Chapter 280

No matter how glorious the past or how great the achievements, the other party is now merely an ordinary swordsage.

Events from ancient times fail to inspire awe in today's powerful cultivators; instead, familiarity breeds greed.

An ordinary man bears no guilt, yet possessing a jade brings guilt.

The peerless divine sword within the sword tomb has drawn the attention of multiple factions, all waiting for the final moment to seize it.

"So there's something like this?" Qu Yanping was surprised, but upon reflection, it made sense.

"They don't intend to reveal their goals, nor do they plan to inform the swordsage or the Holy Maiden of the truth," Gu Yue Fang Zheng said with righteous indignation, disgruntled: "So they sent Bai Yun to warn you—just to keep you from meddling, lest the swordsage learn something and cause complications."

"This is unavoidable," Qu Yanping said indifferently: "But aren't they afraid of the River of Time?"

"It's already handled. They gathered three primordial spiritual treasures and twelve peculiar heavenly dao artifacts, located the monster, and suppressed it." Gu Yue Fang Zheng handed Qu Yanping a storage bag.

"With this, at least you, Comrade Qu, won't be in danger anymore. Inside is one heavenly dao artifact—your reward from them."

"Hah! So now it's carrot and stick—a bunch of villains! They've corrupted their Dao cultivation into doghood."

Qu Yanping smiled inwardly: cultivators seize the essence of heaven and earth to nourish themselves—nothing extraordinary about that. Still, he was grateful to have Gu Yue Fang Zheng as his backer; otherwise, he might well have been silenced by murder.

He opened the storage bag and saw inside a cloud-shaped, lingzhi-like object, entirely gray.

"Chaos Cloud Lingzhi. After consuming it, you'll be immune to any external will—even death grants you one chance of pure rebirth," Gu Yue Fang Zheng explained: "They fear the malformed spacetime body may have left a contingency. They ordered me to watch you ingest it."

"Thank you, Brother Gu Yue. This isn't bad," Qu Yanping said with a carefree air and immediately swallowed the Chaos Cloud Lingzhi.

The moment it entered his mouth, he felt his entire body grow impossibly light, as if the scene of primordial chaos were manifesting around him.

"The Immortal Path is within reach."

You may question whether this film deserves to be called a film, but you cannot deny the professional expertise of Master Tunyun, Gao Moumou, and the myriad cultivators who idly learned countless skills among mortals.

Individually, these stories are all fine works—scattered, they're stars across the sky; gathered, they're... snail rice noodles boiled with stinky tofu in rich broth?

That doesn't quite fit.

On many screens, Weigong Shilang as the swordsage and Dada Liya as the Holy Maiden engage in "tsundere" dialogue: denying their true feelings, refusing to admit affection for each other out of pride, yet aiding one another repeatedly through adventures, growing ever more attentive to each other's opinions.

"Who wrote this trashy Korean drama?" Xia Mi crushed the popcorn in her hand, watching the two on screen, dejected because they believed the other hated them: "'Clinging to denial' is so outdated—do they really have to be this roundabout?"

Lu Mingfei's lips twitched a few times; some dragon mothers truly have no Hercules inside them.

Soon after, the plot shifted: the swordsage discovered the Holy Maiden's status in the church was equivalent to a heavenly dao artifact—she was merely a precious tool. He resolved to secretly take her away from the sword tomb, but his hesitation and concern for his junior sister caused the Holy Maiden to lose all hope and accept her fate—

Fulfilling the wish, accepting the punishment of world revision, and finally perishing.

On that day, the powerless swordsage watched helplessly as church elders took her away, and he himself sank into confusion.

High-ranking forces from all realms fabricated a false charge against the swordsage and jointly pressured Shushan. Upon learning this, his sect ordered him to leave the sword tomb that very night.

He had already erred by violating sect prohibitions and secretly bringing his junior sister to explore the sword tomb; to defy his sect's command now would be outright treason.

But—

A single raindrop fell on the swordsage's cheek—the first rain ever to fall in the sword tomb.

It was no natural phenomenon, but sword qi transformed into rain—ten thousand silver needles descending from heaven, harmless, yet plunging every cultivator into heart-wrenching sorrow.

"I once believed I was born for the sword, destined to die for justice," the swordsage recited his line in the torrential rain, his eyes hollow, as if his soul had departed: "But what am I doing now?"

Weigong Shilang's swordsage, like a puppet, stumbled upward and flew toward the Shushan starship that had brought him—he decided to obey his sect's order and leave the sword tomb with his junior sister.

The rain grew heavier, not shattering the sky's silence, quietly falling like fine wool, slender threads, silver needles—while sudden lightning and thunder in the gloomy sky hinted that the swordsage's inner turmoil far exceeded his calm exterior.

Scene cut.

The Holy Maiden, equally devoid of hope, stood numbly in a room heavy with religious aesthetics, her fingers brushing the glass, as if trying to touch the world outside; rain streamed down the pane.

