The demon race, born with innate Dao veins, possessed powerful cultivation talent and a long lifespan, truly a race favored by heaven.

Yet, even the longest life had an end. The limit of their lifespan remained an eternal enigma, a barrier before every member of the demon race.

A demon born into this world had a lifespan of five hundred and eighteen years. Barring accident or injury, their existence was akin to that of the gods.

The very word “demon” spoke of inherent nobility. To receive such a blessing was only fitting.

But where did personal desire cease? Who could face life and death with a smile?

From ancient times, the exploration of the lifespan’s limits had never ceased.

Extraordinary cultivation was, of course, the righteous path, sought after by those with ambition. But the path of cultivation was like climbing a peak barefoot; the higher one ascended, the greater the peril… Only one or two amongst thousands could reach the summit.

Heaven did not sever all life force. Beyond the great Dao, there also existed rare paths.

Legend spoke of an immortal spring in the world, whose waters never ran dry. Every three hundred and thirty-three years, a single drop would form, ten drops combining to make one mouthful. To drink it would grant longevity.

An ordinary demon, drinking it, could achieve the lifespan of a True Demon.

And a True Demon, consuming it, could extend their years even beyond the limits of a True Demon’s lifespan!

This precious spring was hidden within heaven and earth; a demon without great fortune could not behold it.

This legend of the demon world, Jiang Wang, naturally, did not know.

Thus, concerning the mournful song of the aging demon, he paid it little mind.

The skeleton’s evolved form, while growing stronger, did not exceed his control – he speculated its strength was related to Zhu Dali’s power level.

From this, he could deduce that the skeleton’s appearance was likely some kind of test within the Shenxiao place.

True danger would not consider the target’s cultivation. Only specific tests would have such measures.

The demon race’s Demon Soldier level was equivalent to a human cultivator at the Tenglong realm, and the Demon General level was equivalent to a human cultivator at the Inner Mansion realm.

Jiang Wang, whose name could be etched upon cultivation history steles as the first Inner Mansion cultivator, could be said to have mastered the use of power at this level, surpassing both ancient and modern practitioners.

If, under his control, Zhu Dali could not pass this corresponding power level test, then the difficulty of this test in the Shenxiao place, perhaps surveying the present world and the demon world, few existences could safely pass… The test would cease to be a test.

What surprised him was that this skeleton, having evolved into the appearance of a strange old man, was so similar to Zhu Dali. He didn’t know if it was originally because of Zhu Dali’s birth or if it gradually formed by absorbing details during the battle.

Regardless, its origin was strange and held too many possibilities.

To avoid raising Zhu Dali’s suspicions, Jiang Wang did not use the Samadhi True Fire but deliberately slowed down his killing speed, granting himself more time to gather information.

“Dao… Dao Lord! Just now, wasn’t he talking about the immortal spring!” Zhu Dali asked excitedly in his heart.

While Zhu Dali’s cultivation wasn’t exceptional, he often roamed the roads and had contact with various demons, learning bits and pieces about everything, including the legend of the immortal spring.

Although members of the Taiping Dao were pure in character, believing that “the industry of peace resides within the heart, while the vulgar matters of power and gain are mere trivialities,” longevity and immortality were hardly vulgar matters.

With a thousand years of lifespan, what matter could one not pursue?

With a thousand years of lifespan, what worry could prevent him from witnessing the realization of his ideals?

“Do not be surprised by such minor things. What is an immortal spring?”

Jiang Wang didn’t know what an immortal spring was. As the Taiping Dao Lord, he shouldn’t appear ignorant of rumors Zhu Dali knew. However, these didn’t prevent him from judging the nature of the immortal spring, understanding it to be a treasure of some sort.

“Heavenly materials and earthly treasures, strange objects and rare items, nothing in the world is unobtainable. What you hear, what you see, is not important. What you grasp, that alone is important.”

Accompanied by such profound words, Zhu Dali’s restless heart gradually calmed.

He felt deeply that there was indeed a gulf between himself and the Dao Lord’s realm. Not only in cultivation, power, and vision, but more so in a kind of state of mind.

