Chapter 377: After the Matter is Done, Depart

Perhaps it was because of this that some misunderstanding arose on Zheng Xing's side?

Thinking this to himself, Du En looked calmly toward the opposite side, only to see a guy full of anticipation, waiting unknowingly for recognition from this side.

Regarding this, he only spoke bluntly: "Compared to them, what do you have?"

It was just short of saying directly, you are too utterly useless!

"I can kill you, damn it!!!"

Zheng Xing rose in a rage; he hadn't really been listening to some long-winded speech just now, but had been secretly accumulating magic power, and at this moment, he erupted with his ultimate strike.

Cultivation base core, Ten Thousand Void Sea Eye! He hadn't had time to learn Daoist arts yet, so he could only rely on the core essentials brought by the precious manual to unleash his Nascent Soul great might, solidified at its peak, in the purest way!

At this very moment, the base core great art of the Turbid Sea Precious Manual, bestowed by True Monarch Huiqing, had been brewed by him; countless turbid currents swirled and filled in, treating Du En's side as a sea eye, completely condensing and pressing down to suppress and kill him within it! "Ahhhhh, go to hell!"

Zheng Xing, whose Dao heart had been shaken to the point of collapse by what was said, now had a face like a madman, and his Nascent Soul power was also squeezed out, rapidly retreating from hundreds or thousands of zhang to the initial six zhang; it could be said he was giving it his all.

Watching as he was engulfed and buried by the condensed turbid waves, Du En could not help but reveal an even more insane and arrogant smile.

Then.

"Come to think of it, a move that all of you can use, why do you still think, even now, that I cannot?"

"What..."

Du En's voice was as it always was, only leaving Zheng Xing stunned.

Then, he saw starlight, dreamlike and illusory sparks, which had, without anyone knowing when, covered a corner of this back-side space; the covered area had already exceeded the central large cavity on the front side, and one could not see the end of it at a glance.

That darkness, ignored by the great cultivators and possessing an incredibly thin sense of presence, now shone with light once again.

They were gentle, they were dazzling, they illuminated the darkness, repaired various wounds in space, and removed any evil remnants that might exist in the darkness.

If there is no longer light in the darkness, I shall be that sole radiant glory! Radiant Glory Precious Manual! Domain of the Great Art!

With a boom, it shone, incandescent and bizarre, the brilliant radiant glory directly covering this area, and the light continued to spread outward, like a sun rising from underground, soaking from the back side into the front side.

The people of the Queguang Star Realm were stunned and aghast, seeing sunlight for the first time in their lives.

Unfortunately, it did not originate from the sun after all; this realm, having just been rectified and returned to its source, did not need this kind of light from others, so after illuminating everything and melting away some remaining dregs, it suddenly retracted.

It gathered toward the battlefield here, or rather, a place that didn't deserve to be called a battlefield at all.

Du En stepped forward, the light shining brilliantly, illuminating everything; Zheng Xing only felt the great sun descending upon his head, and his Nascent Soul body immediately melted like ice and snow, causing him to scream in terror and hurriedly flee back into his physical shell.

Beneath the withered, gray-flying strange tree, a ten-foot humanoid figure—neither man nor monster, looking like a human-tree hybrid and also like refined lard, constantly oozing grease—was dug out by the light; it was the true final residue.

"Wasted efforts, not hesitating to betray, only to turn yourself into this in the end... This is the sickness of the Immortal Sect."

Du En seemed as if he were about to be acerbic, but by the end, it turned into a soft sigh.

"..."

Zheng Xing could not speak, struggling to open his eyes wide to see the light clearly, but in the end, he would only be scorched by the radiant glory; even so, he was like one possessed, and even though his eyes had already melted and his physical body could not block the great might of that Dao domain, he still had to look! When it came down to it, the reason for his betrayal was that he did not want to be trapped in the Nascent Soul stage anymore!

He wanted to go a step further from the hundred-foot pole, to reach the Spirit Severing stage, to experience the demeanor and scenery of a great cultivator...

"Is it really just that?"

"Ah! Ah! Du, En!!!"

Zheng Xing wanted to end it with a dignified death; in any case, he was destined to lose, and that peak solidified in an instant had long since disintegrated when he attacked regardless of everything just now, but Du En did not care about his situation or his thoughts at all, only raising questions.

Of course, it couldn't be that pure; he also wanted to lord it over others, he wanted to indulge himself wantonly, he wanted to...

All kinds of ugliness were completely wiped away by the light in his final hateful cry.

In the blink of an eye, it returned to nothingness, with only starlight remaining.

Du En still preferred it to be a bit brighter.

"Alright, all the loose ends have been cleaned up; although this time it ended in a relatively good situation, the bottom line has been exposed, and facing that woman's schemes later on will likely be very dangerous..."

Amidst such thoughts, he returned to the small stone statue, and with it, the infant inside, and the magic sword that had hidden back into the shadows, he returned to the front side of the surface space together.

