Chapter 47, End of the Heart Refining Tower

Gu Yunqing's consciousness floated in the pure white space outside the Refining Heart Tower. Originally, she was filled with the pride of winning the bet, but now she was entangled by an indescribable sense of stagnation.

He "looked" at the still-operating illusionary light screen.

At the center of the light screen was the core of the killing array shrouded in crimson.

The moment the scene came into his "eyes," Gu Yunqing's remaining smugness froze and vanished without a trace.

The area within the formation has been completely transformed into a hellish abyss.

Limbs and severed arms were scattered everywhere. The cultivators who had been attacking frantically were lying on the ground, their blood almost soaking the ground. The thick stench of blood seemed to penetrate the light barrier and permeate the air.

And what caused all of this...

It was that figure standing in the middle of the mountain of corpses and sea of ​​blood, covered in blood, like a demon crawling out of the deepest hell.

You are heading north.

He still held the cold, stiff "corpse" tightly in his arms, as if it were his only connection to this crazy world.

But what emanated from him was no longer the cold sword intent, but a tangible, overwhelming killing intent.

The killing intent was cold, pure, and filled with a despair that could destroy the world, like an invisible storm raging around him.

His originally moon-white Taoist robe was now stained dark red with blood, clinging tightly to his muscular body.

His dark hair was disheveled, with a few strands stained with blood sticking to his forehead and cheeks.

His face, which was always as cold and handsome as ice, was expressionless at this moment, only a deathly emptiness.

But those eyes...

Gu Yunqing's heart clenched.

Those eyes, which were always as clear and cold as stars, occasionally rippled slightly because of him, were still bloodshot at this moment, but no longer filled with the panic and anger of before. Instead, they were filled with a deathly stillness and madness as if even the soul had been burned away.

He seemed to have lost all senses, leaving only the most primal instincts—to kill, and… to protect the lifeless body in his arms.

"Buzz—!"

A sharp blade of energy attacked from the side; it was a dying demonic cultivator who had not yet completely lost the ability to move, launching a last-ditch counterattack.

Jun Xiangbei didn't even turn his head.

The hand holding Gu Yunqing remained motionless, while the other hand, gripping the sword, casually swung it.

There were no flashy sword moves, no exquisite techniques.

Only a single, exquisitely refined, and incredibly fast crimson sword light flashed by.

"puff--"

The demonic cultivator was cut in half at the waist, along with his sword, his blood and internal organs splattered all over the ground.

Jun Xiangbei's gaze remained unchanged from beginning to end, as if he had merely brushed away a speck of dust.

He looked down at Gu Yunqing's pale and quiet face in his arms, and only briefly did a trace of almost twisted pain flash across her empty and lifeless scarlet eyes.

In vain, he repeatedly and forcefully extracted the nearly depleted spiritual energy from his body and channeled it into Gu Yunqing's cold body.

Knowing it was all useless, knowing that all hope had already been extinguished.

But that faint spiritual light stubbornly shone on, like a candle flickering in the wind, trying to warm a long-cold corpse and try to hold onto a soul that had long since vanished.

"No...as a disciple..."

Gu Yunqing's last words, like the most vicious curse, echoed and tore through his lifeless mind.

Every word was like a sharp barb, tearing his once frozen heart to shreds, leaving it bleeding and broken.

If he's not an apprentice... then what is he?

What is it?!

He couldn't find the answer.

All I know is that the "troublemaker" who would smile slyly, practice clumsily, cling to his sleeve dependently, be afraid of the dark, and whose eyes would light up at the slightest thing... is gone.

She died protecting him.

In his arms, she became cold and stiff.

This realization, like the heaviest shackles, nailed him firmly to this bloody inferno, condemning him to eternal damnation.

Gu Yunqing floated in the pure white space, quietly watching the desperate and frantic figure in the light screen, like a trapped beast.

He won the bet.

Even now, Jun Xiangbei still doesn't realize that this is an illusion. All his pain, all his madness, all his despair are so real... it's heart-stopping.

The emptiness that had been lingering in Gu Yunqing's heart now grew wildly like vines, tightly binding his heart and bringing a strange, dull pain.

He thought he was just playing a fun game and watching a great play.

He calculated Jun Xiangbei's reaction, enjoying the emotional fluctuations he caused the other party, and even designed this final "death" and kiss as a carefully planned "farewell," aiming to leave Jun Xiangbei with the most indelible "mark."

He succeeded. The mark was deeper than he had imagined, but also so heavy that it made him feel breathless.

He looked into Jun Xiangbei's lifeless, bloodshot eyes, into the way he clung to the "corpse" as if protecting the whole world, into his fingers as he futilely channeled spiritual energy into it again and again...

This was no longer the "interesting" reaction he had anticipated.

This is a kind of...destruction, destruction of Jun Xiangbei himself.

Qiu Zangxue remained faithful to Gu Yunqing's previous order to "protect Jun Xiangbei," standing silently on the outer edge of the battle circle.

His crimson eyes scanned the surroundings, his twin swords lowered, his murderous aura contained, silently forcing back or killing any remaining crazed cultivators who tried to approach, maintaining an eerie "calm" for the despairing area in the center.

But this "calmness" only serves to highlight the abnormality of Jun Xiangbei's state.

He stood there, embracing, channeling his spiritual energy, as if transformed into a blood-stained sculpture.

Time flowed by in the illusion, and no one knew how much time had passed—perhaps just a moment, or perhaps eternity.

Jun finally stopped channeling his spiritual energy into Bei.

It's not because he gave up.

It was because the spiritual energy within his body was truly... completely depleted.

