Chapter 47 Let the deceased wife, the white moonlight, go; what's the point of bringing back an empty shell...?
After the return passage opened, the long night was coming to an end and the sun was rising. In the dim sunlight, a light drizzle began to fall, like someone sobbing.
The moment his soul left his body, Fu Ming felt much lighter.
The rain pierced through the soul, and the living soul rose like air, drifting higher and higher, leaving behind all the entanglements of the mortal world.
He saw two figures, one black and one white, overlapping on the riverbank. Xiao Huaiyuan's usually upright and neat appearance was now filthy. Ignoring the large patches of blood on his body, he pressed his face almost against the chest of the other figure.
Was he listening to see if he still had a heartbeat? Fu Ming's feelings at this moment were complex and hard to describe.
If Fu Ming could still deceive himself before, believing that Xiao Huaiyuan was merely mistaking familial affection for romantic love in his youth, then after hearing Xiao Huaiyuan's numerous and enchanting fantasies, Fu Ming had to admit the cruel truth.
My junior brother actually, really wants to sleep with him; he's even thought of the positions and scenarios.
Along with it came excruciating pain.
When Fu Ming created this clone, he separated a part of his soul and flesh. Now that he no longer wants this shell, he has to pay the price of cutting off his flesh.
Pain is good; pain makes one sober.
To distract himself, he began to examine his connection with the Asgard.
On the long path of cultivation, there are always several hurdles that are extremely difficult to overcome, but once you break through them, a qualitative change will occur. Absorbing the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, from mortal to Qi Induction is one path; personally shaping an external avatar, from Golden Core to Nascent Soul is another; and transforming into a spirit to Mahayana is yet another.
Unfortunately, there are no Mahayana cultivators alive today, and his master has been in seclusion for many years without any news, so he has no way of asking how to advance to the Mahayana stage.
But as Fu Ming was figuring out the secrets to making the Immortal Palace function properly, he seemed to have realized something. Before reaching the Great Ascension stage, one absorbs the essence of the outside world to strengthen oneself, and the True Immortal stage is based on the inspiration gained when constructing a secret realm. So, to reach the Great Ascension stage, one probably needs to powerfully modify external objects.
After pondering and deducing for a while, he felt that this method was feasible, so he went to consult with the remnant soul of a true immortal.
Fu Ming wandered alone in the Immortal Palace, exploring every room, before discovering that a dignified True Immortal (remnant soul) was actually squatting on the stone steps of the Immortal Palace, craning his neck to look down at the commotion.
After listening to Fu Ming's report, the aloof True Immortal nodded reservedly, then continued to gaze down without looking up: "Your comprehension is not bad."
"What's so exciting?" Fu Ming also lifted his clothes, stretched out his legs, and sat down on the steps.
The immortal replied, "Your liveliness."
Fu Ming: "..."
Looking in the direction the True Immortal pointed, sure enough, it was a group of people from the Heavenly Evolution Sect surrounding him, trying to save him. Some were feeding him medicine, some were performing hand seals, and Jiang Jie, that kid, was quite talented, dancing around him with great enthusiasm.
Xiao Huaiyuan frowned, his face as gloomy as the thunderclouds on the day of his tribulation. If Fu Ming was not mistaken, he had already used five or six forbidden techniques related to soul summoning in this short time.
If you ask how Fu Ming knew this was a forbidden technique for summoning souls, it's because he and his junior brother had mostly studied it in their study when they were young and bored.
"Your alias is Ming Chen, but your real name should be Fu Ming, right? I have a deep impression of you. Are you still using the Hunyuan Devouring Heaven Record well?" The True Immortal turned his head to chat with him casually, as if he felt that watching the show wasn't immersive enough and wanted to get more gossip out of him.
Now that Fu Ming's soul has left his body, his soul is not affected by the disguise, so he is showing his original appearance.
Since he accidentally entered the Daoist path in his childhood, his appearance has gradually become no different from his previous life. He has a smiling face, upturned eyes, and a sharp and casual temperament, making him memorable at a glance, especially to his enemies.
