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Chapter 45: He Really Does Like Me

Beneath the Dragon-Slaying Blade, the true dragon yielded its head.

Cang Shun and Chen Moqing stood shoulder to shoulder, watching the sky-high torrent of blood surge into the heavens. The sea of clouds churned, as if the roar of a dragon echoed again and again, lingering long without fading.

Suddenly, heaven and earth trembled. The roiling sea of clouds was swept flat by a giant palm, revealing the deep, boundless sky. Blazing lightning rapidly gathered, converging into a vast, hundred-li ocean of thunder, the thunderbolt was about to fall—

Karmic backlash was equivalent to Heavenly Punishment!

Chen Moqing's fingers, hanging at his side, were gently hooked by another slender hand. The handsome man with long, jet-black hair stood beside him, his black robes billowing in the wind.

Chen Moqing turned his head and met Cang Shun's bold, striking eyes. No words were needed between them, they exchanged a smile.

What of Heavenly Punishment? What of the Heavenly Dao?

Come and fight!

Chen Moqing gripped the Dragon-Slaying Blade and slashed it toward the sky—

The sky dissolved into an illusory shadow, the sea of thunder vanished, and the surrounding imperial palace of Yao Kingdom rapidly collapsed. The entire mortal imperial city transformed into undulating mountains, and from within the valley, a familiar laugh rang out:

"How does my Red Dust Unsalvation Talisman compare to senior brother's Great Dream of Floating Life Array?"

Everything before his eyes scattered like clouds, and only the Demon Emperor beside him still held his hand tightly. In that moment, clarity returned to Chen Moqing's eyes, as though he had woken from a great dream.

He saw talismanic script converge and fall from the sky, coiling around a cultivator in wide robes with flowing sleeves, as if heaven and earth themselves had draped a long robe over him.

Xingyun.

Chen Moqing sheathed his blade, not noticing as the array dispersed around him. He clasped his hands together and bowed to this ancient master of the talisman path whom he was meeting again: "So it was senior's illusion of the mortal world all along."

He had already realized it—the Naihe Scroll that senior Xingyun had once bestowed upon him was indeed the key to opening the hidden realm. The moment he first arrived at the imperial city of Yao Kingdom and summoned the scroll on the outskirts of the city, he had already stepped into the hidden realm.

Everything he had seen upon entering the imperial city had all been an illusion staged within the hidden realm.

The great thousand worlds, the mortal world of red dust—all contained within a single talisman, a single leaf blocking the eye.

Chen Moqing and Cang Shun exchanged a glance, then looked toward Xingyun: "Was it the talisman posted at the city gate?"

Xingyun laughed heartily: "If you hadn't killed that doomed monarch, if you hadn't dared to take on the karma of Yao Kingdom, then you and I would have had no connection."

"One who dares not defy heaven, who dares not raise a blade against the heavens, is not worthy of inheriting my path."

Chen Moqing said calmly: "I already understand. Everyone I saw within the illusion was not real, but merely their reflections."

"What of them now, in the real world?"

Xingyun clasped his hands behind his back: "As for that, you'll witness it yourself once you leave. I have only one thing to tell you. Don't think you've come too late, that you're powerless to turn back the tide. Even if the greater situation is already settled, those who come after can still forge their own path."

A flicker crossed Chen Moqing's eyes: "Thank you, senior."

"May I ask senior's true name?"

Back when they first met in the Dongzhou Prefecture, Senior Xingyun had once declared that only one who saw his true form would be worthy of knowing his real name.

His wide robes stirred along with the talismanic script fluttering across the sky. Xingyun tilted his head back and laughed: "Haha, this is indeed my true name, didn't expect that, did you!"

Chen Moqing was speechless.

"He definitely wanted to come up with a name that sounded impressive and dignified at the time, but couldn't think of one," Cang Shun transmitted into his mind, "So he said all that just to fool you."

Chen Moqing replied in kind: "Your Majesty the Demon Emperor speaks with such experience, no wonder you once told me your true form wasn't Little White Sugar Cake."

Something about how no one could ever see the Demon Emperor's true form, sounding all very dignified and imposing.

And it turned out to be Little White Sugar Cake.

Cang Shun: "?"

Cang Shun's eyes widened slightly. He looked at him—stared at him a full three times—and in the end said nothing.

He fumed silently and endured it.

"You two are really going too far, exchanging meaningful glances and whispering to each other on top of it," Xingyun said in a faint, distant tone. "I already thought the two of you were far too clingy and hardly innocent."

"……"

After a brief silence, Chen Moqing spoke again, a trace of apology in his gaze: "Senior, I have already received part of your senior brother's inheritance. Unfortunately, I came too late, and was unable to see senior Liukong's true form."

Xingyun fell silent for a moment after hearing this, his expression showing no ripple of emotion.

