Chapter 168: Birthless

　　Many years ago, the Deity Vanquishing Sword has always been one of Shen Lian’s strongest means. Its directness in attacking the spirit was as though it would tear apart all of the protection and everyone would be brawling barely. Those who are strong would win but even with that victory, because of the blows received on the body, the victor would also suffer from injuries.

　　Some say that the fastest thing in the universe is not light but the thoughts of the human mind. At the movement of a thought, the barrier in space could be ignored.

　　Shen Lian turned his spiritual consciousness into a sword, as though this gleam of the blade had existed since the beginning of time, and vehemently stabbed right into Chao Xiaoyu’s mind.

　　Like the movement of a thought, it was so rapid that she could not even react at all.

　　Chao Xiaoyu was the deity, so Shen Lian had to vanquish that deity.

　　The ‘Deity Vanquishing Sword’ was born to vanquish deity.

　　He no longer needed to have his entire spirit to leave his body when using the deity vanquishing sword this time, it was also not simply the power of the Yin spirit. With the spiritual consciousness and the sword will combine, it produced something that is between the spirit and the spiritual consciousness.

　　Shen Lian suddenly had an understanding, in his mind, he called it as ‘sword consciousness’. The sword would be the sword will of the grandmaster Yuanqing, consciousness would be from oneself. This was a different feeling from the Yin spirit leaving the body. Even though the Yin spirit was real and condensate, but it would still really fragile compared to the flesh. Consciousness was like the ultimate condensation of the power of the spirit, it could almost become a substance. Like the most ordinary charcoal, after going through immense pressure and by chance, its quality changed and it becomes a diamond that is can be all conquering.

　　The fundamental elements of the diamond and charcoal are the same but it is its structure that underwent a miraculous transformation that could turn rotten and foul to the rare and ethereal.

　　This transition was like the changes of the layers in life, it was also like the ape had suddenly evolved into a man.

　　The sword consciousness was a thought, it could jump around and move. Now that Shen Lian was using the sword consciousness as his eyes, he had entered a universe. The surroundings were a borderless huge world with a lotus throne in the center. The lotus has a total of nine petals, the number nine being the ultimate number of the universe. To be more precise, the world has ‘nine’ Daoist techniques and supernatural powers, it describes part of the dictum of the universe.

　　Only by understanding the abstruse of the universe, then can one be detached from the universe.

　　People are born and they die in this universe, in this cage. For many years, they could not break free of it. Those who pursued Dao wants to leave this cage. Like the bird in a cage, even though there are no worries while being in the cage, but the world outside of the side is what it would strive for.

　　Chao Xiaoyu sat crossed legged on top of the lotus throne, she was clad in a plain white dress skirt and she was graceful. It was as though watching the true embodiment of the Bodhi in the deity’s ultimate teachings for people to worship and for the Bodhi to command the fate of this world.

　　Shen Lian was no longer a human but a sword. Since the beginning of time till now, the gleam of the blade had never been extinguished as it vibrated continuously. It is beyond the horizon but it is also so close within distance.

　　Within Chao Xiaoyu’s mind, this distance was not measurable like how it would be in reality.

　　This distance, when far and high up, would be like the sun and moon. When it is near and close, it would be like lovers.

　　Chao Xiaoyu can clearly feel an extremely sharp breath that disregards the barrier in space, which caused her to be extremely uncomfortable.

　　In this psyche world, she is the god. She is the Goddess of Mercy, she is the dharma character of the ninth level of the lotus bier. The dharma character originally did not have a name but because of Chao Xiaoyu, it got named ‘Chao Xiaoyu’. This was transformed from her divinity. The divinity is like a kindling material and the streams of pilgrims are like a pile of firewood. Once there is enough firewood, the divinity will light it up which would then become the divine fire. To build the divine country, she was no longer the divine for herself but the divine for the masses. She could also become the Dao and domineer over the masses.

