After I Died My Dao Companion Drowns in Endless Regret Chapter 114

After imprisoning Teng Luo in the underground palace, Si Jun did not show herself to rescue her people. She was, after all, from the Wu Shi Sect and had originally been groomed to be its master. She was intimately familiar with all its arrangements. She took out a dharma seal and secretly began refining the talisman of the Wu Shi Sect’s great array, slowly seizing control of the sect from Teng Luo’s hands.
“So what if Master kills me? The severing of all selves is from the top down. No matter how much effort Master makes, you will eventually be pushed back by the Divine Lords.” Teng Luo’s entire body ached. She stared at Si Jun, her eyes filled with a mixture of emotions, like a storm that could destroy everything.
“Do you think I don’t know? Only when it involves a power of that level, or when the foundation is truly shaken, is it possible for those few Divine Lords to manifest their true bodies.” Si Jun laughed coldly. She turned her head to look at the defeated Teng Luo and asked again, “How long has it been, would you say, since those few have passed down a decree? After they severed their selves, can they still have their own consciousness?” The “severing of all selves” was passed down from the Divine Lords above; they were the ones walking ahead. Si Jun had accepted the Daoist concept of “cultivating the heart” and had always believed that after severing the selves, there would be “no self,” and those few had probably already embarked on that path. In that case, what exactly was left in the end?
Since the beginning of the “heart-cultivating Dao,” every storm they had stirred up had been suppressed by the major heavenly domains. Severing Realm of Ruin was in fact the closest they had come to their goal, but in the battle two hundred years ago, they had still been defeated. Luo Wuqing was dead, Sang Buwei was seriously injured and taken back to the Wu Xiang Heaven Domain. Among the four of them, the only ones confirmed to be alive were her and Yun Huai. With her cultivation, she could indeed deal with many of the True Immortals in the Wu Shi Sect, but there was no benefit in acting rashly. The more it came to this, the more careful she had to be.
Taking the sect master’s seal from Teng Luo, Si Jun could freely browse through the Wu Shi Sect’s Daoist texts, classics, and documents. The “gap” of these two hundred years was gradually filled. The Fu Li Immortal Realm had been discovered by the Shang Qing Divine Realm. Just as it was about to be pulled back into the divine realm, the spiritual vein erupted, and a huge void mystic cave appeared above. But this was not the arrangement of the four of them. Si Jun couldn’t figure it out for a while. After learning that the Dao seeds of the immortal realm had not been completely destroyed, she turned her attention to “Xuan Tian Ji” and the “Wu Xiang Academy.” The former was an enemy of all the major heavenly domains, and she could not cooperate with them, but she could use them to some extent. As for the “Wu Xiang Academy,” it seemed to be showing signs of protecting the Gan Yuan lineage. Although it was limited to the Academy, this was better than the expected situation. At least those disciples who had no strength left had a place to stay.
Was the change in the Wu Xiang Heaven Domain because of Sang Buwei? Was she actually not dead? Once this thought arose, it was like a wildfire in the wind, unstoppable. If there is a chance, I must go to the Wu Xiang Heaven Domain, Si Jun thought to herself.
In the Wu Xiang Heaven Domain.
Although Ruan You and Yang Yun’s identities had been exposed, no one in the Academy would do anything to them. But if they stayed in the Academy for a long time, their cultivation would not improve, which was not a good thing. They had thought of going to the Demon-Hiding Cave, but once they left the sect, they would face the merciless interception and killing of Daoist cultivators, and could only be forced to retreat back into the Academy. Just as they were racking their brains for a way to escape the interception, several messages were secretly sent into their cave dwelling. They were from fellow Daoists of the Gan Yuan lineage! When Gan Yuan was breached back then, some of them had escaped under the protection of their elders. Now, a portion of them were hiding in the Wu Xiang Academy just like them. These fellow Daoists had not yet exposed their identities and could freely enter and leave the Academy, receiving missions to accumulate merit points. Holding to the belief that they came from the same lineage, they exchanged their merit points for cultivation resources and secretly sent them over.
“Senior Sister, it’s not easy to obtain merit points. If we take these cultivation resources, we will owe a great debt,” Yang Yun said worriedly.
Ruan You let out a breath of turbid air and said, “The greater good is what’s important. Now is not the time to get hung up on these small issues.” The founding ancestors back then had such high cultivation, yet they still failed. They had to stride forward. Only by reaching at least the level of the ancestors could they see hope. After thinking for a while, she said softly, “A fellow Daoist also said that they saw a cultivator who is suspected to be a direct disciple of the Sword Sovereign. Their sword technique can sever the ‘non-self’ and the filthy qi produced after a demon disintegrates.”
