Chapter 77 This time it's not a fake death. If I come back late, you can do whatever you want with me...
The main quest to save the world is stuck at 90%.
Within the pure white space, the black shadows gradually dissolved, and even the enormous statue crumbled and shattered like a clay doll. Only Fu Ming stood alone in the center of the demonic storm, his black robes fluttering in the wind.
He had almost emptied the Demon Realm, and most of the demonic energy surged into his dantian, propelling his cultivation to the Tribulation Transcending stage. His power steadily increased, progressing from the early stage of Tribulation Transcending to the middle stage, and then to the late stage. In the end, he was only one thin barrier away from breaking through to the highest realm.
Fu Ming knew in his heart that simply gathering the demonic energy was only a temporary solution. The Three Realms had already collapsed at their root, and only by breaking them down and rebuilding them could the root cause be cured.
The difficulty lies precisely in this.
Why not learn from his master, the Calabash Taoist, and use all his cultivation to replenish it?
If that's the case, his junior brother will develop eight hundred more inner demons.
Thinking of Xiao Huaiyuan's actions during his emotional breakdown, Fu Ming's already dwindling conscience ached along with that feeling.
Just then, the system's howl exploded like a thunderclap from a clear sky, giving Fu Ming the perfect opportunity to get some answers from the system.
"System." Fu Ming picked up the tattered book and laughed, "I've painstakingly accumulated enough merit points, so I should be rewarded. I want to exchange for Heavenly Dao permissions."
The system even forgot to address its host, stammering, "How...how did you know I am the Heavenly Dao..."
Fu Ming hadn't actually guessed that the system was the Heavenly Dao itself; he was just trying to trick it. But since it said that, he knew it was true.
After a moment's hesitation, the system skillfully compromised: "Alright, but you were chosen anyway, so telling you is fine too."
The pages of the Primordial Devouring Heaven Record fluttered, and the merit and conduct values recorded on it rapidly decreased. In the depths of his being, Fu Ming seemed to sense something; he was about to touch upon the truth of the world.
The past, present, and future—every corner of the world is opening up to him.
The world has evolved from a book.
To be precise, it's a male-oriented overpowered protagonist novel that was abandoned and left unfinished. The protagonist's name has been changed several times, and the latest version reads "Fu Ming".
If the indescribable details between him and his junior brother have been censored into gibberish, it's no wonder the system can't see them.
Therefore, the Three Realms are incomplete from the very foundation. They need a protagonist, a savior, and a true immortal to help the Heavenly Dao reclaim its energy and restore order. This is how they survived the previous great calamities without exception.
But everything that had been carefully laid out fell apart when Fu Ming was involved.
First, the weakened Heavenly Dao, after receiving Fu Ming's otherworldly soul, was unable to bind with him. Then, the seemingly out-of-touch Lord Yun prematurely detonated the great calamity. Finally, Xiao Huaiyuan, this "protagonist's underling," stepped forward, developing different feelings for Fu Ming, and even... well, you know... the protagonist!
It's a complete mess! And to make matters worse, it's in dire straits itself, barely able to save itself. With the collapse of the Three Realms, the Heavenly Dao will vanish. Thinking about this, the system shed another long, tearful stream.
...
Viewing permissions have been granted.
The cold, mechanical sound echoed in Fu Ming's mind.
Having finally gotten his hands on the legitimate protagonist script, Fu Ming wasn't as excited as he'd imagined; in fact, he was somewhat exhausted. He still had a lot to say to Xiao Huaiyuan.
Before that, he wanted to end it all himself.
In the void, the Three Realms resembled a dried fruit with a shattered shell and flesh gnawed by insects. From a holistic perspective, the ever-expanding Demon Realm was a dark tumor within the Three Realms, squeezing the Underworld almost to nothing and then rampaging into the Human Realm. Although Fu Ming had extracted the pus and blood transformed from resentment, he had not yet been able to mend the breach. The long night remained, and spiritual energy gushed out from the gap.
Fu Ming asked the churning system, "How do I fill the gap?"
