Chapter 48
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There was a time when tranquility was unconscious.
He was swept into the deep water of the river by the huge waves. His body was soaked and cold, and his devilish breath was almost frozen. When he opened his eyes with difficulty, he found himself in a cold and dark body of water.
Ning Shen's whole body was so stiff and cold that he could hardly curl up. He raised his head and looked around.
There were no other living creatures at the bottom of the river, no light sources, and no surging waves. It was completely dead silent and dark all around. No matter where Ning Shen swam, the scenery around him would not change. He had lost the most basic concept of time and space.
Ning Shen tried hard to swim upstream, but when he was exhausted, neither he nor the sparse, dim, and distorted sky above his head had changed.
Ning Chen: “…”
What to do? Wait for death or else.
Demonic aura is the most fundamental source of his self-protection, but soaking in this deep, cold and dark river water for a long time will easily freeze the demonic aura in the body. When it becomes completely stagnant and unable to move, even Ning Chen will drown in this river of reincarnation.
Ning Chen seemed to understand a little bit why this place was so difficult as a heavenly secret realm.
He is dying.
Ning Chen has always been heartless. This is the first time that he has felt the vitality draining away from his body so clearly and slowly.
Actually, dying is not a strange and scary thing. Ning Shen is familiar with it after a while. When he first came, he was also nonchalant. At first, he thought that if the mission failed, he would just be reincarnated, so it was no big deal.
However, when he once again faced the emptiness and silence, and the death that was looming silently like a ghost, Ning Chen found that he didn't seem to care so much.
Maybe... maybe the male lead was too fun and he didn’t have enough fun.
Find joy in the midst of suffering, and think silently.
If there wasn't an endless mission hanging over his head, Ning Chen might have been able to stay here for a long time with this identity.
No one knows how Xie Tingyun will react when Ning Chen appears in front of him again after taking the devil's heart and changing his body.
Xie Tingyun might not recognize him, or he might be shocked after recognizing him, shocked that the enemy killed by Fei Jinbala was actually standing in front of him alive?
Ning Chen found that he still seemed to have some hope that Xie Tingyun would recognize him.
Suddenly, a vague fluorescent light appeared in the distance. Ning Shen narrowed his eyes and stared at the vague light for a long time before he finally felt that it was a moving ball of light.
The blurry glow was like plankton that had entered the ocean, floating around aimlessly, as if it was looking for something but couldn't find the direction, just like Ning Chen.
Ning Chen was unaware that his thoughts were slowing down unconsciously. He thought for a long time before he realized that he was in a state of being lost.
However, Ning Chen should be the only one lost in the Samsara River, so how could other living creatures appear there?
Ning Shen was still a long way away from the light. Since he was just waiting here anyway, he might as well swim over and take a look.
I just don't know if I can swim across.
As his stiff and cold limbs gradually began to move, Ning Chen also managed to muster up a bit of energy. Only then did Ning Chen suddenly remember that, no, he still had a spare body!
Theoretically, even if the original body gets lost here and eventually dies, Ning Chen can continue to live in another body before death?
Ning Chen became alert instantly when he thought of this. He tapped system 014 in his mind and the result was that he could do so.
"But," System 014 said worriedly, "that is your only way out. After taking the devil's heart, your original body will no longer be able to survive. By then, you will have no backup body. Even if you complete the mission, you will not be able to stay in this world."
Ning Chen said, "Don't be so stingy. Can't you give me one more? If it really doesn't work, I can exchange it with points."
If System 014 had a physical body, its head would be shaking like a rattle: "Host, it doesn't work like that. Each host will only have one spare body for free, and it will only be given as an extra gift when there is a death escape plot in the main storyline. You can redeem it with the points you earn, but——"
System 014 was a little sad, and it seemed that it didn't want him to use up this precious opportunity. It said tactfully: "Even if you dig out all the main and hidden plot points in this world and do them again, the points you get will not be enough for you to exchange for a new body."
Ning Chen: “…”
After saying so much, it’s still a waste of time. The good things are very expensive. It is impossible for him, a time traveler who just came in to do the mission, to have enough points to buy them.
Ning Chen said unhappily: "Even if I complete the mission, if I don't have this body in the end, wouldn't it be a waste of time to reincarnate?"
014 said aggrievedly, "Not really. You can choose to be sent to other worlds, where there is a free initial quota. And generally speaking, as long as you don't do anything stupid, you won't be at risk of death while completing the mission, except when a predetermined death is required."
