The Deity's Recognition

"How could that be?" Xie Yue's body shuddered, and he tightened his grip on the Moon Blades.

"Don't be afraid. I'm different from the other monsters." The little girl suddenly burst into tears again, collapsing limply onto the ground. She was completely unlike the calm, indifferent figure from before.

Xie Yue could not make sense of the situation and found himself at a loss.

"There's a monster living inside me. If I don't leave the temple soon, she'll completely replace me." The little girl covered her eyes, her voice hoarse. "Big brother, save me. I don't want to die!"

Is this what people call a split personality? Xie Yue's heart skipped a beat. "How can I get you out of the temple?"

"I don't know." The little girl shook her head, but her tone abruptly changed. "You still want to take me out? If you delay any longer, the sun will truly rise. Then you'll be trapped here forever, never able to leave for all eternity!"

"This..." Cold sweat poured down Xie Yue's forehead. Unfortunately, Xie Yue was not Jiang Mian. If Jiang Mian had been here, he would have slapped her across the face. Who do you think you are, putting on an act in front of me?

"She's lying to you. She's the temple's monster, and she knows how to leave." The little girl's personalities switched back and forth, leaving Xie Yue unable to tell truth from falsehood.

"If you believe me, leave quickly. I've already become a monster, and I don't want to drag anyone else down with me." The little girl's smile was horrifying, her mouth nearly splitting all the way to the back of her head. "That person only used a delaying tactic because she wants to turn you into a monster too."

"I can't tell." Xie Yue wiped the sweat from his forehead and could not help asking, "Which one of you is real?"

"That depends on how you judge it." The little girl chuckled. "Perhaps everything is real. Or perhaps everything is false."

When falsehood is treated as truth, truth too becomes false; when truth is treated as falsehood, falsehood too becomes truth. Truth and lies—everything depended on how one distinguished them.

Xie Yue's thoughts were a tangled mess. He was frantic with anxiety; how could he possibly calm down and think things through?

"Brother!"

Hu Liena's voice suddenly rang out beyond the main hall's doors. Xie Yue looked up and saw Hu Liena standing there with her hands behind her back, her eyes full of worry. "Brother, are you abandoning Nana?"

"Nana!" Xie Yue's heart trembled. He rose to his feet and was about to run outside.

"Brother, are you going to leave me here?"

"Why aren't you running? Do you really want to become a monster?"

A breakdown often came in an instant. Xie Yue was not someone without a conscience; on the contrary, he had a strong sense of justice. It was precisely that sense of justice that left him torn.

If there truly was a way to save this little girl, but he failed to help her and she became a monster because of it, Xie Yue would never be able to live with himself.

Yet the exit was right before him, and Nana and the others were waiting outside. If he did not act now, once the sun rose, he would truly be trapped in the temple forever, never able to see Nana or his good teachers and friends again.

"Calm down. Calm down." Xie Yue took a deep breath and asked, "Little sister, tell me quickly how I can save you. If I can help you, I'll do everything in my power to take you out. But if you can't give me an effective solution, I'll definitely leave on my own. I can't throw away my entire life here."

"Is that your answer?" The little girl's expression suddenly brightened, and she smiled. "I knew I hadn't misjudged you."

"Who exactly are you?" Xie Yue asked, completely bewildered.

The little girl's body slowly melted into the darkness until she vanished without a trace, leaving only her voice echoing through the empty hall.

"Even when we stand in the deepest darkness, our hearts must face the light. Only then will we avoid truly losing ourselves in endless darkness."

"Little one, I recognize you. Hold on to that bright heart of yours."

"Who exactly are you?" Xie Yue called out loudly.

"Who I am is not important. Leave. Come find me here again once you reach Rank Seventy."

As her voice faded, heaven and earth suddenly changed. The temple from moments ago vanished into thin air, and even the sky that had already begun to brighten was instantly erased.

The world returned to utter darkness.

Xie Yue used Mind's Eye to sense the changes around him and discovered that apart from boundless darkness, there was not a single living creature here.

He tried taking a step, and the world instantly became clear.

"Xie Yue is out." Jiang Mian swiftly caught Xie Yue as he fell from the crack. Xie Yue's eyes were tightly shut, yet he could still accurately call out Jiang Mian's name.

A tear slipped from the corner of Xie Yue's eye. It seemed he could no longer open them...

"Xie Yue, what happened?" Jiang Mian reached out, intending to force Xie Yue's eyelids open.

