Chapter 55: The reason But now I understand it.
Chu Sheng saw Chen Duoer again, in a strange way, as if he was suddenly struck by a burning sword energy.
"You've made rapid progress, Duo'er." Chu Sheng casually waved away the sharp sword energy shrouded in true fire, his tone praising. "If we were to compete with other sects again, you could try to take first place."
"You say it so easily." Chen Duoer relaxed her arms somewhat weakly.
"I tried my best, but the result is still like this. It really is true. No matter how hard I try, I can't defeat you... It really makes me angry!"
The sword-wielding girl, who had also advanced to the Golden Core stage, no longer had a smile on her face.
She hovered in mid-air, blocking the flying boat's original direction. There was only a hint of confusion and questioning in her eyes as she looked at Chu Sheng.
"Since you're already so strong, why did you choose to come back, Senior Sister?"
The vague statements and various strange phenomena are enough to make people realize that unprecedented changes have occurred in the Hehuan Sect because of Yun Mengzi's sleep.
Chen Duoer is Fuqiu's direct disciple. Fuqiu has made up her mind to attack Si Chun, so she naturally has to inform her.
"You shouldn't have come back, Senior Sister. This is not good for you."
"Because I should have come back." Chu Sheng sighed softly. "If I hadn't come back, what would you and Master Fuqiu do?"
"Master Si Chun and Master Fuqiu are not evenly matched opponents. Even if Elder Yupan and Elder Mo Yan do not take any action, Elder Mochou will not sit idly by."
"Because Elder Mochou has left the sect!" Chen Duoer said excitedly, flames floating on the tip of the sword, rising sharply as the pitch of her voice changed.
"Senior Sister! Go back now! Go to Zhongnan Dao Sect, Liangyi Valley, Sword Palace, or any other sect.
Don’t you have a lot of friends? They definitely wouldn’t reject a Hehuan Sect disciple…”
Chu Sheng raised his hand, and Chen Duoer involuntarily stopped what she was about to say.
"Indeed, they will not reject the disciples of the Hehuan Sect. Then what?" Chu Sheng asked softly.
"Tell me, Duo'er, will you choose to flee outside in an unjustifiable manner, or will you break free and rebuild your path here, becoming a disciple of someone else?"
Chen Duoer's expression changed immediately. "Impossible! How dare they..."
"After all, the Hehuan Sect is ruled by only two Mahayana masters. What are they afraid of?" Chu Sheng sighed.
"What's more, our Master has fallen into a deep sleep. If only Uncle Si Chun is left, he poses no threat to other sects. Why don't they dare?"
Chen Duoer stopped talking.
She knew that what Chu Sheng said was not a lie, and she felt extremely unwilling that her attempts to stop him were in vain.
"...Is there really no other way now except to go back?"
Chen Duoer's feelings towards Chu Sheng have always been complicated.
When Chen Duo'er first became a disciple of Fuqiu, she knew that in the sect's hierarchy, there was a senior sister above her named Chu Sheng who had never been able to formally enter the sect.
How pitiful, Chen Duoer thought.
If I cannot formally enter the Tao, then wouldn't I never be able to pursue the Tao and power in this life, the things that are within the reach of cultivators?
Knowing that his senior sister was unable to practice Taoism, he still accepted her as his disciple and insisted on letting her pursue a dream that was unattainable for ordinary people. Venerable Yunmeng was truly a cruel person.
"Duo'er, don't talk nonsense." Fuqiu looked at her seriously and taught Chen Duo'er carefully.
"Venerable Yunmeng naturally has his reasons for choosing to do this. The world of cultivation is vast and full of wonders. You cannot deny the possibility of anyone blossoming and bearing fruit."
Young Chen Duoer curled her lips and said nothing.
She has been born in a jungle where the strong prey on the weak, and she is honestly fascinated by every strong person.
It was precisely because she saw Elder Fuqiu's figure, as bright and dazzling as a fire lotus when fighting against the alien demon, that Chen Duoer insisted on joining the Hehuan Sect, wanting to become a cultivator as bright and powerful as her.
