Chapter 978: Bridge of Helplessness
The endless Yin Soldiers and walking in the land between life and death tempered everyone’s Martial Techniques. Only by bringing out their strength to its peak could they continue forward.
The Yellow Springs Road was not easy to travel.
The group walked for three months and still could not see the end. However, their personal strength increased enormously.
Just Xiao Chen himself perfected the Summer Saber and Autumn Saber in the past three months. Now, he could execute the complete Flawless Four Seasons.
The most important thing was that with the headless Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva behind Xiao Chen, his saber soul successfully advanced to Great Perfection.
For some strange reason, the voice of the Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva resounded mostly in Xiao Chen’s ears.
All sorts of auditory hallucinations of various people Xiao Chen knew called out his name. The voices could be aggrieved, joyful, pained, or desperate.
Several times, he nearly turned his head around. However, that immovable heart of a bladesman allowed him to endure all the way.
The four strands of saber soul in the will of thunder brightened further and became seven strands—the mark of a Great Perfection saber soul.
As Xiao Chen fought with the Yin Soldiers, he merged the two and formed his own unique thunder saber soul.
In the end, even when facing great grandmaster-level Yin Soldiers, Xiao Chen could block them by himself.
“Helplessness…helplessness…”
After another five days, cries of despair resounded in the ears of the group together with the gurgle of endlessly gushing water. The five revealed joy on their faces as they looked ahead.
At the limits of their vision, they finally saw a river blocking the way and the vague silhouette of a bridge.
If there were no surprises, that should be the Bridge of Helplessness.
The Bridge of Helplessness was where the Three Life Stone was. All Xiao Chen had to do was knock off one piece. After that, he would have collected all the things that he needed to bring Ao Jiao back.
“Let’s go!”
All the fatigue built up over the past few months immediately dissipated. Xiao Chen revealed an expression of joy as he increased his pace, heading forward quickly in this black-and-white world.
Four hours later, the group that moved at lightning-speed arrived before the Bridge of Helplessness. The headless Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva that had been shadowing them also stopped appearing.
Sharp black winds blew across the Bridge of Helplessness. Water gushed endlessly under the bridge, giving off cries of despair.
Looking stunned, Qing Cheng muttered, “It’s broken…”
It was indeed broken. Only half of the Bridge of Helplessness remained, hanging alone above the river. The other half, which led to paramita and reincarnation, had already drifted off somewhere when hell broke.
However, whether it was broken or not had nothing to do with Xiao Chen. He walked up to a massive rock beside the bridge and hit it hard.
This was the Three Life Stone. Unfortunately, it did not have any spirituality. If hell were still intact, and the six paths of reincarnation remained, this Three Life Stone could show a person’s past and future.
When Xiao Chen succeeded in breaking off a piece of Three Life Stone, he smiled. After spending four months in this Nine Layers of Purgatory, he finally had all three items he needed.
However, a thought surfaced in his heart, tainting it with gloom. He had traveled for four months; the competition for the saber school ranking started long ago.
By the time Xiao Chen rushed back, the once-a-decade saber school ranking would have already ended.
If Xiao Chen did not obtain the ten-thousand-year-old Flame Crystal, would Situ Leihong still help him bring back Ao Jiao?
“Hehe, Elder Brother Xiao Chen, you don’t have to worry more. Elder Sister Ao Jiao will be coming back soon.” Xiao Bai revealed a sincere look of bliss.
The thing that had been troubling Xiao Bai’s Elder Brother Xiao Chen was finally resolved.
Xiao Bai wondered, if she ran into any major trouble in the future, would her Elder Brother Xiao Chen charge through the Nine Layers of Purgatory, pass the Gates of Hell, and travel the Yellow Springs Road for her?
“Congratulations!”
Both Kong Yuan and Yuan Xu performed cupped-fist salutes in congratulations.
Xiao Chen did not want to depress their spirits, so he did not let the melancholy in his heart show on his face. He said sincerely, “Many thanks to the two of you. Without your help along the way, this Xiao would not have been able to arrive here.”
Kong Yuan smiled and said, “Brother Xiao is too humble. Even without the two of us, with Brother Xiao’s strength, you would only have had to spend more time.”
Suddenly, Yuan Xu’s expression changed. He pointed in the direction of the Bridge of Helplessness and exclaimed, “What is that Ghost Race woman trying to do? Why did she walk to the Bridge of Helplessness? She is about to fall in.”
Xiao Chen swept his gaze across and saw Qing Cheng standing on the Bridge of Helplessness with a somewhat dazed look. If she took another step, she would fell in.
“Whoosh!”
The situation was urgent; there was no time to think. Xiao Chen stepped down hard, shot forward, and landed on the Bridge of Helplessness in time to pull Qing Cheng back.
Qing Cheng recovered her wits; it was like she just woke up from a dream. “Sorry, I…I just wanted to see if reincarnation still exists at paramita.”
The Immortal Dao no longer existed, and the six paths were shattered. Naturally, reincarnation no longer existed.
Xiao Chen noticed that there was something Qing Cheng was not saying. However, he did not wish to delve too much into other people’s personal life. He said, “Let’s go. The Bridge of Helplessness is broken; we cannot cross it. We should go back.”
To return, one only needed to head in the direction of the river’s source to exit the eighth layer of purgatory.
Qing Cheng smiled bitterly. Just as the two were about to step off the Bridge of Helplessness, the sound of countless paeans of praise and prayers for blessings suddenly poured out from Xiao Chen’s body. The dry stones of the black Bridge of Helplessness underfoot lit up with a golden light.
The Bridge of Helplessness turned into a gold and jade bridge that extended past the broken off part and continued all the way to paramita on its own.
This sudden change confused everyone. Even Xiao Chen did not know what was going on.
