Chapter 73 Extra Chapter: Where One Returns to the Mortal World ① Kui Li. ...

"Ah Li, do you dream?"

Sometimes, Dawei Jiali would recall the question Feng Zhizhaoyin had asked him.

He sat upright beside her and answered methodically, "A spiritual body possesses a clear and pure mind, untouched by worldly dreams."

She then asked, "Ah Li, you spiritual practitioners are considered human, right? Then... does the Temple of Truth allow people to marry and have children?"

His eyelashes lowered slightly, avoiding her intensely probing gaze, and his reply remained calm and unwavering: "The Temple of Truth does not observe worldly etiquette, nor does it forge ties of worldly ties."

"So how did you resolve it internally?"

What was his reply?

It seemed to be something like, "The path of spiritual practice lies in transcendence. The entanglements of love and affection only disturb the mind. In the temple of truth, there are only like-minded people, no worldly companions..." He also said some other proper and formal things, which made her extremely angry.

But now, this tangled bond has become the only string that has not broken, supporting him through this punishment and search.

His unauthorized misappropriation of the sacred object, the Breath of Earth, and his fabrication of the body of "Guoguo" to infiltrate the human world constitute a grave crime of usurping the law.

But he didn't care. He even voluntarily returned to accept his punishment.

Because the only place where one might still find a trace of her remnant soul's whereabouts is this Hall of Truth, which observes the origins of the laws governing all things. The Mirror of Observation here can illuminate the cause and effect of the three realms, and the Register of Myriad Spirits records the imprints of all spiritual entities that have touched the power of the laws.

He couldn't believe that the soul that dared to defy heaven and earth would so easily vanish into nothingness.

The excruciating pain of the lightning lashing her spirit, the weakness from the damage to her spirit core—compared to the fear of losing her completely, these were insignificant costs…

The Dawei clan has guarded the Temple of Truth for generations, observing the laws of heaven and earth.

But when Dawei Jiali was seven years old, he was still a wild child.

At that time, a new dynasty had recently been established, and various forces were stirring up trouble. Unlike the "Dawei Clan," which focused on maintaining the balance of heaven and earth, there was another ancient spiritual clan called "Xuanhu." They believed in the supremacy of power and intended to interfere with the fate of human dynasties in order to seize greater power and resources. Dawei and Xuanhu had conflicting ideologies and had been secretly fighting for a long time.

During a campaign by the Xuanhu clan to seize a key ley line, they wiped out the refugee camp that occupied the area.

At the age of seven, he was like a frightened little beast, huddled in the shadow of the pile of corpses and broken walls, his body covered in filth, except for his eyes which shone with an astonishing light.

The Xuanhu clan members, who were clearing the battlefield, discovered him and noticed his unusually pure yet unguided spiritual talent. They regarded him as a rare commodity, but also with condescending malice, and prepared to take him back to their clan.

Just as he was roughly lifted up, a white horse galloped in under the moonlight. The woman on horseback was dressed in simple riding attire, draped in a black cloak, and looked travel-worn.

She was stunningly beautiful, with almond-shaped eyes as clear as autumn water. She was the most talented and beautiful woman of the Xuanhu clan, but often drifted to the margins of the clan due to differing beliefs—Xuanhu Yin.

She saw the potential within the child that was enough to shake the laws of nature, and she also saw the undisguised danger in the eyes of her fellow clansmen. She immediately spurred her horse forward and said, "This child is mine."

She dismounted, walked to the shivering child, knelt down, gently wiped the blood from his face, and then gave him a warm piece of bread.

"Follow them, and you will die, or turn into a monster. Go north. There... perhaps you can find a true path to survival."

She remained silent the whole way, holding his dirty little hand, and led him to a remote mountain range.

That was a vast and steep blessed land, a stronghold of the Great Wei Clan during their inspection of the human world. Several gray-black stone houses were built against the steep mountainside, with two dim yellow lanterns covered with special runes hanging under the eaves.

