Chapter 64 The Truth Behind the Three Jade Slips and the Heavenly Tribulation. (First Update)
Yin Zejing never expected to receive such a response.
Looking into Hua Deng's calm eyes, he finally had to admit that he was actually an arrogant guy, stubbornly interpreting Chen Zhou according to his own way of thinking, even though he had never succeeded.
But it doesn't matter anymore. He's a dead man, and this girl will stay by Shen Zhou's side.
A blue butterfly fluttered by and landed on Hua Deng's shoulder. Yin Zejing smiled slightly, his gaze gentle and his smile reassuring.
The butterfly flew away.
Yin Zejing turned back to the streetlights and said, "There's something I'm a little curious about—can I see your ring?"
Hua Deng paused for a moment, but did not refuse, and extended a hand.
She couldn't take the ring off, so this was the only way she could show it to Yin Zejing.
Yin Zejing stroked his chin: "It is indeed quite strong, and the defensive effect is also very good. I didn't expect him to be so proficient in weapon crafting. Chen Xi will be unhappy when he finds out."
Hua Deng asked curiously, "Why?"
“Because Chen Xi initially wanted to be a sword cultivator, but he couldn’t learn any sword technique as quickly as Shen Zhou, so he became a weapon cultivator.” Yin Zejing raised an eyebrow, his tone tinged with smugness. “Even Shen Zhou doesn’t know this; only I do.”
Hua Deng chuckled: "Miss Chen's talent for refining weapons is indeed excellent. Shen Zhou gave me the Jade Void Fan she refined, which I really like."
"Of course, this is for Chen Xi's future sister-in-law. She put a lot of thought into it."
"ah?"
Hua Deng stared wide-eyed.
Yin Zejing immediately understood and teased, "Oh dear, it seems there's someone who's too embarrassed to tell you."
Actually, he wasn't telling the whole truth. After all, when Chen Xi gave the fan to Shen Zhou, he solemnly instructed him: "Give the fan to a nice girl when you meet her in the future."
Shen Zhou didn't understand what she meant at all, and frowned, saying, "A fan, why should it be divided into men's and women's? Fine, whatever you say."
At the time, both he and Chen Xi were speechless and didn't expect him to find a Daoist partner, so they never mentioned it again.
But that doesn’t stop him from adding fuel to the fire at this moment.
"He must have secretly fallen for you all along, but he's been stubbornly keeping it from you. Sigh, that's just how he is..."
Hua Deng's ears turned slightly red: "Is that so? I really didn't realize."
"Definitely! Don't let his denials fool you, he's secretly overjoyed..."
Yin Zejing, beaming with excitement and ready to press on, suddenly froze, his mouth falling silent. Right opposite him, the very person being slandered had expressionlessly torn open the passage and walked out.
Oblivious to everything behind him, Hua Deng urged, "Anything else?"
Yin Zejing chuckled awkwardly: "What? Oh, I think I was sleepwalking just now. You know, sleeping for too long is no good, huh?"
He extended a finger and gently pushed the ring on the lantern, saying cautiously, "Actually, nothing happened, you hurry... I'll go!"
He exclaimed in surprise.
For some reason, this ring absorbed his divine consciousness, even though it was only a wisp of divine consciousness, which was at least at the Tribulation Transcending stage!
Shen Zhou watched coldly from the sidelines, then gave a very immoral, mocking laugh.
Yin Zejing struggled desperately, and immediately cursed, "You grandson, how dare you plot against your grandfather!"
Hua Deng then noticed Shen Zhou's figure and subconsciously reached out to grab Yin Zejing's consciousness.
Shen Zhou immediately pulled her hand away, but it seemed to be too late. Whether it was because of Yin Zejing or the effect of the ring, she instantly fell into a chaotic space-time.
Countless fragments flashed past my eyes.
Yin Zejing's consciousness stored his most profound memories from his life. She saw him practicing swordsmanship with Shen Zhou, saw him proposing to Chen Xi, and also saw him and Chen Xi sitting under the eaves on a rainy spring day.
That was their home in the south, where rain fell and flowers and grasses flourished.
Laughter from children playing could be heard occasionally from outside the courtyard wall. Yin Zejing handed Chen Xi a cup of tea and joked, "If we had a child like you, that would be so cute."
Chen Xi took the tea, held it in her hands, and blew on it: "Are the elders of the Yin family urging you to have an heir? If it's necessary, I can..."
