“Xuanli!”
Mo Xuanli turned his head and saw his master running toward him.
“Master, why are you here? How did you get in?” Mo Xuanli hurriedly supported Gu Baiqing, looking at him with concern, but in the next moment, his chest turned cold.
A sharp blade stabbed into his chest.
Mo Xuanli lowered his head to look at that familiar hand, then slowly raised his head, his expression blank as he looked at Gu Baiqing.
He saw Gu Baiqing, his expression sorrowful, say, “Xuanli, I’m sorry, I have no choice but to kill you. You should understand, you can’t resist the power of the Primordial Demon. For the safety of the world, you must die.”
“Master?” Mo Xuanli looked at Gu Baiqing in panic and confusion. His first reaction was that this was an illusion. He had just escaped the nightmare of his childhood, had finally stabilized his state of mind and rushed out. For him, nothing was more important than not demonizing. He knew his demonization concerned his master’s safety, so even when recalling the most painful memories, he wouldn’t allow himself to demonize.
After that, following the feeling, he had come to this area, how could it be again…
Right, he had seen his mother… he…
This was an illusion, it had to be an illusion.
Mo Xuanli pushed Gu Baiqing away, closed his eyes, and sensed everything around him, yet it felt incomparably real. His chest hurt badly, his master’s face and voice were all extremely real.
But in the next moment, he opened his eyes, and the master from just now was already gone. He was sitting cross-legged on the ground. He quickly stood up and observed the surroundings, but suddenly heard the sound of fighting.
Mo Xuanli immediately rushed over and saw that his master was fighting Xuanyue.
Mo Xuanli froze for a moment, his master had really come in? He had been doubtful, but when he saw his master faint from exhaustion of spiritual power, Mo Xuanli immediately rushed up and caught him, holding his master tightly in his arms. Seeing his master injured, Mo Xuanli was almost enraged and began a desperate fight with Xuanyue.
But just as his God Nine Transformations was about to pierce through Xuanyue’s body, once again his chest turned cold.
At such close range, it could only be…
Mo Xuanli once again lowered his head in a daze, looking at the person in his arms. His master’s face was still, as always, full of concern for him, and there even seemed to be affection in his eyes, but the words he spoke were like sharp arrows.
“Xuanli, be good, listen. As long as you die, your master can return to his original state, the lofty number one Immortal Venerable of the Immortal Realm. I don’t want to accompany you in betraying the entire cultivation world anymore, that would disgrace my reputation.”
“You… are not…” Mo Xuanli shook his head firmly.
In the next second, someone suddenly tugged at his shoulder. Mo Xuanli turned his head, and the scene before his eyes rapidly shifted and twisted, the person in his arms also disappearing.
He only saw his master appear behind him with an exasperated expression.
“Mo Xuanli, have you gone mad? Calling ‘Master’ at thin air? I’m here. Pay attention to stabilizing your state of mind, we need to break the demon-summoning array quickly. The situation outside is already very bad.”
As he spoke, someone attacked them. Gu Baiqing pulled Mo Xuanli behind him and met the demon clan head-on.
Mo Xuanli stared blankly at Gu Baiqing’s back for a moment before exclaiming in surprise, “Master! It’s you… it’s you who came.”
Only Master would shield him behind his back, so he had been saved by Master, had he escaped the nightmare?
Mo Xuanli hurriedly moved close to Gu Baiqing’s back and fought alongside him.
“After we deal with this side, we’ll go find Li Xiuran to regroup and quickly handle the formation here.”
“Master, your spiritual power might not be enough. Let me do it, I’ll fight, you just watch.” Mo Xuanli said immediately.
Gu Baiqing gave Mo Xuanli a satisfied smile and truly stopped his hand.
And this time, Mo Xuanli handed his back over to Gu Baiqing.
So when he finished a round of attacks on the enemy and retreated, he had no guard at all behind him.
This time, the blade pierced through his heart from behind.
Mo Xuanli lowered his head to look at the blood flowing from his chest, once again feeling the true pain of a pierced heart, his gaze trembling as he turned back to look at Gu Baiqing.
Gu Baiqing’s expression this time was incomparably cold.
“Another… illusion?!”
Mo Xuanli suddenly erupted in rage. “Xuanyue! Get out here right now. What exactly do you want by creating this kind of illusion? You’re not allowed to insult my master, my master would absolutely never do such a thing.”