System: "Well, firstly, you need editing permissions, and secondly, you need repair materials. To get these two things, you need..."
Xiao Huaiyuan gently placed his palm on his senior brother's forehead; it was warm.
Fu Ming slept peacefully in his arms, his breathing steady. Memories of his past life and the inner demon dream existed simultaneously in Xiao Huaiyuan's consciousness, and he didn't know what was real and what was fake.
Lord Yun was reduced to a pool of filthy black mud by his sword, his gray eyes rolling in the surging sea before finally tumbling into the abyss of Guixu.
Xiao Huaiyuan knew that Fu Ming was absorbing the demonic energy of the world. The ghostly figures who died with their eyes wide open and the demonic creatures residing in Yang Huan's body were all drawn away. Guixu returned to silence, with only the waves remaining.
“Junior brother, your cultivation has returned to the late stage of the Tribulation Transcending Realm, just like in your previous life.” Fu Ming’s soul had just returned to his body and was still not quite used to it. He slowly blinked his dry eyes. “Did you develop feelings for me because I shielded you from the Heavenly Tribulation?”
The long legs beneath him tensed and stiffened, and Xiao Huaiyuan hurriedly explained, "No, I only realized it then."
Never mind, I won't tease him anymore, even though it was quite funny.
Fu Ming laughed twice, but then his injuries aggravated his injuries, causing him to frown and gasp. His handsome face suddenly took on a sickly appearance: "In that case, I need to borrow two things from you."
Xiao Huaiyuan held his breath: "...Senior brother, please speak."
Fu Ming reached out and hooked his arm around Xiao Huaiyuan's neck, tilting his fair neck up to give him a deep kiss. He knew his junior brother was susceptible to this, so he kissed him until he was dizzy before getting down to business.
"I need to borrow your merits and the Xuanyuan Mirror. Will you agree or not?"
Xiao Huaiyuan still felt it wasn't enough, so he gently nibbled on Fu Ming's fingertip with his teeth: "The merit is fine, but the Xuanyuan Mirror is too harmful to the soul. What use does Senior Brother want to borrow it for?"
Fu Ming said, "Creating the world."
"No way." Xiao Huaiyuan's unusually agitated tone startled Fu Ming.
"The Xuanyuan Mirror alone reverses ten years of time, and it has to endure the pain of its soul being torn apart every day. If it were to create something from nothing, the price would be more than a hundred times higher."
"Don't worry, your senior brother has plenty of backup plans." Fu Ming stroked his hair gently.
He knew, of course, that creating this world would come at a heavy price, but the cheap system gave him a chance to be reborn as a bonus when he redeemed merit points.
Fu Ming, who was well-versed in human weaknesses, seized on Xiao Huaiyuan's sore spot and said, "Moreover, the spiritual energy in the Three Realms is not enough for the two of us to ascend together. This time, do you want to sacrifice yourself, or do you want me to die again?"
Xiao Huaiyuan remained silent as expected.
“I made a promise to the world, and I can’t go back on it. Aren’t you the most principled person? If I come back late, you can do whatever you want with me. It’s a deal.”
This person smiled with crescent-shaped eyes, like a cunning fox wagging its tail.
Two fingers moved forward like tiny figures, until they reached Xiao Huaiyuan's palm, and then grasped his hand.
"Junior brother, see you in three years."
With a little trickery, the Xuanyuan Mirror was obtained.
Looking at the Xuanyuan Mirror again, Fu Ming recalled the scene in the mirror when he saw his own ending last time, and suddenly it dawned on him that it was the image of his death in his previous life.
He complained that it wasn't allowed at all, and that Xiao Huaiyuan had caught him and brought him back. It seemed like it was the ending of his past life.
The bronze mirror, which had been nurtured within the soul for a long time, shone brightly and instantly absorbed Fu Ming's soul.
Xiao Huaiyuan was so focused on catching his senior brother who had collapsed backward that he didn't notice a wisp of black mist taking the opportunity to sneak into the mirror.
