Chapter 73: Don't Be a Puppet; Returning Home with Wealth and Honor?

"Bright Cangyue Death God, Angel Descend! Prayer of Light and Death!"

Ye Ling's voice came, and following it was an absolute explosion of light; endless power of light appeared, attaching itself to Yating.

In an instant, the back that originally only had two wings also underwent a change at this moment.

Six wings sprouted from the back, representing the pinnacle of light! The Death Scythe in hand also suddenly became enormous at this moment, the aura of Samsara unobstructed.

The aura belonging to light and death reached its peak at this moment.

The Bright Cangyue Death God's aura suddenly rose; gripping the Death Scythe in hand, it slashed fiercely toward Long Xingyu's position.

Long Xingyu did not dodge, but the defensive skill that appeared on his body already represented his caution.

As the move landed, the surrounding countless Spiritual Power seemed to be invaded, beginning to fall into constant chaos, illuminating everything around.

On the edge, Sheng Yue and the others watched this scene, their eyes widening, filled with surprise—surprise at this move, or rather, at this strike.

"Samsara power? What Ye Ling and Cai'er just used, it was actually the power of Samsara?"

"And I didn't even sense any backlash of the power of Samsara from Cai'er? What kind of ability is this?"

Sheng Lingxin looked at this scene with surprised eyes, his expression excited, as if he had seen some miracle. For the past two months, Cai'er had been in seclusion to comprehend, so they did not know that the Samsara Spiritual Stove had transformed into a Soul Spirit.

Now, it was the first time they knew that Samsara had changed.

"The Samsara Trial seems to have changed," Sheng Yue said in a deep voice. "On Cai'er, the essence of Samsara has undergone a huge change, different from the Samsara ability we understood before, but it can be said to be changing in the best direction."

Sheng Yue's eyes were aged, carrying a trace of seriousness: "And all of this originates from this young man named Ye Ling."

Below, this move had already landed.

But it did not cause any damage to Long Xingyu, and not even a single scratch could be seen on his body.

It can only be said, as expected of a Ninth-Rank Powerhouse, as expected of a Divine Seal Knight!

But this Divine Seal Knight was now stunned on the spot.

On that very tough face, which seemed unable to take interest in anything, a trace of surprise was revealed; the expression was very clear, without any concealment.

"This? Is this really the Law Power that a human can possess?"

"Their cultivation is not high, but the potential represented by these two can completely be said to be the best in the history of the Holy Alliance!"

Long Xingyu looked at everything in front of him in surprise, a flash of madness passing through his eyes, as if he were genuinely stirred by the brand-new things appearing before him.

Because the two's cultivation was only Third Rank, and especially since Cai'er was not even at Third Rank Peak, the strength erupted from this move was not strong; at least, placed against a Ninth-Rank Divine Seal Knight like Long Xingyu, it was nothing more than a tickle.

But! Tickling is tickling, he was still shocked now.

Evaluating a skill is not just about looking at the skill itself, but also how much it exceeds the ability of the user, as well as everything contained within it.

In Long Xingyu's view, the move released by Ye Ling and Cai'er had already exceeded the level they should have been at, touching the level of laws. Just that strike alone, he even had a feeling of being suppressed at the origin.

This is a skill that has already touched the laws, and it is an ultimate law!

In other words, if not for their insufficient strength now, the level of this move would likely have already touched the threshold of a Divine Skill, or even been a Divine Skill! Long Xingyu himself hadn't mastered two Divine Skills, and they were both obtained from the Divine Seal Throne of Apocalypse and Slaughter; he didn't have a single Divine Skill he had created himself!

And yet his own disciples... Long Xingyu had nothing to say. Just as he was thinking about these things, the Bright Cangyue Death God in the sky also slowly disintegrated, turning into flowing light and returning to the owner's body.

That move just now had already emptied the Spiritual Power from both of them, especially since Ye Ling manipulating two was even harder to deal with.

The Spiritual Power on Ye Ling's body was very unstable; he sat cross-legged on the ground, panting heavily, absorbing the Spiritual Power from the outside world.

The Moon Bright Vast Sea Spiritual Stove returned to his body to rely on the Six-Winged Angel to stabilize itself, while Yating lay on top of Ye Ling's head without any fairy-like image, eyes closed, looking very disheveled.

