Chapter 408 — Nurturing and Transforming All Things
The Herdsman of the Wasteland · Page 3 of 4
The collapse of his Dao-heart, its contortion and deformation, frightened him.
To save his Dao-heart, he finally hit upon a solution.
Since the great taboo between master and disciple forbade him from loving his own disciple, then he could simply become Si Youyou and live on while possessing that beautiful body. He resolved to use his power and prestige to accomplish one thing. Those in the sect who opposed him were driven away, exiled, killed, or imprisoned.
At last he got his wish, divorced his wife, and married his disciple. That night, Si Youyou rose up and killed him.
But it had been within his expectations.
He had turned himself into a heart demon lurking in his disciple's Dao-heart, waiting for the moment when he would become this woman.
Recalling all of this, Fan Xuanshu stood stunned.
"I am defeated. My Dao-heart was defeated from that bright morning, from the first moment I saw her.
.
. " Under Xing'an's heavy blows, Fan Xuanshu spat blood and kept retreating.
That morning, when the young Patriarch had brought Si Youyou to him, from the very first glance he had fallen in love with his own disciple. What had broken his Dao-heart was not Si Youyou but himself.
It was his own Dao-heart, twisted over time by love and by the barrier between master and disciple, that had finally become what it now was—a laughingstock in other people's eyes. He had not wanted to obtain her body. From beginning to end he had loved the person, not her body.
It was his twisted Dao-heart that had made him think he wanted to become Si Youyou. "The moment I first saw her, I had already lost. Patriarch, you have ruined me.
.
. " Fan Xuanshu summoned her spirit and remembered another phrase the young Patriarch had said on that morning when he brought Si Youyou over.
"The Great Nurturing Nether Demon Scripture—the two words 'great nurturing' mean education and inheritance.
As Holy Sect Leader, do not fail those two words. " At that time, his eyes had held only this girl; the words had drifted vaguely past his ears. Now they had become exceptionally clear.
"The two words 'great nurturing'—I have never achieved them! " Fan Xuanshu let out a fierce cry.
Suddenly, terrible demonic light burst from Si Youyou's body, shot from her heart, and pierced Xing'an's heart. The black light was like a bridge. Fan Xuanshu's primordial spirit stepped onto it and crossed, charging at Xing'an.
"Good disciple, run!
" He bored into Xing'an's Dao-heart. At this moment he was calmer than he had ever been. Granny Zhu regained consciousness, somewhat dazed.
Yu Zhaoging, spitting blood, fell from the air. The Blind Old Man's Dragon-Breaker Divine Spear was bent, his arm broken.
Emperor Yanfeng was lifted high by Xing'an and thrust headfirst into the ground.
The Empress Dowager and the others were unsteadily getting to their feet. In the hall, the Lame Old Man braced both hands on the floor, trying to rise; the Deaf Old Man, blood at the corner of his mouth, tremblingly raised his brush to paint, but could no longer command brush or ink.
Shen Mu was frantically refining elixirs to heal the wounded flood dragons.
Everyone had been defeated—and thoroughly.
Xing'an's palm came swinging down at her, intending to destroy her primordial spirit.
Suddenly, the palm stopped short before her, took on a hint of gentleness, and softly smoothed the disheveled hair at her temple. One of Xing'an's heads bowed to look at her, as though they had returned to that morning a hundred years ago, with tenderness. "Youyou, live happily as a beautiful woman.
Go—now! " From that head came Fan Xuanshu's voice, shrieking, "Xing'an, come with me! Heavenly Demon Disintegration—" "Sect Leader Li, you are too presumptuous!
A mere demon seed, and you think to seize my flesh?
" Furious roars came from Xing'an's other two heads.
Boom!