Gu Baiqing was shocked, his eyes widening involuntarily. This was because Song Xingkui was able to make some actions that didn’t match the original text, and it didn’t seem to be influenced by his butterfly effect either. Therefore, he had two directions for his speculation about Song Xingkui’s oddities: first, she was like them, someone who had transmigrated and read the original text; second, she truly possessed some divine ability to know the future.
But when he did not hear the third character of the name, he knew that things were not that simple.
Song Xingkui knew him.
Gu Baiqing: “You… what exactly are you…”
“I am one of the people who brought you to this world…” Song Xingkui said slowly.
Gu Baiqing’s pupils shrank, and he sucked in a sharp breath. In that instant, he didn’t know how to react, only instinctively asking, “One of?”
“Yes. You are the person chosen by me and my true junior brother, that is, the original Gu Baiqing, together.”
Gu Baiqing was truly stunned now.
The original body… it was the original body that had him come here.
“What exactly is going on?”
Song Xingkui frowned and said, “Let me tell you a story.”
Gu Baiqing froze. Seeing Song Xingkui point toward the sky, he understood, she couldn’t plainly spoil things, otherwise she would be struck unconscious, and could only explain the situation in an indirect way.
Gu Baiqing nodded.
Song Xingkui said, “Once, there were two extremely talented senior sister and junior brother. At a young age, their cultivation had already reached the Tribulation stage. The senior sister was adept at comprehending the Heavenly Dao, while the junior brother focused single-mindedly on pure cultivation. Until one day, they encountered a strange disciple. At a glance, they saw the danger in the little disciple, but after observing, they found that the little disciple’s nature was pure and kind. The junior brother then thought of taking him in as a disciple and teaching him to see how it would go. And in this process, the senior sister and junior brother gradually discovered the strangeness of the world, as if all events revolved around two specific people. At last, through countless realizations, the senior sister and junior brother discovered the secret of this world and understood that everyone’s fate was being manipulated, and that the endings were all predetermined.”
Looking at the desolate expression on Song Xingkui’s face, Gu Baiqing suddenly didn’t know what to say. They had discovered that the world they were in was a novel world?
“The newly accepted little disciple was destined for a certain fate, and this world was also destined to undergo certain calamities. Once perceived, they wanted to change it, yet discovered that so-called change was merely another link in fate, leaving them helpless. But suddenly one day, the senior sister and junior brother discovered that the Heavenly Dao seemed to be intentionally adjusting something. At that moment, the junior brother thought of a way to probe everything.”
Gu Baiqing froze. “Ascend to immortality?”
Song Xingkui nodded and said, “Ascension means breaking away from the Heavenly Dao’s jurisdiction of this world, though still bound by rules. However, it allows one to see the truth of this world and its true future. He saw that the little disciple would later become a great demon and destroy the world. He discovered that the reason the Heavenly Dao was adjusting things was because something had gone wrong in this world: the hero who was supposed to save the world had not succeeded, so the world was gradually collapsing. The Heavenly Dao, in trying to salvage this world, had to find a way to help the hero eliminate the demon. During the junior brother’s investigation, he discovered that the Heavenly Dao could not interfere on its own, so it summoned a person, bestowed strange powers upon him, and had him adjust this world so that everything could start over.”
“The junior brother learned everything, and when the new world restarted, he studied the Heavenly Dao’s way of managing the world, and contacted the senior sister of the new world.”
Song Xingkui touched her hair that had been burned by heavenly lightning.
Gu Baiqing instantly understood, when Song Xingkui was struck by lightning, in most cases it probably wasn’t the true Heavenly Dao striking her. It was the original body contacting her?
“The senior sister herself had also reached a level where she could directly ascend, but because she was attached to the mortal world and unwilling to leave, her abilities could connect with the junior brother of the previous world, allowing her to understand the whole truth. After learning the truth, the senior sister began to think of ways forward. After all, they did not want the little disciple, who was originally pure and kind, to be forced by fate into a dead end and then begin his revenge against the world, only for a hero to come and kill the demon after the world was scarred. In their view, all of this could have been avoided, so they wanted to defy fate and change destiny.”
Song Xingkui spoke lightly.
But Gu Baiqing clearly saw the struggling posture of two helpless people who had glimpsed the truth of the world yet were unwilling to give up the world they lived in, exhausting all their strength to carve out a path of survival within the Heavenly Dao’s scripted fate.
At this point, Song Xingkui looked at Gu Baiqing and said, “One of them was in the heavens, one on the earth. Even if they joined forces, there was only one method they could use: learn from the Heavenly Dao and pull someone over from the world above to evade fate. Thus, the junior brother in the heavens used his own divine soul to find the most compatible candidate.”