Xie Yue smiled and slapped Jiang Mian's hand away. He now possessed Mind's Eye; even without eyes, nothing would be affected. So that was why the little girl had covered his eyes back then.

"He has been recognized by a divine miracle." Looking at Xie Yue, who had lost both eyes, the Nether Empress said, "A blessing in disguise, perhaps."

"You're saying losing his eyes is a good thing?" Jiang Mian asked in confusion. "Xie Yue, how do you feel?"

"I feel great." Only then did Xie Yue understand what it meant to be in darkness while keeping one's heart toward the light. The world was turbulent, and people's hearts were complicated. Sometimes, not seeing was a blessing.

As long as his heart remained steadfastly turned toward the light, what was there to fear from darkness?

After losing his eyes, Xie Yue's other senses had become vastly sharper. Besides, he had Mind's Eye. This was undoubtedly far more beneficial than harmful.

"Brother." Seeing Xie Yue lying in Jiang Mian's arms, Hu Liena's tears instantly spilled over. She fell before Xie Yue, sobbing uncontrollably.

"I'm fine." Xie Yue gently wiped away the tears at Hu Liena's eyes, then pulled her into his embrace. "Nana, don't be sad, okay? Brother will be upset."

Zhu Zhuqing frowned slightly, uncertain whether she should be happy or sad. In her eyes, though Xie Yue had lost both eyes, he had gained the recognition of a deity. If Zhu Zhuqing encountered such a thing, she would undoubtedly give up her eyes without hesitation.

Jiang Mian stood and walked to Zhu Zhuqing's side. He pulled her into his arms without saying anything.

Zhu Zhuqing nestled against Jiang Mian's chest. The Nether Empress's lips curled slightly as she suddenly pressed herself against Scarlet King and smiled. "Little puppy, are you still going to run?"

"Di Tian ordered me to protect Jiang Mian." Scarlet King finally took the initiative for once. Imitating Jiang Mian, he pulled the Nether Empress into his arms. "Why don't you leave with me?"

"Little puppy, are you expecting me to throw myself at you?" The Nether Empress laughed heartily, reaching out to tease Scarlet King's hair. With a seductive smile, she said, "Don't think that just because I love you, you can do whatever you want."

Scarlet King said nothing and hugged the Nether Empress even tighter. They were pressed closely together, especially her proud twin peaks, which were nearly flattened into hills.

Bear Lord and Yan exchanged looks, then smiled at each other.

"All right, enough fooling around." The Nether Empress broke free from Scarlet King's arms and looked at Xie Yue calmly. "Little one, the dark energy around you is very dense. It seems the two of us are fated."

"Senior." Xie Yue stood, clasped his hands in salute, and said respectfully, "Thank you, Senior, for bestowing such a tremendous opportunity upon me. I am deeply grateful."

"Enough with the formalities." The Nether Empress smiled. "Perhaps you'll have need of me in the future. Your strength is not weak, and you've already broken through Rank Fifty, haven't you?"

"That's right." Xie Yue nodded. "I stayed in there for a while, and it seems my Soul Power has reached Rank Fifty-Three."

In truth, after Xie Yue absorbed that hundred-thousand-year Dark Gold Dreadclaw Bear torso bone, his Soul Power had already risen to Rank Fifty-Three. The time he spent in the dark crack had merely stabilized it further.

"So quickly?" Yan's mouth twitched, but he soon felt a sharp gaze from beside him.

"As expected of my disciple." Bear Lord gave a thumbs-up and praised him without restraint. "A hero emerges in youth."

The Nether Empress smiled. "We are people of a bygone era. It would not be appropriate for us to compete with you."

"All right, Xie Yue, hurry and find a suitable soul ring. We need to prepare to return to Spirit Hall." Seeing that Xie Yue was unharmed, Jiang Mian instructed, "We've delayed for too long. The Pope must be missing us by now."

"Okay." Though Xie Yue had lost his sight, his bearing surpassed what it once was. The former Xie Yue had been like a refined nobleman, while now he resembled a frail scholar who inspired pity at first sight.

Jiang Mian stroked his chin in amazement. This kid might not be as handsome as him, but with this temperament, he truly had something Jiang Mian could not match.

"Xie Yue, you should wrap your eyes with a blindfold." Jiang Mian's lips curved upward as he teased, "That way, lots of little girls will definitely like you."

"Get lost." Xie Yue smacked Jiang Mian irritably. Imagining that scene, Hu Liena could not help smiling. Her brother really did have an extraordinary charm now.

