241: Chapter 241: The Real You Offline

When he opened his eyes again, he found himself standing on a grey path.

The path was very narrow, only wide enough for one person to pass.

The surface was greyish-white, resembling polished stone, yet it wasn't stone.

He crouched down and touched it; it felt cold and smooth, like stroking a block of ice.

To the left and right of the path lay an endless abyss.

Grey-black mist surged within the abyss, and within the mist, countless figures could be seen struggling.

Some figures looked like humans, some like beasts, and some like monsters he had never seen before.

They reached out, trying to grab him, but were blocked at the edge of the abyss by an invisible force.

Ahead, the path seemed to have no end.

There was only a blurry point of light.

"Is this the Road to the Yellow Springs?"

Xiao Ran stood up and took a step forward.

The moment he took his first step, a thunderous boom echoed behind him.

Xiao Ran snapped his head back and found that the path he had come from had vanished.

In its place was a black wall, with seven large, blood-red characters carved upon it.

On the Road to the Yellow Springs, do not look back.

Xiao Ran withdrew his gaze and looked back no more.

He took a deep breath and strode forward.

After walking about a hundred steps, phantoms began to appear on the path.

The first phantom was himself.

Not his current self, but the self from when he had first transmigrated.

An ordinary person with no cultivation, no System, only a weary Soul from a 996 life in a big city.

The phantom stood in the middle of the road, looking at him with hollow eyes.

"Who are you?" the phantom asked.

"I am you," Xiao Ran said indifferently.

"No, you are not me. I don't dare to kill, I don't dare to take risks, and I don't dare to resist fate."

"You dare to do everything."

"Because I know that the result of not killing is being killed, the result of not taking risks is a mediocre life, and the result of not resisting is being stepped on forever."

The phantom was silent for a moment, then shattered, dissipating into grey smoke.

Xiao Ran continued to walk forward.

The second phantom was the White Emperor.

That old fox of the Void Refinement Stage, who had plotted against him and tried to possess him.

The phantom stood in the middle of the road, a mocking smile hanging on its lips.

"Xiao Ran, you killed me. Do you think you've won?"

"I have indeed won."

"Won? You won my body, won my daughter, and won my city."

"But you cannot win against yourself."

"There is a hole in your heart that can never be filled. You want more; it is never enough."

Xiao Ran remained silent.

"You have already obtained the Pure Yin Qi of the President of the Wanhua Society and reached the Peak Soul Transformation Stage."

"You still want the equinox flower, you still want the Legacy of Venerable Huangquan, you still want the Treasure Trove in the ruins—you want more and more."

"Because it is not enough."

Xiao Ran directly interrupted him.

"The Law of this world is the survival of the fittest. If you aren't strong enough, you'll be eaten."

The phantom laughed loudly, then shattered.

The third phantom was Su Qinghan.

She stood in the middle of the road, her white clothes like snow, her expression cold and elegant.

"Xiao Ran, why haven't you come to see me?"

Xiao Ran's footsteps paused.

"I have been waiting for you."

"I've been killing Yao on the city walls, from dawn to dusk, and from dusk to dawn."

Xiao Ran opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but no words came out.

"Why don't you come looking for me? What are you afraid of? Afraid that our sides are different? Afraid of being discovered? Or afraid that I will reject you?"

"I..." Xiao Ran's voice was very low.

"Do you know what I want?"

Su Qinghan walked closer to him, reaching out to stroke his face.

Her fingers were icy cold, yet they trembled slightly.

"I want you, right now, right here."

As soon as she finished speaking.

Su Qinghan began to take off her clothes.

Xiao Ran suddenly snapped out of it and grabbed her hand.

"Xiao Ran, what's wrong?"

"You don't want to be intimate with me?"

Su Qinghan's eyes were filled with confusion.

Xiao Ran gave a cold laugh.

"What's the point of being intimate with a mere illusion? Just wait until I get out and find the real you in person."

