Chapter 595: Chapter 455: Tian Xuzi

The woman’s corpse, clad in a burial robe, had hair that was long, black, and lustrous, and the skin that was exposed was tender and pale, appearing just like a young woman in her early twenties.

But the Gu She Fairy knew that all of this was but an illusion crafted by the body replacement techniques of the Spirit Treasure Sect. The body of the other had been changed countless times, and even she did not know their true age, but it was at least a century old.

At this moment, the Gu She Fairy listened in astonishment to the corpse speaking before her, and before she could react, she heard the other party continue, “Where is Lin Xing?”

“Why have I not sensed the presence of your junior brother in the valley?”

Hearing these words, the Gu She Fairy’s heart shuddered again.

In the Gu She Fairy’s mind, she always remembered the initial sight of Lin Xing joining the Spirit Treasure Sect, and even more so, the joyous days of being close to him, under the flowers and moonlight.

But all along, the Gu She Fairy found that aside from herself, there was no one else in the Spirit Treasure Sect who remembered Lin Xing’s existence.

Even Lin Xing, whom she met later, did not remember the experience of joining the Spirit Treasure Sect, much less the affection between them.

Until now, she even began to doubt whether these memories truly existed, whether there was something wrong with her memory.

“Sect Leader,” the Gu She Fairy said firmly, looking at the other, her tone tinged with a hint of hesitation, “do you still remember Junior Brother?”

The eyebrows of the corpse raised, saying, “Why would I not remember someone I personally accepted?”

Her gaze suddenly intensified, staring seriously at the Gu She Fairy, “You enchantress, don’t tell me you played your junior brother to death?”

The Gu She Fairy’s cheeks reddened, and she retorted annoyed, “Sect Leader, what nonsense are you spouting?”

“The reason I ask this is because aside from you and me, no one else remembers Junior Brother…”

As the Gu She Fairy recounted the affairs of Lin Xing and the situation of these years, the Su Yao Immortal thoughtfully said, “Could there be such a thing? Only the two of us remember that Lin Xing once joined our Spirit Treasure Sect.”

She pondered slightly; it seemed she had come to a conclusion in her heart, “Throughout history, the Three Pure Ones’ instruments have been the heavy tools for managing the lower realms.”

“Our Spirit Treasure Sect’s successive Sect Leaders, as one of the Three Instruments, have always symbolized ‘the shell.'”

“Whenever history changes, times invert, we, as ‘the shell’… carry on the role of transmitting messages.”

The Gu She Fairy was taken aback, “Sect Leader, when you were passing on the leadership to me before your death, why did you not mention these things?”

The Su Yao Immortal waved her hand dismissively, saying, “Don’t interrupt, keep listening to me.”

“You and I have both mastered the Spirit Treasure Sect’s transmissions, that qualifies us as ‘the shell.'”

“That only the two of us remember your junior brother, is likely because someone altered time, and the residual memories of history before the change… stayed within us.”

“And this time, being forcibly awakened, there were some inexplicable memories added to my mind, which may also be related to this.”

Turning her head, the Su Yao Immortal looked at her disciple’s puzzled face, sighed, and slowly began to explain.

“Counting back the days, the first time I encountered such a thing was probably seventy or eighty years ago…”

…

Seventy-two years ago, on a certain deep night.

The Su Yao Immortal awakened sharply from an exceedingly profound meditation.

She, who had already mastered the third transmission, found her back drenched in cold sweat at this moment.

In the recent meditation, she had seen a world utterly desolate.

She saw that within the Spirit Treasure Sect, most of the disciples had turned into all sorts of demons with green faces and fangs, their limbs twisted and deformed.

She also saw provinces transforming into hell, the people massacring one another, and each old man, child, man, and woman becoming malevolent spirits that ate humans, corpses, and scraps of flesh, and ruins scattered like ashes across the world.

Death! Madness! Death! Madness! Death! Madness…

The entire world seemed to have nothing left but insanity and death, with not a trace of life remaining, ushering in the true apocalypse.

What made the Su Yao Immortal feel even more desperate was that this was not some illusion, but a real and incontrovertible memory of the future.

