Just like that, it was gone.

Sudden and swift.

Without any summons, and without any preparation.

For Fu Chaosheng, Kun’s existence was second only to Jian Chou, or from a certain perspective, Kun’s significance was even greater than Jian Chou’s.

He had never spent day and night with Jian Chou, but Kun was always by his side.

Following its moods, it would appear beside him in various different forms, occasionally interrupting when he spoke with Jian Chou to undermine him, or saying things to him that he couldn’t quite understand in the past.

But now, all of it was gone…

Everything, everything had drifted away like floating sand with the fall of that ocean, amid the surging tides that reached the heavens.

Even Jian Chou couldn’t describe what kind of empty feeling filled her heart at this moment. She stood at the edge of the rock cavern for a long time, listening to Fu Chaosheng’s cries that rushed into the wind, but found she couldn’t make out what he was saying at all.

Only that heavy, irrepressible pain…

Transmitted from one person’s body to another’s.

What True Person Hengxu had employed was Kunwu’s killing move, its power sufficient to summon the primordial tribulation punishment hidden deep in the polar regions. It could easily sever the tail of Shaoji, whose strength was comparable to Fu Chaosheng’s, and also caused the ancient demon god Kunpeng to die from severe injuries.

The power of that second Evil-Slaying Seal seemed stronger than the first, and more frenzied.

Even though Kunpeng had blocked most of it, the remaining portion that fell upon Fu Chaosheng, who had already endured forty percent of the primordial tribulation’s power, was undoubtedly adding insult to injury.

But compared to the burning pain in his chest that was unbearable at this moment, what did these several forces clashing within his body amount to?

Why?

Why had True Person Hengxu of Kunwu suddenly turned the Evil-Slaying Seal toward him?

Was it because of Shaoji’s final words?

And why did he feel such inhuman pain?

It was as if when he had watched Jian Chou fall toward the earth’s core, something in his chest had been blasted open with a thunderous crash. Now, watching Kun fall toward the eighth level of hell, what surged from his half-heart was something entirely different…

“Where is the Book of Life and Death?” He suddenly seemed to think of something, turning around and stumbling toward Jian Chou, forcefully grasping her shoulders like a drowning man grasping his last straw, shouting hoarsely: “Jian Chou, Jian Chou, where is the Book of Life and Death?”

A layer of sorrow floated in Jian Chou’s eyes.

She looked at him without answering.

Fu Chaosheng thus felt a tremendous fear, but he was unwilling to believe it, roaring at her almost stubbornly: “Where is the Book of Life and Death?! Give it to me!!!”

His uncontrolled power pressed her directly against the cave wall behind her. The wound on her shoulder blade that hadn’t completely healed was pierced by a protruding rock on the cave wall, and sudden pain spread from her back throughout her entire body.

Yet she didn’t make a sound.

Jian Chou only raised her eyes and saw the fragility hidden beneath the madness in his eyes, so she felt blood trickling from her own heart.

She ultimately still gave him the Book of Life and Death.

Her palm had lost some strength, and as soon as the Book of Life and Death was taken from her sleeve, it slipped from her hand and rolled to Fu Chaosheng’s feet.

He immediately released her and picked it up.

The moment the Book of Life and Death fell into his hands, blazing golden light erupted like flames, seeming to extremely reject his approach, even burning his palms.

But as if he felt no pain, he opened it.

Countless ancient and clumsy golden characters left from antiquity instantly emerged from the scroll.

Pangu established reincarnation, and reincarnation covered the six realms.

The human race alone gathered the spiritual essence of heaven and earth, endowed with the strongest spiritual intelligence. Though they had lifespans regulated by the laws of reincarnation, once they stepped onto the cultivation path, their lifespans would accumulate and increase. All other races had their fates recorded in the book, also granted by the laws of reincarnation—whether one day, one month, or one year. In terms of lifespan, few could surpass humans; those who could surpass humans were inferior in spiritual intelligence.

Among humans, the evil, weak, and incompetent would be cast into the hell realm, hungry ghost realm, and animal realm in future lives.

