Sometimes, especially at times like this, Fu Chaosheng would wonder whether the human “suffering” he couldn’t personally experience was exactly the same as the “pain” he could clearly feel, or if there was some difference. And ultimately, was “pain” more intense and harder to endure, or was “suffering” more intense and harder to endure?
In the past, he would only think about it without caring.
But at this moment, he actually felt an unprecedented curiosity: wanting to know what kind of feeling “suffering” was. Would it be like his desire for longevity and reversing reincarnation despite being a mayfly?
This old friend of his stood right beside him.
Clearly he could see her, sense her, even feel the remaining warmth from her fingertips on his hand, yet he felt as if there was a barrier between them. This barrier came neither from conflicts in position nor from growing distance in their relationship—it only stemmed from inability to comprehend.
Inability to comprehend her suffering.
Especially the danger and killing intent she had revealed just now—so intense, yet suppressed completely in an instant, becoming so calm it couldn’t stir a ripple.
This state carried a more unsettling oppression.
As if having boiled to the extreme, it suddenly became completely still.
After yesterday’s council hall incident, he was full of curiosity about his own unfamiliar state, and also full of confusion about Jian Chou’s sudden probing behavior.
But he couldn’t get answers.
Kun told him that “curiosity,” especially curiosity about feelings, was a very dangerous state for him as a demon.
But why did this state mean danger?
Fu Chaosheng could never quite understand many things Kun had said. Even though he gathered the memories of the entire Mayfly clan, those were mostly observations and principles about all things under heaven, but they were particularly lacking in many things related to humans.
He watched her and slowly withdrew his hand.
The withered corpse-like Ghost King clan elder ahead hadn’t noticed the details happening behind him, much less realized he had just walked before the gates of hell. He continued describing to everyone the origins related to this mortuary and what they needed to do next.
Emperor Song’s method for refining soul puppets was not only unprecedentedly unthinkable but also unprecedentedly vicious and sinister. Because these thousand cultivators had extremely high cultivation in life, their souls’ power was also strong, so the refining methods required were extremely complex.
After the soul puppets were pieced together, they still needed to make “them” obey commands.
This required powerful taming and control.
This recruitment of elite ghost cultivators from Fengdu City was precisely for the final “taming” and “control,” which was why they had first tested their souls’ aptitude with soul-examining vessels, then commanded them to cultivate soul control techniques before bringing them here.
Just seven days would completely refine the soul puppets.
By then, both this Ghost King clan elder and “Brother Lihan” responsible for this refinement would achieve complete success and return to the Yama Palace to report.
After explaining the essentials of refinement, the elder directly raised his hand and slapped open a blood coffin. What lay inside was clearly a humanoid soul puppet!
It looked like a male cultivator.
But except for the face which appeared relatively intact, the body below the neck was utterly broken! Completely identical to the Zhong Lanling that Jian Chou had seen during the extreme realm’s cauldron competition years ago!
Piece by piece…
Though this soul puppet’s appearance looked no different from a cultivator, its body was completely assembled from soul fragments of different people!
The gaps between fragments were winding and twisted, like ugly scars one after another!
Jian Chou stood far away, observing with her mind’s eye, feeling extreme grief and even greater nausea, as if she had swallowed countless filthy things and wanted to vomit!
Yet at the extreme of anger was tranquility.
She wondered how she could still put on such a nonchalant expression, standing here like nothing was wrong, then watching that elder demonstrate how to tame soul puppets before her eyes, watching those soul puppets assembled from countless remnant souls and soul fragments of Yashan disciples move like living people under his soul control techniques…
After the demonstration, the elder casually threw the soul puppet back into the coffin, then pointed to the area within the mortuary: “What you need to tame are the hundred soul puppets within this mortuary. Within these three days, anyone taming soul puppets may not step outside the mortuary without special orders, nor touch any blood coffin outside the mortuary. Violators will have their souls scattered and spirits destroyed! Do you all remember?”
“We respectfully remember the elder’s instruction!”
Hearing these stern words, everyone felt their hearts clench and responded one after another.
Only then did the elder lower his wrinkled eyelids, cupped his hands toward Fu Chaosheng standing further back, and walked out of the mortuary.
Li Yan and the other elders then arranged for everyone to each select soul puppets to refine.
But when it came to Jian Chou’s turn, Fu Chaosheng waved his hand: “Her cultivation is insufficient, so it’s unnecessary.”
Li Yan and the three elders immediately understood, knowing that Lian Zhao hadn’t been tested by the soul-examining vessel that day—she only came here because Brother Lihan wanted her to. Having her perform soul refinement would naturally be inappropriate. But they couldn’t help muttering inwardly: not doing proper work but bringing Lian Zhao here—was this for flirting and relieving boredom in this desolate place?
Of course, these thoughts remained in their hearts.
Everyone was shrewd and didn’t dare voice them.
So everyone gradually began soul refinement, while Jian Chou only stood aside watching.
