Chapter 247: Fuguang, You Finally Became Ying Wujiu

Chapter 247: Fuguang, You Finally Became Ying Wujiu

In the depths of winter, the Cangyuan Sea was frozen for miles.

At this moment, Tan Yue, as the head of the world's top sect, was already at the pinnacle of glory. Yet, when he saw Yin Chan stumbling through the snow to deliver news to Ying Wujiu, his fingertips still dug into his flesh uncontrollably, and his eyes darkened with gloom.

"Junior Brother, why won't you just die..."

He appeared on the mountain path, muttering softly with utter bewilderment, then stepped onto the stone steps and commanded Yin Chan, "Come here, let’s go home."

Yin Chan looked at his gentle face but felt her entire body trembling in fear. She couldn’t help covering her mouth, suppressing the urge to vomit, tears welling up in her eyes. "No, don't come closer... don't come closer..."

This person was clearly a devil!

Whenever Yin Chan thought about the gruesome sight of the disciples' mutilated bodies on the back mountain, she felt a surge of nausea. Shaking, she picked up her long sword, her voice filled with hatred. "What did Sixth Senior Brother ever do to you that you would harm him like this?!"

Tan Yue spoke in a low, somber tone. "He didn’t wrong me; it’s just that only with his death can I be at ease."

Tan Yue's cultivation had long reached unfathomable depths. With a mere flick of his finger, he sent Yin Chan's sword flying. Red light flashed in his eyes, his aura murky—a clear sign of demonic possession. It turned out that the one who practiced the demonic arts all those years ago wasn’t Ying Wujiu, but him!

"Very well, since you refuse, I’ll kill him first and then we’ll go together."

Yin Chan reached out in horror to stop him, but Tan Yue had already flown up to engage Ying Wujiu in battle. The ice on the Cangyuan Sea shattered under their sword qi, causing the earth to quake and the sky to fill with swirling snow, centered around them, forming an increasingly deep vortex.

Fuguang, who had no inner demons, fell from grace the moment he was framed and vilified by the world. These two geniuses, both burdened with inner demons, clashed in a terrifying display that only those who witnessed it could truly understand.

Fuguang fought desperately, disregarding the damage to his foundation, determined to bring down Tan Yue even if it meant his own demise. His sword qi cut through the air, causing the surrounding mountains and forests to collapse, shaking the very heavens.

Tan Yue closed his eyes and chanted, conjuring a duplicate of himself. While he battled Ying Wujiu, the duplicate appeared behind him, swinging its sword viciously towards Ying Wujiu!

"Don't—!!"

A piercing scream echoed as Yin Chan, driven by unknown courage, flew forward to shield Ying Wujiu, sacrificing herself to block the fatal blow. However, her cultivation was not yet complete, and she couldn’t withstand the impact. Blood gushed out, and cracks appeared in her body, glowing with spiritual light—a sign that her soul was about to disintegrate!

"Yin Chan!!!"

"Yin Chan!!!"

Two voices cried out in shock simultaneously. Tan Yue withdrew from the fight to catch Yin Chan’s body, trying to use his spiritual energy to revive her. But the force of the blow was too great, and he could only watch helplessly as Yin Chan’s body became increasingly ethereal, sinking slowly into the icy waters of the Cangyuan Sea.

Looking at Tan Yue’s pale, panicked face, Yin Chan silently moved her lips, as if trying to say something: "Why... why..."

Second Senior Brother, why?

They used to practice swords together, slay demons together, and gain fame together. Why did things have to end this way?

Unfortunately, she couldn’t finish her thoughts. Her body grew lighter and more insubstantial, eventually dispersing into a golden glow, swallowed by the cold, dark sea, vanishing forever from the world.

Yin Chan never imagined that Tan Yue’s inner demon stemmed from her.

After all, in her memory, Tan Yue was always cold, neither smiling at her nor playing with her. He would get angry seeing her and Sixth Senior Brother causing trouble across the mountains. There were many beautiful fairy maidens among the ten sects and eight schools who liked Tan Yue.

And she, with only slightly better talent than ordinary people and plain looks, thought that Second Senior Brother probably didn’t like her.

Yin Chan regretted not noticing Tan Yue’s strange behavior earlier, allowing him to make one mistake after another, leading to this point.

As her consciousness faded, her last thought was: If only she hadn’t carried Second Senior Brother out of the Yellow Sand Illusion, it would have been better if Third or Fourth Senior Brother had done it...

"If she hadn’t risked her life to carry Tan Yue out of the Yellow Sand Illusion, perhaps he wouldn’t have fallen for her and wouldn’t have harbored jealousy towards Ying Wujiu. But the twists and turns of fate are all entangled karma. Even if Tan Yue didn’t become possessed over this, he would have over something else, tragically costing a good woman her life."