She didn't understand what Fuqiu said about everyone bearing fruit, but this didn't affect Chen Duoer's obedient response of "OK" in front of her master.
"Okay, I will respect Senior Sister Chu Sheng."
Anyway, we won't have any interactions, it's just a polite nodding acquaintance, there shouldn't be any problem, right?
Chen Duoer, who was thinking this, did not say anything when she found that other junior brothers and sisters in the sect were trying to compete with Senior Sister Chu Sheng for the training ground.
On the first day, Chen Duoer comforted herself, saying, "I am a respected senior sister," so she pretended not to see it, and then left with peace of mind.
The next day, Chen Duoer comforted herself, I respect my senior sister, so I won’t do such a stupid thing with others, and then she left gracefully during the melee.
On the third day, Chen Duoer could no longer comfort herself because she needed to use the training ground that day.
Then help your senior sister when you can, but how can you do it without making her feel uncomfortable?
Chen Duoer thought about this problem seriously until the other disciples who went to cause trouble drew a beautiful parabola and landed in front of her.
"Bang!"
Chen Duoer took two steps back with some disgust, avoiding the position of the human sandbag. Then she raised her head as if she had realized something and met Chu Sheng's dark eyes.
"You also feel that there's not enough space in the training ground, so you want to have a fight to decide who will own this place in the short term?"
Chu Sheng asked coldly.
She had not yet entered the Tao and was not at an advantage compared to other disciples who already had a foundation, but the girl relied on an ordinary sword to pull away all the troublemakers.
"No... Senior Sister, I think it's good enough if we don't disturb each other."
Chen Duoer hesitated for a moment before answering.
After all, she also looked down upon the disciples' obvious bullying behavior.
But she could have taken it for granted that she had ignored the past behavior before, but now, under the gaze of those dark eyes, she suddenly felt a little ashamed.
"That's good." Chu Sheng nodded. The girl with black hair and black eyes was not very old, but her tone always carried a kind of faint weariness that was unique to those who had lived through a long time.
"Thank you, Junior Sister."
Chu Sheng drew his sword and began his daily routine. Chen Duoer watched quietly for a long time without realizing it before she realized that she had been distracted. She quickly cleared her mind and focused on her daily training.
...Master is right. We should not deny anyone the possibility of bearing fruit.
Chen Duoer somehow started practicing simultaneously with Chu Sheng.
She would coincidentally appear in every place where Chu Sheng was, including the study, the main hall, the training ground, the back mountain, and so on.
Chu Sheng was a little surprised at first by this unconventional junior sister, but soon she accepted the fact that she had an extra little tail and continued with her schedule calmly.
...Senior Sister Chu Sheng is a person with very strong mental qualities.
After spending quite a long time together, Chen Duoer realized one thing: if she fought against Senior Sister Chu Sheng without her spiritual power, she would probably not be her match.
Chu Sheng has already practiced everything she can to the extreme. Putting aside the level of her realm and spiritual power, and simply discussing the depth of her attainments, she is undoubtedly a strong person.
This made her respect Chu Sheng even more.
But after having this understanding, every time Chen Duoer saw Chu Sheng's sweaty back, she always felt a sense of unwillingness and loneliness in her heart.
——After all, the battle between cultivators is mainly based on the collision of spiritual power. Even sword cultivators only use the spiritual sword as a medium to exert power.
Senior Sister Chu Sheng, who cannot enter the Tao, and who works so hard, how far can she go in the future?
Looking at Chu Sheng who was fighting one against five people in the training ground without losing, Chen Duoer felt sincerely sorry.
It’s such a pity. If Senior Sister Chu Sheng could enter the Tao and practice like other cultivators, she would definitely become a powerful and dazzling female cultivator like Master, right?
"You're here." After Chu Sheng knocked down the fifth man, he looked up and saw Chen Duoer. He could almost see the tired girl straighten her spine again. "Go ahead."
The senior sister who wants to leave the sect on her own, the senior sister who wants to be independent before she even enters the sect, facing everyone's doubts, can only rely on this method to prove herself.