Feeling the small hand clenching nervously in her palm, Xuan Huyin squatted down and gently comforted her, "Don't be afraid. The dormant power within you needs proper guidance, and the people here... know how to respect power itself."

Soon, an elder dressed in plain robes, exuding a profound aura, emerged from the stone house. His gaze sharpened slightly upon seeing Xuan Huyin, then fell upon the child, a hint of surprise flashing in his eyes.

It was an instinctive response to some kind of unparalleled, unpolished gem.

In the end, the elder did not speak, but simply extended his broad, calloused hand to the child.

But the child clung to Xuan Huyin's clothes, unwilling to let go.

Xuan Huyin lowered her eyes, took off her cloak, carefully folded it, and gave it to him, telling a white lie, "I will come to pick you up after you have completed your studies."

He hesitated before taking it. He turned around involuntarily as another warm, dry hand grasped his. After taking a few steps, he couldn't help but look back.

Xuan Huyin remained standing in the same spot, the mountain wind whipping around her now-unclothed clothes and her ink-black hair. Seeing him turn around, she smiled gently, then raised her hand and waved lightly at him amidst the vast mountain scenery.

In that instant, the moonlight seemed to converge in her eyes. Those beautiful, smiling almond-shaped eyes were deeply imprinted in his mind, becoming the only light in his chaotic memories.

After joining the Dawei clan, his extraordinary talent quickly blossomed. The clan elders used secret methods to probe the depths of his spiritual platform and were all shaken. There, they found a radiant light that he was born with.

"The pearl covered in dust will eventually return to its rightful place. From now on, your surname is Dawei, and your given name is Jiali." The voice of the Dawei clan chief was solemn and ancient. "May you find peace and uphold the truth even amidst the chaos of this world."

Later, as expected, Dawei Jiali inherited one of the supreme Dharma forms—the Wings of Nirvana—deep within the Temple of Truth.

That is the manifestation of order and end. It represents the final form of all things returning to silence and the original truth. Those who possess this Dharma form are born as the most loyal and powerful executors of truth.

He was held in high esteem and revered as a "holy son" who appeared only once in a thousand years in the Temple of Truth.

Dawei Jiali's childhood was devoid of playmates and frolicking; instead, there were vast, ancient scrolls, complex and profound runes of law, and the teachings instilled by the clan elders both inside and outside the Temple of Truth.

Truth comes first.

Order must not be transgressed.

He wasn't learning about human relationships and social interactions, but rather the cycles of celestial movements, the tides of the earth's spiritual energy, and the precise scale of energy conversion during the birth and death of life.

He lived deep within the Temple of Truth, in a simple dwelling built of cold white stone. Outside the window were snow-capped peaks that never melted, reflecting the eternally cold moonlight.

Over time, Wei Li's personality, like the environment, became aloof, cold, and unapproachable.

His handsome face rarely showed any emotion; his naturally expressive peach blossom eyes were clear yet cold, unable to reflect any human feelings. He was accustomed to measuring everything by the standard of truth; in his eyes, all things existed according to specific laws, and birth, aging, sickness, and death, cause and effect, were all natural occurrences.

But deep within his mind, Dawei Jiali always remembered those smiling, almond-shaped eyes. The woman who wiped away his filth amidst mountains of corpses and seas of blood, provided him with warmth and sustenance, and guided him on his path, became the first and only warm light in his nascent memories.

Even the surname Dawei is, in a sense, an honor bestowed upon him by her.

Until one day, while observing the star orbits, he sensed that the destiny star representing the Xuanhu clan had completely dimmed; while sorting through the earth's veins, he found that the land belonging to the Xuanhu clan had lost all life, and its clan's fate had been completely extinguished, ultimately becoming a blank.

"Liar," Dawei Jiali thought silently. For a long time afterward, he almost forgot about his past.

Until Feng Zhi Zhaoyin appeared.

