Chapter 101 : My Cultivation Is Not About Eradicating Desire, but Releasing Desire
Chapter 101: My Cultivation Is Not About Eradicating Desire, but Releasing Desire
Meanwhile, Cheng Hua, Song Zitan, and the other woman fought their way up the mountain.
Cheng Hua possessed an extraordinary ability. She saw through the hidden nature of the Demonic Seeds and followed the flowing Seed Light all the way forward. Before long, she found the entrance to the hollow mountain body.
It appeared to be nothing more than the wall of an ordinary room.
The moment the hidden door was pushed open, the space beyond suddenly widened.
Inside was a plaza capable of holding over a hundred people. At its center stood a strange stone statue, surrounded by countless sacrifices.
Just then, Cheng Hua saw a stream of Seed Light merge into the stone statue.
And that stone statue...
Merely looking at it made her feel as though something were writhing inside her chest.
Cheng Hua's Dao Heart was clear and tranquil, allowing her to suppress the sensation with ease.
"If my guess is correct, that stone statue is the bottleneck. Stay here while I destroy it—"
Before Cheng Hua could finish speaking,
she felt a palm strike rushing toward her back.
Expressionless, she swung one of her long legs, wrapped in snowy-white icy silk, backward with force, knocking aside the jade-like palm of Song Zitan's female companion.
The woman staggered, nearly falling over.
When Cheng Hua turned around,
she saw that the abnormal sensation within Song Zitan and her companion was surging wildly...
The companion tilted her head.
"Senior Sister Cheng, this stone statue is a wondrous treasure of the current age. Destroying it would be a tremendous loss to the cultivation world. Wouldn't it be better if we brought it back for the various sects to admire?"
Meanwhile, Song Zitan clutched her head in agony, desperately resisting something.
Cheng Hua frowned.
She had already sorted it out.
It was the stone statue. The stone statue was influencing them.
The tragic state of Twin Su Manor had been caused by this very statue.
But how could a mere stone statue accomplish such a thing?
Cheng Hua could not understand.
But failing to understand did not stop her from drawing her sword.
The night wind suddenly rose as sword light descended upon the stone statue.
It was nothing more than ordinary stone. There was no way it could block her sword light.
Clang!
A crisp metallic ring echoed out.
A grayish-white figure lowered its body and charged forward. The skin covering its entire body had become as hard as stone.
Fourth Realm... Stone Body Path.
A path that petrified the body to obtain the ultimate defense. It was neither heretical nor unorthodox—merely one of the Three Thousand Great Daos.
Cheng Hua remained calm.
The hand gripping her sword stayed perfectly steady.
A freezing gale arrived without warning. The wind and dust within the plaza, the night itself, and the flowing currents of air all seemed to solidify at that instant, concealed within this single strike.
Crack—
The frost suddenly shattered.
The sword wind erupted violently, as though delayed, carving a white trail through the air.
Ice Dissolution.
Xue Dali's entire body trembled.
A wave of blood burst open across his chest as his petrified body cracked apart from the inside out.
He retreated frantically, stumbled midway, rolled across the ground several times, then spat out a mouthful of blood.
Yet strangely enough,
a trace of confusion appeared in his eyes.
He looked at Cheng Hua, then at the stone statue in the plaza, his face filled with bewilderment.
Cheng Hua paused slightly.
She saw that the abnormal sensation surrounding him had weakened by more than half.
A scene suddenly surfaced in her mind—
Fang Chang yawning lazily inside the Ascension Inn as he spoke.
—"This sword is called Ice Dissolution... It follows the path of Kan Water and Dui Metal. It can sever the Three Corpses and Nine Worms, split the heavens, and cleave the clouds. With your clear and tranquil Dao Heart, you're the most suitable person to wield it."
"The Three Corpses and Nine Worms..."
Without the slightest hesitation, Cheng Hua turned around and slashed twice at Song Zitan and her companion.
Neither of them had time to react before blood erupted from their shoulders, and they collapsed to the ground in stunned disbelief.
"..."
The calm expression on Cheng Hua's face twitched slightly.
She had failed to control her strength properly.
She had not yet reached the level where she could wield such a strike with effortless precision.
Fortunately, however, the abnormal sensation within both of them dispersed, and neither woman died.
A deep rumble suddenly echoed as the ground beneath their feet shook violently.
The mountain before them split straight down the middle as rocks exploded outward.
Startled, Cheng Hua raised her sword defensively.
Yet the figures breaking through from the air were none other than Perfected Yue Han and... Fang Chang?
"Fang Chang?"
"Xiao Hua?"
Cheng Hua and Perfected Yue Han stared at one another in surprise.
Perfected Yue Han turned to look at Fang Chang, her small mouth slightly open in astonishment.
It was as though she were asking—
You're Fang Chang?
Fang Chang understood and sighed helplessly.
"I already told you my name earlier."
Seeing Perfected Yue Han holding Fang Chang's arm, Cheng Hua suddenly felt somewhat uncomfortable.
She stepped forward and stiffly squeezed herself between them.
