Chapter 1396: A Living Ghost Cultivator

“He isn't... human?”

Aqing felt her mind reel at those words.

Suddenly, her Master's words echoed in her head.

‘Unless... he isn't human at all...’

Aqing opened her mouth, staring at him. “What... do you mean?”

Zhao Yuqing looked at her. “The long life that cultivators in this world seek is nothing more than immortality, an existence as eternal as Heaven. But someone who can truly live as long as Heaven—do you know exactly what kind of person that is?”

Aqing froze, her eyes instantly clouding with confusion.

“No...”

“It seems you have already guessed,” Zhao Yuqing said.

Aqing fell into a long silence. Her gaze was vacant; once the thought in her heart solidified into certainty, an overwhelming sense of disbelief followed.

“Why?”

Aqing could not understand. “Why does Heaven have emotions?”

“That I am not quite sure of,” Zhao Yuqing said. “Perhaps you should ask him. He would surely know best.”

Aqing parted her lips, sitting down in a daze.

After a long period of bewilderment, she looked up at Zhao Yuqing again.

“Do you understand the difficulty now?” Zhao Yuqing said. “That is why I advise you to give up as early as—”

“How does one enter and leave Reincarnation?”

Her words brought Zhao Yuqing to a halt.

He stared at her, slightly bewildered. “Are you truly not afraid?”

“He is the only attachment I have left in this world,” Aqing said.

Zhao Yuqing fell silent at that.

He paced back and forth across the room. “Did Chen Changsheng save your life?”

“Yes,” Aqing said, holding his gaze.

For a moment, Zhao Yuqing was speechless, entirely at a loss for what to do.

“Do you not understand? Chasing after this will only end in emptiness. You will be left with nothing!”

“I know!”

“Are you really this foolish?”

Aqing raised her head. “Someone else can do this for him, so why can't I?”

“I like him. I love him. I would rather die for him—is that not allowed?”

Her outburst suddenly stunned Zhao Yuqing.

Aqing shook her head. “You don't understand. You could never understand.”

She lowered her head, her fierce momentum draining away.

Zhao Yuqing looked at her and let out a long sigh.

“It is not that I don't understand.”

His words caught Aqing off guard.

She looked up at him.

In that moment, Zhao Yuqing understood as well. All his refutations and lectures were useless. He could never drag someone drowning in love back to the shore.

“You only need to enter the Underworld,” he said. “I will speak with the Lord of the Underworld.”

Aqing blanked at the promise.

Zhao Yuqing waved a hand dismissively. “Go. Stop bothering me.”

Aqing pursed her lips. After a long silence, she stood up and offered a word of thanks.

Amid this heavy snowfall, Zhao Yuqing had finally relented.

After she left, he stepped out the door and watched her lone figure walking off into the vast expanse of white.

Was this very scene not a reflection of her future destiny?

From this day forward, she would walk this road alone, likely with no one by her side.

Seeking Reincarnation was a mistake to begin with.

...

Zhao Yuqing had not returned to the Underworld in many years.

The realm had changed drastically. There were far more departed souls in the Sand Sea, and the Bridge of Naihe seemed much more congested than it used to be.

Countless souls were rushing to be reincarnated.

The moment Zhao Yuqing set foot in the Underworld, a figure materialized before his eyes.

Manyue looked at him. “Are you here to hide from another calamity?”

Zhao Yuqing shook his head. “No. I am here to plead a case for someone. I made her a promise.”

“Who? Someone connected to you?”

“No. Someone connected to Chen Changsheng.”

Manyue frowned slightly.

Once Zhao Yuqing recounted the series of events and everything that had transpired, Manyue also fell into silence.

“I didn't want to help her,” he said. “But in this world, such fierce devotion should not be let down.”

Manyue's expression was calm. She simply said, “I understand.”

“Mhm.”

Zhao Yuqing nodded. “I only came here for this matter.”

Manyue paused, then added, “He is here too.”

Zhao Yuqing's brow furrowed.

“Who?”

“The Demon Sovereign.”

Manyue looked at him. “Do you want to see him? Lately, he is always complaining about being bored. He won't stop nagging.”

Zhao Yuqing fell silent at that.

“For half of my life, I was played with in the palm of his hand,” he said. “I only want to kill him.”

“Haven't you already tried?” Manyue asked.

Zhao Yuqing plunged back into silence.

But the final outcome was always the same.

He could not be killed!

If not for the Demon Sovereign, Zhao Yuqing would never have bowed before Chen Changsheng, nor would they have later turned against each other. He wouldn't have been lured into trying to destroy Heaven and Earth. Through all those long years, he had been reduced to a game piece, ultimately becoming a discarded pawn left upon Yunfu Mountain.

“Let him stay bored,” Zhao Yuqing said.

Manyue nodded. “Fair enough.”

Zhao Yuqing left without seeing anyone else. On his way out, he remembered Meng Po, but after some thought, he chose not to ask anything. When the exit gate appeared before him, he simply departed.

...

Manyue waited within the Underworld.

A long time passed before a figure washed up onto the shores of the Sand Sea, carried by the currents of the Yellow Springs.

Manyue opened her eyes and looked over. It seemed to be the person Zhao Yuqing had mentioned.

Aqing staggered to her feet and looked around. She saw a desolate landscape—an endless Sand Sea where countless departed souls drifted aimlessly.

“I made it in...”

Aqing murmured, taking in her surroundings.

She slowly stepped into the Sand Sea, walking forward just like the other souls. But the sea of sand stretched on endlessly, far beyond the reach of the eye.

It wasn't long before she lost her way entirely.

She encountered the exact same problem as the majority of the dead—she could find no direction.

She could only wander aimlessly onward.

For the souls trapped within this Sand Sea, even the firmest convictions would eventually be ground into nothing by the vast emptiness. Succumbing to numbness, they would finally walk toward Mengpo Hall, drink that bowl of soup, and cross the Bridge of Naihe.

This had always been the rule of the Underworld.

Aqing relied on her own Magical Power to trek through the Sand Sea, but gradually, she realized that Spiritual Energy was almost nonexistent here. She had no way to replenish herself at all.

This meant she could not stay in the Sand Sea for long. The more time passed, the more dangerous it became.

Only ghosts could survive here indefinitely.

“A living person?”

A voice drifted over.

Aqing looked toward the sound.

A ghost cultivator stood upon a sand dune ahead. He held a Sword in hand, watching her with a calm gaze.

“A ghost cultivator?”

Aqing paused.

Jian Shenghua raised an eyebrow slightly, pointing his Sword at her.

“You certainly have a lot of nerve, forcing your way into the Underworld with such a meager Cultivation Base.”