V2C98

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Shi Ying was no longer looking at her, and turned to step into the temple, walking into the deep, dark sanctuary, not looking back, as if the dialogue they had earlier was as simple and uneventful as a placid verbal conversation.

The Great Priest of Jiuyi stared at the deity’s statue under the Seven Star Lamp, with his hands joined in a prayer, and his eyes lowered in silent gratitude for the blessing of the gods. Under the shadow of the candle, his expression was composed and grave, with a solemnity that was unapproachable. Zhu Yan followed him in and knelt down at his back, with both hands clasped together, but her heart was in turmoil.

After praying for a moment, Shi Ying stood up and walked to the door. His hands spread out, and after a single flick of his wrist, with a fluttering noise, countless white shadows flew out from the sleeves of his robe and flew in all directions into the white clouds.

Zhu Yan was taken aback, “What are these?”

“Summoning the Divine Attendants of the Temple back here.” Shi Ying said without looking at her, “As soon as I woke up, I received a message from the Grand Master, saying that the emperor had granted my request for permission to resign from the priesthood – the Grand Master is heading towards Jiuyi at the moment, ready to perform the ritual of my separation from the Divine position for me.”

When Zhu Yan heard the words “Grand Master” she could not help but turn pale, her heart was already feeling weak and she blurted out, “Why do you have to hold a ceremony? Since you… want to leave, why don’t you just leave?”

Shi Ying gave her a stern look, “There are rules for everything. As the Great Priest of Jiuyi Temple, an embodiment of the Divine Office under the heavens, it is already a grave mistake for me to want to break my oath and leave the sacred temple – if I do not accept punishment for this, how can I bind future generations of Divine Officers?”

“This…” Zhu Yan was always terrified by him, and could not help but remain silent when she heard such a harsh rebuke, yet suddenly remembered something and exclaimed, “Could it be possible that… Do you really have to go into that hell of Ten Thousand Tribulations?”

“Of course.” Shi Ying had a calm expression, “Ten Thousand Tribulation of the Hell, the Heavenly Thunder to purify the body, this is the price one must pay for resigning from the divine position, and naturally I cannot be an exception.”

“But!” Zhu Yan shrieked in shock, “You will probably get killed!”

“I won’t.” He shook his head, speaking in a calm tone, “The torture of Heavenly Lightning Refining Body can only shatter tendons and bones, crush the primordial essence, and destroy my entire cultivation, but it will not be able to put me to death.”

Destroy all your cultivation? Hearing him speak so calmly, Zhu Yan was even more alarmed and exclaimed, “No! I just managed to get you back to life, I can’t let you go back into that hell of Ten Thousand Tribulations! What kind of stupid rule are you talking about?”

“Be quiet!” Shi Ying harshly shouted, “You are considered an unrecognized disciple of Jiuyi Temple, how dare you casually denigrate the rules of the discipline?”

“I…” Zhu Yan felt helpless and enraged – Master had always been strict and acted in a rigid manner, never breaking the so-called rules and commitments. He was merciless when he sent her down from the mountain, unforgiving when he sent her back to the Royal Mansion after her escape from marriage, and now he was even unforgiving when it came to himself!

How could this man be so determined?

Zhu Yan was so frustrated that her eyes turned red.

“I won’t die, don’t worry.” As if sensing her emotions, Shi Ying made a rare attempt to explain and comfort her, “The Star Soul Blood Oath has linked our fates together, sharing both prosperity and loss – so, I will definitely live well until the day I die.”

Hearing such words, she could not help but widen her eyes, “Really? Then… we will be going to die in the same year, the same month and the same day?”

“You have divided half of your remaining lifespan with me, don’t you think we will die on the same day?” Shi Ying pointed to the already darkening sky outside, “Our fates are already on the same trajectory. The moment the big day comes, the two stars will both fall at the same time. Whether we are each at the end of the sky or the edge of the sea, we will also both die at the same time.”

“Huh?” Zhu Yan remained stunned for a while, and her mind was suddenly churning.

