Chapter 3564: The Liar Is Someone Else

In this world, no one understands Wu Feiyan better than Lin Waner.

This woman is what people now call a hyper-masculine type, full of malice toward people and the world, with everything centered on her own interests.

When her father rejected her advances years ago, she immediately struck to kill without hesitation, proving she had already prepared herself before confessing to him—if he agreed, they would be a divine couple; if not, she would kill him on the spot and seize the elixir and ring for herself.

The speed with which her love turns to hatred lies entirely in a single thought of hers.

Such people have never been few throughout history, and even in modern civilized society, there are some like Wu Feiyan who are selfish and self-serving, turning to murder when their love is unrequited.

Therefore, if Wu Feiyan feels her next five hundred years of yang lifespan are gone, given her nature, she will surely drag others down with her in a desperate struggle, though it remains unknown how many she would take with her.

Now, the only one who might have a chance to eliminate her is Ye Chen; if his cultivation remains stagnant or progresses too slowly, then perhaps no one will be able to deal with her anymore.

Having reached this thought, Lin Waner let out a soft sigh and said with feeling: "Objectively speaking, Lady Ye's family will indeed bring great burdens to the Young Master, and now is truly the time to set aside romantic entanglements."

An Chengxi saw Lin Waner supporting his view, and his expression instantly relaxed somewhat as he smiled: "Junior paying respects to Senior, I came seeking you, and I thought you were here to help Chen'er find Xiao Churan—fortunately, we have reached agreement on this matter."

Lin Waner nodded slightly and said: "I, a humble woman, came here mainly to learn who is behind the Young Master, orchestrating everything; now that the truth is clear, I can rest easy."

Speaking, she paused briefly, then continued: "I dare not linger too long, lest the Young Master notice my whereabouts; I will return shortly, and before I go, I still have one question for Lady Ye."

An Chengxi looked at her and asked: "Senior must be wondering about the details concerning Meng Changsheng of the Hundred Thousand Great Mountains, right?"

Lin Waner's eyes flickered as she smiled and said: "Communicating with Lady Ye is truly effortless and reassuring."

Many questions, Lin Waner had already resolved the moment she saw An Chengxi.

Yet she still did not know why An Chengxi arranged for that false nun to block her and Ye Chen outside the Hundred Thousand Great Mountains, and even warned of great danger within.

From the heart, Lin Waner has always longed for and revered Meng Changsheng, for he was her father's benefactor and most respected person, and she had never heard her father speak ill of Ancestor Meng Changsheng.

Thus, she could not understand why An Chengxi was so wary of the Ancestor.

Moreover, she did not know whether the Ancestor was dead or alive.

An Chengxi wanted to speak, but in his peripheral vision he saw the Void Hidden Dharma Master sitting cross-legged nearby, respectful and silent, and he hesitated for a moment.

Lin Waner noticed her gaze observing the Void Hidden one, and said: "Zhengping is my adopted son, upright in character and of excellent virtue; Lady, you may rest assured."

An Chengxi nodded, pondered for a moment, and spoke in a startling manner: "I suspect that everything happening to Chen'er now is the result of a scheme laid by Meng Changsheng over hundreds of years—the earliest being the Preface to the Nine Mysteries Scripture and the Nine Mysteries Heaven Scripture, which he deliberately caused to enter the mundane world; the mission of the Preface to the Nine Mysteries Scripture is to find those with the Dragon Pattern, guide them in cultivation and enlightenment, then lure them to voluntarily surrender their Dragon Pattern to their offspring, stacking to produce one with the Ascending Dragon fate, while the Nine Mysteries Heaven Scripture is prepared for the Ascending Dragon fate, to refine it into what Meng Changsheng needs, and then lure it to the Hundred Thousand Great Mountains..."

Saying this, An Chengxi's expression turned solemn as he said: "I believe Meng Changsheng has exhausted his mind in planning all this, for the purpose of seizing a body and renewing cultivation! To extend his yang lifespan!"

"Seizing a body and renewing cultivation..." Lin Waner frowned and said: "I have only heard of such things, but they are mere rumors without substantial evidence."

An Chengxi said: "I learned this by chance—after Chen'er began cultivating the Nine Mysteries Heaven Scripture, I sought opportunities to help him and once went to the Hundred Thousand Great Mountains, hoping to find Meng Changsheng's former retreat where he closed off to cultivate, but instead, in the Hundred Thousand Great Mountains, I encountered a Daoist priest of the same age as the Void Hidden Dharma Master, who suddenly appeared, blocked my path, and told me that going further ahead would lead to the Blood Lake Hell."

"Blood Lake Hell?" Lin Waner blurted: "The Daoist concept of Blood Lake Hell should merely be a legend like the Eighteen Levels of Hell! How could it exist in the Hundred Thousand Great Mountains?"

An Chengxi explained: "The Daoist Blood Lake Hell is a hell formed by the gathered resentful souls of those who died wrongfully or burdened with sin; the Daoist priest said this place is a Blood Lake Hell because, as Daoism describes, many have died there in vain, and he said that deep in the Hundred Thousand Great Mountains lies a formation forged from countless human sacrifices, still operating to this day, with evil cultivators surely shedding their mortal bodies within it."

"Shedding the mortal body..." Lin Waner murmured: "I have heard that shedding the mortal body is what happens when a cultivator fails their tribulation, discarding the flesh while retaining the primordial spirit—so this... must be the legendary path of the scattered immortals!"

"Exactly." An Chengxi nodded heavily and continued: "That Daoist priest also said it is the path of the scattered immortals."

Lin Waner wondered: "But that shouldn't be right... it is said that only cultivators at the Tribulation Crossing stage can, at the moment of failure, shed their mortal body and become scattered immortals; others have no such possibility—once their lifespan ends, their soul and spirit scatter and vanish! Ancestor Meng Changsheng's cultivation never even broke through a thousand years of yang lifespan, let alone reached the Tribulation Crossing stage—how could he have the ability to shed his mortal body and become a scattered immortal?"

An Chengxi sighed: "This is the most terrifying part—that Daoist priest himself is a cultivator, and he told me that any cultivator's primordial spirit, upon natural death, will dissipate like smoke; yet the evil cultivators in that formation can still shed their mortal bodies despite insufficient power, because before death they used countless lives in the Hundred Thousand Great Mountains to replicate, per Daoist legend, a Blood Lake Hell, which has already transcended the Five Phases and Three Realms, deceiving the Heavenly Dao!"

"If there truly is a purgatory in this world, then he is equivalent to having forged his own purgatory in the mortal realm—the Heavenly Dao thinks it is part of hell, hell thinks it is part of the mortal realm, and that slaughterous evil cultivator can shed his mortal body here without heavenly retribution."

Saying this, An Chengxi looked at Lin Waner and asked seriously: "To be able to kill countless people in the Hundred Thousand Great Mountains must have happened in ancient times, and since Meng Changsheng secluded himself there for many years, he is naturally the prime suspect; moreover, Meng Changsheng happened to live a thousand years, and given his obsession with longevity, the one most likely to have done this is him."

Lin Waner shook her head: "But... my father said Ancestor Meng Changsheng passed away naturally at the end of his one-thousand-year yang lifespan, and before death he gave him and Wu Feiyan each a Ten-Thousand-Year Evergreen Pill; my father and Wu Feiyan handled his affairs, and just as they were about to leave the mountain, Wu Feiyan struck my father—by then Ancestor Meng Changsheng had already passed naturally, so if he were that evil cultivator, it would contradict what my father said, and my father told me all this before his death—surely he would not lie."

An Chengxi sighed: "Senior, your father did not lie—the liar is Meng Changsheng."