Yang Yun asked again, “Then should we try to get in touch with them?”
“No,” Ruan You shook her head. “Their origin is likely from that side. If we rashly make contact, we might expose the ancestors’ plans from back then.” After thinking for a while, Ruan You said again, “We can’t go anywhere now, so let’s try to attract the attention of the cultivators in the Academy. When the ancestors sent us away back then, didn’t they leave behind artifacts for spreading the Dao? We will summon the artifacts in the Academy and spread the Dao openly!”
“But this is the Wu Xiang Heaven Domain. That emperor just appeared not long ago. Won’t this disturb her?” Yang Yun said again.
“That one is neutral. Since she can allow us to enter the Academy to study the Dao, as long as we don’t violate the Academy’s rules, she won’t expel us.” A cold light flashed in Ruan You’s eyes, and she added, “Since some of the top immortals can see through our disguises, they also have ways to identify other fellow Daoists. We need to draw their attention. Only when the other fellow Daoists are safe can we be safe. And, what if someone is willing to enter our ‘heart-cultivating Dao’? Won’t that strengthen our forces?”
On the other side, Ran Xiuyun and Xie Zhichao were also observing Ruan You and Yang Yun. Although they were all from the Gan Yuan lineage, their origins were still somewhat different. They weren’t sure if, after thousands of years of evolution, the other party’s Daoist concepts were the same as theirs, or what their attitude toward the Fu Li Immortal Realm was. One had to know that they had a very fundamental purpose for entering the Shang Qing Divine Realm, which was to save the Fu Li Immortal Realm from its great tribulation.
“As expected, they are not the only two Gan Yuan disciples who have entered the Academy,” Xie Zhichao said softly. After observing for a while and identifying some disciples who were very close to Ruan You and Yang Yun, they slightly revealed the information about “Dissolving Yin and Yang.” After a moment of thought, she added, “In the Demon-Hiding Cave, they also have a method to completely sever demons. It is very likely a Daoist technique researched by the ancestors after they returned to the Shang Qing Divine Realm.”
“But ‘Dissolving Yin and Yang’ is still more suitable for us.”
Ran Xiuyun softly agreed, her brow slightly furrowed. “I wonder how Daoist Bo is doing. What exactly is Yuan Chu’s origin? She says she’s from the Jade Capital lineage, but the Jade Capital disciples know very little about her. Is it that they can’t say, or that they don’t know?” They had plunged headfirst into this abyss of the Shang Qing Divine Realm. Even after reading many classics to supplement their knowledge, there were some things that were not shown in writing. If one didn’t experience them personally, one would never think of that side of things.
“Improve our cultivation, preserve our strength, and when the time is right, spread the Daoist concepts!” Xie Zhichao said.
However, they didn’t have to wait for that opportune moment. Ruan You and Yang Yun had already made a move. After their identities were exposed, they were no longer so afraid. They directly set up a Dao-preaching stone in the outer hall of the Zhaowen Hall. Any cultivator who passed by, as long as they glanced at the stone, could hear the Daoist voice left behind by the ancestors. One had to know that the Zhaowen Hall was the most lively place besides the Shangong Hall and the Langhuan Golden Pavilion. Many Immortals of the Wu Xiang Heaven Domain would give lectures in the hall. For those cultivators without a master or from small sects, if they wanted to climb to a higher level, they had to seize this opportunity. Regardless of whether their Dao hearts were firm or not, passing by this place meant being bombarded by the Daoist voice, which for a time attracted many complaints. However, in the Academy, private fights were not allowed. They couldn’t do anything to Ruan You and Yang Yun and could only target the Dao-preaching stone. Unfortunately, this stone was personally refined by the Four Lords of Gan Yuan. Back then, their level had already reached the Supreme Immortal realm. Ordinary cultivators couldn’t possibly damage this stele. Helpless, the cultivators could only turn their attention to themselves, trying every means to block their six senses and isolate the Daoist voice.
It wasn’t just the Daoists studying in the Academy who were annoyed, but also the deacons of the Execution Platform. One after another, cultivators came to the Execution Platform to complain, braving the mighty force of the punishment. Although the deacons turned them away on the grounds that they had not violated the Academy’s rules, in the blink of an eye, another one came to complain, making everyone upset. In the end, it was the Execution Platform’s head official who came forward and decreed that those who made baseless complaints would also have to suffer the punishment of thunder, which finally curbed this wave.