“Somebody activated the power of the Three Pure Ones’ instruments, transferring the memories of the apocalypse to come into my body.”

“This is after the malevolent energy has swept across the world… the apocalypse.”

The Su Yao Immortal clutched her chest tightly; with every recall of the memory, every witness to those billions of deaths and madness, she felt suffocated.

“What should I do?”

The first solution that Su Yao Immortal thought of was to report the matter to the Immortal Court.

“More than twenty years ago, the Immortal Court issued a decree, saying they would transfer the evil qi.”

“But I never imagined such a catastrophe in the future.”

“This has to be reported, and they must be made to stop immediately…”

She did not alert anyone, coming alone to the Kunlun Mountain Secret Realm, attempting to correspond with the Immortal Court via the Ascension Platform.

Although the eight great sects’ previous communication attempts had all ended in failure and the Immortal Court had not contacted the lower realms for a long time, the Su Yao Immortal believed this time was different.

“The great calamity, the onset of doomsday, involves the life and death of billions in the mortal realm; the Immortal Court will not stand by idly…”

Seven days later, the Su Yao Immortal, gazing at the unresponsive Ascension Platform, felt a rise in anxiety, “Could it be that I’ve failed to send the message, and the Immortal Court has not received it?”

Therefore, over the following month, the Su Yao Immortal tried repeatedly to send messages to the Immortal Court, but each time it was like casting stones into the sea, with the Immortal Court perpetually not issuing any Immortal Decree.

“It seems, as those from the Taihe Sect had said, the Ascension Platform might have been damaged, hence unable to contact the Immortal Court.”

Thinking of that apocalyptic vision full of death and madness, the Su Yao Immortal decided to try and repair the Ascension Platform before her.

But just as she mobilized her spiritual thoughts to disassemble the Ascension Platform, a surge of noise burst like thunder in her mind.

“Audacious!”

“How dare you destroy a treasured artifact of the Immortal Court? Today, I shall obliterate both your body and soul!”

Feeling the sudden surge of voices from the Ascension Platform, Su Yao Immortal, however, was not alarmed but delighted.

She had not expected the Ascension Platform to suddenly establish contact with the Immortal Court, and it was not merely for receiving decrees but even for direct communication, for speaking.

Su Yao Immortal quickly called out, “Immortal, please be merciful, I have something important to report…”

She hurriedly narrated the future she had foreseen, but halfway through, she was cut off by that voice.

“For such a trivial matter, you dare to attack the Ascension Platform? You’ve got some nerve…”

“A trivial matter…” Su Yao Immortal paused slightly and then said, “But Immortal, this concerns the lives of countless beings…”

That voice spoke coldly, “Still trying to argue your case?”

“If every minor cultivator in all the realms were as presumptuous as you, how could the Immortal Court manage the myriad realms? What rules would there be in both the higher and lower realms?”

Su Yao Immortal stood at a loss, listening to the voice’s words.

Just as she was unsure of what to do, the voice hesitated for a moment, and then it seemed that laughter could be heard before the voice vanished without a trace.

Just as Su Yao Immortal was full of doubts, she suddenly saw a faint light undulating on the Ascension Platform, which gradually took on a humanoid form.

The figure smiled gently at her and said kindly, “Jiang Immortal is known for his impartiality; seeing you break the rules, he spoke in such haste. You mustn’t blame him in your heart.”

Su Yao Immortal immediately knelt on the ground and said eagerly, “I thank the Immortal for interceding on my behalf.”

“Shall I summon the disciples of all the sects to welcome the senior?”

The person chuckled, waved his hand, and said, “I am Tian Xuzi. Currently, I am not truly descending to the mortal world but am merely using the light and shadow of the Ascension Platform; there’s no need for such commotion.”

Su Yao Immortal’s heart stirred, thinking, “So the Ascension Platform can not only communicate directly with the lower realms but even transmit light and shadow…”

Thinking of her own repeated fruitless petitions in the past; of the generations of seniors and disciples of the eight great sects preparing rituals, spending countless efforts, yet never receiving a response from the Immortal Court, Su Yao Immortal suddenly felt a bitter taste in her heart.

