Chapter 53: The Price (Part 3) Good women become widows, bad women ascend to heaven...
(Fifty-three)
"I just want her to be safe."
He was originally created to protect Li Shanglu's soul, and his only duty was to keep her safe.
Qian Xu narrowed his eyes slightly and suddenly smiled. "How dare you say that? With your current strength, there's no way you can defeat Shen Changyi."
He approached Xiao Huang and whispered slowly, "You can only watch Shen Changyi and Li Shanglu together. Shen Changyi is a sword immortal, and there are countless demon cultivators in the world who hate him. Do you think he can protect Li Shanglu?"
"There will always be a time when he can't take care of her. When that happens, those demonic cultivators will take advantage of the situation and tear Li Shanglu and the two children to pieces. And all this is because of Shen Changyi. All the dangers Li Shanglu encountered were caused by him."
Listening to his words, a cold and dark look flashed across Xiao Huang's eyes.
Qianxu keenly sensed his anger and curled the corners of his lips slightly, "Xiao Huang, you must kill Shen Changyi. Without him, Li Shanglu will be safe."
No matter how strong Shen Changyi's soul is, in time, this puppet will completely become a demon under the influence of the spell, and then he can use it.
"Just wait another five years, and I'll let you get rid of Chen Changyi." He gathered his sleeves and turned around, saying calmly, "Let's go."
Five years is too long.
Xiao Huang raised his head and looked deeply at Mingzhou Mountain for a long time, then turned around and left with Qianxu.
*
When I woke up, it was already evening.
Li Shanglu slept for the entire day and had never felt so tired before. It was not physical fatigue, but mental exhaustion.
But when she woke up, the fatigue that almost overwhelmed her disappeared, and she felt lighter than ever before.
Sitting at the dinner table, Li Shanglu was still a little dazed.
"Half-step Jindan stage, what does that mean?"
She had only heard of the Qi Refining Stage until now.
Shen Changyi handed her the chopsticks and smiled, "Don't you feel that the spiritual energy in your body is about to condense into a golden elixir?"
Li Shanglu didn't feel anything.
"Golden Core Stage, is that very powerful?"
Hearing this, Shen Changyi explained to her seriously, "Above the Foundation Establishment Stage is the Golden Core Stage, which is rare among mortals."
Most of the people in the sect who are at the Jindan stage are elders. Occasionally, there are some talented disciples who can break through the Jindan stage and reach the Yuanying stage, but it is difficult to break through above the Yuanying stage.
Li Shanglu was silent for a moment, and then he understood a little bit. Last night, Shen Changyi only gave her a little bit of spiritual energy, but it almost allowed her to reach the rare Golden Core Stage.
So what kind of cultivation level is he at?
She thought so and asked so.
Shen Changyi put a piece of fish into her bowl and whispered, "I don't know either, maybe he's in the Tribulation Crossing Stage."
The tribulation period doesn't sound that serious, but a love tribulation is still a tribulation.
Another half month passed like this, and the spiritual energy that Chen Changyi gave her became more and more.
Li Shanglu can now achieve twice the result with half the effort when refining pills. In the past, it took him a whole day to refine a pill, but now it only takes half a minute. Elder Teng was stunned.
"What kind of secret manual did you pick up without my knowledge?"
Without even looking up, she said, "If you want to learn, then you have to call me Master."
"A traitor." Elder Teng was so angry that his beard was crooked. He only calmed down after snatching away all the pills that Li Shanglu had refined.
Half a month later, the two cubs had completely learned to crawl and crawled around on the ground all day long like two puppies.
Shen Changyi laid blankets everywhere in Shutong Pavilion and wrapped the sharp corners of the table with soft cloth.
When Li Shanglu was meditating, Xiao Shizi led Xiao Juzi to climb onto her lap and sleep between her legs. After Li Shanglu finished her practice, she found that her skirt was wet with urine from this little bastard.
"Chen Changyi, take care of your son!"
Shen Changyi hurriedly took Xiao Shizi away, carefully wiped his little bottom clean, put on new clothes, pointed at him and taught him a lesson, "You are already six months old, you can't wet the bed anymore."
How could Little Persimmon possibly understand? She hugged his fingers and started biting them, her eyes round and bright.
