Chapter 1311: Like Falling into a Dream
Yun Che steadied himself in a fluster and said with a sheepish smile, "Senior Shen Xi, so you can... joke as well."
"Master..." He Ling was also stunned, her face full of confusion.
"Ling'er," Shen Xi's gaze drifted into the distance. "Go on ahead for now. I have something to discuss with Yun Che. No matter what happens here later, do not approach."
Yun Che: "..."
"Yes." He Ling rose, took a few small steps back, and walked away in bewilderment.
Shen Xi turned around and walked back into that small and mysterious bamboo hut. As her figure stepped through the door, her voice drifted out like a dream: "Come inside with me."
This bamboo hut was the only structure in the entire Reincarnation Forbidden Land. In the nearly two months since Yun Che had arrived here, he had never entered it, not even approached it.
And it wasn't just him—even He Ling, who had been here for three years, had never set foot inside.
With a sense of surprise, Yun Che softened his steps and entered the bamboo hut.
He had thought that although the hut looked small from the outside, it must contain an expansive independent world inside, like Mo Li's Star God Temple. But to his astonishment, it turned out to be nothing more than an extremely ordinary bamboo hut, with no space opened within.
The furnishings were even simpler to the extreme—only a verdant green bamboo bed, placed right in the center of the room. There was nothing else.
Standing behind Shen Xi, Yun Che's heart was uneasy... This was definitely not an ordinary bamboo hut as it appeared; it was Shen Xi's dwelling, a place even He Ling could not enter.
He had been taken in as an exception by her, receiving the grace of having the Death-Pleading Seal removed. Why would she voluntarily summon him here?
"Do you think I was joking?" she turned around and asked.
For Yun Che, he actually would have preferred to face Shen Xi's back. Her body was shrouded in white radiance; whether facing her or her back, he could only see a supremely beautiful immortal silhouette. But in the former case, although he couldn't see Shen Xi's eyes, subconsciously he always felt an urge not to look directly at her, fearing he might commit blasphemy.
Even back then when facing Mu Xuanyin, this feeling had never been so intense.
"I wouldn't dare doubt Senior Shen Xi's words, it's just..." Yun Che involuntarily averted his gaze, searching for a long time before finally coming up with the most tactful phrasing: "It's just that my abilities are far too meager, and I'm afraid I cannot bear such great expectations from you."
I... can shake the Fan Di God Realm?
If the person before him were not Shen Xi but someone else, Yun Che would have long since shot back with something like, "You're not joking, you're just talking utter nonsense."
"Sigh." Yun Che's answer drew a sigh from Shen Xi. The sigh was very soft, but Yun Che could faintly discern disappointment in it.
"Do you know why I made Ling'er calm down for a full month and only agreed to tell her today?" she asked.
Yun Che shook his head.
"It wasn't because of Ling'er," she said, looking at him. Amid the hazy white radiance, no one could see the change in her gaze. "It was because of you."
"...Me?" Yun Che was even more puzzled.
"During this month, the Death-Pleading Seal on you has been completely isolated from your soul, blood, body, and meridians. From now on, as long as my power is not interrupted, it will never flare up again, until it gradually dissipates. But the process of dissipation will be somewhat lengthy," Shen Xi said.
During this period, the Death-Pleading Seal had not flared up many times, and each time the pain it brought was noticeably weaker. Hearing Shen Xi's words, his mind relaxed even more, and he said with deep gratitude, "Senior Shen Xi's great kindness, Yun Che will never forget. But... what does this have to do with He Ling's matter?"
"If Ling'er hadn't knelt and begged bitterly that day, I would not have made an exception to keep you here. So Ling'er is your savior, isn't she?" Shen Xi said.
"Yes, He Ling, like you, Senior, is my benefactor for life." Yun Che nodded earnestly.
"Helping her take revenge—that is the best way to repay her," Shen Xi said softly, uttering words that in the common understanding of the world should never come from her mouth. "The Buddhist Soul Death-Pleading Seal on you was planted by Qianye Ying'er. The great suffering you have endured because of it, I believe you will never forget in this lifetime. The enmity you have formed with her also means an irreconcilable feud with the Fan Di God Realm. Helping her take revenge is also taking revenge for yourself."
Yun Che did indeed hate Qianye Ying'er to the bone. She was the most terrifying woman he had ever encountered in his life, and the only one who had truly made him wish for death but could not attain it.
But the gap between him and Qianye Ying'er was far, far too great. Moreover, she was not just one person; behind her stood the Fan Di God Realm—the most powerful king realm in the Eastern Divine Region, a giant of the divine realms that no one had ever dared to provoke!
Shake the Fan Di God Realm? Take revenge on the Fan Di God Realm?
