Chapter 353: On the Brink of Life and Death

Translator: Midasthefloof

Although this was the Common Sword Domain, the disciples present did not only consist of ordinary dan disciples.

From all of Shushan, it seemed like numerous disciples of the four major sword ranks had come down. They were either mounted on their flying swords or standing atop some mountains by the side as they looked toward the lonely Wu Yu on the Mortal Arena.

Right above Wu Yu, there were even a handful of Heaven sword rank disciples.

Today, there was indeed quite a hubbub in the crowd.

Over 10,000 blazing gazes were focused on Wu Yu.

"He has finally caused a disaster that nobody can save him from."

There seemed to be some people who were vaguely saying something like this.

There were many other discussions as well, but due to the size of the crowd it was just a wall of noise. Their words were rather indistinguishable.

"Wu Yu!"

A sharp yell abruptly sounded out.

Wu Yu's ear were slightly hurt by this. The scene before him today made him extremely displeased. As he tilted his head up, he immediately saw that there were 10 or so Shushan Sword Sages floating right above him and looking down at him from above.

Wu Yu recognized the Crimson Shadow Sword Sage, the East Mountain Sword Sage, and the Lunar Flower Sword Sage among them. The one that had shouted at Wu Yu was none other than the Lunar Flower Sword Sage. Additionally, the Galaxy Sword Sage, Shen Xingyao, and his younger sister, Shen Xingyu, were slightly further away.

Wu Yu could not recognize any of the other Shushan Sword Sages. In this moment, they were all looking at him with silent expressions on their faces.

Among them, two were extremely agitated. One of them was the Lunar Flower Sword Sage. She was currently hugging Mu Lingche in her embrace. Since the group had only just returned, the Crimson Shadow Sword Sage had probably only just handed her corpse over to the Lunar Flower Sword Sage.

There was another man with short hair and red eyes. This was most likely the Distant Fire Sword Sage.

These were none other than Mu Lingche's parents.

They were currently laying Mu Lingche to rest in a crystal-like coffin. There was a sea of flower petals dancing in the air around where this coffin was positioned on the Mortal Arena. Mu Lingche peacefully lay within.

"Wu Yu, I've heard that you killed my daughter with your own hands," the Lunar Flower Sword Sage said. Her eyes were flooded with sword qi, and as she made eye contact with Wu Yu, it seemed like sharp knives were piercing through his eyes. The terrifyingly crushing pressure from this Shushan Sword Sage made him continuously back away.

All of a sudden, Shen Xingyao appeared before him as well. His purple gown billowed in the wind and his gaze was calm as he said, "Lunar Flower Sword Sage, the Crimson Shadow Sword Sage has already given us the clear details of what has happened. While Wu Yu is partially to blame in this matter, he was not the one who caused Mu Lingche's death. So you shouldn't try to threaten him with the death penalty. As for what to do with him, it's not up to us to decide."

If Shen Xingyao had not obstructed his counterpart just then, she clearly would not have cared that much and may have even slaughtered Wu Yu on the spot before anything else.

"Shen Xingyao, why are you protecting him? He's not even your disciple. There's no way he'll be of any use to you." The Distant Fire Sword Sage glared like a tiger with wide open eyes. His soaring rage and cold voice of contempt caused the crowd of 10,000 to go silent.

In such an interrogation, Shen Xingyao replied, "After Wu Yu was attacked by the Blood Dragon of Mount Wu, he came to me to ask me about that curse insignia of his. Due to the fact that the Blood Dragon of Mount Wu is truly a unique demon, I was unable to come up with a way to solve his problem, even after searching far and wide. Now that the curse insignia has really ended up causing such an incident, I have to shoulder some responsibility as well."

Everyone clearly knew the truth of the matter. Wu Yu truly could not have avoided this.

However, from another perspective, it was also true that Mu Lingche had passed away truly only because of Wu Yu. If not for Wu Yu, she would’ve still been alive.

Given this, the Lunar Flower Sword Sage and her husband wanted to seek out the Blood Dragon of Mount Wu, but they did not want to pardon Wu Yu either.

"Forget it, let's just wait for the Mizar Sword Immortal. He already said that he'll handle the matter personally once you all have arrived." The East Mountain Sword Sage waved his hands to signal for them to stop their argument.