"No, it isn't that you came too late. Rather, fate cannot be defied."

He slowly raised his head, gazing into the distant sky.

"In my middle years, I looked back on my youth and thought it was my own youthful arrogance, my ignorance of worldly affairs, that led to the bitter break between my senior brother and me. But by my later years, my cultivation advanced another level, and I finally reached that realm, only then did I see everything clearly."

"The reason my senior brother and I parted ways wasn't only because of human will, hidden behind it was also... the will of heaven."

A single simple sentence, and Chen Moqing instantly thought of a great many things.

Heaven's will had manipulated events, causing the two most outstanding powerhouses of that era to never meet again in this lifetime, their paths forever without a day of convergence.

The talisman path and the array path had originally been one, but heaven's will had turned them, splitting one into two—and to this very day, though talisman cultivators and array cultivators were the most numerous, the Dao each devoted their lives to studying remained incomplete.

The Heavenly Dao was watching over the mortal realm.

Cang Shun's eyes turned cold and distant, a trace of mockery surfacing in them.

This was the Heavenly Dao's habitual trick—manipulating the pieces of the mortal world, arranging them into a chess game. Awakening him had also been done in order to kill the person beside him.

"The seas turn to mulberry fields, the affairs of the world shift and change, all guided by heaven's will... and yet, heaven and earth do not remain unchanging through eternity, variables must always arise."

Xingyun's gaze settled on Chen Moqing, and he swept his robe sleeve.

The heaven and earth of the hidden realm abruptly shifted. Beside him, countless talismanic scripts flew and howled through the air, at last transforming into two brilliant golden talismans, floating suspended on either side of Chen Moqing.

"This talisman is named, Mountains and Rivers Fade to Dusk."

"This talisman is named, Heaven and Earth Turn to Dawn."

"These two talismans are the crystallization of my life's work. There is no spirit-treasure in this world that can be refined into a talisman, no talisman paper that can bear their power—only by using your divine soul and essence-blood to activate them, using your own body and bloodline as their vessel, using your very self as the candle-wick and lamp-oil, can this talisman's flame be lit."

"Remember this well. The moment either talisman appears in the world, not only will you yourself suffer the backlash, but it will also invoke Heavenly Punishment. Therefore, until you are able to bear the weight of great karma, you must never activate these talismans under any circumstances."

Chen Moqing's gaze focused, his eyes lit brilliant by the talismans' glow.

He sensed it... the freezing and flowing of time itself!

These two talismans actually contained one of the world's most forbidden laws—time!

No wonder the talismans manifested only as pure talismanic script rather than being drawn onto talisman paper. Just as senior Xingyun had said, no treasure of heaven and earth, however spiritually precious, could ever bear the weight of time.

Chen Moqing felt it in his heart—whether it was Xingyun or senior Liukong, having endured the Demon Abyss and the fall of their sect, they had spent the rest of their lives burning through the long road of years, their whole existence spent in pursuit—all in order to exhaust the Dao of 'time."

What they sought was to reverse the mandate of heaven, to change the past... or perhaps, to defy heaven itself, and take the Heavenly Dao's place in the days to come.

Xingyun pointed a finger through the air at the space between Chen Moqing's brows. The two talismans, "Mountains and Rivers" and "Heaven and Earth," sank into his glabella. His body shuddered, and a trace of blood seeped from the corner of his mouth.

Cang Shun's brow furrowed tightly, and he gripped Chen Moqing's hand firmly. He heard Xingyun's flat voice: "No need to worry. If he could not bear the true meaning of these two talismans, he would not have made it this far."

Within the spiritual sea, Chen Moqing's divine sense raised its head and saw vast talismanic script transform into a sky full of stars. He was like someone gazing up at the night sky for the very first time, utterly unable to make out the patterns among those stars.

The law of time was likewise an obscure and profound Dao, one that had to be climbed step by step.

Chen Moqing opened his eyes and met a pair of crimson demonic eyes filled with worry. He raised his hand to stroke Cang Shun's black hair: "I'm fine."

Cang Shun lowered his head slightly, wordlessly nuzzling into his palm, then wiped the trace of blood from the corner of his lips.

Xingyun: "……"

Chen Moqing turned to him: "This junior will surely keep senior's words today engraved in his heart, and will study the talismans bestowed upon him with all his effort."

Xingyun nodded slightly: "What I have given you is not only these two talismans, but also..."

He raised a hand, and half of a fragmented manual appeared beside him.

Chen Moqing's divine sense stirred, and the other half of the fragmented manual, kept within his storage pouch for so long, flew out and merged with Xingyun's half—a complete cultivation manual floated in the air, radiating brilliant golden light.

——The Self-Slaying Technique

Shedding the mortal frame, remaking the self, the spiritual root reborn!

