We Agreed On Experiencing Life, So Why Did You Immortals Become Real?

Chapter 544: In Truth, I Have Been Deceiving You All Along

The slaughter within the Yuezhuo hidden realm continued unabated yet the entire realm was collapsing faster and faster, the earth splitting apart, the sky crumbling, as though at any moment it would dissolve entirely into nothingness.Not a few clear-headed cultivators, seeing that the situation was hopeless, abandoned any hope of claiming the demon core, and turned to fly without looking back toward the nearest void gateway.

After all, as long as one's life remained, everything else could be worked out but if one's life was gone, then truly nothing remained at all.

Xiao Mo naturally kept his eye on Song Xiu, Jin An, and Chen Jue.

With a slight stir of his intent, two chains of spiritual light, one black and one white, flashed out like serpents, chasing after Song Xiu and the others at great speed.

Song Xiu's expression changed drastically, and without a moment's hesitation he burned his own essence blood, unleashing his hidden trump card, the "Wind and Cloud Escape Technique," his whole body transforming into a streak of light as he fled toward the nearest void gateway.

"Second Uncle! Save me!"

Just as Jin An was about to leave, Chen Jue grabbed hold of him tightly.

By this point, Chen Jue's spiritual energy had already been entirely spent in the earlier fighting, one arm had been severed, and traces of the yin river's corrosive force still lingered in his meridians.

He could barely stand at this point, and could only turn to his uncle for help but when Jin An slowly turned his head, and Chen Jue caught the look in his eyes in that instant, his whole body suddenly went cold, as though he had fallen into an ice cellar frozen for ten thousand years, his very blood seeming to congeal.

"Second... Second Uncle," Chen Jue called out, trembling, his lips pale.

The way his uncle was looking at him now was identical to the way he had once looked at Xiao Mo, as though looking at a dead man.

"My good nephew," Jin An's voice carried a note of pity mixed with helplessness, "have you truly still not understood, even now?"

"In truth, whether Xiao Mo died at our hands today or not, you were always going to die here."

"Because Xiao Mo's weight in that lady's heart in Tushan is simply too great, too heavy."

"And so, there must be someone with sufficient standing and sufficient motive to bear the blame for this."

"You hold no small position, and you have long harbored a grudge against Xiao Mo. That makes you, quite conveniently, the most suitable candidate."

"This too, is the Grand Elder's own intention," Jin An added slowly, finishing with that final line.

Hearing Jin An's words, Chen Jue's expression shattered, his whole face filled with disbelief, his lips trembling. "Impossible. How could the Grand Elder possibly do this to me? The Grand Elder said herself that once Xiao Mo died, I would become Tushan's son-in-law! I am of the Ancient Wilds Demon Body! I..."

"But my nephew," Jin An let out a helpless sigh, his tone full of bitterness and mockery, "Tushan Meng has never thought much of your so-called Ancient Wilds Demon Body, and beyond that, for the future master of Tushan, there is no need for a son-in-law at all."

The moment the words finished, Jin An brought down a swift chopping motion with his hand, severing Chen Jue's remaining arm cleanly at the shoulder, blood spraying outward as Chen Jue let out a shrill, agonized scream.

Jin An did not hesitate for a moment, and immediately gave chase after Song Xiu, fleeing.

"Impossible. Tushan Meng promised me. I will become Tushan's son-in-law. I will become Tushan's son-in-law."

Abandoned without mercy, Chen Jue hung his head, as though he had lost his mind entirely, his lips moving ceaselessly, murmuring the same words over and over, his eyes vacant and unfocused.

"I will become the joint ruler of Tushan and the Heavenly Demons Kingdom."

"I will reign over the entire Demon Realm."

Watching Chen Jue in this state of madness, Xiao Mo could not help letting out a quiet sigh.

In Xiao Mo's view, the reason Tushan Meng had given was simply too far-fetched.

The logic, in truth, was quite simple.

After all, the only ones who had entered the hidden realm alongside him were these few people. However he ended up dying within this hidden realm, the story afterward would be entirely up to whatever they chose to say. Why would there be any need to drag Chen Jue in as a scapegoat?

It seemed Tushan Meng had already been quietly plotting to move against the Heavenly Demons Kingdom all along.

This time, it was simply a matter of killing the prince of the Heavenly Demons Kingdom first.

As for why Tushan Meng would do this, Xiao Mo could not begin to guess.

"Well, never mind, never mind. What good does it do me to think any further about what comes next?"

Xiao Mo gave a quiet shake of his head.

He exerted a small measure of force, and with a single thought, Chen Jue transformed into a cloud of blood mist, dissolving into the collapsing world around them then Xiao Mo's projection of heaven and earth split into two, blocking Jin An and Song Xiu's path firmly, sealing off their escape.

