Chapter 102 The Soul Shaper knelt obediently in the snow for an entire night. ...

After listening to her fathers' account of Mingguang's current situation, Bitao couldn't help but feel sorry for them.

She didn't intend to turn Mingguang into this. She entrusted the matter of burning the awakening talisman to her second senior sister Zhang Yuluan because she wanted to tell Mingguang about her experiences in the underworld through Zhang Yuluan.

Mingguang was so clever that as long as he knew that she had not been completely destroyed but was in the underworld and still needed the awakening talisman, he could guess that she had sealed the Xuanmen patriarch with her own body.

Even... if given enough time, he would guess her entire plan and know that she had been after Merit De from the very beginning.

He might get angry, but he won't be too sad.

Who would have thought that Mingguang would never have returned to the Supreme Sword Sect even once in all these years?

He not only abandoned everything about his identity as "Wei Danxin," but also went around collecting merits to shape her soul, causing even the ancient immortals who had been protecting him to leave him one after another.

He even severed his own heart meridian, choosing the five signs of decay.

This extreme and urgent need to reunite her soul... is it because they fear someone will find her first and take the opportunity to harm her?

Bitao understands Mingguang's temperament best. The two of them grew up together, one just born and the other just beginning to form a spirit. During those years when their forms and natures were not yet determined, they relied on each other.

To put it bluntly, their personalities are extremely similar.

If she were in Mingguang's shoes, Bitao would definitely choose the same path, and perhaps even become more obsessed.

Like Bitao, Mingguang never puts down anything he takes on, whether it's responsibility or emotions.

Fortunately... fortunately, Father said that Zhang Yuluan would meet with Mingguang this time, and as long as the two of them talked about her, Mingguang would know that she was in the underworld.

Even if he couldn't fully guess her plans, he wouldn't waste his time trying to reshape her soul. Instead, he would return to heaven as quickly as possible and try to "rescue" her from the underworld.

However, this time, Bitao judged others by her own standards and ultimately misjudged the situation.

The two are indeed similar in temperament, both being tough and domineering, and both willing to do anything for their obsessions.

Compared to Bitao's flexibility and shrewdness, Mingguang, due to his background and being groomed as a "future Immortal Emperor," is far more stubborn than Bitao.

Stubborn people are more likely to go down a dead end.

Mingguang didn't even give Zhang Yuluan a chance to speak. He took advantage of Zhang Yuluan's proud personality and made her cry and run away.

That night, Mingguang prepared everything to sculpt a soul for Bitao.

He was the "Golden Wheel Living Buddha," a figure of extraordinary status in the temple, and had a secluded courtyard that belonged only to him.

The array wasn't set up with spirit stones. Although Mingguang had been moving between various identities in the Three Kingdoms of the Human Realm over the years, he had never lacked money, and money could buy a lot of spirit stones.

However, in order to achieve the effect of gathering souls and ensuring that his merits were not leaked, he used immortal bones to set up the Soul Gathering Array.

It was his pillar of support, which he never returned to after the great war.

Once the formation was set up, Mingguang did not rush to activate it.

He took a shower first.

After a cultivator experiences the Five Signs of Decay, all their pure energy dissipates, leaving them just like an ordinary person: their magnificent crown withers, their celestial robes become filthy, they sweat under their armpits, and their body glows dim…①

Mingguang had never experienced the many "troubles" of being a mortal. As a cultivator, even when he bled and sweated, there was no foul smell.

But now he not only has all the signs of the five signs of decay, but also a broken heart meridian, premature graying of hair, temples covered in frost, and varying degrees of decline in physical strength and energy.

Since the onset of the five signs of decay in the divine, he has been bathing two or three times a day, always feeling that his body is filthy and his bones and blood are filled with dirt.

After carefully washing up and changing into the robes he had made long ago in the mortal realm, he wrung out his wet hair until it was half dry and let it fall loose over his shoulders.

Then... he looked at his reflection in the mirror, and finally raised his hand to pick up the mask from the table.

Before going on a date, a woman in the mortal world would apply makeup in front of a mirror to make her face glow and attract the love and admiration of the man she loved.

