Chapter 74: Chapter 72: Only Asura, Not Wounded God (Part 1)_1
Among the corpses strewn about, only Fang Ren remained. He laughed for a very long time before suddenly sitting expressionlessly atop the sea of blood, his head gently tilted, hands limp as if everything before his eyes had lost its flavor.
Hum——
Just then, the sea of blood began to churn, swallowing all the mountains of corpses and seas of bones. Fang Ren watched quietly, as if he was somewhat anticipating what would come next.
Whoosh——
A streak of silver light flashed, and the entire sea of blood turned into a calm white mirror, leaving only whiteness in the sky above. The surrounding cliffs vanished without a trace, and all one could see was boundless white.
Suddenly, there was only him left between heaven and earth. He began to rise to his feet and look around, as the skeleton that was left of his body slowly grew flesh and blood, gradually covering all the white bones.
At last, skin began to form, and sight, smell, hearing, touch... all the senses were restored to their original state. His entire person reverted to being unscathed.
No longer was there the strong smell of fresh blood; the air was very fresh.
Fang Ren touched the familiar skin on his arm, a slight smile appeared on his face, "What else is there? Bring it all on."
Thump!
No sooner had he spoken than he was pulled into the mirror, and then countless lights from all over the world shone towards him incessantly.
He began to frown slightly, the world in front of him a blinding white, seeing no existence of any object, including his own hands.
"Blind?"
Fang Ren didn't care much; he could completely control himself without any senses to do anything he could do before.
The light grew more and more intense. His body was not scorched by the fierce light, nor did he feel any heat, but his entire person was abnormally irritated and in pain.
This feeling did not originate from the body but from the consciousness, or to be more precise, the soul.
"The flesh has been cut and bones have been picked, now comes the purification of the soul?"
Fang Ren sneered disdainfully. What kind of pain hadn't he experienced? Was he afraid of this agony?
However, not even ten seconds had passed, and he scrunched up his entire face. He found that this thing was nothing like he had imagined,
He didn't care about the pain, but this irritating feeling just couldn't be suppressed, like millions of ants crawling chaotically over his heart, not letting him find peace.
The feeling continued to worsen, he clenched his teeth. He started to go mad and wanted to reach out and destroy his body, letting his pain offset this restless feeling. But he then realized he could not move at all.
"Ah!"
He yelled in frenzy, capable of enduring extreme physical suffering, but the refining of his soul had just begun.
It was as if he had returned to the depths of that sea of blood, the conflict deepening continuously, and his entire brain went insane, only this time everything surrounding him was bright.
He could spew every curse in a rant, but it was futile.
The cycle began again.
Every time his consciousness endured to the limit, it would restart, each time tormenting him immensely; seconds felt like years.
Time passed, an unknown amount of time, an unknown number of cycles, hundreds, thousands, tens of thousands...
He went from frenzy to breakdown, from breakdown to numbness, from numbness to indifference.
...
Eventually, he just stood there, nonchalantly, his brow unknitted, teeth not clenched, the torment on his soul beginning to turn into something so mundane in his mind.
Bang——
He was thrown onto the surface of the mirror. He lay there dazed, his eyes starting to regain their vision. Looking at the calm white surroundings, he did not feel any comfort.
Now, the only thought left in his mind was the original purpose of coming here: he would marry Mu Huanqing, he would get revenge on Xia Fu Lan, he would avenge himself against his second uncle; he would crush the "responsibility" imposed upon her from their moral high ground.
Smack smack——
As he lay there dazed, a familiar sound came from not far beside him. He turned his head, only to see Qianye gazing at him with a troubled look.
His eyes were like those of someone who hadn't woken up, devoid of any emotion.
"Heh ha heh ha..."
Qianye ran to his knee, pushing against his thigh with two round arms, looking very worried and uttering incomprehensible words.
"You want me to leave?"
Fang Ren could roughly understand what the little guy was saying.
"Heh ha!"
Qianye nodded vigorously.
"Isn't there still the utmost evil to face?" Fang Ren asked it expressionlessly.
Qianye immediately shook its head vigorously, its two round arms embracing one of his fingers and pulling him towards the outside, but its strength was too small to move him.
"Why do you want me to go?"
Qianye stood seriously beside him, flailing its two eyeballs in hand, continuously calling out "heh ha."
"Are you afraid I can't withstand it?"
"Heh ha heh ha!"
Qianye, in a flurry, used a branch from its head to scratch a few characters on the mirror.
First two: Master.
Then two more: Wounded God.
Immediately after, Qianye crossed out the characters for "Wounded God" with a branch, shaking its head at Fang Ren continuously.
After that, it wrote two more characters next to it: True Immortal.
Then it checked the characters for "True Immortal."
Fang Ren's face remained unchanged as he asked, "Are you saying that I should not follow the path of the Wounded God and instead cultivate the Tao of the True Immortal?"
Qianye seemed pleased when he showed interest and eagerly nodded her head in agreement.
However, Fang Ren had no idea what this Wounded God was, nor did he understand what a True Immortal was. He only knew that on Earth there were Cultivators, and their goal was to become powerful enough to contend with the Void.