Among all realms, the good, strong, and extraordinary would ascend to the human realm in future lives, becoming human.

When souls scatter and people die, fate cannot be changed.

Everything was there…

From the human ancestor Pangu’s establishment of reincarnation to every law of reincarnation, even the life and death of mortals—all was recorded above. Only there was nothing about how to reverse heaven and earth, to gather souls and save people!

What could be seen were only these last eight cold words!

When souls scatter and people die, fate cannot be changed!

“Haha, hahahaha…”

Fu Chaosheng stepped back once, then again, looking at all these golden characters in the scroll and bursting into laughter, feeling that every word and sentence was about humans, humans, humans!

These laws of reincarnation were even more cruel than he had imagined!

“Human Ancestor Pangu, what a Human Ancestor Pangu!”

Heaven gave birth to all things!

Humans were merely one among them!

Human Ancestor Pangu was also merely the ancestor of the human race!

By what right could He create this six-realm reincarnation, forcibly bringing all other living spirits of heaven and earth into the cycle of reincarnation, dividing them by good and evil, superior and inferior—casting inferior humans into evil realms while selecting superior beings from other realms to enter the human realm!

What wrong had all things done?

The mayfly race, born at dawn and dead at dusk…

What wrong had they done?

Having read through the entire Book of Life and Death of the Six Realms, it made him understand that there was neither a method of self-salvation nor a method of saving others…

By the end of Fu Chaosheng’s laughter, it was filled with tragic desolation.

He gently released his grip, letting the Book of Life and Death fall to the ground, then looked at Jian Chou, his voice like autumn wind blowing through fallen leaves, carrying inexplicable desolation: “So my old friend knew all along…”

Yes.

If there had been a method in this Book of Life and Death to preserve Kun’s soul from scattering, how could she have sat idly by like him, watching It dissipate between heaven and earth?

Fu Chaosheng was extremely dazed.

After he released his grip, Jian Chou’s body slowly slid down, collapsing to the ground, with dripping blood trailing down the rock wall behind her.

A shocking sight.

She closed her eyes, listening to his dejected words. Her emotions surged, but she finally slowly opened her eyes and looked at him.

Fu Chaosheng was startled by the fresh blood trickling down the cave wall, suddenly generating an inexplicable fear.

He half-knelt down, wanting to approach her.

But his body had already been engulfed by tidal waves of black energy, leaving only a broken human form. Wanting to reach out and touch her, he trembled as he said: “Don’t be afraid, don’t be afraid of me. I was wrong, Jian Chou…”

What kind of lonely and bewildered eyes were those?

Tears immediately rolled down from Jian Chou’s eyes.

Her eye sockets reddened, and she felt as if a sharp blade had viciously, without leaving any room for mercy, wedged itself into her chest with a single thrust, piercing flesh and blood, making her disheveled in this instant.

“No, you did nothing wrong…”

She closed her eyes, seemingly wanting to stop the surging tears, but how could she bear it? For a moment, she felt utterly desolate.

“I was the one who was wrong.”

From the beginning at the Snowy Region Secret Sect, she shouldn’t have let Fu Chaosheng become involved in these conflicts between people. Even though he was a supremely evil great demon with absolutely powerful abilities, he had only heard of these worldly matters but never experienced them firsthand.

How could he know the sinister nature of human hearts?

But he didn’t know—she should have known.

Moreover, she had been by Fu Chaosheng’s side from the beginning and should have informed him of all the various evils of human nature, so he could be prepared against others.

If she had truly achieved flawless perfection, how could she have watched this tragedy unfold today without any power to stop it?

Kun was dead.

It wasn’t Fu Chaosheng’s fault—it was hers…

But Fu Chaosheng couldn’t understand what she was saying. He was only panicked about the mistake he had just made. Having lost Kun, he was truly terrified.

He feared losing Jian Chou as well.

He didn’t know what he had done wrong and could only frantically try to make amends.

“No, it’s fine, it’s fine…”

His gaze wandered around, searching for something, panicked yet seemingly aimless, until finally he saw his own hand.

That hand stained with Kun’s blood.

