Chapter 62 The Grand Finale (Part Two) This companionship is profound and lonely...
Warm and loyal protection surrounded Shi Liuying, gently lifting her from the brink of collapse.
It also repaired and replenished her dried-up meridians and shattered soul inch by inch, until she surpassed her former peak.
Tears blurred my vision, but they couldn't wash away the dull, tearing pain in my heart.
Her senior brother's last breath, along with this immense power, was seeping into her limbs and bones, becoming a part of her.
"Senior brother..."
Shi Liuying choked up, trying to raise her hand to wipe away the tears streaming down her face.
But when my fingers touched the tears on my face that hadn't yet dried, they were enveloped in that warm halo, as if I were gently wiping them away for someone.
Don't cry.
She said to herself.
Her senior brother gave her everything, not so she could cry here.
She slowly straightened up, and the Blade of Spirits, sensing its master's rekindled fighting spirit and that new and vast power, emitted a clear and stirring long cry and automatically flew back into her hand.
The cyan sword blade was covered with a warm, jade-like luster, yet it also possessed a deep, star-like quality.
Jun Lintian's power and her sword intent merged perfectly.
Ahead, Ao Hao's dark figure, whose formation was damaged by Shen Hanzhou's self-destruction and who was also bewildered by Shi Liuying's sudden outburst, let out a deafening roar mixed with anger and greed.
"Impossible! How could you still have power?! What kind of power is this?!"
The warm glow had a natural and overwhelming restraint on the chaotic and evil aura emanating from the shadowy figure.
Like a thin mist under the blazing sun, the dark aura surrounding the shadowy figure hissed and dissipated under the halo of light.
Shi Liuying did not answer.
She simply gripped the Blazing Sword tighter.
This time, the sword techniques were no longer something she had comprehended on her own or any tangible swordplay.
Rather, it is the thought that leads to the sword intent.
She took a step forward.
There was no sound of wind, no sharp whistling of sword light cutting through the air.
It was simply a matter of handing out a sword.
The cyan sword flashed through the air, leaving a trail of light.
Wherever the light passed, the viscous, chaotic energy of the Abyss of Annihilation was silently purified, and the jagged black ice pillars melted.
The nauseating stench and wailing of vengeful spirits in the air vanished in an instant, like dust scattered by a gentle breeze.
This sword strike seemed to carry with it the restored order of this world itself.
Gentle, yet irresistible.
"No--!!!"
Ao Hao's shadowy form let out a desperate shriek, desperately urging all remaining black tentacles, twisted runes, and the filthy power drawn from the abyss to construct layer upon layer of thick, viscous barriers in front of him.
The sword light reached his body.
There was no earth-shattering explosion.
The dark shape resembled a punctured bladder filled with sewage, suddenly collapsing inward.
"Hiss—"
Countless tiny, twisted black runes struggled to spill out from the collapsing shadows, like parasites that had lost their anchor, writhing, screaming, and finally vanishing into nothingness in the pure halo of light.
The last remaining core of the shadowy creature tried to escape, but was gently yet firmly entangled and enveloped by the band of light.
“I… am not reconciled… I am… the Heavenly Dao…” Intermittent, resentful, and insane divine thoughts emanated.
"You are not."
Shi Liuying finally spoke, her voice soft yet carrying a judgmental force: "You are just... a mistake that shouldn't exist."
She gave her wrist a slight twitch.
The light band converges.
"Pop—"
A very faint sound, like a bubble bursting.
The final core of the "System No. 97," which had entangled the cultivation world for thousands of years, devoured systems, and distorted the Heavenly Dao, along with the remnants of Ao Hao's body that it occupied, was completely annihilated without leaving a trace.
Within the Abyss of Despair, the suffocating oppression and evil aura receded like the tide.
Although the spiritual energy was still thin and the cold was biting, the deep-seated sense of chaos and decay had dissipated.
The perpetually gloomy fog overhead seemed to let in a long-lost sliver of clear sunlight.
Between heaven and earth, it seemed as if some invisible shackles broke and dissolved with a "crack".
Shi Liuying could clearly feel that the "rules" of the world around her had become more fluid and natural.
The sluggish feeling of being blocked and twisted by foreign objects disappeared, replaced by a long-lost sense of comfort, like a stream flowing into the sea.
The Way of Heaven... is repairing itself.
She succeeded.
At the cost of my senior brother's life and all his cultivation.
Shen Hanzhou resolutely self-destructed, forcing his senior sisters, junior sisters, and elders to leave this world.
With the help of everyone, she finally eradicated the scourge of this world, accomplishing what the Transmigration Bureau had failed to do for a thousand years.
Shi Liuying stood still, gripping her sword. The warm aura around her gradually receded, eventually merging completely into her body, becoming an integral part of her power, inseparable from it.
