360: Chapter 360 Ye Qingyao's Tears

Su Changge walked out of the ruins of the assembly venue.

Behind him were the gazes of tens of thousands of people.

He walked neither fast nor slow, his steps as steady as if he were taking a stroll in his own backyard.

His white clothes were so clean under the sunlight that it didn't look like he had just experienced a world-ending catastrophe.

Ye Qingyao followed half a step behind him, her hand resting on her sword hilt, maintaining a state of alertness at all times.

Zhao Tian followed even further behind, jogging to catch up with their pace.

“Junior Martial Uncle, Junior Martial Uncle, wait for me!”

Zhao Tian shouted as he ran.

Su Changge neither stopped nor accelerated.

The three of them walked past the ruins of the collapsed stands, across the cracked plaza tiles, through the scorched earth still emitting black smoke, and toward the mountain path outside the venue.

Zhao Tian finally caught up, panting as he leaned in beside Su Changge.

“Junior Martial Uncle, that move of yours just now was too cool! That palm covered the entire sky! In all my years, this is the first time I, Zhao Tian, have seen such a scene!”

Su Changge glanced at him.

“Too much talk.”

Zhao Tian immediately shut his mouth.

But after staying silent for three breaths, he couldn't help himself again.

“Junior Martial Uncle, I'll just ask one thing, just one.”

Su Changge ignored him.

“If that giant palm really slammed down, what would happen to Red Ember? Would he turn into a meat patty or just be directly reduced to ashes?”

Su Changge's footsteps paused for a moment.

[You're asking me?]

[How should I know?]

[The lethality of that palm slamming down is zero. Red Ember wouldn't even feel an itch.]

[But I can't tell you that.]

Su Changge continued walking, his tone indifferent to the extreme.

“What do you think?”

Zhao Tian rubbed his hands and thought for a bit.

“I think he'd probably be directly reduced to ashes, right? The kind where not even a speck of dust remains?”

Su Changge did not deny it.

Zhao Tian immediately interpreted this silence as tacit agreement.

“I knew it! When an ultimate move of that level hits, what's the difference between a Tribulation Transcendence Stage and an ant!”

The more Zhao Tian spoke, the more excited he became, gesticulating wildly.

“Junior Martial Uncle, will you take Disciples in the future? Although my, Zhao Tian's, Aptitude is a bit lacking, I make up for it by being obedient!”

Su Changge finally turned back to look at him.

Zhao Tian's voice came to an abrupt halt.

“I said something wrong, I'll shut up, shut up.”

The three of them walked down along the mountain path.

On both sides of the mountain path were trees charred by demonic fire, broken branches and leaves scattered everywhere, and the smell of burning still lingered in the air.

After walking for about half an incense stick's time, Su Changge stopped by a mountain spring.

The mountain spring gushed from a crevice in the rocks, crystal clear, surprisingly untouched by the demonic fire.

Su Changge sat down on a flat stone by the spring.

Ye Qingyao stood beside him.

“Zhao Tian,” Su Changge spoke.

“Here!” Zhao Tian straightened his back.

“Go find some clean water skins and deliver water to the injured.”

Zhao Tian was stunned for a moment.

“Junior Martial Uncle, you want me to do that?”

Su Changge looked at the spring water, his voice flat.

“Good deeds are not judged by their size. Go.”

Zhao Tian chuckled, “Junior Martial Uncle is right to lecture me, I'm going right now!”

Zhao Tian ran off in a flash.

Only Su Changge and Ye Qingyao remained on the mountain path.

The spring water tinkled, the birds were silent, and in the silence of surviving the disaster, only the sounds of wind and water echoed alternately.

Su Changge's body relaxed the moment Zhao Tian left.

It wasn't just a surface-level relaxation, but a kind of fatigue released from the depths of his Soul.

He had maintained his Master persona for too long.

From the opening of the Ten Thousand Immortals Assembly until now, every movement, every expression, and every word of his had been precisely calculated.

A Cultivator at the Qi Refining First Layer had survived in front of four Tribulation Transcendence Stage demonic dragons by relying purely on acting and special effects.

This kind of mental pressure was great to an indescribable degree.

Ye Qingyao stood beside him, looking at his profile.

She saw some things that others couldn't see.

Revered Master's shoulder line relaxed by an inch.

Revered Master's breathing was half a beat deeper than before.

Revered Master's fingers resting on his knee curled slightly and then relaxed.

These subtle changes were not signs of fatigue in Ye Qingyao's eyes.

She gave a completely different interpretation.

Revered Master was bearing a heavy burden unimaginable to ordinary people.