Fu Ming crossed his arms and said casually, "It was me. It worked alright, but I was hunted down for a hundred years afterward."
"As expected, that person down there is your junior brother, Xiao Huaiyuan." The True Immortal seemed to have thought of something, and suddenly clasped his hands together and laughed, "I saw long ago that he was interested in you, and even pointed him in the right direction once."
"What nonsense about matchmaking!" Fu Ming was furious. He got up and was about to leave when the hermit sage spoke again.
"You really have absolutely no feelings for him?"
"Absolutely not."
As if to prove his straightness, Fu Ming's back became exceptionally upright; he was going back to continue his cultivation.
As a staunchly straight man, Xiao Huaiyuan's distorted love was still too heavy for him. Letting his junior brother stay alone for ten or eight years to calm down might help him come to his senses.
It's alright if you can't think straight; Xiao Huaiyuan can't beat his main body anyway. Ultimately, you still need to focus on cultivation.
But before that, there is one more thing to deal with.
The Grand Competition Secret Realm was previously on the verge of collapse, and Fu Ming took over the Secret Realm with the divine soul strength of the Nascent Soul stage. Under the influence of various factors, the spatial passage that was barely opened was narrow and unstable.
Not only can only one person pass at a time, but it also has a half-hour cooldown period before it can be used again. Therefore, there are still many cultivators lingering near the boundary markers of the five immortal islands.
The Golden Core stage disciples participating in this competition are arguably the most unfortunate group in a thousand years.
The grand competition can only be participated in once, and many people participate in the grand competition every fifty years and simulate it every thirty years, striving to compete for the top spot on the Heavenly Ranking.
Not long after, they inexplicably stumbled into the Celestial Palace, thinking they were about to find a great opportunity, only to be inexplicably evacuated. Not only did they fail to find many immortal herbs and spirit pets, but they were also ambushed by a group of well-trained masked rogue cultivators. Many unlucky enough to not receive reinforcements even had their few remaining immortal fruits and spirit cores stolen from their storage pouches—truly outrageous!
The rising stars on the Heavenly Ranking, once the pillars of prestigious sects, have fallen from grace, replaced by groups of unknown rogue cultivators at the top. Before anyone could explain what had happened, the current year's top-ranked cultivator was mysteriously removed from the list.
"How did Ming Chen from the Tianyan Sect suddenly die?" A few young disciples sat cross-legged by the boundary marker, unable to calm their minds and recover their spiritual energy, so they secretly talked about this with their companions.
"Is he the one who fought the phantom in the Immortal Palace? I heard Tianyan Sect disciples calling his name later, so he must have been killed inside."
"Tch, is that blindfolded man really that terrifying? If he weren't blocking my way, I would have already found the secret treasure in the True Immortal's Cave!"
"Look, what's that?"
Everyone looked up at the sound.
The half-body silhouette of a white-robed man with an ethereal and otherworldly air began to appear against the sky, as high as a mountain and as wide as a ravine.
This is precisely the projection of a remnant soul of a true immortal.
Many people trembled at the sight of him, and their bodies began to ache again, mainly because they had been beaten too badly in the Celestial Palace, leaving them with stubborn psychological trauma.
In this light, that Brother Mingchen is truly a righteous man.
The remnant soul of the True Immortal slowly explained the reason for the matter: "Fellow Daoists, I am a fragment of the soul left in this realm before the ascension of the Immortal Venerable Qian Yuan. For thousands of years, I have been guarding the five immortal islands, ensuring their stable existence."
"But in the last hundred years, my body has inadvertently escaped control, the foundation of the immortal island has been shaken, the circulation of spiritual energy has been blocked, and life has withered."
"The passage is now stable and open. The secret realm will close within one day. We urge you all to leave as soon as possible."
"By the way, I must especially thank a young friend named Ming Chen from the Tianyan Sect for preventing a major disaster this time."
As a transparent soul, Fu Mingben urged the True Immortal to recite the incantation. Since he was a dead man and could not come out of hiding, he had to let the True Immortal's remnant soul come out to explain and, incidentally, drive away all the cultivators, big and small, who were fighting each other.
