Cultivating Immortality, Starting from Childhood Sweethearts-Chapter 329 - Im Glad Youre Alive (Two in One - )

“Hongxiu, what kind of world do you think this should be?”

A short-haired woman turned her head slightly, looking at her sword spirit with a relaxed and carefree smile.

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

The voluptuous woman in a red dress rolled her eyes at her.

“People slaughter each other, doing whatever it takes for their own selfish desires. No one holds any firm beliefs. This world is completely rotten.”

“Even if this world is rotten, at least I’m pretty~” the short-haired woman said, her words seemingly unrelated.

Hongxiu was speechless. “Jianjia, how do you even have the nerve to say that? Just look at how short your hair is. What kind of woman keeps her hair that short?”

Jianjia chuckled. “Short hair makes it easier to fight. Otherwise, having to tie it up every time is such a hassle. But honestly, don’t you think it looks good? I think it looks great.”

Hongxiu let out a dismissive snort. “Only you would think that.”

“You’re so dishonest.” Jianjia pinched the fair, delicate cheek of the sword spirit beside her. “When I first cut my hair short, your eyes clearly lit up. But now that you’ve gotten used to it, suddenly you don’t think it looks good anymore?”

Hongxiu slapped her hand away. “You were mistaken. I never thought your short hair looked good.”

“Oh, come on,” Jianjia sighed in exasperation. “Even at a time like this, you’re still being so dishonest. You’ll never find a man like this, you know~”

Hongxiu rolled her eyes. “I’m a sword spirit. Whether men like me or not doesn’t matter. Even if they did, there’d be no point. On the other hand, you—you’re the one who’s doomed to be single forever!”

Jianjia burst into laughter, completely unbothered. “I’m single not because no one likes me, but because I don’t find any of them worthy. Why should I let a man conquer me when they’re not even stronger than I am?”

Her laughter was loud and unrestrained, a stark contrast to her elegant name.

Hongxiu shook her head and looked forward. “You’re going to die soon without ever experiencing what it’s like to be a woman. Your life has been quite a failure.”

Jianjia’s smile faded as she followed Hongxiu’s gaze forward. “As if you have.”

Before them stood an army of a million warriors clad in silver-white armor. Each soldier stood eight feet tall, wielding a long spear over six feet in length.

They stood in perfect formation, resembling a vast sea of silver. The air was thick with murderous intent.

Above them, celestial dragons, phoenixes, vermilions birds, qilins, bashe serpents, bìfāng birds, and other divine and mythical beasts soared through the skies.

Higher still, ten ancient figures loomed above, gazing down upon them like deities passing final judgment.

It was as if these ten were about to deliver a verdict upon the woman and her sword spirit.

“Jianjia! This is your last chance! Surrender to the Heavenly Court, and we will spare your life!”

One of them, an elder with an air of wisdom and immortality, called out.

Jianjia slowly rose to her feet and grasped the blood-red sword at her side. “You decrepit old men, is this all you’re capable of? I’ve come this far—do you really think I’d surrender to you now?”

“Stubborn and ignorant!” an elder rebuked.

“There’s no need to waste words. Just kill her.”

“Yes, someone like her is better off dead.”

“What a pity... she could have been a remarkable Sword Immortal.”

“It doesn’t matter. There will always be others to take her place.”

The elders spoke one after another, their voices filling the sky with noise.

“Then let it be death.”

At that moment, the elder seated at the center finally spoke.

As his voice spread, the others fell silent.

“Kill her.”

With a wave of his hand, a million heavenly soldiers raised their spears and charged toward Jianjia.

“ROAR!”

One by one, the divine and mythical beasts descended, lunging toward the battlefield.

Jianjia tightened her grip on her sword. With a swift motion, Hongxiu transformed into a wisp of red smoke and returned to the blade.

“Hongxiu, this time… I might really die~” Jianjia spoke softly to the sword in her hand.

“Then die, so what?” Hongxiu’s tone was indifferent. “I was just a sword to begin with. Especially if I were to fall into the hands of those bastards and be reforged… I’d rather be destroyed.”

“No, I can die, but you cannot.” Jianjia’s lips curved into a smirk. “If I die, there will be countless others to take my place. But if you perish, the world will have truly lost a great sword.”

