Chapter 63: The World Is a Great Prison

The Daughter Country is a special and miraculous nation on the Myriad Demon Road.

The women of the Daughter Country need not unite with men; they can naturally give birth.

Yet the offspring can only be girls.

At first, the people of the Daughter Country regarded it as a curse, but over time they grew accustomed to it.

"Faye has arrived! Faye has arrived!"

From afar, you hear the cheerful cries of warblers and swallows on the city walls, excitement mingled with anticipation.

Faye's fame has long echoed across the Myriad Demon Road; the Daughter Country is no exception.

You have received a solemn invitation from the King of the Daughter Country.

The Queen asks you to stay longer in the country; she wishes to entertain you well.

You are curious: on the Myriad Demon Road, teeming with great demons, why does this special place, the Daughter Country, exist?

The Daughter Country has not a single cultivator, yet it has never been eroded by demons.

Could it be that a Pure World Lotus protects this place?

Ancient records state that the Pure World Lotus can exist as only one blossom; when the old lotus withers, a new one blooms.

You surmise that the protector of the Daughter Country is not a divine object like the Pure World Lotus, but a certain demon king of immense power.

Fortunately, the Queen bears you no ill will, and you are too lazy to investigate further.

You remained in the Daughter Country for three days.

Each night the Queen came to you, trying various ways to share a spring night, but you, who abstain from women, refused her.

At departure, the Queen said: "Faye, when you pluck the Pure World Lotus and return, will you take me with you?"

You gave no answer, nor did you have reason to bring her.

After leaving, you kept thinking the Daughter Country was strange and utterly unreasonable.

You pondered endlessly but could not solve it, and you grew too lazy to analyze.

Passing through the Daughter Country means you are close to the Western Region Biyan Shijie; at most another year's journey, and you will reach the other shore.

Now your strength has reached a completely new level.

You are confident that on the Myriad Demon Road, no demon is your match, including those renowned great demon kings.

But soon your confidence suffered a blow.

You encountered a demon whose body was covered in magical treasures; he beat you mercilessly, until the monkey's bloodline returned to its ancestors, erupting with tremendous power, and only together did you manage to repel him.

You asked: "What is the origin of that demon?"

The monkey shook his head: "Among the demon kings recorded in the Myriad Demon Road, none has ever been this powerful."

Every so often, the Eastern Land dispatches people to the Western Region Biyan Shijie to pluck the Pure World Lotus.

They have traveled this road so many times that they have recorded all demons in a ledger.

Demon cultivation differs from human cultivation; there is no reason for such a powerful demon to appear out of nowhere, one you cannot even handle.

You realized the situation was extraordinary.

Not long after, that demon found you again; the monkey was wounded, and if you could not prevail, you would surely perish today.

Helpless, you took out the relic your Shifu had given you.

Originally you did not wish to use the relic's power; in this world, the only person you are close to is your Shifu.

Using the relic feels like personally pushing your Shifu away, making him drift farther from you.

"Relic! Give it to me!"

Upon seeing the relic, the attacking demon king went mad, his eyes turned red, he revealed his true form—a Jade Illuminated Lion.

"Do you have the life to take it?"

You activated the relic's power; behind you, a massive Dharma Image appeared, with a thousand hands and a thousand faces.

This is precisely the final move your Shifu taught you: the Thousand Hands Pagoda.

The Thousand Hands Pagoda, when wielded by you, is even stronger than when your Shifu used it; countless pairs of great hands struck out, instantly suppressing the invading demon king.

His magical implements were struck until their luster faded, falling off piece by piece, until only his life remained to be taken—yet he attempted to escape by soul flight.

In this world, you have heard of cultivators attaining the Dao and becoming immortals, of saving the world and turning into Buddhas, but you have never seen a demon capable of ascension!

Yet at this moment, the power of ascension fell upon the demon's soul.

No matter how you tried to stop it, you could only watch helplessly as the demon's soul flew up to the heavens, taking with it the dimmed magical implements, which vanished without trace.

At this moment you realized: perhaps this world is a great prison.

To the observers outside the prison, the struggles inside, no matter how splendid and varied, are merely a splendid show.

In fact, you had already realized this.

But only now, with the facts before you, do you truly believe it.

You feel many other cultivators must have realized this as well, yet they chose obedience—for example, the many high monks of the Tianshui Huangchao.

And you, too, do not know how to break the cage.

What good is realizing it?

If you cannot break the cage, you can only live, like all beings unaware of this, under the prison's rules.

This exactly explains why the Daughter Country can exist on the Myriad Demon Road.

As long as the rule‑makers wish them to exist, they will continue to exist and fulfill their purpose.

Fate seems predetermined.

You have no choice but to press on, to the Western Region Biyan Shijie, to seek a new Pure World Lotus.

The road ahead is smooth.

After one year, you arrived at the Western Region Biyan Shijie.

Biyan Shijie is merely a name, not a real world, for it is filled with Other Shore Flowers, beautiful beyond compare, and does not fit in with this world—hence it got this name.

Outside the Tianshui dynasty, where demonic aura runs rampant, it truly is like another world.

In the endless Biyou Huahai, the Pure World Lotus grows there.

Wanting to cross the Biyou Huahai is not that easy; it tests a person's spiritual willpower.

Those whose will is not firm enough will become lost in the Biyou Huahai.

In the end, they turn into skeleton guards protecting the flowers.

"Master Fa, do you really want to go in?"

Magpie stood at the edge of the Hua Hai, sensing great danger; she could see that beneath the Biyou Huahai lay endless Ku Gu.

"Master Fa, why don't we go back? The people of the Tianshui Huangchao treat you poorly again; why bother with their life or death?"

Monkey held it in all the way, and finally spoke his inner thoughts.

"Yeah, yeah, without the Pure World Lotus, we can still live well; what do we need the Pure World Lotus for?"

Magpie nodded repeatedly; after all this time, this was the first time she and Monkey agreed.

You shook your head and smiled: "Not for the people, but for myself, for my Shifu."

You want to see whether your Past Life truly was that unforgivable archdemon.

Why did your Shifu, after saving you, pass away in meditation so quickly?

Just how great a Calamity do you bear on your shoulders?

"You two go on, don't wait for me anymore."

You waved your hand, letting Monkey and Magpie leave.

Having said that, you stepped into the Biyou Huahai.