O43novel Chapter 883: Even if all living beings perish... what does it matter to her?
Chapter 883: Even if all living beings perish... what does it matter to her?
...Although Chen Huaian couldn't make a sound, given the understanding between him and Li Qingran, even just moving his lips was enough for her to know what he was saying.
"My current situation... is very bad."
Chen Huaian sighed soundlessly, his gaze turning deep and distant.
"On Earth Star, the sky has collapsed."
"I exhausted all my strength, used every trump card I had. But that was Taishang Laojun, a Sage who achieved Harmony with the Dao long ago."
His lips moved very slowly, each word seeming to squeeze out blood and tears from between his teeth.
"The Dao Rhythms of Heaven and Earth crushed down, my physical body, my Divine Soul... in that moment, they truly shattered."
Li Qingran quietly watched her Master's profile.
As Chen Huaian narrated, she seemed to witness with her own eyes that scene that made heaven and earth change color: that hand blotting out the sky and sun, that millstone grinding all things to dust, and that solitary figure standing alone amidst the destruction.
Her eyes instantly reddened, tears swirling in their depths, yet stubbornly refusing to fall, afraid of blurring her vision and missing her Master's next words.
"However..."
Chen Huaian's tone shifted, a self-mocking smile curling at the corner of his mouth.
"Your Master is tough, didn't die completely."
"At that critical moment, an existence calling itself the middle corpse pulled me into a chess game independent of the Three Realms."
"Mid... middle corpse?" Li Qingran was taken aback. "The middle corpse from Severing the Three Corpses?"
"Correct." Chen Huaian knew what Li Qingran was thinking and smiled bitterly. "Your Master is also one of the Three Corpses, the lower corpse among them. One day, the Three Corpses must inevitably reunite, then borrow the True Body to be reborn, break through in realm, and achieve the supreme Great Dao."
Chen Huaian wasn't entirely sure what he truly was either.
But since the middle corpse said so, and now the middle corpse no longer existed, he could only tentatively believe the middle corpse's explanation.
"How should I describe the middle corpse to you? The reason I could meet you was using the middle corpse as a bridge. In my perception, it disguised itself as an existence called a 'System'."
Seeing the confusion in Li Qingran's eyes, he continued, "The so-called System, you can understand it as a merchant. I provide the resources it wants, it gives me the supplies I need—an exchange of resources and supplies. For example, when I first met you, using that Thunderfire Talisman to drive back the demon wolf was obtained through exchanging resources with the System."
Li Qingran nodded, having a preliminary understanding of the System concept.
So it seemed, without the middle corpse as the middleman, her fate would indeed be different, and she likely wouldn't have met her Master either.
"What about that chess game?"
Even though she already had an answer in her heart.
When Li Qingran asked, she still held her breath, cautious and careful.
"I won by half a move."
"As the price, and also as the reward... the middle corpse sacrificed itself."
Chen Huaian raised his semi-transparent hand, looking at the faint, shimmering patterns in his palm.
"It preserved the last wisp of my Divine Soul and sent me here—probably the retreat path it left behind, the Canglan Realm."
At this point, Chen Huaian's eyes darkened.
Retreat path.
These two words sounded simple, but weighed heavily like a thousand pounds.
Why did the middle corpse do this?
Merely to let him cling to life?
No.
Chen Huaian understood clearly.
If he returned to Earth Star like this, even if he reforged his Golden Body, even if he returned to his peak...
Facing that old Taoist priest sitting high in the Tushita Palace, it would still be like an ant trying to shake a tree!
Below the Sages, all are ants.
Moreover, among that myriad of gods and buddhas, besides Taishang Laojun, there was also the profound and unfathomable Heavenly Emperor Haotian, and the Spiritual Mountain's Tathagata who hadn't made a move yet.
He was still far too lacking.
Having "died" once made him see many things clearly.
Arrogance and stubbornness, in the face of absolute power, were merely jokes.
But he didn't regret his persistence either.
Because he hadn't known he had a retreat path.
Knowing there was no way out, he could still fight desperately to the death—no one could call him a coward.
"Husband..."
Li Qingran suddenly spoke, interrupting his contemplation.
She leaned closer, her exquisite, pretty face almost pressed against Chen Huaian's chest.
Although she couldn't touch him, the gentle fire in her eyes burned so intensely it made Chen Huaian's Divine Soul tremble.
"Since we've come to this Canglan World, let's not return to that chaotic Earth Star anymore."
Her voice was very soft, carrying a trace of obsession and stubbornness.
"Legends say great powers Sever the Three Corpses to prove the Dao, ultimately requiring the Three Corpses to reunite. Now that the middle corpse has willingly sacrificed itself, becoming part of your power, you are now a more complete you. You have the power of the lower and middle corpses; the upper corpse is surely no match."
"As for that Earth Star, those Sages..."
Li Qingran bit her lip, a flash of selfishness appearing in the depths of her eyes.
"What does it have to do with us?"
Her voice grew firmer.
"Although the Canglan Realm is just a Small Thousand World, there's no Taishang Laojun here, none of those unbeatable monsters."
"Let's recuperate and build up our strength here temporarily, okay?"
"When Master gains greater power, becomes stronger than before, has the confidence to defeat that whatever Taishang old man... then we can go out? Or, just stay in the Cangyun Realm or Canglan Realm, never leaving!"
As long as Master is safe and sound.
As long as Master is by her side.
Even if the world is destroyed, even if all living beings perish...
What does it have to do with her?