossils have only this much ability! Since I’ve come this far, do you think I would surrender to you?”

“Stubborn to the end!” An elder scolded.

“There’s no need to waste words on her anymore, kill her!”

“Kill her. Someone like her isn’t worth keeping.”

“It’s just a pity about this Sword Immortal.”

“It doesn’t matter. There are so many young talents. Eventually, there will be more.”

Above the heavens, the elders exchanged words, creating a brief clamor in the sky.

“That settles it. Kill her.”

At this moment, the elder sitting in the middle slowly spoke.

As his voice echoed, no one dared to speak further.

“Kill.”

With a wave of the elder’s large hand, a million heavenly soldiers charged forward with their spears aimed at Jianjia.

“Roar!”

Divine and fierce beasts descended towards the ground.

Jianjia gripped her sword even tighter. Red Sleeve transformed into a wisp of red smoke and returned to the sword.

“Red Sleeve, this time, I might really die~” Jianjia said to the sword in her hand.

“If you die, then so be it.” Red Sleeve’s tone was indifferent, “I’m just a sword anyway. Being refined by these guys is worse than being destroyed.”

“No, I can die, but you cannot.” Jianjia’s lips curved upward, “If I die, there will be countless others in the future. But if you die, the world will truly lose a fine sword.”

Jianjia took a step forward in her embroidered shoes, advancing towards the endless divine generals, divine beasts, and fierce creatures! “Survive! For both of us!”

In the “illusion,” the sword qi of Red Sleeve and Ming collided explosively like storms.

Tens of thousands of heavenly soldiers were annihilated. The divine and fierce beasts dissolved into star-like spiritual energy in the air, volcanoes crumbled, magma spewed out, making it impossible to approach Red Sleeve and Ming.

Huge clouds of dust spread throughout the sky.

Shixin sensed something amiss and ran into the dust cloud.

As the dust gradually settled,

Shixin slowly stopped running.

In front of Shixin, Ming lay unconscious in the arms of the woman in the red dress.

The woman knelt on her knees, holding Ming, resting his head on her thigh. Her red eyelashes trembled lightly, her red lips curved into a satisfied arc. Her protruding buttocks and slender waist formed a beautiful curve.

Her red dress was slightly torn, revealing her white and evenly proportioned thighs.

In her gaze towards Ming, there was a hint of bewilderment. Shixin didn’t know what she was recalling.

“Jianjia, it seems I’ve had quite good luck.”

Red Sleeve smiled, as if talking to herself.

Red Sleeve raised her head and looked at Shixin not far away, “Don’t worry, your little lover is fine. He just collapsed from exhaustion.”

Shixin shook her head, “He’s not my lover.”

“Ha ha ha ha…” Red Sleeve chuckled lightly, “Your monks are truly amusing.”

“Never mind, never mind.” Red Sleeve shook her head, sighed, and looked around, her eyes reflecting the passage of time. “Little monk, do you know where we are?”

Shixin shook her head.

“Here…is a graveyard.”

Red Sleeve raised her head and looked at the crimson sky.

“The Rootless Mystic Realm has existed in the world for tens of thousands of years. You people have figured out its rules and created protective amulets. When cultivators face life-threatening danger, they can leave using these amulets.

“You people periodically return here to seek opportunities and seize treasures.

“But you have never known where this place comes from.

“The Rootless Mystic Realm is a fragment from ancient times, a remnant of history that was interrupted.

“And this place…is where a foolish girl met her demise. After her death, her sword qi tore apart the surroundings, merging the sword realm with the environment, thus forming this place which resembles an illusion but isn’t entirely.

“The heavenly soldiers and divine/fierce beasts you see are all the spirits of her subordinates who perished.

“So you find this place to be both real and illusory.”

Shixin “…”

“For countless tens of thousands of years, I’ve watched people come and go, testing countless cultivators, picking and choosing again and again, but none of them suited my taste. This time, with the destruction of the Rootless Mystic Realm, I didn’t want to settle for less. Thinking it would be destroyed anyway, it’s fine. After all, I’ve lived long enough.

“But unexpectedly, I encountered someone whose personality resembles that foolish girl.

“Unfortunately, it’s a man.”

Shixin clasped her hands together, “Layperson, you’ve killed many people.”

“Killed many people? Ha ha ha ha…”

Red Sleeve paused momentarily, then burst into laughter.

“Young lady, do you know that your ancestors have killed far more people than I have?

“Sometimes, taking lives is necessary to let more lives survive.