But Mingguang put on the gold-embroidered mask that matched his robes—to cover up his ugliness.

Mingguang used a custom-made mask to cover his aging face, sideburns, and fine lines around his eyes.

All that remained were a pair of golden eyes, as bright and sparkling as ever.

Fortunately, although his face was old, his soul was still young, and his eyes were not tinged with the vicissitudes of life.

Once everything was ready, Mingguang sat down at the center of the formation.

Beside him was a bone and a bag of premium white spirit.

There was also a burning candle and a dagger.

In order to ensure the success of the soul tracing, or rather, to prevent the first soul tracing from failing, he has the ability to collect the soul again, and cannot simply rely on the soul gathering array.

He needs to reconnect his heart meridian first, then absorb the spiritual stones in the array, and become a cultivator again.

Ming Guang sat kneeling within the formation, holding a dagger, and turned the blade over the candlelight to heat it.

Tonight, the stars and moon are in full bloom. It is mid-August in the human world, which is the height of summer and an auspicious day for family reunions.

The full moon hangs in the sky, the night wind blows gently; the time is right, the auspicious hour has arrived.

Mingguang gripped the heated dagger, pulled open his shirt, put the collar in his mouth, and then—without hesitation, plunged it into his heart.

In order to enter the mortal world, he severed his heart meridian. Over the years, in order to prevent his heart meridian from shrinking and becoming difficult to repair, he would swallow spirit stones every now and then to forcibly temper his mortal body.

Although it was very painful, mortals could not digest spirit stones in a short time, and he would suffer from severe abdominal pain every time.

But he was already used to the pain.

Now, he lowered his head, personally cut open his chest again, looked at his heart meridian, then threw away the blood-stained dagger, raised his head, crushed Bai Ling with his bare hands, and used it as medicine powder, rubbing it onto the wound.

This pain is no less than having your heart and liver cut out.

But Mingguang just gritted his teeth and didn't roll around on the ground; he was even controlling his physiological reactions.

He didn't have time to take another shower. He could be vulnerable, he could have blood on his clothes, but he couldn't be truly disheveled.

Vulnerability is met with pity, while filth and mud are met with disgust.

He kept applying the white spirit to the wound until the heart meridian was nourished and stimulated by the spiritual energy, and began to grow again.

Until—continued!

The moment the meridians were reconnected, a long-lost breeze swept through the room.

Mingguang placed his hand on the bag of spirit stones, activating his long-sluggish meridians to painstakingly absorb spiritual energy.

Once activated, the spirit stone can only absorb a small portion of its light, with most of it being lost.

For cultivators, the scars on their meridians are fatal, especially since Mingguang's heart meridian had been severed twice. Even if it was barely reconnected, the meridians, which had not been infused with spiritual energy for a long time, were mostly stuck and blocked.

He will never be able to return to his former state.

He couldn't even change his appearance, much less reverse the signs of decay.

He could only sustain his meridians for a short time. His only purpose was to use spiritual energy to create a barrier if the soul tracing failed, so that he could retain the remnant soul of Xiao Taozhi and reshape it later.

Once his heart meridian was reconnected, he endured the pain and cleared most of the sluggish meridians. No matter how much he tried to endure it, he didn't utter a sound, but he was already drenched in sweat.

But he couldn't care less.

He formed a mudra with his hands, holding his own heart-protecting bone, and chanted incantations.

"The Heavenly Gang leads the way, the Perilous One is our boat, the Supreme Limitless One, the Nine Netherworlds heed our report!"

"With my immortal bones as the catalyst, and with my merits as the reward—"

With one hand pointing his sword, Mingguang drew a soul-guiding talisman in the air, causing the barrier he always wore around his neck, used to imprison Bitao's remnant soul, to suspend in mid-air.

He untied the storage bag at his waist with one hand.

The merit fireflies, like lava flowing against the current and a raging fire, were drawn out of the merit storage bag and enveloped Bitao's remnant soul.

Mingguang continued reciting the incantation: "The Three Pure Ones aid the Wood Soul, illuminating the Niwan Palace!"

