Pay the price

Spiritual energy rampage!

Chang Wan never imagined that this blockhead would be so stubborn, treating her words as if they were wind blowing past his ears!!

She quickly erected a barrier, knocked him unconscious with a single blow to the neck, then pressed down on his spirit platform.

Following the methods in the jade slip, she stabilized his rampaging spiritual meridians.

The moment her spiritual power entered the youth’s meridians, she was surrounded by raging flames!

Chang Wan was startled, then heard the system say: [Congratulations on acquiring the new skill: “In-Devil.” You can observe others’ inner demons through the infusion of true essence, but there is a risk of being devoured by the inner demons. Use with caution.]

Chang Wan couldn’t dwell on the surprise; flames were roaring all around, and the sound of wind whistling overhead sounded like an omen of danger. As she looked up, she saw a fire-phoenix-shaped bird fly past, scattering rolling flames, dyeing the heaven and earth in scorching red.

Not far away, Li Su was oblivious, kneeling before a collapsed fire pillar, his face streaming with tears.

Beneath the fire pillar lay two charred corpses and a tiny red hair ribbon.

Chang Wan hesitated for a moment.

—“Some debts that cannot be repaid, even if you face them, you still cannot repay them.”

Chu Changqing’s words rang in her ears unexpectedly.

“Why…” Li Su murmured, “Why couldn’t I save them? I already came back, I’m not that cowardly anymore, I faced it, why still no, why—”

“…”

He didn’t see Chang Wan; he only picked up the charred red ribbon from the ground, covering his face and sobbing, “Why…”

Chang Wan was speechless.

If she hadn’t rushed over just now to seal his rampaging spiritual energy, he might truly have died.

Just as Chu Changqing had said, those who cannot let go will not break free when facing their inner demons; they will only go with the flow, sinking deeper and deeper.

“Thank you, Elder, for saving my life.”

Li Su, waking up from his inner demons, bowed to Chang Wan calmly, showing no trace of the loss of composure he had displayed earlier.

Chang Wan shook her head, not accepting his gratitude. It was she who had spoken wrongly at the start; there was nothing to thank.

Chang Wan: “Don’t rush in like that next time.”

Li Su lowered his head, “Yes.”

He looked at the charred red ribbon on his wrist; it was somewhat of an eyesore.

Chang Wan knew he couldn’t let go; further words were useless, it had to depend on him.

“Everyone has their own way of living, and the paths are different. Whether you can pass this test…”

“At the root of it, it depends on when you can let go.”

Chang Wan did not wish to say more and set down her teacup.

“……Elder, you are very different from what I imagined.”

Just as Chang Wan reached the door, she suddenly heard Li Su’s low voice behind her, “Elder coming specifically to protect my cultivation… is a favor I didn’t dare to imagine.”

Chang Wan stood at the door without leaving. She wanted to say, “What kind of favor is this?” but thinking of the original owner’s attitude, she remained silent in the end.

Speak less, err less.

“I will remember the Elder’s kindness.” Li Su knelt and performed a bow to Chang Wan, “I know why I cannot pass this test—it’s because I cannot let go.”

His voice choked up, “But I will definitely get to the bottom of what happened back then and bring my mother and little sister peace!!”

Chang Wan glanced sideways: “What happened back then?”

Li Su recounted the tale.

Thirty years ago, a divine beast riot occurred, plunging the Nine Provinces into misery.

“Actually, to call them divine beasts, they weren’t true divine beasts,” Li Su said slowly. “They were beast souls left in the world.”

Listening to him, Chang Wan finally understood.

The divine beasts weren’t divine beasts, but rather their remnant souls left in the Nine Provinces.

In ancient times, a true divine beast riot had occurred, leaving the Nine Provinces in despair.

Later, the Goddess Xuanli willingly fell into the mortal world, sacrificing her divine status to offer up the Nine-Heaven Pearl, causing the leader of the divine beasts, the Immortal Bird, to submit.

She quelled the riot and led all the divine beasts under her command to follow her into the Nine-Heaven Secret Realm.

From then on, there were no more divine beasts in the Nine Provinces, and humans, who had long been suppressed by them, slowly began to find the path to immortal cultivation.

The riot thirty years ago, however, began with a single mournful cry.

A mournful cry resounded through the sky above the peaceful Nine Provinces, like a cuckoo crying blood, a phoenix losing its mate. It seemed like a command; that mourning lasted for nine days and nine nights.

