Chapter 275: Didn’t Want to Live Long Ago

Qing Tianyou rested in the secluded valley for about ten days before slowly recovering. If Chen Changsheng hadn’t lent him several strands of Magical Power, even two or three months might have felt short.

Recently, the snow had lessened significantly. Signs of thawing were already visible, and the sky was no longer as dreary and gray as before.

“Cough, cough…”

Qing Tianyou coughed twice. Stumbling out of the valley, he soon spotted Chen Changsheng sitting cross-legged in the snow.

He walked over and sat down beside Chen Changsheng.

The Taiqing Sword lay across Chen Changsheng’s knees. Now, it seemed to have lost some of its spirit. To block that “Purple Firmament” strike before, it had fallen into a deep sleep.

“Why did you come to save me that day?” Qing Tianyou asked.

Chen Changsheng opened his eyes and said, “Didn’t you consider me a friend?”

Qing Tianyou froze for a moment, then a faint smile touched his face.

Chen Changsheng said, “Actually, had it not been for me, you wouldn’t have suffered through such an ordeal.”

Qing Tianyou paused. “I never blamed you. Actually, back in that dungeon, I hoped you wouldn’t come to save me. Who knew you possess such heaven-defying ability?”

Chen Changsheng shook his head. “In fact, many things are not as simple as they appear on the surface.”

“What do you mean by that?” Qing Tianyou asked.

Chen Changsheng thought for a while, then only smiled. “Just some trifling, unimportant matters. Anyway, they’re in the past now.”

Qing Tianyou’s capture hadn’t been accidental.

Following Tu Hu, the Toad Demon King had become a new puppet of the Heavenly Dao. The purpose of grabbing Qing Tianyou was to lure Chen Changsheng into the Thirty-Six Caves.

Their goal? To use Chen Changsheng’s sword to “clean up” the Demon Realm. This was to balance the forces of the Demon Realm and the Divine Domain, ensuring they remained deadlocked in a perpetual stalemate of ‘death’.

This ‘death’ was also the very purpose for the existence of Heaven and Earth.

Through the death of all living things and their reincarnation, they aimed to deduce and fill in the missing fragments of the “Sutra of Rebirth”.

But Heaven and Earth could never have anticipated that Chen Changsheng could withstand the combined assault of five Eighth Realm beings and nine Seventh Realm beings, slaughter tens of thousands of demons in the Demon Realm, and level fourteen mountains.

The Lightning Tribulation came for that very reason.

Chen Changsheng raised his hand. Strands of the Power of Heavenly Dao, which he had seized, shimmered faintly in his palm.

Yu Xuan had stolen from Heaven and Earth using this very method.

The Lightning Tribulation was the crucial part.

That was where Chen Changsheng had seized his chance.

Qing Tianyou frowned. The strands of Golden Light in Chen Changsheng’s palm suddenly triggered a deep discomfort within him.

“What is this…”

“Rules,” Chen Changsheng said. “Or perhaps, the Origin.”

“The Origin?” Qing Tianyou asked.

Chen Changsheng closed his fingers around the strands of Heavenly Power. Then he spoke, “See that mountain in the distance?”

Qing Tianyou followed his gaze. “Yes? What about it?”

Chen Changsheng pointed toward it from afar.

Suddenly, a strange movement occurred.

Under Qing Tianyou’s gaze, the very veins of that mountain abruptly shifted.

“Rumble…”

Its spine shook. Rocks flew.

Visible to the naked eye, the mountain began to move. Rivers froze in their tracks. The earth rumbled and trembled.

In the blink of an eye, the mountain range altered its course.

It transformed completely.

Qing Tianyou stood up. He stared at the impossible scene unfolding before him.

An icy wind stung his face.

“Cough, cough…” Qing Tianyou coughed twice, slowly coming back to his senses.

“Divine Abilities and Magic?” he asked.

Chen Changsheng looked at him. The meaning in his gaze was clear.

