Senior Sister Bai Yueguang is incredibly strong.

Chapter 20 To Those Who Follow

Luo Zai Shui was the most experienced at dealing with crying babies. She picked up the baby and covered his mouth with her other hand.

"Stop crying."

"Um..."

Luo Zai Shui had a headache: "Why choose me as the master? I already have the Luo Shui Sword, and someone like me looks like I'll die young. Are you going to keep looking for the next sword master after choosing me?"

The little baby pried Luo Zai Shui's hand away: "Luo Shui Sword doesn't recognize you at all! It only recognizes the strong as its master. You can't draw it out. Why don't you choose me? I'll recognize you as my master, and you can take me away from here!"

Luo Zai Shui's heart was pierced: "That was left to me by my mother."

How could a sword spirit understand human emotions? It only knew that her sword did not recognize her, yet it wanted to recognize her as its master, so it desperately tried to persuade that person to accept it.

The sword spirit floated to her side and gently poked her arm: "But I haven't left here for a long time, so please take me with you."

Luo Zai Shui considers herself to be soft-hearted at times, but she is very clear that she has to take responsibility for the magic artifact she has chosen. If she fails to make the most of a magic artifact, it is her fault.

"No, I can't take you with me. Even if you acknowledge me as your master, I won't be able to maximize your value. You'd better wait for someone who is destined to be with you."

"But I'm already a broken sword." The baby's tone seemed a little aggrieved. "No one would want a broken sword, and no matter who chooses me, I can only unleash 50% of my original power."

"Please, just take me out of here. I just want to go out and find my sword sheath. It's been lost for years."

"You went out just to find your sword sheath?" Luo Zai Shui was somewhat incredulous. What magical artifact would willingly stay in the storage building gathering dust for its entire life?

“Yeah.” The toddler fiddled with his fingers. “I just want to find the scabbard. It must be lonely out there all by itself. And I miss it a lot. Even though it doesn’t really talk to me, it’s a good guy…”

The baby's voice grew softer and softer, and Luo Zai Shui saw a hint of confusion on its face: "Strange, where was it lost? I can't remember. It's really good at hiding. All these years, I haven't been able to sense a trace of it."

"If that's the case, I'll help you find a scabbard, but I'm not sure I can find one."

"Really?" The baby's face instantly lit up with a smile. "Oh right, you probably don't know what it looks like. It looks similar to the sword sheath outside, but it's engraved with the words 'Chang Hong' (meaning 'long rainbow'). Also, the material of the sword sheath is different. The Chang Hong sword sheath is forged from a piece of black wood in the secret realm. It's impervious to all weapons and is incredibly powerful."

Luo Zai Shui nodded to indicate that she understood: "Okay, I'll keep an eye out for you. Now, can you let me leave?"

The baby pinched its earlobe guiltily: "I don't know how to let you out. My previous owner only taught me how to bring in people who wanted to be their owner, not how to throw them out..."

Luo Zai Shui was speechless. Was he going to be trapped here for the rest of his life?

“However, I can acknowledge you as my master, then you should be able to leave. You probably don’t want to…”

"Row."

Luo Zai Shui agreed without hesitation.

"Huh? Didn't you say you didn't want to take me in?"

Luo Zai Shui sighed: "I don't really want to, but I don't want to waste time here. Besides, my senior brothers are still waiting outside. Tell me, how can I get you to acknowledge me as your master?"

The baby boy circled Luo Zai Shui Fei with a grin: "That's easy. You just need to read about my master's past and answer his questions."

The world spun around them, and in an instant, everything around them turned into a white blur.

An aged voice rang out.

"To those who come after us, we vanquish evil and uphold justice, creating a new era, laying the foundation for future generations, and restoring peace to the world."

The white mist gradually dissipated.

"Brother Ziyan! Sister Qiao'er!"

A young man waved excitedly. Luo Zai Shui immediately noticed that the man was carrying the Long Rainbow Sword, so he must be his grandmaster.

"Song Xian is here!"

Several good-looking young men greeted him in turn.

The aged voice rang out again.

"When I was young, I also had many close friends. Like many young people, we were young and impetuous, ignorant of our own limitations, and confident in our talents. We always thought about doing things that heroes should do."

The scene shifts, and the teenagers turn and plunge into the battlefield, fighting fiercely.

"However, we forgot that we are just a bunch of ordinary people, how could we compare to those great demons? On that day, I lost my dearest friend."

The scene shifts again. On the battlefield, amidst a sky full of yellow sand and the stench of blood, the only boy still standing is weeping over a corpse—their grandmaster.

“After that, I truly realized that I was not close enough to become a strong person, so I sought out teachers everywhere and eventually became a disciple of Nanyang Zhenzi.”

A tall tower rose from the ground, and a group of disciples in plain clothes listened to the teachings inside.

"There, I met the love of my life."

A young and beautiful female cultivator ran over from beside Luo Zai Shui: "Senior Brother Song!"

She held a sword sheath in her hand, on which were engraved the words "Chang Hong".

"Senior Brother Song, I heard you recently acquired a precious sword, but you happen to be missing a scabbard. Why don't you use mine for now?"

"Thank you very much, junior sister."

The moment Song Xian touched the scabbard, the scene changed again.

The female cultivator, who had just been lively and energetic, collapsed into his arms.

She heard her grandmaster calling her name with heart-wrenching cries.

"Senior brother, if there is an afterlife, shall we become husband and wife?"

"it is good."

The aged voice rang out again.