That source that kept him standing, that sustained his killing, that fueled his last vestige of delusion, has dried up.

His body swayed almost imperceptibly, but his arms around Gu Yunqing remained tightly clasped, as if that was the only meaning of his existence.

He lowered his head and gently pressed his forehead against Gu Yunqing's cold, stiff forehead.

This action carried an extreme weariness and... an indescribable longing.

He closed his bloodshot, lifeless eyes.

A drop of liquid mixed with blood slid down from the corner of his eye, down the bridge of his high nose, and onto Gu Yunqing's pale, lifeless face, leaving a shocking wet stain.

A man doesn't easily shed tears, unless he's truly heartbroken.

For Jun Xiangbei, this might not be sadness anymore, but rather... a broken heart.

"ah……"

A low, hoarse sob, seemingly from the deepest part of his soul, finally escaped from his clenched teeth.

It was very soft, yet more suffocating than any hysterical roar.

Gu Yunqing floated in the pure white space, watching the drop of liquid mixed with blood and tears slide down, and seeing Jun Xiangbei's posture as if he had been abandoned by the whole world. Her heart felt as if it had been gripped tightly by an icy hand and suddenly stopped beating.

He won.

To win completely.

Jun Xiangbei never realized that this was an illusion until the very end.

He will be the last to leave, carrying the deepest pain and despair.

But……

Why did he feel no joy of victory at all?

Why does my chest feel tight and painful?

Why... did he feel an urge to rush back to that illusion and tell that idiot "none of this is real"?

This isn't right.

This is very wrong.

Just as that unfamiliar emotion in Gu Yunqing's heart was about to break through the dam of reason—

The operation of the Refining Heart Tower illusion seems to have finally reached a critical point.

This overly "tragic" drama should come to an end.

The crimson array light that covered the entire central area began to recede rapidly, like a tide.

The "corpses" lying on the ground, the surviving cultivators with murky and crazed eyes, including Jun Xiangbei tightly embracing Gu Yunqing's "corpse," and Qiu Zangxue standing on the periphery with a knife...

Their bodies began to blur and become transparent, shimmering like reflections in water.

The illusion is about to end.

Gu Yunqing stared intently at the figures in the light screen that were gradually becoming transparent, yet still maintaining their embracing posture.

He saw that, in the instant before his body completely dissipated, Jun Xiangbei seemed to sense something and suddenly raised his head!

Those scarlet, lifeless eyes pierced through the gradually illusory space, filled with endless bewilderment and lingering despair, gazing into the void... towards Gu Yunqing, who was watching all of this from within the pure white space.

Even though I know it's just a coincidence, a light and shadow illusion before the illusion dissipates.

But at that moment, Gu Yunqing still felt a tremor as if her heart had been pierced by a sharp arrow.

The next moment—

The scene in the light screen was like a shattered mirror, breaking into countless scattered points of light, and finally disappearing completely, returning to nothingness.

The illusionary trial in the Tower of Refining the Heart has come to an end.

Gu Yunqing's consciousness returned to his body. He remained in the same position, sitting cross-legged in the preparation area outside the entrance of the Refining Heart Tower, as if he had only closed his eyes to rest for a moment.

Around them, other players who had participated in the Heart Refining Tower also gradually "woke up," with varying expressions: some were suddenly enlightened, some were still afraid, and some seemed to have realized something.

Su Meichuan rubbed her temples, her eyes still somewhat unfocused.

Zhuge Jin stood quietly in the corner, his silver hair and white eyes exuding an otherworldly aura, as if he had never left.

Qiu Zangxue had disappeared into the shadows at some point, his murderous aura subsiding.

Everything returned to the state it was in before entering the illusion.

Apart from……

Gu Yunqing's gaze immediately and precisely locked onto the pale-faced figure not far away who had just opened his eyes—

You are heading north.

He remained aloof and detached, untouched by worldly concerns, as if the blood-soaked, crazed, and desperate Asura from the illusion was merely an absurd dream.

He slowly opened his eyes, his gaze filled with a familiar calm and detachment, as if covered by a thin layer of ice.

However, Gu Yunqing keenly sensed that something seemed different at the deepest part of that ice layer.

A faint trace of bewilderment and...pain, which even Jun Xiangbei himself hadn't noticed, flashed across his eyes so quickly that it seemed like an illusion.

He subconsciously raised his hand and lightly touched the corner of his lips with his fingertips.

There, in the illusion, was once stained with warm, rusty blood, and was also briefly branded by a cold and resolute kiss.

Jun Xiangbei paused slightly, seemingly puzzled by his unconscious action, before quickly lowering his hand and regaining his usual cold demeanor.

However, the aura emanating from him, which seemed to keep strangers at bay, appeared even more chilling than before he entered the illusion.

Looking at his seemingly unchanged appearance, Gu Yunqing felt an emptiness and stagnation in her heart that not only did not lessen, but became even heavier.

He won the bet.

He proved that Jun Xiangbei was the last person to discover the illusion.

He successfully left Jun Xiangbei with a "mark" that he will probably never forget for the rest of his life.

But why... can't he feel happy at all?

On the contrary, I feel like I've... messed up something very, very important.

Looking into Jun Xiangbei's eyes, which seemed calm and serene yet concealed an abyss, he felt a sense of dread for the first time.

Some ice, once cracked, can never be put back together.

Some dramas, once they become deeply ingrained, make it impossible to distinguish between reality and fiction.

How will the unspoken understanding between him and Jun Xiangbei, which he himself broke through, and the complex emotions that followed—including scheming, probing, and even his own unclear feelings—ending?