Ch 147: The Cannon Fodder Won’t Play Along Anymore [QT]

The aura of the demon seed disappeared.

Nowhere in the cultivation world could his traces be found again.

“Could it be that some reclusive great power slew this demon seed and chose not to leave a name?” many people muttered.

Xue Wuya tracked down the last place Xue Zhongyu had been, but from there all clues were cut off.

Yet he did not give up. From then on, the Crescent Moon Peak master entered the mortal world, becoming a guardian who slew demons and upheld the Way.

Mu Xing was the only one who knew the truth. Though the little orb of light had no practical use and could only live within his sea of consciousness without appearing, it always had hidden ways of knowing things beyond ordinary understanding.

It told Mu Xing: Xue Zhongyu had been captured by the demons. The demon princess Jiang Ling had sealed Xue Zhongyu’s true body inside the Demon Clan’s holy sword, Burning Heaven.

“The Demon Clan’s holy sword?” Mu Xing suddenly recalled. “The very relic that, in the original storyline, Xue Zhongyu killed Princess Jiang Ling for?”

He had heard of Burning Heaven’s reputation. It was said to be the Demon Clan’s greatest relic, the weapon of the very first Demon King.

“These two are truly something,” Mu Xing thought, finding fate a strange thing. “In the original plot, Xue Zhongyu killed the princess who loved him wholeheartedly, just to obtain Burning Heaven. In this life, he is sealed within Burning Heaven by that same princess. You could say he got exactly what he deserved.”

For Xue Zhongyu, this should be even more unbearable than being killed outright.

*

With Xue Zhongyu sealed away, Mu Xing’s greatest threat was removed.

But his daily life did not really change. He continued cultivating on Medicine Peak, tending to medicinal fields and studying new pills, occasionally keeping an eye on movements of the Demon Clan.

Once the little merfolk learned to speak and transform their tails into legs, their range of activity expanded greatly.

Yao Wushi explained to outsiders that he had simply accepted two new registered disciples. Though he also liked the two adorable little ones, he was used to being a hands-off master, only teaching personally when he felt like it. For the most part, the two merfolk were taught in turns by their two senior brothers and sister.

Of course, they remained closest to Mu Xing, who was the first person they had ever seen after hatching.

In the mountains, time passed quickly, and the leisurely days on Medicine Peak flowed by for decades.

Eldest brother Li Xuanyao had fallen in love with a senior sister in the sect and spent his days pondering how to win her heart.

Second sister Yu Hongyao had become famous across the cultivation world—she was a master of poison, even her spiritual power carried venom, striking fear into her peers.

Mu Xing himself had smoothly advanced to the Nascent Soul stage years ago. A Nascent Soul cultivator was considered a true powerhouse anywhere in the cultivation world. As for the “parasite” of the demon seed within him, it had long since been completely eradicated during his Core Formation tribulation.

The two little merfolk had grown into a young man and young woman. But as they matured, their longing for the sea grew stronger, despite already being Golden Core cultivators able to draw water with their own power. Their hearts yearned for the ocean—their true home.

After discussion with Yao Wushi and the others, Mu Xing decided to return them to the sea.

He took the two merfolk southward, following the sea winds. Along the way they passed through many cultivation sects and mortal lands, until they finally reached the edge of the ocean.

Before them stretched endless blue.

At first, the two merfolk were delighted, but soon confusion clouded their faces.

Their souls had led them here, guided by their yearning for the sea. But… where was their homeland?

Mu Xing remembered the secret realm Yu Hongyao had mentioned. That place had once housed a civilization, but the only life remaining there had been two unhatched eggs. And according to Yu Hongyao, when they left, the secret realm’s mechanisms had triggered and destroyed it.

Their former homeland might already be gone.

Mu Xing sighed, removed the green-skinned gourd from his waist, and tossed it into the sea. It grew into a great gourd boat.

With the two merfolk aboard, he searched the ocean for days. Finally, at a beautiful sunset, he found a lovely island.

From his storage bag he took out seeds of all kinds of spirit herbs. Planting them in every corner, he summoned a spiritual rain. Plants and flowers sprouted in abundance, carpeting the island in life.

“From today onward, this shall be the merfolk’s home,” Mu Xing said with a smile, watching the two youths run happily through the blossoms. “You are its masters. Give it a name.”

Yin answered without hesitation: “The island where merfolk live—let it be called Shark Island.”

Shark Island.

The words struck Mu Xing’s mind like lightning.

He froze in place, staring at the flourishing island, at the two beautiful merfolk, then back at the sinking sun painting the sea in radiant gold.

The scene was hauntingly familiar, as though he had stood here countless times before, watching this same magnificent view.

Then it dawned on him.

“The merfolk world I once reincarnated into, the scene I saw within the sacred artifact—could the Sea God the merfolk worshipped have been me all along? Were Yin and Lan the ancestors of the merfolk?”

No wonder.

No wonder Shark Island lay far across the sea, never approaching human lands, yet the merfolk spoke the human tongue and knew human ways of living.

No wonder that when he first entered the sacred land of the merfolk, he felt an inexplicable sense of intimacy, and the holy artifact immediately clung to him.

He had once guessed that the so-called “Sea God” in the merfolk’s words was a cultivator, but he never expected that this cultivator would turn out to be himself.

“So this world and that world are actually the same timeline, only at different points. That place is just a very, very long time from now?”

Mu Xing found it all truly wondrous.

He laughed softly. “If I live long enough, wouldn’t I be able to meet those old acquaintances again?”

But he knew this was only a jest. Cultivators were not immortal. Even if one ascended to immortality, it was uncertain what awaited. Mu Xing himself had never seen what the Immortal Realm was like.

And in the merfolk’s world, cultivators no longer existed at all.

Now, such mighty sects as the Taixu Sect and the demon clan—what had happened to them?

Had they all ascended?

Or had some calamity struck, draining the world’s spiritual energy until all cultivators perished?

Mu Xing stayed with Yin and Lan on Shark Island for a time.

Then he decided it was time to return.

Though Yin and Lan were reluctant to part, they knew Mu Xing was not a merfolk. The sea was not his final home.

With teary eyes, they watched him leave.

Mu Xing wandered the mortal world for decades, even opening a teahouse. He paid little mind to running it—each day he would simply order a pot of tea, sit by the window, and listen to travelers from all corners recount their stories.

Senior Brother Li Xuanyao finally won the beauty’s heart, and Medicine Peak celebrated a grand wedding. Mu Xing went back to attend.

Xue Zhongyu never managed to leave the demon clan. It was said that Princess Jiang Ling harbored a beloved in her heart, though no one had ever seen him. From the light orb’s tone, Mu Xing gathered that Xue Zhongyu seemed to be suffering quite miserably.

Later, in a secret realm, Mu Xing obtained a treasure said to be left behind by an immortal.

He spent eight years refining it into a true artifact, but when he saw the finished piece, he only smiled.

He brought the pearl to Shark Island and entrusted it to Yin and Lan.

This pearl would shield Shark Island, protecting it from the ravages of the outside world.

Faintly, he felt he had grasped something profound. Returning to Medicine Peak, he sought out a secluded chamber and began a long retreat.

❣╰(⸝⸝⸝꒳⸝⸝⸝)╯❣

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