He had just nonchalantly suppressed four demonic dragons and repelled the Heavenly Demon Qi, but behind these seemingly effortless actions, he alone had carried the life and death of everyone on the entire battlefield.

Tens of thousands of lives.

All pressing down on him alone.

He had done it.

He had done it in the most calm and breezy manner.

But he was also human.

He would also get tired.

Ye Qingyao's eyes grew hot.

She had been holding it in.

She didn't cry at the assembly venue.

She didn't cry when she saw Revered Master suppress the demonic dragons.

She didn't cry when she saw the Heavenly Demon Qi dissipate.

But at this moment, seeing Revered Master's shoulder relax that one inch in a place with no one else around, she couldn't help it.

A tear slid from the corner of Ye Qingyao's eye.

It fell onto the back of her fair hand.

Su Changge heard a very soft sound.

It was the sound of a water droplet hitting skin.

He turned his head and saw the tear stains on Ye Qingyao's face.

Su Changge was stunned.

Ye Qingyao quickly turned her face away and wiped the corner of her eye with her sleeve.

“This Disciple has lost her composure.”

Her voice was still steady, but the end of it carried an imperceptible tremble.

Su Changge looked at her profile.

Sunlight cast mottled shadows through the remaining branches, falling on her cheek and reflecting the tear stain that hadn't dried yet.

A crystal-clear water droplet still hung from her eyelashes.

[She's crying?]

[Why is she crying?]

[She is Ye Qingyao. A Mahayana Stage powerhouse. The Sect Master of the Taixuan Sect. An Empress in her past life.]

[She didn't shed a single tear even in front of four demonic dragons.]

[Why is she crying in front of me?]

Su Changge didn't ask it out loud.

Ye Qingyao spoke first.

“Revered Master, this Disciple was just thinking about something.”

Su Changge looked at her.

Ye Qingyao turned her head, facing Su Changge directly.

Her eyes were still red, but her gaze was clear and bright; there was no weakness in them, only a resolve after being deeply touched by something.

“This Disciple was an Empress in her past life and once thought she had already stood at the highest point and endured the most things.”

“Today I finally know that what this Disciple endured in her past life is nothing compared to Revered Master.”

Su Changge's brow twitched.

[How is what you endured in your past life nothing? How many enemies did you defeat and how many tribulations did you experience to become an Empress? I just put on some special effects today.]

Ye Qingyao continued.

“Everyone at the Ten Thousand Immortals Assembly was panicking, afraid, and begging you to act.”

“Only you sat there from beginning to end with a calm face.”

“This Disciple knows what you were thinking.”

Su Changge's heart skipped a beat.

[You know? You know what I was thinking? Do you know I was thinking about what to do if the special effects damage was zero? Do you know I was thinking that if Red Ember rushed over, I'd be finished right here?]

Ye Qingyao's eyes held a deep sense of understanding and heartache.

“You were thinking whether it was worth bearing the cost for these people who have nothing to do with you if the price of acting was too great.”

Su Changge's heart settled back down.

[I wasn't thinking that. But you're right, that's the general idea. Yes. Exactly. It's just as you said.]

“But you ultimately acted.”

Ye Qingyao's voice lowered.

“You ultimately stood up and responded to everyone's pleas with those four words.”

“This Seat grants it.”

Ye Qingyao repeated those four words, her voice carrying an unmistakable tremor.

“This Disciple knows what those four words carry behind them.”

“It wasn't as simple as just acting.”

“It was someone who has already transcended the Mortal World choosing to return to it because of the suffering of thousands of living beings, choosing to shoulder Karma that did not belong to him.”

Another tear fell from Ye Qingyao's eye.

“Revered Master, you never say these things.”

“You only ever do, and never speak.”

“So this Disciple wants to say a word for Revered Master.”

Ye Qingyao looked into Su Changge's eyes.

Those eyes were exceptionally bright through the tears, so bright that Su Changge didn't know where to look for a moment.

“Revered Master has worked hard.”

Four simple words.

Simple to the extreme.

But coming from Ye Qingyao's mouth, they carried a certain weight.

That weight made Su Changge's breath stop for half a beat.

It wasn't because of acting needs.

It really stopped for half a beat.

He didn't know how to respond to this sentence.

He was a transmigrator. A fraud. A Qi Refining First Layer waste who relied on special effects and acting to get by.

Everything he did was out of necessity.

Every time he acted, it was because if he didn't, he would die.

He was never some transcendent existence who willingly entered the Mortal World for the sake of all living beings.

He was just an ordinary person afraid of death.

But the look in Ye Qingyao's eyes was sincere to an extent that one couldn't bear to let down.

Su Changge was silent for a long time.

The spring water tinkled nearby.