Mo Xuanli crazily released spell attacks, but there was no obvious change. Suddenly, the surrounding environment shifted, as if someone outside was destroying the formation.
Mo Xuanli instantly grew tense. Immediately after, his mind fell into waves of dizziness, and as he lost consciousness, he saw his master rushing toward him.
When he woke again, Mo Xuanli felt someone holding his hand. He caught the familiar scent of cold plum blossoms, abruptly sat up, and saw Gu Baiqing lying by the bedside keeping watch over him.
And this was Master’s room in Luofeng Pavilion.
Mo Xuanli couldn’t believe what was before his eyes, yet his mind seemed to be influenced by something, feeling that everything before him was reasonable and real.
Master woke up, joyfully hugged Mo Xuanli and kissed him, saying with a face full of relief that everything was over.
Because he had merit in destroying the demon-summoning array, the cultivation world people all turned a blind eye to him. Once the God-Slaying Sword was assembled, his constitution could be completely changed.
Hearing this, Mo Xuanli was so happy he couldn’t even react. Hearing that Li Xiuran was already waiting for him, Mo Xuanli didn’t want to waste any more time. He wanted to change right now, and then he could openly and forever be together with his master. So he grabbed Gu Baiqing and rushed outside, meeting Li Xiuran. He was just one step away from success.
Looking at the complete God-Slaying Sword, he waited full of anticipation for Li Xiuran to hand the sword to him. But his feet could no longer take another step, because there was another pain in his chest.
The illusion had not yet ended…
Mo Xuanli tried to destroy the formation…
Then he saw his master… everything was so real, as if he had already broken the formation… and when he believed everything…
At the wedding banquet… in the secret realm… at Zixiao Sect… the icy dagger, the heart-piercing pain, the cruel words, like countless blades flaying him alive, torturing his fragile, anxious nerves without end…
Gu Baiqing anxiously searched for him following the master-disciple bond, when at this moment the system sounded an alarm.
Just now in the illusion, although Gu Baiqing’s attention was focused on the little Xuanli inside, he was also watching the changes in the values. Even in such a miserable illusion, Mo Xuanli’s demonization value increased very slowly.
After such a long time, it had only risen to 88.
This showed that Mo Xuanli had still avoided Xuanyue’s design this time with tenacious will.
This whole act had not made Mo Xuanli lose himself.
Gu Baiqing had originally breathed a slight sigh of relief, but at this moment, the system suddenly issued an urgent alert.
The value began to climb, which made Gu Baiqing think that something even worse might be happening.
In the blink of an eye, it had already risen to 92.
Gu Baiqing felt as if a rope had been looped around his neck, tightening continuously.
Finally, he saw Mo Xuanli in an open area.
Looking closely, the surrounding scene felt somewhat familiar, this seemed to be the place where Xuan Ji had been sealed in the earlier memories.
And at this moment, Mo Xuanli was sitting cross-legged on the ground. He looked as if he were in meditation, but his brows were tightly knit, as if trapped in a nightmare.
Looking more carefully, his complexion was even worse. There were tear marks at the corners of his eyes, and blood unconsciously spilled from the corners of his mouth, as if he had been clenching his teeth the whole time.
Gu Baiqing was extremely worried. Knowing full well that there must be something around, he still drew Morning Snow and advanced, but the instant he rushed over, he was blasted back by a surge of demonic energy.
In an instant, black patterns spread out from beneath Mo Xuanli. This was another formation added atop the demon-summoning array.
And the complexity of these patterns was such that Gu Baiqing couldn’t understand them at all. He only saw that on the outermost ring there seemed to be numbers written in ancient script, just now it seemed to be ninety-five, now it had become ninety-eight, like some sort of counter.
Suddenly, blood tears flowed from the corners of Mo Xuanli’s eyes. His cultivation level continued to rise, but the demonization value was also increasing.
Gu Baiqing’s heart truly couldn’t withstand such a rate of demonization. No matter what formation this was, he had to destroy it now and save Mo Xuanli.
But a formation capable of trapping Mo Xuanli, Gu Baiqing truly couldn’t imagine what it could possibly be.
Gu Baiqing began to forcefully break the formation. As his violent output continued, the ground where Mo Xuanli was actually gradually became transparent.
Gu Baiqing lowered his head to look, and his entire body froze.
