Chapter 283 Upholding the Righteous Path for Her
The Yellow Springs will not ferry me across.
These few words perfectly capture the loneliness and sorrow of life.
More and more tears welled up in Mu Jianjian's eyes, and she couldn't help but take a step back, unable to believe that what she was seeing was real.
Is this the ending of the original book...?
Tears fell onto the twelve-sided fan at her feet. Mu Jianjian slowly bent down and picked up the gilded fan surface, gently stroking the uneven marks of battle on it, as if she could see through the surface the various dangers and predicaments her owner had experienced when wielding the fan.
The metallic, cutting sensation came from my fingertips, just like the stabbing pain in my heart.
"And what about you? The world has been taken over by alien species, and even the underworld is probably blood-red," Zhong Chuan was no longer the handsome and aloof man he once was. His whole body was dark, with only his outline revealing a trace of his past. "So why are you here?"
“I…” Mu Jianjian withdrew her gaze from the twelve-sided fan, looked up blankly, her tear tracks dried on her cheeks, leaving transparent marks.
"Are you a traitor who sided with those people?" Zhong Chuan's voice turned unusually cold, filled with a suffocating killing intent. "Or are you a 'mark' thrown into 'Manluo'?"
Manluo?
Is that flower bud a 'Manluo'? Or more precisely, the original material used to create 'Manluo'?
The clues that had flashed through her mind were now connected one by one. Mu Jianjian clenched her hands tightly, letting her skin be cut and bleed from the slashing metal of the twelve-sided fan, but she did not let go.
“No, Zhong Chuan, I am… Rong Yuqi’s friend,” she said, and she could clearly feel the surrounding pressure lessen slightly. “Where exactly do they come from in the Upper Realm? And what are the characteristics of ‘Manluo’—”
In a blur, I saw Zhong Chuan turn around and walk over, his lips moving slightly as he mumbled two words.
Before Mu Jianjian could finish hearing the question, the surrounding space distorted again. When she came to her senses, her body returned to the original void.
Torn fragments of memory surged through his mind once more. Before he could adjust to the red and black world he had just experienced, he was plunged back into darkness, and his eyes went blind for a moment.
"Thump—"
Mu Jianjian slapped her temple, which was throbbing with pain. She opened her eyes and stared intently at the "eye".
"bite--"
When the dizziness struck, her mind went blank for a moment, and her eyes became unfocused. But the next moment, her gaze became firm, and she even took a step forward despite the pressure on her body.
"You're scared, aren't you?" Under immense pressure from the surroundings, Mu Jianjian's smile was completely stiff, but she still managed to curl the corners of her lips and stare straight at it.
"You want to scare me, you want me to see that even if they are united and work hard, the outcome still cannot be changed, right?"
"But why didn't you wait for him to finish before hastily severing the illusion?"
"You have weaknesses, you are afraid."
But such a smile, under the gaze of "eyes," was undoubtedly a provocation, let alone the words she uttered with blood in her mouth.
"Eee-yah-yah—"
White mist gradually appeared in the dark sky, and a faint fragrance of incense permeated the void, seemingly forming an impenetrable wall that enveloped the cultivators within.
At this moment, the pressure from the other party had rendered Mu Jianjian unable to move, and even her breathing could be heard with the "crackling" sound of her bones breaking.
This was the scent of incense she had smelled in the Red Mansion of Duyunfang, but it was much stronger than before.
I originally thought that the Celestial Palace and the Longevity Pavilion in the Upper Realm were two opposing forces, but now it seems that they may have been cooperating for some time.
A phantom formed from thick smoke, holding an incense burner with devout hands, suddenly appeared in front of Mu Jianjian, causing her already blurred consciousness to dissipate even further.
"Hahahaha—" She suddenly let out a shrill laugh from her lowered head, the laughter growing louder and louder, but then abruptly stopped.
The girl raised a finger, her eyes blazing with fire, pointing towards the "eye" in the sky, her words filled with deep-seated hatred: "There are no gods in this world!"
"If there is a God, He wouldn't be a vain fool like you! Nor would He be an unknown figure who merely peeks out from behind the scenes with an 'eye'!"
The girl's figure was barely visible in the black void, yet she faced the enormous "eye" in the distance, which seemed to stretch to the horizon. With a flick of her finger, she unleashed a pressure powerful enough to crush countless mountains and rivers.
Since they don't choose to kill her, then one day, she will be able to walk step by step to the upper realm, walk to their side, and stand in front of this person!
