136: Chapter 136 Seeking the Dao

The snow-filled sky seemed to have its momentum abruptly cut off by an invisible giant hand.

The howling gale that had been sweeping across the snowfield came to a sudden halt, and the ice-blue snowflakes hung suspended in mid-air, frozen into a scene of dead silence.

That mass of black mist in the sky was writhing slowly, at an extremely sluggish rhythm.

It no longer spread outward frantically as before, but began to contract inward, rotating around a blurry humanoid silhouette.

Within the black mist, Jiang Xun's body was slowly taking shape.

It was as if someone were sketching him out, stroke by stroke, with ink.

The entire process was like an ink wash painting.

What Jiang Hongling had fed into Jiang Xun's body was her purest demonic thoughts, which were also the most potent poison in the world.

Jiang Xun had once said, "Only death can separate us."

But this surge of demonic thoughts would bind them together, fusing them completely.

For lifetimes upon lifetimes, even Reincarnation could not separate them.

Originally, Jiang Xun would have undoubtedly died.

He could not withstand the Ascension Realm demonic thoughts of Jiang Hongling and would only dissipate into the world along with this power.

But the System's notification sound rang in his ears, 'ding, ding, ding.'

[Successfully learned Blood Nurturing Heavenly Demon Art]

[Repairing body...]

[Equipping true demon evil bone]

[Level experience unlocked successfully...]

Jiang Xun's body gradually became solid.

Those wisps of black mist wrapping around him were drilling into his skin, seeping into his blood vessels, and merging into his bones.

He slowly opened his eyes.

But his eyes were ice-cold, devoid of any warmth.

His entire body exuded a gloomy, evil aura that made one's back turn cold just by looking at him.

An invisible pressure began to permeate this world.

Jiang Xun felt a massive surge of power pouring out from within his body.

His aura began to climb.

Foundation Establishment, Golden Core, Nascent Soul, Soul Transformation, Void Tempering.

It surged all the way to the Early Stage of the Ascension Realm before it steadily stopped.

This time, there was no time limit.

It was power that truly belonged to him, no longer borrowed from external sources.

Yet, along with the power, an even more massive surge of memories flooded up.

That was the sea of memories belonging to Dao Xun.

Jiang Xun had originally thought that since he had played the game for over a thousand hours, he understood the character Dao Xun well enough.

But only at this moment, when this torrent of memories poured into his Sea of Consciousness, did he realize how ridiculously wrong he had been.

The mere thousand hours of game time were infinitely stretched before this torrent of memories, turning into a full thousand years.

A thousand years of Cultivate, schemes and tricks, love and hatred.

All of it was crystal clear.

Every frame of the imagery was infinitely magnified, and every detail was carved into his bones.

He could clearly feel Dao Xun's inner emotions.

Just as he had written in his personal signature on the game homepage, "Seek longevity, pursue freedom, the Great Dao is unfettered."

Dao Xun's goal was only longevity.

Nothing else.

He could use any means necessary for this goal.

These memories were so real, so vivid, carrying the heat of blood and fire, and the weight of love and hate.

By comparison, Jiang Xun's own memories of the past twenty-some years seemed so pale, so fragile.

Those memories concerning another world.

The creaking bunk beds in the college dormitory, the flickering game interface on the computer screen, the lingering greasy smell in takeout boxes, the empty cola cans from staying up late to play games...

Everything became like a distant and blurry dream.

So thin that it would scatter with a single breeze.

Jiang Xun's consciousness struggled painfully in the gap between the two sets of memories.

He began to be unable to distinguish which was the real him.

Was it that ordinary college student Jiang Xun who lived a mundane life in the 21st century, attending classes, playing games, and ordering takeout every day?

Or was it that Dao Seeking Demon Venerable, Dao Xun, who dominated the world and made the entire Cultivation World tremble with fear?

He even began to feel that those memories about the modern world were the fake ones.

That they were just an absurd fantasy he had dreamt by chance during his long years of Cultivate.

"Ah!!"

Jiang Xun roared in pain within the black mist.

He clutched his head, his fingernails digging deeply into the flesh of his scalp.

Blood flowed out from between his fingers, streaming down his cheeks.

Making Jiang Xun look even more like a madman of the Demonic Path at this moment.

He kept whispering to himself:

"Who am I...?"

"I am Jiang Xun...!"

"I am the Dao Seeking Demon Venerable."

"No! That's not it!!"

Jiang Xun couldn't tell, he couldn't tell, which one was him? The two sets of memories were intertwining, fusing.

The memory of being Dao Xun was becoming the dominant one.

While his own memories were being lost.

[Ding!]

[Detected that the host's consciousness is dissipating.]

[Initiating custodial mode.]

Jiang Xun's consciousness was extracted and submerged into a glowing blue space.

...

Yan Qingning saw this scene.

Her initial joy turned into worry. She could see that Jiang Xun was beset by a Heart Demon and was on the verge of falling into the Demonic Path.

