Chapter 503: The Teaching Hall Collapses, Heading Toward Station Village

The two of them quietly detached from the memories and obsessions, and the guardian warrior had already peacefully closed their eyes.

The boiling demonic fire of resentment was extinguished; the true spirit attained liberation, returning to the netherworld, while the body turned into a stone statue.

Wurei sat down on the ground, somewhat staggering and weak, her entire body's whiteness appearing as if stained with a smear of gray-black.

The resentment and demonic Qi accumulated by this guardian warrior were truly too heavy and too vast.

Had it not been for the constant suppression and restraint, the two of them could not have subdued it so easily just now.

Therefore, she must have a good rest now.

Du En, however, was lost in thought and spoke calmly without giving anyone a moment of leisure: "From the information provided by him, I fear that Shaman Priest Qinglan is in a situation similar to yours; both of you are able to find ways to cleanse the resentment demons and allow the fallen to attain liberation, and before the overcast rain began to fall, the situation was not yet so dire."

Pausing as he spoke, he looked up through the damage in the dome at the sky outside, which was densely covered in clouds that would not disperse.

"Although the sun died long ago, the spiritual light of the stars remains, and the Divine Tree of the Blue Sky grows tall here, using itself to proclaim to the people the existence of the blue sky and clear void. Although the hidden dangers are profound and the future is hard to predict, there should still be a fragile balance overall."

"So, what do you think is going on?"

Du En suddenly lowered his head to look over; pain still lingered on Wurei's face.

"Because Qinglan began to be unable to bear the burden, and also, the rain that suddenly started to fall—it obscured the sky, letting..."

As she spoke, she looked somewhat dejected, glancing back toward the depths of the Teaching Hall; over there, the Divine Tree of the Blue Sky had already withered and died.

Du En merely nodded gently: "Correct, two reasons. Shaman Priest Qinglan could only barely maintain a fragile balance to begin with, and unfortunately, adding insult to injury is this suddenly erupting overcast rain of resentment demons."

"You also need to take it easy. If we are talking about how to resolve the situation now, I fear only you are left."

If he were in a complete and normal state, he could have tried to go all out, momentarily prying at the true body of the Phoenix's Lingering Hatred to see if he could bathe the entire star in fire. Relying on the lingering hatred of the Divine Venerable, which is sufficient to rival the power of an ordinary Venerable, he could have forcibly resolved the source of the resentment and demonic Qi.

After all, looking at the current situation, there have not yet appeared those existences like the Resentment Calamities that are undying and inextinguishable, which even ordinary Venerables cannot handle or kill. Of course, if this drags on, that may not be the case.

Moreover, in Du En's current state, this is just empty talk; it is completely impossible to achieve.

He silently pulled back his sword and once again accumulated the Three Truths Divine Fire, needing to use this method to raise the firepower and heat to a sufficiently high level.

"I know, and also, you don't need to blame yourself."

"I don't actually have any overflowing sympathy."

He was always blunt, commenting on himself with absolute calm at this moment, "Not anticipating that True Monarch Huaiqing would launch a sneak attack at that time can only be attributed to my carelessness. Now, tasting the bitter fruit of powerlessness is a form of bringing it upon myself."

"……Perhaps, that wasn't because of your carelessness?"

Wurei hesitated as she spoke.

She seemed to be able to fully understand the words here, just as when Du En spoke, he assumed that she was someone who knew everything, so no extra explanation was needed.

"……Who knows what exactly is going on? Since things have reached this point, dwelling on it no longer has any meaning. If you don't want to die harboring regrets, then you can only continue to work hard."

"Okay!"

Wurei immediately stood up straight.

"Sit down."

Du En spoke calmly and directly.

She immediately wilted and went back to sit down.

However, his movements did not stop; he continued to manifest his human form, and with a beckoning of his hand, that chain-blade flew over.

Perhaps because the materials used were special, or perhaps because it held some kind of entrustment, it did not turn into a stone statue along with its master's purification. Du En observed it briefly, then immediately used the divine fire to scorch it, removing the rust and contamination, and refined it once more.

The heavy and long chain-blade transformed into a slender, silver-white appearance, tinged with a wisp of gold; it could be used as a decent secondary magical artifact from now on.

Wurei was drowsy and paid no attention to this side.

Having finished his combat preparations, Du En turned back into a small ball of light, hovering above her. Amidst the slight rising and falling, he was also trying his best to accelerate his own recovery.

Bit by bit, he had to mend and heal the deep Dao wounds caused by True Monarch Huaiqing. It is hard to say the speed is fast, but according to the concepts of a cultivator, it is actually not considered slow either.

It would only take less than ten years for him to recover as he was before.