Facing a world treasure like the immortal spring, even a noble heaven demon would struggle to remain calm. Throughout history, how much bloodshed and wind had been stirred up to snatch the immortal spring, and among them, heaven demons had perished!

But even the immortal spring could not move the Dao Lord.

How magnificent.

Zhu Dali was still lost in profound emotion when the Taiping Dao Lord’s exquisite knife technique once again struck his opponent.

Towards this opponent who resembled himself, appearing aged and withered, Zhu Dali felt no particular emotion. He merely regarded it as a strange manifestation of some secret.

He was still very young, not yet fearing the ravages of time.

Feeling the release of knife energy, the silent figure, holding his long knife at an angle, faced the dying body. In an instant, the aging corpse before him flowed away like water, seeping into the ground without a trace.

“This time—it’s completely eliminated.”

Just as this thought arose in Zhu Dali’s heart…

Gugu gugu, gugu gugu.

The sound of spring water bubbling up rang out again.

Precisely where the aging corpse had vanished, in the gaps of the rotten leaves and dead branches, one transparent bubble after another swelled up. They were born and extinguished, rising and falling.

Visually, they were strangely dense.

Auditorily, they were annoying and disgusting to the listener.

In an instant, all the bubbles disappeared.

The clamor returned to silence.

Only one newly born bubble remained, growing larger, becoming thinner. It reflected the forest leaves, reflected the light of the rising sun, the bubble’s shadow layered upon layer…

Those layered bubble shadows seemed to be scenes of stories unfolding, seemed to be the evolution of someone’s life. But the light and shadow were too fine, too small, unable to clearly discern exactly what story, what main character.

The more one looked closely, the less clear it became. But the more one pondered, the more an inexplicable emotion arose.

This huge bubble shadow shattered.

Making those who stood there at that moment feel as if they had awakened from an illusory dream.

From the beginning, it seemed like a dream, this body though here, who understood this heart!

Before them, a white stone had appeared at some unknown time.

The tree-shaded path underfoot extended to the white stone and turned, where it turned, none knew.

Above the white stone sat a foolish, fat figure.

Wearing black night clothes, a pure white mask, carrying… double straight knives.

He did not turn his head.

Just like this, with his back to Zhu Dali who had come from that road, he spoke solemnly: “In the world there is an immortal spring, drink it and live long.”

Compared to the muddled pain of the aging version of Zhu Dali, this voice was clear and thick, also closer to Zhu Dali’s current voice.

“In the distant ancient era, during that great war, the demon race suffered one of its biggest defeats in history, completely losing the ability to lead the present world, having to hastily withdraw.

As an existence equal to the present world, a great race that had led the present world for ten thousand years. Although the demon race’s departure was embarrassing, it was also in haste, and they took away some precious things.

The immortal spring was one of them.

Losing the immortal spring mountain, it became an ordinary mountain.

Leaving the immortal mountain, the immortal spring lost its source of eternal life.”

The figure sitting on the white stone, with a tone of vicissitude that had experienced many stories, narrated thus: “Later, the withdrawal channel was cut off by the human race, the predetermined nine great worlds were all destroyed, peak powerhouses successively fell, and we demon race were driven to the heaven prison world…

The distant ancient demon emperor fixed earth, wind, water, and fire, re-creating heaven and earth, the great sages of the demon race united their efforts, sacrificing countless lives, finally illuminating the chaotic world. That senior who took away the immortal spring, also after searching everywhere in this realm, with supreme divine powers, gave the immortal spring a new home, re-continuing its source of life.

The immortal spring is a treasure of the world, its existence was originally favored by heaven.

Looking back at the history of the demon world, there have often been powerhouses whose lifespan was declining, who found the immortal spring, and were able to continue their glorious myths.

We believe, one day we will return to the present world. Just like the immortal spring, just like the grace the immortal spring gives us… Welcoming a new birth.”

The figure sitting on the white stone slowly said: “I once had very important existences, but later I lost them all. I have experienced too many, too many regrets, all of which cannot be recovered.

For many years, I have always pursued the legend of the immortal spring. When, after a thousand hardships, I finally found it. Yet I discovered…

‘It had already dried up.'”