The first time I saw that girl was at the long-abandoned Huangxian Temple.

The Temple of Truth detected that the earthbound spirits here were unusually restless, which had seriously distorted the balance of local laws, so it sent him to purify the area.

Hidden beneath a wide black cloak, Dawei Jiali entered the dilapidated temple like a silent shadow, ignoring the distinct groups of people inside, and headed straight for the deepest corner.

However, the moment he stepped inside, his senses stirred. In the corner, the girl who seemed to be resting with her eyes closed exuded a faint yet inexplicably captivating aura.

He didn't even see her face clearly, but instinctively marked her as "abnormal".

He sat down in silence, shutting himself out of the outside world. Yet he could sense the gaze from the corner of his eye, which was turned away from him, constantly scrutinizing and warily falling upon his shadow.

As dawn broke, he got up and left, and only then did the person who had been looking at him seem to breathe a sigh of relief.

The second time was at the mass grave outside Xiaowangzhuang.

The unusual agitation of the earthbound spirits stemmed from the overwhelming bloodlust and wailing of vengeful ghosts in this place. The soldiers were offering sacrifices of innocent blood and fear. This was no longer a simple massacre, but a desecration of the very foundation of truth.

He ignored their questions and activated the Wings of Annihilation. Holy light swept down, turning all the soldiers who participated in the blood sacrifice into nothingness, returning them to the soil—this was the most direct correction to those who distorted the laws.

Just as his Dharma form faded and he was about to leave, that "abnormal" aura once again triggered his spiritual senses. He sensed two suppressed energies behind the rocks on the hillside.

And one of them... came from the wary girl in the dilapidated temple.

It's her again?

He tilted his hat brim almost imperceptibly, glancing in the direction where they were hiding. He could hear their sudden, held breaths and feel their almost frozen fear.

Oh well, they're just two insignificant mortals.

Dawei Jiali withdrew his gaze, paid no further attention, and his figure disappeared into the wind.

At that time, he did not know that these two seemingly accidental and brief encounters had quietly begun to unfold the patterns of destiny.

I never imagined that I would see her for the third time in that way.

Space is distorted, and the laws of nature mourn.

That tyrannical binding force forcefully pierced through the barrier between the Temple of Truth and the mortal world, forcibly pulling him out of the trajectory of the laws.

When he came to his senses, he was already standing in the center of the array covered with intricate blood-red runes. This sudden and completely illogical turn of events caused him to stagger half a step, and his brows under his cloak furrowed involuntarily, a hint of bewilderment and astonishment flashing across them.

How absurd! How could a mortal dare to attempt to imprison him with such a laughable formation?

A murderous intent surged within him. Any being that dared to so blaspheme the dignity of the Temple of Truth should be annihilated.

But then he sensed the presence of someone outside the formation—the girl he had met once before at Huangxian Temple and Xiaowangzhuang.

At this moment, her face was pale from blood loss, but her eyes were frighteningly bright, burning with a crazy determination, and she was staring at him without blinking.

It was her.

Before he could even process this absurd situation, she suddenly picked up a package of oil paper from the table and said, "The most famous amber pastry from Fengyue Tower, want to try some? I queued for almost two hours to get it." She untied the string, revealing the golden-yellow, crisp pastry inside.

He couldn't remember how many years had passed since someone had placed such ordinary, homely food in front of him.

Dawei Jiali subconsciously raised his hand, but a crude chain shadow flickered around his wrist, restricting his movements.

He inwardly scoffed at the simplicity and overestimation of the formation, weighing whether to break free immediately or wait and see. But she did something that surprised him once again.

She actually placed the bag of pastries on the ground right next to his feet.

Pick it up?

Absolutely impossible.

But then she turned around and brought out a porcelain bowl, saying in a dignified tone, "This is the 'Success Soup' personally cooked by Xi Shi, the Green Bean Soup Beauty of the East Market. If you want to... ascend to the ranks of immortals as soon as possible, you must drink it."

