Chapter 211: Chapter 100: Is the Outer World Destroyed?

Wang Ping’s intuition told him this memory was incredibly important.

He tried to make out their faces, but a great battle was on the verge of erupting. In the next instant, a torrent of lightning rained down from the sky as countless vines shot upward to meet it.

And then, the memory cut off...

Wang Ping grew frustrated and tried to reconnect to that part of the memory. But it only replayed the previous scene, and this time, the emotions were even more frantic and furious.

This time, however, Wang Ping reviewed the memories calmly, his own emotions remaining stable throughout.

Only then did Wang Ping realize these memories didn’t belong to a single Spirit Body. They were a construct, pieced together from many, which was why the emotions were so volatile and the fragments so disjointed.

In the time that followed, Wang Ping constantly immersed himself in the repeating memories. He continued until he had fully digested them and recovered his own sense of self, all while needing to integrate these new experiences until they felt like his own.

It was a contradiction, but one he had to resolve.

The process was actually quite simple, just a bit time-consuming.

In cultivation, one loses all track of time. A decade passed in the blink of an eye. The world remained at peace, but an undercurrent of instability had begun to stir. It was not the work of man, but a shift in the heavens—a change that was often irreversible.

「Baisui Lake.」

In the center of the Garden Dojo, a Training Ground had appeared at some point. On its western edge sat a cloud bed fashioned from jade, positioned to receive the most sunlight throughout the day.

This was a seat Yu Lian had ordered the Water Demons of Baisui Lake to build for her. She liked to sit there during the day while instructing Shen Xiaozhu in her Qi Cultivation. By now, Shen Xiaozhu had reached the final step of the Qi Cultivation stage.

On another ordinary morning, Shen Xiaozhu awoke from her cultivation. A medicinal soup, long since simmered by the Little Demons, was waiting for her.

GULP GULP.

Shen Xiaozhu downed the entire bowl of medicinal soup in one go. The Little Demons standing by grimaced as if they could taste the bitterness themselves, yet she looked completely unfazed.

"Good. Give it your all today, and don’t embarrass me." As Yu Lian spoke, she glanced toward the entrance of the Training Ground. Hu Qianqian was walking in with the Little Fox Demon, Hu Xin.

Every day after finishing her Qi Cultivation and digesting the medicinal soup, Shen Xiaozhu would have a friendly spar with Hu Xin.

Today was, of course, no exception.

The outcome of the spar was the same as always: Hu Xin claimed victory. This was because Yu Lian had restricted Shen Xiaozhu to using only the Qianmu Sword Technique, all to temper her fortitude.

"It’s no big deal. Winning and losing are trivial. Once you achieve Foundation Establishment, you’ll have no problem knocking that little fox flat." Though Yu Lian was strict, she was careful not to crush Shen Xiaozhu’s confidence, always encouraging her to try again after each defeat.

"By the time she reaches Foundation Establishment, I’ll be condensing a Fake Pill!" the little fox muttered defiantly under her breath.

"*Sigh*..."

Hu Qianqian let out a sigh. "Your cultivation is still lacking. Go and copy the middle volume of the ’Human Dao’ two hundred times."

"I... Yes, Master."

"What were you about to say?" Hu Qianqian stared at the little fox. "You should know me by now. Since I’ve taken you as my disciple, by our traditions, we are family. I don’t like family members hiding things from each other."

"I was wrong." Hu Xin performed a formal bow.

"Fine. Go do your copying."

"Yes!"

Yu Lian watched Hu Xin leave, then floated over to Hu Qianqian’s side. "You’re a good teacher, but she’ll grow up one day. When the time comes for her to let her true nature loose, she’s the type to cause trouble."

"Once she gets into trouble, she’ll learn how vicious this world is. Consider it a tribulation. If she can overcome it, then the sky will be her limit. If she can’t, then that is her fate. Even if she perishes and her Dao is extinguished, that will be her own affair."

Hu Qianqian’s words were filled with worry, yet they were also exceptionally cold.

"Is this how you of the Fox Race educate your young?" Yu Lian asked.

"I’m just letting her experience reality. The reality she’s known so far has only taught her about the fickleness of human relationships and the indifference of the world. In the Cultivation Realm, that’s just an appetizer."

After she finished, Hu Qianqian added silently, ’Especially for the Demon Race.’

Yu Lian instinctively glanced at Shen Xiaozhu and smiled in satisfaction. Shen Xiaozhu had already undergone her worldly tempering, and she had fared quite well.

"When will Master be coming out of seclusion?"

"It should be very soon. I can feel his emotions growing richer as he sleeps." Yu Lian looked at Hu Qianqian. "Did you need something?"

"Yes. The Alchemist on Ningzhou Road has been very active lately. The Little Demons I sent out discovered that he’s creating a Magical Artifact for an Artifact Cultivator’s advancement. He’s probably planning to trade with someone. Also..." 𝒇𝓻𝓮𝓮𝙬𝙚𝒃𝒏𝓸𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝓬𝓸𝒎

"Stop. You should wait for Master to wake up and tell him yourself." Yu Lian stopped Hu Qianqian from continuing. She floated to the soft cushion on her cloud bed, lay down comfortably, and looked at the Water Demons in the distance, asking, "Where are today’s lake shrimp?"

Immediately, a Little Demon brought over a plate of freshly cooked shrimp, making Yu Lian’s eyes light up.

By the time Yu Lian slowly finished the shrimp prepared for her, the sun was about to set. Shen Xiaozhu spent the rest of her time sweeping the gardens. She was forbidden from using her Qi Cultivation arts and had to do it slowly, like an ordinary person.

"I probably won’t be coming for the next few days. Your Master is about to come out of seclusion, so you must cultivate diligently and try to complete your Qi Cultivation within these few days as well. That would be a double blessing." As she left, Yu Lian gave Shen Xiaozhu some instructions. Then she flew down to the hidden Dao Field at the foot of the mountain to ask Hu Qianqian to watch over Shen Xiaozhu for a few days.

When she leisurely drifted back to the Mountain Peak Dojo, only a faint sliver of twilight remained on the horizon. As was her custom, she landed on the branch of the pagoda tree, then slid silently down the treetop, coiling around the trunk to quietly observe Wang Ping.

At this moment, Wang Ping had actually completely fused with the soul of the pagoda tree. He was now in a state of true slumber, because his soul was so exhausted that he lacked the energy to even stir.

Yu Lian watched him quietly like this, sometimes carefully probing the consciousness within his Spirit Sea.

「Three days passed just like that.」

When the autumn wind blew from the north to Qianmu Mountain, Wang Ping awoke from his deep sleep. Looking at the familiar, beautiful scenery of the garden before him, he subconsciously raised a hand to wipe away the inexplicable tear tracks at the corners of his eyes.

"It’s autumn."

He murmured this with a sigh. After witnessing countless shattered worlds, it felt wondrous to look upon one that was still whole.

"What did you see?"

"Many strange worlds wailing amidst great fires. Do you think... were they real?"

"First, tell me what you saw..."

Wang Ping stood up and used a Cleansing Spell to clean his clothes and himself. Then he slowly returned to the small courtyard, and as he boiled water for tea, he recounted his memories to Yu Lian.

Yu Lian proved to be a good listener this time, not interrupting him even once as he spoke.

"Were those the outer realms?" Yu Lian’s Spirit Sea resonated with Wang Ping’s soul, allowing her to share in the visions that felt simultaneously imaginary and real.

Before Wang Ping could answer, she asked again, "Are the outer realms all destroyed?"