“When you didn't return a month after entering the trial realm, my brother went to ask Elder Qingyuan about it. But Elder Qingyuan told him not to stick his nose where it didn't belong. Not long after, the Second Elder of the Zhaixing Sect announced the casualty list for the trial realm. Only ten disciples made it out, and they immediately entered closed-door cultivation, out of everyone's sight. Your names were on that death list. My brother wanted to find those surviving disciples to demand answers, but after three months, he couldn't get near them. So he set up memorial tablets for you here and kept investigating the trial realm in secret.”
“Later, war broke out between Cangling Kingdom and Yanlin Kingdom under the guise of competing for resources. As an outer disciple, my brother was sent to assist with logistics near the front lines. One time, he caught sight of the three sects' true core disciples—every single one of them was at Late-Stage Foundation Establishment. That was when my brother realized the trial realm was no blessing at all. It was likely a pretense to send you to your deaths.”
“Yet there was nothing he could do. Relying on his meager cultivation at the Eighth Level of Qi Refinement, he narrowly escaped death day after day on the battlefield, barely surviving. Then, my brother overheard a secret conversation by chance. It turned out that this so-called war for resources was nothing more than a charade—a game played between the two kingdoms' young geniuses to compete against each other. The victors who performed well would be taken in as legacy disciples by the Xuandu Sect of Xuanbing Kingdom.”
Yao Dai and Xie Tinglan could not help but frown. They had seen and heard too little of the world; they had never imagined a cultivation kingdom would treat the lives of cultivators with such utter contempt.
Indeed, Master was right. In the cultivation world, there is no right or wrong, good or evil—there are only benefits.
“The Far Cold Lands already suffer from sparse spiritual energy. To clear out what they called 'useless trash'—cultivators who supposedly waste spiritual energy—and to construct a massive Spirit Gathering Array for the geniuses of the Xuandu Sect to cultivate, ordinary cultivators with low cultivation and no talent, like my brother, were forced onto the front lines of this game.”
At this point, Li Yudi's eyes grew rimmed with red, tears welling up as she sobbed helplessly. “And to think we 'useless trash' cultivators took pride in fighting a war to defend our homeland! You haven't seen it... tens of thousands of Qi Refinement and Foundation Establishment cultivators slaughtered like ants on that battlefield, falling one after another. The heavy falling snow couldn't even cover the mountains of bones on the ground.”
“My brother... after discovering this secret, he locked himself away for three days and three nights. When he came out, he ran onto the battlefield like a madman, pleading with the bottom-tier cultivators from Cangling Kingdom and Yanlin Kingdom who were fighting on the front lines, treated as trash just like him. He urged them to leave, not to let themselves be used as pawns, and revealed how countless cultivators had died in vain in the trial realm.”
“Later, the Second Elder found out about it. On the surface, he acted deeply concerned, claiming my brother had lost his mind and that he would take him back to the Zhaixing Sect to cure him. But in reality... he performed Soul Search on my brother, tearing through all his memories. After that, my brother truly did go mad.”
“By the time I found him, he used his final shred of clarity to write a single line for me: 'Leave the Far Cold Lands.' Afterward, my brother ended his own life. He couldn't bear the agonizing mental torture left behind by Soul Search. Perhaps... perhaps it was for the best, so he wouldn't have to suffer anymore. I just don't know what he was thinking during those three days and nights he locked himself away...”
“...”
Yao Dai and Xie Tinglan fell silent, looking up at the four neatly arranged memorial tablets. Without a word, the two stepped forward, lit sticks of incense, and bowed three times toward Li Yangtian's tablet.
They then placed the incense in the burner.
When Yao Dai looked up again, a glint of light at the corner of her eye coalesced into a single falling tear.
“Rest in peace.”
Xie Tinglan's brows furrowed slightly as an indescribable bitterness surged in his chest—not just for their friendship, nor for Li Yangtian's relentless pursuit of the truth when he believed they were dead, but also for the courage he had shown during his brief decades of cultivation, fighting against a world that saw him as nothing more than 'useless trash' to be purged.
“...Rest in peace.”