To be among the immortals?

What is she saying?

Dawei Jiali fell into a state of bewildered thought.

However, the sharp clang of a blade being drawn abruptly severed his thoughts.

He looked up and saw that her long sword was already drawn, its gleaming blade drawing a cold light in the dim room.

Her eyes changed; the feigned attentiveness and probing disappeared, replaced by a resolute determination that revealed her true intentions.

The gaze was fixed on him, carrying an obvious threat, as if if he dared to utter even half a word of refusal, the ordinary iron sword would fall down without hesitation.

"You all need a suitable tool to take lives, right? This one of mine..."

He saw through the bluff and interrupted her with a clear voice before she could continue her clumsy explanation, piercing the tense air.

“State your intentions directly.”

As expected. She did it for the sake of her loved ones.

“I’m only showing you some respect because I’m kind and hospitable. As the old saying goes, ‘courtesy before force.’ Since you don’t appreciate it, I’ll be direct. I’m not begging you, nor am I asking you to do anything; I’m ordering you.”

"I didn't bring you here to listen to your lectures."

For the first time, someone dared to speak to him like that.

Dawei Jiali stood still in the formation, his wide cloak motionless. He gazed silently at the audacious yet ruthless girl before him, whose heart was filled with a chill caused by the formation and his disrespect for his loved ones. Strangely, this chill was replaced by a more complex emotion.

It wasn't anger, but a sense of familiarity that had pierced through the long torrent of time.

Her eyes, in both form and spirit, were completely different from the gentle, smiling almond-shaped eyes I remembered.

But at the very moment she threatened to command him, attempting to coerce the gods with her mortal body, the unyielding stubbornness deep in her eyes, the resolute determination to never bend, subtly overlapped with the dusty mark deep within his soul.

Perhaps it was a fleeting moment of inspiration that caused Dawei Jiali's refusal, which should have been uncompromising, to turn into—

"Three days from now, I will summon 'Polar Night' to descend upon the area within ten miles of Feng Zhi's house, lasting for a full day and night. 'Twilight' will also appear to assist you and buy you an opportunity."

Dawei Jiali suddenly changed his mind, not wanting her to know that this crude death-controlling formation could not actually trap him at all.

However, when she did as she was told to remove the formation and return to the ancient and desolate abode of the Temple of Truth, the absolute silence around her made the momentary abnormality seem particularly strange.

A feeling of frustration lingered in Dawei Jiali's heart.

Mu was his attendant, almost his shadow.

His words went beyond simply providing convenience; they invoked the power of the Temple of Truth to intervene in worldly disputes. This contradicted the principles he had always upheld.

He so readily gave in to the coercion of a mortal, and even offered unexpected assistance, which was far beyond his usual behavior.

But this regret, three days later, through the shared vision of "Dusk," saw her boldly break into Feng Zhi's house, weaving through numerous obstacles. That solitary courage and determination, that slight wavering in her heart, was replaced by another thought—since the words have been spoken, they must be fulfilled. The Temple of Truth may not care about the lives and deaths of mortals, but it cannot break its promise.

The thought was so natural that when he watched her, despite her severe injuries and weakness, still manage to unleash the Death Strike Formation, he realized that this time, he was not angry about being imprisoned.

His gaze fell on the pale-faced girl curled up on the ground. Her brows were furrowed, and even in her unconscious state, her uninjured hand was unconsciously clenched, as if ready to struggle up and continue fighting at any moment. That burning, desperate life force contrasted sharply with her current fragile state.

Dawei Jiali suddenly felt a sense of novelty.

For some inexplicable reason, he didn't want her to know that the formation was useless to him.

He found a seemingly impeccable excuse for his illogical actions: it was about a transaction, about fulfilling the promises of the Temple of Truth.

However, Dawei Jiali did not expect that after he promised to stabilize the organs and restore the broken body to life, Feng Zhizhaoxue would stare at him with venomous eyes.

