In the boundless sea of consciousness, everywhere one looked were broken walls and ruins, with a pitch-black sky above and evil qi overflowing everywhere.

Ning Buwei sat cross-legged on the ground, before him was a fist-sized black dantian, and further down was a thick golden spiritual root, only because it had been forcibly pulled out and then forced back in, that brilliant golden color appeared somewhat dim.

When every cultivator first begins their cultivation, they like to shape their sea of consciousness into their most beloved form. Even ignorant young children like Ning Xiu would use spiritual power to replicate their favorite things within their sea of consciousness.

Ning Buwei’s sea of consciousness had not originally looked like this.

He had once created a city in his sea of consciousness, every street, every brick and tile, even the climbing ivy on the walls, all identical to Xun Prefecture’s Ning City.

At the center of the city was Ning Mansion, and at the center of Ning Mansion was Danhuai Courtyard.

In the courtyard were two osmanthus trees, large patches of Nine-Leaf Lotus, winding and twisting corridors, and when one raised their head beneath the corridors, they could see distant Chenyue Mountain.

Later on, beside the city in his sea of consciousness appeared an island, with flowers and grass on the island, the classroom he most enjoyed attending, green pines outside the window that he loved to watch, the Self-Reflection Pavilion he often visited, and the room where Chu Jun lived…

From a certain perspective, Ning Xiu was indeed very similar to him. His son created all the things he loved, while he directly transplanted the entire city and island he cherished into his sea of consciousness.

Only the island of Wanxuan Academy in his sea of consciousness was built halfway before coming to an abrupt halt, and from then on his sea of consciousness became a complete mess.

Initially when Ning Gu and Li Xiaohan met with misfortune, he forced himself to accept it, then hid it away pretending to forget. Later he became accustomed to it. When the Ning family met with disaster and Ning Xingyuan perished, it was the same. Later, whether it was Wen Zaiye’s death, or Yan Jinzhou and Ah Ling’s deaths, or Chu Jun and Wan Li’s departure, he adopted the same approach – appearing nonchalant on the surface while actually deceiving himself and others.

He could not truly become heartless.

He could not cultivate the Path of Ruthlessness—from when he threw Ning Xiu from mid-air in Linjiang City only to pull him back, or from even earlier, from when he didn’t have the heart to refine Ning Xiu back into a Linglong bone but instead tucked the little thing into his embrace, he knew he could not succeed at it.

Ning Buwei looked at the ruins scattered everywhere before him in his sea of consciousness. The pitch-black dantian in front of him began to shed layers, finally returning to its original crystal-clear appearance.

Breaking down to rebuild—this time he could finally choose the path he wanted to walk himself.

****

“Father~ Waaah!” Ning Xiu’s crying voice was particularly clear amid the chaotic, hoarse ghostly screams and collapsing sounds.

Ning Buwei struggled to open his eyes. His abdomen and heart immediately sent waves of severe pain, nearly causing him to faint again directly.

“Father~” Ning Xiu’s small face was covered in tears as he lay on top of him, his two small fists clenched tightly, crying while exerting force.

Ning Buwei discovered that his entire body was glittering with golden light, and the wounds on his abdomen and heart were slowly healing.

His mind was still somewhat confused. His blood-covered hand patted Ning Xiu’s small head, and just as he was about to speak, he spat out a mouthful of blood.

Ning Xiu was so frightened he didn’t even dare cry anymore. The half piece of candy in his hand had already melted into a sticky mess. He stared blankly at Ning Buwei and called out with a crying voice, “Father~”

“Ah, it’s nothing.” Ning Buwei grinned at him, but ended up revealing a row of blood-stained teeth.

Ning Xiu was stunned for a moment, then immediately burst into wails, “Waaah—Mother! Save Father!”

This time his crying was so clear he didn’t even stutter, absolutely full of vigor.

Ning Buwei used his thumb to wipe away his son’s tears, but ended up smearing blood all over his face. He said weakly, “Your father isn’t dead yet, no need to wail so loudly.”

Chu Jun landed on Big Yellow’s back with a body full of killing intent. Fang Wanchen couldn’t withstand this dense killing intent and directly fainted. Even Big Yellow whimpered with a bitter expression.

Ning Buwei looked at his red-robed appearance naturally emanating killing intent and was stunned for a moment, then quickly came back to his senses. “Where is Pei Heguang?”