Pretending to inspect Perfected Yue Han's condition, she asked,
"Are you alright? Don't look at the stone statue."
As she spoke,
she deliberately turned halfway sideways, pressing her round, full buttocks beneath her skirt against Fang Chang.
Her long legs stretched out diagonally beneath her skirt, straight and slender, wrapped in white icy silk like flawless jade lotus roots.
Meanwhile, her cool eyes secretly glanced sideways to observe Fang Chang.
Fang Chang walked over to Song Zitan and her companion and could not help laughing.
"You did this?"
"...There was no other choice in that situation."
"The strike was rather poorly controlled. If it had been another inch or two off, they'd both be dead."
"..."
Cheng Hua narrowed her eyes, clearly unconvinced.
Perfected Yue Han could not understand what they were talking about. She waved her arms toward Cheng Hua.
"Rustle rustle—Rustle rustle—"
Cheng Hua came back to her senses and looked toward the stone statue in the center.
"That should be where the bottleneck lies. As long as we destroy it, then we can—"
"Not yet."
"Rustle rustle!!?"
Cheng Hua glanced at Fang Chang's profile before gently pressing down the arm Perfected Yue Han was waving so vigorously.
"There's no hurry. Listen to him."
"?"
Yue Han looked at her in astonishment.
Xiao Hua, what's gotten into you? Why are you siding with an outsider? I'm the elder who watched you cultivate!
Fang Chang looked down through the split mountain toward Twin Su Manor below.
The night wind howled bleakly.
The Battle Royale had ended.
Only two people remained now.
—Zhang Su and Lü Shu.
On the Corpse Refinement Path interface, Zhang Su's Jade Bones and Ice Heart (Purple) was fading away.
Almost time.
...
...
"Do you understand now?"
Zhao Yuntong leaned against the doorframe and spoke coldly.
Inside the room, Zhang Su tightly embraced the unconscious Lü Shu.
The golden power of vows from the Glazed Body continued surging endlessly.
She raised her head, her crimson eyes filled with confusion.
"Did Benefactor Fang truly say that?"
"I shouldn't have told you, you lustful nun. But Fang Chang still needs your useless Corpse Puppet."
"..."
Zhang Su fell into thought.
—A complete Glazed Body could eliminate Demonic Seeds, yet it also required the insights brought about by the Demonic Seeds.
Destroy one person to save all living beings.
She slowly ceased protecting Lü Shu.
Now that things had reached this point,
what was left to hesitate over?
She completely opened her mind and embraced the Demonic Seed within her body.
In an instant,
knowledge regarding cultivation techniques and Demonic Seeds poured into her without end. The power of the Dao Tribulation was itself part of the Heavenly Dao, containing truths that far surpassed the imagination of cultivators.
Countless illusions exploded within her mind.
Fang Chang's body multiplied into countless copies of itself, each twisting and posing seductively before her.
If Fang Chang knew about this, he would definitely respond with a single "¿".
After a long while,
the redness in Zhang Su's eyes deepened further.
The Demonic Seed's corruption.
She activated the Glazed Body once more. Only this time, the golden power of vows slowly faded before gradually darkening into a cold crimson.
"I have gradually come to understand everything, Benefactor Zhao."
"Oh?"
"Desire is finite. Benefactor Fang's desire for me is, and mine for Benefactor Fang is as well."
"?"
Zhao Yuntong froze.
Her face immediately twisted with bared teeth.
What did she mean by 'mine for him is as well'?
She had better explain herself!
Zhang Su pressed her palms together. The heavy fullness before her chest drooped naturally, pressing against her robes and creating deep folds as it became even rounder.
Behind her appeared the dharma manifestation of the Thousand-Hand Guanyin.
At the same time, as the color of the power of vows changed, it transformed as well.
The dharma manifestation possessed an incomparably beautiful yet bewitching face, smiling without smiling, carrying the same frivolous air as Fang Chang.
Its figure became full and exquisitely curvaceous. Its breasts were barely supported by a piece of coarse cloth, hanging with natural yet exaggerated weight. Its waist was slender with a faint softness to it. Its skin was honey-colored, covered in strange, alluring tattoos.
Several golden serpents coiled sensuously around the manifestation's waist, the valley of its breasts, and within the cloth around its hips.
Its posture was utterly lascivious.
The crimson dharma manifestation shot upward with a deafening roar, smashing through the roof.
The Demonic Seed within Lü Shu had already been completely eradicated.
Zhang Su half-closed her eyes, enlightenment filling her expression.
"Wrong. Wrong."
"My cultivation is not about eradicating desire, but releasing desire. Only by releasing all desire can one's spiritual platform become clear and one ascend to the Great Dao."
...
Fang Chang looked at the distant crimson, seductive dharma manifestation, and the smile on his face froze.
【Jade Bones and Ice Heart (Purple)】 had completely disappeared.
Yet 【Guanyin Dao Seed (Gold)】 had not appeared.
In its place...
was 【Heavenly Demon Wondrous Body (Gold)】!
"? "