"I thought I could spend my whole life with her, but life is unpredictable, and demons are rampant. How can we just sit idly by?"

The female cultivator disappeared, followed by the sound of young people arguing.

"Master, demons are running rampant now, how can we sit idly by?"

"Song Xian, I know you want to avenge your junior sister, but you have to think about your fellow disciples. What will they do if war breaks out?"

"But Master, eliminating demons and protecting the righteous path is..."

"Alright, Master knows you're eager for revenge, but we can't be the ones to stick our necks out."

"If that's the case, then I beg Master to expel me from the sect."

Song Xian knelt on the ground and solemnly kowtowed to Nanyang Zhenzi.

"What you're doing... Never mind, go. From now on, everything you do has nothing to do with the sect."

"This disciple understands. This disciple takes his leave."

Nanyang Zhenzi's figure disappeared, and in his place, his grandmaster walked through the vast white mist with his sword on his back.

“I bid farewell to my master and embarked on my own journey to eliminate demons and protect the righteous path. All sects are afraid of getting involved with the demon race, but I am not afraid. I am all alone, and I will eliminate as many demons as I can, depending entirely on my own abilities.”

"Later, I gradually met other people who were not afraid of the demons. We gathered together and discussed ways to fight against the demons every day."

“Some people are good at making magical artifacts, and the weapons they make can be said to be indestructible. Some people are good at pharmacology, and the most powerful one can heal the dead. There are also people who are good at array formations and talisman formations. Of course, there are also many people like me who only know how to practice swordsmanship. But I love to learn. I follow them around every day to learn from them. They don’t care when they find out. Instead, they patiently answer my questions.”

The scene changes again, this time to a gathering of seniors discussing something. It turns out that even the stern old man can be so energetic.

"But I never expected that the flames of war would first reach Nanyang. When I arrived, it had already been burned to ashes. My master was on his deathbed. Before he passed away, he looked at me and shed a single, cloudy tear. He said, 'How can you say that you've brought trouble upon yourself? This turmoil has been going on all along. How can you not be affected?'"

"My master's death finally made the other sects realize that there is no way to survive by living a life of cowardice. We have to fight our way out. At that time, I thought, how ridiculous it is, but I didn't have time to think too much. I was busy all day long wiping out the demons."

"This battle was very difficult and very long, so long that we could hardly see any hope."

On the other side were a dark mass of demons, and on this side were heavily wounded human cultivators. The battle, fought without seeing the light of day, filled everyone with despair.

"Finally, one day, someone shouted that the demon race had been banished to the borders, and I finally had time to look up at the sky. It was finally over..."

"At the moment of the end, the Rainbow Sword broke. My old companion, which had been with me the longest, could no longer hold on. I tried to find many weapon repairmen to try to fix it, but in the end, I was powerless. Oh well, a broken sword is a broken sword. I probably won't need a sword anymore."

"Later, I came to Xianyun Peak. It was so beautiful. It had never experienced war or separation. I suddenly had the idea of ​​settling down here, but it would be too boring for me to settle down here alone."

“I wrote to my old friends who are still alive. Some of them have already established their own clans and sects. They suggested that we set up a sect here as well, and as for what to teach, we can do whatever we want.”

As Luo Zai Shui watched his grandmaster gradually build Xianyun Peak, grow old, and finally pass away, something in his heart seemed to be touched.

"This is what I want you to see."

The figure of the grandmaster suddenly appeared, and Luo Zai Shui was unsure whether it was an illusion or a wisp of the grandmaster's remnant soul.

"Surprised?" The old man smiled gently. "I pulled you into my dream because of this wisp of remnant soul."

"Grandmaster." Luo Zai Shui bowed respectfully.

"Alright, Xianyun Peak never bothers with these formalities." The old man waved his hand. "Zai Shui, let me ask you, after seeing all this, have you understood anything?"

Looking at Xianyun Peak from years ago, Luo Zai Shui suddenly sighed, "They say that if the lips are gone, the teeth will be cold, but you only feel the cold when the lips are truly gone. So, does Master hope that we will take the initiative?"

The grandmaster smiled and stroked his beard: "That makes sense, but what are you going to do?"

Luo Zai Shui pondered for a moment before replying, "Although the various sects and families are outwardly at odds, their disciples are all capable and ambitious individuals. If they could all rise up like our master..."

"That's right, but do you think it will be difficult to implement?"

This has always been a concern for Luo Zai Shui.

"Cooperation is common, but such relationships are not stable and can be easily broken up one by one..."

"What if it's a matter of shared interests?" the Grandmaster suddenly interrupted her, "like the future of the sect."

Luo Zai Shui pondered for a moment, then suddenly understood: "Disciple understands."

The old man chuckled and stroked his beard: "You're a promising young man. In the water, your life is in your own hands. If you don't fight for yourself, no one else can. Go now, the Changhong River is yours. Don't disappoint me."

"Disciple obeys!"

The Long Rainbow Sword, gleaming with golden light, landed steadily in Luo Zai Shui's palm. When she opened her eyes again, she was back in the Treasure Pavilion.

"Where are Senior Sister and the others? Did they already choose their magical artifacts and leave? Weren't we supposed to meet on the first floor after we chose them?"

Luo Zai Shui sheathed the Changhong Sword, as if she had made up her mind.

"I'm here, Mu Yi. Have you chosen your weapon yet?"

"I've made my choice, Senior Sister. Look, here's my sword!"

That's right. Since she already knows the future, she should fight for everyone.