Chapter 87 It's best to avoid forcing things on others...

Li Chen smiled and said, "Of course I know. I'm not worried about whether I'll die, I'm just worried about..."

"Is Sect Leader Shen planning to do something while I'm suffering from internal injuries and unable to resist?"

Li Chen smiled as if he were very happy, but the smile did not reach his eyes, which looked cold.

She gave Shen Zhengyuan a deep look, and seeing that he had no reaction, as if he had already tacitly accepted her guess, she couldn't help but sigh and continued, "Sect Leader Shen, it's best not to force others to do things."

“I believe you genuinely want me to live, but I also hope you can understand one thing as soon as possible. Using the guise of ‘it’s for your own good’ to confine someone will not earn their gratitude or obedience. Just like birds that have soared through the sky, if you cage them for fear of them encountering danger in the wild, they will not only not be grateful, but will miss the taste of freedom more than ever.”

"Sect Leader Shen, I remember that I have never restricted your freedom, nor have I ever forced you to become the person I wanted you to be. I think that if I had done so, Sect Leader Shen would have wanted to break free of these constraints. In that case, why can't Sect Leader Shen put himself in my shoes and give me some freedom and dignity?"

Shen Zhengyuan suddenly said, "Have you ever thought about giving me freedom and dignity?"

Li Chen was taken aback. "...What?"

"Did you ever think about giving me freedom and dignity?" Shen Zhengyuan repeated. "I could have needed nothing and cared about nothing, but you forcibly barged into my world."

"When we first met, I also wanted to leave. I also wanted freedom. I also wanted to be free from any emotional entanglements. I didn't need you to make any decisions for me. But think about it, did you listen to my thoughts back then?"

Li Chenjin: "..."

Shen Zhengyuan: "You can't say it anymore, right? Because you never listened to my thoughts back then, and you never gave me freedom. So why can you do that, but I can't? Is it because you think it's for my own good that you can suddenly appear. And then you think I don't need you anymore, so you can suddenly disappear? Leaving me alone, like a dog, searching everywhere for your trace."

"But Li Chenjin, haven't you ever thought about why everything should go according to your wishes?"

Li Chenjin: "..."

Li Chen sighed, "A Yuan, I didn't want everything to go according to my wishes."

“You do,” Shen Zhengyuan said. “You’ve always wanted to control everything around you, so you imposed your ideas on me because you thought it was for my own good, forcing me to accept your kindness. But when I try to turn the tables and return what you did to me, you find it unacceptable.”

“Li Chenjin, I know you far better than you do. Your personality has never changed. Ever since you were in the world of sword cultivators, you have been used to not caring about what others think, and that arrogance has long been ingrained in your bones, following you to this day. It’s just that compared to your previous directness, you have adopted a gentler approach, to the point that you yourself cannot even see it.”

"You're still the same as before, disregarding others' wishes while demanding that they care about your thoughts. So, weren't you trampling on others' freedom and dignity before? Haven't you really trampled on my freedom and dignity too?"

Li Chenjin: "..."

Oh no, what Shen Zhengyuan said actually makes some sense. Thinking about it carefully, she did seem to have been like that before, which made her unable to refute it for a moment.

Tsk, is this what they call karma, the inevitable retribution?

However, people in the cultivation world do hold grudges. Even though it happened so long ago, Shen Zhengyuan still remembered it and said such a long string of words. He must have been holding these words in his heart for many years.

She pinched her brow, feeling a terrible headache. After a deep sigh, her tone softened. "I was wrong before. Since we're already here, let's get straight to the point. Just tell me what you want to do next. I'll see if I can cooperate with you and avoid suffering from these internal injuries."

"Sect Leader Shen, I really want to say something. When my internal injuries flare up, it really hurts. Over the years, although I've gotten used to it, I'm still a little afraid of the pain."

After a long silence, Shen Zhengyuan said, "I will give you a new body. I will place this body in the Linshui Palace and let it soak in the medicinal spring, where people from the alchemy world will repair it."

"Once your body has fully recovered, you can return to it. At that time, you can continue your cultivation..."

“Even if I might ascend to immortality, I can use my own power to separate our primordial spirits, and from then on, never see Sect Leader Shen again?” Li Chenjin suddenly said.

Shen Zhengyuan: "..."

Shen Zhengyuan: "...Yes. I hope you can live. If you live, you must leave me, and I can accept that. Just like my parents, if they can live on, even if they never see me again, I can accept that..."

His voice trailed off, "I want you to be with me, and I want them to be with me. I don't want to be alone anymore... But if the price for you to live is that I can never see you again, I think I can accept that... I can... I can..."

He kept repeating it, which was less like he was talking to Li Chenjin and more like he was trying to convince himself.