But she knew this was not the time to dwell on these thoughts, so she immediately suppressed the emotions in her heart.

She looked at Tian Xuzi, who wore a friendly smile, and intuitively felt he was much more approachable than Jiang Immortal who spoke earlier. Immediately, she bowed to Tian Xuzi and said, “Senior above, the apocalypse is imminent in this world, I implore you to save the beings of this world.”

In Su Yao Immortal’s expectant eyes, Tian Xuzi shook his head and said indifferently, “I’m already aware of the matter you speak of. But the transference of evil energy is a strategy set by the Immortal Court, and no one can change that.”

Su Yao Immortal quickly said, “But if we allow the evil energy to continue to grow, this realm will surely become a living hell.”

Tian Xuzi sighed, “Don’t be so pessimistic. The Immortal Court’s regulation of evil energy is for the safety of all realms, beneficial for the Immortals above and the ordinary cultivators below; it is a good thing.”

Su Yao Immortal was momentarily stunned, “Good… a good thing?”

Remembering the mountains of corpses from her future memories and the countless malign spirits, Su Yao Immortal finally couldn’t hold back her anger and said, “How can the death of so many be a good thing? If the Immortal Court insists on this, we will have no choice but to… to…”

As Su Yao Immortal was vehemently opposing, Jiang Immortal’s voice once again came through coldly, “No choice but what?”

“Let me tell you, the transference of evil energy is a major Immortal Court strategy. I don’t care if tens of thousands die or if hundreds of millions perish; even if this realm’s living beings are wiped out, the evil energy must be transferred.”

“Tian Xuzi, my friend, these are all lowly individuals bewildered by evil energy. When you speak kindly, she doesn’t understand and even dares to defy you…”

The faint voices gradually faded away, and it seemed the other party was discussing something with Tian Xuzi, but Su Yao Immortal could no longer hear, nor did she care any longer.

Her mind was filled with Jiang Immortal’s recent words, those words echoing repeatedly, like thunderclaps exploding incessantly in her mind.

…

At this very moment.

Within the valley of the Spirit Treasure Sect.

Su Yao Immortal murmured, “Since then, I have tried everything to prevent the apocalypse.”

“I attempted to forge a path of escape, to flee to outside realms. I tried to seal away the evil energy, to diminish its impact. I even tried to block the Kunlun Spiritual Vein and to ascend to another realm…”

“After more than twenty years spent, the result was only failure… failure… failure…”

“At that time, I realized we had no resistance against the Immortal Court.”

“Whether it was our own cultivation or whether it was Kunlun that connected the myriad realms and transferred the evil energy, everything was under the control of the Immortal Court.”

“And afterward… the Ascension Platform was completely closed off by Tian Xuzi, no matter how I called out or how I attacked, no Immortals from the Immortal Court ever responded again.”

“The other sect leaders either didn’t believe my words or coveted ascending to the Immortal Court, only wishing to assist the deeds of the Immortal Court Immortals…”

“I watched as the world became increasingly chaotic, with evil energy seeping in, wars erupting everywhere, malign spirits gradually emerging, and those visions of doomsday from my memories flashing across my mind incessantly…”

Gu She Fairy recalled those days before Su Yao Immortal’s death.

After her final return to the valley, she had become even more reticent and isolated, gradually distancing even from her disciples, like a leaf slowly yellowing and withering.

According to some maidservants, it seemed Su Yao Immortal was awakened by nightmares every night, uttering strange words.

And with each passing day of decline, until one morning, she was found having destroyed her Primordial Spirit within the stone chamber, leaving behind only a suicide note and passing the title of Sect Leader to Gu She Fairy.

“I was in despair.”

“Not wanting to witness the world being destroyed step by step, I chose to leave first.”

Su Yao Immortal glanced at her own funeral clothes, chuckled lightly, and said, “But unexpectedly, I could still wake up again.”

She rubbed her brow slightly, her voice tinged with expectation, “And those additional memories in my mind tell me that this time, not all beings in the world have perished.”

“Many from the Ming Mountain Sect will survive.”