Below, as if in another space, a woman in a black dress was sitting cross-legged, it was Xuan Ji. Her eyes were closed, as if she had fallen into deep sleep, her entire body emitting black qi, and this qi was continuously replenishing the formation.
And Gu Baiqing also understood, there were two key points to the demon-summoning array. One should be where the fragments of the God-Slaying Sword were located, and the other was here, using a strange formation to absorb some kind of power, thereby… splitting open the Demon-Sealing Mark?!
Xuanyue indeed wanted to rescue her mother, and also wanted to force out the Primordial Demon.
It had to be said, in terms of intelligence, Xuanyue truly lived up to being Mo Xuanli’s Older Sister, she understood everything and could do everything.
Gu Baiqing carefully studied the balance of the formation’s power and discovered that it was precisely the power of the Demon-Sealing Mark below, that is, Xuan Ji’s power, that had become the power of this formation, trapping Mo Xuanli and plunging him into a nightmare, unable to escape.
Gu Baiqing could only keep prying at the edges of the formation with Morning Snow, hoping to open a crack so he could enter and wake Mo Xuanli.
“Xuanli! Wake up!” Gu Baiqing shouted as he continuously poured in spiritual power. He no longer had time to worry about points.
And at this moment, suddenly a small red string extended over.
Gu Baiqing took one look and was instantly delighted. “God Nine Transformations.”
The little red string of God Nine Transformations was limp and soft, as if its power had been drained. Its power had also been backlashed and supplied to the demon-summoning array.
But God Nine Transformations still used the red string to set out an arrow direction for Gu Baiqing, pointing toward the sky.
Gu Baiqing instantly understood what God Nine Transformations was reminding him.
He immediately followed that direction and looked carefully. The sky was blank, clearly there was nothing…
Suddenly, an extremely tiny flash of light flickered. Gu Baiqing’s expression changed, and he instantly hurled Morning Snow over.
One sword strike carrying the power of lightning instantly shattered the crystal shard hidden and suspended in the air.
In an instant, the formation was forcibly removed.
At the moment it was removed, Gu Baiqing saw the number on the ground suddenly jump from nine-nine-nine to one thousand.
And the demonization value had already become the dangerous value of 98.
The power of the formation breaking was immense, and the force instantly rebounded.
Mo Xuanli directly spat out a mouthful of blood, then slowly came to.
“Xuanli!” Gu Baiqing immediately rushed in and hugged Mo Xuanli.
But at the moment he held Xuanli, he felt Mo Xuanli’s body stiffen.
What was going on?
Gu Baiqing lowered his head and watched Mo Xuanli slowly open his eyes.
A pair of dark red eyes, just like the demonized state every time he advanced.
Gu Baiqing’s expression turned somewhat grim as he said, “Xuanli, how are you? Where do you feel uncomfortable, does it hurt?”
Mo Xuanli only stared blankly at Gu Baiqing. Those red eyes seemed to hide some kind of unsettling factor.
Gu Baiqing hurriedly transmitted spiritual power to Mo Xuanli, because he felt Mo Xuanli was about to break through. If his state of mind was unstable, breaking through too quickly at this moment would be an extremely bad thing. But he and Li Xiuran both counted as having protagonist halos, only they could withstand such advancement speeds in this world. What Gu Baiqing could do was only to help. So he raised his hand and struck toward Mo Xuanli’s chest.
“Don’t be afraid, I’m here!” Gu Baiqing said, soothing him as he acted.
Mo Xuanli, however, instinctively shrank his body back.
“What’s wrong? I’m transmitting spiritual power to you.” Gu Baiqing asked in confusion. “Are you worried my spiritual power isn’t enough? Don’t worry, it’s enough right now.”
Mo Xuanli still stared at him dully, but his body no longer shrank back. It seemed he was forcing his body to straighten, to accept Gu Baiqing’s spiritual power.
When Gu Baiqing’s palm rested on Mo Xuanli’s body, his body was extremely tense, but gradually seemed to adapt.
Gu Baiqing attributed everything to the illusion just now. Unable to help himself, he tenderly kissed Mo Xuanli on the forehead, then spoke worriedly.
“Xuanli, your eyes have already turned red, you’re about to demonize. You must stabilize your state of mind.” Gu Baiqing hurriedly said, “Otherwise, your master here will be finished.”