Gu Baiqing’s gaze flickered. The reason he had transmigrated was because his divine soul was compatible with the original body, and the original body had done this to protect Mo Xuanli.
For some reason, there was a strange feeling in his heart.
Coming back to his senses, he found Song Xingkui looking at him with a half-smile.
“Jealous?”
Gu Baiqing was instantly mortified.
“Don’t worry. He was single-minded in seeking the Dao. The only world he had ever interacted in amounted to no more than a distant master–disciple relationship.”
Gu Baiqing awkwardly rubbed his chin, then suddenly jolted.
“Wait, when you first saw me, you thought that Mo Xuanli and I would… that doujin was…”
Song Xingkui immediately coughed uncomfortably.
“Pulling someone over requires a huge price, and there is only one chance. To ensure success against the Heavenly Dao, we could only test it first. So we extracted a trace of the two people’s divine souls and placed them into the Samsara Mirror to probe the outcome.”
Gu Baiqing was utterly astonished. Wait, back in the real world, he seemed to have been in a car accident and fallen into a coma for a period of time. Could it have been then?
“Because the result was successful, so…”
“No, it failed.” Song Xingkui frowned. “Ahem… actually, that senior sister had studied many successful cases, so when sending the two traces of divine souls into the Samsara Mirror, she made slight adjustments to the lives they experienced inside, hoping to steer things toward a better ending.”
Gu Baiqing narrowed his eyes at Song Xingkui.
Song Xingkui grew even more uncomfortable. “But the power of choice always belonged to those two divine souls.”
Gu Baiqing let out a sigh. After all, he had long sensed that many of the reactions a master would make in the doujin, if he were to put himself in that position, would indeed be similar.
Suddenly, he felt somewhat disappointed in himself. So it turned out that in certain circumstances, he really would distrust Xuanli, become his enemy, stir up some kind of angst-filled romance, and in the end almost perish together.
How could he bear to hurt Xuanli like that?
Although they were different Xuanli, thinking that it was still something done by his own divine soul, Gu Baiqing still felt heartache.
Perhaps if he had shown a bit more care, a bit more trust, discovered things earlier, changed him earlier, the ending might have been different.
Wait!
The ending…
“Why did you say it failed? Clearly it was…” Although they had nearly perished together, the ending should have been rebirth from the ashes.
“In truth, it was a failure, mutual destruction.” Song Xingkui’s expression grew somewhat heavy again. “When they saw the result back then, the senior sister and junior brother were very disappointed and planned to think of another way. But due to various reasons, there was no time left. They could only pull that person in. In order to change the ending, they used a small spell to let him know in advance everything that happened in the Samsara Mirror, hoping that with the lesson of the past, the true version of this life could be changed.”
So the doujin he had voiced had appeared out of nowhere, and its ending had been rewritten into a happy ending.
It was equivalent to his having failed once, and being given a chance to start over?
“But an accident still occurred. Unlike the Samsara Mirror, in the real world other people cannot interfere. Although the Heavenly Dao did not stop them from pulling someone in, every person pulled in would be granted a special ability by the Heavenly Dao. This is a rule, and its purpose is to help set this world right. If the person who comes is controlled by that special ability, then what they do may very well run counter to the original intentions of the senior sister and junior brother.”
Hearing this, Gu Baiqing immediately felt a chill run down his spine. That meant that although he had been forcibly slotted in by the original body and the senior sister, he would still be subject to the Heavenly Dao’s control, and the system he carried was for that purpose… Yet the system had never told him to lead Mo Xuanli into demonic transformation.
The original text should have had Mo Xuanli enter demonic transformation, stir up bloodshed and chaos, and then be destroyed.
Seeming to see Gu Baiqing’s confusion, Song Xingkui said directly, “Because after discovering this, the senior sister and junior brother joined forces to change that power. We don’t know to what extent it was interfered with, but it was definitely changed, right?”
Gu Baiqing suddenly understood, and nodded firmly.
But then he suddenly realized something else. No wonder… no wonder the system was always so gay in a gay way, trying to bend him. It was probably thanks to the lady in front of him unconsciously modifying the system’s programming, leaving the system itself confused, unable to tell which side it belonged to.
He hadn’t expected the truth behind his transmigration to be so complicated, with so many secrets hidden behind it, and also hiding the efforts of the original body and Song Xingkui across two worlds. They must have paid a great price, just that it wasn’t visible on the surface.
They did it for Mo Xuanli, and also for this world.
Gu Baiqing didn’t know whether, after he came, he had made this world better, but he knew that he had made Xuanli better. At least the current Xuanli was not the obsessive, crazed, bloodthirsty Primordial Demon of the original text.
After finishing the truth, Song Xingkui’s expression still turned grim.