"Tracing back memories from the underworld, reshaping the entire body!"

Golden light blazed brightly within the incantation, enveloping everything in the entire room.

It was as if a golden crow was imprisoned in this mortal house, rampaging and crashing, wanting to spread its wings and fly into the sky again.

Many things in the room began to dissipate due to the burning flames of merit, and the barrier containing the remnant soul of Bitao was burned away.

Her soul was freed from its confinement and flew in all directions, but was quickly caught by a large hand that emerged from the flames and pulled back into the flames of merit.

"One Soul Corpse Dog—Ear—Listen to the Heavenly Voice, Dispel Illusion!"

"Two souls concealed in the arrow—eyes—observing the world clearly!"

...

With each incantation Mingguang uttered, countless hands emerged from the flames, covering Bitao's remnant soul with the flowing, lava-like merit.

Amidst a blinding golden light, her first form materialized as a blurry silhouette.

"The six souls are cleansed of impurities—blood—all rivers flow back to the sea, and the flow resumes!"

Within the flames of merit, Bitao's form had been completely sculpted, her long hair trailing down to the feet of Mingguang, who sat with his knees bent.

He looked up at her, his golden eyes reflecting her incomparably beautiful face, which was bloodshot and misty with tears.

She gathered the golden light into her body, and then Mingguang changed her hand seals one last time.

The final incantation is uttered: "Seven Souls, Foul Lungs—Breath—Inhale and exhale the stars, revive!"

"The three souls govern the spirit, the seven spirits govern the form, so be it!"

"The soul returns!"

The moment Mingguang finished speaking, the immortal bone within the formation, serving as the array's core, unleashed its golden light of merit to its fullest extent.

Amidst the golden "flames," Bitao suddenly opened her eyes—blood surged through her brand-new body, and with a breath, she inhaled the fresh scent of mountain grass and trees seeping in through the cracks of the burned doors and windows.

Her consciousness was actually pulled here from under the Bridge of Reincarnation in the Underworld by Mingguang!

The moment she opened her eyes, she looked down and saw bright light and fresh blood on her clothes, with immortal bones as a guide, which shocked her and made her heart tremble.

Mingguang met her gaze, and he suddenly stood up from the ground, disregarding everything else, and opened his arms to hug her.

Bitao's innate wood spirit resides in this netherworld. Her soul and consciousness originally coexisted with the wood spirit. Mingguang forcibly shaped and summoned her using his remnant soul and merits, which was simply going against the heavens.

Even if her consciousness is briefly pulled back by the powerful force of the array and the immortal bone, it will quickly return to the reincarnation bridge where the Netherworld Wood Spirit resides.

Mingguang is doing a completely useless job!

Bitao spoke up, wanting to ask Mingguang why he still did this. Didn't Zhang Yuluan tell him that she was in the Netherworld?

But—it was too late!

The moment Mingguang lifted her up, Bitao's body began to disintegrate.

Bitao was speechless, her eyes revealing heartache and regret.

It takes millions of merits to reshape a remnant soul. The merit fireflies have already been burned into flames under the formation and cannot be transformed back into merit fireflies.

Mingguang felt the remnant soul of the person in his arms, which had been forcibly reassembled, cracking open, and his eyes widened in horror.

The mask that covered his face concealed his distorted expression, revealing only a pair of eyes filled with astonishment.

"Tao Tao..."

"Tao Tao!"

With a "boom," the soul formed by his merits disintegrated once again in his arms.

Bitao's consciousness was forcibly pulled back to the underworld's bridge of reincarnation.

Mingguang's arms were empty, and the flowing mist in his golden eyes resembled freshly soaked blood.

He remained there, embracing Bitao, until all the golden flames disappeared. Under the burning and binding of the golden light of merit, Bitao's remnant soul suddenly shrank by more than half, seemingly losing the strength to escape.

Like fallen leaves from a tree, they fluttered and drifted down in the air.

Mingguang could no longer support himself and knelt on the ground with a loud thud that sounded like his kneecaps would shatter.

He reached out to catch the remnants of souls, barely daring to breathe, as if afraid of shattering them, carefully gathering them in his palm.

