The river of stars receded as time lost its meaning. Li Qingshan could not even distinguish a second from a day now. Instead, the joy Gu Yanying experienced never dispersed, which sure did make him admire her… madness a little.
This woman only behaves like a regular person. So much for having lived two lives, even I was almost fooled by her.
Their spiritual qi rapidly dispersed. It declined at first; then it became feeble before almost running out.
Death grew closer with each step. The endless river of stars seemed to become some kind of concept of obscurity, preventing anyone from developing any actual fear, but a much deeper emptiness welled up in their hearts.
Perhaps Gu Yanying was right, but when the feather of the kunpeng searched for a place to pass on its legacy, it probably had not considered the fates of the two insects perched on its wings.
“It wouldn’t be a waste of this life to die here before such a grand sight, but I still refuse to accept it!”
“Qingshan, don’t worry. This is a test.” Gu Yanying communicated, except the joy in her voice had only increased compared to before.
“Really?”
Li Qingshan noticed that while she had become very feeble as well, her condition was slightly better than his. The difference between their strength was not particularly large, but it was not exactly small either. She should have been much more feeble unless there was some other fortuitous factor involved.
The fortuitous factor was probably the kunpeng’s feather.
“I can sense it. It likes me!”
Gu Yanying did not try to hide her complacency at all. As if their bearings conformed in some sort of way, she could sense that the kunpeng’s feather had recognised her and established a slight connection. Although she had yet to obtain the legacy, she was confident that she would definitely make it even further as long as she had ample time.
“Hopefully, it doesn’t ‘like you to death’.” Li Qingshan made an unfunny joke.
“Haha, my heart resides high up in the heavens, so I’ll definitely rise up swiftly. How can I die in a place like this!” Gu Yanying was in high spirits and was filled with confidence.
Li Qingshan rolled his eyes, but he also found that to be slightly familiar.
Bang! The sky full of stars dispersed. It felt like they had collided against something extremely tough, only to pierce it instantly. The kunpeng conjured by the feather vanished, and an entire world filled their faces!
Li Qingshan was overjoyed. Right when he tried to absorb the spiritual qi and unleash his innate abilities, he suddenly felt the entire world wrap around him. Invisible shackles extended into his soul, pinning him down firmly.
Suddenly, he recalled the laws of the worlds. “Oh no!”
Boom!
With an earth-shattering rumble, all plunged into darkness.
After who knew how long, Li Qingshan woke up slowly. The stars shone between the tall-standing mountains. He had finally stopped somewhere. He tried to stand up, but he felt his entire body ache. He was immobilised. Who knew how many bones had been shattered. Probably even his meridians and muscles were severely damaged.
In his arms was a warm body. Gu Yanying lay on his chest, unable to move, but she was clearly much better off compared to his horrible shape. Apart from her hair being a little messy, even her clothes remained mostly clean. She was so silent that she seemed to have fallen asleep. What angered him even more was her lips had actually curled into a smile. Clearly, the kunpeng’s feather had protected her.
Li Qingshan let out a sigh of relief, but even something as small as that made his body shudder, so he just lay there quietly and waited for his wounds to heal.
However, he discovered immediately that his injuries did not heal very quickly. He could not use any innate ability, let alone anything else. Even the spiritual qi of the world rejected him. There was clearly nothing around him, yet he could clearly sense a deep and tremendous sense of hostility. This was hostility from the entire world!
Right as he tried to gather his thoughts and understand his current predicament, he began experiencing a pain thousands of times worse than the pain he currently felt from Gu Yanying. He was not unfamiliar with this pain. It was the Hot Wind hell.
Sure enough, the pain of hell followed her like a shadow. Having left outer space, the hot winds began to surge again.
Gu Yanying furrowed her brows, and her eyelashes trembled. She opened her bright eyes and smiled. “Morning!”
“Would you mind getting off me?” Li Qingshan asked.
“What, you’re injured?” Gu Yanying had no intentions of obliging.
“Clearly.”
“Very good then.” Gu Yanying smiled resplendently. “I will take care of you, as I’m completely unscathed!” She leapt up gracefully, and the soil beneath her feet suddenly sank, making her lose her footing. Then her head planted into the ground and happened to strike a rock, producing a thump.
“Hahahaha!” Despite all the pain, Li Qingshan began laughing aloud. When had he ever seen her suffer so much?
“I understand!” Gu Yanying sat up. She had gone from being clean to all dusty and dirty just like that.
“What have you understood?”
“This is a small world!”
“Tsk, I knew that already.”
“Then do you know why I fell over?” Gu Yanying said as blood trickled down her head.
“Pft, because our power has been restrained by the world! Though, we’re still quite lucky. This world is small enough. Not only is it lacking in power, but its will is extremely weak too. It’s probably related to the fact that we used up all of our power in outer space as well, or we’ll probably be rained on by lightning right now, leading to our deaths. Hey, you better bandage your head, or it’ll be hilarious if you died from blood loss.”
“You’re completely correct, but this isn’t luck. From now onwards, we have absolutely no luck to speak of!”