That was something the other three king realms of the Eastern Domain dared not and could not do. How could he, one man alone, do it?
"I do want revenge very much. If I could, I would love to... cough cough cough... I would love to grind her bones to dust. But..." Yun Che shook his head. "I am just a nobody from a lower realm. I have no background, no power, and as for my own strength... compared to Qianye Ying'er, I'm afraid I'm not even a tiny ant, let alone the vast, heaven-like Fan Di God Realm."
"So I absolutely cannot understand your words, Senior."
Strictly speaking, he did have some backing. He had a sect in the divine realm. But the Bing Huang God Sect compared to the Fan Di God Realm was like a firefly under the blazing sun—utterly insignificant. And he would never drag the Bing Huang God Sect into this.
After Yun Che finished speaking, Shen Xi was silent for a long time. The white radiance was like a dream, but Yun Che vaguely felt that Shen Xi seemed to be silently watching him.
The unusual silence lasted a long time before Shen Xi suddenly asked, "If I could grant you one wish right now, what would be the first thing that comes to your mind?"
"..." After just a brief moment of thought, Yun Che said, "I want to return to the world I came from."
The white radiance trembled slightly, and then came another sigh. This sigh was even longer and carried even more disappointment.
"Why is the first thing that comes to your mind not the power to make the whole world submit, power that no one can defy? With that, you could achieve everything you want, obtain everything you desire, go anywhere you wish, and do anything without any scruples."
"..." Yun Che was taken aback for a moment, then shook his head. "That is indeed a fantasy that anyone might have... but in the end, it's just a fantasy. What I want most right now is to return to the world I came from. Before I came to the divine realm, I promised that I would go back soon. Otherwise, they would think something had happened to me, and they would be terribly worried and sad."
It was less than two years until the latest deadline of his promise to return back then... but he was trapped here, unable to go back, and even dared not send any news of himself back.
"To others, that might indeed be just a fantasy. But... do you truly believe it is just a fantasy for you, who possesses the power of the Creation God?" she asked softly.
Yun Che was startled, and his expression shifted slightly.
Shen Xi said gently, "I know all your secrets. Including your Evil God inheritance, the Heavenly Poison Pearl, the Dragon God's Soul, and your Demon-Slaying Sword."
"...!!" Yun Che's body shook violently. The most important secrets about him were being spoken one by one from Shen Xi's mouth. He felt as if all his clothes had been stripped away, standing naked before Shen Xi, every hidden secret laid bare.
"Is it... Qingyue who told you?" Yun Che's heart tightened as he asked involuntarily. But as soon as the words left his mouth, he negated himself... Although Xia Qingyue had learned from Qianye Ying'er that he possessed the Evil God's divine power, she had no idea about the Heavenly Poison Pearl, the Dragon God's Soul, or the Demon-Slaying Sword.
The only one who truly knew he possessed the Dragon God's Soul and the Demon-Slaying Sword was Mo Li. Even Mu Xuanyin did not know.
How could she be so clear? Could her heart and soul truly see through everything?
"You don't need to be surprised, and you don't need to be nervous," Shen Xi said softly. "I will not covet anything you possess, nor will I harm you."
"Senior Shen Xi has shown me the great grace of saving my life; naturally... you would not harm me." Yun Che's heart was churning violently, difficult to calm.
"The power of the Fan Di God Realm is beyond doubt, and no one dares to question it. It can be said to be the most powerful star realm controlled by the human race. And its strength is not a matter of a single day. From the day it became a king realm, it has been the strongest star realm in the Eastern Domain, right up to the present day. No other star realm has ever been able to shake its position. Even in the era of the Zhou Tian Heavenly Ancestor, who once possessed a glazed heart, the Zhou Tian realm he led was never able to surpass the Fan Di God Realm in any age."
"The so-called 'prolonged prosperity inevitably leads to decline' has never happened to the Fan Di God Realm."
"Do you know why the Fan Di God Realm is so powerful, and has remained so powerful?"
Yun Che shook his head. As a newcomer who had only been in the divine realm for three years, his understanding of the Fan Di God Realm was extremely limited.
"Because every person in the Fan Di God Realm, from the lowest-level profound practitioners to the Fan Di Realm King, possesses an extremely strong ambition! Ambition for the profound way, ambition for status, ambition for power and influence. This has always been the belief upheld by the Fan Di God Realm."
"Amb...ition?" Yun Che furrowed his brow.
"Qianye Ying'er, in terms of appearance, profound way, power, and status, can be said to have reached the pinnacle of humanity, even the pinnacle of the current era. But having reached the pinnacle, she has never stopped in her footsteps. Instead, she has begun to strive vigorously to break through the limits. To that end, she spares no effort, uses everything she can, and dares to take any risk... Over the years, she has been the one to enter and exit the Tai Chu Divine Realm the most."
