Everything Has an End, Everything Has a Beginning (XIV)...

The air fell silent for a moment.

Even though Aono was a bit slow on the uptake, he could clearly sense that something was off and looked up in confusion: "Master, what?"

"Oh."

Ye Xiqing's laughter sounded somewhat peculiar. She took a small step forward, turned around, and clearly separated herself from the others.

After a great battle, the Immortal Alliance had seen its forces fall and surrender, and peace had returned. However, in an instant, the killing intent reignited.

Ye Xiqing didn't say anything, but simply lifted her veil, revealing her full face for the first time.

"Perhaps we never truly knew each other."

To date, Aono truly does not know her master's real appearance or name, and has never taken such a thing seriously.

They've been together for so many years; what could be more important than genuine interaction every single moment? Names and appearances are nothing but illusions.

But she seems to have overlooked one issue: if it weren't important, Ye Xiqing wouldn't have shown herself with a fake face.

The moment Ye Xiqing removed her veil, even more surprised than the Qingmu Army was the survivor of the Yaoli Sect, Elder Taiheng, who was heavily injured. He exclaimed in shock, "Zhuanli!"

In an instant, everyone in the Aoki Army felt a chill run down their spines. Aono's pupils narrowed to a single point: "You are Elder Zhuanli?"

The remaining members of the Yaoli Sect cheered instantly! It was Elder Zhuanli! They were saved!

Halfway through the cheers, I suddenly realized something was wrong. Elder Zhuanli's new look was just too much...

Amidst the shocked and puzzled looks of the crowd, Ye Xiqing smiled and said, "Not entirely."

"Zhuanli is me, and I am only a part of her."

As soon as he finished speaking, the clouds in the sky inexplicably lowered.

A figure strolled in from behind the black-robed sage. She looked exactly like the sage, but perhaps because of her celestial makeup, even though she was smiling, she seemed more imposing than the mortal sage.

He placed his hand on the shoulder of the black-clad sage, and the arrogant mortal sage, as seen by others, transformed back into a wisp of his soul, merging into her brow.

The divided soul, carrying everything acquired by the replicating body, returned to its original form. Ye Xiqing closed her eyes and digested it for a moment.

When she opened her eyes again, she seemed more human, but the crowd did not feel redemption; instead, they felt a deeper fear.

Ye Xiqing, now fully recovered, smiled enigmatically at Qingye: "I cultivate the art of splitting my soul, creating countless avatars to travel the earth, some human, some demon, too numerous to count. I have countless avatars like these."

"But you are indeed a different person, the one who has captured my attention the most."

"And you did not disappoint, completing what I most wanted to do for me."

All was quiet.

If Ye Xiqing and the Great Sage of the Mortal Realm were just one person, would everyone still dare to question her reasons for doing this?

If the great sage of the mortal realm is merely a fragment of her soul, then everyone can only speculate whether she can still be considered human. As for non-humans, even if they do inhuman things, everyone will be very forgiving.

Everyone present held their breath, listening quietly to Ye Xiqing speak. Only Qingye raised his head and asked the question everyone wanted to ask: "Why?"

Ye Xiqing smiled and said, "I once told you that the path I cultivate, the way of Heaven, is to take from the excess and give to the deficiency."

Qingye understood Ye Xiqing's meaning in an instant, but she didn't understand what the difference was between the paths they believed in, even though they had been working hard for it!

"Heh." Ye Xiqing gently stepped back, her body feeling as if it were weightless, and was embraced by the sky.

She wasn't standing very high, but she was tall enough to look down on everyone. The background behind her changed, turning from daytime to night, with only stars shining in the entire night sky.

The sky was filled with countless stars, creating the most beautiful scene. But those were not real stars. The Earth is not a round world, so there are no real stars. They were the highlights of her soul sea.

Ye Xiqing had always been practicing C programming, but after passing the beginner's exam, she stopped practicing C and switched to a more serious cultivation path.

Every conscious being who accepts her "Tao" will have a lamp lit in her soul.

Her divided soul wanders the mortal realm, while her original body is constantly trying to leave her ancestral home. Whenever a new star appears, she will sink it into her soul sea to bury it.

Now, her soul sea was completely illuminated by stars as dense as sea sand. Ye Xiqing let everyone admire this indescribable magnificent sight, grinning with a smile devoid of any emotion—

"Good disciple, thank you for igniting such a bright star field for me. Next, I will tell you the true meaning of the Heavenly Dao."

"Heaven is high above, looking down upon us!"