Yin Zejing immediately said, "It has nothing to do with them; it's just my own opinion."
Chen Xi did not speak.
"Don't you like children?" he said.
“I can’t give them the love they deserve,” Chen Xi said.
Yin Zejing smiled, trying to make her tone sound light: "How could that be? Didn't A-Zhou say that your parents both loved you, and that you would definitely be a good mother..."
He couldn't continue.
For the first time, he had seen this kind of distorted expression on Chen Xi's face.
Unaware of anything amiss, she met his gaze with that distorted expression and asked, "Love?"
“…Isn’t that right?” Yin Zejing said in a low voice.
He was separated from his parents at a very young age and was taken to his family to be raised. His task was to become an excellent head of the family, and he relied mostly on imagination to understand family affection.
Both of them were silent for a moment. Chen Xi lowered his eyes and drank a cup of tea.
“No, you’re right.” She gripped her teacup tighter. “If a father tells his child bedtime stories and a mother cooks his child’s favorite dish, then they must love their child, right?”
Even when she was four years old, she had a persistent high fever and her father stayed out all night.
Even when she was twelve, after beheading enemies and dragging their corpses home, her mother only glanced at them hastily and said, "Throw them outside."
Nevertheless, that doesn't mean they were wrong; perhaps this is what love is all about in this world.
Yin Zejing hesitated before answering, "I guess so."
He then changed the subject, saying, "I know, I was just saying it casually, don't take it to heart. If those elders or anything come looking for you, you can yell back or even hit them back."
"..."
Chen Xi put down his teacup, looked at the raindrops dripping from the eaves, and responded softly.
After that, the elders didn't look for Chen Xi, but they did look for Yin Zejing several times.
They initially insisted that the couple have children, but eventually compromised and agreed to let them adopt one child.
No matter how much they backed down, Yin Zejing always said the same thing: "If all you need is the head of the family's child, then I will resign from my position as head of the family."
When they realized that Yin Zejing was not joking, no one dared to say another word.
The Yin family had many geniuses, but there was only one Yin Zejing. At that time, the cultivation world was in chaos, and very few cultivators could advance to the Tribulation Transcending stage. Without a doubt, for the Yin family, Yin Zejing was the most promising genius to break through in nearly a thousand years.
Without external distractions, Chen Xi could concentrate on refining magical artifacts.
But Yin Zejing had no idea what she was doing.
He had never seen such a magical artifact before. Three jade slips—what could they be used for? He couldn't figure it out.
All he could do when Chen Xi failed again was hold her hand and say, "Don't do anything that puts you in danger, okay?"
Chen Xi should have said, "I don't care about the danger," or "I have to do this," but this time, she remained silent.
Yin Zejing felt a surge of joy in his chest, his heart pounding, as if that secret expectation was about to be fulfilled.
Suddenly, the white crane they kept in the yard cried out.
Its cries were shrill and loud, shaking the heavens.
Chen Xi woke up with a start.
She released his hand and walked away, her words drifting on the wind: "I won't stop, no matter who tries to stop me."
At that moment, Yin Zejing suddenly remembered Shen Zhou's words: "You can't keep her, and neither can I."
That's the only way.
After that, they lived peacefully for two hundred years, regardless of their anxieties or hardships.
This was a lucky thing. Sometimes Yin Zejing would think that at least none of the three of them had died under the heavenly tribulation.
Until this day, Chen Xi decided to attempt to break through to the Fusion Stage.
At that time, Yin Zejing had already broken through the Tribulation Transcending Realm and was one of the top masters in the world.
With the protection of the Yin family's magic array, plus his own power, he was confident that he could protect Chen Xi from the heavenly tribulation.
The tribulation lightning arrived as scheduled.
It was at that time that Yin Zejing first saw Chen Xi take out three jade slips.
At first, he used it as a defensive artifact, but he soon realized something was wrong.
Since she took out the jade slip, the power of the heavenly tribulation suddenly increased, almost making him feel strained.
Having barely survived the thirty-six bolts of purple lightning, they were met with an even more terrifying catastrophe.
"Chen Xi, what are you doing!" he shouted in the howling wind.
Chen Xi turned around and glanced at him once, and that was the only glance she gave him.
The jade slip flew from her hand and into the depths of the heavenly thunder. She vaguely said, "I want to see the truth of this world."
The heavenly thunder was as devastating as if it were destroying the world.
Yin Zejing then understood.
