Chapter 616

The old Daoist is truly furious to the extreme, feeling that his bit of painstaking effort is not worth it, right?

From his standpoint, he feels he is not wrong.

But he doesn't understand; he has no right to impose his desires on others.

"Whether it's for me or for yourself, you know best in your heart."

Wang Fuchen was not swayed by the old Daoist's words; he had been waiting for this moment for many years.

Thus, when this moment truly arrived, he was eerily calm.

"Back then, my love tribulation came first, and I also made a choice—I chose Yu Nian. It was you who went to find Yu Nian, turned the situation around, and forcibly made me sever love and affection, and then pushed me into the next stage of life using the incense and merit accumulated over the years at the City God Temple."

"Why did you do this?"

Wang Fuchen coldly said: "Because you want to firmly keep me under your control."

The old Daoist's face was ashen.

"Although the Nether Realm favored me, giving me hope to become the next City God, my cultivation and merit were insufficient at the time. I could have reached that height through my own practice, but your forcible promotion propped me up like an empty pavilion."

"You used this method to let me bypass the love tribulation entirely, and over these years you've maintained everything with a single Heart‑Severing Lock. As soon as its mana wanes, you immediately prop me up with the incense and merit of the City God Temple. Master Uncle, aren't you tired?"

"Over these years you've wandered everywhere, doing countless things, desperately accumulating incense and merit. Besides fearing you can't sustain what's before you, you're also trying to prove something, aren't you?"

After all, it's Wang Fuchen who understands the old Daoist best, knowing exactly where to strike to hit his pain point.

The final question, the old Daoist was indeed provoked, and he roared: "Yes, over these years I've painstakingly achieved all these accomplishments just to prove I'm no worse than Zhu You! Back then you were blind! Casting me out of the sect was your fault!"

"What's so good about Zhu You? He's like a pool of thin mud—can't be helped up a wall, can't be shaped; everything is 'good, good, good,' everything is just let nature take its course. We are Daoists; we don't need his monk‑like enlightenment of sitting in meditation!"

"Don't you find that ridiculous?"

"All these years I've merely been wearing Zhu You's face and name, and you've accepted and acknowledged my achievements—but don't forget, those achievements were all made by Zhu Ming! I really have this ability!"

"Wang Fuchen, you know best how many people have erected steles for me, how many have built temples for me—even that golden statue's count is unknown, and does Zhu You have any?"

The old Daoist's emotions surged until his hands trembled.

These years of suppression bottled up inside, with no one to confide in, erupted completely at this moment.

He was waiting for Wang Fuchen to repent.

Or he wanted to provoke Wang Fuchen and argue his case.

But Wang Fuchen was utterly unmoved; he only lightly said: "Then why, after achieving all this, do you still dare not carve your name even on a tiny palm‑sized shrine?"

The old Daoist opened his mouth, about to say something, but Wang Fuchen cut him off.

"Ask yourself honestly—how much of these achievements came from relying on my master's connections? How much was done by falsely using my title as City God? And how much of the rest was achieved through dishonorable means?"

The old Daoist stared, speechless.

But Wang Fuchen could never let him go, pointing downward and saying: "Not to mention far away, the old man of the Qu clan in Haicheng who should have died forty years ago—do you dare swear to heaven that you didn't use foul means to defy fate and change his destiny?"

"Zhu Ming, your wrongdoings and evil deeds are too numerous to record; the only reason you can stand here unscathed to this day is because of this massive stone—and because of my master!"

When Wang Fuchen landed in the Nineteen Grotto‑Heavens, I withdrew most of the Nirvana fire, but the fire in the massive stone and the Three‑Life Hall was not withdrawn.

All the Unity‑Heart Locks in the Three‑Life Hall were melted into stone chunks, which were then sucked into the massive stone one by one and burned again by the Nirvana fire.

At this point the massive stone had turned completely into a translucent red, like cinnabar spirit bone.

I was finally able to see clearly what lay inside the massive stone.

The massive stone wrapped a person.

That person should be sitting cross‑legged, head bowed, the whole body wrapped in another specially made skin sac, its surface covered with golden runes.

The skin sac clung tightly to the person's body, the chest area still rising and falling; when the space fell silent we could even hear the thump‑thump of the heartbeat.

That heartbeat sound was amplified many times by the hollow massive stone.

Without a doubt, the person cast inside the massive stone is the true Hermit Zhu You.

The one who harmed him was his junior fellow disciple, Zhu Ming.

From Wang Fuchen's earlier words we can learn that Zhu Ming was initially expelled from the sect for some unknown offense.

He refused to accept it, thinking the sect had misjudged him and that Hermit Zhu You was utterly worthless.

Combining what he told me earlier, we can see that after being expelled from the sect, Zhu Ming met an egret, spent years interacting with it, and from the egret he grasped the theory of 'faith'.

When the news spread that Wang Fuchen was likely to become the next City God, Zhu Ming harbored thoughts of killing his way back; he could not tolerate Hermit Zhu You's laissez‑faire attitude toward Wang Fuchen, and he wanted to give Wang Fuchen a push, simultaneously control him, and prove himself.

He packaged himself as another Hermit Zhu You, believing he had succeeded.

But behind this 'success' lay countless dirty deeds—perhaps even Zhu Ming himself could not recall them all, and in the end they could not be covered up.

"Zhu Ming, do you still dare to face my master head‑on?"

Wang Fuchen bluntly asked again.

The old Daoist straightened his back, but his steps unconsciously retreated.

A hand pressed against the old Daoist's back.

The Unity‑Heart Locks were melted, and we suffered no backlash—perhaps because the locks were absorbed by the massive stone.

Liu Junyan stepped forward, not knowing when she had taken position behind the old Daoist.

The old Daoist was quick, instantly darting to the side.

That direction happened to face the massive stone.

Wang Fuchen stood beside the massive stone at that moment, not knowing what he had done, and the hollow stone completely melted, revealing the skin sac inside.

Wang Fuchen tore open the skin sac right in front of Zhu Ming.

Instantly a foul stench blew over; I immediately covered my nose and mouth and retreated.

The skin sac was torn completely open, exposing a desiccated corpse inside.

The corpse's facial skin was peeled away, leaving dried flesh clinging tightly to the bones, the bones propped up, looking somewhat terrifying.

The corpse's body was covered with large and small black livor mortis spots.

No, those are not livor mortis spots.

Ordinary people looking at it would indeed think it's livor mortis, but cultivators who examine it closely will discover that it is the injury left on the flesh body after repeatedly suffering Heavenly Punishment, layered upon each other, forming an indelible mark……