Chapter 256
"Meng Aning, what's wrong?"
"Where's that merman from before?" Yingning asked, seeing that the Lingyan Rock was now deserted, but the dampness confirmed that something had indeed been lying there.
Bai Xie didn't care; he had completely forgotten that it was that merman who had transformed into an evil being who opened the divine realm.
“A mermaid cannot leave the divine realm on her own.”
"I guess he's dead, his soul scattered to the winds?" he said.
Since the divine realm has not been destroyed, the merfolk must not be dead.
*
*
As the thick fog of the divine realm dissipated, the snow-white buildings stood silently, with only one divine eternal lamp burning to its last flame, scorching tiny embers.
The weakened merman struggled and crawled on the temple steps, as if he were his only follower.
Qing Chu sensed his life rapidly slipping away. He no longer wanted to use Xuan Shu to heal himself. Supporting his broken and filthy body, he crawled to the entrance of the main hall of the temple.
He suddenly felt that he couldn't let the god see him in such a rough and wretched state, so he hurriedly washed his scarred fish tail with water, but he couldn't get rid of the resentment clinging to it.
Qing Chu's eyes were bloodshot as he violently tried to dispel the filthy resentment.
However, it was all in vain.
He gave up, just as he would give up his own life.
The path to godhood was too difficult; he couldn't persevere.
But he still cautiously stepped into the temple. The cold and solemn statues inside had no face or features, because he could not remember the appearance of the supreme god. For thousands of years, he had tried to sketch a face, but in the end, he always stopped.
He endured the pain and slowly walked to the statue.
The ever-burning lamp flickered on and off, as if someone was watching.
Footsteps sounded outside the hall.
Qing Chu leaned weakly against the base of the statue, his consciousness blurred as he saw the figure in front of the temple. His long robe fluttered slightly, and the red spider lilies by his ear bloomed beautifully.
The dragon behind her stood soaring into the air.
Bai Xie saw the merman under the base of the statue, "It really is here."
He barged into the temple, circled around, and finally stopped in front of the statue, where he saw the faceless statue: "You little demon, which god do you worship?"
"Why don't you have a face yet?"
Qing Chu managed to squeeze out a sentence: "None of your business."
Bai Xie was arrogant in his youth. Seeing this demon speaking to him like this, he mocked, "This is the first time I've ever seen such a small temple."
"Even the human realm isn't as shabby as you."
Bai Xie's mouth is far too vicious.
Qing Chu, with strength that seemed to come from nowhere, raised his hand and unleashed hundreds of fierce and robust water pythons that attacked Bai Xie. Unable to scatter or repel the pythons, Bai Xie, enraged, resorted to a dragon claw attack that nearly destroyed the temple.
Qing Chu protected the statue, his eyes filled with anger, and spat out the marrow bead from the tip of his tongue.
"An ancient Hou pearl?" Bai Xie exclaimed in surprise upon seeing the marrow pearl.
Hou is an ancient ferocious beast, said to be the ancestor of the Qilin clan. It was once imprisoned by two gods, its soul scattered and escaped, and its body turned into a marrow bead.
The ancient Hou Pearl is an object of extreme water.
As soon as the marrow pearl appeared, Qing Chu's size gradually increased to the height of the temple.
His hair transformed into black worms with ferocious fangs and a foul stench, making him perhaps no less terrifying than the eighteen levels of hellish demons.
The two exchanged blows with extreme speed and ruthlessness.
In the blink of an eye, the temple was filled with shattered and collapsed pillars, and the statues of gods swayed precariously, as if they were about to fall to the mortal world.
Perhaps it was the end of Qing Chu's all-out attack, or perhaps Bai Xie had recovered his body in the Xuan Shui, but this round of battle was about to end with Chi Long's overwhelming victory.
Bai Xie gripped Qing Chu's neck with his claws, his dragon eyes mocking, "The Hou Pearl is not something a little demon should take."
Qingchu flapped its fish tail, angering Bai Xie, who then threw the filthy merman onto the already precarious pillar, whereupon he saw it vomit large amounts of blood.
