110: For the greater cause!

"Old Ma... is he okay?"

Old Bat rubbed his brow, feeling a sudden, violent headache.

"He is dead."

Old Shrimp's reply struck Old Bat's heart like a heavy hammer.

"It's my fault; I should have been more careful."

"He was a respectable warrior; he shouldn't have died so meaninglessly."

The atmosphere in the room grew even more oppressive.

Old Ma's death had been expected, but dying so miserably and meaninglessly was something they found hard to accept.

At this moment, Old Bat's mind was filled with the memory of when Old Ma was framed by the curtain earlier, and Old Ma had smiled and said he would treat him to a drink after returning to the capital.

Now, that drink would never be shared.

Wait a little longer.

"I'll go to the next level."

Old Shrimp and Old Crab looked at Old Bat simultaneously, opening their mouths, but nothing came out.

After a moment of silence, Old Shrimp spoke.

"I'm going too."

"A fierce warrior like Old Ma died at the hands of Junior Brother Zhou Yan; as a Senior Brother, he will only be stronger."

"It's useless for you to go alone."

"I'm going too."

"If the three of us work together, it's impossible that we won't be able to kill Zhou Yan."

"Even if we sacrifice our lives, we cannot let Old Ma die in vain."

Old Crab also stood up, no longer as fearful as before.

"Old Shrimp and I can go, but you cannot," Old Bat said, standing up and interrupting Old Crab.

"Not to mention if we all perish here, what about the capital? If everything fails, who will contact the Boss?"

"Besides, you lent your Yao core to Old Ma. Without it, you are just an ordinary Foundation Establishment cultivator who can only borrow a little of the dao body's power."

"How can you fight Zhou Yan? You might not even last a single exchange."

"I..."

"Say no more. The two of us will go. If we die, I hope you can at least bring our bodies back."

"If you can't bring them back... just forget it."

"But once we die, you must contact the Boss immediately."

Old Shrimp stood up, patted Old Crab on the shoulder, put on his coat, walked out of the room, and headed toward the portal.

Seeing Old Shrimp leave, Old Bat followed, also patting Old Crab's shoulder.

"When you pour wine at our graves later, remember to pour the good stuff for me. Don't give it to them; they are all uncouth people who don't know how to appreciate wine."

Having walked two steps, Old Bat stopped and added.

"Never mind, give it to them."

"Good wine is wasted on someone like me."

Old Crab didn't dare to turn back; he was afraid that if he got carried away, he would recklessly follow them.

The two reached the door and turned back to shout at Old Crab.

"Everything is for our great cause. So many have already sacrificed; it won't matter if it's us too."

"You must at least live to see the great cause completed. If you arrive in the underworld early, we won't let you off."

"Right, right, right. We'll at least force you to drink until you are Soul Flying Away and Spirit Scattering, haha."

The laughter behind him stopped abruptly.

Only Old Crab remained, head hanging, motionless.

"We are merely expendable materials, needing to carry our sinful bodies to push the great cause forward. This is a necessary sacrifice."

Old Crab muttered, trying to comfort himself with these words, but some things lose their meaning when said too often.

"I thought that since I eat people and devour souls, I was no longer human. Can a guy like me actually still have humanity in his heart?"

"Is this really the effect of that cage, or am I truly reluctant?"

"So, Boss."

"Is what we are doing really right?"

Behind Old Crab, a Black-Robed Man appeared, though it was unclear when.

"Why are we doing this?"

"Yeah, why?" Yuan Chenling was equally confused.

One moment it's Feng Xu, the next it's Recluse of Spiritual Stream, then saying he wants to give a Legacy, and now saying he'll kill them if they take it again.

Has this guy cultivated the Law of Time until he's stupid?

Feng Xu ignored Yuan Chenling and looked at Zhou Yan instead.

It was clear that most of what happened just now was an act, but his disdain for the Yao Race was real.

"You are a qualified successor, and precisely because you are qualified, I cannot bear to see you become the vessel for my resurrection."