Ten years.

For a great cultivator at the Soul Formation stage, this is simply the blink of an eye; the time for a short seclusion could be ten or twenty years.

Unfortunately, for Du En right now, it seemed exceptionally long.

Time waits for no one. With the Divine Tree of the Blue Sky withered and the overcast rain of resentment demons constant, it is estimated that new changes will soon be induced. At the same time, there are enemies eyeing the star from the outside; the longer the time, the more sufficient their preparations will be.

However, fortunately, that True Person seems afraid to come down, so the two sides can be separated for now, and there is no need to fear them getting mixed together for the time being.

Although strictly speaking, this is not a situation worth rejoicing over, as it only means that beneath these cloudy, rainy skies, there truly exists a terrifying existence that even a True Person of the Void Refinement stage would stop before.

And he, still has to pull chestnuts from the fire and explore the truth……

Du En calmly looked up at the sky, his gaze becoming somewhat distant.

On the panel, the proficiency of the Zhujun Great Dao increased by one point at this moment.

Perhaps, the ascension of this Great Dao will be the key to him breaking the deadlock……

The sound of splashing continued; the overcast rain was incessant, and the converging rainwater turned into a waterfall, scouring the buildings protruding from the mountain. From this place, which was already in ruins, a buzzing vibration soon came.

He could no longer rest.

Wurei looked as if she had returned to her previous state, gently patting the stone statue in front of her, then hurriedly running off to purify the fragmented remains of those who still held obsessions, allowing them to also attain liberation.

The two learned from those fragmented memories of obsession that not far from the Teaching Hall, there was a village responsible for logistics, support, and transit, named Station Village. Inside it, there should have been some important figures of the Qing Kingdom, so they made that their next target.

"Let's set off."

"Okay."

Amidst the shaking debris and remains, Du En raised his hand, and a chain-blade shot out, clearing the gate blocked by the collapsed fragments.

Beneath the dark curtain of clouds, a long bridge spanning the mountain and connecting the two ends appeared before their eyes.

As Wurei stepped forward and began to run, the main hall of the Teaching Hall finally could not hold up and began to collapse on a large scale.

It was even like a chain reaction; the area where the Divine Tree of the Blue Sky was located was also shaking.

No, that was not it. It was not just because of the scouring and dragging brought by the rainwater converging into a waterfall, but because something even more dense was breaking through the withered Divine Tree and exerting influence on this side.

Du En realized it belatedly, but there was nothing he could do. His physical body no longer existed, and his divine sense had not recovered much; even if it had, he could not disperse it, and he could not determine whether the rainwater would infect or erode him. He could not do things that would be a waste of effort, so he could only choose a stance of adapting to the circumstances. "It's too late."

He calmly judged the speed, directly urged the chain blade, bound Wu Rui, and then, using the little remaining strength he had just recovered, stepped on the pulse of space, swayed once, and had already appeared on the opposite side of the long bridge.

Rumble! Accompanied by shattering and collapse, at the dead and withered part of the Azure Sky Divine Tree, a twisted, giant tentacle broke through the soil, shimmering with an ominous blood-red color; under the irrigation of the gloomy rain, it seemed as if it were being quenched, emitting black-gray mist—it was a more concentrated, further-evolved resentment-demonic energy that seemed to lack spiritual energy in its core.

Perhaps, that was the true Resentment-Demonic Qi.

Du En thought this, quickly surveying the various things in his eyes, not caring that his primordial spirit had dimmed slightly again under the irrigation of the gloomy rain.

In his gaze, the cooling tentacle no longer shook or moved, only continuously receiving the rain, continuously emitting that more advanced Resentment-Demonic Qi.

"Is an immortal and indestructible evil being generated? So, this is the minute part protruding from the source of the star core, absorbing the final nutrients..."

"Divine Tree..."

Here, the two had their own murmurs; the former was informing of their own conjecture, while the latter was more concerned with the completely destroyed remains of the Divine Tree.

Just at this moment, something flew over and fell.

Bang! It landed nearby, immediately shattered, and emitted the Resentment-Demonic Qi it had been stained with.

Du En calmly swung his sword, divine fire bloomed, evaporating the rainwater and blocking the spread of the Resentment-Demonic Qi, but the two sides appeared quite scorched; fortunately, it did not trigger any chain reaction like the Phoenix Remnant Hatred, otherwise, given his current situation, he would not be able to endlessly consume energy against it.

Huh? Suddenly, his gaze shifted.

The next moment, as if pushed by both the majestic divine fire and the inscrutable Resentment-Demonic Qi, an item was actually ejected, rolling over to their side.

A wooden mask.