The gold and jade Bridge of Helplessness now extended all the way to a world shrouded in fog on the other side.
Yuan Xu was stunned. Then, he reacted. “The gold and jade Bridge of Helplessness! According to legend, when people with great merits died and headed to the God Path for rebirth, the Bridge of Helplessness would turn into one made of gold and jade. It would give off great light and sweep away all Death Qi.”
Xiao Bai blinked and said with a smile, “Elder Brother Xiao Chen is a good person, causing the gold and jade Bridge of Helplessness to appear. Unfortunately, reincarnation is already broken. Otherwise, you could head directly to the God Path.”
The three walked as they spoke. Soon, they arrived on the Bridge of Helplessness and stood shoulder to shoulder with Xiao Chen. As they looked at the foggy world on the other side, they all felt somewhat curious.
Legend said that once one crossed the Bridge of Helplessness, one would arrive at the land of reincarnation, where one would go to one of the six paths of reincarnation based on their merits.
Qing Cheng exclaimed in sudden comprehension, “I know why the gold and jade Bridge of Helplessness appeared! When you were in the Skin Flaying Hell, you cleansed several tens of thousands of Skeleton Phantoms. These were the evil spirits left behind after their skins were flayed. They remained in Last Breath Lake for tens of thousands of years. By cleansing them, you accumulated great merits.”
Xiao Chen did not really care. Whether it was true or not, that was not important anymore. Now that reincarnation was broken, no matter how much merit one had, one would not be able to enter the God Path.
Suddenly, he thought of that Good and Evil Beneficence Art in the Azure Emperor’s Drawing the Saber painting. Then, he revealed a look of contemplation.
“I want to go over and take a look. I will not give up until I see the broken reincarnation.”
Qing Cheng’s gaze turned resolute. She stepped out and dashed toward the opposite side. In the blink of an eye, she disappeared into the fog-shrouded world.
“Stay here. I’ll go check on her.”
Xiao Chen frowned and stopped Xiao Bai and the others. Then, after a few leaps, he left the Bridge of Helplessness, arriving at the opposite side.
The fog before him scattered. A vast black ocean appeared before his eyes. There were tens of thousands of aggrieved spirits and withered bones in the ocean, all of them moving as quickly as they could.
These evil spirits were from the various hells and were trying to leave the sea of bitterness and reach reincarnation. However, they did not know that reincarnation already broke. Even if they made their way across, it would still be a sea of bitterness.
A huge headless monk sat cross-legged in the center of the sea.
The monk formed the seal of the world with his left hand and the seal of the merciful Buddha on with the right. Boundless might spread out from his body, the pressure like a tall mountain or an ocean covering the land.
Xiao Chen felt terrified. This was the Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva’s physical body. While on the Yellow Springs Road, he had seen the Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva’s headless spirit.
The Buddhist halo behind the Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva should be golden. However, in this black-and-white world, it became plain and simple, flickering between black and white.
Although the physical body was dead, it still possessed Magic Might.
The many withered skeletons in the black ocean did their best to swim towards the Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva, trying to reach the world behind him and achieve reincarnation.
However, every time the skeletons took a step forward amid the formless Magic Might, their bodies shrank. The farther they walked, the smaller they became until they were all no larger than a grain of rice.
While it seemed like the withered skeletons were advancing with every step, in reality, they were getting farther away from the Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva. They would never be able to go across.
Xiao Chen swept his gaze around and found Qing Cheng on a Specter Boat, doing her best to row forward. As she moved forward, her body and the Specter Boat slowly shrank without her realizing it.
“What is with this girl’s obsession? Reincarnation is already broken. Even if she crossed this boundless black ocean, what use would it be? Furthermore, with the Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva’s body here, there is no way to pass.
“Fortunately, she has not gone very far yet. If I’m careful, I can pull her back.”
Qing Cheng’s Specter Boat had just entered the water. If she went a little farther, Xiao Chen would have been powerless to save her.
He tapped his forehead with his finger and unleashed the will of thunder, making it hover overhead.
Unexpectedly, this purple Lightning Talisman did not turn black and white in this world. It remained purple, flickering with a dazzling electric light.
When he looked at the talisman carefully, he noticed that the characters he could not understand were glowing with a certain divine light, emitting a faint Immortal Might.
Xiao Chen felt excited. This Immortal Might had to be related to the Divine Lightning in Misleading Fog Lake. He wondered who the master of that Divine Lightning Talisman was.
He had only managed to copy that person’s talisman. Even so, the replication was enough to prevent his Lightning Talisman from getting assimilated into this black-and-white world.
This was a good thing. Leaving the Lightning Talisman above his head, Xiao Chen leaped out and landed on the black ocean.
He instantly felt a formless pressure bearing down on him, making progress difficult. As for that headless Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva, who was no more than five kilometers away, he suddenly became ten times farther.
Xiao Chen thought to himself that this was bad. His body must have shrunk as well.
He quickly brought out the greatest might of the will of thunder, which contained his Great Perfection saber soul. His body shook and suddenly expanded many times larger.
The withered skeletons swimming in the black ocean became like ants in his eyes.
In reality, Xiao Chen knew that it was not that he became larger but that the withered skeletons in the water could not block the might and hence shrank considerably.
He took a step forward with much difficulty. Then he extended his hand and grabbed the Specter Boat together with Qing Cheng.
Qing Cheng, who was in the Specter Boat, did not understand what was happening. When the boat trembled, she sent out powerful and mighty Martial Techniques.
However, in Xiao Chen’s hand, these Martial Techniques became very small as well. As long as they were in the black ocean, nothing could fly out of his palm.
There was not enough time to explain anything. Xiao Chen turned around, wanting to leave. Just then, something strange happened.