In the central large cavity, the slaughter and fighting had long since stopped, and brand-new torches were being raised.

As soon as Du En returned, he immediately sensed the changes in the people, or rather, the lingering rhyme of Luo Heng's final technique.

It was not just the framework of the Mo Ju Method, but also the techniques of the Blood Demon Dao, and other elements of various techniques; clearly, he had summarized the methods of many predecessors and mixed them in to go a step further, and it was only through such continuous efforts that the people of this realm were finally dragged back to the right path.

"Passing the torch..."

The people had also complied with the pioneer's painstaking efforts and chosen to let go of past grievances; at this moment, the atmosphere was renewed, and after the shock of seeing light for the first time, they continued the work of cleaning up old wounds.

It was impossible for everyone to be satisfied, and there would inevitably be emotions in people's hearts, but on the whole, a basic reconciliation had been reached.

More people were rushing over, and among them were some faces Du En found familiar; they were clearly some of the ceremonial soldiers under Luo Heng's command in the past. They were not the slaughter soldiers created by the Holy Church Army, nor were they figures like the sacrificial priests who needed to exit the stage of history, but pure cultivators secretly cultivated by Luo Heng.

Now that the tumorous evil seed had been removed, they still retained the actual strength of the Foundation Establishment stage, which could be said to be just right—not too overwhelming, yet capable of suppressing those with ulterior motives later on.

Taking over and rebuilding order—although it was now riddled with scars, although they would face various dangers in the future, and although nothing had fundamentally changed—people would likely be able to gain decades, or even a hundred years, of stability.

"Until the actual influence of the old people fades, until a new group of profiteers is formed... Of course, it could also be that woman, unwilling to give up, continuing to stir up trouble here."

But it was actually unlikely, because of the particularity of the Queguang Star Realm, now temporarily lying dormant and hiding, leaving only a situation that looked very barren.

For True Monarch Huiqing to lay out schemes here again would appear to be a loss-making venture, with absolutely no sufficient benefit.

And it might even invite ridicule—that's right, from Meng Changqing and the others; although the control of the star realm was difficult to change, it did not hinder them from adaptively mocking him at various meetings.

Doing it brought no benefits and might even lead to having one's scars exposed; both in terms of profit and sentiment, it would prompt True Monarch Huiqing to choose to treat this place with indifference for the time being.

"Furthermore, there is no time now for them to start over from the beginning; once a layout is completely destroyed, one can only find compensation from other existing layouts, because the Sect Master, that Supreme One..."

Du En walked silently, gradually moving further away.

Some busy people felt something, turned their heads to look, and from afar, only saw a back figure carrying a small stone statue, walking into the darkness.

When there was no longer a need to disguise himself, the Sinful Dragon Robe was just an ordinary robe.

However, before leaving the Queguang Star Realm, Du En still wanted to do two things.

So he stepped forward, first returning to the place where he had arrived at the beginning, and as he had thought before, he helped collect the bones of the dead here.

This was the place where Zheng Xing had faked his death, the refugee camp where the Innocent Infant was born; it was not large, and it had been slaughtered by that Holy Church Army. When he returned, the corpses were already stinking, but fortunately, no demonic beasts or wild animals were wandering around here, so they had not suffered further.

Du En could be considered to be returning to his old profession, but it was impossible to be like before; now, he only needed to let his thoughts move to let them rest in peace.

After easily finishing this matter, it was time for the second matter.

He continued to advance into the darkness, walking a very, very long way; as he moved, the mud and stone ahead automatically gave way, thereby opening up a path.

Silent and calm, he moved straight ahead, until he was only a hair's breadth away from reaching the surface.

Rustle—

Soil fell away, and tree roots coiled. Through the mottled gaps, there was that soft sunlight.

Du En stopped his footsteps and silently watched the scene beyond the gap.

Naturally, it was the scenery of the surface.

Serene and peaceful, without wind or waves, a magnificent natural landscape.

After one glance, his goal achieved, he turned around.

The small stone statue quietly crumbled, and the grass-and-wood cradle was no longer needed.

"It won't do to leave you here, so I'll take you with me when I leave."

It was not just because of the Six Heavens Sorrow Demon Sword that guarded him, but also because an innocent, ordinary infant could hardly live in the underground here.

Although the problem was solved on the whole, the objective living conditions were harsh, which was beyond doubt; without magic power and cultivation, it was difficult to survive in that darkness.

That place was too deep and too dark; even if the influence of the Spirit Mother was gone, there were still things like mineral veins that could affect the Qi and the environment.

That is why, before the Spirit Mother appeared in the past, ordinary people had situations where they would perish within three generations, or their descendants would suffer deformities! That is why he had to take him away.

The final destination had also been decided.

Thus, Du En held the person and quietly vanished, leaving this place.