The camera shot from behind: Dada Liya's Holy Maiden cast a reflection on the glass. The rain and reflection merged, forming the image of a spirit with white hair and red eyes weeping—the falling raindrops were tears from her empty eyes.

The screen switched again: the swordsage's room, where he packed his belongings, preparing to leave the sword tomb. He meekly bowed to his master's scolding transmitted through a talisman, swearing he'd be expelled if he ever disobeyed again.

"Damn it!" Ronald Tang, the grime-covered construction dragon, king of bucket-and-run, threw his helmet on the ground and shouted: "Weigong, what kind of man are you?!"

"Exactly! What kind of man are you?!" Sensible cultivators rose in protest: "Was all that buildup for nothing?!"

"I thought he'd awaken his past memories, sweep aside the church, and reclaim his place—instead, he's just a obedient dog!" A burly body cultivator clutched his chest as if his maiden heart had shattered, weeping to the heavens: "It hurts! So much pain!"

Tang grew goosebumps; the other's gaze, as if seeing a kindred soul, made him awkwardly sit back down. Had these people forgotten this was just a movie?

Really?

The performance continued.

In the deep-night room, the junior sister gazed at Weigong Shilang's swordsage with hopeful eyes, confessed her feelings, and hinted that tonight they could achieve true union—she was far better than the temperamental Holy Maiden.

The swordsage paused, stepped aside, and let her enter the room.

At this point, the screen abruptly went black. When it lit up again, it was now from Qu Yanping's perspective.

"Who wants to watch this demonic cultivator?!" A female cultivator crushed the armrest of her seat into dust, shouting toward the editing and playback control panel: "Beihe! Play the next episode for me right now!"

"Tian Tian! I want to watch the Penglai Love Story!" Tian Tian also stood and shouted toward the control panel.

"There's no next episode cut yet—what are you even asking me to play?" Beihe Sanren stuffed cotton in his ears and said to Tian Tian: "Hey, Deputy Island Master Tian, where are you going? Only we're on duty tonight—how will we edit the videos if you're gone?"

"I'm going to record a live stream for Tian Tian," Tian Tian turned, bloodshot eyes visible: "I'll protect Tian Tian's smile! I need to see what this brother-hater did!"

Stare—

Sensing the strange glances around him, Tian Tian snapped back to reality and hastily said: "Actually, I just really like watching dramas."

Beyond saving.

In every sense, this person is beyond saving.

"Get back to work. I need to use my credits later to locate the Bronze Divination Tablet at the Heaven's Mechanism Pavilion," Beihe Sanren sat down and began skillfully operating various editing software.

"Brother Fang Yuan, you're finally back," Gao Sheng said, eyes bright with anticipation: "Any news on Li?"

Gu Yue Fang Yuan pointed at Qu Yanping.

"Me?" Qu Yanping looked puzzled.

"Comrade Qu, Brother Gao, long time no see," a deep, powerful voice sounded behind Qu Yanping.

Qu Yanping was startled—though his cultivation level was low, since gaining the Heavenly Eye, his perception had surpassed his former state, let alone the cultivation technique he'd practiced here for detection.

He turned his head and saw that the plain-looking man was still the same as many years ago—unremarkable in appearance, yet exuding a deeply steady aura.

The owner of 【Heavenly Artifact: Palm of Heaven Vase】, Li Feiyu.

"Comrade Li, it's been a long time," Qu Yanping smiled warmly, his tone tinged with emotion: "That initial exploration was perilous beyond measure; I'm glad you made it out unharmed."

"Great, another great demon lord shows up," Gao Sheng teased: "If anyone saw me standing with Qu brother and the two of you, they'd definitely label me as a demonic cultivator."

"That's just slander spread by hostile factions—don't believe it lightly," Li Feiyu shook his head, his voice calm.

"Murder, arson, unspeakable evil, wiping out entire families, seizing opportunities, stealing treasures—only you, Brother Li, could do all that," Gu Yue Fang Yuan sighed. "I never thought Qu brother and I would share the same fate."

"Let's not talk about this anymore." Li Feiyu clearly had no interest in the topic, saying, "Brother Guyue, you said you have a way to return— is that true?"

Before Li Feiyu could finish speaking, Gu Yue Fang Yuan interrupted him.

"Please, Brother Li, wait a few more days. Once the Sword Tomb affair is settled and Fang Zheng's obsession fades, we'll leave together." Gu Yue Fang Yuan transmitted a message to all:

"Fang Zheng has stayed here too long. Though he yearns endlessly to return, he still bears responsibilities. I beg you all—let my younger brother finish what he must here. Only then will we depart, along with the other comrades."

The message from Gu Yue Fang Yuan described the method to leave the Penglai world: exploiting Fang Zheng's unique ability to exist simultaneously in both the outer and inner worlds, using Gu Yue Fang Yuan's transcendent cultivation and the Seventh-Transformation Dream Butterfly to escape through dreams.

