Those low-level cultivators who were slain—their scattered cultivation and blood essence were greedily devoured by that scarlet greatsword, turning into nourishment, surging ceaselessly back into Lu Qiancha’s body.
Her aura blazed like an ignited inferno, rising higher and higher.
Consolidation…Great Ascension…Tribulation Crossing…
Every step up the cultivation ladder was taken upon mountains of corpses and seas of blood.
Her power surged crazily.
But her reason was utterly consumed.
“Die! All of you, die!”
In her eyes, the world had become a hell of crimson—only destruction, nothing but destruction.
“Whoosh—!”
Just as this slaughtering frenzy reached its peak, a blade condensed from ten thousand layers of chill, as thin as a cow’s hair yet sharp enough to freeze the soul itself, streaked out of the blood rain like the most venomous serpent.
With no warning, it tore through the sky straight for Lu Qiancha’s back.
“Clang—!”
With a piercing clash of metal, Lu Qiancha, as if she had foreseen it, twisted her grip and used the scarlet greatsword at a bizarre angle to deflect the icy crystal blade, sending shards spraying everywhere.
She slowly raised her head; at last, those blue eyes withdrew from the endless slaughter, pinning themselves on Gan Tang, who floated in midair, her pink-blue robes drifting in the blood rain, her expression cold as a deity gazing down at ants.
You too… go die for me…
Lu Qiancha’s voice was low and hoarse, her gaze mad.
As soon as she finished speaking!
An Ice Wolf Statue radiating ancient cold appeared abruptly in her claw.
Pure spiritual power surged in like a flood from a breached dam.
“Boom—!”
The statue burst with ghostly light; a mountain-sized illusory wolf’s claw tore space asunder, wrapped in terrifying might that could freeze the void and crush all things, and smashed brutally down on Gan Tang’s tiny form.
“Splurt—!”
The pink-blue figure in the air stiffened as if struck by a giant force, then vomited a huge mouthful of blood mixed with shredded innards.
Her body fell like a severed kite, crashing into the muddy ground below.
The rain only grew heavier.
The battlefield fell into absolute silence.
Severed limbs, rivers of blood, the dead everywhere.
Standing was only one solitary figure, supporting herself on that scarlet greatsword.
Lu Qiancha’s hollow eyes stared blankly toward the horizon, where the last trace of sunset was finally devoured by endless blood-red.
Heh.
In the end, she was alone again.
The heavy greatsword sank deep into the bloody mud beneath her feet, the only thing she could lean on.
“Qianbao! Qianbao!”
Several anxious, clear cries rang out as if right by her ear…
Like stones cast into a pond of deathly stillness, they suddenly shattered the emptiness of the silence.
Who was it?
Lu Qiancha’s unfocused gaze swept woodenly over the battlefield littered with corpses and empty of life.
A hallucination?
Was this a dying illusion…?
“Wake up! Little one, don’t sleep!”
Another voice, sharp and penetrating, rang out again.
No, not a hallucination.
Lu Qiancha was absolutely certain.
She turned her inner vision to her sea of consciousness, following the source of the voice.
Her gaze pierced layers of chaos, and she saw—the greatsword running through the heavens of her consciousness vibrated with a sword hum.
And at last, it coalesced into a black-haired, red-eyed woman.
“Buzz!”
The moment her gaze fell on the woman.
An irresistible, overwhelming force erupted.
Her will was forcibly pulled deep into her sea of consciousness.
Before her stood the figure of Canxin, radiating ancient, boundless demonic energy.
And beside her, Heart Demon Chabao stood quietly.
Her face no longer soft or cute as before, but interwoven with profound reminiscence and an indescribable daze.
“Qianbao, you’re here…”
Chabao’s voice carried a barely noticeable tremble as she softly called.
“Chabao, just now… those were your memories, weren’t they.”
Lu Qiancha looked complicatedly at this “self” with the same face but a different past, her tone deep and heavy.
Chabao was silent for a moment, then nodded lightly before slowly shaking her head: “Before you charged at the members of Tianyuan Sect with your sword, it was all my memory.”
Lu Qiancha fell silent. She watched the complex, unreadable expression on Chabao’s face, her lips moved but, in the end, no words came out.
“Thank you.”
Suddenly, Chabao looked up at Lu Qiancha with an exceptionally sweet smile.
“Thank me?”
Lu Qiancha was stunned, genuine confusion in her eyes.
“Mm, thank you for helping me get rid of my enemies… even if it was only in an illusion.”