Would Chen Duoer be willing to become a consumable for others to prove themselves?
If it were someone else, Chen Duoer’s answer would naturally be no, but what she was facing at the moment was Senior Sister Chu Sheng, who could not be refused no matter what.
Chen Duoer drew her sword.
"I'm sorry, Senior Sister."
"There's no such thing as offending or not offending." Perhaps because they were quite familiar with each other, Chu Sheng would even chat with her.
"Just go ahead... Aren't you smiling happily now, Duo'er?"
Me? Am I smiling happily?
Chen Duoer didn't know, but when Chu Sheng knocked her to the ground with her sword, she gasped for a while and then laughed out loud from the bottom of her heart.
"Senior Sister Chu Sheng!"
Chen Duoer didn't know what she was laughing at, but after she finished laughing, she turned around and said to Chu Sheng.
"—You must keep winning!"
Not long after that, Chen Duoer heard that Chu Sheng, the disciple of Venerable Yunmeng, left the sect after defeating a senior brother in the sect.
Chen Duoer was not surprised, but felt it was natural.
With Sister Chu Sheng's efforts, it's only natural that she would achieve any results. However... the familiar shadow is missing from the Albizia Julibrissin tree, and she feels a little lonely after all.
After Chu Sheng left, Chen Duoer often urged herself to practice hard, even harder than before. Now she had a more mature reason than before.
If you, who are talented, don't work hard, wouldn't it be too unfair to those who don't have talent, such as Senior Sister Chu Sheng?
…
Senior Sister Chu Sheng has broken through and established her foundation.
…
Senior Sister Chu Sheng has achieved a breakthrough to the Golden Core stage.
It’s great, I’m so happy that such a hard-working senior sister should be able to obtain the scenery that she deserves on the road of spiritual practice. Chen Duoer is sincerely happy for her.
But...but...!
"Don't go... Senior Sister!"
Chen Duoer's spiritual power could not support her to stay in the air for a long time, and she stumbled and fell in front of Chu Sheng.
The proud girl who had always kept her distance took the initiative to reach out for the first time and grabbed the collar of the senior sister whom she had been paying attention to for a long time.
"You've finally embarked on this path... We have witnessed your hard work and the fruits of your struggle..."
You can't go, Senior Sister Chu Sheng! If you go back like this this time...!!
She raised her head with anger and unwillingness, but met a pair of eyes full of tolerance and calmness.
"If I go back, maybe I'll start over again, rebuild the broken path, or maybe something else. Who knows?"
Chu Sheng patted Chen Duoer's hand, which was trembling unconsciously, and spoke in a nonchalant tone.
"But Duo'er, that's my master. I can't help but save him, just like you can't help but save Elder Fuqiu."
"Is this the only way..." Chen Duoer closed her eyes heavily. She tried her best to suppress her anger, so much so that her little finger twitched slightly uncontrollably.
"Is this the only way!!!"
Is this the only way? Is this going to cruelly wipe out the hope you finally glimpsed?
Chen Duoer's series of actions naturally could not escape Chu Sheng's eyes.
Chu Sheng sighed again. This was the third time she sighed in a short period of time since she met Chen Duoer, but this time was different from the previous two times.
The first time he sighed was because of the sincere devotion of Elder Fuqiu and his disciple Chen Duoer.
The second sigh was because everyone in the Hehuan Sect was in a desperate situation with no way out due to internal and external troubles.
The third time Chu Sheng sighed was because he could no longer bear the current situation, so he decided to be the sharp knife that cuts through the tangled mess.
"Trust me, Duo'er." Chu Sheng gently held Chen Duo'er's hand. "Some things can only be done by me."
But, but.
Chen Duoer wanted to say, what if you can’t do it either?
But she couldn't ask.
Because she had already realized that even if she asked this question, just like everyone was not optimistic about her senior sister who had not yet entered the sect to go out and gain experience, her senior sister would only say...
"If I don't try, how will I know if it will work?"
Chu Sheng stepped onto the bow of the flying boat, holding the jade hairpin lightly in his hand, and the sword energy came out slowly with a turn of his wrist.