Cai'er's delicate body swayed; without any physical strength to support her, she fell straight into Ye Ling's arms, sweat pouring down like rain. She had lost the strength to fight again; this could be seen from the dim Samsara Spiritual Stove mark between her brows.

"The side effect of this move is truly huge."

"If it weren't for the Six-Winged Angel reserving the last bit of Spiritual Power to support my body, I'm afraid I would be in worse shape than Cai'er right now, likely passing out directly."

Ye Ling let out a long breath.

The Spiritual Power required for this move was too terrifying; even at the Fifth or Sixth Rank, it would be impossible to perfectly manipulate it for combat. That Ye Ling could display it now with a Third Rank Peak cultivation could already be called a miracle.

Watching his disciple's disheveled state, Long Xingyu laughed and walked up, intending to cast a healing skill to treat him.

But just at this moment, a man wearing priest robes suddenly rushed up from the side, the staff in his hand flashing with a dazzling radiance: "Holy Healing Art, Bright Protection."

Casting two consecutive powerful Seventh-Rank healing spells, this priest also rushed excitedly in front of Ye Ling, his eyes excited, shouting: "Hahaha, a miracle, this is truly a miracle."

"I didn't expect that the light of a miracle would actually appear in front of me like this, praise Guangming Shen!"

Seeing the appearance of this priest, Long Xingyu was startled: "Ling Xiao, why are you here?"

"You said before that this disciple of yours was a Child of Light, so I definitely had to stay and see. I didn't expect it, it really is!" Ling Xiao was already a bit crazy.

Hearing this, Long Xingyu was stunned, his figure flashing, instantly blocking in front of Ling Xiao, saying: "Ling Xiao, don't even think about it."

Hearing this, Ling Xiao was speechless, feigning a helpless attitude: "Xingyu, this can be discussed."

"Although we have conflicts, I should have been pretty good to you, right?"

"Like before, you directly snatched away my good niece, and even now her whereabouts are unknown. Did I say anything to you? Yet you treat me like this?"

Long Xingyu snorted coldly: "Yue'er and I are in love, and as for her current whereabouts, I have already found out. I was just about to go over next; there's no need for you, this 'elder', to meddle in our young couple's affairs."

Ling Xiao: "..."

Alright, he had nothing left to say.

Then, he could only start from the person himself: "You are called Ye Ling, right? Do you have any intention of becoming a priest?"

"Long Xingyu was a bit too stingy a while ago and didn't give you anything good, but if you join the Priest Temple, I can guarantee that you will be the only candidate for the Priest Temple, the next Hall Master!"

"And I can guarantee that within twenty years, using your talent and the resources of the Priest Temple, I will let you step into the Ninth Rank! Once you step into the Ninth Rank, I will immediately resign and let you be the Hall Master!" Afterward, he also appealed to his emotions and reasoned: "Besides, I feel you might not understand healing well. What's so good about being a Knight? Fighting on the front lines is always troublesome. If you become a priest, with your talent, the number of people you save in the future won't just be a simple hundred or thousand, but tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands, or even millions!"

"Learn about Faith Power."

It was clear he was going all out.

"Many thanks to Senior Ling for the appreciation." Ye Ling accepted Ling Xiao's healing, barely able to stand up while holding Cai'er. He didn't bow, but said resolutely: "But unfortunately, I can only refuse you."

"My goal from the past until now has always been to counterattack the Demon Race, fight the Demon Race, and even defeat the Demon God Emperor Feng Xiu in the future!"

"Since that is the case, what I need is not powerful healing, but powerful combat ability, so I am very sorry."

Ling Xiao: "..."

Fine, in terms of healing, those Priests are quite combat-oriented, but as for fighting, forget it; if one wants to change professions, they might as well change to a Warrior or Mage, though in some respects, those two are also inferior to a Knight.

"Hahaha." Long Xingyu was amused: "Ling Xiao, this is what you call having no self-awareness."

"Long Xingyu, you—" Ling Xiao glared at him.

"You two, you've been bickering since long ago; how is it that now that you are both Hall Masters of your respective Temples, you are still bickering?" From the side, Sheng Yue's aged voice came over, sounding very speechless.

However, the fanaticism in his eyes also represented his excitement.

If it weren't for the fact that the Light attribute cannot cultivate as an Assassin, perhaps he would have had the idea of letting Ye Ling cultivate as an Assassin, but he gave up on it quickly.

Now, just looking at these two children, the corners of his mouth held a smile that could not be concealed.