With that, her embroidered shoes stepped forward, one step at a time, walking toward the endless divine generals, celestial beasts, and monstrous creatures.

“Live on! Carry my will!”

—

Within the “Illusory Realm,” Hongxiu’s sword aura and Xu Ming’s sword aura erupted like a storm.

Tens of thousands of heavenly soldiers were annihilated. The divine beasts and monstrous creatures dissolved into starlike energy, vanishing into the air.

Volcanoes crumbled, magma burst forth, yet none could get near Hongxiu and Xu Ming.

Thick smoke and dust filled the sky.

Sensing something amiss, Shi Xin rushed toward the dense haze.

As the dust gradually settled, Shi Xin slowed to a stop.

In front of her, Xu Ming had collapsed unconscious, lying in the arms of the woman in the red dress.

She knelt on the ground, holding Xu Ming, resting his head gently on her lap.

Her long red eyelashes trembled slightly, her red lips curving into a satisfied smile.

Her slender waist and gracefully arched hips formed an elegant silhouette.

Her red dress was slightly tattered, revealing smooth, fair thighs.

She gazed down at Xu Ming with a dazed expression, lost in thought.

Shi Xin had no idea what memories she was recalling.

“Jianjia, it seems… I got lucky after all.”

Hongxiu murmured with a soft smile, as if speaking to herself.

Then, she lifted her gaze toward Shi Xin.

“Don’t worry, your little lover is fine. He just exhausted himself and passed out.”

Shi Xin shook her head. “I’m not his lover.”

Hongxiu chuckled. “You monks really are amusing.”

She sighed and shook her head. Looking around, her eyes reflected the passage of time.

“Little monk, do you know what this place is?”

Shi Xin shook her head.

“This... is a graveyard.”

Hongxiu raised her head, staring at the crimson sky.

“The Rootless Secret Realm has existed for tens of thousands of years. You cultivators have studied its laws and created talismans that allow you to escape when your life is in danger. Every so often, you return here, searching for opportunities and seizing treasures.

“But you never once questioned where this place came from.”

“The Rootless Secret Realm is a fragment of ancient history—one that was cut off and lost to time.”

“And this place? It is the final resting place of a foolish girl. After she died, her sword aura tore the surrounding space apart, merging her Sword Domain with the world itself, creating this illusion that is neither real nor unreal.”

“The heavenly soldiers, the divine beasts, the monstrous creatures you saw? They are all the lingering souls of her fallen subordinates.”

“That’s why this place feels so eerily real and yet unreal at the same time.”

Shi Xin: “…”

“For countless millennia, I have watched people come and go. I have tested cultivator after cultivator, searching, choosing, waiting—but none were ever quite right.”

“Now, with the Rootless Secret Realm on the verge of destruction, I thought, ‘So be it. I won’t settle for anyone. If it’s going to end, let it end.’ After all, I’ve lived long enough.”

“But unexpectedly… I met someone who reminds me of that foolish girl.”

Hongxiu glanced at Xu Ming, then smirked.

“Too bad he’s a man.”

Shi Xin pressed her palms together. “Benefactor, you have taken many lives.”

“Taken many lives?” Hongxiu paused for a moment, then suddenly chuckled.

“Little girl, do you know how many more people your ancestral master has killed compared to me?”

Her voice carried a hint of amusement, but her gaze was sharp.

“Sometimes, taking lives is necessary so that more beings can survive. If you don’t kill your enemies, they will kill you. They will kill your friends, your Dao companion, and everyone standing behind you.”

“Buddhism is not just about boundless compassion.”

“Besides, you say I’ve killed many, but in my eyes, every action comes with a price. There is always something to gain and something to lose.”

“Take those who entered the Samadhi Cave, for example. They seek fortune—I can grant it. But they must have the strength to claim it. If they do not, they leave behind their lives instead.”

“In this world, when has there ever been a case of ‘having it all’ without consequence?”

Shi Xin lowered her head, deep in thought. After a long while, she finally looked up. “There is a question I wish to ask. I wonder if you would be willing to answer.”

“I enjoy talking to people as straightforward as you.” Hongxiu’s eyes curved in a smile. “Go ahead.”

“Among all of us... does only one have to survive?”

“Of course not.”