Chen Moqing gazed deeply at the manual and heard Xingyun's calm, low voice: "To remake your spiritual root, you must first slay your own self. The pain within is beyond what an ordinary person could endure. If you take one wrong step, your entire cultivation will be ruined, and you will fall to the level of a mere mortal, with no chance whatsoever of ascending to heaven... you must think this through carefully."

Cang Shun's brow furrowed once more, watching Chen Moqing's profile.

Chen Moqing responded with a "yes," and without the slightest hesitation, grasped the "Self-Slaying Technique" firmly in hand.

His expression turned solemn, and he was just about to say something—when he saw Xingyun's body gradually growing faint, and in the blink of an eye, it seemed he truly would dissolve into wisps of drifting cloud.

"Senior?"

Chen Moqing stepped forward. He hadn't expected that this time, senior Xingyun's true soul would dissipate so quickly.

"Tens of thousands of years have passed. This form's lingering attachments have all now been settled..."

Xingyun smiled at him, hands clasped behind his back, letting his wide sleeves drift freely in the wind.

"Since the past that has already been set cannot be changed, then try to seize the fortune of the future instead."

"No need to say more. We shall never meet again."

This great master of the talisman path from ancient times laughed freely and unrestrained, dissolving into a swirl of scattering rune that spun away, dispersing across heaven and earth.

"……"

Chen Moqing quietly cradled the "Self-Slaying Technique" in his hands, standing in place for a long while, then bowed low and deep.

Xingyun and Liukong—these two great masters of the talisman and array paths from ancient times, who had once fought with all their strength for the sake of the common people against the first invasion of the Demon Abyss—had at last departed the mortal world forever, leaving behind only a clear and solitary breeze.

Their names, along with the Changyao Sect, had all been erased by the Heavenly Dao from the long river of time—but one day, he would make their names echo through the world once more.

The hidden realm dissolved, and lush mountain forests appeared—this was the outskirts of the imperial city of Yao Kingdom. It was here that Chen Moqing had first summoned the Naihe Scroll, and afterward had entered senior Xingyun's hidden realm together with Cang Shun, never once parting from his side.

The scroll still remained, but the one who had bestowed it had already journeyed far away.

The wind stirred the hem of his robes, and Chen Moqing remained silent for a long while.

A hand, its knuckles distinct and well-defined, reached over and brushed against his face.

Chen Moqing turned his head and heard Cang Shun's low, steady voice: "At the very least, we'll carry their entrustment forward with us as we go."

"...Indeed." Chen Moqing raised a finger, and a light breeze passed through the trees, curling around his fingertip before drifting away into the distance.

A trace of a smile touched the corner of Cang Shun's mouth, and he added: "The former head of the sword cultivators can now take up his sword once more."

A warm sheen rose in Chen Moqing's eyes. Along this whole journey, old friends had departed one by one, his old sword had not returned to him—only this Demon Emperor still remained by his side.

"Even if my sword path's spiritual root has been remade, I have no sword in hand right now." He opened his palm toward Cang Shun, "Does Your Majesty the Demon Emperor have a sword to lend me?"

"Simple," Cang Shun's eyes lit up, and he took Chen Moqing's hand, leading him slowly out of the forest. "I have plenty of spirit-treasures suited for forging swords in my cave abode. I'll pick some out for you to have a sword forged. If it takes too long, I'll just go snatch a good one from Vermillion Bird for you."

Before Chen Moqing could say anything, he added: "Remaking your spiritual root carries too much risk, you must let me guard you while you do it."

"Mm."

Upon receiving this response, Cang Shun's eyes curved into crescents, and he lowered his head to nuzzle against the young human beside him, like an enormous ball of fluff wagging its tail.

To hell with the Heavenly Dao.

Even if it was heaven's will manipulating things, he would never be parted from this person.

"Where are we headed?" Cang Shun asked.

"Let's go take a look at the imperial city."

Chen Moqing gazed into the distance, taking in the familiar mountains and rivers, his state of mind now entirely different from before.

"Alright!"

The forest leaves rustled, and the black-robed and white-robed figures gradually walked farther into the distance.

"Mimi."

After a moment, the wind carried over the young human's light, unhurried voice.

"Hm?"

"What is it?"

"Why have you gone quiet?"

"You're ignoring me!"

The Demon Emperor whined and fussed, quickly shaking the young human's hand back and forth, swinging it to and fro.

After swinging it for a little while, he heard the young human beside him say lightly: "I just realized, Mimi is actually pretty cute."

"…Oh."

Cang Shun let out a small murmur in response.

He praised me.

...He really does like me.

He silently stared at Chen Moqing for a while, his eyes bright and shining.

He lifted Chen Moqing's hand, lowering his head slightly—

Chen Moqing swiftly stuffed a small dried fish into his mouth.

Then walked on ahead, perfectly composed.

Cang Shun: "……?"

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