He knelt in the now-useless formation—it was all for naught, a wasted effort.

As he bent down to pick up a fragment of a broken soul, large drops of tears, which had been accumulating in his eyes for a long time, fell from his eye sockets.

He bent down and touched the frail, soon-to-dissipate remnant soul with both hands.

He clasped his hands in his palms, but did not get up.

He pressed his forehead against his palm, the cold, gold-plated mask dutifully concealing his current broken and ferocious expression.

His shoulders trembled for a long time.

The grief seemed to spread through his silent crawling, permeating the surrounding dark jungle.

The owl's mournful and desperate cry seemed to be a lament for those who refused to weep or break down.

for a long time.

Mingguang rose from his devout bowing posture and straightened his back again.

His face was completely covered by the mask, only his eyes were bloodshot, like... the sunset reflected on the boundless sea of ​​Dushuo Mountain that he and Xiaotaozhi had once watched.

He gathered up all the remaining remnants of his soul.

They were re-imprisoned by a barrier and then nurtured with spiritual energy.

He erased the traces of the formation.

He was absolutely certain that the person he had just hugged was Xiao Taozhi.

Seeing his shocked expression, she realized that she was still conscious.

He had prepared enough merit, the magic artifacts for forming the array were unique, and all the steps were flawless... The soul shaping was clearly successful.

Why did it fail?

Unless... unless there is a more powerful force vying with him for the consciousness of Little Peach Branch.

Mingguang tried his best to recall that fleeting moment when the two of them met.

He sat cross-legged with his eyes closed amidst the ruins of the battle formation for half the night.

In the early morning, sunlight streamed through the broken windowpane, illuminating his face.

Mingguang suddenly opened his eyes, the darkness in them vanished, and the setting sun shone like molten gold.

He traced back everything from the previous night and finally remembered that when he eagerly embraced Xiao Taozhi, he smelled the scent of a ghostly spirit.

She's in the underworld!

As for why she was in the underworld, Mingguang immediately came up with dozens of guesses.

But regardless of the interpretation, it leans towards the idea that she sacrificed herself to seal the Xuanmen patriarch.

In order to save him, she was imprisoned in the underworld and could not leave.

All the pain and sorrow in Mingguang's heart gradually melted away with these speculations.

Regardless of which truth it is, she still exists.

It's great that it didn't fall into anyone's hands, but is in the underworld.

His frustration at failing to shape his soul was quickly overwhelmed by this surprising truth.

If Bitao's soul is truly scattered in the mortal realm, the fastest way to save her is for her to achieve perfect merit and return to heaven to attain her rightful position.

This wasn't too difficult for Mingguang, who was recovering his memories.

All the official positions in the Nine Heavens are in his hands. As long as he returns to heaven, he can freely enter and leave this realm without any reason.

But he didn't dare.

He never forgot that during this competition, Bitao was repeatedly persecuted by the ancient immortals.

He had never forgotten what Bitao had told him: the ancient immortals had placed invisible chains on his limbs, attempting to control him.

If he disregards everything and only seeks to return to heaven, Mingguang fears that if he waits until he descends to the mortal realm again, everything about Xiaotaozhi will be completely destroyed and can never be recovered.

Therefore, when Bitao's soul was shattered by the five thunderbolts, Mingguang, though heartbroken and devastated, did not completely lose his reason.

He didn't trust the ancient immortals around him, he didn't trust the meritorious immortal positions in Youtian, he didn't trust any of the ghosts in this world, and he didn't trust anyone.

He dared not stop searching for Bitao, and dared not fail to appear as if he were driven mad by her.

He wanted everyone to know that Xiao Taozhi was not to be touched in the slightest.

For over twenty years, he wandered the world, exhausted not by a mere million merits.

He was searching for Bitao's remnant soul and id consciousness.

He was terrified that if he wasn't careful, Bitao's true self would fall into the hands of someone else and be harmed or shattered.

He traveled across the Three Kingdoms, constantly changing identities, monitoring and even manipulating all the competing immortal positions, including those who had not regained their competition memories at all.