Chu Jun’s voice was cold. “He escaped.”

Ning Buwei covered his stomach. The chaotic memories from earlier returned, and he said in shock, “Just now that was—”

“You nearly had your body possessed.” The killing intent on Chu Jun grew even denser. “Although the heart demon that was planted on you before was removed, the connection between you and him was never severed. He should have had this plan for a long time.”

Ning Buwei had never imagined someone would be so desperate as to possess his body, but thinking that for these several hundred years someone had been secretly eyeing his shell from the shadows, he immediately felt nauseated.

If Chu Jun hadn’t called out to him… the consequences would be unthinkable.

“Pei Heguang is sinister and cunning. If we encounter him in the future, we absolutely cannot let our guard down.” Chu Jun looked at the collapsing sea of fire around them. “The Mass Resentment Illusion Realm has been destroyed. We should leave this place.”

Big Yellow heard this and scratched at the ground with his claws, saying with a bitter face. “Venerable, please restrain the killing intent on your body. I can barely carry everyone anymore.”

Chu Jun lowered his eyes and silently recited some incantation. His red robes instantly became snow-white and clean, and the originally dense bloody killing intent immediately disappeared without a trace, returning him to that calm and composed Venerable Jinghe.

“Wow~” Ning Xiu exclaimed in admiration, walked two steps and hugged Chu Jun’s wide sleeves. “Mother~ so beautiful~”

Mother is the most beautiful!

Chu Jun reached out and picked him up, then raised his head to look toward the distant cliff.

Standing on the cliff, Sang Yun bowed to him, and the little black dragon emerged from her storage pouch, excitedly flying toward Ning Buwei and Big Yellow.

Big Yellow roared and shattered the flames beneath his feet.

When Ning Buwei was preparing to close his eyes and meditate, his peripheral vision caught sight of Xie Jiu. He saw him covered in wounds, barely breathing as he knelt on the ground. He frowned and was just about to speak when his heart suddenly sent a sharp pain. His vision went black and he completely lost consciousness.

Ning Xiu stared blankly at the unconscious Ning Buwei, then looked at his mother who had just knocked his father unconscious with two fingers. His small mouth formed a perfect circle.

“Shh.” Chu Jun placed one finger against his lips, looking at his son with an unchanged expression.

Ning Xiu slowly blinked his eyes, then also learned from him by placing a finger to his mouth, obediently copying him. “Shh~”

A faint smile appeared on Chu Jun’s face as he reached out to gather Ning Buwei into his embrace.

Ning Xiu licked the candy residue on his finger, yawned, and ran to the space between Chu Jun and Ning Buwei. He looked left and right, trying to lie on top of his father.

Then he was picked up by the collar with two of Chu Jun’s fingers and placed on his lap.

“Your Father is very tired. Don’t disturb him.” Chu Jun said.

“Yes~” Ning Xiu turned over on his lap and mischievously wiped the sticky candy residue from his hand onto Chu Jun’s sleeve, saying in his baby voice, “Xiu Xiu~ is also~ tired~”

Chu Jun took out a handkerchief and carefully wiped his small hands.

Ning Xiu said quietly, “Mother~ Father here~”

He pointed to Ning Buwei’s heart. “Big scary flower~”

Then he frowned again. “Scary~ don’t like~”

It was nothing like the flowers the pretty uncle gave him—black and red, and cold too. Disgusting!

“Mm.” Chu Jun lowered his eyes to glance at the sleeping Ning Buwei. “Did you pull it all out?”

“All clean~ now!” Ning Xiu kicked his short legs proudly. “All~ for~ Mother~”

Chu Jun took out another small piece of candy from his sleeve.

Ning Xiu immediately sat up straight, obediently opening his mouth wide.

But Chu Jun split that piece of candy in half, and before Ning Xiu could protest, he divided one of the halves into two pieces again, stuffing one small piece into Ning Xiu’s mouth.

Ning Xiu held the candy in his mouth but his eyes stared at the candy pieces remaining in his hand, saying unclearly, “Mother~ mine~”

Chu Jun very calmly put the candy away. “Eat more next time.”

Ning Xiu dejectedly lay down on his lap, stayed quiet for a while, then restlessly burrowed into his sleeve.

Chu Jun knew he was looking for candy and calmly let him burrow around randomly. When there was no more movement, he pulled the little fellow out of his sleeve. Sure enough, he had already fallen asleep.