This is not the Heavenly Tribulation of the Four Nines for breaking through realms, nor even the Heavenly Tribulation of the Nine Nines for ascension; it is divine retribution, divine punishment!
Heaven will punish this ant who dares to pry into the secrets of Heaven and rebel against its will.
Is he just supposed to watch helplessly?
At this moment, Shen Zhou arrived.
It's not surprising that he came, because Chen Xi told him.
As a being with five spiritual roots, he cultivated all the way to the Nascent Soul stage, which can be called a miracle. However, under this tribulation of lightning, he was as insignificant as dust.
But Yin Zejing knew he had a way; he always had a way.
Sure enough, he successfully redirected the tribulation lightning to himself, thus deceiving the Heavenly Dao in order to save Chen Xi.
Yin Zejing's sword trembled uncontrollably.
He didn't know what to do.
If he doesn't push Shen Zhou away, he will die; but if he does push him away, Chen Xi will die.
Purple lightning bolts struck Shen Zhou one after another.
Two of Chen Xi's three jade slips split off at this moment, isolating Shen Zhou from her presence. She was still suffering the lightning tribulations alone.
Just as Shen Zhou had guessed she would die here, she also guessed that her brother was willing to die in her place.
She would call Shen Zhou over, having already made thorough preparations.
Separated by the boundary formed by the interwoven jade slips, the brother and sister gazed at each other in silence.
It was as if this ending had been anticipated all along.
As the final bolt of lightning struck, the two fell from the sky, but Yin Zejing caught them.
He saw Shen Zhou get up, kneel down next to Chen Xi, and attempt to activate the Nine Revolutions of Heaven and Earth Technique.
However, after only a few breaths, he slowly lowered his hand.
As expected, the array of the Nine Revolutions of Heaven and Earth Technique disappeared. The array he had planted for his mother and sister, one failed to function, and the other was silently dispelled.
He kept his head down, and Yin Zejing couldn't see his expression. Chen Xi propped himself up on his arm and sat up, seemingly no different from usual: "Brother, you really are a genius. What you figured out in a month, it took me ten years to solve."
Shen Zhou slowly raised his head, and Yin Zejing found him eerily calm, his tone completely unwavering: "You called me here just to witness your death?"
“No,” Chen Xi smiled, “it is to witness the truth of this world.”
She handed the last remaining jade slip to Shen Zhou.
“Once upon a time, there was a powerful being at the peak of the Tribulation Transcending stage, only one step away from ascension. Although he died under the Heavenly Tribulation, he had touched the true meaning of the world and left us a last message. Now I have found it. This jade slip is connected to the Yin family's Heaven-Shaking Pillar, and his last message will be known to everyone.”
Shen Zhou remained unmoved. He asked, "And then?"
"Then we can find a way to break free from the heavenly tribulation."
"And then?" Shen Zhou asked again.
Chen Xi sighed softly.
"I want all living beings to no longer die needlessly from lightning tribulations, no longer go mad from fear, I hope every child can grow up safely, and I hope every family will not be forced to separate."
Her body was falling apart, yet her eyes held a rare light, a light that contained a certain hope.
She said, "If that's the case, can I become the good child my parents talk about, someone who makes a small contribution to the people?"
Shen Zhou's knuckles turned blue and white as he gripped the jade slip tightly.
After a long while, he slowly raised his hand, wiped away the blood droplets on Chen Xi's face, and said softly, "Yes, you did it. I'm proud of you."
Chen Xi smiled. She couldn't see clearly, so she could only ask Chen Zhou, "What's written on this?"
Shen Zhou lowered his head and read the words on it: "The immortal is dead... the way of heaven is flawed."
He touched Chen Xi's forehead with the jade slip, and all the information rushed in like a tide, flooding into Chen Xi's brain.
She clutched the jade slip and saw the entire contents of the last words.
"Twenty thousand years ago, a great calamity struck the myriad realms. The upper realm suffered severe damage, its spiritual energy was cut off, and its survival was precarious. In order to plunder resources, the immortals invaded the Nine Provinces. After a thousand-year war, all the immortals died, and the Nine Provinces were on the verge of destruction, never to return to what they once were."
"A thousand years later, the Heavenly Dao of the two realms merged, and the Heavenly Dao of the Upper Realm took control of the Nine Provinces, destroyed the Ascension Ladder, and isolated the Nine Provinces from the myriad realms. History was buried in the dust."
"This is the origin of the Dharma-ending Age, and also the truth of the Heavenly Tribulation."
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