“Who asked you to interfere…” His gaze suddenly turned cold. “If your sister hadn’t risked her life, you would already be a corpse. Your life or death is meaningless to me. My actions were merely fulfilling a deal with her.”

He looked down at her, his peach blossom eyes devoid of emotion and desire, as if frozen with frost that had never melted for a thousand years.

Seeing her lips move slightly as if she wanted to argue, he refused to listen and casually flicked his wide sleeves. With a gentle burst of spiritual energy, Feng Zhizhaoxue slumped back onto the bed and fell into a deep sleep once more.

In the days and nights that followed, Dawei Jiali repeatedly regretted not killing the man outright, but only knocking him unconscious.

He had long suspected Feng Zhizhao's impure intentions, but remained indifferent due to his principle of "not interfering with fate." This indifference ultimately pushed him into the position of an accomplice—he was also an accomplice in the death of Ayin.

But at that time, when he saw her again at Xiangweng Mountain, Dawei Jiali had not yet foreseen such a profound cause and effect.

He never imagined that he would gradually develop feelings for the woman who repeatedly detained him using absurd methods.

That day, she laid a trap to kill him, but as soon as he appeared, she rushed to kneel down and, looking up, spouted an absurd excuse about "uncontrollable passion."

Those eyes, which always held stubbornness or calculation, were now filled with feigned sincerity, yet the corners of her mouth were pursed tightly, revealing a ridiculous air of bluff.

He listened quietly, his eyebrows twitching almost imperceptibly beneath the mask.

—Talking nonsense again.

Thinking this to myself, I didn't feel the same anger of being desecrated as I had the first time. Instead, a very faint sense of indulgence, which I didn't even notice myself, quietly spread.

He even went so far as to remove his hood, revealing his true face, and was able to see her momentarily lost in thought.

"Of all the things you've said, which one is true?" he asked, his voice still cold, but less distant than before.

Later, he followed her deep into the demon realm, and when he left, he accepted the package of dried yak meat she handed him.

—He who takes a bribe is beholden to it.

He offered the most lame excuse for his repeated transgressions.

It wasn't until he watched her risk her life time and time again for unrelated villagers, and heard her call him "Kui Li" with such confidence, that he suddenly realized that the once unbreakable wall of truth had already been cracked with fine lines under her relentless knocking.

For a long time afterward, the nine-tailed fox he had brought back to the Temple of Truth to practice strict discipline always tried to get close to him.

She restrained her violence, and after transforming into human form, her beauty was unparalleled, and her eyes exuded a natural charm. She often stood quietly at the distance of the snowy cliff where he cultivated, or she would encounter him by chance in the corridors he passed by, offering him a cup of clear dew, or a few petals of a rare flower that she had nurtured with her demonic power.

Dawei Jiali had always ignored it.

Until one day, a nine-tailed fox stood in front of him, her golden eyes clear and bright, reflecting undisguised joy and determination.

“Your Highness, I have cultivated for a thousand years, and I have seen the clouds roll and the flowers bloom and wither, until I met you. My feelings are very pure, like the moonlight reflected in a mountain spring, but... I fell in love with you at first sight.”

Her voice was gentle, she smiled slightly, and her posture was composed, as if she were stating a perfectly natural fact.

Dawei Jiali did not stop walking, and replied coldly as always, "The Temple of Truth is not a place for you to indulge in worldly desires. If you are distracted again during your cultivation, then leave."

During that time, Feng Zhizhaoyin always found various excuses to detain him.

For some reason, the nine-tailed fox's confession suddenly reminded him of that unpredictable figure. He had clearly seen her just yesterday, yet now she was vividly present in his mind—her bright eyes when she fed him, her confident demeanor with her hands on her hips, and the way she always barged into his life with such a whirlwind.

It was as if a flash of inspiration had struck my mind.

He suddenly realized that those repeated exceptions and stops were not due to promises or familiarity.