As for Sheng Lingxin, he was more direct; looking at the youth who was hugging his daughter, he felt no anger at all, but instead turned and walked toward Long Xingyu, asking via Transmission of Sound: "Brother Xingyu, I wonder if this disciple of yours has any engagement or anything like that."

"No, why, Lingxin?" Long Xingyu looked over in confusion.

"How about we form a marriage alliance, the two of us, and let the Assassin Temple and the Knight Temple become even closer?" Sheng Lingxin asked tentatively, not even going to discuss it with his wife, just being direct! Long Xingyu: "."

"Actually, although there is no engagement, my disciple does have some connection with that little Princess of the Soul Temple, and the two of them have the possibility of that kind of relationship."

"However, as his teacher, I don't have the right to manage this matter for him; we shall see how the young people develop on their own when the time comes."

Hearing this explanation from Long Xingyu, Sheng Lingxin fell silent, and after a long while, he nodded.

Long Xingyu did not continue speaking with his little brother, but turned his head to look at Ye Ling and said: "Ye Ling, let's go, let's leave first."

"Leave?" Sheng Caier caught the situation of this sentence and immediately shouted: "Take me with you."

For her, there was nothing worth lingering over at Exorcist Pass; rather than staying here, it was better to leave with Ye Ling.

"Caier, you..." Lan Yanyu spoke up, intending to say something.

But Caier knew very well what her mother was about to say and spoke first: "Could it be that you still intend to keep me in that bottomless hell?"

Lan Yanyu was choked up instantly, tears flowing from her beautiful eyes.

Yes, it was their fault; it was they who placed the burden of the entire Holy Alliance on a child who was only three years old at the time and pushed her into an endless abyss.

And now... she had finally walked out of the abyss, yet they wanted to... The people around wanted to say something, but after a long while, they sighed and did not speak.

Only Ye Ling, feeling Caier's trembling body, understood that her heart was not feeling well, and realizing something, he said softly: "Caier, why don't you stay here for now?"

Hearing this, everyone looked at Ye Ling's position in confusion.

Unexpectedly, he would actually start saying these things at this time. "Why?" Caier asked this question.

"I won't talk to you about righteousness or anything like that; that wouldn't be fair to you." Ye Ling spoke slowly: "But, you are indeed not suited to follow by my side right now."

"You have never faced up to everything you want; it is just because I saved you and I helped you that you chose to follow by my side like a puppet."

"But, that won't do."

Ye Ling said gently: "You are a living person, not a puppet. Your first ten years were lived for others, for the Holy Alliance, and even for painful trials, but that was unavoidable. Now, you no longer need to force yourself to feel pain, and I hope you can live for yourself."

"But if you follow by my side, then I can be certain that because of your gratitude toward me, in the end, whatever thoughts I have, you will also live according to my thoughts."

Then, this would inevitably conflict, and in the end, you... might no longer be a person, but a puppet with consciousness. I do not wish for this to happen.

Instead, stay at Exorcist Pass, fight well, go and comprehend all the power of the God of Death, and understand everything you need to do amidst the fighting."

Listening to Ye Ling's words, Caier's heart trembled.

A warm current emerged in her heart, her large eyes seemed to well up with a trace of tears, and her body trembled slightly. This was still... since she was three years old, this was the first time someone had cared for her so much, even letting her make her own choices and find her own goals.

Other people seemed to force what they thought onto her, but Ye Ling was the first... Thinking of this, she quickly stood up, landed on the ground, reached out, took out a ring with a golden forget-me-not pattern from it, pulled out Ye Ling's finger, and put it on the middle finger of Ye Ling's left hand, saying: "Please don't forget me."

Hearing this, Ye Ling's heart trembled. He reached out, ruffled Caier's hair, and said: "I won't."

Caier nodded.

The three of Sheng Yue's family, watching all this, just felt their hearts tremble, but said nothing. Perhaps this was the best result.

Everything settled, Ye Ling turned to look at Long Xingyu and said: "Teacher Xingyu, let's go, back to Yulong Pass; Wen Zhao and the others should have returned early."

"Back to Yulong?" Long Xingyu was confused and shook his head: "This time, I'll take you somewhere else?"

Ye Ling was confused: "Where?"

"To Haoyue City." Long Xingyu nodded.

Ye Ling: "???"

Isn't this my hometown? No, Long Xingyu, you old geezer?

Planning to help me return home in glory?

(End of this chapter)