Before Shen Gurong embarked on his path to immortality, Xi Guxing had asked him why, knowing the difficulty of entering the Dao as a mortal, he still chose this path.
Shen Gurong stared blankly at him, coldly asking, "Did I have a choice?"
If he had any other choice, he wouldn't have chosen this path, which might lead to hell.
Shen Gurong had been pampered since childhood, spoiled by his parents and brothers. Even a small scrape on his hand would bring tears to his eyes. He was so afraid of pain; how could he possibly intentionally seek out suffering?
Xi Guxing stared at his unfocused eyes for a long time, then suddenly grasped his wrist, saying in a deep voice, "I can help you kill Li Genglan. You don't need to humiliate yourself like this."
Shen Gurong said woodenly, "He's your senior brother."
Xi Guxing said coldly, "He did such despicable things; he's no longer the senior brother I know."
Shen Gurong remained silent.
"Eleventh." Seeing his unmoved expression, Xi Guxing finally grew impatient. "It's too difficult for a mortal to enter the Dao. Very few have succeeded throughout the history of the Three Realms, let alone someone as weak as you. You simply can't withstand a single baptism of marrow cleansing."
Shen Gurong said coldly, "If I can't withstand it, I'll die."
Xi Guxing: "You!"
He took a deep breath, trying to remain calm, lest he be driven mad by Shen Eleven: "You just stay put. Li Genglan came from Liren Peak. Killing him is the same as cleaning up as a sect."
Shen Gurong still said, "I want to kill him with my own hands. You are not allowed to do it."
Xi Guxing: "Shen Eleven!"
Xi Guxing was almost driven mad with anger. He was still racking his brains for a way to persuade him when he heard Shen Gurong say, "He stole my bamboo flute. I want to get it back myself."
Xi Guxing was incredulous: "Just for the bamboo flute?"
Shen Gurong no longer trusted anyone, not even Xi Guxing, who had told him that the bamboo flute was a divine artifact.
He lowered his eyes and said softly, "There are still so many years until Master's reincarnation. My only hope in life is to kill Li Genglan with my own hands. If he dies at your hands, are you going to make me live the rest of my life filled with resentment and regret?"
Xi Guxing was taken aback.
"This mortal body of mine won't live past a hundred years." Shen Gurong took a deep breath, looked up at the bright moon in the sky, and murmured, "I will live to wait for him."
As if making a promise to someone, he whispered, "I won't die so easily." Master had gone to great lengths to save him; he wouldn't die silently and meaninglessly.
Shen Gurong didn't want anyone on Liren Peak to attack Li Genglan, and he forbade them all to interfere in his affairs. He felt as if he were carrying heavy shackles in this world; the burdens of Mu Feng Xue and Record of the Capital weighed heavily on his frail shoulders, forcing him to be independent and rely on himself.
"You must learn how to survive on your own."
In the end, he successfully entered the Dao, achieving a level of cultivation that ordinary cultivators couldn't reach in half a lifetime, despite his mortal body.
Shen Gurong never did anything without certainty. Even after entering the Dao and reaching the Nascent Soul stage, he didn't rush to find Li Genglan.
He seemed to genuinely consider killing Li Genglan his only hope for the rest of his life, and he even enjoyed the process.
Shen Gurong remained calm and collected, forcibly pushing his cultivation to the Great Ascension stage using countless potent elixirs. He single-handedly slayed countless demonic cultivators with his sword, but the cultivation he gained using spiritual elixirs could only ever reach the Great Ascension stage in his lifetime.
The people of the Three Realms praised him as a half-step saint, unaware of how he actually achieved this.
During the Great Ascension stage tribulation, Shen Gurong was nearly reduced to ashes by the Heavenly Dao. His meridians were severely damaged. After successfully entering the Great Ascension stage, he endured five years of endless torment, barely able to hold a sword.
If Li Nanyang hadn't used a protective barrier to keep him alive, he would most likely have already perished from the dissipation of his spiritual power.
After recuperating for five years and stabilizing his cultivation, Shen Gurong, carrying Lin Xia Chun, stormed into Xianzhou.
Back then, Xianzhou didn't have such a poisonous fog formation. Shen Gurong, with Lin Xia Chun, mercilessly slaughtered all the demonic cultivators who tried to stop him. The overwhelming killing intent unleashed the inner demons that had accumulated over decades.