“If you don’t kill the enemy, the enemy will kill you, kill your friends, kill your partner, kill everyone behind you!

“The Buddhist law isn’t merely about compassion.

“Moreover, you say I’ve killed many people, but in my view, there must be sacrifices for gains. Everything comes with a price.

“Just take those who enter the Sama Cave as an example.

“They seek opportunities, and I can provide them, but they must have the means to take them.

“If they don’t have the means, they must leave their lives behind.

“In this world, how can one expect to gain everything without cost?”

Shixin lowered her head and pondered for a while before raising it again, “I have a question I wish to ask Layperson, may Layperson kindly answer.”

“I enjoy conversing with pure-hearted people like you,” Red Sleeve’s eyes twinkled, “Please ask directly.”

“Must only one of us survive?” Shixin asked.

“Not necessarily.”

Red Sleeve’s smile grew brighter.

She lifted her head and gazed meaningfully at the heavens.

“Who sets the rules of the world? Why can’t they be broken? Just because rules are set, does that mean we must follow them? Should we obey all unreasonable rules?”

The incense stick stuck in the ground had already burned out.

Red Sleeve shifted her gaze back to Shixin, “Only those who dare to break the rules can survive. And what I seek are such people. If only one person remains, I will still let them live, and they can take the treasure I promised, since it’s a promise I made.

“But those who dare to draw their swords against me, those who value their principles more than their own lives, are the ones I seek.

“Unfortunately,

“Among the thousands in the Sama Cave, there are only the two of you.

“But that’s already sufficient.”

Red Sleeve looked at Shixin and smiled brightly, “Enough talk. Continuing would stray too far. The cause and effect between the two of you is something you might not be able to bear.”

Red Sleeve glanced at the three boxes, “Take those treasures, they’re yours by right.”

Then Red Sleeve looked at the broken sword beside Ming, “But I broke his sword, so I owe him compensation.”

Red Sleeve gently tapped Ming’s forehead, and a flame-shaped rune appeared on it, soon fading away.

Red Sleeve gently placed Ming on the ground and stood up, “I am a sword spirit. Activating this fractured sword realm has cost me much strength, and I need to rest for a while.

“Soon, this place will shatter, and you will appear inside the Sama Cave.

“Tell Ming,

“If he wants compensation, let him pull out the sword in front of him.

“If he doesn’t, leave the sword there.”

After speaking, Red Sleeve dissipated like the wind, her voice echoing, “Both of you, strive to survive.”

As Red Sleeve disappeared, the surrounding space began to collapse, rocks rolling down, fire raining from the sky.

Shixin quickly ran to Ming’s side, gently holding him in her arms and chanting a spell. A golden bell-shaped barrier enveloped them.

Shixin watched the collapsing surroundings, as if witnessing the rehearsal of a world’s annihilation.

After the space shattered and dispersed, Shixin and Ming found themselves back in the previous mountain cave.

Inside this cave were numerous bodies, untouched, just as Ming had said—swept away by lava, they believed they were dead, so they truly perished.

As for the cultivators who died in the “illusion,” they vanished along with the illusory world, leaving nothing behind.

However, in front of Shixin were three chests, and at the center of these chests stood a tall stone pillar. On top of the pillar was a longsword.

This longsword belonged to the woman in the red dress.

Or rather, this longsword was the woman in the red dress.

Shixin didn’t even glance at these treasures and the longsword.

She simply held Ming quietly, her golden eyes blinking as she stared at him, her body emitting Buddha light that healed Ming bit by bit.

Fortunately, no other cultivators entered this cave.

Shixin and Ming were temporarily safe.

Shixin guessed that the woman in the red dress must have closed the Sama Cave before entering slumber.

Shixin didn’t know how much time had passed.

Maybe two days, maybe five or six.

Ming slowly opened his eyes.

The first thing Ming saw after opening his eyes was Shixin’s pair of golden eyes.

“Am I dead? Did you die too?” Looking at Shixin’s flawless face, Ming chuckled, wondering if he had entered hell.

If he had entered hell, then the woman in the red dress was surprisingly kind, not erasing his divine soul.

“You’re not dead,” Shixin shook her head.

Ming: “So it seems we’re both alive.”

Shixin nodded, “Yes.”

Ming’s lips curled up, with a hint of leisure in his heart: “How does it feel to be alive?”

Shixin: “Not bad.”

Ming: “Not bad?”

Shixin nodded, “Yeah, it feels alright.”

“But…”

Shixin’s eyes blinked softly.

“I’m glad you’re alive.”