Little Orange also followed suit and started biting his fingers.
Shen Changyi immediately forgave them on behalf of Li Shanglu, and rubbed the boy's head helplessly.
"Never mind, pee on me next time."
Li Shanglu stared at him, his lips twitching slightly.
If this idiot were allowed to raise the children on his own, he would definitely raise two troublemakers - that's how she was raised.
"If I can pass through the spiritual energy one last time today, I will be able to enter the Nascent Soul stage."
During this period, Shang Lu worked very hard to maintain the balance between good and evil. He had to endure all that spiritual energy almost every day and was extremely exhausted.
Chen Changyi lowered his eyelashes to hide the loneliness in his eyes.
Today is the end, and I won’t need to transfer spiritual energy anymore.
They have tried their best. Shang Lu's physical aptitude can only reach the Nascent Soul stage at most, and there is no possibility of further improvement. Forcing the spiritual energy into her will hurt her.
Sure enough, it failed.
But since he has come this far, he should insist on finishing it. At least it can allow her to advance to the Nascent Soul stage. In the future, even if he is not around, Shang Lu will not be hurt.
Li Shanglu sat down opposite him and extended his hand.
Her eyelids suddenly twitched, and she frowned, having an inexplicable strange premonition.
The spiritual energy came through her palms as usual. Now that she had magical powers, her ears and eyes were sharper than before, and she could even hear the sound of the wind blowing through the window clearly.
Her breathing gradually slowed down, and just as she was immersed in absorbing spiritual energy, Shen Changyi suddenly stopped.
"Someone." His voice suddenly became low, and a hint of coldness flashed across his eyes.
Li Shanglu was startled by his words, "What?"
The spiritual energy stopped flowing in and her body began to feel tired again. She couldn't help but rub her forehead.
Shen Changyi picked up his long sword from the table and threw it to Li Shanglu for self-defense, saying concisely, "I'll go take a look."
The familiar smell of blood was the return of the soul controlled by the spell. The soul was so similar that even Shen Changyi himself couldn't tell it apart. It seemed that the sect's formation had also recognized him as Shen Changyi.
No matter what, he must not be allowed to set foot in Shutong Pavilion.
Li Shanglu caught the long sword accurately, drew it out of its sheath, and placed it beside him.
She felt that she was just a little bit away from the Nascent Soul stage. Once Shen Changyi came back, she should be able to break through tonight. It was heard that one could live for at least three hundred years after entering the Nascent Soul stage.
Three hundred years is enough to turn two kids into old men and women.
She found it funny when she thought of this. Shen Changyi might even send their family away. Then he would definitely lie on their grave and cry non-stop.
So stupid.
She silently lowered her eyes and pursed her lips.
Li Shanglu tentatively started to practice on her own. Perhaps now she could break through on her own without relying on Shen Changyi's spiritual energy?
She could concentrate calmly and didn't need to worry about anything outside. There was no doubt that Shen Changyi would not let anyone get close to her and hurt her.
Li Shanglu didn't know how long he had been meditating. A mist seemed to appear in front of his eyes, and there was a faint light at the end of the mist.
She opened her eyes in a daze, and somehow her body walked uncontrollably towards the faint light.
Fang took a step forward, his boots touched the ground, and the fog around him suddenly dissipated.
The sky and the earth were blank, and then rolling mountains and endless lakes and seas began to emerge. Beside her, a towering peach tree stood quietly, blocking out the sun.
Peach blossoms fall down in large numbers, like a spring flower rain.
Her breathing was slightly stagnant. She had never seen such a beautiful place in her life. Where was this?
"This is the heaven."
A voice suddenly sounded, and Li Shanglu looked around in surprise, but did not see any figure.
Is it the peach tree talking?
"I am not a peach tree, I am the way of heaven." The voice seemed to carry a hint of laughter, as if it came from somewhere not far away.
The way of heaven?
Is this heaven?
Li Shanglu looked at himself in disbelief, "I ascended?"
The voice was silent for a moment, then whispered,
"...I'm sorry to disappoint you, I just wanted to see you."
