139: Li Changsheng

“This dream, it truly is beautiful.

But the most moving things in this world are often not Perfection, but reality.”

As Su Lin finished speaking, he gently spilled the cup of tea, which had long since grown cold, onto the ground.

Like a beautiful painting stained with ink, the world before them began to collapse the moment the tea touched the ground.

Gu Qiuyue, smiling gently,

Mu Qingxue, coolly pouring tea,

and then Ye You and Chu Weiwei, who appeared later,

they peeled away like sand scattered by the wind, little by little, finally turning into countless golden dust particles.

The bamboo forest withered, the courtyard weathered away.

The warm sunlight was swallowed by endless darkness.

“Revered Master…”

Luo Ximei watched everything disappear before her, the whip clutched in her hand finally loosening a bit.

She turned to look at Su Lin, her eyes filled with lingering fear.

At that moment, she was truly afraid that Su Lin would become lost in it.

Because that world was too beautiful, so beautiful that even she, a Demonic Cultivator, wavered for a moment.

“Don’t be afraid.”

Su Lin stood in the darkness, his expression calm.

“If I can’t even distinguish between real and fake, how can I be your Revered Master?”

As the illusion completely dissipated, the white jade path beneath their feet reached its end.

There was an ancient, even simplistic, stone chamber.

In the center of the stone chamber, there was no intricate Formation, nor mountains of Treasure Trove, only a dark red light cluster suspended in mid-air.

The light cluster was only the size of a fist, but it pulsed rhythmically, each beat emitting a dull thud.

Thump. Thump. Thump.

It was a heartbeat.

And beneath the light cluster, sat a dried-up skeleton.

The skeleton wore a long-decayed Daoist robe, a common green robe worn by Righteous Path Cultivators.

On the ground in front of the skeleton, the third, and final, section of divine script was carved.

Su Lin stepped forward, his gaze sweeping over the lines of text, his eyes subtly shifting.

“I was originally a mortal child, named Eternal Life.

I sought immortality and the Dao for three thousand years, desiring Perfection, desiring Eternal Life, desiring all my loved ones to be by my side.

However, the Heavenly Dao is flawed, and worldly affairs are impermanent.

Unwilling to accept this, I entered the Demonic Path.

I slaughtered millions, gathered the world’s resentment, forcefully retained the souls of old friends, and rebuilt the peach blossom paradise of yesteryear.

Until my great limit approached, and looking back, there were thousands of Puppets around me, all lifeless.

Only then did I realize that too deep an obsession is to draw a prison for oneself.

If future generations reach this place, they should know: letting go is true Great Freedom.”

After reading this passage, the stone chamber fell into a deathly silence.

Luo Ximei stared blankly at the withered bones, then at the text, an extremely complex expression on her face.

So, this legendary ancient demon god, whose evil aura was said to be monstrous, was originally just a human Cultivator who wanted to preserve beauty.

Everything he did, even these final three trials, all spoke of the same principle.

The first trial of mist and the past was to make one confront their own weaknesses.

The second trial of battlefields and slaughter was to tell the newcomer that pure power and killing intent are not the ultimate goal of strength.

And this third trial, the perfect illusion, was his final warning, set with the regrets of his entire life—do not fall into a false quagmire in pursuit of the Perfection in your heart.

These three trials were not about selecting an inheritor of the Demonic Path, but rather about admonishing future generations not to repeat his mistakes.

“Letting go… Great Freedom…”

Luo Ximei repeated the phrase softly, then she suddenly looked up at the pulsating heart of the primordial demon, her eyes blazing with unprecedented stubbornness.

“No!”

She strode to the cluster of light, her voice firm, almost stubborn, “Eternal Life, you are wrong!

You failed because you weren’t strong enough, because your Dao Heart wasn’t firm enough!

You couldn’t keep them because you made them into Puppets, not because you let them truly live!

But I am different! My Revered Master is right here, he is alive, he has flesh and blood!

If your so-called freedom means I have to let go, to give up my possession of Revered Master, then I, Luo Ximei, don’t want that freedom!”

She reached out, without any hesitation, directly grabbing the dark red heart.

“Not only do I want this power, but I also want to take my obsession and reach the highest peak to show you!”

Boom!

The moment her fingertips touched the heart of the primordial demon, the originally calmly beating heart seemed provoked, instantly erupting with a terrifying will that changed the color of the heavens and earth.

That was not merely energy, but Eternal Life’s tens of thousands of years of accumulated regret, madness, and that obsession that could not be erased even if his body perished and his Dao vanished.

These emotions mixed together, forming a black and red torrent that surged violently into Luo Ximei’s body along her arm.

“Ugh!”

Luo Ximei let out a painful cry.

She had greatly underestimated this power.

This was the lifelong essence of a Mahayana Stage, or even a half-step Undergoing Tribulation, mighty expert.

In an instant, countless tiny cracks appeared on the surface of her skin, blood gushing out and staining her clothes.

Her Meridians within her body shattered inch by inch under the impact of this power, and her Divine Soul felt as if it were being roasted over a blazing fire.

Eternal Life’s lingering thought roared frantically: “Let go! Let go! Otherwise, you will die!”

“I won’t let go!”

“This is the power I use to protect Revered Master… no one can make me let go!”

Her body began to swell, a sign of uncontrolled power and imminent self-destruction.

Just at this critical moment, a warm and strong hand reached out from the side, covering Luo Ximei’s hand that was grasping the heart.

“Ma… Revered Master?”

Luo Ximei turned her head with difficulty, her vision already blurred by blood.

Su Lin stood beside her, his other arm embracing her collapsing body.

“You little girl, you always make people worry so much.”

Su Lin’s voice held no blame, only helplessness and heartache.

He looked at the raging heart of the primordial demon, his eyes calm.

“Eternal Life, your reasoning might be correct.

But since my disciple have chosen this path, even if it’s the wrong one, I, as their Revered Master, must accompany them to the very end.”

With that, Su Lin’s Soul Transformation Stage spiritual Qi circulated without reservation, and he did not try to resist that power, but instead actively opened his Meridians and Dantian.

He let out a low shout.

Luo Ximei only felt a lightness in her hand, and the terrifying energy that was about to burst her apart was forcibly shared by Su Lin, taking away more than half of it.

“No! Revered Master! You’ll die! This power is too strong!”

Luo Ximei screamed in horror, trying to push Su Lin away, but found herself unable to move.

“Shut up, focus your mind, absorb!”

Su Lin’s voice became stern, “Your Revered Master has the foundation of a Grand Ascension Supreme; a mere heart won’t kill me!”

The raging dark red torrent surged into Su Lin’s body.

If it were an ordinary Soul Transformation Stage Cultivator, or even a Void Refining Stage Cultivator, they would have turned to ashes in that instant.

But Su Lin was different.

This was like a huge reservoir; although there was little water now, its capacity and sturdiness were far beyond what ordinary small ponds could compare to.

When that power, capable of destroying everything, surged in, Su Lin did not panic.

He constructed a rapidly spinning spiritual Qi vortex within his body, drawing that chaotic and violent energy into it.

“Eternal Life, I don’t want your regret.

Nor do I want your madness.

I only want this purest power!”