He turned his body around, took off the pure white mask, revealing a face that was indeed identical to Zhu Dali’s, only more mature.

On this foolish, fat, utterly unhandsome big face.

Two streams of turbid tears hung down.

He just used this pair of rolling, turbid eyes, staring fixedly at Zhu Dali, and also seemed to see the existence leading this body—

“What benefit is there in your life.”

This emotion, this scene, this word, made Zhu Dali’s hair stand on end.

The Taiping Dao Lord, residing in the Taiping Divine Wind Seal, also found it difficult to suppress his shock.

Perhaps everything he had thought before was wrong, facing this skeleton, the strange source of this demon, there existed another, more shocking possibility—this skeleton truly was Zhu Dali!

Perhaps not an illusion, not a creation.

But the real Zhu Dali, who had come from some moment in the future, meeting the present Zhu Dali!

Immortal spring, immortal spring, how immortal it was.

What was truly buried in this Shenxiao place by that feather race legend from countless years ago?

While he was still contemplating the outcome, the foolish, fat figure on the white stone had already moved. The distance of dozens of steps was crossed in a flash, and the double straight knives drew cruel death arcs in the air.

Taiping Treasure Knife Record!

No, it was derived from it, even more exquisite, more perfect knife moves.

He heard the clang of metal, saw the knife light flow like electricity.

Zhu Dali’s senses were completely confused, he felt blankly that among the five colors and ten lights, he fundamentally could not distinguish which move was which, which one held the upper hand.

Suddenly!

A pool of knife light hung slanted in the long sky,

The complex light and shadow stood still, all the noisy sounds became quiet.

Zhu Dali saw his own right straight knife, already piercing into the heart of the stronger, more mature Zhu Dali opposite.

He saw the eyes of that Zhu Dali opposite, full of vicissitudes and pain, gradually lose their spirit.

There were no last words to be heard, no other changes.

This foolish, fat corpse, shattered like a bubble.

It no longer reappeared.

The forest was gloomy, the branches and leaves sparse. The cold wind was not peaceful, the light and shadow were bright and dim.

At this moment, Zhu Dali felt a huge sorrow, as if an iron hammer had fallen from the sky, smashing his heart… to pieces.

He did not know why he felt sorrow.

“Five times.”

At this moment, the Taiping Dao Lord leading this body calmly counted the number, reviewing the battle without a ripple.

This skeleton, related to the so-called “immortal spring,” seemed to replicate some kind of process born from death, being defeated and reappearing time after time, a total of five times.

Five, what special meaning did it hold?

The Five Elements were five, the five senses were five, the five viscera were five, the five palaces were five…

“Dao Lord, was he really my future self?” Zhu Dali asked in his heart.

“I do not believe in destiny, but the power of time does exist, and the power of fate often troubles me…” The Taiping Dao Lord responded very sincerely: “Perhaps you can say it this way, every demon has infinite possibilities, and this is perhaps one kind of future for you.”

Zhu Dali was stunned for a moment, murmuring: “I killed my future.”

At this time, he only felt the Dao Lord’s intention recede like a tide, and he had already regained control of his body.

“You killed your misfortune.” A voice suddenly rang out.

Zhu Dali suddenly turned back, then saw She Gu Yu, covered in wounds and bloodstains.

After determining that the skeleton was some kind of test in the Shenxiao place, She Gu Yu’s whereabouts no longer became a problem.

If She Gu Yu passed, naturally it didn’t matter. If she didn’t pass, she would likely shatter silently like those bubbles.

“I killed… my misfortune.” Zhu Dali looked at her sudden appearance, still puzzled.

At this time, She Gu Yu looked extremely weak. But the Taiping Dao Lord sitting in the mirror world knew deeply that She Gu Yu at this moment, with red patterns appearing on her body, was at her most dangerous point.

Her body’s wounds looked dense and ferocious, but they were all wounds that would not affect her fighting ability—obviously, she had specifically exchanged them during the battle.

If this kind of test in the Shenxiao place relied on some kind of future of the target, then the weaker one’s current strength, the lower the test’s difficulty.