Ning Buwei leaned against him with a pale face, still tightly gripping the Suzaku narrow knife in his hand.

Chu Jun reached out to take the knife away, but saw Ning Buwei frown as if struggling to open his eyes.

“It’s me, Chu Jun.” He said in a low voice.

Ning Buwei’s hand loosened slightly but still gripped tightly, mumbling drowsily: “Bastard.”

Chu Jun: “…………”

“I’ll split you in half sooner or later.” Ning Buwei said through gritted teeth.

Chu Jun: “……No respect for elders.”

Ning Buwei moved in his embrace and was pressed down by him. “Let go, sleep properly.”

The fingers that had been gripping with white knuckles reluctantly released the knife, his head drooped, and his whole person seemed to lose all strength, collapsing against him.

Chu Jun grasped the Suzaku narrow knife. The blade immediately trembled in terror, desperately trying to get closer to Ning Buwei. Chu Jun chuckled softly, moved his fingertips slightly, and the narrow knife scattered completely into fragments.

****

Shuangjing County, Yuquan Village.

The people lying in the courtyard gradually woke up one by one, looking at each other in surprise.

“What… happened just now?”

“I think I had a dream.”

“Me too! I dreamed of many villagers, and something about Pei Si and Elder Pei!”

“That’s right, that’s right! Damn it! Watching made me so frustrated I wanted to go up and help Pei Si kill that corrupt official! But I just couldn’t move no matter what.”

“Exactly, exactly! But when Pei Si burned those people to death at the end, it was really satisfying!”

“But wasn’t that going too far? Those were over a hundred lives…”

“Damn it, why don’t you look at how those people bullied others!?”

“…………”

Outside the house was noisy and chaotic. Fang Wanchen, lying on the kang, finally slowly awakened, looking at the ceiling with vacant eyes.

“Daren! Daren, are you alright?” The secretary rushed in with guards.

Fang Wanchen was helped up, looking at them with a splitting headache. He slowly waved his hand and asked, “Where are the others?”

“Reporting to daren, everyone is fine.” The secretary said carefully, “Daren, this place is too eerie. We should leave quickly!”

Fang Wanchen seemed not to hear his words, only looking around blankly and asking, “Where are they?”

The secretary and guards looked at each other. “Daren, who are you referring to?”

Fang Wanchen was stunned and said, “The ones who came with us…”

Who was it?

He vaguely remembered two figures but couldn’t recall their specific appearances no matter how hard he tried. Something very important should have happened to him, but he could only barely remember a few fragments. When he was helped out of the room, he couldn’t even remember those fragments anymore.

“Daren, there’s so much ash on the ground!” Someone said puzzledly. “A thick layer of grayish-white.”

“How does this look so much like bone ash?” Someone said carelessly.

This remark made everyone shudder. Someone scolded, “What nonsense! Daren is here, don’t talk randomly!”

“But it really does look like it…”

“Go away, how many people would it take to have so much bone ash? Get lost!”

“…………”

When they reached the stone tablet of Yuquan Village, Fang Wanchen suddenly reined in his horse and turned to look back.

They had arrived at dawn and were leaving near dusk.

In the distance were endless blue-green mountain ranges, burning red in the glow of the setting sun. Nearby, the village houses were nestled among trees and hills in an orderly fashion. Occasionally birds flew overhead, shedding a few feathers in the wind that drifted down onto broken chimneys.

In a trance, he seemed to see smoke rising from those chimneys. Gradually, more and more smoke appeared. Roosters crowed, dogs barked, children’s laughter and the sounds of pots and pans collided together. Villagers who had worked in the fields all day walked home in small groups with smiles, and everywhere was the warm fragrance of cooking food.

“…Daren? Daren?” Someone was calling him.

Fang Wanchen snapped back to attention, but before him was still the desolate and cold ruined village.

“Daren, are you alright?” A guard looked at him with concern.

Fang Wanchen shook his head and smiled. “I’m fine. I just feel like I lived here for a long time and am somewhat… nostalgic.”

The guard looked at him blankly.

Fang Wanchen withdrew his gaze and said, “Let’s go. Just an illusion.”

With that, he raised the whip in his hand. “Hyah!”

The horse’s hooves rose high, galloping toward Shuangjing County.

A group of people left in grand procession, finally becoming unclear black dots that disappeared into the slanting setting sun.