Seeing that one method didn’t work, the cultivators sought another. Some also followed Ruan You and Yang Yun’s example, setting up dharma altars outside the Zhaowen Hall to give lectures. What was originally a place to hear the Dao was transformed into a Dao debate conference, with sharp tongues and witty remarks, a lively exchange. Those cultivators who were preparing to debate with Ruan You and Yang Yun had not yet realized that in the debate, the traces of their Daoist techniques would become deeper and deeper.
Ruan You and Yang Yun were the ones most happy to see this change. Seeing that the time was right, they directly released the “Heart-Subduing Method” for completely severing demons. One had to know that the “non-selves” and “demons” had been troubling the cultivators of the divine realm for a long time. No one who heard this news would not pay attention. However, after listening, they realized that subduing the non-self with the heart was based on the “heart-cultivating Dao.” It was impossible for them, who had severed their selves, to cultivate it. For a time, people’s hearts wavered, and the atmosphere in the Academy suddenly changed.
The liveliness of the Wu Xiang Academy quickly spread throughout the six major heavenly domains. In Xuan Tian Ji, those Created Beings with Intelligence who had been striving for freedom for thousands of years also received the news, and their moods were particularly heavy. Their strength was of course no match for the sects of the six major heavenly domains, but that was in the past. It didn’t mean it would be the same in the future. The reason they dared to run rampant in the major heavenly domains was actually because they had another reliance: they had calculated that the Daoist cultivators would not let the “non-selves” escape, nor would they dare to let the Demon-Hiding Cave carry too many “non-selves,” so they could only imprison them. But what if the Daoist cultivators had other methods to resolve the influence of the demons on themselves? Would they still choose “imprisonment”? At that time, what awaited the Created Beings with Intelligence would be absolute annihilation.
“Disciples of the Gan Yuan lineage have appeared in the Wu Xiang Academy, but we can’t get our people in there.”
“If Gan Yuan hadn’t come out to block them, our end would have come.”
“But don’t forget, it is also the cultivators of the Gan Yuan lineage who will slay us. Why don’t we unite with the cultivators of the six major heavenly domains and completely wipe out Gan Yuan?”
“And after we wipe them out? Won’t they turn around and deal with us? The best way is to let them and the Gan Yuan lineage perish together! Then we can sit back and reap the rewards.”
“I heard that two of the lords of Gan Yuan were only imprisoned. How about we find a way to rescue them?” As soon as these words were spoken, the other Created Beings fell silent. After a long while, a clear voice sounded, “This method is feasible. Don’t we have a plan to rescue our comrades? Let’s change the objective now!”
In the six heavens of the Shang Qing Divine Realm, an undercurrent surged.
In the center of the Red Sea, Wei Yunshu finally subdued the surging spiritual power around her, allowing her aura to return to a state of harmony. She turned her head, looked at Yuan Chu seriously, and said, “Is it possible to break through another realm?” Their cultivation was suppressed at the Supreme Immortal realm, which meant they would always be below the six Divine Lords. Even if the heart-cultivating Dao spread throughout the entire heavenly domain, it was possible for those few to overturn it. Their opponents were not the sects of the major heavenly domains, but some higher existence.
Yuan Chu let out a soft laugh. She lowered her eyelashes and said coolly, “The heavenly order has already shown a flaw. You can very well give it a try.” After a pause, she added, “My avatar is only here to guide you back.”
Wei Yunshu frowned. “What do you mean?”
“You all know that the Supreme Divine Lords will not involve their true bodies in worldly affairs. Have you ever thought why? There is indeed the concern that the land cannot bear their great power, but more than that, it is because of their Daoist concepts. They must defend the heavenly order and bring it to pure unity. To embody the Dao means to erase all variables as much as possible. And who brings more variables than a Divine Lord of the Highest Heavens?” After a pause, Yuan Chu added, “When you severed Realm of Ruin with one sword strike back then, it was the work of ‘Flaw,’ the work of the ‘imperial seal,’ but you yourself had not reached that level. If I were formless, I could walk freely in the divine realm. But my true body has already manifested. Now, I am not the divine realm, and the divine realm is not me. Even an avatar can leave a very deep mark on this world.”
Wei Yunshu took over the conversation. “So you are leaving.”
Yuan Chu said, “Yes,” and then added, “The Wu Xiang Heaven Domain will help you, but as for my true body, only when you have walked to that position, to stand shoulder to shoulder with me, can I walk with you.”