"Sigh..."

"Humans are truly complex."

"The more I study the Law of Time, the more I realize that most of life is spent trying to reconcile with oneself."

"In youth, one doesn't understand middle age; in middle age, one doesn't understand old age. It repeats again and again; no one can escape it."

"I observed from the perspective of a bystander, thinking that someone like me, a seeker of the Dao, would certainly not be as ignorant as them."

"But I am ultimately a human, and humans have flaws. We are not much different; the only difference is that I was a bystander then, and now it is my turn to enter the game."

"Senior, what do you mean by this?" Zhou Yan still felt this guy wasn't right.

"I once loathed those guys who were always thinking about Possession of others."

"I always believed that if one is dead, they are dead. Resurrection is a disrespect to time."

"The story has already come to an end, yet you insist on continuing the ending, making the subsequent story bland and tasteless. It's too annoying."

"Therefore, this segment of time you see, which is me, was born."

"The meaning of my existence is to act as the Legacy bearer, to select someone worth waiting for and pass on my life's learning to him."

"But there is another purpose, which is to suppress myself before I might fall."

He turned around again, looking at the coffin.

"I once thought this was just a self-deprecating joke; who knew it would turn out to be true."

"The me before death was unwilling to die just like that, so he sought various methods to erase this segment of me, so that he could find a vessel for Possession and Rebirth, and live on for a few more hundred years."

"But I discovered this anomaly and acted in advance."

"He was old, frail, and dispirited. Although he was not my opponent at this time, I must say, the one who knows you best is yourself."

"I imprisoned him in the Secret Realm, imprisoned him in that coffin."

"Yet he also imprisoned me in this segment of the teacher's, unable to escape."

"He is in a state of suspended animation, waiting for the Secret Realm to open again. At that time, the chosen one will definitely open the coffin to obtain the Legacy, and he will be able to perform Possession and Rebirth."

"And I, who am only at Foundation Establishment Perfection, cannot stop myself, who is not suppressed in the Secret Realm and has reached the Core Formation Stage."

"My teacher's segment is not omnipotent either. Perhaps the teacher at this period had the ability to suppress or even kill a Core Formation cultivator, but that is not something a mediocre person like me can replicate."

"The only thing I can advise you is to leave now."

"This time like a shuttle, as the strongest and most special Magic Treasure in the Secret Realm, although it cannot compare to the Legacy of Time, it is still a great Opportunity for you."

Ma Hao took out the time like a shuttle again.

Zhou Yan looked at the other person's sincere expression and was somewhat moved.

"The story of the Dragon-slaying youth eventually becoming the evil Dragon?"

"Truly cliché and realistic."

Ma Hao listened to Zhou Yan's words, his face full of sorrow.

"Humans always say you can't trust this or that, but sometimes you really should think about whether you yourself are worth trusting."

The time like a shuttle floated in front of Zhou Yan.

Zhou Yan put it into his backpack and began to identify it.

A door opened; this time it led to the outside world.

Zhou Yan even saw Niu Zhiyuan comforting his subordinates, watching them tear up, always feeling like they would jump up the next second and shout "Loyalty."

Zhou Yan looked at Ma Hao.

Ma Hao seeing that Zhou Yan hadn't left, thought he still had concerns and explained.

"Don't worry, I didn't lie to you this time. This is indeed the door."

"Before, when I bluffed you, it was just because I wanted to borrow your body to go to the next level, at least to be able to stop the original body from resurrecting."

"But now I have given up this idea. If I use your Physical Body to go, I fear it would be like a sheep entering a tiger's den, and you would become the most perfect vessel for my resurrection."

"After you go out, if you are willing to help for the sake of this Magic Treasure, please pass on a message for me."

"At least let them know that a great demon has emerged in here; if not stopped, who knows how much evil karma will be created."

Zhou Yan looked at Ma Hao and still did not leave.

"What about the people inside? Are we just going to watch him perform Possession?"