Chapter 80 Asking Her Heart's Desire She finally saw him again. ...
It had been raining for a long time in the Kunlun Mountains. On that day, the dark clouds that had shrouded the mountains for so long finally dispersed, and the sun appeared. The ice-blue sky stretched as far as the eye could see, and the sunlight shone through, making everything clear and bright.
Shu Qing locked herself in the main hall of Liuxia Peak, forbidding anyone from approaching her chambers no matter what happened outside. However, the cheers and celebrations of the crowd, enveloping the entire Kunlun Mountain in a joyous atmosphere, could not be contained by the gates of this single hall.
Those who practiced swordsmanship joyfully performed sword dances, while fellow practitioners who entered the Dao through music sang in celebration. Those who cultivated talismans and crafted weapons somehow conjured fireworks overflowing with spiritual energy, and regardless of the fact that it was broad daylight, they set off fireworks. The brilliant fireworks bloomed in the daylight, indistinct in appearance, but the sound burst forth meticulously.
If you close your eyes, you'll know that today is definitely a special day.
The formidable enemy is dead, we are ready to launch a counterattack from the brink of defeat, our comrades on the front lines are about to return in triumph, and old friends will soon be reunited... With so many joyous occasions, it is time for a proper celebration.
Clutching the battle report, she huddled in a corner of the main hall, and finally unfolded the jade slip in her hand.
His direct cause of death was not the poison pill she gave him.
Her poison pills only corroded his demonic power. As his demonic power weakened, the Northern Great Array began to falter, and the main force of the Immortal Capital Allied Army trapped within seized the opportunity to break out of the array. The reinforcements following behind the envoy were prepared and lay in ambush on the flanks. With the two sides attacking from both sides, the situation was completely reversed.
Knowing that his efforts had failed, Jiu Su risked his life to protect the rest of the demon race and retreated into the continuous snow-capped mountains of the northern border, while he personally stayed behind to cover the retreat.
Even though his demonic power was damaged and he could no longer support the formation that covered a thousand miles, he was still no easy opponent. The allied forces of the Immortal Capital spent three days and nights, but they were still helpless against him and could only watch as the demon race retreated into the isolated snow realm.
That was no ordinary perilous place, but a mysterious land imbued with the spiritual energy of heaven and earth. Only such mystery could give birth to a naturally born spiritual creature like Jiu Su. This snowfield hidden among the mountains was his domain, and no one could trespass without his permission, not even if he were to die.
Heaven's favoritism towards naturally born creatures is just that unreasonable.
Those defeated demons may not be a threat, but if Jiu Su were to escape into this snowy realm, wouldn't that be like releasing a tiger back into the mountains?
He had no relatives or family in his life, and the only person he loved stood on Kunlun's side, delivering a fatal blow. Once he is cured of the poison, how will he exact his furious revenge?
Will there still be a day of peace then?
When the Immortal Capital Allied Forces arrived, they finally unleashed the Deadly Killing Formation, a forbidden technique since the day he was born, trapping him within it and eroding his soul.
This will eliminate any future troubles.
For the next three days and nights, Shu Qing didn't close her eyes, reading the battle report countless times, word by word. There were no photographs in the report; given the ferocity of the battle at the time, no one had the opportunity to capture images of the front lines. Only the straightforward text was etched into her mind, word by word, creating a blood-soaked picture.
It wasn't until the Xiandu Allied Forces returned from the northern border that she pushed open the palace door, stood in the long-awaited sunlight, and gazed at her triumphant fellow disciples and old friends.
She thought: At least, the war is over.
At least the world will be at peace from now on, at least there will be no more unjustly killed corpses lying strewn across the mountains and fields. There will be no more plagues sweeping through countless towns and villages, no more raging fires and bloodshed...
Then it would all have been worth it.
People embraced their returning friends, cheers echoing through the sky, vowing to drink until they were drunk. Some of her former friends ran to her, embracing her and saying she was the greatest hero of the battle, having saved their lives.
Shu Qing greeted each person who came to her with a blank expression, and thought blankly: This is fine too.