As soon as Mu Jianjian finished speaking, her eyes suddenly went numb, her head drooped, and she sat cross-legged obediently like a human puppet being pulled by strings, letting the illusory figure in front of her conjure up hands that circled around her brain.
A flood of memories that didn't belong to her rushed into her mind, rigid and bloody, and at the same time, a mechanical female voice rang out.
[The host's cultivation level has regressed, from Core Formation, Foundation Establishment, Qi Condensation, to Nothingness, triggering a task set by the host.]
[Triggering host-set task: "When cultivation level regresses, reward condition one will be automatically triggered." Host, do you agree? Countdown: three seconds]
——
In a misty, dust-free pavilion somewhere in the celestial realm.
A man in a long robe was staring intently at a porcelain cup in front of him, and his eye was reflected in the clear, unblemished glass.
It was an ordinary scene, yet it contained ripples and flows of time and space, and even a wisp of the aura of the heavens, until a "crack" sounded, the porcelain cup shattered, and the tea inside spilled out, wetting the man's robes and breaking the silence of the garden.
"Your Majesty!"
Upon seeing this, the woman beside her immediately raised her hand and used her inner energy to move the cups and saucers aside, while also drying her robes.
This cup has been with Your Excellency for many years, how could it break so easily now?
"It's nothing." The man lowered his eyes, glancing at the shattered cups and saucers. He recalled the scene in the void just now, and a slow smile appeared on his lips.
With his soul sealed, he lost all his memories and cultivation. Even if the cup is broken now and he can't complete the next task, it's still worth it.
However, to his surprise, the broken cup indicated that she had damaged her "eye" with her true energy...
The death throes of ants in the lower realm are far more interesting to watch than an easy crushing.
——
In the underground palace in the mountains, a fierce and bloody battle is unfolding.
"Want to leave? We can't let them leave!" Sang Wanyue's face and body were covered in blood, making her unrecognizable. However, her eyes shone like a vast expanse of stars, and the sword in her hand was pointed directly at the burly man in front of her.
“Luo Men,” the burly man sensed with his divine sense that many of the cultivators who came to help had already entered the “Panmen”. He clasped his hands together and murmured, “Even if you kill us, we will receive rebirth from the ‘Lord’. Besides, the ‘mark’ has already been placed, and you are already powerless to reverse the situation.”
"Ha, coward, a weakling with two lives." Sang Wanyue let out a contemptuous laugh.
She wasn't usually a talkative person, but now that so much time had passed and no one else had emerged from the "bud," her eyes were bloodshot and she had thrown reason to the back of her mind.
“I can use the twelve-sided fan to retain a person’s soul,” Ye Wuluo said through gritted teeth. His face was pale, but the third eye on his forehead was flashing with a dazzling light. “Cooperate with me.”
Linghu Zhuoyu did not reply, but he quickly formed a hand seal. As his hand gestures left afterimages, the sandy man in front of him let out a scream, and his arm was cut off!
With both arms severed, his sleeves hung empty, and his face contorted in extreme pain, it was almost comical.
Meanwhile, Wan Xing used his remaining true energy to make the plants in the palace grow lush and abundant, greatly protecting the other controlled cultivators from accidentally injuring their arms and legs in the flashing swords.
Suddenly, a strange cultivator appeared in the underworld, followed by many more cultivators pouring into the palace. Various secret techniques collided in the air, attacking the retreating Upper Realm people.
"Retreat!" The burly man glanced around and saw that only Gu Qiongyi and Desert Eagle were still there. He twitched his lips and retreated into the dark circle of light that appeared behind him. In the blink of an eye, he disappeared into the circle of light.
Gu Qiongyi dragged her broken body, gave a cold laugh, and finally glanced at the faces of the people around her before fixing her gaze on Sang Wanyue, who was rushing towards her, as if in defiance. "Her soul is gone, and it can never come back."
Sang Wanyue's gaze sharpened, and she suddenly pulled her twin swords from her hands, plunging them straight into the black circle, disappearing from the spot along with Gu Qiongyi!
"I...I still have me!" Desert Eagle screamed in agony. He was restrained and unable to move. Seeing his companions abandon him and leave, he gradually despaired. Suddenly, an idea flashed through his mind.
If he commits suicide now, his soul can return to the upper realm!
Although this method has side effects, he can't care about that now.
