Chapter Seventeen: Master Fainted! Aaaaaaaahh ...
A streak of light flashed by.
Ye Chi found himself back in a dense forest. The mist had not yet dissipated, but it had thinned considerably, and the path was now visible. Following the winding path and relying on his memory, Ye Chi returned to the thick wall of mist.
He raised his hand and channeled his spiritual energy, trying to break through the wall, but the wall remained unmoved, not even causing a ripple in its movement.
Ye Chi panicked instantly.
The power originating from the same source as the jade pendant on his body was behind this wall of mist, and he could vaguely sense some of it. As Ya Feiyu's spiritual power gradually became exhausted, he wanted to rush over to help.
But he couldn't even break through the high wall formed by the thick fog.
Damn it, what on earth happened?!
Ye Chi gripped the jade pendant tightly, hesitating whether he should smash it.
...
The sky before me, blood-red, connects the earth and the sky into one, as if they were meant to be connected from the start.
The air was thick with the stench of blood; flames raged overhead, and piles of bones lay beneath.
Ya Feiyu closed his eyes in pain, but then, as if deliberately torturing himself, he opened them again, forcing himself to see, to see all those brutal scenes, not to forget a single inch, and to engrave every detail deep into his bones.
This is the nightmare he most wants to escape, a guilt he can never escape in his lifetime.
A village ravaged by war, innocent lives lost in a sea of blood, a swordsman consumed by darkness, and a doctor worn out from his busy work.
Did you see that? A voice seemed to whisper in his mind, saying this to him:
"This is your sin."
As if bewitched by the sound, Ya Feiyu's legs went weak. He almost knelt down, but the dignity of a Celestial Venerable held him firmly in place at the last moment.
This is not his past life, and he is no longer the ruthless killer he once was.
What was he doing? Yes, he was in a forest, in the middle of a thick fog, setting up a protective barrier for his disciples.
...The illusion had already begun to corrupt him.
Realizing this, the scene before him shattered with a deafening roar. Ya Feiyu looked up and saw that the cracks in the broken barrier were getting bigger and denser, and it was about to collapse. He had no choice but to increase his spiritual energy output. None of his disciples had returned yet, and as an elder, he couldn't be the first to fall here.
That being said, but...
They really couldn't hold on any longer.
The fog's effect was likely a potent hallucinogen. Without the interference, Ya Feiyu wouldn't be struggling to hold on. However, the dense fog had unknowingly seeped into the barrier's interior, and the earlier interference prevented him from promptly patching the barrier's weak points, leading to its rupture.
The purpose of this barrier is to prevent people from falling into illusions, but in this situation, its effectiveness is definitely greatly reduced.
A slight glint of spiritual energy flashed in his palm, and Ya Feiyu's gaze darkened.
This mist, though seemingly harmless, could be so easily broken through even the defenses of a Tribulation Transcending stage cultivator. The person who set up this mist must either be a highly skilled cultivator on par with them, or possess a supreme treasure. Either way, it is extremely disadvantageous to their current situation.
What made Ya Feiyu even more uneasy was that whoever set up the illusion was certainly up to no good.
It inexplicably pulls people into an illusion, even making them see their painful past...
This doesn't seem like a gesture of goodwill.
Just then, a strange movement came from behind him. Ya Feiyu reacted quickly and dodged. He turned around abruptly and saw a faint black mist rising from where he had been sitting, carrying an unsettling aura that assaulted Ya Feiyu's senses.
He reacted almost instantly, summoning his sword with a sharp look in his eyes: "It's you again!"
The thin mist, which had been so faint it seemed as if it could be blown away, gradually condensed, becoming so thick it seemed impossible to dissolve. It slowly took on the shape of a human figure, without facial features, just a black person at first glance, yet it could speak. It was that hoarse, unpleasant voice, now carrying a nonchalant smile: "Oh dear, we've only been apart for a short time, and I never expected to run into Immortal Venerable Tianxue here. It's truly an honor for this humble one."
Ya Feiyu had no time for idle chatter. Summoning the divine sword also required spiritual energy, a consumption that he usually considered insignificant, but now it was depleting his spiritual veins with every strike. The barrier flickered as if it were about to disappear completely. Knowing that his time was running out, he simply stopped talking and raised his sword to strike.
The shadowy figure said regretfully, "You're really in a hurry, Celestial Snow Immortal Venerable."
In an instant, the shadowy figure scattered and reformed into a human behind Ya Feiyu.
“Instead of recklessly raising your sword to strike, I think we should sit down and have a talk,” the shadowy figure said.
"Enough with the nonsense, what's your purpose?"
The dark figure chuckled faintly, his laughter filled with endless sarcasm. "Of course, I wouldn't put the Immortal Venerable in danger right now. I just have a few small questions I'd like to ask the Immortal Venerable."
Ya Feiyu was skeptical, trying to discern some emotion from the shadowy figure's blank face, but to no avail. The latter said, "I wonder if the Immortal Venerable would be willing to hear a word from me?"
"Don't try any tricks."
With that, he sheathed his sword.
