Chapter 1382: That Is Not For Us to Consider

Spring, summer, autumn, winter—the four seasons cycled without pause.

Before long, another three years had passed.

As the peach blossoms bloomed and withered, giving way to summer fruit, it also meant that Mister would soon be returning.

Aqing had already picked the best peaches of early summer, along with the peach wine she had brewed the year before.

When dawn broke, that figure appeared in the Peach Grove, just as promised.

"Want a peach?" she asked.

Aqing looked at him; few words passed between the two of them.

The years had become difficult to measure.

Within Reincarnation, there were no more chess games.

The Demon Sovereign no longer had anyone to play chess against, and he could not help but find Reincarnation dreadfully dull.

He would rather play both sides of the board himself than play another game with Chen Changsheng.

He watched the apathy gradually fade from Chen Changsheng's face, replaced by a glimmer of anticipation in his eyes, yet this only made him worry more for the man.

In the Demon Sovereign's eyes, there would come a day when Chen Changsheng would crash and shatter to pieces, again and again, repeating endlessly.

One day, he would eventually go mad.

Over the next few years, the Demon Sovereign appeared less and less frequently.

Until one time, he sought out Chen Changsheng.

"Lend me passage. I want to make a trip to the Underworld."

But faced with this choice, Chen Changsheng hesitated.

The Demon Sovereign seemed to see his misgivings and said, "I will not harm anyone. Let all our years of chess serve as my guarantee."

Chen Changsheng agreed.

And the Demon Sovereign fulfilled his promise. After returning to the world, he headed alone toward Reincarnation.

But that year, Aqing waited in vain for Chen Changsheng.

That entire Peach Orchard seemed to lose its meaning.

So much so that when they later saw each other again, she brought it up constantly.

"If you aren't coming, tell me early on. Don't leave me waiting like a fool."

"Alright."

"Mhm."

It seemed that because of that one time, a seed of unease had been planted in Aqing's heart.

She would always ask, "Will you still come three years from now?"

And Chen Changsheng would always answer, "I will."

It was the same every time.

The two of them watched over this Peach Orchard like an ordinary farming couple, echoing one another. Only, both of them were always waiting.

Over those long years, Aqing endured the same suffering as Chen Changsheng. Being so profoundly lonely herself, she understood the agony in his heart better than anyone else. Perhaps that was exactly why she was the one who could make him stay.

...

The realm was in constant turmoil.

Following its defeat many years ago, Hongyuan Tianxia had steadily slipped into a disadvantage.

Furthermore, the people of the Heavenly Dao continually marched south.

This forced Hongyuan Tianxia into a steady retreat.

Yun Hengzi saw the situation clearly.

The Mortal World, ultimately, was not something he could seize just because he wanted to.

With all its hidden depth, this Mortal World could not be conquered by his power alone.

The moment he saw that person of the Heavenly Dao, he understood.

The Mortal World, ultimately, still had someone capable of holding up the collapsing sky.

"Alas..."

A full century had passed. With deep resignation, Yun Hengzi finally brought this hundred-year endeavor to a close.

He thought that perhaps Zhao Yuqing's inner demon had been right.

The opportunity was never in this Mortal World to begin with.

"I thought too simply of this Mortal World."

Yun Hengzi's complicated emotions dissolved into a long sigh.

With the fall of Hongyuan Tianxia, Yun Hengzi departed from this heaven and earth, while the remaining members of the Demon Race were beaten into the dust.

After a century, Great Jing recaptured the Southern Domain from the demons.

The century-long conflict had finally come to an end!

"It is over..."

Yu Youyu watched it all. A century had passed, and everything had changed.

With the fall of Hongyuan Tianxia, another conflict was about to begin.

The time had come to carve up the qi destiny.

Yu Youyu was not worried about that. In the early years when the human dao was losing, many of the upper-realm cultivators had already left. Those who remained were merely a small minority.

She had plenty of time to deal with them slowly.

Xiao Dongxu looked at her and asked, "What are you thinking about now?"

Yu Youyu said, "I am thinking about how to drive you out of the Mortal World one by one when this is done."

"Burning bridges the moment you cross the river might not be good," Xiao Dongxu noted.

Yu Youyu cast a sideways glance at him. "So what?"

Xiao Dongxu gave a slight nod. "I no longer want this Mortal World's qi destiny."

Yu Youyu paused for a moment before hearing Xiao Dongxu say, "The Mortal World's qi destiny is not worth a hundred years of my time. I only stayed here because I wanted to prove a few things."

"Now that everything here is settled, it is time for me to leave."

Xiao Dongxu looked into the distance. "I have my own Dao to walk."

He paused for a moment before adding, "And let me remind you about the Way of the Blood Corpse. That is by no means a righteous path. By integrating the Buddha-Demon Effigy into it, you have only made it more wicked, and this will eventually affect you as well."

With that, Xiao Dongxu departed from the Mortal World.

Just as he had said, he took nothing from this place. He did not carry away a single blade of grass or splinter of wood.

Among so many upper-realm cultivators, he was the only one Yu Youyu actually respected.

Yet she still felt that they should not have appeared in the Mortal World.

"If Heaven refuses to protect the Mortal World, then I shall protect it."

Yu Youyu did not heed Xiao Dongxu's advice. She kept the Heavenly Dao.

These blood corpses merged with the Buddha-Demon Effigy also helped her sever the bridge between the Mortal World and the upper realm.

From then on.

The Mortal World was the Mortal World, and the Immortal Realm was the Immortal Realm.

As for herself, she walked along the shores of the vast Desolate Sea, always guarding this place.

With the conclusion of everything, a host of new matters surfaced.

Where would the remnants of the Demon Race go? And how would they arrange the cultivators who had emerged in the Mortal World over the past century?

Another era of conflict had begun.

But all of this was no longer that important.

Yu Youyu had already obtained the ending she wanted to see.

...

In that coastal fishing village in the Southern Domain.

Xuanji met the woman who commanded the Heavenly Dao.

They were old acquaintances.

"Don't you find this dull?" Xuanji asked.

Yu Youyu thought for a moment and said, "It is alright, actually. The fishing village is quite peaceful. It isn't so complicated here."

Xuanji did not understand her and asked, "What about the blood corpses?"

"They are all buried along the borders of the Mortal World."

"Is that so..."

Xuanji looked at her and asked, "I still do not understand why you blocked the path to the Immortal Realm."

"I was not trying to stop you from leaving, but to block the people from the outside."

"But no one from the outside is coming right now."

"They will come eventually."

Xuanji said, "I think this might not be good. If those people are truly determined to seize the human dao qi fortune, relying on the Mortal World will be far from enough."

Yu Youyu said, "It just needs time."

"Hm?"

"The realm is united, and the human dao qi fortune is continuously growing. More cultivators will successively appear in the Mortal World. It is only a matter of time."

Xuanji paused for a moment before asking in return, "Then who will be in charge of this Mortal World from now on? Will it still be the Imperial Court?"

Yu Youyu let out a breath and shook her head. "That is not a problem for us to consider."