Just like Yun Mengzi opened the barrier, in Chen Duoer's extremely surprised eyes, Chu Sheng easily opened the road to the Hehuan Sect.
No, it would be more accurate to say that someone had deliberately opened a path for her.
"Chu Sheng." Gu Xuan, who was in meditation in mid-air, slowly opened her eyes. The moment she looked at Chu Sheng, her originally gentle and peaceful eyes suddenly showed an unprecedented fluctuation.
"What on earth are you..."
Gu Xuan looked at Chu Sheng for a long time, but was unable to say another word for a long time, and she didn't even spare a glance at Chen Duoer, whose cultivation had already advanced to the Golden Core stage.
"I know what you want to ask, Senior Sister." Chu Sheng knew very well that her doubts were about the level of advancement in the Hehuan Tongxin Jue, so she said.
"So I will come back alive. Regarding that question, I will wait for my senior sister to ask me in person."
“…Okay.” Gu Xuan nodded.
Inside the sect, Fuqiu and Si Chun, a pair of peculiar senior and junior brothers and sisters, were in a stalemate.
Elder Yupan and Elder Mo Yan had no intention of dissuading them. They just looked at Gu Xuan, Chen Duoer and Chu Sheng in the air at the same time as the barrier opened.
The gorgeous flowers were dropped by the tree branches, and the slender, downy petals gently caressed the girl's cheek. Chu Sheng turned her head and sniffed, and there was only the ordinary scent of the albizzia tree.
Then Chu Sheng understood that the worst situation he had expected had not yet happened.
Yun Mengzi suddenly fell into a deep sleep, and Elder Fuqiu took over the management of the sect. Without saying a word, he asked for the Golden Lotus of Creation that could be used to rebuild the sect after the shattered path. Chu Sheng did have some doubts.
Although Ye Ziqing, as the eldest senior brother, had done the best he could in Zhongnan Taoist Sect, he did not let Chu Sheng notice the undercurrents that existed in the sect.
But in the Tianjiao Ranking, the sudden conclusion of the Hehuan Heart Agreement disrupted the rhythm of everything.
Chu Sheng flipped through Ye Ziqing's life like turning the pages of a book, and everything that Ye Ziqing wanted to hide also lost its original moat.
Fortunately, the Tianjiao List will indiscriminately erase everyone's memory, except for Chu Sheng, who has already captured his true self.
Ye Ziqing could no longer see anything else from Chu Sheng, who had also mastered his own path, and he also forgot the agreement they had made. Now that the agreement had been dissolved, no one else knew what had happened except Chu Sheng himself.
Although this is a bit unfair to Ye Ziqing, Chu Sheng thought that he would find a way to compensate him afterwards.
When Chu Sheng was on the list of geniuses, he saw his master more than once and heard the conversations between several people.
She was not stupid. It was easy to see that Yun Mengzi had a close connection with the Tianjiao List.
What's more, Chu Sheng has now figured out the relationship between the Tianjiao List and the Golden Lotus of Creation, not to mention Yun Mengzi who had close contact with the Tianjiao List back then.
If the Golden Lotus of Fortune was really useful to Yun Mengzi, he would have met his master who was on the Tianjiao List long ago. Why did he and his friends help it send in more magical instruments instead of taking it away directly?
Bringing back the Golden Lotus of Creation was not really useful to Yun Mengzi, and the effect of rebuilding the Broken Path seemed to be clearly directed at something he did not want to do.
——That was prepared for herself.
It wasn't an internal fight within the sect, nor was it someone trying to be mysterious, nor was it some endless nonsense about sacrificing or sacrificing someone. Si Chun had only one goal from the beginning to the end.
Chu Sheng looked at Si Chun, but this teacher who had always been very indulgent towards her subconsciously shifted his gaze, unwilling to meet her gaze, even for just a few seconds.
...Rebuild the broken path, Xiao Sheng, the ruthless path is destined to be a dead end.
They advised like this countless times, and Chu Sheng, unable to understand the reason, answered like this countless times.