The wind passed through the charred treetops, making a faint wailing sound.

Su Changge reached out his hand.

His hand stopped beside Ye Qingyao's hair.

He hesitated for a breath.

Then he withdrew it.

His voice was as light as a bubble in the spring water.

“It's no trouble.”

Ye Qingyao's tears flowed even more.

She lowered her head, buried her face in her sleeve, her shoulders trembling slightly.

She was crying silently.

A Mahayana Stage Cultivator.

An Empress from a past life.

A Sect Master who ruled a region.

Like an ordinary girl, she cried silently in front of her Master.

Su Changge sat on the stone, looking at Ye Qingyao's lowered, trembling shoulders.

His hand rose again.

This time he didn't withdraw it.

His palm gently rested on top of Ye Qingyao's head.

Like a Revered Master comforting a Disciple, he gave two gentle pats.

Ye Qingyao's shoulders stopped shaking.

She looked up, tears still hanging on her face, but the corners of her mouth curved into an extremely tiny arc.

“Revered Master.”

“Mm.”

“This Disciple won't cry again in the future.”

“Mm.”

“This Disciple will become stronger, strong enough to share more of Revered Master's burdens.”

Su Changge looked into her eyes.

Those eyes were full of determination and earnestness.

Su Changge withdrew his hand from her head.

[You're already strong enough.]

[You help me much more than I help you.]

[If it weren't for your overthinking and backing me up, I would have died who knows how many times today.]

Su Changge turned his head and looked at the distant mountains.

In the distance, the silhouette of Divine Flame Mountain was faintly visible on the horizon, with faint black smoke still rising from the peak.

“Is Revered Master looking at Divine Flame Mountain?” Ye Qingyao wiped away her tear stains and regained her usual composure.

Su Changge gave an 'mm'.

Ye Qingyao stood beside him, looking into the distance with him.

“Regarding the matter of the Seal, how does Revered Master intend to handle it?”

Su Changge did not answer.

Because he didn't know how to answer.

[How can I handle it? Can I, at the Qi Refining First Layer, handle a Heavenly Demon Seal?]

[The best way is to let Xiao Huang and the others handle it themselves while I leave the Blazing Dragon War Continent as soon as possible and return to the Lingxu Wasteland.]

[The further away from this Heavenly Demon Left Arm, the better.]

But Su Changge knew he couldn't leave now.

Because everyone thought he was the Dao Lord.

Everyone believed he was the only one who could suppress the Heavenly Demon.

If he just up and left now, the persona he had built up before would instantly collapse.

Moreover, Ye Qingyao wouldn't agree either.

She would think Revered Master had deeper considerations and would keep chasing and asking him.

It would be even harder to explain then.

Su Changge sighed in his heart.

“We shall see.”

He spoke three words.

Ye Qingyao nodded.

Footsteps came from the mountain path in the distance.

Zhao Tian walked back from the mountain path carrying a large pile of water skins.

“Junior Martial Uncle! I found the water skins! I dug them out from the Blazing Dragon Sacred Hall's storage warehouse, there's plenty!”

Then Zhao Tian saw Ye Qingyao's slightly red eyes.

Zhao Tian's footsteps paused for a moment.

He looked at Ye Qingyao, then at Su Changge, his mouth opening as if he wanted to say something.

Su Changge glanced at him.

Zhao Tian's mouth snapped shut.

“I'm going to deliver the water! Farewell!”

Zhao Tian turned and ran, looking back once after running ten paces away, and then ran even faster.

Su Changge withdrew his gaze.

Ye Qingyao also withdrew her gaze.

Neither of them spoke.

The spring water tinkled.

The wind wailed in the treetops.

The distant Divine Flame Mountain stood silently on the horizon.

Everything looked very peaceful.

But Su Changge knew this was just the calm before the storm.

The Heavenly Demon Left Arm underground would not remain quiet forever.

The Dao Rhyme of the special effects would not linger in the air forever.

He needed to think of a way to continue the charade before the Heavenly Demon became restless again.

Su Changge closed his eyes.

Ye Qingyao did not disturb him.

She thought Revered Master was contemplating a strategy to break the situation.

In reality, Su Changge was going through all the active special effect names in the System, reciting them one by one in his heart, testing which ones could be used and which ones couldn't.

He needed more trump cards.

More special effects.

More things that could bluff people.

Because he had a premonition that the following events would become even more troublesome.

Far more troublesome than four demonic dragons.

Then, he felt the stone beneath his feet vibrate slightly.

It was very light.

So light it was almost imperceptible.

But Su Changge felt it.

Ye Qingyao felt it too.

Her hand went back to her sword hilt.