The mirror reflects the ever-changing world, and by enduring the pain that is no different from being torn to pieces every moment, one can directly influence reality.
Fu Ming embarked on his grand construction project, using mirrors as a medium to project his will into various places. Reshaping the Three Realms from the perspective of the Heavenly Dao was like setting up a super-large ecosphere—quite interesting.
In the early years after his fall into demonic possession, Fu Ming discovered that both demonic energy and spiritual energy were essentially energy, and their cultivation principles were similar. However, extracting spiritual energy from spirit stones was quite different from restoring spiritual energy to matter. As for demonic energy, it was even more complicated. He needed to first separate the absorbed demonic energy from his body, remove the resentment within it, and then shape it into a physical form.
It took a lot of effort just to build a small hill and dredge a small river.
He first repaired the underworld's cycle of reincarnation. After the calamity of the demon realm, the ghosts with nowhere to be reborn crowded around the Bridge of Helplessness, the River of Oblivion changed its course and connected with the River Styx in the human world, and large patches of spider lilies withered and died on the banks of the Yellow Springs.
But with Fu Ming's skillful touch, the path to reincarnation was reopened, the underworld and the human world were separated, and the vengeful ghosts that had been wandering for so long had a new place to go.
Then came the Demon Realm, or rather, the Western Continent that the Demon Realm had invaded after overflowing. The spiritual energy here had been tainted by resentment for a long time, but fortunately the spiritual energy circulation was still relatively complete. He was also familiar with the terrain here. When passing through Changliu Mountain, Fu Ming specially transferred more spiritual energy over to create an artificial feng shui treasure land.
It's worth mentioning that he dug out a faded plaque deep in the Demon Abyss, inscribed with the three characters "Nanzhao Prefecture".
Nanzhao, isn't this the hometown of the Calabash Taoist? Next time, we should build a cenotaph for his master here.
Slightly sentimental, Fu Ming made a gourd-shaped rock for the Gourd Taoist, leaving it for future generations to admire.
Once the situation in the Underworld and the Demon Realm stabilized somewhat, the sun and moon, which had long been obscured, finally returned to the sky. This was Fu Ming's greatest achievement in initially filling the gap.
If Xiao Huaiyuan were here, how wonderful it would be! Then Fu Ming could point to the sun and say to him, "Look, this is the empire I conquered for you."
Next are the territories of the Qingyue Palace of the Tianyan Sect and the Wanfa Sect, as well as other remote and secluded places inhabited by mortals.
Fu Ming traveled alone for thousands of miles.
As he made numerous repairs, his Dharma form would occasionally project into the mortal world, causing a chorus of exclamations from mortal cultivators who considered it a miracle.
The world was not in great chaos. It is said that after Xiao Huaiyuan returned to the human world from Guixu, he specially designated a large area of immortal territory for displaced mortals to live in. He also obtained rare plant cultivation techniques from Changliu Mountain as the Demon Lord's Daoist partner. Fu Ming had seen it from afar a few times and was able to make the raw materials for Bigu Pills survive and grow in places with depleted spiritual energy.
The Tianfu Society was banned by Xiao Huaiyuan for its lewd ritual of calling on mortals to self-immolate, but another outrageous belief flourished. Because of his projection in the sky, some people said that he had gone to become an immortal.
Xiao Huaiyuan didn't stop him, and even when he did those things to his body, he affectionately called him Little Immortal.
His body still retained many basic physiological responses. Sometimes Fu Ming even wondered if those tactile sensations were also transmitted to his soul, otherwise why would he suddenly feel aches and pains in his lower abdomen when he was doing something serious...
If there's any difference between this and when he hid his clone, it's that everyone in the Tianyan Sect, and even the entire Immortal and Demon Realms, knows about his relationship with Xiao Huaiyuan, and that they parted ways every night, never to be separated until death.
The Longyang folk tales featuring the two of them have been serialized to the tenth edition!
Fu Ming dared not look any longer and hurriedly fled from the Tianyan Sect.