"Since all of you have already come this far, why be in such a hurry to leave?"

Xiao Mo's voice carried far across the crumbling world, calm and unhurried.

"Xiao Mo! You are already at the very end of your strength, your life hanging by a thread. And yet a man already dying still dares to imagine he can drag us down with him? Do you take us for fools made of clay?"

Song Xiu's voice was full of anxiety and fury.

Because he understood, more clearly than anyone, that the collapse of this hidden realm was imminent.

If he were held back by Xiao Mo even a moment longer, he might truly meet his end here, with no chance of ever recovering.

"Brother Song! Why waste more words on him? Let us fight our way out together!" Jin An gritted his teeth and shouted sharply at Song Xiu.

"Agreed!"

Song Xiu understood that Xiao Mo intended to fight him and the others to the death.

Since that was the case, then he would fight his way out!

Song Xiu called out to the others, "All of you, most of you who came here have either had a lifespan nearing its end or have been stuck at a bottleneck for a long time, unable to break through. And that demon core is at least of an Ascension-realm demon, or perhaps even of the legendary lost third realm."

"That veiled woman may have already left this place, but in my judgment, she cannot have gotten very far!"

"Why not join the two of us and take a gamble!"

"Once we are out, whoever claims the demon core will be decided by each person's own ability. Better that than letting it fall into human hands!"

"Everyone, I will clear the way first!"

Song Xiu, seeing that quite a few had already been swayed, immediately burned his own essence blood without hesitation, forcibly driving his projection of heaven and earth.

Song Xiu understood clearly that in his current gravely wounded, near-death state, forcibly burning his essence blood would not only cost him years of his life, but could very well leave him permanently trapped at the Nascent Soul realm, never able to advance again for the rest of his life.

But at this moment, he had no other choice left.

At the same time, the other cultivators, seeing Song Xiu and Jin An fighting with such reckless desperation, felt their own fighting spirit ignite fully, and they too resolved to take the gamble.

In an instant, techniques rained down from the sky like a torrential downpour, blanketing everything below.

Several life-bound dharma weapons, carrying spiritual light of every color, struck at Xiao Mo together with lethal intent.

And not a few cultivators, harboring a slim hope, tried to slip quietly through the twisted void gateway behind Xiao Mo while he was preoccupied fending off the others but Xiao Mo stood like a guardian deity at the gate, giving not an inch of ground.

Under the relentless, frenzied assault of the group, more and more cracks began appearing across Xiao Mo's projection of heaven and earth.

Even Xiao Mo's own body had begun to resemble parched, cracked earth, as though the slightest touch would shatter him into a thousand pieces on the spot.

Xiao Mo's projection raised its imposing gaze and swept slowly over three of the cultivators.

Those three, who had been charging at full speed toward Xiao Mo, suddenly froze for the briefest instant, their eyes going hazy and unfocused.

By the time they came back to themselves, they found their hands already gripping their own life-bound dharma treasures, inexplicably attacking their own companions beside them.

Song Xiu sharply seized this fleeting opportunity, and with a violent swing of the longsword in his hand, an unparalleled bolt of green sword energy howled forth, cutting straight toward Xiao Mo.

Xiao Mo extended his fingers, struggling to form an incantation, trying to condense an illusory White Jade Capital to block that sword energy but by this point he was utterly spent, his spiritual energy nearly exhausted.

The White Jade Capital he barely managed to condense in midair was as fragile as papier-mâché, and in a single instant that green sword energy sliced through it, shattering it completely.

The sword energy passed through Xiao Mo's body without any obstruction.

Xiao Mo's left shoulder was immediately cut open in a wound deep enough to reveal the bone, blood pouring out, staining a large swath of his robe.

He raised his head, and his own projection of heaven and earth also began to crumble slowly, no longer able to hold itself together, the spiritual light scattering like broken stone, dissolving into the world around him.

"Xiao Mo! Die!"

At that very instant, Jin An leapt suddenly into the air, drawing a heavy, jet-black alchemical furnace from his storage pouch, raising it high with both hands, and bringing it down with crushing force toward Xiao Mo.

Jin An's eyes were filled with hatred.

This trip into the hidden realm had cost him too much.

He had gained little in the way of rare treasures, and worse still, he now had no hope of ever reaching the Jade Simplicity realm for the rest of his life, his future entirely ruined but there was at least one thing he still meant to do, and that was to refine Xiao Mo alive, using his flesh and vital energy to make up for his own losses yet Xiao Mo, covered in wounds, seemed to pay no attention at all to the heavy furnace descending upon him.

He did not even glance at Jin An, only slowly turning his body.

His gaze passed through the crumbling world, through the chaos of battle, reaching out toward some distant place, his eyes gentle as a spring breeze passing over a lake's surface.