Hearing this, Li Shanglu was overjoyed. However, because the other party was the Heavenly Dao who controlled everything in the world, he had to suppress his disappointment and said politely, "It's okay. Why did the Heavenly Dao want to see me?"
Strangely, after arriving in heaven and looking at the scenery of the paradise in front of her, she felt that her mood became much more relaxed and at ease. No wonder the gods had no worries and lived such a good life.
Tiandao said gently, "I want Zhuxuan to come back."
Li Shanglu's mood suddenly turned bad.
She was already filled with anger when she thought of this. "May I ask why Heaven allowed Zhou Xuan to come back? He was just confined to his cave in Heaven to practice. In the mortal world, he could still fight demons, defend the Dao, and take care of children."
Tiandao waited patiently for her to finish, then slowly continued, "Since ancient times, the imbalance between good and evil has inevitably caused disasters in the world. Zhu Xuan descended to the mortal world to alleviate this catastrophe. He knew he would die, but he still chose to descend to suppress the demons. Because he was so powerful, only his death, or his ascension, would prevent the imbalance between good and evil."
The responsibility of the Heavenly Dao is to maintain the balance between good and evil and prevent catastrophes that would destroy the human world. Zhou Xuan's willingness to help is entirely out of compassion for the fate of the mortal world; life and death no longer matter to him.
Now that he has overcome his emotional tribulation and successfully suppressed the evil cultivator, he is still unwilling to ascend. Hasn't he lost his original intention of coming to the mortal world to save the world?
Li Shanglu was stunned.
"You are his love tribulation, and you were bound to kill him." Tiandao's voice was calm, without any intention of blaming her. "But something happened to you and Zhou Xuan that puzzled me, and as a result, you didn't kill Zhou Xuan as fate would have you do."
Both she and Shen Changyi were reborn.
Even the Heavenly Dao was unaware of this.
Tiandao suddenly became thoughtful, "So it's rebirth after death..."
Li Shanglu was silent for a moment, "Could you please stop reading my mind?"
"I'm sorry," Tiandao said calmly, "Let's get back to the point. Since your and Zhou Xuan's fates have changed, there's only one way left to restore the balance between good and evil, and that's Zhou Xuan's ascension."
"Why?" Li Shanglu was puzzled. "Chen Changyi has already shared his cultivation with me. Is there still a balance between good and evil?"
Hearing this, Tian Dao paused and said slowly, "What he gave you is just a drop in the ocean, a tiny fraction, and your body can no longer bear more."
Li Shanglu was stunned.
So their approach ultimately failed?
"For this purpose, I have thought of a foolproof method." Tiandao said softly, "I will rebuild your body for you. As long as you practice diligently, you will be able to ascend to heaven with Zhou Xuan one day."
Li Shanglu opened his eyes and asked, "Really? Why are you so nice to me?"
Tian Dao said honestly, "Because if I don't do this, you won't let Zhou Xuan come back."
Hearing this, Li Shanglu actually found it a little ridiculous. "It really is better to be a bad guy. Bad guys can ascend to heaven without any effort, while good guys can only be widowed in the mortal world."
Tian Dao just smiled faintly when he heard her twisted logic and said, "Everything you gain in this world has to be paid for, and hard work is just one of the costs."
Li Shanglu keenly sensed something was amiss, but then he heard Tiandao speak again, "The body has been reshaped, you can go back."
She stared at the big peach tree in front of her with half belief and half doubt - she still believed that it was the peach tree speaking.
"Then what did you mean by that? I have gained a body that can ascend to heaven. What price do I have to pay?"
Could it be that she had to exchange the lives of Shen Changyi or her two cubs?
"I'm not that cruel,"
Tiandao heard her inner voice and said softly,
"A day in heaven is equal to a hundred years on earth. In the time we were chatting just now, five years have probably passed on earth."
Li Shanglu was stunned.
It turns out that this is the price.
"Would you like to talk for another five years?"
She kicked the dead peach tree without hesitation, furious.
"Let me go now!"
If she doesn’t leave now, the two cubs will be bigger than her!
*
Shutong Pavilion.
Shen Changyi stood in the room, his face stained with blood and his snow-white clothes soaked red.
His expression was numb and blank, and he tightly clenched the sword that he had left for Li Shanglu to defend himself.
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