“But between you and me—” Wei Yunshu hesitated for a moment before saying haltingly, “there are still many things unresolved.”
Yuan Chu looked at Wei Yunshu and laughed. She raised her finger and tapped the space between Wei Yunshu’s eyebrows, saying lightly, “Remember your own words. Since it cannot be cleared up, then just cast everything aside.”
Wei Yunshu was speechless. All the selves of her various lives had returned to one, and her thoughts naturally extended infinitely. Sang Que’s “goodbye,” Sang Buwei’s “farewell,” Wei Yunshu’s “all past matters are settled”—it seemed like every time was a break. But this was fundamentally something she couldn’t do. She reached out and grabbed Yuan Chu’s wrist, her fingertips gradually tightening. She blinked and said, “Then release the Heavenly Imprisonment Lock on me.”
Yuan Chu’s expression didn’t change, but her eyes darkened a little. She asked, “Is it that no matter how many lives and tribulations, you can only learn one thing?”
Wei Yunshu asked, “What?”
Yuan Chu let out a cold laugh, squeezing out four words from between her thin lips: “Delusional wishful thinking.”
Wei Yunshu stared, astonishment washing over her. In that moment, the image from her memories finally superimposed itself upon the white-haired figure of Yuan Chu. A painful thought struck her: If not for all she endured in the Fu Li Immortal Realm, could she have grown up to be like Yuan Chu?
A thousand warring emotions churned within her heart, but they all dissolved into a single, overwhelming joy. She reached out, pulling Yuan Chu into a desperate embrace.
“I thought I would never see you again,” she whispered, her voice thick with unshed tears.
In that embrace, her most passionate self—the one forged in a tapestry of profound love and bitter hate—broke free. It was a self burdened by a thousand regrets, yet it knew it could not stop. It could only move forward, pretending it had none.
Yuan Chu did not respond to Wei Yunshu’s words. She said softly, “Let’s move forward.” In a sudden flash, her figure dissipated like a stream of light, decorating the hem of her robes. Wei Yunshu’s arms were empty. A long while later, she finally raised her hand and caressed the golden water drop mark on her brow. That was the lock the Emperor had left on her.
It was fate that they were entangled in life and death.
Wei Yunshu walked out of the Red Sea alone.
Unlike her past solitary departures, she finally didn’t have so much helplessness.
On the island by the Red Sea.
The dragon boats with the Soaring Serpent flags were still there. Yu Changfeng had not left. A thought moved in Wei Yunshu’s mind, and she deliberately released a wisp of her aura. Sure enough, not long after, Yu Changfeng strode out and welcomed her onto the boat. They had met briefly before, but because of Yuan Chu’s presence, they hadn’t talked about much.
“The Soaring Serpent banner can contend with the Red Sea boat company. Have you had some kind of fortuitous encounter, Daoist friend?” Wei Yunshu asked with concern.
Yu Changfeng said, “The Sect Master of the Wu Shi Sect is a Soaring Serpent cultivator, so the Soaring Serpent lineage has a strong appeal and status in the heavenly domain. If I don’t want to talk, no one will come to question me about my affairs. My initial plan was to go to the Demon-Hiding Cave to train and improve my cultivation. But later I found that with my bloodline, even if I did nothing, people would send me large amounts of cultivation resources. I investigated a bit, and among the many powers in the heavenly domain, the sea boat companies are the most at ease, and they can also inquire about news not found on the Merit Record. So I got the idea…” She didn’t go into detail about how she had formed the boat company, but instead changed the subject, bringing up the matter of the Wu Xiang Heaven Domain. “Daoist Bo, you were at the Wu Xiang Academy before, weren’t you?”
Wei Yunshu nodded at her words.
Yu Changfeng’s eyes flashed, and she said softly, “There is a Dao debate conference in the Wu Xiang Academy, where disciples of the Gan Yuan lineage are spreading the ‘heart-cultivating Dao’ and the demon-slaying heart-cultivating method. The Academy isn’t stopping them. Does that mean the Wu Xiang Academy will become the new ‘Gan Yuan’ in the future?”
Wei Yunshu said, “That’s good news.” After thinking for a moment, she asked, “Does Daoist friend want to go to the Wu Xiang Academy?”
Yu Changfeng shook her head. She raised her hand and set down a few array discs, looking at Wei Yunshu seriously. “There is another matter that Daoist Bo should know.”
Wei Yunshu was confused.
Yu Changfeng considered for a moment and said, “I received a decree from the Wu Shi Sect, but its source was not the Sect Master, but someone else.”