The inner demons ravaged his consciousness, but Shen Gurong forcefully suppressed them. His mind was possessed by the inner demons, yet he remained lucid, coldly using Lin Xia Chun to scrape countless pieces of flesh from Li Genglan's body.
Li Genglan's tendons in his feet and hands were all severed, blood flowing everywhere, his screams echoing throughout Xianzhou.
Shen Gurong seemed to hear nothing, gently slicing flesh from the blood-soaked body.
Lin Xia Chun, having absorbed enough blood, glowed with a crimson light.
Li Genglan, his face covered in blood, glared ferociously at Shen Gurong, hissing, "You dare?! Ah—"
"What wouldn't I dare?" A streak of blood on Shen Gurong's cheek was gently wiped away with his fingertip. He sniffed it lightly, tilted his head, and smiled, a smile both eerie and alluring. "Your blood, why does it smell so foul?"
Li Genglan: "You—"
A drop of blood also fell onto Shen Gurong's silk handkerchief. He grabbed Li Genglan by the neck, smiling gently, and said, "Have you seen your own ending in the Records of the Capital?"
Li Genglan stared intently at him.
“Oh right, I forgot.” Shen Gurong wiped the blood from his face with a finger, his eyes crinkling into a smile as he softly said, “The Record of the Capital is sealed now; even if you get it, you can’t open it.”
Li Genglan asked with difficulty, “What did you…do to the Record of the Capital?”
Shen Gurong didn’t answer his question, but instead smiled radiantly, his eyes beneath his icy facade now bloodshot.
“How laughable. You’ve schemed for so many years, failing to return to Huitang City to fight the plague demon, and now the Record of the Capital is sealed.” Shen Gurong said with a laugh, “Li Genglan, you’ve truly failed completely. What’s even more laughable is that you don’t even know how you failed.”
Li Genglan felt his throat being gripped, his demonic eyes glaring at him with resentment.
"Back then, I had Li Nanyang let you leave Liren Peak so I could kill you with my own hands to avenge myself. I thought you'd have improved by now, but I didn't expect you to be the same as before." Shen Gurong approached him, his eyes filled with coldness. "Killing you would only dirty my hands."
Although Shen Gurong spoke of dirtying his hands, he used the Lin Xia Chun Sword to slash Li Genglan over six hundred times.
Finally, Lin Xia Chun sensed that Shen Gurong was showing signs of demonic possession. He struggled to break free from his grasp, transforming into human form, covered in blood, and said, "Master, that's enough."
Shen Gurong's blue robes were now stained crimson. He gripped Li Genglan, who was half-dead, and tilted his head, "Enough? Only half? How can that be enough?"
Lin Xia Chun hesitated for a moment before stammering, "You're about to become a demon."
Shen Gurong scoffed, "No."
Lin Xia Chun looked at his palm; a faint demonic aura was slowly seeping from between his fingers. He wasn't usually talkative, but he still insisted on saying a few more words: "You shouldn't become a demon because of someone like this."
Shen Gurong's eyes instantly turned icy. He said in a deep voice, "Don't interfere in my affairs."
Lin Xia Chun then shut his mouth and obediently transformed into a sword.
"If only I hadn't regained my senses."
"Ah, he's so filthy."
"But the blood on his body is good."
With each scratch, Shen Gurong's demonic energy intensified.
Finally, Li Nanyang arrived just in time. He stared at the gruesome scene for a long time before rushing forward and dragging Shen Gurong from the pool of blood.
Shen Gurong held Lin Xia Chun in his hand, moving like a puppet. Interrupted by Li Nanyang, he stared at him blankly for a long time before recognizing him.
Li Nanyang said coldly, "Eleven, you've fallen into demonic possession! Cleanse your heart!"
Shen Gurong's eyes were unfocused, his pupils bloodshot. He laughed and murmured, "I haven't."
Li Nanyang: "You've reached your limit with a mortal body. If you fall into demonic possession, you will die!"
Shen Gurong looked at him, seemingly not understanding the meaning of his words, still struggling to continue his actions.
Li Nanyang: "Shen Eleven!"
Seeing that Shen Gurong seemed completely consumed by his inner demons, he raised his hand and cast a calming spell between Shen Gurong's brows.
A bone-chilling cold pierced Shen Gurong's consciousness, instantly scattering the inner demons that had been lurking within him.