She has protected those she wanted to protect, and her wish has been fulfilled with boundless glory. So... that's good too.
The next few years... three to five years, or seven or eight years, Shu Qing couldn't tell. Time flowed by in an instant, leaving not a single memory, so much so that when she looked back, she didn't even know if this period of time was just a figment of her imagination.
She was like a soulless walking corpse, pushed around and given various titles. Beneath these heavy crowns, her soul coldly observed, like a wild ghost wandering through the celestial capital.
In a daze, she only remembered that her master and several other fellow disciples were worried about the decline of spiritual energy. At that time, her master, Zhiheng, was already the Immortal Lord of Kunlun. Once, during a meeting of fellow disciples, she had to attend because of her title of "Goddess." Lost in thought, she heard a fellow disciple say, "For this matter, Immortal Lord Zhiheng went to great lengths to exterminate the demon race, but who knew that there would be no improvement. If only we had known this..."
As if ice and snow were pouring down on her head, Shu Qing suddenly woke up and looked abruptly at Zhi Heng.
Zhi Heng frowned slightly, waved his hand, and the topic was over. No one cared about that one sentence.
However, at this moment, her soul, which had been away for many years, finally returned to its rightful place.
Logically, at this point, she should be diligently investigating and gathering clues... but she didn't, and she didn't need to. The war had ended nearly ten years ago, and for the past ten years, the world had been at peace. There were no more troublesome demons, and everything was thriving. Even the new generation of immortals was about to come of age. No one cared about the beginning and end of that war anymore.
For ordinary disciples of the Immortal Capital, the ambitious invasion of the demon race, which was ultimately repelled, was a cause for celebration.
For the masters of these sects who founded their own schools... certain secrets no longer need to be secrets.
Shu Qing is now the Lord of Xiashan, having ruled Liuxia Peak for over ten years and commanding countless disciples. She is no longer the naive girl who followed her demon lover down Kunlun Mountain.
Some things, once she knows them, she knows them; what can she change?
Without even needing to inquire, she learned that the entire Kunlun Immortal Capital had long been worried about the depletion of spiritual energy. Therefore, her master, Immortal Lord Zhiheng, planted his own "Dao" in the heart of the old demon king Taiyu.
Taiyu was born a great demon, while Jiusu's life was full of twists and turns. Ultimately, she was also a naturally gifted being secretly favored by Heaven. However, Zhiheng was different. He was born among countless mortals, entered the Dao of Alchemy, and climbed step by step to the highest peak of Kunlun Mountain. Along the way, he tempered his character.
His "Tao" seeks the true nature of his heart.
If we say that a person's true nature is like a bright pearl, then the dazzling world outside, the many constraints, and the various distracting thoughts that arise are like dust on that pearl. After brushing away the dust, the pearl will naturally shine. This is what is meant by eliminating distracting thoughts and realizing one's true nature.
However, sometimes, even if a person is carrying a precious pearl in their bare hands in a bustling city, they must cover it with a black cloth to avoid being accused of possessing a treasure—this cannot be called a distraction, but rather a matter of reason.
The Dao of Zhiheng points directly to one's true nature. When applied to a disciple of the Immortal Capital like her, it would naturally help her to sweep away the dust from her heart and eliminate distracting thoughts. However, when applied to Taiyu, what it would help him eliminate is probably not "distractions," but rather Taiyu's various concerns and rationalities.
The demon race also faces the predicament of depleted spiritual energy. In Taiyu's true nature, he naturally wants to annex the Immortal Capital to alleviate the demon race's predicament.
When he still possessed rationality, he might have considered the strength of the Immortal Capital and refrained from recklessly launching a war. However, with the "Dao" planted by Zhiheng, his true nature finally broke through the shackles of reason, and he brazenly declared war on the Immortal Capital.
The immortal capital accepted the challenge fairly and squarely, without any faults.
Kunlun is the gathering place of the pure and righteous spirit of the world, and its radiance will forever shine brightly.
The goddess opened her eyes and a demon was born in her heart.
She fought her way down to Kunlun Immortal Capital.