It seemed simple—but one prerequisite was essential: the intervention of the Refinement Demon Lord.

"So, Brother Gu Yue," Li Feiyu's gaze sharpened, "you knew from the start we'd replace our counterparts here. Your goal is to replace the inner-world version of yourself?!"

"At first, I wasn't certain—only suspected. After all, Fang Zheng had never met those lost comrades," Gu Yue Fang Yuan bowed respectfully.

"But no matter what, even if I cannot replace the Refinement Demon Lord, I, Gu Yue Fang Yuan, must come to this world."

"At first, I wasn't certain— I only had a suspicion, since Fang Zheng had never met those lost companions." Gu Yue Fang Yuan bowed and said.

"I possess a Gu that can link me directly to the Refinement Demon Lord—in a sense, I am he, and he is me," Gu Yue Fang Yuan declared with grim resolve.

"I will use myself to curse and kill the Refinement Demon Lord, then use another Gu to transform both myself and the Refinement Demon Lord into puppets. That way, Fang Zheng can control the Refinement Demon Lord to open the path home."

"Even if we fail to return home, I can eliminate this grave threat within this illusory world, letting Fang Zheng live free of fear."

"Brother Gu Yue, why must you suffer so?!" Gao Sheng exclaimed. "Does Fang Zheng know your plan?"

"He doesn't," Gu Yue Fang Yuan lifted his head, gazing at the stormy sky beyond the courtyard, where rain began to fall. A somber atmosphere settled over all.

Li Feiyu fell silent for a moment, then looked at Gu Yue Fang Yuan: "This will only cost him his brother. Even if he returns, he won't be happy."

"But then, at least he still has his uncle and aunt, and our Gu Yue Shanzhai kin," Gu Yue Fang Yuan's lips curled into a faint smile—but it vanished instantly, replaced by icy coldness:

"In this world, he has nothing. I slaughtered the Shanzhai. Should I kill him too?"

"What nonsense! Would I ever harm my dearest younger brother?!"

Gu Yue Fang Yuan spoke coldly:

"I do not recognize this world's Gu Yue Fang Yuan as myself. No matter the cost, I will take Fang Zheng home—even if it costs my life!"

All were stunned by Gu Yue Fang Yuan's obsession—even Qu Yanping had never imagined such deep bonds between the Gu Yue brothers.

"I do not acknowledge this Gu Yue Fang Yuan as myself— no matter the cost, I will take Fang Zheng back. Even if it costs my life, I will do it!"

Everyone was stunned by Gu Yue Fang Yuan's obsession; even Qu Yanping had not expected such deep bonds between the two Gu Yue brothers.

A voice choked with tears appeared at the courtyard gate. Gu Yue Fang Zheng stepped inside, face filled with disbelief.

"Why?! I don't want you to do this! I don't deserve it!"

Gu Yue Fang Yuan froze, then forced a stiff smile: "What are you doing here?"

"My Heavenly Artifact lets me hide my presence," Gu Yue Fang Zheng flashed before him, furious: "Did you ever ask my permission?!"

"I'm your brother," Gu Yue Fang Yuan gently touched his head and smiled: "A brother protecting his younger sibling is only natural."

"Brother Fang Zheng, your elder brother does this for your sake. Thank heavens it all turned out well," Qu Yanping said.

Gao Sheng and Li Feiyu nodded in agreement.

"Don't ever make decisions like this again!" Gu Yue Fang Zheng glared sharply at Gu Yue Fang Yuan—but his tone softened immediately: "Brother, I've stayed here too long. The version of you I remember most vividly… is the one from there."

"I know," Gu Yue Fang Yuan smiled warmly. "It's all behind us, isn't it?"

"Mm," Gu Yue Fang Zheng fell silent for a long while, then broke into a joyful smile: "I'll take you all to the core of the Bug Realm's Heavenly Court to claim your quotas. Maybe we can secure some other swords during the battle for the peerless divine blade."

Anyone could see Gu Yue Fang Zheng wanted to repay Fang Yuan's debt.

"Hmm." Gu Yue Fang Zheng fell silent for a long while, then smiled happily: "I'll first take you all to the core of the Insect Realm's Heavenly Court to claim your quotas. There, perhaps we can acquire other swords amid the struggle for the peerless divine sword."

"Come with me," Gu Yue Fang Zheng said to all. "As commander and Master of the Demon-Slaying List, I still hold these privileges."

"Brother Fang Yuan, we'll take our leave," everyone bid farewell and departed.

After the group turned away, their figures and qi fading into the distance, Gu Yue Fang Yuan's lips curled into a smile—but it offered no warmth, because

his eyes were like bottomless black abysses, utterly devoid of emotion.

After everyone turned to leave and their figures and qi vanished, Gu Yue Fang Yuan's lips curled into a faint smile—but this smile did not feel warm, because

His eyes were like a pitch-black abyss, devoid of any emotion.

End of chapter.