Before Desert Eagle could use his hand as a blade to stab his own neck, a flash of red light appeared, and he fell into darkness and lost consciousness.
“Received,” Ye Wulu coughed and slowly closed the fan in his hand. If you looked closely, his hands were still trembling from the force. “With his spirit, we might be able to get information about the people above us.”
His third eye on his forehead closed and disappeared into the skin without leaving a trace, while his eyes slowly opened. "Is everyone alright?"
When Ye Wuluo said this, he looked tired and weary. The battle had lasted for less than an hour, but it felt like he had lived a lifetime.
"Holy Son!"
"Master!"
After arriving at the palace and taking in the devastation around them, the cultivators from various factions were filled with shock and horror. However, they quickly rushed to the three people, replenishing their energy with pills and inquiring about their condition.
The cultivator from the Holy Lotus Pavilion walked to Ye Wuluo's side, whose face had darkened. "Holy Son, it's good that you're alright. They escaped, so why are you still so—"
So sad.
He seemed to sense that all four powerful cultivators looked so sorrowful.
"Shut up." The man lowered his peach blossom eyes and gave him a disdainful look, causing the cultivator to quickly shut up.
"My lord, I am late." A man dressed in black knelt on one knee in front of the disheveled boy.
The boy seemed detached from the world, paying no attention to the kneeling man.
The veil he always wore had somehow fallen off his head. Ignoring the strange looks from the other cultivators around him, he first pressed down on the thin red and black snakes that were buried in his neck.
"It's not your fault, it's my problem."
It was because he failed to protect his sister. He boasted that he was the best in the world at both medicine and poison, yet he was still too weak.
Since the death of the other "Five Eccentrics" of Yingzhou, the Demon Lord has handed over most of his power to him. If he hadn't been so confident and had brought more people, would the outcome have been different?
"Master, Master!" An old man in a long robe hurriedly followed behind a seriously injured woman. "It would be better to wait until the wounds have healed before getting close to that thing!"
“It would be better if Uncle Guo called me disciple,” Sang Wanyue said, her eyes lowered, the bleeding wound not stopping her. “The seniority cannot be confused.”
When Jianjian was abducted in Yingzhou, in order to have the strength and power to find and protect her, he used the secret technique he gained after his rebirth to defeat the sect leader Mu Yutian and became the new sect leader of Xuanshuang Sect.
This time, before she could even properly hug Jianjian, she pushed her into this place herself.
“Uncle Guo, our guess was right. This place is indeed related to people from the Upper Realm, and this ‘flower bud fruit’ is also one of the growth materials of Manluo.”
“Sigh,” Uncle Guo sighed, using his divine sense to detect the increasingly mysterious and unfathomable aura of Sang Wanyue’s cultivation. He stroked his beard and said, “Even if you have broken through to the Nascent Soul stage, you shouldn’t be standing so close to this thing.”
He glanced around and saw the equally profound aura of the Yingzhou youth and the Holy Son of the Holy Lotus Pavilion, and sighed inwardly.
At such a young age, they have already reached the Nascent Soul stage, a speed that is unprecedented in ten thousand years, and now three of them have appeared at once.
“Yes, you know you shouldn’t have gone near her,” Sang Wanyue said with a self-deprecating laugh. “She was pulled in, and she hasn’t come out yet.”
"Who?" Uncle Guo felt a sudden pang of pain in his heart.
"Pointy".
Ignoring the sudden pause behind her, Sang Wanyue sat down cross-legged. "Uncle-Master Guo, I will stay here and guard the place. I will leave the affairs of the sect to you and Uncle Mu. As for other matters, you can discuss them with Ye Wuluo and the others."
"Jianjian...she's here?" Uncle Guo's voice trembled, clearly unable to believe the answer. "She...that little girl..."
If Mu Yutian were to hear this news—
“Yes, she was kidnapped and stranded in Duyunfang. After escaping, she came here and met us.” Sang Wanyue did not shed tears. Her expression was as resolute as ever, but the lingering loneliness did not dissipate.
"Moon, I know you're in pain because of Jianjian, but you're covered in injuries, how many more days can you hold on? What will we do when those people come back?" Uncle Guo sighed after a long silence.
“She promised to come back, and she will definitely come back. I can’t let her come back to find no one around her,” Sang Wanyue lowered her eyes, placed her hands flat on her chest, and held her breath. “I will guard her path. If she stays inside for a month, I will wait for a month; if she stays inside for a year, I will wait for a year.”
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