Watching blood coffins being opened one after another, revealing various soul puppets of different forms inside, then watching “them” perform all sorts of strange actions under the ghost cultivators’ manipulation, yet having no awareness whatsoever, like clay and wooden puppets…
Dead.
When Emperor Song ordered their souls shattered and divided, using karmic fire to grind away their will, the owners of these remnant soul fragments had died completely.
Even if reincarnation were restored in the future, their forms would never again appear in this world.
After realizing this most cruel point, Jian Chou inexplicably laughed once. She finally didn’t want to continue watching in this self-torturing manner and walked out of the mortuary.
Outside the miasma, there was no one.
Blood-red Yellow Springs water flowed past the riverbank with a murmuring sound.
She stopped and slowly sat down by this riverbank that had witnessed countless struggles and deaths, washed countless bones and souls.
Fu Chaosheng silently followed her out, stopping beside her.
For a moment, neither spoke.
After a long time, he finally thought of what he wanted to say: “When this matter is finished, we can legitimately explore the Eight Directions Yama Palace to see what Lord Qin Guang is really plotting, and see where Lord Shaoji’s traces might be. Then old friend can also avenge Yashan’s past grievances, without having to suppress yourself painfully as now.”
It sounded like comfort.
Jian Chou naturally knew they had more purposes in infiltrating the extreme realm, such as the Ghost Axe they still couldn’t sense, such as the mysterious deity Lord Shaoji who disappeared without a trace after vanishing in the snowy region, such as whether there might be other unknown secrets in Eight Directions City…
So just now, she had been able to restrain her impulse to kill.
Jian Chou’s gaze drifted over the river surface. She blinked, seeming to have no emotional fluctuation: “I know what’s important. But judging from your past encounters with that Lord Shaoji, the opponent’s cultivation is also extremely terrifying. When you were in the snowy region, you could sense He went to the extreme realm. Now can the opponent also know that you’re in the extreme realm, or that you are ‘Brother Lihan’?”
“If His abilities are stronger than mine, He can naturally sense it.” Fu Chaosheng shook his head. “It has always been that the strong can perceive the weak. Since I can sense Him, it means I’m stronger than Him. Moreover, you humans have a saying: ‘The devil is one foot tall, but the Way is ten feet tall.’ I was born opposing heaven and earth’s rules, so I have abilities that are exceptional to heaven and earth. Wherever demon blood covers, even if it speaks of destroying the Heavenly Way, the Heavenly Way cannot detect it. Furthermore, this realm has its limits. Both His and my power far exceed this realm’s cultivators, but what we can use is only thirty to forty percent.”
“Only thirty to forty percent?”
Jian Chou had never asked what level of strength Fu Chaosheng actually possessed. She only felt that though he was limited by the Mayfly clan’s rule of being born at dawn and dying at dusk, with his abilities changing several times within a day, he still far exceeded most cultivators. Even before Kunwu’s Master Hengxu, he would have no fear.
Now, this was the first time she heard him mention his own abilities.
So she became somewhat curious: “What do you mean by this realm’s limits?”
“Old friend should know that the Nineteen Continents, extreme realm, isolated human islands, Eastern and Western Seas are all within the stars, called ‘this realm,’ named ‘Primordial Beginning.’ This realm is the realm of mortals and cultivators—the ‘mundane realm.’ When any cultivator’s power and Way reach a certain degree, they will exceed the limit of power this realm can bear, be received by heaven and earth’s rules, and ascend to the upper realm, also called the ‘Upper Void Immortal Realm.'”
“All existence within this realm cannot have power exceeding the limits.”
“So after lower realm cultivators ascend to upper realms, they often cannot return. And this Primordial Beginning star is even more special…”
When he reached this point, Fu Chaosheng paused, seeming to recall and contemplate something, only saying: “Kun says this realm has a Primordial Beginning Heavenly Punishment, called ‘Primordial Beginning Tribulation Punishment,’ specially set by the Human Ancestor Pangu Dazun. Whenever power exceeding this realm’s limits appears, the ‘Primordial Beginning Tribulation Punishment’ will descend upon the holder of such transcendent power, destroying their body.”
Primordial Beginning Tribulation Punishment…
The concept that each realm has limits to its power was easy to understand, and with some reasoning one could guess this, but this so-called “Primordial Beginning Tribulation Punishment” was somewhat puzzling.
Other realms don’t have it, but this realm does.
What was so special about this realm that it could have such special protection?
Jian Chou glanced at the fish-shaped jade pendant hanging at his waist and slowly frowned, clearly finding something suspicious.
The fish-shaped jade pendant remained motionless—Kun clearly had no intention of speaking.
Fu Chaosheng then said: “This is how the legend goes, but it seems never to have occurred to this day. When I fought Lord Shaoji, it was precisely during His weakened state, so our power didn’t exceed this realm’s limits, so this cannot prove whether this saying is true or false.”
In the end, it was just an ancient legend.
For ordinary people, there was actually no need to be wary; but Fu Chaosheng was different after all, with cultivation too high, so he needed to be cautious instead.
