Chapter 149

What the hell are you doing with such a great imagination?!

When you realized Zu Feng was a misunderstanding, you immediately laughed and cried, but still hurriedly explained to her: This isn't my child……

You didn't explain the details of the three little golden crows, only saying you happened to meet them by chance, born of fire essence, and so on.

But even you yourself feel puzzled: a precious thing already on the kill list, why do you still care so much about her opinion?

Your ultimate goal is clearly to kill all Three Ancestors, including her…… yet why do you still have some special feelings for her?

This mindset is very dangerous; you can't help but fear you'll go soft, because it's a matter of great importance—being soft on them is cruelty toward yourself and all beings of heaven and earth…… The bloody lessons of the past two lives let you resolutely harden your heart and throw that inexplicable feeling away.

I'm not some foolish love‑brain who would destroy heaven and earth for love!

Zu Long is sorrowful and confused.

……

The only road ahead is to forcibly kill the Second Ancestor!

After saying that, Zu Qilin also left Zu Long a final sincere warning:

"…… I know you can't hear anything now, but you must remember…… Beware of them!"

Even if there's only one cultivation quota, it's actually fine for none of you to achieve the Dao, as long as the three of you have deep friendship and profit sharing won't cause conflict—why insist on achieving the Dao?

No matter what, you've stabilized this variable Zu Feng; at least after you take out Zu Qilin, you don't have to worry about her suddenly turning traitor.

A precious thing that treats all beings as weeds and consumables—deceiving her, is that called cheating? No, it's clearly carrying out heaven's will!

The attacked Zu Qilin let out a roar of shock and anger, obviously recognizing this villain who had recently visited Qilin Cliff.

Nothing more than the object of sacrifice having changed……

Now even you feel your mindset has a problem……

Psychological burden, no need.

Zu Qilin didn't resist much, because resistance was useless; you're confident you can run if you can't beat one vs. two, but one vs. three truly offers no hope.

"Good……"

I don't know what your goal is, but your plot really succeeded…… you could even persuade those two…… it seems you have many secrets…… this round, you won.

All kinds of feelings among the three keep surfacing, making Zu Feng a bit dazed: Really, do we have to kill it?

Thinking of this, you couldn't help but slap yourself, and couldn't help but scold yourself: Overly sentimental, impossible to achieve greatness!

Jiao Ming and Hongjun were already expected enemies, but Zu Qilin never imagined that an old friend who had been companions since ancient times would come……

You reluctantly promised again, recalling over and over the sins of the Three Ancestors…… you are a weak person, you fear going soft—only those screams and corpses can give you firm resolve……

Zu Qilin finally laughed, laughing at himself and at how this crude scheme to sow discord actually worked; poor him, who always considered himself wise, ended up falling for such a simple ploy.

Once suspicion exists, everything is already destined……

Zu Feng stared at you.

Looking at the charred corpse of the Qilin, you also have some other thoughts: the Three Ancestors slaughtered all beings to achieve the Dao, which is a kind of sacrifice.

A plan to ambush Zu Qilin is now launched!

Time flies; soon you'll have to bid farewell to such leisurely days, leaving Xi He and them on Jade Capital Mountain, while you set out with Hongjun on the journey to the appointment……

At some point, you and Hongjun, according to the pact, went to the foot of Qilin Cliff in Central State.

But……

Boom!!!

Accompanied by an earth‑shaking roar, the usually tranquil Qilin Cliff trembled, and platinum‑colored flames rose like the sun, scorching the blessed land nurtured by Central State's earthly qi into something like hell on earth!

"Hongjun, you old geezer!"

The only thing troubling you is that the three of them seem to be growing ever fonder of you; no matter how often you correct how they address you, they still call you 'adoptive father'.

"Can!"

This is the only hope to break the situation!

Hongjun also didn't speak, merely producing a jade slip, with various immortal laws appearing!

Trusting you means doubting those two old friends…… Zu Feng isn't a pure love‑brain; when it comes to matters of personal interest, she must get a reliable explanation!

The three little golden crows are worthy of their innate divine talent and perceptiveness; with just a little guidance from you, they can fully understand and cultivate at a pace of a thousand miles a day!

The Boundless Azure Dragon also remained silent, merely producing a string of objects emitting five‑colored light.

Hongjun's evil corpse Luo Hu slaughtered even more beings to defeat the Three Ancestors, which is also a kind of sacrifice.

"Why are you here?"