If any of those immortals show any abnormality, Mingguang will be able to immediately notice and promptly save Xiaotaozhi's ego consciousness.

He does not accept any "accidents" happening.

He hadn't even fully grasped his own feelings; his heart was pounding like a landslide, irreversible. Even if they were still best friends, he absolutely couldn't lose Xiao Taozhi.

Although the soul-shaping attempt failed, at least he learned that Little Peach Blossom was in the Underworld.

As long as a celestial being is alive, they cannot descend to the Netherworld. If they are dead, they will be even less able to deal with Little Peach Branch.

Moreover, when Xiao Taozhi separated from him and insisted on staying in Wenxin Pavilion, Mingguang sent people to monitor her around Wenxin Pavilion and learned that she was familiar with the two immortal masters who accompanied the competition—the Earthly Fiend Ghost King.

With the Earthly Fiend King watching over her, no one dared to touch her.

Mingguang no longer needs to fear that someone will find and kill Xiaotaozhi first.

Mingguang slowly and deeply exhaled a breath of cold air mixed with the smell of blood.

He pushed open the door and stood in the doorway.

The morning sun shone in, instantly dispelling the gloom that had shrouded him for nearly twenty years.

A young novice monk would time it perfectly to bring him food.

Mingguang changed out of his blood-stained clothes, took a bath, and put on a set of ordinary clothes for walking among humans.

Looking in the mirror, I put on a "painted mask" and became a different person.

He then shook off the four "Buddhist disciples" who always followed him, put on a straw hat, and went down the mountain alone.

He never came back.

His sudden disappearance made the Golden Wheel Living Buddha even more famous.

There are rumors that he was "summoned" away by the heavens.

Mingguang returned to the world.

Because his heart meridian was reconnected, he regained some spiritual energy, but it was only slightly stronger than that of an ordinary person, so he wouldn't be easily harmed.

He needs to regain his merits as soon as possible and return to the heavenly realm.

Only by attaining immortality can Xiao Taozhi be helped to escape from the underworld.

She has already suffered divine punishment, her body and soul have perished once, thus absolving herself of the sin of manifesting her Dharma form. She has also rendered meritorious service in suppressing the ancestor of the Xuanmen sect in this world. Bringing her back would not be difficult.

Another five years passed.

On a snowy winter morning, Mingguang took a thorough shower and looked in the mirror at his temples, which were even whiter than the snow outside. He remained silent for a long time.

There's a saying in the world: "Beauty fades and love wanes."

Mingguang knew that everything would be restored after he passed away and attained his rightful place.

But he was already afraid.

Xiao Taozhi is lustful, and he is afraid that if Xiao Taozhi sees him now, she will lose her enthusiasm for him.

Love breeds sorrow, love breeds fear.

Mingguang still believes that Xiaotaozhi loves the gentle and devoted "Wei Danxin" who has his face.

The snow fell heavier and heavier, and soon the weight collapsed the branches of a peach tree in the yard.

In this kind of weather, there were voices talking at the front gate.

Mingguang slowly wrung out his long hair, letting it fall over his shoulders, and put on a mask.

Then he put on a bearskin cloak made from the black bear he had hunted himself the previous year.

They pushed open the wooden gate, which was weighed down by the wind and snow.

A crowd had gathered outside the gate, but no one dared to push it open and enter.

On the contrary, there was a person kneeling upright in the snow not far from his gate.

A sword lay beside him, and the heavy snow had covered his figure, making his young face appear extremely handsome, like a deity incarnate from a mountain of snow.

However, the deity bowed his head and sincerely apologized to a "mortal" who was cowering in a bearskin because he was afraid of the cold.

They've been kneeling all night.

It is Yun Chuan.

He was one of Mingguang's attendants who, in order to gain merit, made an excuse to leave Mingguang's side and went to collect merit on his own.

However, he is still short of 100,000 merits.

He simply couldn't gather the money.

It's not that he lacks ability, nor that he hasn't tried.

Instead... he faced numerous obstacles no matter what he did, as if he were being held in someone's palm.