Gu Baiqing took one look and immediately sensed something was wrong. “The current situation is very bad. I’m basically at a dead end. Senior sister, the two options you mentioned just now, are they to help us?”
Song Xingkui said, “The origin bone has returned to its place, the formation has been completed. With the same development, it will be hard to change again. Perhaps we have still failed.”
Gu Baiqing immediately grew anxious and said, “How can we know without trying? Isn’t there still the God-Slaying Sword that can change Mo Xuanli’s constitution?”
“On this point, we truly don’t know. But the ending we once saw was like this: Mo Xuanli’s identity should have remained undiscovered by this world. And now, with the current development, Mo Xuanli will still become the Primordial Demon. Either this world will be destroyed because of him, or the Heavenly Dao will succeed and he will be destroyed by Li Xiuran.” Song Xingkui said in a deep voice.
“No. Xuanli won’t become the Primordial Demon, and Li Xiuran will absolutely not kill Xuanli so easily.” Gu Baiqing denied it.
Song Xingkui frowned and said, “This is not something that happens just because we hope for it. If only one ending can be chosen, perhaps we would choose the same one as the Heavenly Dao. We can only give up and compromise.”
Gu Baiqing, however, became angry. “That’s nothing but harming others under the guise of compromise. Why must Xuanli be the one to sacrifice for the world? When everything can clearly be salvaged, and Xuanli himself doesn’t want to become the Primordial Demon.”
Song Xingkui suddenly said sternly, “Some things are not up to him to decide. If he becomes the Primordial Demon, then the world will truly be destroyed, and everyone will die. Do you know what the Primordial Demon is? They are the embodiment of the world’s negative power. They have no human emotions, don’t care about the survival of the world, and don’t even care about their own death. What they find interesting and fun is what matters most to them. Their power is immense. In the past, only fighting the god race was their sole amusement. Later, heaven and earth were beaten to the brink, other living beings could no longer survive, so these two strongest sides were both destroyed. But the Primordial Demon can be reborn through special mixed-bloods, and once they awaken and discover that this world has no god race capable of opposing them, what do you think the first thing the Primordial Demon will do?”
“They will think this world is too boring and casually destroy it. This is why once a Primordial Demon emerges, world destruction is inevitable. The power of a single Primordial Demon is something that the entire cultivation world combined with the demon realm cannot stop.”
This was the first time Gu Baiqing had heard everything about the Primordial Demon explained so bluntly.
“Then… why does the demon race still want to awaken the Primordial Demon?”
“They never believed that the Primordial Demon would recklessly disregard their survival. They foolishly think the Primordial Demon is simply their boss. Even if they are told otherwise, they just think it’s an excuse of the cultivation world’s conspiracy.” Song Xingkui said tiredly. “Just like now, no matter how you explain to the cultivation world that as long as they don’t force Mo Xuanli and don’t give the demon race a chance to scheme against Mo Xuanli, he won’t become the Primordial Demon, they won’t believe it.”
Everyone is suspicious, unwilling to trust, and their arrogance leads the world toward its end.
And the ones who suffer and struggle are always the clearest-headed people who see the truth. Like the original body and Song Xingkui.
“So… junior brother. Given the current situation, we are already powerless. We can only let things develop with the current.” Song Xingkui said. “And what I can do is give you two choices. First…”
Song Xingkui took out a talisman paper and placed it in front of her.
“When everything fails, you tear this up. I’ll help you forget everything here and send you back to your original world.”
Gu Baiqing was deep in thought. Hearing this, he was startled. When he had first arrived, he had wanted countless times to return to his original world. He hadn’t expected Song Xingkui to bring it up so easily.
Song Xingkui said apologetically, “Pulling you in was originally our selfish act of self-rescue. The destruction or survival of this world had nothing to do with you. Since failure is imminent, safely sending you away is the only thing we can do. Even if the Heavenly Dao tries to stop it, we can ensure you return safely. This is also the result of what he and I discussed.”
Gu Baiqing’s expression changed slightly. “You mean for me to ignore the outcome here, ignore Mo Xuanli, and escape on my own.”
Song Xingkui nodded.
Gu Baiqing’s face immediately darkened. “The second?”
Song Xingkui took out another spiritual weapon blade and said, “Still send you away, but before you leave, you might be able to gamble once and save Xuanli.”
Gu Baiqing looked at Song Xingkui without saying a word.
Song Xingkui explained, “Do you remember Lou Zixiao? My junior brother’s body didn’t have an ordinary lightning spiritual root, but a Heavenly Lightning spiritual root. You can choose the same path as Lou Xuan.”
“Lou Xuan died because he himself was seriously injured, not because he gave up his spiritual root.”