On the surface, this was definitely not a good thing.
But within this extreme realm now, perhaps their greatest opponent in this war was hidden. What Fu Chaosheng needed to be wary of, the opponent must also be wary of, so their real strength would be somewhat limited.
For cultivators, this was very advantageous.
Jian Chou understood this reasoning and said “that’s also good,” then fell silent again.
At this time and place, there really wasn’t any mood for conversation.
But Fu Chaosheng felt uncomfortable.
Clearly in the past when he went to borrow the cosmic eyes from Jian Chou, floating on the river together without speaking, he didn’t feel anything was wrong. But now standing beside her, he felt he should say something to be appropriate.
Perhaps sensing his current feeling, after a long silence, Jian Chou finally sighed and slowly said: “I’m not badly off, it’s just that sometimes, I truly feel humans are inferior to demons.”
Fu Chaosheng looked at her.
But her expression remained calm as she continued: “If one has no emotion, feeling, or awareness, then there’s no worry, trouble, or pain. I clearly know that what I saw in the past and today are not my Yashan disciples, but merely clay illusions pieced together by the Eight Directions Yama Palace with sinister intentions. I should have an undisturbed heart and unruffled emotions. But with mortal flesh, one cannot be free from common vulgarity. My heart was disturbed, my emotions ruffled, even giving rise to various thoughts of hatred and killing. Thus, I’ve made Friend Chaosheng worry about me.”
Worry?
Fu Chaosheng silently repeated these two words, finding them puzzling. Remembering his earlier curiosity and confusion, he asked: “Just now, what old friend felt—was it suffering?”
Suffering.
Such a question could only be asked by Fu Chaosheng.
Jian Chou withdrew her wandering gaze, closed her eyes, and said: “I suppose so. Mortals in the world have seven emotions and six desires. Seeking these seven emotions and six desires brings a thousand pains and hundred sufferings. With emotion comes unavoidable suffering. So whenever I think during difficult times, the Way that Xie Buchen cultivates may not be without reason. Without emotion, there’s no suffering.”
“Emotion—I asked old friend earlier whether I had gained ’emotion’ from swallowing that heart, but old friend said no. I have no emotion, only ‘desire.'” Fu Chaosheng was confused. “How do these two differ? When old friend says I have ‘desire,’ what does this mean?”
Opening her eyes, the sky was thick darkness.
Jian Chou gazed for a long while, paused for a moment, then replied: “Emotion and desire have always been hard to distinguish. If we must forcibly separate them, then emotion is the heart’s attachment, desire is the body’s entanglement. One is deeply planted in thoughts, the other floats in the physical shell. All feelings are emotion, all wants are desire. Your wish to reverse reincarnation and change the Mayfly clan’s fate of being born at dawn and dying at dusk is desire; when you felt my closeness that day and had bodily changes beyond your control, that was also desire.”
So he truly had no emotion, only desires.
His old friend naturally had emotions.
But…
Fu Chaosheng also sat down beside her. At this moment, he was remarkably similar to their first meeting on Deng Tiandao Island years ago, except now he was the confused one: “Does old friend also have ‘desire’?”
“…”
Jian Chou turned her eyes to look at him, gazing for a long while before laughing strangely and answering frankly.
“Naturally I do.”
Fu Chaosheng frowned: “Then why isn’t old friend happy?”
Though he was a demon, he could still perceive some things.
Since that day when Jian Chou had tested him, her way of looking at him had been very strange, vaguely making him feel that this “desire” didn’t seem to be a good thing.
But Jian Chou had this thing too, didn’t she?
Though he only asked one question about why she wasn’t happy, Jian Chou easily heard the string of doubts hidden behind these words. She shook her head and said: “Emotion and desire often arise together. Though there’s only ‘desire’ now, you are originally heaven and earth’s seed of wisdom—it’s hard to guarantee that someday you won’t draw inferences, giving birth to ’emotion’ from ‘desire.’ And since ancient times, all cultivators have called ’emotion’ and ‘desire’ lesser ways that cause pain, suffering, and madness. Therefore, among human three souls and seven spirits, souls are good and spirits are evil. These two words ’emotion’ and ‘desire’ must be divided among the ‘seven spirits,’ counted as ‘evil emotion’ and ‘evil desire.’ Since the Heavenly Way tends toward good, so…”
At this point, her voice suddenly stopped.
In her mind, inspiration flashed in an instant!
Fu Chaosheng heard half the words before they disappeared, feeling strange: “So what?”
But Jian Chou could hear nothing else, her mind full of that suddenly exploding thought, even recalling the story she had heard from Fudao Shanren after subduing the Dijiang Guyu and destroying Dijiang’s evil spirit years ago…
That story of “souls good, spirits evil”!
The fingers resting on her knees suddenly trembled, and Jian Chou murmured like talking in her sleep: “Souls good, spirits evil, the Heavenly Way tends toward good. Dao Child, spirit, seven parts spirit…”