Various divine beast totems appeared in the sky, with the image of the Immortal Bird worshipped in the center. All beasts shared the pain; the eternal ages mourned together.

Some said Xuanli had reconstructed her divine status and returned to heaven, abandoning the Immortal Bird, or that some accident occurred. The Immortal Bird, grieving the loss of its lover, swept the Nine Provinces with a fire of fury.

The irrational ancient divine beasts emerged in full force. Perhaps due to the Nine-Heaven Pearl and the previous contract between the Immortal Bird and Xuanli, only beast souls emerged—but even as beast souls, each one had at least the ability of a Soul Manifestation stage cultivator. Their wailing brought death, moving mountains and filling seas, plucking stars and causing waves; they were truly unstoppable.

“That should have been a natural and man-made disaster,” Chang Wan said.

Inwardly, she muttered that thirty years ago—this young man looked young, but he was actually forty or fifty… truly, one shouldn’t judge by appearances in cultivation.

“Yes… it should have been a natural and man-made disaster,” Li Su took a deep breath. “But my Li Family Village had lived in seclusion for many years, avoiding the Nine Provinces. Moreover, our ancestor once saved an ancient divine beast and received a token of protection from it. The beast souls should have avoided us, but—”

He gnashed his teeth, “Someone stole that token, leading the irrational divine beasts to wipe out my entire Li Family Village!”

Chang Wan suddenly realized.

The matter of the divine beast slaughtering the village went unresolved.

After soothing Li Su, Chang Wan went to check quite a lot of information and found that the events of that year had far-reaching implications. The divine beasts went mad, and during those three years, the world was truly reduced to misery, with people unable to survive.

They say turbulent times produce heroes. That riot did produce many capable people with hearts for the people.

Some even reached the Tribulation Transcendence stage, capable of splitting stars and grabbing the moon, forming small worlds to protect the common folk in peace, creating legendary tales.

Of course, the sacrifices were heavy, and the implications were vast.

But this disaster came quickly and ended quickly.

The beast soul riot lasted only three years; no one knew what happened, but the divine beasts suddenly retreated and disappeared from the continent from then on.

There were many opinions regarding the Immortal Bird’s retreat.

“The Goddess Xuanli’s soul returned to appease the Immortal Bird, and they returned to heaven together.”

Chang Wan looked at the speculation in the book and shook her head. Sure enough, people preferred the romantic version.

Perhaps Li Su had said something outside.

Chang Wan noticed that some disciples were not as afraid of her as before, and they often ran over to ask her questions.

With Li Su’s tragic lesson in mind, Chang Wan didn’t dare to put on airs. She answered what she knew without reservation, but remained silent on what she didn’t understand.

As time went on, although she remained cold in demeanor, she was patient and gentle when teaching disciples. Chang Wan’s terrifying reputation outside seemed to have improved slightly.

= =

Chu Changqing looked at the scars on his body. The white candle had burned more than halfway, and wax was dripping down.

He slowly removed the soft black undergarment and the bandages wrapped around his body, revealing his firm chest muscles and the hideous scars upon them.

His wounds were tended to very carefully; it was clear that the person applying the medicine had put in effort.

He recalled her soft, gentle brows, her feigned cold expression, and the occasional, involuntary, genuine smile.

Just as the yellow paper of unknown origin had said, when she smiled, she revealed a pair of beautiful dimples; it was very beautiful.

The youth slowly tore the healed scars apart, inch by inch, allowing the poisoned blood to slowly ooze out.

Dark blood flowed out, soaking the medicated paste. The pain was bone-deep, yet the youth’s face remained expressionless, as if the wounds on his body were not his own.

Chang Wan chose to slowly neutralize this potent poison with medicine. The method was sound, but it was too slow to take effect.

And he, driven by desire, could no longer wait.

……

After finishing all this, he slowly wiped the blood clean, tidied up, re-applied bandages, and changed his clothes.

He didn’t understand what liking meant, what love meant.

But he had always known what he wanted.

And he knew what price must be paid to obtain it.

Back in the Demonic Cult, he feigned compliance with that person’s orders.

Behind the scenes, he had long made arrangements, fueling the flames to cause the Qingzhou Demonic Cult to incur public wrath, leading to its overthrow, so he could be brought into the Qingfeng Sect as a prisoner.

Doing all that was just to break free from control.

As for Chang Wan…

Chu Changqing lowered his eyes slowly, looking at the soft undergarment on his body, his eyes overflowing with darkness.

He had initially wanted the entire Qingfeng Sect to be buried with her.

But now…