Then, Xiao Ran shattered Su Qinghan's phantom with a single punch.

...

A wave of dizziness hit him.

When Xiao Ran opened his eyes again, he found himself back in the great hall.

The mummified corpse on the throne still had its head bowed, but the dark purple flames in its eye sockets had been extinguished.

The ever-burning lamps in the hall went out one by one, and the Huangquan Legion turned into piles of withered bones, scattered across the floor.

The yellow spring qi in the pit no longer surged, and those human faces had also vanished.

Everything was returning to silence.

"You passed."

The voice rang out again.

But this time, it didn't come from the mummified corpse, but from behind the throne.

Xiao Ran walked around to the back of the throne and found an altar there.

On the altar, a transparent ghost sat cross-legged.

His face was lean and elegant, with three strands of long beard hanging down to his chest. He wore a black robe embroidered with golden runes.

His body was semi-transparent, emitting a faint silver-white glow.

His eyes were black, deep as an abyss.

This was the remnant Soul of Venerable Huangquan.

"After so many years, my successor has finally arrived."

The ghost's voice was no longer raspy, but carried a sense of relieved emotion.

Xiao Ran looked at him without speaking.

The ghost sized him up, his gaze landing on the position of his Dantian.

There, the Guixu Vortex turned slowly, its grey-black light faintly visible through his robes.

"The Myriad Dao Guixu Body?"

The ghost was stunned for a moment, then burst into laughter.

"Hahahaha! So that fellow is dead too!"

Xiao Ran frowned: "You knew the previous owner of the Myriad Dao Guixu Body?"

"Knew him? Of course I knew him!"

"That troublemaker—back then on the battlefield, he snatched my Yao Beast Materials, stole my necromancy spells, and even made off with the Disciple I favored the most."

The ghost laughed so hard he doubled over, his semi-transparent body trembling.

The corner of Xiao Ran's mouth twitched.

"Hahahaha! Serves him right! For a troublemaker like that, even the Heavens wouldn't agree to him not dying!"

The ghost laughed for a long time, until tears almost came out.

Of course, a ghost has no tears.

He merely made the motion of wiping them away.

Having laughed his fill, he looked at Xiao Ran, a flash of complexity in his eyes.

"Are you that kid's successor?"

Xiao Ran shook his head.

"No, I merely inherited the Myriad Dao Guixu Body, but my Legacy is one I forged myself."

"I have never met him."

The ghost was silent for a moment, then nodded.

"That's for the best."

"That old thing's Legacy is better off not being taken."

"His path was too wild; it's easy to suffer Qi Deviation."

He reached out, and a clump of dark purple light appeared in his palm.

Within the light, a simple Jade Slip floated, radiating an aura of ancient times.

"This is my Legacy."

"The Yellow Springs True Scripture. The upper volume records the Cultivation Technique, and the lower volume records the necromancy spells."

"There is also my Lifebound Treasure, the yellow spring banner, and the control methods for the Huangquan Legion."

"You have passed the trial; these are all yours."

Xiao Ran looked at the clump of light and reached out.

The light sank into the space between Xiao Ran's brows, and a vast amount of information flooded in like a tide.

The cultivation formulas of the Yellow Springs True Scripture, runic formations, necromancy summoning spells, the refinement and control methods for the yellow spring banner, and even a map recording the layout of the Nine-Headed Snake Clan's imperial palace.

There was too much information to digest in a short time.

Xiao Ran simply accepted it all for now, planning to slowly comprehend it later.

After handing over the Legacy, the ghost's remnant Soul became even more transparent.

His body was like a candle flame in the wind, flickering and ready to go out.

"Very well, my mission is complete."

He looked up at the ceiling of the hall, his gaze seemingly piercing through the rock to see the sky outside.

"Old thing, wait for me down there. I'm coming."

His figure slowly dissipated, turning into specks of starlight before vanishing from the hall.

Xiao Ran stood in place and gave a deep bow toward the altar.