She could sense that her realm had steadily reached a mysterious and profound critical point.
That is the threshold beyond Mahayana Buddhism, touching another level of life—the separation between immortals and mortals.
If she so desired, it seemed she could trigger the legendary tribulation of ascension at any time, shedding her mortal form and ascending to immortality.
This was the moment she had been dreaming of ever since she embarked on the path of cultivation.
But at this moment, my heart is empty, devoid of any joy.
-
Shi Liuying did not linger in the Abyss of Desolation before turning and leaving this desolate place that had buried too many things.
On the way back to the Myriad Manifestations Sect on my sword, the mountains and rivers remained the same, and the markets and cities were as usual.
It seems that yesterday's decisive battle, which concerned the survival of the world, was unknown to most people and left no trace in the lives of ordinary cultivators and common folk.
The sun was shining brightly, the clouds were drifting lazily, and everything was eerily calm.
The protective array's aura remained gentle. Upon seeing her return on her sword, the disciples guarding the mountain immediately displayed expressions of utmost respect, even fervent worship. They bowed deeply from afar, their voices booming:
"Welcome back to the sect, Senior Sister!"
Senior Sister?
Shi Liuying paused slightly, a strange feeling passing through her mind.
But she simply nodded and walked straight through the mountain gate.
The familiar bluestone path, the familiar pavilions and towers, the familiar concentration of spiritual energy, even the fragrance of spiritual plants carried on the wind is exactly the same.
But something seems different.
The disciples she encountered along the way, regardless of whether they were from the inner or outer sect, young or old, would all stop and respectfully bow to her, addressing her as "Senior Sister," their eyes filled with pure reverence and worship, as if gazing upon an insurmountable peak.
She had seen that kind of gaze before when many disciples looked at Jun Lintian.
She suppressed her doubts and unease, quickened her pace, and headed towards the main hall.
Xuanji Daozun was handling sect affairs in the hall when he saw her enter. He put down the jade slip in his hand, and a gentle smile appeared on his dignified face.
"Liu Ying is back. How did the mission to investigate the unusual activity in the Abyss of Annihilation in the Northern Region go?"
His tone was that of a master asking an outstanding disciple a routine question, with a hint of praise: "Your aura is harmonious, and your cultivation seems to have improved again. Not bad."
Anomalies in the Abyss of Annihilation? An investigation mission?
Shi Liuying was stunned.
She looked into her master's deep yet calm eyes, where there was only appreciation for his prized disciple, no worry, no heaviness, no grief for the loss of other disciples.
He didn't even react at all when she mentioned the title "Senior Brother".
A chilling sensation crept up my spine.
“…Master.”
She heard her own voice sound a little hoarse: "Just... a sect mission?"
Xuanji Daozun raised an eyebrow slightly, seemingly surprised by her question: "Naturally, it's a sect mission."
"Since you volunteered to go, I know you have always been steady and reliable, so I approved it."
"What's wrong? Did you encounter something troublesome in the Abyss of Annihilation?"
Shi Liuying's heart felt as if it were being gripped tightly by an invisible hand, the grip tightening and tightening.
She looked at her master and asked clearly, word by word, "Master, Senior Brother... Jun Lintian, he's dead."
She stared intently at her master's face, not missing a single subtle change in expression.
However, Xuanji Daozun merely frowned, his eyes revealing clear confusion and a hint of concern. He stood up, walked to Shi Liuying, and reached out to touch her forehead: "Liuying, did you suffer some hidden injury in the Abyss of Extinction, or did you suffer excessive mental strain? Why are you talking nonsense?"
His tone carried genuine doubt and worry: "From beginning to end, I have only ever accepted you as my personal disciple. How can you be called the 'senior brother'?"
"Jun Lintian...who is he?"
boom--!
It was like a silent thunderclap that exploded in Shi Liuying's mind.
He only ever had her as a disciple?
Who is the one who reigns supreme over the heavens?
The world swayed slightly before her eyes, and she seemed to hear a sharp ringing in her ears.
She pinched her palm hard, and the sharp pain told her that this was not a dream.
"Perhaps... I'm still not fully awake." She heard herself answer in an almost ethereal voice, then stiffly forced a smile at her worried master, turned around, and practically fled the main hall.
-
Shi Liuying walked aimlessly along the familiar path of the sect.
She was surrounded by respectful greetings and admiring gazes, and the title "Senior Sister" was constantly being heard.
Shi Liuying went to Tianji Peak. Rong Yan's cave was originally located in the most sunny and open spot on the mountaintop.
My senior sister said that the sunshine here is good, making it especially convenient to dry the medicinal herbs.