He was a martial god, skilled in conquering battlefields. Cultivators were forbidden from entering the mortal world, so he sealed away all his spiritual energy and entered the world as a general.

However, he encountered Mingguang on the battlefield several times.

Over the course of twenty-five years, he was slain by Mingguang four times.

He was besieged by Mingguang sixteen times and became a prisoner of war several times.

Even when Mingguang switched countries to fight against him, he never won.

In terms of martial prowess, he was a god of war who could hold up the sky and the sea. However, after sealing his spiritual energy, he was no match for Mingguang in a one-on-one fight. His proud ability to command troops was completely crushed by Mingguang.

Yun Chuan wasn't stupid; he knew Ming Guang was angry from the first time he faced him on the battlefield.

However, neither he nor the other servants, nor even the ancient immortals, paid much attention to it.

Mingguang went to great lengths for Bitao this time, so can't they plan for their own sake?

However, for a full twenty-five years, while accumulating merits to change his identity, Mingguang did not forget to deal with these ancient immortal clans who "abandoned him".

A human emperor's wrath can cause the deaths of millions.

The Celestial Emperors, personally selected by the Celestial Realm, possess a coldness and ruthlessness befitting those in high positions, comparable to that of mortal emperors.

The subtle and cunning tactics employed, like a hidden snake lurking in the grass, are far superior to those of any human emperor.

Those ancient immortals who initially didn't care about Mingguang's anger, and even openly and secretly spoke rudely to him about his "out-of-mind" behavior for the sake of Bitao.

Some of the ancient immortals who held immortal positions have already perished due to various "coincidences".

Some have already accumulated a lot of karma and lack merit, so they probably have no hope of returning to heaven this time.

Of the remaining individuals, the only one Mingguang did not settle scores with was the Ice Mirror True Immortal, who had accumulated merits and passed away ten years ago.

Because Binglun left Mingguang the latest, and after leaving him, she found two remnants of the peach blossoms for Mingguang in other places before planning her own merits. Therefore, Binglun also passed away alone five years ago.

Apart from that, all those who returned to heaven to attain their positions were those of meritorious immortals; none of the ancient immortal clans were able to return to heaven to attain their positions.

Yun Chuan wanted to admit his mistake ten years ago, but he was a martial god after all, and he simply did not believe that he could not return to heaven on his own.

But over the years, he has always suffered inexplicably in the officialdom, on the battlefield, and even when interacting with ordinary people.

He suffered all kinds of exclusion, and everything could be traced back to Mingguang.

However, none of these actions were based on Mingguang's orders.

It was the common people, officials, and even the king who, because of Mingguang's actions and words, spontaneously made choices that made it difficult for him to rise to prominence.

Yun Chuan was completely convinced by Ming Guang.

He did more than just punish these ancient immortals; he manipulated the cause and effect of the human world while remaining completely untouched by it.

He silently led them, a group of ancient immortals, onto the chessboard he had laid out in the Three Kingdoms of the mortal realm, where they would live and die according to his will.

This future "Immortal Emperor" of the Heavenly Realm, upon first displaying his imperial methods, sent chills down the spines of all the immortals present, leaving them with no way to ascend to heaven or descend to the earth.

Yun Chuan finally understood why he seemed so nonchalant and indifferent to the actions of those immortals who abandoned him back then, seemingly because he was bewitched by Bi Tao and couldn't care less.

But he was, after all, a "ruler".

You can assess the situation and abandon those around you, but if those around you betray you, then no matter the reason, you must pay the price.

In the first competition, he spared no effort to acquire faith power for his thousands of followers, ensuring that not a single one was left behind before they passed away. He even went so far as to correct the lower realm's star chart in the first competition, selecting a wise and virtuous ruler for that mortal realm.

In this second competition, he could also turn his back on everyone because of his "betrayal" of the immortal position, showing no regard for the ancient immortals' years of protection. This would leave them, no matter how much they struggled in the mortal realm, helplessly watching themselves being roasted alive, like ants on a hot pan, with nowhere to escape.

There are still fifteen years left in the competition.

Yun Chuan dared not resist any longer. He obediently admitted his mistake and knelt in the snow for a whole night.