"You even convinced the old long worm……"

Zu Long closed his eyes and said in a muffled voice:

But even if she trusts you no matter what, once you list the Ancestral Dragon as a target to be killed, she will surely stop trusting you, because the Three Ancestors are ultimately interdependent—losing one is bearable, but if two fall together… she could never allow the Ancestral Dragon to die.

But it finally understood: the core of the problem wasn't how many Dao attainment quotas there actually were, but that the quota might be only one… a single possibility was actually enough as a reason.

Watching them, the Ancestral Qilin seemed to grasp something, yet ultimately let out a sigh:

"At least, the Ancestral Phoenix didn't come…"

The Ancestral Qilin then turned its gaze to the purple-robed old Daoist standing beside Jiao Ming.

Finally, the Ancestral Qilin gazed at that boundless Azure Dragon, its eyes filled with confusion and complexity:

But, for the sake of all spirits, to have killed the Three Ancestors ahead of time before anything had even happened—would that not count as another kind of sacrifice?

"Is that so?"

In some year, some meeting, some fortune, the Ancestral Qilin fell—it fell so early that before the era of the Three Clans had even begun, its end had already arrived.

After thinking, you took out the covenant you had signed with the Ancestral Dragon, and amid her astonished expression, you detailed to her your plan to slay the Ancestral Qilin.

…

Moreover, how many Dao attainment quotas there actually are remains unknown…

Thus, under the old man Hongjun's meddling, the title "adoptive father" came to be used like this…

Zu Feng left.

……

"It's you again!"

You mutter to yourself…

Facing Zu Feng's inquiry, you naturally wouldn't tell her your true goal, only claiming you temporarily cannot reveal anything.

At the moment of its life's end, it merely kept recalling, over and over, every little detail of the three of them since ancient times.

Zu Feng stared for a long while, finally lowered her head, and softly asked: "Can I really trust you?"

It felt deeply moved: "Is the position of attaining the Dao really that important?"

And to achieve this goal, relying solely on you and Hongjun definitely won't suffice, so…

Time? Fate?

In its smile, the sun fell to the ground…

If you cannot produce a reasonable explanation, then the fragile trust you painstakingly built with her through your riddler-like behavior will immediately be questioned and destroyed…

The current progress has already reached one-third; as long as you kill the remaining two ancestors, you can save everyone—no one will die because of the third ancestor's greed and war, and you will truly be free to roam the primordial heavens and earth, with no iron cage to bind your wings.

Upon hearing that long-awaited answer, you seemed to want to say something, but ultimately said nothing, merely making one empty, illusory promise after another…

You let out a long sigh, turned your head toward the old man Hongjun, and murmured: "Fellow Daoist, do you think I'm a shameless cheat?"

He merely transformed into his true form as a firebird, his whole body entwined with the most blazing Golden Crow true fire, as if a second sun had risen!

"... I won't harm you."

Her purpose in coming here is to ask you directly what your intention is in stirring up the second ancestor; after all, your and Hongjun's earlier riddler double act really confused her, to the point that she has unknowingly come to trust you quite a bit.

Zu Feng closed her eyes, after a moment of feeling, she opened them again and softly said: "I believe you."

The future‑seeing Zu Qilin said in a deep voice to Jiao Ming:

Hongjun, while teasing the three little birds on his shoulder, scoffed: "A cheat? What cheat?"

Hongjun seemed deep in thought.

And you… you also don't know what attitude you should take; theoretically, you should feel excited about prematurely ending a precious thing, this is a major milestone on your path to victory, and for the first time in three lifetimes you have seen hope of a perfect ending.

Although not their real father, to them you are no different—you care for their growth, look after their lives, often take them out to play, and the most crucial part is that you still can't explain the source of your Golden Crow true fire.

Looking at Zu Qilin's horrifically altered corpse, the three participants in the siege had varied expressions.

Regarding this, you originally wanted to explain to her in detail the necessity of killing Zu Qilin, but all those thousands of words boiled down to just one sentence.

You temporarily handed the three lively little Golden Crows to Hongjun to look after one or two, while you offered a greeting and explanation… moments later, the suddenly enlightened Zu Feng quickly coughed to hide her embarrassment, then got down to business.

On Mount Yu Jing, you began to teach Xi He and them the cultivation of immortal arts.

"I've noted it down…"

No need to ponder which to split; simply kill both together, with absolute superiority and strength!

You reluctantly promised her: "I will accomplish everything on my own, once the major matter is settled…"

……

Pa!

Your gaze fell upon the three novice little Golden Crows.

"Believe me."

Jiao Ming didn't speak, because there was no need to waste words on a dying person.

"Damn Jiao Ming, what a waste of such imagination!"

……

(End of chapter)