While the Lunar Flower Sword Sage and the Distant Fire Sword Sage did not do make any further moves, they stood guard before Mu Lingche's coffin and looked at Wu Yu with cold eyes. They were like two giants, and despite them not doing anything, Wu Yu was unable to breathe in their presence. As a matter of fact, both of them already knew the truth, so even if Wu Yu explained himself clearly to them, it would be of no use.

Everyone had their own logical way of looking at this matter.

If at this very moment he and Beishan Mo had swapped places, and Beishan Mo had been the one that killed Mu Lingche instead, they definitely would not have uttered a single word. This was the difference that one's social backing made.

All Wu Yu ever felt within the icy skies and freezing fields of Shushan was malevolent desolation. He never seemed to have ever experienced warmth from this place.

As he looked into the distance, he saw countless silent gazes looking back at him. Perhaps they did not really care about his fate after all. That's right, the realm of cultivators was a cold place, so who would even care about whether he lived or died...

These gazes made Wu Yu feel slightly disappointed about the Clear Sky of Shushan that he had always yearned for. He had a dreadful feeling that his dream of ascending to the highest part of the Clear Sky of Shushan was about to come to nothing.

"Where's Wei Er?"

As he searched high and low, he could not find any trace of her. Even Beishan Mo was gone as well. Perhaps they had gone to see the Seven Immortals of Shushan as soon as they had returned.

There were Seven Immortals in all.

"Wu Yu." Shen Xingyao stood before him and gazed at him with his eyes that resembled stars. He said, "To be honest, you're truly unlucky this time. The truth is that her death was not your fault. Despite this, parents always have to let their dead children close their eyes and rest in peace. In light of this, it's going to be rather difficult for them to let you just coast by. However, there's an even more important point."

Wu Yu was thankful to him. With Nangong Wei gone, Shen Xingyao was the only one standing before him now.

He kept quiet and waited for Shen Xingyao to continue.

Shen Xingyao said, "Apparently, the Mizar Sword Immortal has already been displeased by your adverse influence on Nangong Wei's cultivation. There were many times where Nangong Wei stood up for you. Despite the Mizar Sword Immortal's long-standing dissatisfaction toward you, he did not appear personally to deal with you only because of Nangong Wei's intervention. Now that it's been exposed that you are friends with the son of his mortal enemy, both father and daughter are unable to accept this. If by any chance Nangong Wei no longer cares about you, it'll be difficult for you to escape misfortune today. Even I can't help you with this."

As soon as he finished, a sudden voice echoed from above. "Xingyao, do you have to talk so much?"

Wu Yu raised his head to take a look. From within the rays of light, three silhouettes emerged and landed. On the left was Nangong Wei, on the right was Beishan Mo, and in the center was a figure who wore a black and white sword lanyard. This youthful-looking person exuded an air of immortality, and dao seemed to permeate his bones. While his clothing was simple, his entire body was surrounded by the dense aura of an immortal. Even sharper sword qi filled his eyes, and as he was making his landing, dust swirled around him. His descent immediately caused a huge uproar among the rest of Shushan. The 10,000 or so disciples suddenly behaved as though they were injected with chicken blood. They energetically knelt to the ground with resounding thuds and cried out in unison, "Your honor, Mizar Sword Immortal!"

It turned out that this plain-looking, handsome youth was actually the Mizar Sword Immortal. He was the youngest among the Seven Immortals of Shushan.

Upon closer inspection, it was indeed true that he looked quite similar to Nangong Wei.

"Sword Immortal."

When he arrived, even the Shushan Sword Sages half-knelt on the ground of the Mortal Arena to show their respect for him.

Only Wu Yu had mixed feelings when he came across this legendary figure for the first time. He was Nangong Wei's father, so Wu Yu definitely wanted to respect him, but he also knew in his heart that the Mizar Sword Immortal was not fond of him.

"Wu Yu, kneel." Beishan Mo raised his brows and berated him.

Today, Wu Yu was meat on somebody else's chopping block. The entirety of Shushan seemed to be against him. Wu Yu was not willing to make things difficult for Nangong Wei, so he gave a half kneel as he said, "Your descendant Wu Yu pays his respects to the Mizar Sword Immortal."

"Mm." The Mizar Sword Immortal fully landed on the Mortal Arena.

Nangong Wei's gaze remained indifferent. As Wu Yu exchanged gazes with her, she still felt like a stranger to him. However, what was more frightening to Wu Yu at the moment was the Mizar Sword Immortal. In the blink of an eye, he stood before Wu Yu. He was only two feet away from Wu Yu, and with a casual wave of his hand, he shoved Shen Xingyao away.