　　Chao Xiaoyu was emotionless when she saw this gleam of the sword that suddenly came from this universe to destroy every living creature, she then lifted a finger.

　　With this lift of the finger, it expanded without limit and it covered the sky and land. It was like it had the flavor of chaos on it, which caused people to lose their senses. This is the ‘Wusheng finger’. It is the wisest art of the Nine Lotus book. Legend has it that while Maitreya Buddha was attaining enlightenment under the longhua tree and he got it by accident. By that time, there were countless sky demons that came to invade and to destroy the enlightenment Maitreya Buddha had attained. Maitreya Buddha’s mind stirred and he lifted one finger, transforming the countless demons to its source, making it birthless and beginningless.

　　Chao Xiaoyu would not be able to use this lost art in the real world but within this psyche world, she was as close as to being a god which allowed her to use it.

　　As long as the power of her psyche was not exhausted, she was the deathless and beginningless deity that could not be defeated forever.

　　No matter how strong Shen Lian was, he probably could not surpass her in spirit. Furthermore, this was her home court. The finger could not be stopped as it came, space was like the thin window paper, breaking with just a touch. Once the window paper broke, there was no light but darkness. The darkness that consumed all light.

　　However, the sword consciousness that Shen Lian wielded suddenly vanished. It vanished within Chao Xiaoyu’s mind. If it was in the real world, Shen Lian’s sword aura could simply change between being shaped and shapeless. Chao Xiaoyu did not find it strange for the world did not lack in Dao techniques and supernatural powers that could erase one’s traces. Just the ones she knew were more than ten kinds.

　　But to be able to do what Shen Lian did, to be able to hide from her in her mind was simply indescribable.

　　It could be said that it was enough to deceive the sky and sea.

　　Chao Xiaoyu frowned a little, the ever-expanding Wusheng finger suddenly halted and then countless lotus flowers bloomed. In that instance, it filled the littered the midair. If there was a saying for it, it would be that with the lotus flower in all directions of the world, Buddha’s breath can be found at every corner.

　　Now, Shen Lian’s sword consciousness was partly hidden and partly shown in these lotus flowers, its presence was vague.

　　The track that it waved through was like a divine dragon without leaving a track. But because of the lotus flowers, its form was involuntarily forced to be shown.

　　The white lotus flowers were like seas of clouds. The sword aura wielded by Shen Lian was like the divine dragon swimming through the sea of clouds. Even though the clouds obeyed the dragon, it also showed the tracks of the dragon. Chao Xiaoyu’s indifferent expression that was like the gods now had a faint smile on it. The finger became a palm, it was like a huge black cloud that suddenly appeared amongst the white clouds. It really stood out. The grey air flow was vague and the palm was like the claw of the legendary golden-winged Garuda bird.

　　This legendary bird ate dragons as food and with its wing could span up to 90,000 miles.

　　After the finger had become a palm, the entire space had become a lot darker and Chao Xiaoyu’s figure had become a lot fader. Many of the white lotus flowers disappeared in the blink of an eye.

　　This was due to the power of the psyche being taken out from the mind to be used to condense and defeat Shen Lian’s sword consciousness.

　　Shen Lian now was like the assassin that infiltrated the heart of the enemy’s capital by himself to take the head of the ruling king. He had a gigantic gut but he was also in peril.

　　The sword aura did not evade the incoming claw, the groaning of the sword was like the angry tides of the sea, resonating throughout Chao Xiaoyu’s mind.

　　Accompanying the sound and long groan, the sword aura expanded continuously and it became a giant sword that could hold up the skies. It pierced the giant claw with great determination. The sword aura now showed its killing essence, as though it was condensed from mountains of corpses and seas of blood. In one swift, the sword aura vibrated and like the Milky Way, it came in tide after tide.

　　The endless sword aura came in like the ocean tides, vehemently piercing through Chao Xiaoyu’s palm.

　　Simultaneously, it broke through space as though it was paper mache.