Li Chen stared at him for a long time before saying softly, "Alright. But Sect Leader Shen, you must still have some tricks up your sleeve, right? If you really could set me free, why would you have bothered me so much before? Now that we've come this far, let's get straight to the point and make things clear at once."

“The new body I created for you is similar to the puppet you saw before. If you want your primordial spirit to reside in it permanently, you need to become a puppet under my control,” Shen Zhengyuan said. “However, I know you are unwilling, so our primordial spirits are bound together. I use my primordial spirit to keep you in the world. In this way, you don’t have to be my puppet and can do whatever you want.”

"But the connection between our primordial spirits must not be severed until you return to your body."

"That's all?" Li Chen asked, raising an eyebrow.

"And we were already Daoist partners when we were in the Pure Realm." Shen Zhengyuan paused and said, "When we were cultivating together, my primordial spirit and yours formed a Daoist partnership contract. This contract was witnessed by heaven and earth, so even if you ascend to immortality, you cannot abandon me. Even if you do not wish to see me afterward, after my death, my primordial spirit will still be able to see you as promised."

Li Chen gave a forced "I knew it" smile and gave Shen Zhengyuan a thumbs up.

She said, "How could Shen Zhengyuan suddenly change his mind and just let go like that? This is the kind of thing he does now."

As expected, those who do not understand the magic of the magic cultivation world should stay away from it, otherwise they will not even know when they will be caught in its trap.

However, now that these matters have been discussed, there is no need to waste any more time testing each other. It is more important to get down to business and infiltrate the world of weapon cultivators.

Her method of infiltrating was also very simple. Since she had already arrived at the place, there was no need to beat around the bush and find an identity to blend in. Even if she stayed undercover for three to five months, she might not be able to find anyone's inside man.

Rather than wasting that time, she might as well become the inside man who breaks through the defenses of this place.

………………

This place, considered the most important location by the weapon-cultivating world, is guarded by tens of thousands of disciples year-round.

The disciples stationed here mostly repeat the same daily routine of cleaning, practicing, and crafting magical artifacts. Their lives are unchanging, and apart from having some cultivation, they are basically no different from the students in the academy.

But on this very day, that unchanging routine was suddenly broken. A figure appeared out of nowhere and, to everyone's astonishment, landed lightly on the roof of a warehouse.

Once the figure had steadied itself, it did not stop, leaping across rooftops and walking on leaves as if on flat ground, without pausing for a moment.

Moreover, the person's speed was astonishing. Many disciples did not even see the person's appearance clearly, only catching a glimpse of a blur, a flash of light carrying spiritual energy, and before everyone could react, the person had already darted dozens of meters away.

The disciples of the Weapon Cultivation Realm were stunned for a moment, then shouted, "Guards! Guards! Someone has trespassed into the Weapon Cultivation Realm!"

"Hurry! Hurry! Chase them! Chase them!!"

"Where did they go? Where did they go?!"

"Where did that person go? Where did they go?! How did they suddenly disappear?!"

"I don't know! It was too fast! It disappeared in the blink of an eye! How could it be faster than a bird in the sky?!"

The shouts spread like wildfire, and soon panic spread throughout the area like a plague.

However, the panic spread too slowly. By the time those voices were shouting, Li Chenjin had already left them far behind, not hearing a sound at all, and even found the place quite quiet.

Although she couldn't hear any sounds, she could see the panicked and pale expressions on the faces of some people when they noticed her.

It's easy to guess without much thought that this place will soon descend into chaos.

Although the disciples of the weapon-crafting world are skillful, their weakness lies in their generally low cultivation level. Even cultivators at the Nascent Soul stage are considered rare experts in the weapon-crafting world.

This shows that disciples in the artifact crafting world usually devote almost all their energy and effort to crafting magical artifacts, and have little interest in cultivation.

This means that once these disciples of the weapon-cultivation world encounter this situation, they have no way to deal with it and can only watch her leave helplessly. They can't even catch up with her, let alone stop her.

When Li Chen noticed that someone was chasing her below, she deliberately slowed down. After those people ran closer, panting, she smiled silently and waved to them as a greeting.

After giving that greeting, without waiting for their response, she transformed into a blur, swiftly dashing dozens of meters away, leaving them far behind.

Once she had completely disappeared, those who had been chasing her finally caught their breath, each supporting their backs and panting heavily, asking, "Who...who is she?"

"No...no...I don't know! Where...where is she going?"

"This, this is also unknown... How could anyone dare... dare to provoke our weapon cultivation world? Don't they know that we... we are affiliated with the Dharma... Dharma cultivation world? Huh?"

Author's Note: Xiao Shen: Just kidding, I can't accept even a little bit [heart emoji]

Xiao Li: Ha, I knew it was an act, obviously fake. [Hands clasped in prayer]