It was indeed a challenge to look at someone with the stature of the Seven Immortals of Shushan in the eye. Wu Yu clenched his teeth as he did so anyway. The Mizar Sword Immortal continued to look at him indifferently without much emotion at all. This tense moment seemed to last for an eternity, and many Shushan disciples were unable to hold their breaths for much longer. The Mizar Sword Immortal ended this by saying, "Wu Yu, I've seen you quite a few times. At first I thought that your evil tendencies were too strong and you were unsuited to be a sword cultivator. After some time, I began to think of you as a talent that could be shaped. Even though you're not worthy enough for my daughter to fall in love with, I still felt that you could be one of the future pillars of Shushan. However, your barbaric behavior this time has left me extremely disappointed!"

His evil tendencies were strong?

How had he come to such a conclusion?

Even though the Mizar Sword Immortal had mentioned that he somewhat respected Wu Yu, his words continued to imply that Wu Yu was unworthy of Nangong Wei. How could Wu Yu be content with this?

He replied, "Everyone knows the truth. Mu Lingche's death was not what I wished for. How could I let a Sword Immortal down?"

Wu Yu was subjected to the disdainful gazes of 10,000 or so people today. Wu Yu would have already exploded if not for the fact that he did not want to disappoint Nangong Wei any further. If not for her, what was the point of holding it in till now?

The Mizar Sword Immortal never expected him to dare to reply. Without a second word, he slapped Wu Yu hard across the face. This slap was unavoidable, and the sound it made was ear-piercingly loud. Even though he had not killed Wu Yu on the spot, this was still extraordinarily shameful and humiliating for Wu Yu. Just being Nangong Wei's father should not give him the right to treat him this way, right? In this moment, Wu Yu's heart boiled with the fire of rage. He found that deep down in his heart, there were some things that he simply could not stand. It was impossible for him to change any of these opinions of his.

This was a slap that he would never forget!

"Wei Er has suffered so much for you, but in return, you've actually befriended her mortal enemy's son and hid this from her instead. I'll give you another chance. If you make it your life's mission to kill Jiu Ying and make an oath before everyone here that you're not to be considered a human until you've killed him, I'll spare your life today!" The Mizar Sword Immortal's voice was as loud as thunder. Beside Wu Yu's ears, and even beside the ears of others, it exploded violently.

Kill Jiu Ying?

On what basis?

Why did he have to do the bidding of others in order to live? Why did he have to do things that he sincerely did not want to do?

Right now, everyone was looking at him as though they were compelling him to make this oath.

This was especially true for Nangong Wei. She had originally been indifferent and cold, but now there was a sense of eagerness in her gaze. If Wu Yu chose to make this oath on the spot, perhaps all her dissatisfaction from earlier would vanish without a trace.

There were even hints of tears in her eyes. It seemed like she did not really want to give up either.

But Wu Yu felt like it was too late.

He respected the Mizar Sword Immortal as his elder, and there was even the possibility that he could have become his father-in-law. However, it was unacceptable for him to slap him like this.

How could a single slap like this ever make him break his dao?!

All that could be said was that he had come to his senses.

Even though Ming Long's words were hard to stomach, they made sense.

He would never forget the humiliation from this slap, and the gazes of the 10,000 spectators at this moment was something that he would remember even more clearly.

It seemed like Nangong Wei had given him a final chance, but it was all too late. Wu Yu took a few steps back and laughed out loud as he said, "Sorry, but I can't do that! No one can stop me from killing whoever I want to kill. If I don't want to kill someone, nobody can force me either!"

These words were indeed deafening to all.

Even the Mizar Sword Immortal seemed to be shocked by this. Was he really that bold?

He had personally given him a flight of steps leading out of this situation, yet he had declined it.

After saying those words, Wu Yu felt like he did not have that much longer to live. However, he had no regrets at all. He managed to stay upright in character and a broad and open road opened up before him on the path of dao. In this moment, he was able to see an extraordinarily clear path before him along the radiant path of dao.

If someone else was in his place instead, how would it be possible for them to reply defiantly even in the threatening face of death?

This was what differentiated Wu Yu from others. Even though he was about to die, he was unwilling to do something that went against his own beliefs. It went without saying that he would not be able to make such an oath on the spot either.

"You're daring indeed." Even Ming Long was taken aback.

However, she laughed as she added, "Unfortunately, people like you tend to die before their time."