Shen Gurong's body went limp, his longsword fell from his hand, and he lost consciousness.
When he awoke again, Li Genglan had already been sealed in the Burial Mound.
And the remaining six hundred-odd cuts were still etched into Shen Gurong's memory.
Decades later, upon seeing Li Genglan again, Shen Gurong had lost the obsessive madness of his youth. Instead, he smiled and circled Li Genglan before slowly stopping, tapping his forearm lightly with his fingers, and said calmly, "This time, where should we begin?"
Li Genglan's gaze met Shen Gurong's, and he finally spoke. He didn't care whether he would be further mutilated; his first words were, "You entered the Record of the Capital?"
Shen Gurong's gaze fell on Li Genglan, seemingly recalling... "Where did you go back then?" he asked absentmindedly.
"I went..." Li Genglan's breath hitched. His healed hand gripped the armrest tightly as he stared intently at him. "Once you enter the Record of the Capital," he said, "you can only escape after witnessing your final fate."
He seemed like a wild beast spotting its prey, his eyes blazing with murderous intent. He panted heavily as he asked, "And you? Shen Eleven, Shen Feng Xue, what did you see in the Record of the Capital?"
"And you...who killed you?"
Shen Gurong looked at him. So eager to know the answer, he smiled and told him the truth: "I died at the hands of my disciple."
"And me?" Li Genglan asked again, "Did Nan Yangjun see me attain enlightenment and ascend to heaven? Is the Three Realms still ravaged by plague demons, with no peace ever again?"
Shen Gurong scoffed, saying, "The world of Record of the Capital is just a mirage, like a fleeting dream. Is it meaningful for you to cling to the ending of this illusion?"
"Of course it's meaningful." Li Genglan smiled weakly; his scarred face looked particularly hideous to Shen Gurong. "The Record of the Capital is a creation of Heaven; once its fate is sealed, it cannot be changed. Even if it deviates from the right path, Heaven will forcibly correct it."
Shen Gurong scoffed at this statement: "Is that so? A hundred years ago, the Record of the Capital prophesied that I was the only surviving plague demon in Huitang City, yet I still diligently cultivate my path, untouched by the plague."
As he chatted idly, he casually raised his hand and, with a careless movement, pierced Li Genglan's unharmed hand with a dagger, pinning it firmly to the wooden armrest.
Li Genglan trembled, his eyes flashing with fierce determination.
He no longer cared about pretense with Shen Gurong; even smiling at him disgusted him.
“Oh, Senior Brother, you’re trembling.” Shen Gurong’s fingertips gently stroked Li Genglan’s convulsing fingers, and he chuckled softly, “Are you…afraid of me?”
Li Genglan remained expressionless, saying, “A hundred years ago, you escaped by chance, unpossessed by the plague demon, but a hundred years later…”
Blood dripped slowly from his hand onto the already drawn magic circle on the ground, flowing into its grooves.
Li Genglan’s face contorted like a vengeful ghost: “I will act on behalf of Heaven to correct the prophecy of the Record of the Capital.”
In an instant, the magic circle beneath their feet activated.
Lin Xia Chun’s long hair flew wildly in the wind. He looked down at the magic circle beneath his feet, thinking listlessly, “If only I were… um, what would I be? Never mind, too much trouble, I don’t want to think about it.”
Gusts of wind rose from the magic circle, causing Shen Gurong’s robes to flutter loudly.
He lowered his eyes, his eyelashes trembling slightly, and said calmly, "Do you intend to turn me into a plague demon again?"
"No." On the contrary, Li Genglan denied it, his scarlet demonic eyes coldly meeting Shen Gurong's gaze. "This formation is only to trap you; the core of the formation isn't here."
Shen Gurong's consciousness trembled, a sudden bad premonition washing over him.
Li Genglan saw his face finally change color, the madness in his eyes intensifying. He seemed impatient to see Shen Gurong, completely changed, his voice filled with malice.
"It's in Xianzhou City, where the thirteen plague demons are located, at Eleventh Street."
Shen Gurong's pupils contracted.
Mu Zhe…
He'd sent him to deal with those thirteen plague demons.
Author's Note:
Mu Zhe, who thought he was clearing out minions but was actually fighting the final boss: ???
Fighting the boss is finally starting to feel a little dangerous. (Not...)
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