Chapter 791: Chapter 437: This Is the Prison of Su Xing (Part 2)

"This is the wickedness created by the hell you painted, not just your fault alone. It is also the sin of my Four Seasons Sect ancestors, so I say nothing."

"After all, I’ve enjoyed the benefits of the sect, so I should help the elders clean up the mess, but you... are also a sinner!"

It was only when resolving the Hell Path that he understood why, at times, cultivators were strictly forbidden from being too entangled with the mortal world.

It was truly terrifying.

Isn’t it always in those martial arts novels where treasures left by ’immortals’ cause chaos in the martial world, many heroes dying for these treasures, leading to the demise of inheritances?

And that was done inadvertently.

If it were intentional... that would be truly terrifying.

Li Ye glanced towards the other side. The other had finished reading those ’memories’, his voice carried even more sorrow:

"Sigh."

"Back then, she was a traveler of Compassion."

"She told me she didn’t want to see the world in desolation, so she thought of collaborating with me to create a world in the painting, with the divine power of Compassion as the foundation, everything could be fulfilled."

"We worked hard to obtain many treasures, the Jia Fruit of Compassion, the sap of Jianmu..."

Saying this, that voice carried a hint of distress.

As if tugging at one’s own hair.

He murmured lowly, "But he came... That Heavenly Venerate descended from the Upper Realm, judged everything that shouldn’t exist, including my Hell Transformation Diagram."

"When he came to me, I couldn’t even speak. He told me that what I did would create great evil in the future. He wouldn’t let me die, but would make me unable to live forever."

At this, how could Li Ye not understand?

No wonder after that incident happened, even within the sect, there was no news of this Painting Path expert and another elder. It turned out that one was thrown into the River of Cosmic Light.

This truly is the most terrifying punishment.

Knowing that here lifespan would be prolonged, but intelligence and soul would be eroded.

"And the other one?" Li Ye suddenly had a bad thought, softly asked.

"...Her sin was even greater." The Confucian scholar’s voice was filled with uncontrollable sorrow: "The cultivator who was supposed to bless all living beings became the source of evil. Even she couldn’t accept the future she saw.

So she begged to become a tree.

Rooted here.

Now her mind should have completely worn away.

Yet the body favored by Compassion remains eternal and indestructible.

It’s laughable to say, this River of Cosmic Light, the most secret place under heaven, turned into your Ancestor Master’s prison, used to exile us sinners."

The voice unexpectedly opened a ripple in this chaotic amber liquid, illuminating something hidden in time...

A tree.

The tree was merely three inches tall.

Growing there, its leaves were a warm yellow, like ginkgo leaves, but with serrated edges like wheat leaves, the trunk was verdant, exuding a peculiar sense of being forgotten.

[Name]: Nine Songs: Su Xing · Lu Sui

[Mood]: None

[State]: By the power of Nine Songs · Su Xing, a cultivator near Divinity Transformation has been transformed into the tree as she imagined, her consciousness completely worn away, leaving only this perpetually undead body.

Yet her past has disappeared, the future might still exist.

"..."

Li Ye didn’t know what he thought.

Nor did he know what to think.

The one who once planned the budding new sprout in hell with the Painting Path mighty one, now only a three-inch little tree remained.

He sighed softly.

In his palm appeared a translucent, four-colored glazed flower.

Placed before the little tree.

——This is the unique Spirit Burial Flower of the Four Seasons Sect, said to rival the splendid other shore flowers in the colorless underworld.

All things in the world would disappear.

Only the brilliance of the Four Seasons stands unwavering and proud in the world.

He spoke not a word and intended to leave.

Yet today seemed full of unexpected happenings.

The little tree gently shook.

A dim spot of light, almost undetectable, suddenly fell to the ground.

Revealing the scene behind it—

It was a forest.

The trees within were all extraordinary.

Each one seemed like an "assemblage" of countless spirit plants or adorned with the most beautiful aspects, quietly growing there, yet devoid of vitality, remaining only the shells immortal with time.

"..."

Li Ye, though unsure what that was.

But the panel and his speculation already gave the answer.

That was.

No, those were all the trees transformed by the "Su Xing" method from those who once committed sins, be them from the Four Seasons Sect or other sect cultivators.

An entire forest was all of them.

Buddha’s Light, Spiritual Light, Dawn, Literary Qi... Even the aura of chaos was here.

No wonder the elder said this was a prison.

It truly was.

His Ancestor Master was indeed relentless, no one could escape the judgment—even more so the absence of information within the sect about the fate of those cultivators who committed "mistakes".

It turns out the end was here.

As for right or wrong.

Perhaps the original intent was good.

Yet power uncontrolled, creating a sin, must bear the cost.

The only question is.

"Why didn’t the Ancestor Master erase those things back then?" Li Ye had already left there.

He took one last glance at the gently swaying little tree.

Everything in his eyes was veiled by the misty amber liquid, leaving no trace of existence.

The Confucian scholar’s voice rang out:

"Because they must exist."

"Dao Fan already knew of their existence, even if they disappeared, they would appear on some day in the future."

"I have nothing left here, only some insignificant knowledge to give you... That was a special Dharma Method researched together by me and your elders."

"Go, don’t look back again."

A stone inkstone flew out from a distance, landing in Li Ye’s arms.

Then the voice completely vanished.

No matter how Li Ye called or searched, he couldn’t find it again.

It was only then that he realized.

Maybe he and they were not in the same timeline, being used by his Ancestor Master as a prison, how could it be so easily discovered. 𝓯𝙧𝙚𝒆𝙬𝙚𝒃𝙣𝙤𝒗𝓮𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

"So."

"Are you still watching this place?"

He held the inkstone, looked around, trying to find a trace of the Ancestor Master.

But as expected.

Everything around was empty, there was nothing at all.

"Seems you still don’t want to resolve my doubts, but that’s okay, I’ll surely ask you properly when I get back."

Li Ye collected the inkstone.

Then strode forward.

He too soon vanished into the chaos of amber liquid.

But after he left, a speck of starlight suddenly shone.

Pure and lofty.

In the instant it descended, it domineeringly cleared the surrounding amber liquid, transforming into a figure standing before the little tree Li Ye had seen earlier.

Su Xing gazed at the little tree.

His eyes held an unfathomable sadness.

These trees.

They were all the cultivators from various sects who dared to explore the "unknown".

In truth, this was a group of troublemakers who daily sought trouble but always brought surprises, the kind these old ones loved yet had no way with the most.

One could imagine how much painful struggle he endured sealing them here with his own hands.

"May they not disappoint me."

"Your sins have already been atoned for by someone."

"Lu Sui, if my little disciple needs you in the future, you must respond, but before that, you must endure an unimaginably long wait, until you can see this world, see the Celestial Ladder."

Su Xing crouched down.

His fingers gently brushed over the little tree’s body.

Soft streams of water encircled it, then dragged it into a portal, disappearing into the misty starlight depths.

Then Su Xing stood back up.

Glanced at the distant ink-black amber.

Left with a very unpleasant expression.

That wasn’t even a junior of his family! Even if atonement is here! They haven’t even died countless times, not even having truly died, how could that be considered atonement?

Mere coward! Just a coward!