As for becoming a True Immortal, the people had never established a standard for the term "True Immortal." Even the concept of Realm was something the people had explored and established on their own.
"It doesn't matter what it is, as long as I become stronger," Fang Ren said.
Qianye shook her head again and wrote a few words on the mirror: Asura, the Good Path.
Fang Ren had heard of the legend of the Six Paths on Earth, where the Path of Asura was one of the Three Good Paths. However, the Asuras were not to be trifled with – fierce and combative, acting on whims and desires, they did not shy away from great good or great evil.
It was also a way of seeking one's true heart to its limits.
But this was, after all, merely a legend from Earth. To truly understand the Path of Asura, he would have to experience it for himself.
"Are you advising me to be kind?"
A slight smile formed at the corner of Fang Ren's mouth, yet he resembled a hideous Demon.
Qianye shook her head and then wrote two more characters on the ground: True Heart.
Seeing this, Fang Ren felt that some of Earth's legends were indeed fascinating. There really was a Path of Asura, and the method of cultivation was as described in the legends: cultivating the True Heart.
"So what conflict does evil incarnate have with these?" Fang Ren continued to ask.
Qianye frowned and turned in circles on the spot as if she couldn't figure out how to express herself. Then, with a sigh, she turned and ran off into the distance, disappearing into a glass panel and leaving Fang Ren alone in the space.
The moment Qianye left this world, a variety of scenes started suddenly emerging on every mirror.
Fang Ren raised his head to look, and the smile on his face vanished. The grating noises from each scene reached his ears – men's roars, women's wails, livestock's cries of despair, weeping, slaughtering...
He saw a city besieged by a large army, where soldiers exchanged and slaughtered their own children for food; he saw a woman find pleasure in front of her dead husband with another man; he saw an official tie up his wife and send her to another man's bed in exchange for a promotion; he saw a skeletal woman throw her flesh and blood into fire to fill her stomach...
Countless scenes of unimaginable evil played out before him, his nerves shocked like never before. His heart was in turmoil; he covered his ears and closed his eyes, trying to flee, but he could still see the images, and the sounds still reached his ears.
Whoosh—
Suddenly, a vine wrapped around him and yanked him into the mirror.
Crack—
All the scenes before his eyes shattered, and all the noises in his ears abruptly ceased.
Gritting his teeth, he opened his eyes to find himself back in the blood-red tunnel, with Qianye looking at him with concern at his feet.
"Sins incarnate... What would happen if I endured it in there?" Fang Ren asked Qianye, shivering inside.
Qianye touched the nearby stele, and a line of text began to emerge: Heartless and desireless, a heart harder than stone, facing utmost evil without feeling, confronting the highest good without sincerity.
With a complex look on his face, Fang Ren shook his head and said, "Is that even human?"
Qianye looked at him, then shook her head slightly and carved two characters into the stele: Wounded God.
"The Wounded God is this..."
Fang Ren let out a small sigh, suddenly understanding why Qianye had stopped him before. He still wanted to marry Mu Huanqing, and he still desired revenge.
If he were to shoulder the weight of all sins, he would probably feel nothing for Mu Huanqing, nor anger over the assassination plots from the right wing of the Fang Family. He wouldn't even be human anymore.
"In Earth's legends, Immortals are also devoid of emotion. What then, is the Way of the so-called True Immortal?" Fang Ren asked as he looked at her.
"Heh ha! Heh ha!"
Qianye suddenly began running out, and the Asura Gate began appearing before her. Fang Ren followed her out of the Asura Gate.
Outside the gate, Qianye suddenly used a vine to bind him and flew up into the sky.
What Fang Ren saw were countless massive vines, each ending with a gate, each gate inscribed with various characters. Each gate represented a different Path.
HIs heart was shaken. There were endless vines here, and Taoist principles were limitless. He never knew there could be so many different paths in the world.
After what felt like a very long time, Qianye brought Fang Ren to the top of this boundless tree.
Qianye began talking beside him again, making "heh ha" sounds, but he couldn't understand a word.
"Can a True Immortal possess passions and desires?" Fang Ren asked.
Qianye paused for a moment and then suddenly jumped onto his head, gathering light in her hands and patting his head.
Immediately, a flood of information poured into his brain.
A while later, a slight smile emerged on Fang Ren's lips.
The Taoist principles of this world were infinite, including those that embraced emotion as a path.
The so-called True Immortal was mysterious, possessing eternal life and the supreme Taoist principles, capable of destroying worlds and traversing different dimensions on their own.
But above that... there seemed to be even higher beings.
Fang Ren didn't dwell on these thoughts. He just wanted to resolve his own world and his own matters.
Moreover, according to the information from Qianye, becoming a True Immortal would take thousands to tens of thousands of years, an opportunity that was virtually unattainable.
Whether he could live that long was in question; why worry about such things?
Gradually, everything in the world before him began to disappear, and his consciousness became blurry...
Qianye's voice came to his ears.
Fang Ren slowly opened his eyes and saw the morning light shining through the window. He was still standing in Uncle Han's room, with Qianye perched atop his head.
His gaze slowly fell on the few characters Qianye had carved on the table, and the corners of his mouth lifted into a slight smile.
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