In short, when the predetermined time of death comes, Ning Chen can escape and change his body, but before that, if Su Zhu dies accidentally, there is nothing that can be done.
Ning Chen saw that there was no hope, so he immediately turned hostile and said coldly, "I'll kill you guys for what you're doing."
014: “…”
Other worlds are not even as interesting as Xie Tingyun. It would be useless for him to go there.
Ning Shen pinched his eyebrows irritably and said, "I just picked up a ring, how can this be considered as courting death?"
At this point, 014 perked up: "No, no, no, host, please raise your head."
Ning Chen was busy talking to 014 at the moment. When he looked up again, the faint, fuzzy ball of light had come a little closer, but it seemed that it still couldn't find the person it was looking for. So the ball of light began to flicker, which was extremely eye-catching in the extremely dark environment.
But there is more.
In addition to that ball of whitish light, many tiny balls of light had appeared at some point in time. Although those balls of light were not as bright as the first ball of fluorescent light, they still persevered and followed the first ball of light around.
Lights of varying brightness formed a patch above Ning Shen's head, floating quietly under the extremely dark and deep waters, like stars reflected in the water.
The middle is the brightest and most powerful, and if you look closely you can seem to see a white figure.
"..." Ning Chen stood there in a daze.
014 said softly: "Host, do you still have magic breath? Can you light a fire?"
Ning Shen raised his head and quietly watched the ball of light circling and floating, as if looking for someone.
Hearing 014's voice, he suddenly came back to his senses. He was silent for a while and twirled his stiff fingertips.
Ning Chen lowered his eyes and silently gathered a ball of demonic energy. Then he saw the dark demonic energy suddenly burning in the palm of Ning Chen's hand. A ball of bright fire instantly appeared under the dark and lightless waters.
All the light balls of varying brightness changed their directions instantly, as if they had finally found their target, and swam towards Ning Chen in unison.
Like a starry sky dotted in the darkness, it slowly fell towards one person.
Ning Chen was rarely at a loss and even thought about escaping from the spot again.
However, before Ning Chen could actually realize this idea, he saw the brightest light go from blurry to clear, and the whole process happened in just a few blinks of an eye.
The ball of light supported by spiritual power fell near the corner of Ning Shen's eyes, illuminating the white figure in the dark red eyes.
Ning Shen found it difficult to describe the feeling of a person transforming from a blurry ball of light into a clear figure and then gradually appearing in front of him. It was like a beam of light shining on his hand from a far distance, and in the blink of an eye it went from being out of reach to being within reach. It was subtle and novel. He had never known that a ball of light could make him miraculously speechless and quiet like this.
You are never allowed to look back in the river of samsara, otherwise you will be lost in it forever, trapped in the unknown cycle of samsara for generations until your life is exhausted.
Because of this, few people in the world of cultivation know that if someone who has already escaped the cycle of reincarnation is willing to turn back and look for someone who has been lost, they can bring him out of the lost cycle of reincarnation.
Ning Chen sent the righteous monks out safely, but he himself got lost in the reincarnation. Then the monks who were sent out followed Xie Tingyun's footsteps and jumped back willingly one after another.
Perhaps it was because the first time was new but the second time was familiar, Ning Chen subconsciously reached out and caught Xie Tingyun who fell silently.
After Ning Chen finished the move, he suddenly came to his senses and thought in disbelief: Why is he so skilled?!
Xie Tingyun didn't think so much. He broke away from Ning Chen's arms, grabbed Ning Chen's wrist with his pale hand, and stuffed a bunch of magic cores and demon pills into his palm.
Xie Tingyun gently tapped the back of Ning Chen's hand holding the crystal core, signaling him to eat it quickly. Then he reached out and held Ning Chen, and swam upwards neatly and efficiently.
Until then, Ning Chen finally saw the other light balls clearly. They turned out to be the other cultivators who had already come ashore. All the fellow disciples of Liuyun Sect had come ashore. They swam to Ning Chen and Xie Tingyun, shedding tears while pointing at Ning Chen with gestures and lip-syncing to him.
Ning Chen watched for a long time before he realized what they meant by their lip movements: "What will happen to our senior brother if you die?!"
Ning Chen: “…”
Ning Chen was simply confused and had a lot of questions in his mind. However, Xie Tingyun turned around and looked at him. Seeing that he hadn't eaten, he thought Ning Chen was picky about food, and mouthed helplessly, "It's already this late, there's no choice, just eat a few bites."