The mask from the stone statue of the Shaman Priest Qinglan.

"Let's go, don't get stained by those Resentment-Demonic mists."

As Du En said this, he raised his hand to take the mask.

Under the influence of both sides—no, it should have been earlier—when it came into contact with that giant tentacle, this mask had already undergone some change.

Now, even though it was stained with Resentment-Demonic Qi, it did not produce a bad change; instead, it was as if it could absorb something from it—a positive change. Its reaction to the divine fire was not too intense, yet it seemed as if it could follow it, having been attracted.

Had that Shaman Priest Qinglan even considered the present?

He did not yet know the specific situation, but it might be the key to solving the Resentment-Demonic Qi later on.

Du En thought this, deciding that whenever he had time next, he would carefully ponder how to utilize it.

Of course, the most important thing right now was to quickly get away from the area of the Divine Tree Teaching Hall.

Wu Rui withdrew her gaze and nodded, somewhat dejected.

Walking forward in the rain, the pattering rain hit the protection of the forehead chain, causing it to emerge; it looked like a hazy ball of light enveloping her, repelling the incessant rain and filtering out spiritual energy from time to time.

To avoid the rain hindering his recovery, Du En also floated directly onto her shoulder, staying within the range of the protection, though he still did not need any spiritual energy.

As he was now, compared to a genuine Void Refinement stage, he was only lacking in realm cultivation; he basically had all the other characteristics he should have, and his endless mana emerged directly from the Dao.

The spiritual energy was quietly absorbed by Wu Rui, making her complexion improve, and her running pace also accelerated, soon surpassing that of an ordinary person, like a galloping horse.

The withered black forests on the left and right were left behind, and that official road leading to the target post-village now only had some traces left by the Resentment-Demons.

No Resentment-Demons appeared to block the road.

Because the Resentment-Demons in this vicinity had all run to attack the Divine Tree Teaching Hall after their fall into corruption, and were then killed by the guardians there, their movement was quite peaceful all the way.

Of course, such peace could not last forever.

Following the rapid movement, they soon passed through the withered black forest and arrived in front of the mountain at its depths.

A cave tunnel appeared in their eyes, and the official road led directly inside.

The clamor of Resentment-Demons began to appear, and they were coming, smelling their scent.

They were Resentment-Demons transformed from wild beasts.

Because on the eve of the Resentment-Demonic gloomy rain falling, the wild beasts in the forest instinctively ran here to avoid the rain, but it was of no use; with the spread of water vapor, they all successively became Resentment-Demons.

Facing the dense swarm of beasts, Du En swung his sword, and divine fire shot out burning.

The various corrupted beast Resentment-Demons were immediately shattered into a pile on the ground, as if being mowed like grass.

Although the number was quite large, the terrain of the cave tunnel was narrow, which did not give them the opportunity to exert this advantage; instead, they easily hindered each other, and thus a large area was easily cleared by a single strike from here.

Besides those running on the ground, there were also those that could fly.

They might be bats or birds; in short, the Resentment-Demons transformed from wild beasts basically had three forms: one form that was withered black all over with wings, one form that was a flesh-tumor beast on all fours, and a final form that was like elongated, wide flesh tendons that could swim in standing water and also climb onto the shore.

In short, although the number was not small, they were quite weak; even in Du En's current state, he could easily kill them, as if mowing grass.

As for Wu Rui, she was in the back providing support and filling in the gaps, as well as moving corpses to prevent blocking the road.

Cooperating with each other, standing at a post not far from the entrance and advancing slowly, they soon cleared out the beast Resentment-Demons that had run out.

Purifying so many beast Resentment-Demons was actually very simple; with Du En sharing the burden, it only made Wu Rui frown slightly—of course, it could also be that she had gradually adapted and learned to endure.

However.

"It seems now that although wild beasts, as living beings, cannot escape the outcome of corruption, the degree is quite subtle; it seems that the obsessions and emotions of the human heart are the key factors."

In other words, all spirits and races should be the same; after all, the so-called obsession of the human heart is, in the final analysis, a characteristic brought about by intelligence.

"All living beings have feelings and thus have resentment..."

Wu Rui answered the words from here at this moment, hitting the point very well.

He was about to say something in response, but he sensed something, stopped his words, and shifted his eyes to look.

A wild beast Resentment-Demon that appeared different—or rather, a canine Resentment-Demon—appeared in his eyes; feeling the calm gaze from here, it could not help but show a kind of hesitation and wavering, stopping at the edge of his vision and pacing back and forth.

"An interesting one, a dog?"

Du En transformed into a ball of light.

That dog immediately pricked up its ears, observing cautiously, and moved closer again.

(End of this chapter)