The Grand Competition Secret Realm is only open to Golden Core stage cultivators. This is not only to give newcomers some opportunities to gain experience, but also because this man-made secret realm cannot bear the burden of high-level cultivators.
If he stayed any longer, he couldn't guarantee which way the passage would open, and it was entirely possible that he would fall straight into the demon realm.
But upon hearing the name Ming Chen, he felt a chill run down his spine. Why was he suddenly being dragged into this? This line wasn't in the script.
If Xiao Huaiyuan were to be provoked again after hearing his pseudonym, who knows what he might do? What if he were to announce his love to the world? That would be incredibly embarrassing.
"Senior, what exactly do you mean by saying this?" His tone carried a threatening undertone. Now that he controlled the Immortal Palace, even if he were to fight the remnant soul, his chances of winning were not small.
"If you have nothing to hide, why are you afraid of being mentioned?" The remnant soul chuckled.
People with different values cannot work together, and those with different sexual orientations can hardly communicate. Fu Ming really had nothing to say to this old homosexual man who loved to watch the drama unfold.
He ignored them and, relying on the fact that living people cannot see souls, flew to the side of the Tianyan Sect group.
Xiao Huaiyuan was still channeling spiritual energy into his "corpse," his eyelashes drooping, making him appear very lonely.
The disciples left one after another, leaving only the emaciated Xiao Huaiyuan and Xu Yan to hold the fort.
Xu Yan scratched his head, using the boundary marker as a starting point, and racked his brains to find a new topic: "Old Xiao, look at this year's Heavenly Ranking, it's quite interesting. Most of the top ten are occupied by rogue cultivators, and they even call it the Heavenly Restoration Society. What a funny name, haha."
"What 'Old Xiao'? Who's your peer?" Fu Ming thought to himself. Xu Yan was over a hundred years older than him, his age was equivalent to his and Xiao Huaiyuan's combined. How dare he shamelessly call someone old?
Xiao Huaiyuan remained silent. He used the handkerchief he used to wipe the blood off Fu Ming's face and stared blankly at the mole on the tip of his nose.
With no one responding and only the chirping of insects filling the air, Xu Yan's hearty laughter gradually subsided, perhaps sensing the awkwardness: "Wasn't it funny?"
Xiao Huaiyuan showed no mercy: "Hmm."
Xu Yan had no choice but to pat Xiao Huaiyuan's shoulder heavily: "Sigh, it might not be very funny, you... people can't come back to life, so don't be too sad. I'm leaving now."
The vast Yuanqiao Immortal Island was deserted. Fu Ming, in his soul form, plopped down next to Xiao Huaiyuan and began to argue with his misguided junior brother.
“Junior brother, a short pain is worse than a long one. In terms of human relations, we are not only fellow disciples but also master and disciple. In terms of morality, we belong to opposing camps. Even if I were truly willing to be with you forever, would you be willing to give up the position of sect leader that you have worked so hard to obtain?”
Xiao Huaiyuan naturally couldn't hear these words.
In that instant, Xiao Huaiyuan's gaze suddenly swept over him, as if he had seen through his disguise.
Actually, I'm not sad.
"I just want to spend more time with you, senior brother."
But that was just a coincidence. Fu Ming happened to be on the path that Xiao Huaiyuan was on on his way to the boundary marker. His soul briefly intersected with Xiao Huaiyuan's body, without even exchanging temperature.
Fu Ming watched his junior brother leave, the two figures distorted and blurred in the rainbow light.
Forget it, let him go. What use is it to bring back an empty shell?
At this moment, Fu Ming, who still felt somewhat soft-hearted towards Xiao Huaiyuan, was unaware that the world was full of wonders, and there were naturally many strange and unique gadgets.
It can only be said that Fu Ming still knows too little about human fetishes.
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Author's Note: The next chapter is about being in the "little black room" (a euphemism for being imprisoned). Yay! (Rubbing my hands together in anticipation)
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