Xi Nian stood atop a peak, commenting thus.

The wind and snow intensified, the cold seeping into the bone marrow, but Lu Yan’s face was ghastly pale. The various sects, led by Tan Yue, had already attacked the demonic realm. Fuguang, alone, couldn’t match the combined strength of so many experts and was forced back, his clothes soaked in blood.

Finally, the ten sect leaders trapped Ying Wujiu in a web of heavenly nets. Jin Wumu, the Scholar of the Holy Brush, severed his right arm, while the Master of Shenji Palace declared that Fuguang, a rare demonic star, needed to cleanse his sins in the world’s hottest place to be reborn. Thus, the Buddhist master Jiunan took the barely alive Fuguang to the White Bone Sword Furnace, igniting the red lotus flames, hoping to “help” him burn away his sins.

Lu Yan watched this scene, his eyes bloodshot with rage. He rushed forward, but Xi Nian’s grip tightened on his shoulder, almost breaking the bone, as a dark stain of blood spread.

"Lu Yan, I’ve warned you. You cannot change his fate, or I will immediately terminate this time travel."

Xi Nian’s voice carried a stern warning.

Lu Yan, his eyes red, turned to look at him. "I just want to see him one last time!"

Veins bulged on his forehead as he struggled to contain his emotions, his voice suddenly softening. "Just one last time, to say a few words. Can I?"

Xi Nian sighed, feeling a pang of sympathy. With a wave of his sleeve, the surroundings transformed into a pit filled with white bones, with rolling clouds above and raging fires below. At the center stood a towering copper White Bone Sword Furnace, riddled with circular holes.

Through these holes, one could glimpse the fiery red interior, the intense heat scorching the ground black and cracking it, reducing the bones to dust.

Lu Yan couldn’t help approaching, touching the scalding edge of the furnace. Snow from the Cangyuan Sea melted silently on his shoulder, his voice hoarse and low:

"Fuguang...?"

It had been seven hundred years.

The White Bone Sword Furnace remained silent, save for the crackling sounds of burning. The nauseating smell of charred flesh made one doubt whether Ying Wujiu had already been consumed by the infernal flames.

Lu Yan called again, softer: "Fuguang..."

"Bang—!"

Suddenly, a loud noise came from the furnace, as if a beast was angrily slamming inside. Through one of the holes, Lu Yan unexpectedly met a pair of terrifying, blood-red eyes, cold and ghostly.

"Hush, it’s noisy."

The person’s tone was surprisingly gentle,

"Shout again, and I'll drag you in here to be annihilated into ashes."

With a hint of chilling cruelty.

Lu Yan remained silent, gripping the edge of the sword furnace tightly. The flesh on his palm was scorched by the heat, emitting wisps of white smoke. While being relentlessly eroded by flames, it was also being frantically repaired by the energy within him, leaving only an eternal pain piercing his heart.

The pair of blood-red eyes in the sword furnace suddenly said:

"I remember you."

Lu Yan tried to smile but failed: "Really?"

"You guessed right; I regret it."

Those blood-red eyes approached the round hole, looking terrifyingly ominous, filled with a storm of hatred that sent chills down one's spine. Yet, their tone was light and damp, like a dense drizzle, softly saying:

"When I get out, they will all die."

Each word was repeated deliberately:

"Everyone will die."

Lu Yan closed his eyes and nodded silently: "Fuguang, they will all die."

The blood-red eyes spoke coldly: "Fuguang is already dead; that name belongs to the dead."

Lu Yan whispered: "Then let me give you a new name, Wujiu, Ying Wujiu, how about it?"

Wujiu means 'no fault,' as he should never have borne any blame for his life.

Those blood-red eyes stared at Lu Yan silently, neither agreeing nor disagreeing. After a long moment, they asked in a simple tone: "Do you know that I'm in great pain in here?"

Lu Yan's Adam's apple moved silently: "I know..."

"Seven hundred years ago, after you rescued me from the illusion of the Yellow Sand, you left. Actually, at that time, I wanted to be friends with you. If you had waited for me to wake up, I would have gone with you, traveling through famous mountains and rivers together."

But Ying Wujiu didn't know that it was just a twist of fate.

In the near future, he would use the Heart Core to be reborn and seek revenge against those from back then. However, he still couldn't overcome the destiny of the chosen one and died in despair under Tan Yue's sword, along with several protectors who perished in the battle between immortals and demons.