"I don't want it!"
Why are so many people so certain that the ruthless path is doomed to failure? Why is Master willing to support me in my steadfast path?
Why is it that to this day, whether it is Si Chun, Ye Ziqing who has not returned, or everyone in the Hehuan Sect, they all have some hope of rebuilding their broken path?
In the past, Chu Sheng didn’t understand why, but now, the familiar runes were running in her eyes, and all the truth was revealed to her.
Oh...Master.
Chu Sheng wanted to sigh.
All this time, you have been hiding this from me intentionally or unintentionally. Is it just for the situation at this moment?
Chu Sheng parted ways with Gu Xuan and Chen Duoer, and walked towards Yun Mengzi's cave alone. The road was unusually smooth and no one dared to stop her until she pushed open the door as usual.
“Squeak—”
The cave that everyone in the Hehuan Sect had tried their best to open suddenly opened its door to Chu Sheng.
"I'm back, Master."
Chu Sheng spoke to the silent courtyard, just like every time she came back.
She stepped forward and walked in. The door of the cave slowly closed, and the entire cave was once again submerged in clouds and mist.
Did I do something wrong?
Si Chun didn't know that his mind kept recalling Chu Sheng's last look back at him. He could only tell himself over and over again that this was the best ending.
That’s right. Si Chun closed his eyes.
...Doing this is the best outcome.
Zongshan trekked through the wilderness again.
He once taught several young boys and girls to embark on the path of Taoism. Zongshan gave them an understanding of Taoism and shaped their understanding of the world of cultivation. In the end, he left them with enough spirit stones and weapons for their own living and chose to leave there late at night on an ordinary day.
"I want to be your disciple!"
No, you shouldn't take me as your master. Your inheritance lies elsewhere. I am just a passer-by on your path of cultivation.
Zongshan wandered and waited. From the moment he woke up, he knew that he was carrying out a certain mission, which might take him a long time to achieve the result.
But he was willing to wait, even if the heavens were against him, even if countless amounts of his true source and spiritual power had been lost over the years, even if the feeling of weakness that he had always ignored had turned into an unforgettable pain.
He can wait, thought the great monk with snowy hair and red clothes.
Then, caught off guard, Zongshan, who was wandering in the human world, stretched out his hand and caught the stars that fell from the other world into his palm.
"Yes, this is the world of cultivation, and I'm a cultivator too." He gazed into the girl's dark eyes and gently held her in his arms. "As for how we should address each other...?"
"Sheng'er, you can call me Shizun, or Master."
The snow-white eyelashes trembled slowly, and then Zongshan opened his eyes.
He had endured this familiar feeling of pain for a long, long time, but this time it was different.
“——Master.”
Chu Sheng sat beside Yun Mengzi's pillow and gently held his hand. "You're awake."
"You've lost weight..." Yun Mengzi looked at Chu Sheng's face. Even though every time he woke up from a deep sleep, he would see his disciple waiting beside him, he still felt like he was in a dream.
Thinner, taller, and stronger, this was the first impression Chu Sheng left on Yun Mengzi, but...
Yun Mengzi blinked and asked in a daze.
"Sheng'er, you are overflowing with spiritual energy, why haven't you broken through to the Nascent Soul stage yet?"
"I'm not ready to survive the thunder tribulation, Master." Chu Sheng released Yun Mengzi's hand and answered calmly.
"The Nascent Soul Stage is a serious matter, and I cannot make a decision casually. Therefore, I have to wait until Master wakes up before I can make a decision."
"Don't be afraid, Master will protect you." Yun Mengzi reached out and stroked her hair. "Breaking through to the Nascent Soul stage is a good thing, Sheng'er. Why do you look so worried?"
"They all said that the ruthless path could not ascend. I thought about it for a long time but could not figure out the reason, but now I understand."
Chu Sheng gently held down Yun Mengzi's hand that was stroking her hair. The great monk's fingers were as cold as ice.
"Because you are also a cultivator of the ruthless way. If I insist on sticking to the path, I will end up fighting you to the death on this path... Am I right, Master?"
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