“Who?” Wei Yunshu’s first thought was that a fellow Daoist had infiltrated the Wu Shi Sect.
Yu Changfeng didn’t speak, but flipped her wrist, revealing a dragon scale flashing with a golden light.
Wei Yunshu’s eyelids twitched, and a name immediately popped into her mind. She blurted out, “It’s her?!”
“Yes.” Yu Changfeng carefully put away the dragon scale. She said, “So I must stay in the Wu Shi Heaven Domain!” She had also read many classics related to history. Back then, it was because she had mistakenly thought that all Daoist paths could coexist that she had spread the Dao. But who knew that the Shang Qing Divine Realm could only have one “heavenly order,” and all external paths not based on “severing the selves” had to be killed one by one. The Wu Xiang Heaven Domain had a certain degree of freedom, but the Wu Shi Heaven Domain was different. They had to be careful.
“Mm.” Wei Yunshu nodded. She said solemnly, “Be careful in all things.” A crack had already appeared in the heavenly order. If they couldn’t succeed this time, she didn’t know how many more years she would have to wait. Ten thousand years was a blink of an eye for the great powers of the heavens, but in these ten thousand years, there were countless lives and deaths, and everything seemed exceptionally long.
“I understand.” Yu Changfeng looked at Wei Yunshu, remembering some old events in the Fu Li Immortal Realm. Now, the void mystic cave formed by the collapsed dharma body still protected the remaining land of the Western Continent in the Fu Li Immortal Realm. In that battle, they had lost many relatives and old friends. The failure was thorough. Time could slowly erase the traces, but if one forgot from the beginning, it would only be suppressing all the pain in a corner. When the day of eruption came, it would surely be unstoppable. She didn’t know how Wei Yunshu was going to accept that matter. After hesitating for a long time, she said, “Daoist Bo, you must take care of yourself.”
Wei Yunshu felt there was another meaning in Yu Changfeng’s eyes, but she didn’t think too much about it. After talking with Yu Changfeng for a while, she left the dragon boat. She had come to the Wu Shi Heaven Domain to retrieve the Essence of Red Water. Now that her goal was achieved, it was time for her to return to the Wu Xiang Heaven. The Wu Xiang Emperor’s avatar did not descend to the mortal world, but the Wu Xiang Dao Palace was still there. It was located between reality and illusion, so it was still easy to see the Emperor.
Wu Xiang Dao Palace.
When the White Tai Sui saw Yuan Chu’s avatar, a hint of surprise appeared in her eyes. “Why are you back so soon?”
Yuan Chu said, “She has already recognized her true self and discerned her original heart.”
The White Tai Sui was speechless. She had thought that the entanglement of hundreds, no, thousands of years would take a long time to sort out. The Emperor had suddenly returned to the Dao Palace. Could it be that nothing had been resolved?
Yuan Chu asked again, “Has the Black Tai Sui been reborn?”
The White Tai Sui said, “After being refined in the fire of rebirth for several years, she should have found herself.” It was just that her stupid younger sister was very noisy. She didn’t want to hear that annoying sound ringing in her ears every day, so she had kept her suppressed in the fire and had not allowed her to come out.
“You go to the Wu Xiang Academy to help her. Let the Black Tai Sui guard Dan Mountain and the Dao Palace here.”
The White Tai Sui bit her lower lip and said, “Master, I can handle it myself.”
Yuan Chu smiled. “But there are some things you can’t do.”
The White Tai Sui was stunned for a long while before she reacted. Guiding Wei Yunshu’s many selves into one was one thing; being angry about the past was another. Letting her stupid younger sister, who hated evil like an enemy, block Wei Yunshu was the most suitable thing to do. After saying “Yes,” the White Tai Sui hurriedly retreated.
The fire of rebirth burned fiercely, and a black shadow was crashing around in it. The White Tai Sui had just released the restrictions above one by one when a strong wind hit her in the face. It was a good thing she dodged quickly, otherwise, being hit by her stupid younger sister like that would have definitely broken some bones.
“Sang Buwei, she deserves to die! Where is she! I’m going to kill Sang Buwei!” A shrill voice mixed with a heaven-reaching rage echoed all around. It was clear that she had completed her memories and, like the others who had entered the Fu Li Immortal Realm, had seen the sword strike that had been aimed at the Wu Xiang Emperor.
The White Tai Sui looked at her stupid younger sister with disgust and instructed in a stern voice, “The master wants you to guard Dan Mountain and the Dao Palace. Don’t let any idle people in.”