This was obviously no Divine Ability or Spell.

Qing Tianyou grasped it vaguely. His lips parted slightly. “Brother Chen… Just what manner of being are you?”

Bai Ziqiu sat warming himself before the fire.

The weather had grown colder recently. As the saying goes, the snow isn’t the coldest; the thaw is. He sat hunched over, hands tucked into his sleeves, enjoying the slight warmth from the fire. Truly the picture of a fading old man.

“Snap… Crackle…”

The firewood crackled fiercely. Green wood bubbled and hissed.

A pot of tea warmed over the flames. Unnoticed by him, it had boiled nearly dry.

Qing Tianyou and Chen Changsheng returned to the valley.

Seeing Bai Ziqiu sitting before the fire, the man and the demon exchanged a glance.

Qing Tianyou looked towards Bai Ziqiu. “With his cultivation at this level… how did he endure in this Demon Realm?”

“He wasn’t always like this,” Chen Changsheng said. “Everyone grows old someday. Mortals, demons… it’s all the same.”

He stepped forward and approached.

Qing Tianyou thought for a moment but didn’t follow. Instead, he went and lay down beneath a nearby tree.

Chen Changsheng sat down beside the fire.

The tea gurgled loudly in the pot. Chen Changsheng reached over and lifted it off the fire.

The noise startled Bai Ziqiu awake.

His eyes were bleary, seemingly still dazed and not quite present.

“Your tea’s almost boiled dry,” Chen Changsheng stated.

Bai Ziqiu paused, then chuckled weakly. “Fell asleep… got muddled.”

Chen Changsheng dumped the old tea, refilled the pot with water and added fresh leaves before hanging it back over the flames.

Bai Ziqiu stretched his hands toward the fire. His fingers moved stiffly, apparently having grown rigid from prolonged stillness.

These days, he could barely even summon his Magical Power. He hung on by a thread, sustained by the mere few wisps of power left within his Dantian.

Three thousand years were enough to wear down even the tallest mountain.

Chen Changsheng remained silent, saying nothing.

Bai Ziqiu just stared blankly at the flickering flames within the fire pit.

He realized even his thoughts weren’t as sharp or agile as they once were.

Like a mere Mortal, he was experiencing decline, aging, sickness, and the approach of death.

Chen Changsheng asked, “I might be able to offer… small assistance.”

Bai Ziqiu paused upon hearing this, then offered a weak smile. “No need. Thick clothes for the cold, a warm fire… why waste that precious Magical Power?”

Chen Changsheng replied, “It’s not pity. Just repaying you for letting me stay here. Wouldn’t that be fair?”

“Have you eaten my food? Worn my clothes?” Bai Ziqiu asked.

Chen Changsheng simply said, “The tea. Does it not count?”

Bai Ziqiu chuckled but didn’t reply.

He was simply unwilling to owe anyone anything.

Chen Changsheng sighed softly. “Perhaps… we’ll find a way out soon.”

Bai Ziqiu looked up at that, his eyes momentarily blank. “Oh?”

Silence briefly followed this single word.

Chen Changsheng frowned, studying him. “Don’t you… want to live anymore?”

Bai Ziqiu looked up at that accusation. He forced a smile onto his face. “How would you know I don’t want to live?”

“Isn’t that the case?” Chen Changsheng pressed.

The forced smile slowly faded from Bai Ziqiu’s face. He seemed unsure how to answer. Instead, he silently picked up a few dry sticks from the ground and tossed them into the fire.

The flames leapt higher, burning more fiercely.

Yet, even this intensified glow couldn’t disguise the inner light that was clearly fading.

Chen Changsheng watched him steadily, awaiting his reply.

They looked at each other, words unnecessary.

Bai Ziqiu’s silence itself was his answer.

He inhaled sharply. His faded, turbid eyes held none of their former ferocity.

“How many can endure three thousand years?”

“As for me…”

“Didn’t want to live long ago.”