Ning Chen: “…”
Forget it, what else can I worry about?
Fortunately, this little episode dispelled Ning Chen's uneasiness. He lowered his eyes and looked at the magic core that Xie Tingyun had stuffed over. There were a few demon pills mixed in it, most of which were at the Jindan stage, so the purity of the demonic energy was not high, but fortunately it was still mixable.
The demonic aura that filled Ning Chen's body was almost completely frozen, and there was really no choice but to pick out the demon core inside and eat it in a few bites. At least he recovered some strength and avoided being drowned in disgrace.
Since he was still able to move, Ning Chen did not touch the remaining demon pills. After carefully picking and choosing but unable to find any magic energy to eat, he stuffed it back to Xie Tingyun.
Xie Tingyun: "..."
Xie Tingyun looked at him with silent condemnation in his eyes.
Ning Chen met his gaze and said innocently, "You believe me, and I don't want to be picky, but this is really unpalatable. You'll know once you take a bite."
Anyway, you won't die if you don't eat it, so it's better not to eat it.
Xie Tingyun: "..."
Xie Tingyun really has no temper.
However, Ning Chen's current condition was not good either. The countless small wounds on his body had turned white from being soaked. Although he was no longer bleeding, the poison had obviously penetrated into him.
Xie Tingyun was really afraid that he would faint without saying a word, so he had no choice but to search through his body and found a few bottles of tonic pills. He handed them to him without hesitation and said, "Can you eat this?"
Ning Chen took it, uncorked it, tasted two pills, and quickly handed it back: "It's tasteless and irritating."
Xie Tingyun: "..."
Oh, I knew it.
The spiritual and demonic energies are extremely counterproductive to each other. Tianxiao is a demon, and the demonic energy he replenished with the spiritual pills he took might not be as much as the demonic energy he consumed.
Ning Chen broke away from Xie Tingyun's lead and swam upstream behind Xie Tingyun. For some reason, since Xie Tingyun and the others appeared, Ning Chen suddenly regained his perception of time and space. The surrounding scenery was no longer the same no matter how he swam. He could even see the ball of light that had just gone out and then lit up again.
As they got closer and closer to the water surface, the brightness of their field of vision continued to increase. The light created by their spiritual power gradually dimmed in contrast, and the figures gradually became clearer.
Only after he broke through the water and was able to catch his breath did Ning Chen see clearly that the monks who jumped down were actually wrapped in some transparent silk threads, and those silk threads all quickly separated at one end and gathered around Xie Tingyun.
Before Ning Chen could retract the magic energy coming out of his fingertips, he was getting closer to Xie Tingyun, and the magic energy on his fingertips accidentally touched the spiritual power threads tied to Xie Tingyun's body. Then, without waiting for the owner to react, he took a bite of the spiritual power threads.
After Ning Chen was stabbed by a bunch of spiritual energy again, he suddenly realized what he had done: "..."
But Xie Tingyun didn't seem to notice. He took a deep breath, climbed up the shore, and then reached out to take Ning Chen: "Come up."
Ning Chen tasted some very special flavors from the pile of piercing spiritual power. He savored it secretly and thought it seemed quite good.
Ning Chen was not the kind of person who would make excuses. When he saw Xie Tingyun's pale and slender hand reaching out to him, he was about to reach out and grab it, but the hungry ghost-like demonic energy at his fingertips seemed to recognize Xie Tingyun's breath, and it entangled Xie Tingyun's fingertips before Ning Chen, and then carefully took a bite of Xie Tingyun's protective spiritual power.
Xie Tingyun: “?”
Ning Chen: “?”
The ball of evil spirit swallowed the spiritual power in one gulp, and then seemed to be unsatisfied. It rubbed Xie Tingyun's hand lightly, and then secretly took a bite of Xie Tingyun's spiritual power. Then it contentedly rolled up Xie Tingyun's hand and rubbed it around to express its gratitude.
Ning Chen met Xie Tingyun's gaze and for a moment he could not even quibble. He could only cough slightly and said dryly: "...If I say it's quite delicious, will you be angry?"
Xie Tingyun: "..."
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The author has something to say:
Mao Xiaoning: Just one bite, just one bite (cat's hand, cat's foot) (rubs Xiao Xie's hand modestly) (takes one bite)