Zhu Dali’s use of the Taiping Dao Lord’s power to pass the test was, to some extent, a kind of opportunistic behavior. In fact, if he had faced it alone…

He would have been in a situation of ten deaths and no life.

From the danger Zhu Dali faced, one could roughly deduce what kind of opponent She Gu Yu encountered. This snake woman’s power was perhaps far more than what she showed.

This Shenxiao place truly held hidden dragons and crouching tigers!

“Born into a sea of bitterness, crying in a prison cage, all are destined bitter calamities. If what appeared before you was your fate. Then did you not kill your misfortune by killing him?” She Gu Yu’s eyes were indifferent and emotionless, but her body language could hardly hide her vigilance.

She also knew about the legend of the immortal spring from the secret records of the Lin Wu Snake Family.

Compared to the muddled Taiping ghost messenger who had stumbled into the Shenxiao place, this new king of the Heaven List knew some secrets.

She understood that the test just now was perhaps the legendary “fate bubble shadow.”

Legend had it that the immortal spring water could grant longevity, and the surface of the water could reflect the lives of future visitors.

Great treasures must be accompanied by great calamities.

To approach the immortal spring, one must experience the “fate bubble shadow.”

This calamity, to some extent, could be said to be one’s current self challenging one’s future self. Of course, the strength would be limited to the corresponding level, and “present” had some influence on “future”—she had precisely relied on this to pass the last barrier.

She had already experienced it, already passed, already knew the difficulty of this calamity. Hence, she felt deeply how terrifying Zhu Dali was, having passed the fate bubble shadow unscathed!

“Born into a sea of bitterness, crying in a prison cage.” “All are destined bitter calamities.”

If Yang Yu or Shu Gala were present, they would have heard that the concepts She Gu Yu described came from the “Bitter Cage Sect.”

The Bitter Cage Sect was not a sect with a concrete organizational structure, or rather, there was such a sect in the history of the demon race, but it had already been destroyed.

Now, it was more just a kind of idea, acknowledged by a few in the darkness.

The destruction of the glorious era also shattered many of the demon race’s innate pride. Falling into the heaven prison world, from masters of ten thousand worlds to prisoners of all worlds, was even more a pain that all demons found difficult to accept.

Amidst this pain and despair, some demons strived forward, some seniors sacrificed, some learned from shame and grew brave, some remained ambitious and undiscouraged… And naturally, some extremely sorrowful thoughts were born.

Among the typical examples was the Bitter Cage Sect.

The demons of the Bitter Cage Sect believed that the demon world was not a true world, and the demons born in this world were born prisoners. They believed that life was an endless sea of bitterness, and living was eternal torment.

Only death could bring true liberation.

They believed that destroying everything was a method against the prison cage. They pursued a brilliant path of death throughout their lives, believing that life could only achieve sublimation in a splendid death. The prison cage not only weighed upon this world, upon this body, but also fell upon the path of fate. Only by finding meaning in destruction could one shake off the shackles born with them.

Zhu Dali, of course, did not understand what the Bitter Cage Sect was, did not understand She Gu Yu’s pessimistic elaboration, did not know if she was spreading an idea or probing something… He didn’t even feel She Gu Yu’s vigilance towards him at all.

He merely put away his knife in a daze: “I don’t quite understand what you’re saying, I just feel like something sad happened… But let’s keep going. This road will eventually have an outcome.”

He still spoke in his consistently profound tone, but with the premise of having safely passed the fate bubble shadow, this profundity had been imbued with meaning.

Feeling Zhu Dali’s complete lack of guard, She Gu Yu’s vigilance slightly lowered. As she walked, her double knives suddenly appeared and disappeared. In the light and shadow passing through the gaps in the leaves, she inexplicably thought of that afternoon in the ordinary inn, alone applying makeup in the mirror.

She thought of herself in the mirror.

Her tone inexplicably asked: “Do you think the future you saw was your fate?”

Zhu Dali thought for a moment, then said very seriously: “If there must be one kind of future that will be realized, I believe it is a world of peace.”

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