Wen Li also stepped forward, lighting incense and bowing three times. Her voice was calm as she addressed Li Yudi's earlier question.
“Those three days and nights were likely the most lucid and satisfying moments of his entire life as a cultivator. In that time, he feared no one, nor did he care about his low talent or weak cultivation. At that moment, he was simply a cultivator seeking justice for himself.”
In the Zhaixing Sect, Li Yangtian had low cultivation and mediocre talent, yet he had managed to stay on good terms with everyone. This was not merely due to his slick, flattering demeanor, but because he was observant, sensitive, and insightful.
There was no way he didn't know the consequences of running onto the battlefield and shouting those truths. Yet he had gone anyway, determined to let out a roar against injustice, demanding clarity from the world.
Such a person earned her respect.
“No wonder... After my brother thought something had happened to you, he mentioned you most often. You were the one who understood him best.” Hearing Wen Li's words, Li Yudi couldn't help weeping through her sorrow. “If he knew you were all still alive, perhaps he would be happy in the netherworld.”
Wen Li was not one for comforting others, so she merely patted her shoulder.
“He will be happy. He definitely will.”
“What do you plan to do next?” Yao Dai asked with concern.
“I'll leave in a couple of days. I'm leaving the Far Cold Lands and heading to the northern end of the Western Regions.” Li Yudi sniffled, swallowing the dryness in her throat.
Even though the Zhaixing Sect hadn't captured her for interrogation, it was likely because they viewed her as mere 'trash' who couldn't stir up any trouble.
Wen Li nodded. “Leave as soon as you can. If the three sects find out we made it out alive, it will put you in grave danger. We're leaving now. Take care of yourself.”
“Alright. Take care.”
No sooner had the words left her mouth than Xie Tinglan moved swiftly, knocking Li Yudi unconscious.
“What are you doing?!” Yao Dai rushed over to catch her.
Wen Li stepped forward and placed her hand on Li Yudi's forehead. “I need to erase her memories of seeing us today. Otherwise, if anyone performs Soul Search on her, all three of us will die.”
The trial realm opened only once every thirty years. If members of the three sects noticed something amiss, entered, and found that the Soul-Severing White Mi Fruit was gone while knowing the three of them had survived, they would instantly deduce that they were the ones who took it.
Once word leaked, the three of them would truly meet their end.
They would be hunted down by countless Nascent Soul and Soul Formation cultivators.
By her usual habits, she would have killed her outright. Unfortunately, owing a debt of cause and effect to Li Yangtian, she yielded this once.
Hearing this, Yao Dai's eyes flickered. “Master, were you... still thinking of killing her?”
Wen Li rapped her on the head. “If I wanted to kill her, would I need to knock her out first?”
“Hiss! No, Master, I mean simply erasing her memory isn't foolproof! Let's use another method to make her disappear from this world—it'll protect us and protect her too.” Yao Dai rubbed her sore head.
Xie Tinglan and Wen Li looked up at her.
After a bit of bustling around...
“Phew, all set! This bottle of Disguise Water will alter her appearance for a hundred years, leaving her with an entirely unfamiliar face. As for her spiritual aura, I've applied ten Spirit-Dispersing Talismans to her, ensuring no one within a thousand li can track her.”
Once the three had settled Li Yudi safely and placed a few useful items into her storage bag, they departed without another word.
As for the three memorial tablets created out of thin air for them, they left them intact.
Consider it so Li Yangtian wouldn't be lonely in the netherworld.
“Master, may I avenge Li Yangtian?”
“You may, but this is not your cause and effect. His destiny bore this turn of fate, and no single party is to blame—not Cangling Kingdom, nor Yanlin Kingdom, nor even Xuanbing Kingdom. Who could you truly take revenge on? In the cultivation world, the weak fall prey to the strong. Cangling Kingdom and Yanlin Kingdom are not wrong for doing what they must to survive, just as you were not wrong to plunder another's spiritual root to grow stronger through cultivation.”
“However, if you wish to kill the Second Elder of the Zhaixing Sect to avenge yourself and Li Yangtian, that is fine too. Hatred can push you to become stronger. But I will not help you—you must resolve it on your own.”
“After this journey, you will part ways with us.”
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