In an instant, everyone felt a chill run down their spines. They tried to resist, but the myriad starlight passed right through their bodies, as if entering an empty place. Even immortals couldn't touch it.

The starlight entering the body did not cause pain, but no one felt indifferent. Those with high spiritual awareness could see an invisible "heavenly seal" condensing deep within their souls.

The soul of a cultivator is of utmost importance; no one would willingly allow such a terrifying thing to be generated within their most vulnerable and vital soul.

But the gifts of fate come with a price tag from the very beginning; once you accept her gift, you cannot escape her mark.

It was truly a thoroughly enjoyable forced sale. Ye Xiqing's eyes turned pure black, filled with starlight that then receded into focus.

When everything was finished, Ye Xiqing looked at everyone with those eyes that were clearly black and white, but no longer belonged to the human realm.

"Perhaps you need strict discipline!"

...

As the Aoki army withdrew from Yaolizong, the people of Aoki Kingdom lined the streets to welcome them, shouting, "Your Majesty, have you won?!"

Aono was followed by a dejected immortal. The returning army had suffered no losses and seemed to have won, but no one felt any joy of victory.

The onlookers were completely bewildered. Looking at the line behind her, trying to find something different, they suddenly noticed something: "Where's the sage?"

Upon hearing the name, everyone seemed to have switched on a switch, stopping in their tracks and looking at the person who asked the question, startling the questioner.

The person asking the question looked nervously at the king, who seemed completely out of sorts. After what seemed like an eternity, Aono slowly raised his head and said, "From now on, no one is allowed to mention this name in front of me!"

"Hahaha."

Contrary to what everyone imagined Ye Xiqing to be now in harmony with the Heavenly Dao and should be more cold and solemn, Ye Xiqing actually wanted to laugh.

Reaching out, he took out the newly formed "Heavenly Eye." The two pupils spun around, and upon landing, they instantly transformed into two "springs," one black and one white, intertwined endlessly.

Ye Xiqing's eye sockets immediately grew acquired divine eyes, allowing her to appreciate the newly created "reincarnation".

She doesn't dislike the concept of reincarnation, but she dislikes using the result to deduce the cause, especially the kind where the suffering in this life stems from sins in a previous life.

Before even eradicating the sins, she's already finding rationalizations for suffering. Even immortals are so cowardly and bullying of the weak; how could she possibly trust the power of immortals?

She never had the authority to oversee the so-called cycle of reincarnation, nor did she ever issue a fair report to the world. So why should she believe that the reincarnation structure is truly fair?

But if she made it herself, she would believe it.

Raising a hand to imprint the Heavenly Seal on everyone doesn't actually serve any extra purpose; it's just a monitoring program that truthfully records a person's life, which is the so-called "heaven is watching from above."

When a person dies, Tianyin will take his soul into the cycle of reincarnation and personally settle his own karma.

However, there is no eighteen levels of hell or a system of punishing evil and promoting good. Instead, the cycle of reincarnation is completely broken up, and the person is randomly reborn, never able to escape the cycle of reincarnation. This is probably the most severe punishment.

If a humane institution is designed to reward good and punish evil, it is easy to be influenced by personal biases. In ancient times, the King of Hell even designed punishments specifically for women who remarried. Once they revealed their shallow, mortal nature, how could they maintain their divine status?

But if the web of cause and effect woven by humankind itself punishes or redeems itself, it is perfectly fair. It doesn't matter what one does, since humans can never escape the cycle of reincarnation anyway.

After doing all this, Ye Xiqing can access everyone's information in the Reincarnation Well, and Qingye is no exception.

Seeing his good disciple's reaction, Ye Xiqing was happy for several days. Finally satisfied, he turned to the system and said, "Tell the world that my reincarnation model can be used. It can be used even after I'm gone. I'm giving it to it for free."

"Then let it schedule a new exam for me. I don't plan to take the physical exam next stage; I'll stick with information technology."

system:……

Previously, Ye Xiqing was cultivating immortality through C language. Even if the difficulty was increased and the questions were made more obscure, it still couldn't stop the fact that they were all based on written knowledge. Testing written knowledge was Ye Xiqing's domain.

After the undeniable failure of the first test, the system prepared with all its might for the next one. The next test was supposed to be an exam to advance to a higher level, and it had a legitimate reason to increase the difficulty of the exam. However, Ye Xiqing simply decided not to take the test and instead chose to pursue the true path of cultivation.

The difficulty of cultivating immortality within this world is definitely simpler than the test questions with direct system intervention; she's not stupid.

After passing the new stage and unlocking new powers, Ye Xiqing prepared to continue taking exams to level up.

