CHAPTER 434: JADE COMPASSION

Chapter 434: Jade Compassion

In less than half an hour,

The Jade Pool Holy Land was completely emptied.

Chen Huaian stood before a cold pond deep within the Jade Pool Holy Land for a long time. He faintly sensed something hidden beneath the pond, but his spiritual senses detected nothing unusual. Even when he used Heaven's Calculation to deduce further, he still found no clues.

"Forget it, I can't possibly take this entire pond with me."

He crouched down and scooped up some water to drink.

"Not bad. The three springs of Jade Pool—slightly sweet~

If I sold this in modern times, pricing it at two thousand per bottle wouldn't be unreasonable, right?"

Chen Huaian narrowed his eyes, seemingly having found a lucrative business idea.

For some reason, Real Person Yuyao had expelled the Jade Pool Holy Land from her small world. Although its spiritual energy was gradually dissipating into the Cangyun Realm, it was still abundant enough that all water sources within the Holy Land were infused with spiritual energy.

By extension, the water sources in his small world could also become spiritual springs!

Then he could simply sell spiritual spring water, couldn't he?

There would be no need to scrounge for money everywhere—people would naturally bring it to him.

With the resources from both the Jade Pool Holy Land and the Burning Purity Holy Land, his small world could be properly developed. At the very least, he wouldn't need to spend a single coin on basic infrastructure.

...

Not long after Chen Huaian left with his group,

The desolate ruins of the Jade Pool Holy Land trembled as space distorted.

Real Person Yuyao stepped out from a spatial rift, her face dark. After surveying the surroundings, she froze momentarily before her expression turned even more thunderous.

"Damn it! The Burning Purity Holy Land was emptied...

And now my Jade Pool Holy Land has also been stripped bare by those people?"

Seeing that not even a single floor tile remained in the Jade Pool Holy Land, Yuyao clenched her fists so tightly that her voice trembled with rage.

"Aren't the Sword Pavilion and True Martial Holy Land supposed to be righteous sects? Weren't their sword cultivators upright and unyielding? How is this behavior any different from bandits?"

She strode straight into the depths of the Holy Land, stopping before the cold pond.

"Senior Sister, you said you would intervene if the Jade Pool Holy Land faced calamity. So you just stood by and watched as it was plundered like this? This was Master's life's work!"

After a long silence, a sigh echoed from within the pond.

"Junior Sister, let it go."

"The Jade Pool Holy Land's current state is entirely self-inflicted. Being ransacked like this might even be a good thing. Perhaps its erasure from the Cangyun Realm is a form of atonement in some way."

"Enough!" Yuyao snarled, cutting off the voice as she struck the pond's surface with her palm, sending water spraying everywhere. "All you ever talk about is destiny, karma, sin, and morality... What's the point? Will any of that help you ascend? Will it let you survive the heavenly tribulations? That accursed heaven doesn't care whether you have virtue—it never intended for anyone to ascend! We have no choice but to do whatever it takes!"

"And will doing whatever it takes let you ascend?"

The voice from the pond remained calm and detached, unaffected by Yuyao's fury.

"Yes." Yuyao crouched by the pond, her tone softening. "Senior Sister, I've been granted immortal techniques—I'm walking the same path as the immortals! It's a smooth road, one that guarantees ascension. We could walk it together!"

"You will never become an immortal." The pond's reply was so serene it shattered Yuyao's composure. "Even if you enter the immortal realm, you'll only be a false immortal. You have no Dao of your own—you're just someone else's puppet. That isn't immortality; it's slavery."

"Jade Compassion!" Yuyao stood abruptly, her beautiful face pale as she pointed at the pond—the first time she had ever addressed her senior sister so directly by her Dao name. "Stay here and guard your worthless Dao! I'll show you whether I can ascend or not! And you... you'll see for yourself whether the heavens you've devoted your life to will spare you when the heavenly tribulation strikes!"

Standing before the pond, countless memories flashed through Yuyao's mind.

When she first joined the sect as an ordinary disciple, she would have suffered greatly without her senior sister's protection.

During dangerous missions outside the sect, it was always her senior sister who shielded her.

Even in life-or-death situations, her senior sister would give her every chance to survive.

Heaven is merciless, treating all beings as straw dogs.

From the day her senior sister was left critically injured by a minor heavenly tribulation, Yuyao vowed to rise above the heavens and become an unfettered immortal.

Only by ascending could she transcend the laws and exist beyond all constraints.

Only by ascending could she control her own fate.

She never wanted to feel that helplessness again—she wanted to stand in front of her senior sister this time.

An immortal.

She would become one.

She would face the heavenly tribulation before her senior sister.

She would serve beside the immortals first, paving the way for her senior sister to ascend.

So they could stand together as the Immortal Venerable's right and left hands...

For a long time, she stared at the pond. Even though she knew she might now be stronger than her senior sister, her senior sister was still different. Everything else in this world could serve as stepping stones for her ascension—except her senior sister.

"Senior Sister, I'm leaving. This is the last time I'll call you that."

Yuyao turned away, her back to the pond.

"Don't get in the way of my ascension—or don't blame me for discarding our past ties!"

...

Within the cold pond,

Real Person Jade Compassion remained silent for a long time.

When the Sword Pavilion's ancestor had stood observing the pond, she had considered intervening.

But who could she blame for the Jade Pool Holy Land's current state? Only themselves. What right did she have to demand justice for the Holy Land? What reason was there to let this cradle of sin continue existing?

So in the end, she had simply locked eyes with the Sword Pavilion's ancestor through the water.

And did nothing.

"Is this the Heavenly Dao's will—to exterminate everything?"

Jade Compassion lowered her head, fists clenched.

Now, only one path remained for her:

To emulate the ancient immortals and sever her three corpses.

But severing them would mean abandoning all emotions—she would no longer experience the seven passions or six desires.

Even if she saw her junior sister die before her, she would feel nothing. Given that her Dao followed the path of avoiding karma and accumulating virtue, she might even consider it a boon for the world if her junior sister were struck dead by lightning.

"Two perfect outcomes are rare in this world." Jade Compassion's gaze gradually hardened. "Since my junior sister has already severed ties with me, I have no more attachments. There's no need for hesitation anymore!"

With this realization, she crossed her legs and entered deep meditation.

As the ancient immortals said: Sever all three corpses, and the Great Dao can be attained.

Severing the three corpses would cause her power to drop by at least one major realm.

It might seem like a loss, but cultivation afterward would become smooth sailing.

Both breakthroughs in realm and enlightenment would improve dramatically.

Most importantly...

If she could endure the insecurity of losing at least one major realm, severing the three corpses was the only way for a Great Ascension Stage cultivator in the Three Tribulations realm to avoid being actively targeted by heavenly tribulations—provided they had sufficient lifespan.

Jade Compassion didn't have much lifespan left, but she had no intention of clinging to life in the Void Abyss.

Her Dao was to go with the flow and follow her heart.

If heaven willed her death,

Then so be it.

...