Chabao nodded hard, smile still on her face, but her eyes were full of sorrow.
Lu Qiancha’s heart twisted painfully, as if caught by something.
She pressed her lips tight, her voice dry as she asked softly: “…Back then, you couldn’t kill them?”
“I didn’t have your strength.” Chabao’s eyes turned to the illusory battlefield. “Nor did I have the statue you threw at the end.”
“Even less…,” her voice dropped, filled with endless longing and a hint of deeply buried resentment, “the instant to personally knock her down into the dust…”
Lu Qiancha gazed at the sorrow and relief mingling on Chabao’s face, her heart stirred, but all she could do was let out a soft sigh. She reached out instinctively to stroke the soft crown of Chabao’s head.
“Don’t—don’t touch me…” But Chabao startled, taking a small step back, two spots of unnatural blush on her cheeks, her voice a little flustered, “…Being petted by myself feels so weird…”
Lu Qiancha was about to say something when Canxin, standing to the side, spoke with an unnoticeable gravity: “I advise you two to stop whispering to each other.
“That all-out strike just now, one that could rival a Golden Immortal, although it luckily tore open the law barrier of this illusion, that barrier is rapidly repairing before our eyes.”
“Hurry up and run. I don’t want to rot here with you two.”
Canxin’s words were harsh, but good medicine tastes bitter.
Lu Qiancha’s heart tensed; she immediately gathered her spiritual sense, trying to pull her consciousness out of her sea of awareness and regain control of her body.
However—
“Thump!”
An invisible barrier, tough and icy cold, slammed her soul back into place like a cage.
Lu Qiancha furrowed her brows tightly. Could it be that the core of this secret realm could even seal the sea of consciousness?
“Can’t get out?”
Chabao’s voice was laced with understanding and a faintly bitter apology: “That’s probably because of my existence.”
Lu Qiancha turned to look at the pink figure who looked exactly like herself, her small face touched by a hint of doubt.
“Now that I’ve recovered my memories, I’m no longer just a Heart Demon disturbing your Dao heart.”
Chabao pressed her lips tight, as if deciding something, finally letting out a faint sigh: “Instead, I’ve become the Heart Tribulation that blocks your Dao path, binds your true spirit, and seeks to lock you in the prison of your own heart forever.”
She raised her head, her eyes clear but resolute: “If the Heart Tribulation isn’t broken, your spirit will remain caged, and you won’t be able to move forward even half a step.”
“Do it quickly!” Chabao’s tone was urgent, with an indisputable command, “While the barrier isn’t fully closed, cut me down and break through the tribulation!”
“Otherwise, once the illusion repairs itself, it’ll be too late!”
“This…”
Lu Qiancha felt as if struck by lightning, stunned on the spot, her mind whirling as she blurted out: “No! There must be another way! The Heart Tribulation can be resolved without—”
Cutting down the Heart Demon would damage her foundation—it was basically self-destruction.
Most importantly… she couldn’t bear to do it.
“There’s not much time, Qianbao, what are you hesitating for!” Chabao anxiously interrupted, her tone almost pleading.
“Enough noise!”
Canxin spoke impatiently, “If you ask me, what’s there to hesitate about? Since you’re born from the same source, just fight it out. Whoever wins gets to decide.”
“…Very well.” Upon hearing this, the last trace of hesitation in Chabao’s eyes vanished, replaced by a brilliant smile.
Her burning gaze locked onto Lu Qiancha: “Then, Qianbao, let me see what kind of ‘me’ you might become!”
Lu Qiancha: “?”
Wait, why is nobody asking what I think?!
Before Lu Qiancha could say a word, Chabao’s figure had already transformed into a sharp pink light, carrying all the obsession buried deep in memory as she shot straight at Lu Qiancha’s face.
With no choice, Lu Qiancha could only lift her slender claw—identical to her opponent’s—to meet the attack.
In an instant.
The two of them were like black and white koi swimming in a Bagua formation, weaving, entangling, their heads and tails intertwined in endless pursuit.
Gradually, those two fiercely struggling figures began to resonate strangely as they collided.
“Buzz!”
Like mirror images, their claws pressed together, and a chaotic brilliance burst between them.
Born from the same source, the two finally merged into a pure, silvery-white light.
As the radiance faded, in the sea of consciousness stood Lu Qiancha, eyes closed, aura perfectly unified.
And beside her, a faint pink figure looked at her tenderly.
Lu Qiancha opened her blue eyes. There was little change to her aura, except for the faintest trace of killing intent.
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