Though his face was crying, he smiled at her: “It’s fine, it’s fine. We’ll have something even better. Don’t be afraid, don’t be afraid…”

He tightly clenched his five fingers that were almost completely devoured by the black energy, and the undried fresh blood condensed together, forming a scarlet Dao Seal in the blink of an eye!

It was in the shape of half a feather!

Then he suddenly reached out and pressed it against her shoulder.

In this instant, Jian Chou suddenly struggled violently. She clearly saw the shape of this Dao Seal!

And clearly heard Fu Chaosheng’s words!

They were exactly the same as what she had heard alone on that platform years ago!

“No, I don’t want it…”

If the price of this so-called “something better” was the departure of a close friend, she would rather not have it!

Tears streamed down Jian Chou’s face as she tried to retreat backward.

But behind her was only the cold, hard rock wall. At this moment, the power within Fu Chaosheng’s body seemed to have reached another extreme after extreme weakness. With just one hand pressed on her shoulder, he locked away all her strength!

She couldn’t dodge, couldn’t escape!

“It won’t hurt much, it won’t hurt much.”

Fu Chaosheng murmured, not understanding why she didn’t want it. He only sensed her fear and reached out to embrace her.

He comforted her with his poor and clumsy words.

But Jian Chou didn’t feel comforted in the slightest. She only clearly felt something ice-cold yet burning fall upon her wounded shoulder blade.

Extreme cold, extreme heat!

The moment it fell, it spread along the bones of her shoulder blade throughout her entire body!

The terrifying pain was even worse than when she first received the Dijiang Wind Thunder Wing Dao Seal years ago!

But just moments later, a force penetrated from her brow center, protecting her spiritual platform and isolating all the attacking pain from her body.

In her blurred vision were Fu Chaosheng’s panicked yet sorrowful eyes.

With a “buzz” of trembling sound, the air within the entire rock cavern shook. In the next moment, a hazy phantom flew up from her shoulder blade!

It passed through her body, through this rock cavern!

Even through the crater outside!

It projected all the way beyond the eighteen levels of hell, into the gloomy sky of the polar regions—wings hanging from heaven, soaring ninety thousand li!

Countless cultivators and ghost cultivators who were hurriedly evacuating looked up and vaguely remembered the roc’s shadow that had dominated this battlefield not long ago…

Jian Chou’s heart suddenly became completely empty.

The natal Dao Seal from the ancient demon god filled her body at this moment, making her unable to move even slightly.

The wind outside wailed mournfully.

She looked at Fu Chaosheng, her eyes holding only wordless grief.

Fu Chaosheng suddenly felt his heart being torn apart. All her expressions and emotions affected everything about him.

That half-heart…

It was that half-heart!

He still remembered Jian Chou saying that because of this heart, he had developed “desire.” But could “desire” also make one suffer so unbearably?

It hurt too much.

His entire being was about to curl up.

But he really didn’t want to continue suffering, so he forcefully reached out and directly split open his own chest!

The bloody half of an innocent heart pulsed within.

Fresh blood and demon blood connected together. The heart was red, but the surroundings gradually turned blue.

With a “hiss,” Fu Chaosheng gouged out this half-heart, fresh blood and demon blood flowing from his chest.

“No more pain, there should be no more pain…”

He murmured these words and threw the half-heart onto the ground.

It lay quietly in the dust, having stopped beating.

Fu Chaosheng thought that the torment he had endured since swallowing this half-heart should end here. However, just the moment after the heart fell to the ground, even more intense pain invaded!

Without the heart, it spread throughout his entire chest!

Even accompanied by a fear of reverting to pure demonic evil…

Why?

Why did it still hurt?

Without this half of an innocent heart, shouldn’t all pain have stopped?

Why did he still hurt?

Endless confusion surged into his mind at this moment, impacting his inherent, naive understanding. He almost instinctively wanted to seek help from Jian Chou.

To ask her what exactly had happened.

But when he raised his head, he only saw Jian Chou’s tear-filled eyes that contained pain and compassion…

Then came a thunderous realization.

What was there left to be unclear about?