He learned to stay simply because she stood there, without needing to say a word or make a gesture.

So for the next eight years, when Feng Zhi Zhaoyin embarked on her path of revenge with hatred in her heart, Dawei Jiali always stayed by her side, like a shadow.

The death seal drawn in the corner of the courtyard, reinforced repeatedly with blood, and the faint light flowing through the array, were nothing more than a veil he tacitly allowed to exist, a barrier she thought was safe and used to maintain her pitiful sense of control.

He never considered leaving.

Because Ah Yin has nightmares, feels choked by nightmares, curls up unconsciously, and feels helpless.

And he will feel pain in his heart.

He witnessed every moment she was consumed by hatred, and he protected the last glimmer of light remaining in her eyes. He willingly became the most silent and solid foundation on her path of revenge.

However, at that time, Dawei Jiali had not yet conceived the idea of ​​possessing her. All he wished for was for her well-being.

Therefore, when the dust settled on the destruction of the Fengzhi clan, she deliberately found an excuse to send him away, and he thought that she was afraid of him.

She feared him, the one who had witnessed all her embarrassment and obsession. She feared he would settle old scores because of her eight years of imprisonment, and even more so, she feared he would hinder her pursuit of freedom. She probably wanted to escape the past silently in this way, seeking complete peace and quiet.

Everyone values ​​their life, and he never wanted her life anyway.

Therefore, Dawei Jiali chose to go with the flow.

If her fears are real, his departure will put her at ease.

If her future can be peaceful without his protection, then his departure is a way of fulfilling her wishes.

He turned around as instructed, and his figure disappeared into the horizon without looking back.

On the day I returned to the Temple of Truth, the temple remained unchanged, and the snow-capped peaks stood silent.

The spiritual light in the Mirror of Observation flowed as usual, and the trajectory on the Myriad Spirits Scroll was as vast as a sea of ​​stars. Dawei Jiali tried to return to his daily routine of observation and protection, but found that the surroundings were too quiet. The voices that once lingered in his ears, whether stubborn or cunning, and the vibrant presence that always intruded into his perception unintentionally, had disappeared.

An unprecedented emptiness made him feel lost.

In just a few days, that familiar binding force, imbued with blood oaths and obsessions, once again pierced through space and coiled around him.

Almost instantly upon sensing it, Dawei Jiali's tense back relaxed imperceptibly, and he even actively accelerated his descent in response to the pull.

But when he heard her hoarsely shout, "Kill them...take my life," a strange rage surged within him for a moment.

How could she treat her own life so lightly?!

However, when his gaze fell upon her bloodshot eyes and trembling lips, those emotions transformed into restraint.

Dawei Jiali knew all too well that any talk of fate at this moment would only push her into deeper despair. So he chose to take the knife from her hand, stopping her loss of control with his actions.

"This snake's life is worth saving; do you wish to finish it off yourself?"

This was the safest outlet for her emotions that he could find. It allowed her to maintain control over her life and death while avoiding the most dangerous karmic consequences.

When she finally closed her eyes and said "Never mind," the tension in his heart finally eased.

Watching her collapse to the ground, burying her face in her palms, that familiar dull pain returned to his heart. He stepped forward, his voice unconsciously tinged with a long-lost warmth, "All that has happened in the past has trapped you in the same place for too long."

That day, she sent him away, and he initially thought she wanted to break free from the past and start anew. But now it seems she was just torturing herself in a different way.

So when she spoke of the true form of the Yin spirit, and when he heard that phrase, tinged with a hint of cunning, "You come with me to find it"—

Without almost any hesitation, he replied, "Okay."

The moment that word was uttered, certain previously blurred boundaries seemed to become clear.

"I don't care about ordinary mortals."

"So I'm special?"

"I also want to understand."

Actually, there was no need to figure it out. Looking at her tired yet still stubborn eyes, Dawei Jiali already understood why he couldn't leave.

Because she is here.

He could no longer bear to see her wandering alone.