Boom—
The long pillar collapsed and crashed into the faceless statue.
"No--!"
Despite being covered in wounds, the merman mustered his last breath and lunged at the statue.
He risked his life to protect the god, but ended up with a bloody head.
Qing Chu held the collapsed statue and looked at its head in panic, only to see a magical force protecting the god's head from his grasp.
He breathed a sigh of relief when the statue was undamaged.
He gave Yingning a grateful look, then carefully lifted the statue and placed it in the center of the temple.
The temple was in ruins, but this one remained intact.
Bai Xie was unwilling to be disrespectful to the statue. He gently touched the ancient Hou Pearl lying in mid-air with his dragon claw, and a spiritual power and memory from millions of years ago surged into the temple.
Millions of years ago.
The mermaid was still young when, while fleeing from his enemies' prey, he happened to stumble upon the god who was leisurely playing in the demon realm, drinking himself into a stupor.
She drove away his enemies and made him blush with embarrassment.
But when the deity left the demon realm, he patted the little fish tail with reluctance, crying bitterly. But the deity tapped his head with his fingertip:
All good things must come to an end.
He wanted to go with her, but found it too difficult to say, so he lowered his head and stubbornly asked her:
"A member of the demon race..."
How does one become a god?
The deity rested his chin on his hand, his usual playful tone gone: "Although the demon race can form a contract with the gods, they lose their freedom."
"If you want to become a god, then cultivate diligently."
"How does one cultivate?"
"Entering the world brings suffering; cultivate your body, your nature, and your spirit." This is what the divine lord said.
The demon realm was carefree and unrestrained, so he planned to find a place of hell on earth. When the little mermaid realized that death was a kind of suffering in the world, he came to the realm of ghosts.
Too many people die here every day.
At first he stood by and did nothing, but later, for some reason, those souls that had lost their bodies began to gather around him.
After a long time, it seemed that no one had died.
But those wandering souls gradually transformed into vengeful spirits and evil spirits. He knew that if the souls of the human world were to transform into vengeful spirits, they would never be able to enter the cycle of reincarnation again.
He couldn't bear it.
The little mermaid carefully collected the life essences. Since his own demonic power was insufficient, he used the marrow pearl given to him by the god. He collected and protected those life essences day and night, trying his best not to let them be contaminated by evil energy.
He held onto a single inch of kindness and guarded his original heart.
pity--
It's been far too long.
So long that those living souls around him and within his body gradually transformed into vengeful spirits and evil spirits, Qing Chu never found anyone who could guide them into reincarnation.
The long, lonely years also eroded him with resentment.
Even though he returned to the realm set up by the God-King time and time again, and cleansed himself countless times with the Xuan Water, he could not restore the fish tail that had been eroded by resentment, nor could he dispel the foul stench emanating from his body.
He no longer knew what he was doing; he was simply collecting life essences with a strong obsession, and then carefully protecting them within his body.
The slender, smooth body was now filthy, and the beautiful fish tail was tattered and broken.
He no longer recognizes himself.
Qing Chu prostrated himself beneath the divine throne, gazing up at the unreachable face of the statue. The resentment and life force within him had long since tormented him, stripping him of his former obsession: "The world..."
"As expected, all good things must come to an end."
"But Lord God."
"Qing Chu seems to have misunderstood."
That's wrong.
The most painful thing in the world is not death.
Only then did he realize that searching for someone he hadn't seen for millions of years was even more painful.
The merman was losing his power, and tears fell onto the cold ground of the temple. He cried bitterly, just as he had when he learned that the god was leaving.
"Cultivation has reached this point."
"I wonder if it is possible to travel to the realm of the gods?"
"If it doesn't work, then so be it."
The merman's vision gradually blurred.
He simply had no strength left; no strength to cultivate, no strength to endure another round of suffering.
A sound of collapse rang out, and the merman finally opened his eyes to look at his god:
"Qingchu..."
"I hereby offer my blessings to the divine ruler."
May all be well for eternity.
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