Regarding everything in the human world, he wasn’t completely ignorant. Sometimes his unreserved trust made him instinctively believe the words of those around him without suspicion.

On his pale face, there was no trace of blood, only a hint of sudden anger, even…

Hatred.

Fu Chaosheng stared at her, bewildered and at a loss.

“You lied to me. Why did you lie to me? What I feel for you is clearly more than just desire…”

Jian Chou looked at him, wanting to speak but finding herself unable to answer…

Fu Chaosheng waited for her for a long time, but she never spoke. So he vaguely understood something and slowly began to laugh bitterly. He didn’t understand why he was first made to learn love, then made to learn hatred.

Humans were truly difficult to understand.

Not only could he not understand those cultivators from Shijiu Zhou, but he had never understood even this old friend before his eyes.

Without that innocent heart, the speed at which his entire body was engulfed by black energy suddenly accelerated, as if it had suddenly lost its original opponent, no longer having any obstructive force to clash with it. In the blink of an eye, even his face was submerged.

Something inside collapsed.

Then they regathered.

Bit by bit.

After a moment, they condensed into the human form that Fu Chaosheng had been unable to achieve no matter what.

Only now there was no longer the moss-like old robe of that youth from Deng Tiandao.

Deep, dark blue, like heavy night color, pressed upon him.

Persisting was difficult, but giving up was easy.

Once he gave up, worldly matters seemed not so difficult to accept. Even the original pain that had permeated his entire body vanished without a trace at this moment.

Fu Chaosheng could suddenly hear the sounds of wind, rain, flowing water, and dispersing clouds throughout the world…

His perception expanded infinitely.

It seemed he didn’t need to exert any effort—just a single thought, and the universe’s birth and death were all within his heart. It was as if he himself were part of the universe.

The mayfly’s deep ink-green pupils actually turned a dim blue, and the silver patterns that had once covered his neck were now deeply fused only in the depths of his pupils!

No longer demonic evil energy, only faint and pure murderous intent!

Perhaps the only thing familiar to Jian Chou was the inexhaustible hurt in those eyes…

The half innocent heart was a dead thing.

But it had become a key that opened a sealed door, allowing love to flow out and hatred to flow out as well.

And these things born from the heart did not disappear with the heart’s departure.

At this moment, should he be called “he” or “He”?

Fu Chaosheng picked up the scattered Book of Life and Death from the ground and placed it beside her. He also took out the Cosmic Eye he had borrowed from her in the past, looked at it for a long time, then placed it beside the Book of Life and Death.

Perhaps…

What Shaoji had said wasn’t entirely wrong.

He infused a power belonging to divinity into Jian Chou’s brow center, protecting her soul while also restraining all the words she was about to speak. Just like when they had sat close together on Deng Tiandao, he slowly said: “I once thought I was a mayfly, and my birth was for the fate of this race. I also thought I could change this way of reincarnation. Now I know I’m not even a mayfly, and this way of reincarnation is more cruel than I imagined. The universe is vast and limitless—I have my own fate to fulfill…”

Don’t go—

Don’t go!

It was an extremely uneasy premonition that made Jian Chou’s entire body tremble, her eyes reddening as she wanted to stop him. But no matter how vast the voice in her heart, she couldn’t make a sound!

“Beginning as paired eyes, ending without paired wings…”

Fu Chaosheng murmured once, his heart completely empty, and turned to leave. But he had barely reached the edge of the rock cavern when he could walk no further.

He stood silently for a long time, then suddenly turned back and returned to her side.

She looked at him with reddened eyes. Her cold face no longer held the frosty, unapproachable chill of old, only the kind of sorrow that could easily make him hurt and suffer.

When he didn’t know love, he had dared to act recklessly.

Having learned love, he only dared to treasure and cherish as he kissed her brow, saying with grief: “Don’t come looking for me…”

Don’t come looking for me.

I fear that if we meet again with swords drawn, I might not be able to recognize my old friend’s face…

Fu Chaosheng finally withdrew, resolutely turning away and disappearing from this world in a single step, leaving no trace even in this realm.