Gu Yanying tried to rip off her sleeve, but her arcane treasure robes were far too tough. Even if the world could suppress all of its powers, the material itself was not something she could cut through. She thought of an idea and grabbed the kunpeng’s feather, scoring along her sleeve gently and removing a long piece of white cloth. She cleaned away the blood on her face before bandaging her head.
“You look like your father just died,” Li Qingshan commented.
“If my father were in this world, then he’d probably actually die because of me, given he was a mortal. I’m aware my power is restrained. I was a little complacent earlier, but I still checked under my feet. Though, when I stepped down, there just happened to be a hole. When I tried to adjust my posture, my head just happened to hit a rock, and it was even buried under the soil. Don’t you find this to be far too much of a coincidence? It’s basically a flawless trap by nature.”
“In other words, the world doesn’t have the ability to directly wipe us out, but it’s trying very hard to, so we’re very unlucky?” Li Qingshan came to an understanding and brightened up. “Now, let me give you a nickname—the jinx from hell!”
Gu Yanying fell silent for a moment. “That’s kind of dry.”
“Look. Your Hot Wind hell is still at work, and you’re also such an unlucky jinx…”
“Please don’t say anything more, or I’m going to die of thirst from how dry your jokes are.” Gu Yanying covered his mouth. “You don’t seem too happy.”
“Do you think I should be happy? You’ve won your gamble, and you’ve won big, but I only feel more like I shouldn’t have come!” Li Qingshan gazed at the stars with his pitch-black pupils. He actually seemed slightly depressed.
“You should be happy, but because you’ve already developed attachments, you can’t be happy,” Gu Yanying rubbed his forehead, blocking his gaze with her face.
Li Qingshan sank into his thoughts. He had once abandoned Crouching Ox village without the slightest hesitation and sworn that he would never return. Was he really more attached to the nine provinces right now than a Crouching Ox village back then?
He had once decided to visit places he had never been, see sights he had never seen, and conquer the strongest enemies. This place was not as high up and distant as the nine heavens, but was it not an entirely new world? The enemy he had to face were the “heavens” on top of that.
Even if he was heavily injured, he should be beginning a new adventure in great spirits and enthusiasm, not reminiscing about the nine provinces.
“I know I can’t replace Xiao An’s position in your heart, nor do I plan on replacing her, but I will do my best to help you until the day you reunite again. That is the solemn oath I’ve sworn!”
“You sly woman, do you really think I can’t tell what you’re getting at?”
The solemn oath seemed like nothing. As a matter of fact, it could be considered as “poisonous” to her. This was not as simple as rolling around in bed with him, but changing her path, establishing an oath and becoming his cultivation partner.
However, that was equivalent to giving up on searching for Xiao An to him, letting her replace Xiao An. How was that possible?
“Heh, so you’ve noticed! Though, you should be able to understand me. If you have too many attachments, you won’t be able to advance ahead boldly!”
Gu Yanying grabbed Li Qingshan’s arms and lifted him up, carrying him on her back. She climbed out of the pit carefully and arduously.
Li Qingshan was left momentarily speechless. He was very tempted to make a hot-blooded declaration like “it’s exactly because of my attachments that I advance ahead boldly”, but he understood very well inside that his relentless advance was not because of anyone.
Brother ox was obviously aware of this, and Xiao An knew about it very well too. That was why he continued onwards despite forgetting about everything in the Clam King of Mirage Sea’s illusion.
Was his marriage to Han Qiongzhi, his friendship with the Great Banyan Tree King, and his fatherhood to Li Fengyuan not a form of attachment?
He let out a sigh. “A heartless, unfeeling person like you sure is annoying.”
“Hah, right back at you. Sigh, you’re too heavy. You weigh like a mountain!”
Gu Yanying’s forehead was laced with sweat as she gasped for air. She glanced back, hinting at something.
“Even the Hot Wind hell is useless?” Li Qingshan asked.
“Yeah, all that remains is the torture.” Gu Yanying climbed out of the pit after great difficulty, placing him on the ground gently. Her hands were covered in blood as she frowned. “We need to find a way to heal your wounds, or they’ll probably rapidly worsen. We’re not particularly welcome in this world!”
Before she had even finished what she was saying, a muffled rumble rang out in the valley. Cracks rapidly stretched across the cliffs on the two sides.
“Erm…”
This could be written off as a result of the collision earlier, but they could clearly sense the existence of the will of the heavens from this, and it was teeming with malice.
Boom!
The entire cliff collapsed. The rocks turned into a flood, surging into the valley.
“Looks like I’ve still lost the gamble in the end!”
Gu Yanying smiled wryly. In their current state, only death awaited them if they were swallowed by all the rocks.
“You’re not going to run?” Li Qingshan gazed at a flat area between the mountains nearby.
“Forget about that. We might not be born on the same day, but let’s die on the same day together.”
Gu Yanying shook her head helplessly and plonked down beside him. She gazed at the incoming clouds of dust, but she showed no regret at all.
“At least you still have some conscience to you!”