Since her current power is already off the charts and she doesn't need to absorb new power, why wouldn't she take advantage of this opportunity to learn advanced techniques?

The knowledge she possesses is the undisputed foundation of her livelihood, and she certainly doesn't mind acquiring more knowledge.

The thought of returning to the real world with so many skills and becoming incredibly powerful made her want to laugh.

Ye Xiqing had been preparing for this cross-border project for over a hundred years. Originally, it was said that the Demon King would be born and the world would be destroyed three hundred years later, but now half of that time has passed.

But the world of cultivation is just that exaggerated; half of it has passed, and there are still 150 years left.

In the world of cultivation, 150 years is not enough for one seclusion; in the ordinary world, 150 years is considered a happy death.

With 150 years remaining, they have already become the number one in the world.

I have absolutely no idea how to enjoy these good days!

...

Ye Xiqing still splits her soul into several parts to help her learn. Now her soul splitting technique is becoming more and more powerful. Not only can she split more souls, but the strength of each split is also increasing.

This allowed her to study while traveling around the world. For example, when Aono unilaterally broke off relations with her, she didn't break off relations with her at all.

At some point, when Qingye looked up while practicing her sword, she saw someone sitting on a treetop with a smile, watching her calmly.

"Aren't you ever curious whether she has more of me or I have more of her?"

"Do you care about her part or mine?"

"Is it her or me standing in front of you now?"

"Do you feel fear? Are you afraid that I am not me, and she is not her, or are you afraid that you can't even tell who I am?"

"I can neither unite her with me nor separate her from me. Hey kid, do you understand?"

Aono:……

Ye Xiqing's words were so philosophical, but before Qingye could figure them out, he had already slashed at her with his sword.

Go to hell! I don't know what you're talking about, I didn't even know you were messing with me!

In extreme rage, the sword had already left afterimages as Ye Xiqing laughed and dispersed, leaving behind only a crystal-clear lotus flower.

"As a reward for you spreading my teachings throughout the world, perhaps something different can be grown."

Seeing the figures disperse, Qingye was so angry that she couldn't sleep for several days. Only her third junior sister, Qingxiong, remained calm. So what if she was branded with the Heavenly Mark? It wouldn't stop her from sunbathing.

Ye Xiqing was so touched by the bear's Zen-like attitude that she would pet it a few times when she had nothing else to do. She just liked such a Zen-like creature.

Unfortunately, not all creatures in this world are like her beloved panda baby; some things are just too prone to causing trouble.

From that first meeting on Mount Fuwei, the fate between her and the male protagonist was sealed; more specifically, it was the fate between the male protagonist and the "she" in the mirror.

Whenever Ye Xiqing gained power, she never forgot to strengthen the power of the Inner Demon Mirror, giving the male protagonist a more realistic experience. In the small mirror, more than a hundred chapters of mutual torment between the male and female protagonists were performed.

The moment the "female lead" dies, the male lead finally gains the ability to love. He uses the cruelest means to kill the "vicious female supporting character" who sowed discord, but he cannot win back the person who is the best to him in the world.

He no longer doubted or asked for anything, but his senior sister no longer wanted to look at him.

The demonic energy within his body instantly spiraled out of control. He had no intention of killing anyone, but the power he possessed could bring annihilation to the earth in an instant should he fall into despair.

He didn't know how much time had passed, but the area around him had turned into scorched earth. Only the person in his arms remained unharmed, just as he had when he was alive.

The male protagonist's heart was completely barren. All he knew was to hold the corpse in his arms tightly and stare blankly at the sky. It seemed that there was nothing left in this world for him to cherish.

The male protagonist thought that after losing the person he loved most, nothing in this world could move him anymore, but he seemed unaware of the meaning of not making absolute statements.

Just as he was feeling utterly hopeless and gazing up at the sky, he suddenly heard a very clear "crack" sound.

The male protagonist was startled and suddenly looked up—

The once pristine sky is now like a squeezed mirror. At first, it was just a shallow line, but soon countless spiderweb-like fragments appeared along the crack.

Looking at the shattered sky, the protagonist's eyes gradually welled up with tears.

-----------------------

Author's note: Qingqing: 666, not only am I good at acting out my own story, but you are too.

Aono: Was I set up?

Male lead: ...

ah--

Alright, alright, we're finally entering the final stages of this world, why are you getting excited so early?

I'm giving out red envelopes to everyone in this chapter, but I'll be doing it at 9 AM the next day. There's a real power outage, and I don't want to type on my phone [facepalm and crying emoji].