Chapter 63

Of course, Shen Lian's current more pressing issue is not to discuss this problem, but to feel the suction force of the white banner that is shaking.

The connection between his physical body and spirit is becoming increasingly weak, and Shen Lian can't help but deeply feel his deficiency in this aspect. The lack of harmony between his physical body and spirit makes him prone to astral projection, and while it allows him to practice Daoist techniques like the God-Exterminating Sword, it also leaves him with a significant vulnerability.

If his soul and spirit were to merge and become one, his spirit would not be so easily pulled out of his physical body.

At this moment, the sandalwood sword at his waist faintly glows, generating a suction force to help Shen Lian counteract the pull of the white banner on his spirit.

Mr. Su once said that he inadvertently understood the way of forging artifacts, and Shen Lian kept this in mind.

During that period, the sandalwood sword actually became a unique magical artifact for Shen Lian. If one were to say it had any special power, it actually didn't.

It's just that the sandalwood sword is like Shen Lian's flesh and blood, capable of carrying his spirit, and the connection between the two is even tighter than that between Shen Lian and his physical body.

This is because the sandalwood sword itself is like a blank sheet of paper, and when Shen Lian practiced the 'Interdependent Sword Qi of Being and Non-being,' it was deeply imprinted with Shen Lian's own mark, becoming a part of him.

As the small boat drifted downstream, it came closer and closer, and the suction force of the white banner also increased with the approaching distance.

The sandalwood sword at Shen Lian's waist trembled slightly, almost ready to fly out of his body.

The white-robed figure singing the mournful song of the dead seemed not to notice Shen Lian, and the shaking of the white banner was a habitual action. The soul fires of other living beings were one by one stolen into the strange white banner.

As it got closer, Shen Lian realized why the boat was entirely white—it was a paper boat.

In the pale moonlight, under the solitary lamp, the white-robed figure had no nose, ears, eyes, or feet.

Shen Lian was almost at the closest distance to the white-robed figure. If he could get through this, the white-robed figure would continue downstream and gradually move away. If he couldn't, he might end up like the other soul fires, being drawn into the white banner.

A faint, hoarse mournful song was sung in a language Shen Lian couldn't understand.

Shen Lian tried several times to visualize the primordial deity to get through the crisis, but was interrupted by the song each time.

The suction force of the white banner grew stronger, and Shen Lian could hardly withstand it.

He exerted the last bit of mental connection with the sandalwood sword.

The sandalwood sword rose into the air, carrying Shen Lian's spirit within it.

It flew toward the white banner, but along the way, it traced a mysterious trajectory, subtly connected to the starting posture of the 'Interdependent Sword Qi of Being and Non-being.'

Shen Lian intended to use his spirit as sword qi for a final struggle.

Only someone like him, who had not received orthodox cultivation, would be so bold as to transform his spirit into a sword, using the form of the 'Interdependent Sword Qi of Being and Non-being' to hope to pass through the distance and avoid the strange white banner.

He didn't know what would happen after doing this, because when the 'Interdependent Sword Qi of Being and Non-being' disappears, he has no idea where it would go or what would happen.

Even just using the starting posture of the 'Interdependent Sword Qi of Being and Non-being' without the internal qi circulating through the meridians, whether it could make the spirit disappear halfway, was uncertain.

Suddenly, a bell sound rang out, familiar to Shen Lian.

It was the melodious sound of the bells on the purple-robed woman he had seen during the day.

The flowing water stopped, the space froze, and Shen Lian almost forgot himself.

When he came to his senses, it was again a clear moon and gentle breeze, with no sign of the paper boat, the solitary lamp, the white banner, or the mysterious white-robed figure.

Only the sandalwood sword, stained with water, lay before him.

He carefully picked up the sandalwood sword, and when he touched the water stains, a wisp of green smoke rose from his hand, and he felt a severe pain.

This pain came from his spirit, and just now, his spirit had been partially dissolved by the water, causing him such intense pain.

He had never tried to touch the water of the river before, and he didn't expect it to be so terrifying, capable of dissolving the spirit.

Only when the wind dried the water stains did Shen Lian cautiously touch the sandalwood sword again, and nothing happened, which made him slightly more at ease.

However, when he picked it up, the sandalwood sword felt much heavier and its color was much darker.

The mental connection between them remained the same as before.

The feeling of flesh and blood merging was still clear.

After this incident, Shen Lian did not continue walking along the river but moved away from it and increased his speed.

He has always been cautious in his actions. When he first noticed the river was unusual, he shouldn't have continued walking along it or meditated by it at night.

But he had overlooked these things, and now, it seemed that the river had a kind of magic that made him subconsciously ignore the danger.

After moving away from the river, he headed south at a rapid pace. Before sunset the next day, he saw a steep cliff.

The cliff face was as if carved by a knife or an axe, with sword marks as if made by a celestial sword.

This kind of awe-inspiring sight is hard to describe unless experienced firsthand.

Whether it was the work of human hands, immortal power, or the might of nature, there was nothing on top of the cliff, but a human figure stood there alone.

The purple robe wrapped around her body, and the wind blew her sleeves and long hair, a strand of which fluttered near her perfectly curved lips.

Shen Lian thought to himself: Is she a human, a ghost, or an immortal, or perhaps a demon transformed into a human?

He could feel the woman examining him, but she didn't speak.

Of course, from the height of the cliff, it would be difficult to send a voice through the mountain wind, and he didn't know what kind of terrifying skill would be required.

Shen Lian's martial arts in the mortal world were already at a high level, and he considered it difficult to achieve.

But unexpectedly, the woman really spoke, and he was sure it was the woman on the cliff top speaking to him.

At this distance, Shen Lian could still feel her gaze on him.

He might never forget this moment, the sunset, the cliff top, and a clear and elegant young woman looking at him with a distant gaze, free of any impurities.

What Shen Lian couldn't have imagined was the content of the woman's words.

"Who are you, little one, and why did you go to the Ghost River? Didn't your elders tell you not to go there?" Shen Lian, already a young man, was called a child by a woman of about the same age.

He couldn't have imagined this, but the woman spoke as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

The woman 'hmm'ed, and the sound clearly carried through the mountain wind to Shen Lian's ears. Then she said, "You're not from Nankuo Town? How do you know the Divine Footsteps Sutra? Oh, it must be the time for the mountain gate to open. The master's nephew didn't even tell me."

From her last words, Shen Lian could hear a slight anger, and her mention of the Divine Footsteps Sutra proved that she was closely related to Qingxuan.