Behind me, there was a crisp 'click-clack' sound, like an old, dilapidated mechanical puppet whose joints creaked and groaned as it moved due to lack of lubrication. The sound was particularly jarring.
The clicking sound grew louder and louder, and the two finally stopped in their tracks. For a moment, they didn't even turn around.
"...Lou Yunqi, are you sure he's dead?"
Lou Yunqi's expression turned somewhat grim upon hearing this: "My sword severed all his life force, and when your puppet strings entered his body, didn't they also directly shatter his soul?"
Upon hearing this, Mu Cangwu fell silent for a moment.
If that's the case, then what exactly is behind us...?
On the desolate ice plain, a sudden gust of cold wind whipped at their clothes, creating a strange melody in the deathly silence. The two of them turned around simultaneously.
On the ground lay the blood that had flowed from Shen Chang as he lay dying, forming large pools of blood that stained the cold, desolate wilderness beneath.
The boy who had been lying on the ground with large holes in his waist, abdomen, and chest, piercing through his body and dying, stood up. He was covered in blood and had his head down.
"...Shen Changlin."
"Long time no see, my two halves that separated."
His voice was hoarse, uttering each word slowly and deliberately, sounding jarring like a broken string, or as if he hadn't spoken in a long time, halting and stumbling. It was clearly the tone of a young man, yet somewhat stiff.
After the pale golden power of the Heavenly Dao enveloped Shen Changlin's body, the large hole that had been torn open began to heal—even his heart was regrowth at a speed visible to the naked eye.
This is truly... a miraculous comeback!
Lou Yunqi and Mu Cangwu's expressions grew increasingly grim, and that vague sense of familiarity made their hearts sink even deeper.
They all knew that they had some connection with the Heavenly Dao, but—if the person in front of them was the Heavenly Dao, then what about the so-called half-body?
At this moment, Tiandao looked down at the blood on his body. Shen Changlin's plain white Taoist robe was stained. He couldn't help but frown, and after wiping it with his hand, it became clean again.
"This is my first time coming into this world."
"You are... the Heavenly Dao?"
Lou Yunqi's voice was slightly hoarse, and his pupils trembled slightly.
But Tiandao shook his head. Before the two could even breathe a sigh of relief, he flashed and appeared directly in front of them. Then, his fingertips pierced through their chests!
In the palm of my hand is a warm, beating heart.
Lou Yunqi and Mu Cangwu were unable to resist at that moment. Their bodies were suppressed as if they were being oppressed by the entire world, and they were unable to resist the power of heaven and earth.
"You, who exactly are you..."
“I am the Heavenly Dao, but—I am missing you.”
The Heavenly Dao said in a low voice, "The Heavenly Dao cannot have emotions, so I separated my emotions and left half of my body in this world to quietly wait for her to return."
"Your existence is solely for the purpose of getting her to accept you. To be honest... I did consider creating two halves of your bodies to compete for the chances of success, but I still failed. She has never been willing to choose me..."
Tiandao murmured, somewhat bored, and tapped the two hearts with his fingertips as if playing with an object. He seemed to be practicing speaking, which was why he had a little free time to chat.
The young man's face was handsome and clean, like the golden sunlight. But after the arrival of the Heavenly Dao, the expression on his face completely disappeared, replaced by indifference and coldness, carrying the Heavenly Dao's unique coldness and indifference, as unapproachable as the rules themselves.
But at this moment, as the pale golden power was gradually drawn out from Lou Yunqi and Mu Cangwu's bodies, Tiandao's face was faintly filled with a twisted and frenzied love.
It's as if... it has regained its emotions and come back to life.
"You will descend upon us if you kill Shen Changlin, so why are you still sensing us... preventing us from killing him..."
The Heavenly Dao paused, slightly adjusting its expression, and slowly tried to approach Shen Changlin: "If you two succeed, then I will descend upon you. If you fail, then I will descend upon Shen Changlin. We have been waiting for this day to cultivate our innate Dao bodies, and we are constantly urging him to grow."
"Moreover, he was born with a Dao body, so it was impossible for him to break through to the Tribulation Transcending stage, let alone ascend, thus forever cutting off his path forward, because—he was just a puppet controlled by the Heavenly Dao."
If Shen Changlin were still lucid, he would know that the Great Ascension stage shackles that the black mist had mentioned were something he could never break through in this lifetime.
Having a naturally occurring Taoist physique is both extremely auspicious and extremely inauspicious.
At this moment, Tiandao was still whispering, "She came here only for this one person, Shen Changlin. In the end, you are all backup plans. If I ask you to kill Shen Changlin, you will be suspicious."
By the end, the voice of Heaven had returned.
His voice and expression were becoming increasingly similar to Shen Changlin's, even indistinguishable from a young boy's. His eyebrows curved, and he was obedient and well-behaved.
But... he almost lifted the two of them high into the air, and the pale golden power flowing into his body became thinner and thinner. Starting from his fingertips, Lou Yunqi and Mu Cangwu gradually turned into drifting specks of light, and those pale golden specks of light continued to merge into the body of the Heavenly Dao.
Unable to resist, unable even to speak—it turns out that until their death, they were never independent individuals, but merely pitiful energy bodies separated from the Dao of Heaven.
With a 'click'.
The jade-shaped bone fan fell to the ground, crashing down along with the longsword.
—Hey, you crazy Lou, you've killed so many people, and now you're not even human anymore. It's hilarious.
—You idiot, shut your mouth, you won't rest in peace even in death.
On the desolate plains ravaged by swirling snow, even the last two thoughts were encompassed by the Heavenly Dao within its body. They didn't even leave behind any corpses, but instead turned into specks of light that were absorbed by the main body.
"Is this an emotion that belongs to you...?"
The Heavenly Dao lowered its eyes, a faint gold gleaming in its deep black depths. With a single step, the jade-bone fan and longsword snapped in two, but it did not turn back. Embraced by heaven and earth, it flew towards the edge of the frigid land.
The biting wind carried away the mocking words before dissipating.
"With only half a body, how can there be self-awareness?"
...
That was the Wandao Gate at sunset, towering peaks rising like blood-red sunset clouds that burned the sky, and then... enveloped everything.
Above the main hall, Zhan Hongyuan stood with his hands behind his back, gazing into the distance.
Those who cultivate the Tao always have some kind of subtle perception.
It could bring great joy or great sorrow.
But what he sensed now was his own death calamity, like a dense net enveloping Zhan Hongyuan. He had calculated it with his fingers, but no matter what method he used, he could not resist it.
"Could it be a catastrophe descending from the heavens...?"
His voice was slightly hoarse. Decades of planning had been ruined in an instant. Ruan Qing'an had disappeared without a trace. Even if the great calamity had not come, he would hardly survive with his body full of injuries.
Finally, at this moment, the entire Wandao Sect was enveloped by a powerful aura, and everything was suppressed.
Then—all was silent, the world fell silent.
Then a tall figure emerged, dressed in a plain white Taoist robe, carrying a long sword in one hand, descending step by step from the clouds.
"Shen Changlin, is that you?!"
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