Hongxiu’s smile grew even more radiant.

She raised her head, gazing at the sky with deep meaning in her eyes.

“Who set the rules of this world? Why can’t they be broken? Why must we abide by them? If a rule is unjust, must we still follow it?”

The incense stick planted in the ground had burned to its very end.

Hongxiu lowered her gaze back to Shi Xin. “Only those who dare to break the rules can truly survive. That is the kind of person I am searching for.”

“If, in the end, only one remains, then so be it. I will ensure that one lives. He will be able to take the treasures I promised, because that is my word.”

“But what I truly seek... are those who would rather draw their swords against me than compromise their bottom line. Those who value their principles above their own lives.”

“Unfortunately, out of the tens of thousands who entered the Samadhi Cave, only the two of you fit that description.”

“Still, that’s enough.”

She looked at Shi Xin and smiled brightly. “Enough of this talk. If we continue, we’ll be touching on matters of karma too heavy for either of you to bear.”

Her gaze shifted toward the three chests. “Take the treasures. They are rightfully yours.”

Then, her eyes fell upon the broken sword beside Xu Ming. “But... I did break his sword. I should compensate him for that.”

Hongxiu reached out and lightly tapped Xu Ming’s forehead. A flame-like sigil appeared, flickering for a moment before fading away.

Gently, she placed Xu Ming on the ground and stood up.

“I am, after all, a sword spirit. Opening this fractured sword domain has drained me too much. I need to slumber for a while.”

“It won’t be long before this place collapses. When it does, you’ll both return to the Samadhi Cave.”

“Tell Xu Ming... If he wants my compensation, he must pull out the sword before him. If he does not, then let it be.”

As her words fell, Hongxiu’s form dissipated like the wind, leaving only her voice lingering in the air.

“The two of you... live well.”

With Hongxiu’s disappearance, the surrounding space began to crumble. Rocks tumbled down, and fire rained from the sky.

Shi Xin hurried to Xu Ming’s side, carefully cradling him. Forming a hand seal, she summoned a golden bell, shielding them both.

As she watched the world collapse around them, it was as if she were witnessing the destruction of an entire realm.

When the space completely shattered and dissipated, Shi Xin and Xu Ming found themselves back inside the same mountain cave as before.

Inside the cave, countless corpses lay scattered. Their bodies remained perfectly intact—as Xu Ming had said, when they were swept away by the lava, they truly believed they had died, and so, they did.

As for those who perished within the “illusion,” they vanished along with that half-real, half-false world, leaving nothing behind.

Before Shi Xin, three chests stood in place. At their center, a towering stone peak jutted upward, and embedded at its summit was a single sword.

The very same sword the red-dressed woman had wielded.

Or rather, that sword was the red-dressed woman herself.

Shi Xin spared no more than a passing glance at the treasures and the sword.

Instead, she simply sat there, holding Xu Ming in her arms, her golden eyes blinking as she watched over him. A faint Buddhist glow radiated from her body, seeping into Xu Ming, slowly mending his wounds bit by bit.

Fortunately, no other cultivators entered the cave.

For now, both Shi Xin and Xu Ming were safe.

Shi Xin speculated that before the red-dressed woman fell into slumber, she had sealed the Samadhi Cave, preventing anyone else from coming in.

She had no sense of how much time had passed.

Maybe two days.

Maybe five or six.

At last, Xu Ming’s eyelids fluttered. Slowly, he opened his eyes.

The first thing he saw was Shi Xin’s golden gaze.

For a moment, he was dazed.

“Am I dead? Did you die with me?” Xu Ming chuckled as he looked at Shi Xin’s flawless face, almost wondering if he had descended into the underworld.

If this was the underworld, then that red-dressed woman was surprisingly kind—at least she hadn’t erased his soul.

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

Xu Ming smirked. “So we’re both alive, then.”

Shi Xin nodded. “Yes.”

Xu Ming’s lips curved further. Even now, he found amusement in the situation. “How does it feel to be alive?”

“It’s... alright.”

“Just alright?”

Shi Xin nodded again. “Mn. It feels alright.”

“But…”

Shi Xin blinked slowly.

This chapter is updated by freēwēbnovel.com.

“You’re alive. And that makes me... very happy.”