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Join the ServerLing Shuangjue crossed her arms, her blood-red pupils scrutinizing the ruins of the manor before them. Her voice, imbued with its usual arrogance, declared, “Even this Venerable One would find this place troublesome.”
Gu Chang’an paid no mind to her provocation. Her gaze, cold as frost, remained fixed on the most volatile array fluctuations at the heart of the immortal estate. Behind her, the Frostbright Sword hummed faintly, as if sensing something profound.
“Enough with the idle chatter,” Yuange interjected, shaking the golden pagoda in her hand. Impatience flickered in her amber-gold eyes.
“That woman, Wei, said the ‘Three Lives Stone Immortal Shard’ is here. The real task is to grab it and go rescue her from Penglai Immortal Palace. I don’t have time to admire some underwater dragon palace.”
The atmosphere between the three remained taut, poised on the brink of eruption. Their so-called “alliance” was nothing more than a thin layer of ice built upon a shared goal, threatening to shatter into internal strife at any moment.
Just then, the vast array barrier enveloping the immortal estate shimmered, its light coalescing into a hazy human form.
It was a man clad in a wide, ancient Daoist robe, his form ethereal and almost transparent, as if a gentle breeze could disperse him. His face was indistinct, yet his eyes alone were clear, holding the myriad stars and dust of eons, alongside a weary wisdom that saw through all things.
“Alas…”
A long sigh, transcending the barriers of time and space, echoed directly within the divine souls of the three.
“How many years has it been? To think that living beings could still find this place.”
The ethereal figure spoke slowly, his gaze sweeping over the trio.
“Immortal, demon, and monster. Quite the combination, indeed. Speak, what brings you here?”
Ling Shuangjue’s blood-red pupils narrowed. “Old man, stop playing games,” she said, without a trace of politeness. “We are here for the ‘Three Lives Stone Immortal Shard.’ Be sensible and hand it over. This Venerable One might allow your remnant soul a few more days of lingering existence.”
“Three Lives Stone…” The immortal lord’s remnant soul repeated softly, seemingly lost in a distant memory. A hint of self-mockery colored his voice.
‘Always for that damned stone…’
‘No matter.’
He paused, and a flicker of almost theatrical amusement appeared in his world-weary eyes.
“This immortal estate was left by me, and the immortal shard is also under my charge. To take it, you must pass my test.”
“A test?” Yuange raised a brow, scoffing. “Spit it out, then. Is it a fight or an array to break? This princess has never feared anyone.”
“No, no, not so.” The immortal lord’s remnant soul slowly shook his head, his ethereal finger pointing towards the core of the array, where a faintly glowing jade shard seemed to shimmer into view. “My test is not one of divine abilities, nor a battle of magic tools.”
His gaze once again fell precisely upon the three, an intensity in his eyes that seemed to pierce through all their disguises, reaching the deepest obsessions of their souls.
“All three of you are here for the same woman, aren’t you?”
At these words, the expressions of Gu Chang’an, Ling Shuangjue, and Yuange simultaneously shifted.
“That girl’s name is Shen Zhaoqing, isn’t it?” The immortal lord’s remnant soul spoke with a trace of inexplicable emotion. “Possessing a Dao Source Body, yet unaware of it – truly interesting, truly interesting.”
He seemed to know Shen Zhaoqing’s situation intimately.
“My test concerns her.”
The immortal lord’s remnant soul’s voice suddenly grew solemn.
“The Three Lives Stone reflects karma and entwines destinies. Only those with the purest love are qualified to obtain its shard.”
“Therefore, the content of the test is…”
He enunciated each word, every syllable like a heavy bomb, detonating in the hearts of the three.
“Among you three, whose ‘love’ for Shen Zhaoqing is the most pure?”
****
The atmosphere, which moments before had been a hair’s breadth from a full-blown confrontation, ready for a bloody battle, was instantly replaced by a silence far more eerie and dangerous.
‘Pure?’
These two words immediately ignited the already precarious balance between the trio.
“Ha!”
Ling Shuangjue was the first to break the silence. She seemed to have heard the greatest joke, a mocking curve playing on her lips, and undeniable arrogance burned in her blood-red pupils.
“Pure? Does that even need asking?”
She took a step forward, the demonic might emanating from her causing the viscous seawater around them to boil.
“This Venerable One willingly abandoned ten thousand years of cultivation, defying the heavens for her. For her, my demonic heart lost control, almost slaughtering an entire city. For her, I would not hesitate to become an enemy of the entire immortal path and flatten the East Sea!”
Her voice grew louder and more fervent with each sentence, as if she intended to burn her very soul.
“In this world, whose love could be purer than this Venerable One’s — a love that burns everything, disregarding all consequences?!”
Her words were resonant, filled with a destructive beauty and oppressive force.
However, no sooner had her voice faded than a voice, cold as a sword’s edge, cut in without mercy.
“That is not purity; it is selfish possession. That is not love; it is the desire for destruction.”
Gu Chang’an slowly raised her eyes. Her star-like pupils showed no emotional fluctuation, yet they were more unyielding than ten thousand years of profound ice.
“She is my junior sister; it is my duty to protect her. If she strays, I will bind her with sect rules. If she falls into danger, I will protect her with my life.”
Her voice was not loud, yet every word was clear, carrying a devotion almost akin to a Daoist’s obsession.
“For her, my sword heart became clouded, willingly enduring its turmoil. For her, I would abandon the heavy burdens of the sect, even forsaking my sword to enter the demonic path, without regret.”
“All I seek is her safety, untouched by the dust of the world. This kind of protective heart, seeking no reward, asking no reason, is true selflessness. Compared to your ‘love’ that would consume her entirely, it is immeasurably purer.”
“Protection?” Ling Shuangjue sneered, her contempt undisguised.
“So-called protection is merely wishing to mold her into your perfect image, a prisoner forever confined within your scabbard. Dare you deny that in your midnight dreams, you haven’t imagined locking her away in the Green Mountains, ensuring she can never escape your sight?”
“You!” Gu Chang’an’s gaze instantly sharpened like a blade.
“Oh, my, my. One wants to burn her as firewood, the other wants to freeze her as a specimen. And you two have the nerve to call that ‘pure’?”
Yuange stood with folded arms, tilting her small head, a look of ‘enjoying the show’ on her face.
“Ultimately, the Shen Zhaoqing you love is merely the one you’ve fantasized about in your own minds.”
She extended a finger and gently wagged it.
“But I am different.”
A glimmer of cunning flashed in her amber-gold eyes.
“Our encounter, my shielding her from a blade, her healing my wounds – that is a life-saving kindness. I am not here to possess her, nor to change her. I am here to repay that debt.”
“To repay her for saving my life, to repay her for letting me know, for the first time, what it feels like to be truly cherished.”
Yuange’s usually cynical smile was, for once, replaced by a seriousness she herself might not have noticed.
“My goal is simple: to snatch my benefactor back from those bad people. This heart of gratitude, unmixed with your messy control and destructive desires, isn’t that the purest of all?”
“Gratitude?” Ling Shuangjue scoffed.
“Little girl, don’t romanticize children’s games. When you truly understand what love is, you will realize how ridiculous and shallow that so-called ‘gratitude’ is.”
“Better than some lunatic, at least I don’t equate ‘loving her’ with killing everyone who makes her unhappy!” Yuange retorted, not backing down.
“And better than some hypocrite, at least I don’t claim to be ‘doing what’s best for her’ while simultaneously shackling her with layer after layer of chains!” She pointed her accusation directly at Gu Chang’an.
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