Chapter 1095: Evolution of the Four Seasons

Taking in the scene, Mo Yuan held Yu Hongdou back.

"Don't come any closer!"

Yu Hongdou paused, looking at the karma shrouding the mountains and plains. It was indeed not something he could touch at his current level.

He wouldn't die, but becoming entangled in such karma would damage his cultivation foundation.

"Then what about you, Dragon Lord..." Yu Hongdou asked.

"I will go in and take a look. Don't worry, this little bit of karma isn't enough to hurt me."

With that, Mo Yuan strode into the mountain forest.

Following Yu Hongdou's directions, Mo Yuan headed deeper into the woods. The further he went, the thicker the karma became, and his expression grew increasingly grim.

He soon arrived at the cave.

Scattered wisps of karma were surging from its mouth.

Mo Yuan stepped inside.

A moment later, he spotted Yu Hongjin sitting cross-legged, circulating her cultivation.

Yu Hongjin's face was deathly pale. Over her abdomen, the faint silhouettes of a white fish and a black fish could be seen. Instead of swirling in harmony like the Yin-Yang Eight Trigrams as they used to, they were viciously biting and fighting each other.

Cold sweat covered her forehead, and her brows were tightly knit. She seemed to have exhausted all her strength, yet she still could not break free from her current predicament.

She slowly opened her eyes and looked at the newcomer.

"Mo... Yuan..."

Yu Hongjin's voice was faint, so quiet that one had to lean in to hear it.

Mo Yuan quickly stepped forward and supported her.

"Did the karma and qi destiny slip out of control?" Mo Yuan asked.

Yu Hongjin gave a slight nod. "I was careless..."

In truth, this had been building up for a while.

With qi destiny and karma woven together, maintaining a stable balance was never an easy task.

Furthermore, she had been slacking off over the years, rarely focusing on her cultivation. That neglect had led to this exact situation.

"I just wanted to scare people. Who knew... cough, cough..."

Yu Hongjin coughed. After catching her breath, she continued, "Who knew it would stop listening to me."

She looked up at Mo Yuan. "You'd best stay away from me right now. This karma... it's no simple matter."

Mo Yuan raised an eyebrow. "Don't I know it? This karma originally came from me."

Saying that, he swept Yu Hongjin up into his arms.

Yu Hongjin stared blankly. "Where are you taking me?"

"To find Mister Chen. Mister Chen will definitely have a way."

But Yu Hongjin shook her head. "He's not here. The time has already passed. You won't find him."

Mo Yuan was taken aback. "You know where Mister went?"

Yu Hongjin didn't explain, merely shaking her head.

She had once heard Sister Yun mention this matter.

Mo Yuan had no mind to press the issue. "There has to be someone who can fix your current condition. Regardless, let me take you on a trip. I refuse to believe that in the entire Cultivation World and the whole Desolate Sea, we can't find a single person who can save you."

"You might as well just leave me here," Yu Hongjin argued. "If you take me with you, the karma entangling you will only grow heavier. You'll just get dragged down with me."

"What do you mean 'dragged down'? This is what I owe you to begin with."

"Saying all this..."

For some reason, Mo Yuan felt a pang of heartache for the girl. She viewed Miss Yun as her own sister, but a mortal's lifespan could never compare to a demon's. Separated by life and death, who knew how long this girl had grieved?

Now, with her condition so dire, she didn't even have a single person she could lean on.

Yu Hongjin wanted to push him away, but she no longer had the strength to resist. She could only let Mo Yuan carry her away.

Outside, Yu Hongdou watched as Mo Yuan carried her out.

After a brief moment of thought, Mo Yuan said to him, "You should stay in the Mortal World to cultivate. I need to take her to find a cultivator for treatment. Given the circumstances, it really isn't convenient for you to tag along."

Yu Hongdou opened his mouth to speak.

But the drowsy Yu Hongjin murmured, "Rebellious son... listen to him..."

Yu Hongdou froze, looking at Yu Hongjin.

Turning her head slightly, she told him, "Your origins are extraordinary, and there will surely be great opportunities waiting for you in the future. Don't ruin your foundation and sever your future path because of me."

Their eyes met.

Lacking the strength to say more, Yu Hongjin simply closed her eyes.

Before leaving, Mo Yuan cast a glance at Yu Hongdou, who was watching them depart.

Yu Hongdou's eyes held a hint of daze, but mostly, he looked entirely lost.

Even long after Mo Yuan had carried Yu Hongjin away, he still couldn't seem to snap out of it.

The karma in the valley had stopped spreading, but all living creatures had long since fled. The vital energy of the plants and trees had also fallen silent during this time.

It was dead quiet.

Yu Hongdou just stood there at the edge of the forest.

As if only just now returning to his senses.

He was in a trance!

A trance that lasted for a long, long time...

For the first time since he began walking through this Mortal World, he tasted the bitterness of parting.

It happened so silently and so briefly, yet it left a twisting ache in his heart.

The palm-sized boy sat down in front of the mountain forest.

A long while later, he stared blankly at himself.

Suddenly, he felt as though he had seen someone in this exact state before.

Right...

It was the old man sitting in front of that rundown village.

He couldn't even remember which specific elder it was. But right now, he was the spitting image of that withered, idle man.

Back then, he had asked Yu Hongjin what those people were thinking about when they sat there like that.

Yu Hongjin had told him, "Perhaps they aren't thinking about anything at all."

At the time, he had retorted, "How is that possible? How could anyone just sit there in a daze without a single thought in their head?"

Now, he understood.

It was exactly as Yu Hongjin had said—his mind was truly empty.

Yu Hongdou felt a surge of regret.

He regretted that he hadn't given her a proper goodbye just now. Lost in his confusion, he had just let her go.

He should have said more.

But now, who was there to listen?

.

.

Underworld, the Netherworld.

Without anyone noticing, the rules here had gradually perfected themselves.

Ever since Manyue began cultivating plants and trees, this world had steadily gained a touch of life.

Saplings sprouted on the barren mountains, and the sea of blood receded, transforming into a vast expanse of dusky yellow. One after another, the changes of the four seasons emerged—spring, summer, autumn, and winter.

Manyue watched all of this with a peaceful expression.

She was experiencing this for the second time, so she was naturally much more skilled at it than before.

According to Chen Changsheng, this realm shouldn't contain any life whatsoever. But she always felt slightly dissatisfied with that, so she simply carved out a specific area to allow living creatures to exist.

As chance would have it.

The place where the Evil Phoenix was originally suppressed fell right within this area.

Over the past few years, the Evil Phoenix had witnessed the transformation of this Barren Wasteland with his own eyes.

Plants, streams, rain, the four seasons...

Everything was so unbelievable.

Wind and thunder became common occurrences, bringing sound and life to the desolate land in an endless cycle.

Although he suffered the ravages of these changing seasons, he also gained enlightenment from them. The Daoist rhyme of the Heavenly Dao was right before his eyes; if he couldn't understand it even now, then he would have cultivated in vain for all those years.