Only light remained where they had been, with fresh wind blowing in gently, as if hope were swaying, as if waving a hand in farewell.

Muddy yellow river water flowed across the desolate, boundless land.

In total, there were three rivers converging here, intersecting at one point; they were distinct from one another, extremely deep, and extremely turbid, as if reflecting the eternal dim yellow color of the sky in this place.

Everywhere was desolate and dead silent, everything appearing as if it had been this way for eternity.

Until just now, suddenly, from one of the rivers, there was a sudden churning, and then a person struggled to appear from within, clawing at the riverbank to climb up.

It was Chang Lingfeng.

He tilted his head, looking at the dim yellow sky, not seeing the sun, and at this moment, he could not help but feel a bit bewildered.

He only remembered that he had already fallen into a demonic state, and his subsequent memories were a bit hazy, with only the last bit of clarity remaining, as if watching his own words and deeds from behind a screen.

Until the end, when he saw a familiar person and felt the extreme hatred surrounding him from the opposite side; now, upon recalling it, a terrifying long cry still echoed in his mind.

However, even if that kind of hatred was like an unquenchable flame, it could not burn away or dry up the ancient well in the middle; his waveless gaze and state of mind silently bore the flame, letting it burn only on the surface of the water, yet it could never reach beneath the surface.

"So, in other words, I attacked my benefactor?!"

Having regained his senses, Chang Lingfeng abruptly stood up.

What he saw were the three colorless yet turbid great rivers flowing across the boundless wilderness.

The place where he was located was not far from the intersection point, on the bank of one of the rivers that looked somewhat familiar.

The water stains on his body had dried without him noticing; he looked around in surprise, unable to see any traces of other living things, not even a blade of grass, only the boundless, desolate wild land.

"Where is this place?"

"Is it the world after death?"

"Was I killed by my benefactor?"

Thinking this, he did not feel any resentment.

Perhaps it was because after dying and being washed by that river water, many emotions had also been diluted, allowing him to view things rationally, so he did not dwell on anything, only feeling that it was normal to be killed.

"After all, the me from just a moment ago was acting like a madman, completely abnormal; of course, it cannot be denied that perhaps I do have such a side..."

Chang Lingfeng thought this, analyzing his inner self, yet he still felt that something was not quite right.

There was always a feeling that something was not quite right.

Searching his recent experience more carefully, he soon froze, discovering that what he had actually seen at the very end was not Du En, but someone else—a tiny little fellow, just born not long ago, who was crying.

"That child, I, I, I'm not dead yet?!"

He suddenly realized this point.

Chang Lingfeng gave a violent start.

Since he was not dead yet, where was this place?

Could it be that his consciousness had come here, while his physical body in reality—that demonized self—would no longer have any restraint and would continue to be mad forever?

Benefactor, and that child, how are they now?! "Damn it! How do I go back?!"

He cursed under his breath, his gaze turning to the river he had climbed out of, intending to run out and jump in to see if he could swim back.

But upon arriving at the riverbank, looking at the turbid river and the clear reflection it cast, he suddenly felt it was so far away; it felt as if he were back in that underground, time had not moved forward at all, and he had not lost control—or rather, he had regained control and become clear-headed; at this moment, he spoke to the river surface, and his real self spoke along with him.

"This, this..."

In a daze, his eyes flickered; he scooped up the river water and watched it fall, drop by drop, causing the reflection to ripple, as if there were countless reflections, and he suddenly understood many things.

Thus, he stood up and looked toward the opposite bank of the river.

A monk, he should be, was standing there silently, and finally, he could see a hazy silhouette.

Buddhist follower, taking refuge, pure light, reincarnation...

Chang Lingfeng thought of his entanglement with this Buddhism, his heart filled with a thousand emotions, and finally, he let out a long sigh and asked, "Monk, is there really a Buddha in this world?"

"With no Six Heavens in the eyes, no attachment to emptiness in the heart, the moment you raise your head, that is the Tathagata."

"... I do not have that kind of enlightenment yet, and I do not want to be a Buddha; I only want, I only want to be reunited with everyone again—is this possible to achieve?"

Hearing this, the monk raised his hand and pointed in two directions.

Two great rivers twisted and wound, flowing toward the end of the boundless.

Chang Lingfeng watched, his gaze fixed on the one in the direction the river before him was heading.

"Monk, you aren't lying to me again this time, are you?"

The monk did not speak, merely pressing his palms together in silence.

Chang Lingfeng lowered his head, speaking to the river he had crawled out of, bidding farewell to the people in reality, then finally reached out to stir the water once, and then, without hesitation, he strode forward and ran, impatient, throwing himself into the river of his choosing at the confluence of the three rivers.

The monk only watched from afar.

"The cycle of suffering and joy, the intermingling of sorrow and happiness, repeating without end; yet, if one day you can attain enlightenment, I shall still be here, stationed on this other shore, to offer you my congratulations."

"Well said."

(End of chapter)