Yun Che: "..."
"Why did she target you? And why did she go to the trouble of planting the Death-Pleading Seal on you?" Shen Xi continued. "Because on you, there is something she craves, something that can satisfy her ambition."
"The divine power of the Creation God, the Tian Xuan supreme treasure Heavenly Poison Pearl, the true soul of the Primordial Dragon God... These are things that figures on Qianye Ying'er's level dream of obtaining but cannot get in a lifetime, yet they are all concentrated in you alone. And you tell me that my words are just a fantasy to you?"
Shen Xi's words stirred Yun Che's soul, but not too intensely. His chest heaved, his gaze wavered, but his voice was quite calm: "Senior Shen Xi, I understand everything you say, and I am very clear about what the things I possess mean. But... I am not Qianye Ying'er after all, and I don't want to become someone like her."
"Moreover, the things I possess have given me a new life. While they have brought me a lot, they have also brought me countless dangers... like now. So, many times, I would rather be more ordinary, so I wouldn't have to hide like a stray dog, unable to see the light of day."
These words came from Yun Che's heart. Even when he eventually became invincible in the Tian Xuan Continent, it was achieved passively, never his original intention. He laughed self-deprecatingly: "My words must be very disappointing to you, Senior."
Shen Xi gently shook her head: "Yun Che, you truly are a unique person. Clearly possessing the strongest talent and potential in the world, yet you lack the ambition you should have most."
This statement from Shen Xi was almost identical to what Xia Qingyue had said to Mu Xuanyin.
"Every year, countless profound practitioners 'ascend' to the divine realm. Some want to see a broader world, some pursue a higher profound way. When they establish a foothold in the divine realm, in a better position than before, they will unhesitatingly abandon everything from their past... even parents, friends, wives, and children. This allows them to be single-minded and prevents them from becoming a burden."
"But you have never had the heart to abandon anything. Instead, it has always been your deepest attachments. This is your greatest flaw and weakness... perhaps also your greatest strength. And I suppose you will never change in your lifetime, will you?"
At these words, Yun Che nodded without hesitation: "To abandon everything from the past in pursuit of a higher position and a higher profound way... I could never do that in this lifetime, not even in the next."
"That's good too." Shen Xi nodded lightly. "The state of one's heart is not so easily changed. True ambition cannot sprout merely from the advice of others."
"As for helping He Ling take revenge against the Fan Di God Realm... let's set that aside for now."
"..." Yun Che didn't know how to respond for a moment. Shen Xi had brought him here and said these things that sounded so strange to him, and he still hadn't truly understood her intention.
Then, Shen Xi suddenly made a move he hadn't expected.
She extended that hand, more perfect than the starry sky and the full moon, and lightly tapped her own chest.
In Yun Che's stunned and stupefied gaze, the white radiance that had always shrouded Shen Xi's immortal form... silently dissipated.
The face that Shen Xi had not shown to others for who knows how many years, the face Yun Che had thought he would never see in this lifetime, was now completely and fully revealed before him, with no concealment.
He stood there frozen, completely frozen, without words, without any change in expression, even his gaze utterly fixed... as if time had stopped completely in an instant.
No ornaments, no pearls or jade. She wore only the simplest, most ordinary plain white long dress. Her long hair reached her waist, neither tied up in a bun nor bound, but simply loose, emitting a soft, gentle glow.
Everything around him seemed to disappear. Yun Che's mind was blank, leaving only a face more illusory than a dream, with no other radiance, no words to describe it... because all the world's brilliant luster and language, and even the most beautiful fantasies, paled before her face.
Her eyes were like a hidden blue lake, and also like a bottomless abyss, enough to make anyone, any living being, willingly leap into them, even if it meant falling forever into the abyss.
Yun Che had never been more strongly convinced that he was in a dream. Because he could not believe that in this world, there could exist such a breathtakingly beautiful immortal visage...
"Am I beautiful?" she said softly. Her immortal voice, gentler than a breeze or a drifting cloud, made Yun Che even more convinced he was in an illusory dream.
"Beau...tiful..." he answered, lost. Neither his heart nor his gaze could shift for even an instant, as if drawn into an unbreakable dream, one he willingly remained immersed in forever.
"Then..." Shen Xi walked slowly toward him, stopping only half a step away, within arm's reach. Her lips, so beautiful they were beyond belief, emitted a dreamlike, immortal sound: "Would you like to press me beneath you, tear apart all my clothes, and indulge in me to your heart's content?"
Accidentally wrote over a thousand extra words, didn't have time to revise. There should be many typos. I'll repost once I fix them.