And this all stemmed from Jiang Xun's inexplicable cultivation base.

In the Cangwu Secret Realm, Jiang Xun could still rely on the Origin of the Small World to briefly elevate his Realm.

But in this frigid, barren snowfield, how could he have recovered to the Ascension Realm cultivation base?

Yan Qingning had no time to think it over.

She flew toward Jiang Xun at an extremely high speed.

If she didn't stop his skyrocketing cultivation base, the situation would be very dangerous; it was highly likely he would be subjected to Possession by his Heart Demon.

But before she could get close.

A sharp shout came through.

"Get lost!"

Jiang Xun waved his sleeve fiercely.

A surging wave of spiritual energy exploded from his body, forcing Yan Qingning to a halt.

"Jiang Xun! Stop!" Yan Qingning said anxiously.

"Your Heart Demon is festering; forcing a Breakthrough to the Ascension Realm will be very dangerous."

Jiang Xun ignored her.

The black mist diffusing around him began to contract, as if gathered by an invisible hand.

The black mist became thinner and thinner, lighter and lighter, until it was finally all absorbed into his body.

His complexion finally returned to normal.

No longer twisted, no longer ferocious.

...

Seven hundred miles away.

The White-bearded Elder and Gu Shentian had been stunned for a long time.

"He... he is also an Ascension Realm Cultivator?" The White-bearded Elder's voice was filled with astonishment.

He truly could not believe his eyes.

One must know that in the Five Domains Cultivation World, the only Ascension Realm Cultivator truly still active was the Empress.

Other Ascension Realm Cultivators had not come out to be active for a very long time.

Yet today, they had actually seen three.

Three Ascension Realm Cultivators.

On this godforsaken snowfield.

Gu Shentian, however, had noticed something else. He squinted his eyes, staring at the gradually clearing figure.

"Do you feel," he said slowly, "that this person looks familiar?"

The White-bearded Elder also stared at that face.

The distance of seven hundred miles, under the investigation of his divine eyes, was as if it were right in front of him.

Although Jiang Xun's face was somewhat obscured by the black mist, one could still vaguely make out some contours.

It was indeed very familiar.

As if he had seen it somewhere before.

"It looks a bit like..." The White-bearded Elder hesitated, not daring to say the name.

"I think it is that person," Gu Shentian said for him, "the Dao Seeking Demon Venerable, Dao Xun."

The White-bearded Elder did not speak. He just looked at that face more carefully.

The black mist around Jiang Xun had completely dissipated. His face no longer had any concealment.

Sword-like eyebrows, thin lips, cold eyes.

And that blood-colored vertical mark between his brows.

"That's right," the White-bearded Elder said, his voice dry, "it really is him."

"Has he really been resurrected?"

Gu Shentian did not reply. He stood there, as if he had suddenly understood something, his eyes becoming complex.

"Jiang Hongyuan really does have some methods," he whispered, "no wonder she looks down on the Luck of Xian Tang."

He had once invited Jiang Hongyuan to plot together for the Central Region.

As long as they secretly built a few shrines and gained the worship of Mortals, they would then be able to divide the massive incense Luck of the Central Region, and then Jiang Hongyuan could ascend to immortality by relying on that incense.

This Central Region might not necessarily be unable to become a Demonic Kingdom.

It was just a pity.

To be able to resurrect the Dao Seeking Demon Venerable.

In Gu Shentian's view, Jiang Hongyuan already had a better choice, and his plan would naturally fall through.

He muttered:

"The Five Domains are about to change."

With so many eyes watching, the news of the Dao Seeking Demon Venerable's Rebirth would surely cause a sensation throughout the entire Cultivation World.

...

Jiang Xun looked at Yan Qingning.

He opened his arms, his expression gentle, like seeing an old friend after a long separation.

"Come to my side," he said, "let me get a good look at you."

The voice was very light, very soft, like coaxing a child.

Yan Qingning seemed to lower her guard and slowly flew to his side.

Her eyes did not leave his face for even a moment, wanting to find something she was familiar with on that face.

Jiang Xun's mouth curled up wide; the smile was very satisfied, very gentle.

Yan Qingning was getting closer and closer to him.

When the two were less than half a zhang apart.

In the blink of an eye.

The shuang hua sword burst out with brilliant light, colliding with a pitch-black palm.

"Boom!!"

A loud noise exploded, and waves of energy surged.

The two forces collided, and for a moment, it was hard to tell who was stronger.

Yan Qingning increased her strength again.

Jiang Xun released a wisp of black smoke to envelop them both.

But very quickly, within the thick smoke, a figure fell rapidly like a meteor.

Jiang Xun slammed into the snow, kicking up a snow mist dozens of meters high.

A large crater was smashed into the ground.

The kicked-up snow mist hadn't even settled when Yan Qingning's sword blade came again.

This sword strike avoided vital points and thrust straight at Jiang Xun's Dantian.