She cultivates alchemy, which, compared to those who study swordsmanship or talismans, is not known for its combat prowess. Moreover, she damaged her cultivation when she refined that poison pill, and for the past ten years she has been in a daze, neglecting her cultivation, and is even worse off than she was ten years ago.
However, when she descended from Kunlun, no one could stop her along the way; she was almost like a monster out of control.
If there was ever a time in her life when she truly faced her own heart, it would be now.
The sky was overcast with heavy clouds, thunder rumbled, and the mountain rain seemed imminent.
Actually, letting a traitor roam freely isn't such a big deal... but she knew the secret of how the war started, she couldn't accept that secret, and she was the goddess chosen by all.
If she were to reveal this secret to the world, in the eyes of the world, the savior goddess would probably be far more credible than the ethereal Kunlun Immortal Lord.
Kunlun quickly made a decision—killing someone is not difficult.
The only concerns are her reputation and her achievement of poisoning the demon king. Her death must be buried under the snow, and she just happens to be heading to the remote northern border, which is a godsend.
Swords clashed, their light brighter than the lightning in the sky, illuminating her pale face.
Looking back, her life seems like a huge deception.
Before she could remember anything, she was adopted by Zhiheng. From childhood to adulthood, she learned a great deal about "the world," "the big picture," and "the right path." She believed that this was the truth of the world and used it to restrain herself, fearing that she would fail her master's teachings. Even during the time she left with Jiu Su, she was filled with guilt and was even willing to sacrifice her own flesh and blood to practice the righteousness she had learned since childhood.
In the end, she gave up the love of her life, believing it was for the peace of the world, and for the survival of the immortal capital...
But only today did she finally realize that what she believed in and what she practiced were all illusions; someone had used a grand facade to trap her for life.
Now that she has broken free of this crown, they want to kill her as soon as possible.
The broken sword was stained with a deadly poison that could kill on contact with blood. For the first time, she realized that she could wield such powerful swordsmanship. Her sword, which had always been an empty shell in her hands, was now finally bursting forth with an unstoppable momentum, exhilarating and relentless.
Finally, she arrived at the Northern Border, the place where, according to legend, Jiu Su had died.
In the very end, when everything had come to an end... she finally saw him again.
"What is this..." These chaotic images in her mind were all her own memories. Even if only her soul remained, Jiu Su could not read these memories from her shattered consciousness.
He received no further explanation and could only curse her incoherently, filled with hatred, "What is this? We can't share a bed in life, but we have to share a bed in death? You think you can satisfy me by giving me your life? That's too easy for you..."
Shu Qing laughed silently. She had been betrayed by everyone, her beliefs were destroyed, and the world was turned upside down, but one thing remained unchanged: this snake demon, whether in life or in death, still held a grudge as always.
They talk about sharing a grave after death, but those two don't even have a grave...
The snow-white light surged in Jiu Su's palm, forcibly gathering her scattered soul. Guided by his demonic power, her soul condensed in his palm, like a candle flame about to go out.
This monster, born from frost and snow, carefully held her in its palm.
He tore open his own heart—at this moment he was just a soul, without a physical body, and there was no heart in his chest cavity. In fact, he had torn open his sea of consciousness, tearing apart his memories, thoughts, joys and sorrows, loves and hates... all at once.
For a fleeting moment, his entire outline blurred, almost as if he were about to melt into the northern winds. After stabilizing, his soul form also became somewhat fainter than before, increasingly ethereal and indistinct.
He gently shook her, seemingly not caring at all, and carefully placed her into his chest cavity, in the usual place where his heart would be.
A cool and soft scent flowed continuously into her soul, as if blood were rushing to her heart.
"I won't let you die like this..." In her daze, she heard Jiu Su's voice, cold and devoid of any warmth, her tone like a vicious curse, "Since you don't want to live, I'll make you live, I'll make you go against your wishes, even if it's just to avenge myself..."
Shu Qing silently cursed in her heart, "Idiot."
Unable to utter a sound, and unable to let him hear the curse in her heart, she could only harbor this frustration of wanting to curse but being unable to say it, and completely sank into this cool darkness.
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