"Life is like a phantom, and the path of cultivation is no different. In this world of truth and illusion, was it Zhuangzi who dreamed he was a butterfly, or the butterfly who dreamed he was Zhuangzi?"

Xiao Mo's voice was very soft, as though he were speaking quietly to someone far beyond the horizon, or perhaps simply murmuring to himself.

"This is the question posed at the very end of the Great Dream of the Yellow Millet."

"For a long time, I never knew the answer."

"But now, I think I finally understand a little."

"What does it matter if it is true? What does it matter if it is false?"

The corner of Xiao Mo's mouth lifted gently, a faint smile blooming across his face.

"It is nothing more than a great dream."

"It is nothing more than a single dream of yellow millet."

Xiao Mo slowly drew his gaze back from that distant place, letting it settle once more on the cultivators charging at him in a frenzy.

In his eyes, their killing intent was reflected yet deep within those eyes, it seemed there was no trace of them at all.

Empty and boundless as distant mountains, cool and clear as autumn waters.

"You are so good-looking. What is your name?"

The first time the thin, small boy set foot in the Tushan household, a little girl with a swaying, fluffy white fox tail came bounding toward him on her short little legs beneath her skirt, her eyes bright and sparkling, as though filled with a whole sky of stars.

"My name is Tushan Jingci. And you?"

The little girl tilted her head, her smile blooming like a flower.

"Xiao Mo, studying is so hard."

On the first day of school at the Hanshan Academy, once class let out and she had come home, the little girl lay slumped across the table, her chin resting on the tabletop, listlessly swinging her small feet.

"Did you really understand everything the teacher said? Why is it that I recognize every single word the teacher says, but the moment they are all put together, I am completely lost, like being wrapped in fog?"

She pushed out her lips, her whole face full of despair at life, feeling that going to school was thoroughly unenjoyable, not fun in the slightest.

"Actually, what the teacher covered was not that difficult, and it was fairly easy to follow," the little boy said with a faint smile, his tone gentle. "It is only that the Young Miss kept drifting off during class and was not listening properly."

"I... I was not drifting off!"

The little girl's face flushed red at once, and she hurried to defend herself.

"I was... I was only staring off because I did not understand, not because I was distracted!" She muttered, then began to coax him softly. "All right, all right, never mind that. Xiao Mo, help me finish this homework. The teacher is going to check it tomorrow."

"Young Miss, the homework is meant to be done by yourself." The little boy let out a helpless sigh.

"I do not want to!" The little girl pushed out her lips and, in a coaxing manner, wrapped both arms tightly around Xiao Mo's arm, swinging it back and forth, refusing to let go.

"Xiao Mo, just teach me, please."

"Teach me, please."

"Xiao Mo, are you planning to go into seclusion?"

Outside the courtyard, a young girl who had grown into full, graceful bloom gazed at the young man before her, longing plain in her eyes.

"Mm." The young man gave a gentle nod. "I have reached a bottleneck. I want to go into seclusion for a while and think things through properly."

"Then when... will you come out of seclusion?"

"It should not take very long," the young man said with a faint smile. "By the time the mountain is full of peach blossoms in bloom, perhaps, I will have come out."

The young girl gripped her sleeve tightly, her knuckles going faintly pale, her voice soft yet resolute, "Then I will wait for you."

"All right."

"Xiao Mo, I think... I have fallen in love with you."

The moonlight was like water, and the young girl lifted her face, her eyes looking earnestly at Xiao Mo.

Every word seeming to have used up all the courage she had in her entire life.

"Xiao Mo, promise me, you must come back alive from Quicksand City."

"You said you would never deceive me."

"Is that not so?"

In Xiao Mo's mind, the memories of everything he had shared with this young girl played over and over, every word she had ever spoken to him echoing again and again.

Though it had all lasted no more than a few breaths' time, Xiao Mo felt as though he had lived through his entire life once more.

"Jingci, I am sorry."

"In truth, I have been deceiving you all along."

A fierce wind howled past, blowing wildly through Xiao Mo's blood-stained hair.

He lowered his head and burned the very last of his essence blood, condensing it into a single black stone.

He held the stone gently between his fingers.

He placed it down.

…

Tushan, Moon Spring Peak.

The young woman who had been quietly reading in the courtyard suddenly raised her head sharply, her gaze fixed directly on the distant horizon.

"Young Miss, what is wrong?" Yueshi, seeing her Young Miss's expression, felt a sudden jolt of alarm and hurried forward, asking with concern.

"What? I... I..."

The young woman came back to herself in a daze, still utterly bewildered.

She reached up and touched her own pale, smooth cheek.

Crystal tears fell one after another, spilling silently from her bewitching fox eyes, blurring her vision, staining the fabric of her skirt.