Jiang Xun reacted extremely quickly, his body instantly turning into a mass of black mist.

The sword blade passed through the mist, stabbing at nothing.

The black mist drifted several zhang away, reforming into a human shape.

Jiang Xun put distance between himself and Yan Qingning.

He lowered his head to look at the wound on his chest.

Although that sword strike just now had not hit his Dantian, it had slashed a gash on his shoulder. Black mist surged at the edges of the wound, healing it rapidly.

The smile on his face disappeared.

He returned to being cold and indifferent.

"When did you find out?" he asked.

Yan Qingning's movements were too fast, too sharp; he believed he hadn't revealed any flaws.

But why?

Yan Qingning gripped the sword hilt tightly.

"No matter how much Jiang Xun detests me, he would never have the intent to kill me."

Jiang Xun tilted his head; at the very moment Yan Qingning approached, he had indeed revealed a trace of extremely faint killing intent.

"So that's how it is."

Yan Qingning raised her sword, the tip pointing straight at his throat.

"Who exactly are you?"

Jiang Xun showed a confused expression.

"I am me," he said, his tone matter-of-fact, "Ninger, have you forgotten even me?"

Yan Qingning's movements stiffened.

Ninger.

She hadn't heard this form of address for a long time.

And only he would call her that.

But if the person in front of her was really Jiang Xun, then why would he have the intent to kill? Why attack her? Why look at her with that kind of gaze?

That was not Jiang Xun's gaze.

In Jiang Xun's eyes, there would never be that kind of cold, indifferent light that looked at her like a stranger.

Jiang Xun lowered his head to look at his hands.

The black energy in his palms faded.

"It was clearly just one step away," he said with regret, "I could have fully recovered."

As long as he could swallow Yan Qingning, he could take another step forward.

It was just unexpected that she was actually also in the Ascension Realm.

"You are not Jiang Xun," Yan Qingning stared at him.

Jiang Xun raised his head.

"Ninger, it seems you really have forgotten even my name," he corrected, "I am called Dao Xun."

Yan Qingning shook her head; she had already concluded that the current Jiang Xun had been parasitized by a Heart Demon.

"You are merely a wisp of Heart Demon that has occupied Jiang Xun's body."

Whether it was a thousand years ago or now, the person in front of her was not the person she knew.

Ever since the Cangwu Secret Realm, after her self corpse was stripped away, Yan Qingning was more willing to call him by the name Jiang Xun.

And not Dao Xun.

Dao Xun remained expressionless, and he said slowly:

"Perhaps, the Jiang Xun you think you know is actually my Heart Demon?"

Yan Qingning obviously did not accept this statement.

She raised her sword.

"I will ask you one thing," she said, her voice trembling slightly, "have you ever loved me?"

Dao Xun looked at her.

He smiled suddenly, without any fluctuation in his eyes.

"Never."

Yan Qingning instantly disappeared from where she stood.

The space was shattered by her step, bursting into an ice flower. That ice flower bloomed in mid-air, crystal clear.

Dao Xun's face was suddenly stung by a chill.

He reacted with extreme speed, raising his hand to block.

The shuang hua sword was chopping fiercely onto his arm.

The long sword hacked into the flesh, stuck on the bone, and made a 'clatter, click' sound.

Yan Qingning held the sword hilt, her entire body suspended in mid-air.

Her strength was pressed onto this sword strike, the blade grinding between the bone and muscle.

"And you still say you aren't a Heart Demon!" Her voice was firm, carrying extreme anger.

Dao Xun lowered his head to look at the sword embedded in his arm.

His expression did not change at all.

Then he flung his arm with force.

Yan Qingning, along with the sword, was flung away, flipping a few times in the air before stabilizing.

"You are merely a tool for me to extract resources," Dao Xun said, his voice flat, "so how can there be talk of love?"

"But you are really easy to deceive; just a few words and you were infatuated with me."

"It saved me a great deal of effort."

He lowered his head to look at the wound on his arm.

Black mist surged at the edges of the wound, the flesh grew back together, the bones reconnected, as if nothing had happened.

"Otherwise, what did you think?" He raised his head, looking at Yan Qingning, "Why did I abandon you back then?"

Yan Qingning stood there.

The wind and snow blew her long hair, with a few strands sticking to her face.

She said: "I will not believe you."

Dao Xun spoke indifferently, "Whether you believe it or not, the fact is just so."

A few drops of black oil dripped from his palm, then condensed into a long sword, "I have never loved you. Leaving you back then was only because you no longer had what I wanted."

Yan Qingning still shook her head, "You are lying to me."

"With your current cultivation base, I don't believe you can't even tell whether what I'm saying is true or false."

Dao Xun lightly waved the black sword in his hand, his tone casual.

"I thought that since you are now in the Ascension Realm, you would have become a bit more mature."

"I didn't expect you to still like deceiving yourself so much."