Chapter 1734: The Red Dust Flows; Fourth Calamity (7)

Chapter 1734: The Red Dust Flows; Fourth Calamity (7)

"Little Wei!"

A pleasant voice resounded throughout the air, warm yet stern. The sound of hurried steps followed as a young man ran through the courtyard in a rush, spirited and healthy. The young man arrived at a garden where an exceedingly unearthly woman with a pair of gardening gloves and a dark-colored dress. However, despite her looks containing an unearthly nature that defied feminine beauty, genuinely fitting of one with an Anima-Devourer's mystical lineage, she was incredibly earthy here, tending to her flowers with a hearty effort and a tinge of dirt on her chin.

She was extracting some stubborn weeds. Wiping the sweat from her brow with her wrist, her eyes gleamed as she watched the fruits of her meticulous effort. With a dazzling smile, she clapped her gloved hands.

After arriving by the garden, the young man, whose silver eyes shine brightly, his breath containing incredible strength, aged roughly thirteen years of age, smiled a silly and dazed smile.

"Mother?"

This young man was none other than Wei Wuyin. Since all those years ago, his mother's condition had been solved by an item of great value. Her original self, all of her previously consumed incantations, and her iconic self exuding warmth and motherly love returned in full force. Since Sage Xiaotian had solved her problem, she no longer suffered any amnesia. Moreover, she had regained her old memories that were thought once lost.

Wei Wuyin had begun cultivating at home while his older brother had ventured off to the capital before being inducted as a disciple at one of the Five Great Sects, the Earthly Titan Sect. Meanwhile, his father had elevated in status as an elder to an incumbent Clan Leader after his cultivation leaped two stages, from the Second Stage of the Qi Condensation Stage, the External Qi Phase, to the Fourth Stage, the Yin Form Phase. Given the precious Clan Master was only at the Elemental Birth Phase, the third stage, and was thirty years his senior, it was a natural process with very little resistance.

The Wei Clan immediately became the number one clan of Red Dove City and its official, uncontested leader. This was reinforced with Wei Wuyin's brother's position in one of the Five Great Sects. A fabulous development. For the Wei Clan, specifically this family, their lives were only getting better and better.

"Help your mother dispose of these weeds," Wei Wuyin's mother said as she stood up with a puff of breath. She was not a cultivator. Moreover, she had no intention to cultivate. This was a decision they all respected, and she was content with it. There was no dissuading her either.

"Hm," Wei Wuyin nodded with a soft exclamation and began to grab the basket filled with weeds. He glanced at the beautiful garden and felt at peace. The various flowers, especially the azaleas, which were his mother's favorite, were beautifully taken care of. It was a picturesque garden inciting incredible feelings that even a grandmaster painter might not be able to replicate.

The two walked. The two talked. The two laughed.

"Ha!" A tall young man, in his mid-twenties, slayed a bloodthirsty beast that was rampaging near Red Dove City with a few swings of his saber. The now-corpse slammed against the ground and reeked a stench of freshly spilled blood.

"I've gotten justice for all the lives you dare to take!"

When he brought the beast back to the city, the citizens cheered. Holding the beast up with a single arm, roars shook the ground of praise.

"The Young Master is invincible!"

"The Young Master has the bearing of an expert and a great hero!"

"The dashing Saber Ascendant once again protects the city! Tch. If only I was a woman..."

The words echoed in his ears as he laughed heartily.

"Little Bro..." A young man flew over from the setting sun. His face was unchanging as his cultivation had reached the legendary Astral Core Realm. To many, this young man was a god amongst men.

"Big Brother...I'm...happy...you...made...it..." The weak voice of his displayed the last vestiges of his vitality ebbing away. Wei Wuyin was walking towards his dying light. The absolute of this world: death.

"I wouldn't have missed it for the world," Wei Wuyin's brother smiled warmly as he held Wei Wuyin's wrinkled hands in his own, kneeling. Who would have thought the younger brother would not outlive the older one? Life in the cultivation world was always cruel.

The older brother who once instructed him on the principles of wielding a saber and cultivation stood by his side in his final moments. As if given a burst of energy, Wei Wuyin's eyes lit with the glow of the setting sun.

"When you see mother and father, tell them that...I was happy. And I hope they...live well...and they—"

Wei Wuyin's voice trailed off as a silent atmosphere followed. The sun had fully set. A life had fully ended.

"I will," Wei Wuyin's brother clenched the hand that was slowly losing its warmth, his voice trembling with tears that could only pour out like a steady, heavy stream. Their mother and father had ascended beyond the sky with Sage Xiaotian and Minister Long, and their life talismans were glowing strong. They were still alive. Meanwhile, his cultivation talent wasn't enough to advance to the Godlord level despite numerous resources and such.

The family of four in this world of the living...would now be reduced forever to a family of three.

...

"The first life has been completed!"

The spectators were all extremely focused. However, when the red dust didn't scatter, many of their hearts eased. Somehow, the Dual Sinful Mortal had survived his first life without feeling an ounce of despair.

"What life was it? What was the first trial that he experienced?" The silver-winged figure asked curiously.

The dark-red figure replied, "The life of stagnation."

"Oh! For grand ambitious cultivators, this is the most brutal...how could he not feel the slightest sense of despair as Sinful Pride?!" Many of the winged figures were startled after hearing the first life of eighteen. A life of stagnation allows the surroundings of your life to flourish while you would stagnate, watching as everything and everyone rises instead of you.

Typically, at the end of their lifetime, their minds would be consumed by regret and despair, unable to continue living and hating death.

To be honest, this was the hardest trial for cultivators who were once peerless and ambitious. From time to time, they would feel glimpses of their past life, knowing that they were supreme and could very well be. But no matter how hard they tried, they would descend into the red dust of mortality, and stagnate before dying a death filled with abject failure.

Yet Wei Wuyin, a Sinner of Pride, had somehow succeeded in this life! There was once a Sinner of Pride with proper cultivation and a True Soul of Sin who lost immediately upon facing this life! It was the very bane of their existence. How could they possibly be content?!

"It's not over yet...there's seventeen more lives..."

Will Wei Wuyin be able to survive?!