This Sword Cultivator is Somewhat Dependable

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The surroundings were bizarre and colorful, with every hue imaginable.

A sensation of weightlessness came over me.

But this feeling lasted for only a few moments.

Soon after, the scenery around me changed dramatically, and Lu Qingshan's eyes lit up.

This was an exceedingly bright world.

Fresh air brushed against my face, and the overwhelming vitality filled the world, creating a landscape of splendor and elegance.

Due to the exceptionally vibrant life force, the surrounding plants grew extraordinarily tall.

Thick vines as broad as buckets twined around ancient trees so wide they would take four or five people to encircle them, and even the wild grass and flowers were so lush they stood as tall as a person.

Compared to the dark and dreadful Spiritual Abyss, which struck fear into those who beheld it, this place was like paradise on Earth, a beautiful divine soil.

"It really is random teleportation," Lu Qingshan murmured.
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The plants around our landing spot appeared rejuvenated without any signs of man-made damage.

But the Jiaolong Demon King, Jiao Yan, Xue Zhuyong, and Mo Yan had all plummeted into the Spiritual Abyss only shortly before. If it were fixed-point teleportation, this place would not be so pristine, nor would it be devoid of any traces of their fall.

The first issue to resolve, then, was to locate Xue Zhuyong and Mo Yan.

Fortunately, when Xue Zhuyong and Mo Yan fell into the Spiritual Abyss, they were holding hands. Thus, logically, they should have landed in the same place.

Lu Qingshan only hoped that the distance between where he and the two of them had fallen wasn't too great.

He observed his surroundings and realized that he was currently on the middle of a mountain's slope.

"Let's head up higher to see what the situation here really is," Lu Qingshan said to Qin Yitian.

"Alright," Qin Yitian agreed.

...

Several hours earlier.

A world of fiery red magma, the scene resembling the apocalypse.

The ground was cracked, with fissures worming their way across the land, densely packed and complex.

Through these crevices, one could see the slow flow of deep-red lava.

In the background stood a huge volcanic crater, continuously emitting ash and smoke.

And there, in this desolate landscape, on an open stretch of land, lay a young man with flames emerging all over his body. Beside him stood a middle-aged cultivator.

It was Mo Yan and Xue Zhuyong.

On Mo Yan's body, the blue and red Netherfires were clearly separated, each taking over half of his body.

The Red Lotus Netherfire and Cold Spirit Netherfire fought fiercely for dominance, using Mo Yan's body as their battleground.

Xue Zhuyong stood by, his expression extremely grave.

He had already released his Divine Sense to investigate Mo Yan's entire body.

Mo Yan's situation was far worse than it looked because not only the surface of his body, but even inside, was now filled with Cold Spirit Fire and Red Lotus Fire.

Under the scorching of the two Netherfires, his meridians had begun to shrivel, and the Spiritual Power in his Dantian was also dissipating into nothingness under the high temperatures of both fires.

This was the side effect of rashly merging Netherfires.

Even though Mo Yan was an Incinerate Body with an affinity for Netherfire far surpassing that of ordinary people, at the Foundation Establishment stage, he still couldn't withstand the savage strength of the two Netherfires clashing.

Thus, in just an instant, both Netherfires were utterly out of control.

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And Mo Yan, whose Spiritual Power had already been incinerated beyond retrieval, had no ability to take control of the two types of Netherfire again, to make them cease their battle.

Due to the pain, Mo Yan's facial muscles were continuously twitching.

Xue Zhuyong was anxious but completely powerless.

Because although the two types of Netherfire were clashing, since they originated from the same source, from within Mo Yan's body, they temporarily fell into a very peculiar state of balance.

At such a moment, if an external force were to get involved, it would disrupt this balance and cause the Netherfire within Mo Yan to erupt immediately, turning Mo Yan to ashes in the blink of an eye.

Suddenly, Mo Yan's fingers trembling slightly.

Xue Zhuyong, who had been closely monitoring Mo Yan, was startled.

A few moments later, Mo Yan's tightly closed eyes began to flutter and slowly opened.

Xue Zhuyong's face, filled with nervousness, came into Mo Yan's view.

There was a hint of confusion in Mo Yan's gaze, and without asking about the current situation, he spoke with a complex expression, "Senior... who are you?"

Xue Zhuyong was at a loss for words, not knowing how to reply.

He understood well that what Mo Yan meant to ask wasn't his name.

What Mo Yan cared about was his identity.

"Senior has braved mortal danger to enter the Spiritual Abyss to save me, to go to such lengths for me... There should only be my mother in this world who would do so, yet Senior's behavior is just so... cough..." Mo Yan gasped painfully, then continued, "Given my current state, please treat this as my dying wish and give me a definitive answer, can you?"

"I... want to know the truth."

Mo Yan's voice was extremely weak, and his current condition was like a candle flickering in the wind, potentially falling at any moment.

Facing Mo Yan's intense gaze, Xue Zhuyong's complexion turned from pale to green and after a moment, he finally let out a long sigh and said softly, "Then let me tell you a story, a story about me."

"I'm all ears," replied Mo Yan calmly.

"Since a very young age, I never saw my father and it was just my mother and me against the world," Xue Zhuyong's face showed a hint of reminiscence, "In order to support me, my mother had a tough life. She worked in the kitchen of an inn during the day in exchange for a meager wage, but she didn't want to leave me at home alone, so she took me with her to the inn's kitchen.

Since I didn't have a father, and my mother was extremely beautiful, the men in the kitchen would often sexually harass her, either blatantly or subtly, while the women incessantly gossiped, saying to my face that I was the result of my mother's illicit affair, that I was a bastard, which is why I didn't have a father."

My mother knew all of this. She was angry, but for that meager wage, she could only silently endure it all.

Back then, I would often find my mother curled up in the corner of the bed, crying silently into the night.

Ignorant as I was, I couldn't understand just how much my mother had given up to have me, and instead, because of those harsh words and people's ridicule, I harbored resentment towards her in my heart.

So when I found my mother crying, I actually chose to pretend to be sound asleep, to ignore it all.

Eventually, on a winter's day, my mother, already worn thin from hard labor, uncharacteristically did not go to the inn to work.

She just sat by the bed, sitting quietly, as if deep in thought, and after a long while, she shakily reached out and held my hand," Xue Zhuyong's face twisted in agonizing pain and his voice began to choke up, "Her hands were small, rough, but so warm.

She looked at me with very complex eyes – there was attachment, pain, and many things I couldn't understand.

After a very long time, my mother suddenly said to me, no matter what, to live well, to just live well."

"Then, she gave me some Silver Pieces and asked me to go out and buy something tasty to eat."

"Without much thought, I took the Silver Pieces and ran out of the house, onto the street.

But I never imagined that would be the last time I saw my mother." Tears were already streaming down Xue Zhuyong's face, "Back then, what I loathed most was the lonely night and the way my mother curled up on the bed, crying silently. But now that I think about it, I should have hugged her then."

Xue Zhuyong, looking at Mo Yan's face which was already exuding an aura of death, said softly: "Later, I learned a lesson – for those people you cherish, when you still have the chance, don't be stingy with your hugs.

What's the point of regretting when the chance is gone?"

"So, when I found out that I had a son," Xue Zhuyong's emotions gradually settled, speaking as if it did not concern him, "even though I had never met him, I didn't hesitate at all. Even at the risk of my life, I would save him.

Because, I... don't want to have regrets a second time."