Only Feng Sha survived, eventually retreating far into the Southern Mountains to guard Ying Wujiu's tomb for a thousand years.

This span of time was too long, gradually becoming unsustainable even for Xi Nian. Lu Yan watched helplessly as the surrounding scenery corroded away like sand, dissipating into the air, until a strong scent of blood and scorching heat rushed towards them—

They returned to the initial Red Lotus Illusion.

Lu Yan held Ying Wujiu's blood-soaked corpse, the dark heart still heavy and warm in his palm. He lowered his head in a daze, then slowly pressed his face against Ying Wujiu's, not knowing what he wanted to feel.

"I'm sorry..."

Lu Yan apologized softly,

"I still couldn't save you."

Xi Nian, holding the remaining fragments of the soul, slowly walked up to Lu Yan: "Lu Yan, let's go back to the space station."

Ying Wujiu was dead, and the illusion he created was about to collapse.

Lu Yan didn't answer, asking after a while: "...Are Shi Kui and the others still alive?"

Xi Nian replied: "They're still alive."

Lu Yan: "Go out first. I'll clean the blood off him and hand him over to Shi Kui for a proper burial."

He might have some words to say to Ying Wujiu, even though he was dead. Seeing this, Xi Nian didn't linger and left the illusion tactfully.

Outside, the martial arts platform was already in ruins, with damaged formations, cracked tiles, and bodies strewn everywhere. Suddenly, a torrential rain fell, washing away the blood, creating a continuous stream like a red river.

Shi Kui, Shui Mei, Tang Su, Feng Sha, and Lei Nu were all injured but still stood on the platform, staring intently at the black vortex in the sky, hoping Ying Wujiu would emerge from it.

After an unknown amount of time, a figure finally walked out of the illusion, carrying a bloodied person—clearly Ying Wujiu. Feng Sha and the others were shocked and ran forward:

"Lord!"

"Lord, are you alright?!"

"Steward Lu, what happened to Lord?!"

Lu Yan didn't answer, silently handing Ying Wujiu's body to Shi Kui. Facing the other's shocked expression, he whispered:

"Take good care of him. I may need to leave here."

That corpse, which had been dead for a long time, showed no signs of decay. Instead, a faint blue glow could be seen moving inside, slowly repairing the damaged meridians and organs.

Everyone was stunned, not understanding why Lu Yan would say such things. Only Feng Sha, without a care, tilted his head curiously and asked: "Why? How long will you be gone?"

Lu Yan smiled: "Maybe a thousand years, maybe ten thousand years. Who can say?"

He then took out a pill from his robe and threw it to Tang Su: "The antidote for the Corpse Centipede Pill. I almost forgot."

Tang Su hesitated, wanting to say something, but saw Lu Yan already turning and walking down the martial arts platform into the forest. His blood-stained white robe gradually disappeared into the rain and mist.

Feng Sha, in his original form, scratched the ground anxiously and shouted:

"Hey! Lu Yan! A thousand years is too long!! You'll worry Lord if you're gone so long!"

After all, mortals live for only a hundred years.

Cultivators who attain the Dao can barely live for a thousand years. As for ten thousand years... In this world where immortality has vanished, no one can live that long.

It was a pity that Lu Qian could no longer respond. He and Xi Nian had returned to the space station base with several fragments of his heart, along with a heart core that had been transformed into an actual heart.

At that moment, the Administrator stood before a fully transparent floor-to-ceiling window, gazing at the boundless universe beyond. There were three thousand worlds, countless planets, and countless stories. She did not turn around; her chestnut curls gently danced in the air. Her voice was clear yet gentle, as if filled with infinite tolerance:

"Lu Qian, Xi Nian, you found the heart fragments, didn't you?"

For some reason, Lu Qian was unusually silent and stiff. Xi Nian stepped forward, opening his right hand to present the heart fragments and the heart: "Administrator, we have gathered all the fragments. However, the heart core accidentally ended up inside a human and became a heart."

Upon hearing this, the Administrator finally turned around. She slowly extended her slender, pale fingers, receiving the dark purple heart into her palm. After examining it for a moment, she uttered a low murmur of surprise:

"Hmm? A heart with its own consciousness?"

She shook her head slightly and sighed, "Unfortunately, it has been too deeply tainted by hatred, making it impossible to cleanse."

The Administrator lightly waved her hand, and the heart floated upward. She walked to Lu Qian, the sound of her heels crisp and slow, and after observing him for a moment, suddenly asked:

"Lu Qian, where is your heart?"

Lu Qian's body lacked a beating heart.

The Administrator's voice was low as she asked again, more seriously:

"Lu Qian, to whom did you give your heart?"