Dying at the same time and being separated from each other in Heaven? That sounds so miserable… If the simultaneous arrival of death is inevitable, who will be by his side decades later, by the time of death? Who… will be there for him at the end? What will their last moments be like, for the two of them?

In a short moment, a thousand thoughts had crossed her mind. And every time she pondered upon one of them, her heart ached, as if she had been tossed around on a mountain of blades, dripping with blood and almost beyond containment.

“Anyway… it’s still early,” she finally managed to pull herself together, as if to reassure him and herself, “The Grand Master said that I will live until I am seventy-two! Even if I share half of it with you, we both still have twenty-seven years to live.”

“Twenty-seven years?” Yet Shi Ying sighed, “That’s still a long time.”

There was a hollow, apathetic look on his face in that moment, and her heart ached to see it again. The atmosphere in the temple dropped for a moment, the silence was frightening. Zhu Yan’s eyes skimmed blankly over the deity’s statue, and the beautiful black pupils of the Creation God looked down at her with a warm smile.

Oh dear God… can you tell me what the next twenty-seven years will be like? Is it true what that Grand Master said? Will I get him killed?

Her mind was in turmoil as she stepped aside, and Shi Ying also remained silent, just standing under the porch, looking out at the night sky, when he suddenly asked, “The spells on that scroll of handwritten notes, have you learned them all?”

Zhu Yan froze for a moment, caught off guard by his sudden question, and couldn’t help but nod.

He frowned slightly, “Where are the handwritten notes?”

“Huh? That…” Zhu Yan froze for a moment and suddenly remembered that the handwritten notebook had been lost along with Sumo, and her heart couldn’t help but be shocked, she was unable to speak without mumbling, “I… I didn’t bring it with me.”

“How can you just leave something so important lying around?” Seeing her expression, Shi Ying knew that something was not right, and could not help but frown, showing his displeasure, “In there, even the contents of a single page is a treasure that countless people in the Yunhuang can only dream of! Why didn’t you guard it carefully?”

“I… I…” she stammered repeatedly, not daring to tell her Master that she had taught the above spells to a shark – Master would beat her to death if he found out, wouldn’t he?

When Shi Ying looked at her frightened expression, his demeanor softened and he only added, “Forget it. Fortunately, I know that you’ve always done things without thinking about the consequences, so I’ve put a spell seal on it just in case.”

“A spell seal?” Zhu Yan froze for a moment.

“Yes, it was a spell of containment and sealing.” His tone was light, “Other than you, even if someone else got that scroll, they would not be able to read and comprehend the magic on it – unless the other person’s cultivation level was higher than mine.”

“…” She was taken aback and suddenly understood: no wonder that little guy Sumo had never been able to learn the spells on it! Back then when he said those words were moving and it was impossible for him to read them at all, she thought that little fellow was making excuses for his stupidity, but it turned out the reason was this!

“There are a total of thirty-six major spells and seventy-two secondary spells in the handwritten notebook. In just a few short months, you’ve actually learned them all? Not bad.” Shi Ying paused for a moment, “You should know that some cultivators who are not talented enough will never be able to master spells like the Thousand Trees even if they spend their entire lifetimes.”

On the rare occasion that she heard a compliment from her Master, she could not help but feel happy but also nervous – for she knew that every compliment from her Master was bound to be followed by a pointing out of her shortcomings.

As expected, Shi Ying paused and added, “But do you know why there was such a big difference in power between you and me when we fought against each other at the Star Ocean Cloud Pavilion?”

Zhu Yan subconsciously blurted out, “That is of course because you are more powerful, Master!”

“Wrong,” Shi Ying replied gently, “the difference between you and me is not as great as you might think… The difference only lies in the speed of activation, the radius of control, and how much concentration of your heart you put into using them.”

“Concentration of one’s heart?” Zhu Yan couldn’t help but be stunned.

“There are thousands of variations of spells.” Shi Ying nodded, “For example, if water and fire spells are used at the same time, alternating hot and cold, they will instantly cause a huge whirlwind – I call this spell ‘Scythe of the Hurricane’, which can use the wind as a blade over a wide area to slash down through everything.”

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