If the shadowy figure weren't currently unable to touch anything, he would have loved to clap his hands in praise, but unfortunately he couldn't. However, this clearly didn't dampen his cheerful mood. "The Immortal Venerable is wise."
The shadowy figure sat down opposite Ya Feiyu, appearing much more relaxed and at ease than the latter, who was wary.
"Does the Immortal Venerable know of the Four Supreme Treasures of the World?"
"The Four Treasures of the World?"
Whether in modern or ancient stories of overpowered protagonists, such treasures are usually set up to pave the way for the male protagonist's later cheat abilities. Ya Feiyu naturally remembered that when he went into a state of demonic possession in his previous life, Cen Dao seemed to have the ability to defeat him by relying on this thing.
However, in his memory, most of the Four Treasures of the World were missing. Cen Dao had only obtained one of them. Before that, most cultivators regarded the Four Treasures as an ancient legend, something you know might exist, but you definitely can't find where it is. Therefore, most cultivators were not interested in such ethereal things.
Even after living two lifetimes, he only knew the exact whereabouts of one of the treasures. He himself didn't know whether the other three were real or just fictional stories.
Caught off guard by the question, Ya Feiyu was somewhat confused, but he quickly realized that out of caution, he naturally did not reveal the information he knew. He paused for a moment, pretending to think, and then shook his head: "Whether such a thing exists or not is unknown, and I naturally do not know the details."
The shadowy figure seemed somewhat disappointed: "I see. Even the Celestial Venerable doesn't know his whereabouts? That's truly troublesome..."
"You demons also need this kind of thing?" Ya Feiyu lifted his eyelids and said indifferently, "I think you already have enough harmful magical artifacts."
Despite the sarcastic tone, the dark figure remained unperturbed, instead waving his hand and exclaiming dramatically, "Oh dear, this is something you, Immortal Venerable, are unaware of. How could one ever find a shortage of useful magical treasures? In this respect, I think you righteous cultivators are the same, aren't you? Don't some cultivators often request mortals to offer them useful magical artifacts?"
Ya Feiyu frowned slightly: "There's no need to equate me with others."
"How aloof you are, Immortal Venerable." The shadowy figure chuckled, but his tone was inexplicably chilling. "If only those cultivators who harm others and yet claim to be righteous were as aloof as you, Immortal Venerable."
The volume of the second half of the sentence grew softer and softer, as if he were muttering to himself. Ya Feiyu couldn't hear it clearly, nor did he have any interest in listening to this demon. He simply said, "Cultivating demonic arts or immortality is nothing more than cultivating one's heart."
“That’s true.” The shadowy figure’s smile faded. “Immortal Venerable, I have one last question.”
Ya Feiyu nodded slightly, but the dark shadow suddenly moved closer, its two hollow eyes staring straight at him, giving him an inexplicable chill.
He spoke slowly, each word seemingly laced with hatred, yet uttered with a light, airy tone, "May I ask, Immortal Venerable, what does it feel like to step back into the light from darkness?"
Ya Feiyu stared in astonishment, his heart filled with a secret he had carefully hidden, as if it had been suddenly exposed to the light of day, leaving him with nowhere to hide. He glared at the shadowy figure, but the latter seemed completely oblivious—or perhaps utterly indifferent to his anger—and chuckled, "If only I had the luck of a Celestial Venerable, hehe, hiding all that filthy past, washing my hands and thinking I've cleansed my soul, donning white robes and thinking blood will never again stain my supposedly noble attire..."
"I've been watching all along, Immortal Venerable, I've been watching all along."
He deliberately lowered his voice, bringing a chill that penetrated to the bone.
"You're not much different from those disgusting, righteous people."
As soon as he finished speaking, a flash of red light appeared before his eyes, and the black shadow vanished instantly, as if it had never been there. The fog wall also collapsed at that moment.
Ya Feiyu covered his lower abdomen.
Before disappearing, the shadowy figure struck again at his already weak barrier, breaking through the defenses and causing the barrier to collapse. Ya Feiyu also suffered a backlash, curling up in a disheveled state, his face pale, beads of sweat on his forehead, and his lips white.
Ye Chi rushed over and quickly helped Ya Feiyu up, letting him lean on his shoulder. "Master, Master! What happened? I clearly returned within the time limit..."
The other disciples who returned from outside the fog wall also stepped forward to check. Shen Rong put two fingers together, took his pulse, and said, "The barrier was destroyed, and the Immortal Venerable suffered a backlash. It wouldn't have been a big deal, but the Immortal Venerable maintained the barrier for several hours recently, and his spiritual power is somewhat depleted. I'm afraid he won't be able to recover on his own in a short time."
Ye Chi held Ya Feiyu's hand tightly.
So cold, so chilly, so thin.
Without the slightest hesitation, he smashed the jade pendant that Ya Feiyu had handed him. His spiritual energy sensed its master's aura and slowly flowed into Ya Feiyu's fingertips, returning to his dantian and merging into his golden core.
Ya Feiyu's expression improved somewhat.
Seeing this, everyone breathed a sigh of relief.
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