“Losing the spiritual root, enjoying a mortal lifespan, plus being seriously injured, death would come soon. How many days do you think you could live? You might as well be sent back before that. It’s just that the process is painful. You would have to dig out your own spiritual root.” Song Xingkui said. “I hope you choose the first option, because we are not sure whether the second method is truly effective on a special hybrid. Perhaps even without the origin bone, without the demonic root, the Primordial Demon would still appear. You were never supposed to endure such suffering in the first place. We have done our best for this world, and that’s all there is. So, which do you choose?”
Gu Baiqing closed his eyes, let out a cold laugh, and said, “I choose neither.”
Song Xingkui was stunned, somewhat surprised. “I thought you would choose the second option.”
Gu Baiqing said coldly, “I’m not that great, and I don’t want to act out this kind of sentimental drama. Either I die together with Mo Xuanli, or I live together with him. I will never leave him alone. If I leave him behind… he won’t survive.”
“What about deleting your memory?”
“That won’t do either. I’m also selfish. In that world, there’s nothing I care about. I only want Mo Xuanli. And deleting memories doesn’t mean deleting everyone’s memories. Even if it succeeds, how well would others treat him? He can’t be without me. You say it can’t be changed, then I’ll walk with Xuanli to the very last moment. If he becomes the Primordial Demon, I’ll be the first to die. If he doesn’t, I won’t let anyone kill him either. I’ll hold on for as long as I can. I’ll cherish every second, every moment.”
Gu Baiqing recalled what the forbidden-land demon race had told him before. They said that the evolution of a hybrid into a Primordial Demon actually had an intermediate state. That was the only way he knew to kill a Primordial Demon, and also a method that only Gu Baiqing could accomplish, entering the sea of consciousness during that period and going all out to perish together.
Gu Baiqing had said he wouldn’t go to that step.
Thinking about it now, if it really came to that, going to that step wouldn’t be so bad.
It was better than running away alone, or being ignorantly separated forever.
Gu Baiqing had originally thought that when Song Xingkui said to come to her at the critical moment to get the strategy satchel, there would truly be some good solution. Turns out it was just a “good solution” for him, to save himself alone.
What a waste of time. He might as well not have come back.
Gu Baiqing turned to leave.
But the next moment, Song Xingkui called out to him.
Gu Baiqing turned back impatiently, only to see that the talisman paper and the blade in front of Song Xingkui had both turned into a wisp of green smoke and disappeared.
Song Xingkui was smiling, just like the first time he had seen her.
Someone who fights against the heavens, how could they easily compromise.
“Since you choose neither one nor two, then let’s gamble big. Third…”
A quarter of an hour later, enormous heavenly lightning descended into the room. When Luo Nianyi rushed over, he saw a disheveled Gu Baiqing, and Song Xingkui who had completely fallen into a state of deep sleep.
“Th-this… what happened again? Failed ascension?” But when he looked up, he discovered that Gu Baiqing’s eyes were brighter than ever before.
“Senior sister has worked hard. She’ll probably need to go into seclusion for several more years. Take good care of senior sister. I’m leaving.”
After Gu Baiqing finished speaking, he turned and left.
At the same time, Mo Xuanli’s group had already arrived at Xianzao Village. Xianzao Village covered a vast area, yet it was shrouded in thick fog, as if time had frozen. Even the fog itself did not drift away. And because of this layer of fog, among their group only Ao Heng could sense that there was a gigantic formation inside, not yet activated.
Everyone knew they had come to the right place.
But entering this place was not simple.
Not only because there was a protective formation outside, but they also encountered pursuit once again.
Among the people who came this time were also He Jingyuan and the sect master of the Rufeng Sect.
He Jingyuan had lost one eye and become even more unhinged. Even when Li Xiuran explained that He Zixiao might be in Xianzao Village, as well as the conspiracy within, he only treated it as an excuse after Li Xiuran’s betrayal. Not to mention that Jingzhan and Xie Qingrong’s master’s explanations gained no trust at all.
Just as the fighting grew fierce, demons appeared as well.
The cultivators believed the demon race was helping Mo Xuanli, while the demon race was stopping Mo Xuanli and his group from entering the fog-covered area of Xianzao Village. It was complete chaos.
At that moment, strange light lit up within the fog.
In an instant, Li Xiuran thought of something and immediately led everyone charging toward the light. Others wanted to follow, but were blocked outside by the light.
After they rushed in, they finally saw a familiar figure.
An old man was riding atop a Cloud-Ascending Stork, looking at them with a bitter expression.
“Senior Half-Step Mad.” Li Xiuran said in surprise. “You’re here too!”
But Half-Step Mad looked at Mo Xuanli. “Tsk… you really almost got me and your master killed.”
Mo Xuanli’s face instantly turned pale.
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