Chapter 87: The Truth of the Past

Chapter 87: The Truth of What Happened Back Then

Shen Lian looked at him, "Don't dwell on it."

He Ci was still feeling a bit down.

Shen Lian was just about to say something comforting when he noticed a small bird pop out of He Ci's hair.

It was chirping away and pecking at He Ci's head, fluttering its snow-white feathers.

He Ci winced, hissing in pain, and grabbed the little bird, "You—"

He suddenly froze, "Kong Yun?"

The little bird opened its mouth, and it was indeed Kong Yun's infuriating tone: "Hehe, didn't expect this, did you? I can't die."

He did a proud little hop in He Ci's palm, spreading his wings, "My ancestors had a phoenix bloodline—I can be reborn from the ashes. But unlike a phoenix, I only have one chance, and my precognition ability is gone."

He Ci's eyes reddened, "As long as you're alive, that's all that matters."

Kong Yun tilted his head, "Why do I hear someone calling himself a jinx, about to cry pearls?"

Hearing this, He Ci's expression immediately turned fierce, "What the hell are you talking about!"

He pinned Kong Yun down, "Cut the crap."

"Explain to us—what did you mean by saving your people? What happened to your clan? And what's going on with the Primordial Realm?"

Kong Yun sighed, tucking his tiny wings behind him, "It's not that I don't want to tell you, but my abilities are limited. Seeing the future—every glimpse costs me decades of my life."

"Just finding you two already used up the rest of my life."

"Bottom line, you two are something special," his beady black eyes turned to Shen Lian.

Shen Lian recalled his words about being a "visitor from beyond," "You know where I'm from?"

Kong Yun spoke, "All I can see is that you're a visitor from beyond. There's a reason you came to the Primordial Realm."

Shen Lian paused. He had never really thought about why he had come to the cultivation world.

Then he thought of the system he had assumed was long dead.

Actually, it wasn't totally dead. He had thought it had vanished, but later he discovered a string of data deep within his sea of consciousness.

It had completely lost its energy, so he had sealed that thing inside—

Shen Lian went back to his room, first telling Chen Xue to stand guard outside.

Then, expressionless, he produced a chamber pot.

When the seal on the chamber pot was lifted, a string of data slowly seeped out.

It had lost all its former arrogance, now looking timid and cowering.

Of course it was on the verge of tears!

Back then, it had barely held onto a sliver of consciousness, only to get sealed inside a chamber pot by Shen Lian.

Now, looking at Shen Lian, all it could do was grovel, "My lord, you've let me out—is there something you need from me?"

Shen Lian frowned, "Get lost."

Seeing the disgust in his eyes, the system felt even worse, and even it now felt a bit inferior.

Did it really stink that bad?

Shen Lian narrowed his eyes. He opened his mouth and asked, "I ask you—when Yan Huaixuan ascended and I was about to blow myself up, what did you see?"

His last memory was only of Yan Huaixuan's sword piercing his barrier.

The system recalled carefully, "I'm not sure I can remember. I just recall your spiritual power going berserk, your body torn to shreds, and even I couldn't escape it."

"Speaking of which..." it looked at Shen Lian, "The fact that you're alive is a straight-up miracle."

"Remember, I'm tied to you—we rise and fall together." It looked at its body, now down to just eight lines of code, and nearly cried, "I used to have over thirty thousand lines of code, and now I'm left with this tiny bit."

That alone showed how badly Shen Lian had been hurt.

Yet when he woke up, aside from a slight headache, his body was completely fine—and his ruined cultivation base had been completely rebuilt.

"Do you get how serious that is? It's like—back in the modern world—your flesh had been cooked, and you turned it back into raw meat."

Shen Lian's nails dug deep into his palms.

The system continued, "You might not think much of it now, but back then you were in the mortal world! A place with no spiritual energy—you were no different from an ordinary person."

Shen Lian said coldly, "Chen Xue rebuilt my body."

The system habitually let out a scoff, "That piece of junk sword? At best, it's Yellow-rank. How could it possibly rebuild your cultivation base?"

The moment it said that, Shen Lian slapped it right back into the chamber pot.

The system immediately switched to a fawning tone, "I'm sorry, I was wrong."

"Please, can you seal me somewhere else?"

Shen Lian ignored it entirely.

He sat in the chair, his mind consumed by Ling Yun's dying words.

—"Don't blame the master; he knows nothing. Do you remember? When your spiritual power went berserk and you were about to self-destruct, it was the master who used his—"

But he hadn't been able to listen to the rest, cutting off Ling Yun.

Shen Lian then thought again of how Chen Xue had lost control multiple times in front of Yan Huaixuan.

And Yan Huaixuan's words.

"What if my heart is with you?"

Shen Lian's eyes suddenly turned strange. His hand pressed against his own heart.

Could Yan Huaixuan's words not have been a confession, but literal truth...

Shen Lian's fingers pressed against his chest.

Every time he faced danger—like when he was captured by the Demon Dragon and taken back to its lair—he had nearly thought he would die, yet a sudden surge of power came from his heart, pulling him back from the abyss.

Shen Lian felt his head splitting with pain. He viciously crushed the cup in his hand.

When he looked up again, his eyes were already flooded with blood.

Yan Huaixuan, what exactly have you done?

The next day, He Ci came to Shen Lian's door and knocked. "Shen Lian, I want to ask, now that the curse is lifted, where are you going?"

Shen Lian pursed his lips. "I don't know."

After a pause, he spoke again, "I can go anywhere."

After all, Yan Huaixuan was already dead, so there was nothing holding him back.

Kong Yun was sitting on He Ci's head, and upon hearing this, he preened his own feathers. "You're really not coming with us?"

Shen Lian looked at them. "You...?"

Kong Yun said with a smile, "This little fool said it himself—he wants to be my cultivation partner."

He Ci shut his eyes, his face blank. "Shut up."

Shen Lian thought it over and still turned down the offer to go back to Floating Cloud Mountain with He Ci. He wanted to continue cultivating alone.

Hearing this, He Ci couldn't say anything more.

Shen Lian then looked at Kong Yun. "This jade token is for contacting me. If you ever need anything, you can reach me."

Kong Yun took it without hesitation.

Shen Lian also gave him a bunch of pills.

He Ci watched him leave and suddenly said, "Are you going back to the Forgotten Snow Domain?"

Shen Lian's steps faltered.

He Ci pressed his lips together. "Take care, and be careful."

"Also, those ninety-nine Demon-Slaying Heavenly Thunders have already drawn the attention of the entire Primordial World. Everyone is searching for who endured that tribulation."

"Remember, you have to stay away from it."

Shen Lian looked at He Ci.

He Ci added, "I won't reveal that it was Yan Huaixuan. Can you give me another jade token? That way, I can keep track of you in the future. When you have time, you can come visit Floating Cloud Mountain."