At a critical moment, Gu Baiqing wouldn’t hold anything back. If Mo Xuanli couldn’t see the reality clearly, it would endanger both of them.
Sure enough, as soon as Mo Xuanli heard this, his eyes widened instantly, his whole body stiffened again, and the demonization value seemed to finally stop rising.
“You’re about to break through now. You must stabilize your state of mind. In a moment, I’ll assist you with dual cultivation of spiritual consciousness.” Gu Baiqing said naturally. “Can you set up an absolute protective barrier around us to temporarily protect us?”
Mo Xuanli suddenly said one sentence, “Really?”
Gu Baiqing was startled for a moment. Looking at the dazed and silly Mo Xuanli, he suddenly realized and said, “Do you think you’re still in the illusion?”
Mo Xuanli didn’t speak. A pair of dark red eyes stared straight at Gu Baiqing.
“What did you experience inside that formation just now? What kind of formation was it?” Gu Baiqing asked again in confusion.
But he received no answer. Mo Xuanli seemed as if he were in a trance. Only the red in his eyes proved that things were not that simple.
Gu Baiqing also felt heartache for Mo Xuanli. Everything that had just happened had already turned into a shadow in Gu Baiqing’s heart, let alone Mo Xuanli; it must have been especially hard for him. So at this moment, Gu Baiqing directly cupped Mo Xuanli’s face and, without caring about anything else, gently kissed him.
He knew Little Mo-dog liked his closeness the most, this way he could comfort Little Mo-dog.
But this time was slightly different. At the beginning, Little Mo-dog actually instinctively wanted to push him away, but only for an instant. Immediately after came stiffness, then gradual response, and finally it even became somewhat frantic, almost to the extent of a desperate, death-gripping kiss.
Gu Baiqing, considering the feelings from having just gone through that kind of illusion, completely went along with him, until his movements started to become a bit excessive. Only then did Gu Baiqing somewhat awkwardly push him away gently, panting in his arms as he said, “Xuanli, take it easy. I’m just comforting you, don’t go too far.”
But Mo Xuanli looked at him with a trace of doubt, “Really? Master?”
Of course it was true, comfort!
Gu Baiqing coaxed Mo Xuanli, saying: “Xuanli, I saw it just now in the illusion. The things from when you were little are all in the past. From now on you have me by your side. You don’t need those family members anymore, you only need me. From now on we are a family. I will give you all the happiness in the world. I promise you.”
Gu Baiqing’s eyes were full of tender affection, completely overflowing. With just one glance, you could tell how much he wanted to properly cherish the little Mo dog in front of him.
Little Mo dog naturally felt it too, but his gaze was somewhat at a loss.
As if carrying countless uncertainties, and… madness.
Mo Xuanli’s eyes darkened slightly. Holding Gu Baiqing, he still wanted to kiss him, but Gu Baiqing firmly insisted on handling proper matters first.
Very quickly, Gu Baiqing’s spiritual sense entered Mo Xuanli’s sea of consciousness. They dual cultivated inside once again, and when Gu Baiqing came out, Mo Xuanli had already successfully advanced, and his eyes had returned to one red and one black.
Even better, Mo Xuanli seemed to have completely returned to his original self.
“Master… Master… how did you get in? You shouldn’t have been able to come in.” Mo Xuanli hugged Gu Baiqing like a big dog.
Seeing Mo Xuanli regain his spirits, Gu Baiqing also let out a sigh of relief. “I came in together with Half-Step Mad. He has a way. By the way, what exactly did you encounter here? The formation I broke just now was…”
“I… I don’t know either. Anyway, I just fell into trouble, and then Master saved me.” Mo Xuanli said seriously, “Master, it’s so good to have you.”
“Idiot, I’ll always be here.”
As the two were talking, suddenly the ground began to tremble.
Gu Baiqing instinctively wanted to push Mo Xuanli away and make him stand behind him, but at the instant his hand swung back, Mo Xuanli instead instinctively shrank back again, making Gu Baiqing push at empty air.
Gu Baiqing looked at Mo Xuanli in confusion.
Mo Xuanli’s expression also turned pale for an instant.
“What’s wrong?”
“No… I…” Suddenly Mo Xuanli’s expression changed, and he looked toward the ground where he had just been sitting. Earlier he had been tense the whole time and hadn’t noticed the situation there.
The figure beneath that nearly transparent ground seemed to move.
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