But now, all that remains is a naturally formed stone wall covered with tiny crystal veins, reflecting a somewhat dazzling but utterly devoid of spiritual light under the sun.
There was no longer the stone door to the cave that always smelled of food, no longer the few pots of grass at the entrance that Rong Yan had made grow exceptionally lush with her ghostly energy, and no longer the figure wearing an apron, holding a spatula and smiling at her.
All traces of human intervention have vanished, as if the stone wall has remained unchanged for thousands of years, uninhabited by anyone.
She stood there blankly for a while, then turned and walked to the other side of Tianji Peak.
There once stood a towering, strange ancient tree, half withered and half lush, with Elder Chongcang's silent and solitary wooden house nestled against the cliff beneath it.
The ancient tree is still there.
But it looks like just an exceptionally tall, old, ordinary tree with mottled bark and rustling leaves in the wind.
There are no wooden houses.
There was no longer that silent figure who always exuded an aura of keeping strangers at bay, yet protected her under the ancient tree.
The mountain wind swept through the cliff, bringing a hollow echo that made her clothes flutter, and her heart felt empty.
Shi Liuying went to the bluestone platform where her junior sister Su Wan liked to practice her sword the most. The stone surface was smooth and had no marks left by sword strikes over the years. It was so clean that it seemed as if no one had ever shed sweat there.
Finally, Shi Liuying had no choice but to fly to the Heavenly Beast Sect on her sword. She used her status as the "Chief Senior Sister of the Myriad Manifestations Sect" to request an audience and subtly inquire whether there was a disciple or senior named "Chi Yang".
The elder of the Heavenly Beast Sect who received her looked bewildered and shook his head firmly: "Chi Yang? Fellow Daoist, you must be mistaken. In our sect's lineage, there has never been a disciple with that name in the last three generations. Have you believed a rumor?"
No.
There isn't anywhere.
It was as if an invisible hand was wiping out Ao Hao and restoring the Heavenly Dao, while also completely erasing all existences related to the "system" and "transmigrators" from the history, memories, and even the traces of existence of this world.
Only her.
Only she remembers.
Only she, the one most deeply bound to all the "mistakes," was left behind, bearing all the memories and losses.
Shi Liuying didn't know how she got back to that simple courtyard located in the area for newly initiated disciples.
The courtyard gate was ajar. Pushing it open, everything inside seemed no different from when she left that morning.
The simple thatched hut, the narrow courtyard, and the few lantern flowers in the corner emitting a soft, familiar glow as night fell.
No one found it strange that she, the "chief senior sister of the sect," lived in such a shabby place.
It seems that in everyone's mind, "Senior Sister Shi Liuying" should live in the new disciples' residence.
She slowly walked to the center of the courtyard and looked around.
This place used to be so lively.
Senior Sister Rong Yan would suddenly appear carrying oddly shaped pastries;
Elder Chongcang would stand silently at the door for a while, put down a cultivation manual, and then quietly leave.
Shen Hanzhou would come running over noisily, complaining about who had tricked her out of her spirit stones again, while secretly slipping her some good stuff;
Senior Sister Chi Yang would tell her interesting stories from outside with a smile;
Junior Sister Su Wan would blush as she came to ask for instruction in swordsmanship;
And then there's the senior brother... The senior brother would sit on the roof or stand by the door, watching them make a fuss with a gentle look, and when she looked over, he would give her a reassuring look.
But now, it's completely empty.
The only sounds were the rustling of the night wind through the thatched roof and the soft rustling of the lantern flower leaves.
So quiet.
The silence was unsettling.
Shi Liuying slowly squatted down, reached out her hand, and gently touched the lantern flower closest to her with her fingertips.
The cool, soft petals and the familiar soft light were the flowers she had clumsily used to "heal" her senior brother.
look.
This is evidence that my senior brother once existed.
It is the only true proof that this world has left her.
But... all that was left was the flowers.
The person who delivered the flowers, the person who protected the flowers, the person who admired the flowers with them... all disappeared.
"Waaah..."
The emotions she had suppressed all day finally burst forth at this moment, in this empty courtyard where only her memories remained.
Hot tears streamed down her face.
But she couldn't make a loud sound; only intermittent sobs, like those of a wounded animal, echoed softly in the silent night.
So this is what my senior was talking about...
Will you stay with her forever?
In this way, his power, his sword intent, and a part of his life were integrated into her bones and blood, allowing her to live in this world that had been "corrected" but had forgotten him.
Let her become the "senior sister," standing in the position he once held, bearing the glory and responsibility he once borne.
Shi Liuying hugged her knees, buried her face in her arms, and her shoulders trembled uncontrollably.
But this companionship is so profound.
And so it is... loneliness.
-----------------------
Author's note: Red envelope [pat on the head]
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——
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