In the end, he returned to the source of everything, the Primordial Demon Realm, which was now deserted.
Fu Ming stopped and suddenly said to those behind him, "You've followed me all this way, it's time to come out."
A wisp of smoke curled around the back of his neck, then suddenly transformed into a hand gripping Fu Ming's neck.
Just like every ultimate villain with survival skills comparable to a cockroach, Lord Yun is still alive, his ghost lingering.
Fu Ming drew his sword with a resounding clang, but only cut off his own long hair.
The black smoke transformed into a refined old man with graying temples, his fake smile unchanged: "It's useless. I have merged with the laws of heaven, you can't do anything to me."
Fu Ming glanced at him: "Lying. If you had truly become the Heavenly Dao, why would you bother to attack me?"
The surging spiritual energy rebounded towards Lord Yun, but the moment it struck, Fu Ming himself suffered a sharp, needle-like pain, which was quite strange.
Lord Yun gave a sarcastic "Oh," and said, "Why rush to deny me? I was involved from the moment you were chosen from among the souls of the other world. I personally witnessed your birth, eliminated your useless relatives, helped you meet the leader of the Tianyan Sect, and then personally sent you to become a demon. Also, wasn't it satisfying to kill in the Rihua Palace? Yang Huan never believed until her death that you were the one who harmed her entire family."
"...You're the one controlling me."
With each additional word he heard, Fu Ming's hatred grew stronger. His teeth chattered, his tense body trembled uncontrollably, and a burning fire blazed in his eyes.
He moved like lightning, piercing through Lord Yun's heart with a single palm strike, and activated the Primordial Devouring Heaven Record.
They came up empty-handed.
Fu Ming's black hair was loose over his shoulders, and his chest heaved as if a thousand daggers were drilling out from the depths of his soul and stirring his consciousness. He endured the pain and roared, "Who are you? What is your purpose in trying to ruin my life?!"
"Who am I? I am the inner demon of the Yun family, one of the eight ancient clans, a lowly demon, an incarnation of the Heavenly Dao. Who do you think I am?"
Lord Yun grabbed Fu Ming by the throat and lifted him up, staring at him with the same arrogant and sinister gaze one would give an experimental subject in the Ghost Market dungeon.
"As the vessel I chose, you have done well. From this day forward, I will be the new god of this world."
The soul cannot suffocate, but after staring at Lord Yun for a long time, Fu Ming felt his consciousness gradually fading away.
In the cultivation world, possession has always referred to the replacement of a body's soul with another's, thus usurping the body. However, Lord Yun's actions were likely aimed at directly assimilating his divine soul, since he was merely an infinitely expanding demonic thought, and had no divine soul or physical body to speak of.
Think...think of another way. Xiao Huaiyuan is still waiting for him to come home.
Fu Ming was like a drowning man desperately struggling, countless lifelines flashing through his mind. He shouted to the system, "System! Can I withdraw that rebirth opportunity directly? Help me kill the virus."
However, even the system became more erratic, its mechanical voice filled with a stiff liveliness: "Received from host, preparing to transport you back to Earth."
Fu Ming was furious: "I'm going back to the home I shared with Xiao Huaiyuan. Who told you I was going back to Earth now?"
Moreover, he is not a true immortal; once he crosses the boundary, he will die!
The system tilted its head, its tone shifting to that of Lord Yun, which sent chills down Fu Ming's spine: "Haven't you always wanted to go home? Now that you can go home, isn't that great?"
At the Tianyan Sect's Headmaster Peak, the inner demon oath mark on Xiao Huaiyuan's hand suddenly faded away as if washed away by water. He abandoned all his affairs and rushed to the side room that held many memories for him and his fellow disciples.
Filled with fear and hope, Xiao Huaiyuan turned his head to listen to Fu Ming's inner voice.
Fu Ming's body slept peacefully in the soft bedding, his cheeks still flushed from the floor heating array, his skin fair and rosy, a healthy complexion that only a life of luxury could cultivate.
However, at this moment, his heartbeat and breathing stopped.
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