"Your Moon Blades are of the darkness attribute, right?" the Nether Empress said. "Come with me. I once drove away a darkness-attributed soul beast. It was wreaking havoc here, so I captured it and sealed it inside a ruin."

"Why didn't you just kill it?" Xie Yue asked in surprise.

"It is also a darkness-attributed soul beast. I did not want to lose one of my own kind." The Nether Empress chuckled. "But since you, little one, have been recognized by a deity, any soul beast that becomes your soul ring will surely have a boundless future. I can be said to have found it a good path."

The Nether Empress changed the subject. "Not only it—when you truly begin undertaking divine trials, I can become your soul ring as well."

"This!" Xie Yue was greatly shocked. This senior was no weaker than Scarlet King. If he could truly make her his soul ring, Xie Yue did not dare imagine how great his improvement would be.

Of course, that was merely the limited view of a frog at the bottom of a well. By the Nether Empress's account, Xie Yue would already have become a god by then, so would he still care about the attributes of a mere soul ring?

Jiang Mian saw through it but did not expose it. Smiling, he said, "Xie Yue, then hurry and follow Senior Nether Empress to take down that soul beast. We'll wait here for you."

"Okay." Xie Yue nodded. With a wave of her hand, the Nether Empress grabbed Xie Yue and flew deeper into Divine Eagle Canyon.

"Xie Yue has really been getting one lucky encounter after another lately." Bear Lord clicked his tongue in amazement. "Soon, even I, his master, will be ashamed to compare myself to him."

Jiang Mian smiled. "A master need not surpass his disciple."

"You sure have one saying after another. You're quite the cultured one, kid." Bear Lord teased.

Scarlet King looked at Yan, who was hiding beside Bear Lord, and felt utterly exasperated, though he could do nothing about it. He sighed and said weakly, "Yan, when will you ever let me say that I'm inferior to you?"

"Scarlet King, let me speak up for Yan." Jiang Mian blinked and said, "Look at Bear Lord. For his disciple, he was willing to give away even a hundred-thousand-year soul bone. You can't be stingy, can you?"

"When this brat breaks through to Soul King, I'll give you a soul bone too, all right?" Scarlet King said irritably. "Even if its grade is not as high as Bear Lord's, it won't be far off."

"Thank you, Master." Yan's eyes lit up. He dropped to his knees with a thud and thanked Scarlet King repeatedly.

Bear Lord curled his lip. "You're a dog yourself, and you've nearly trained your disciple into one too."

"You blind bear, are you looking for trouble?" Scarlet King had already been in a foul mood, and now his anger flared even higher. Pointing at Bear Lord's nose, he snapped, "How I teach my disciple is none of your business!"

Bear Lord was not intimidated in the slightest. "What, you control the heavens and earth, and now you're going to control whether others can speak?"

"Want to find a place and fight?" Scarlet King said.

"You think I'm afraid of you?" Bear Lord rolled up his sleeves, looking ready to strike.

"All right, all right. You two start fighting after just a few words? What are you doing?" Jiang Mian hurriedly stepped in as peacemaker. "Your disciples are watching. Act more maturely."

"Hmph!"

"Senior, is the darkness-attributed soul beast inside this cave?" The Nether Empress brought Xie Yue before a well-hidden cave.

The entrance was extremely narrow. Judging by its height, Xie Yue would have to bend at the waist just to enter.

"That's right." The Nether Empress nodded. "It is a twenty-three-thousand-year Dark Soul Snake. It loves devouring and tormenting soul beasts, so you'd better be careful."

"Twenty-three thousand years. That's a tough bone to chew." Xie Yue slowly entered the cave. The entrance was narrow, but the interior opened up dramatically.

The cave was at least ten meters high, a stark contrast to the entrance, which was less than half a meter tall.

"What a huge cave." Xie Yue was not hindered in the slightest inside the cave. Sensing its size, he sighed, "It's at least as large as the training grounds before Spirit Hall."

"Where is that soul beast?" Xie Yue pressed his back against the wall and slowly searched for the soul beast's traces.

Dark Soul Snakes were exceptionally skilled at hiding themselves. They lurked in the darkness, waiting for prey to approach before catching it off guard and constricting it to death before devouring it.

Moreover, these soul beasts were notorious for their cruel temperaments, taking pleasure in torturing living creatures to death. Usually, within dozens of miles of wherever they appeared, no other soul beast could be found.

Of course, there were special cases. There was no shortage of instances where they encountered stronger soul beasts and were killed instead.

It was precisely because of this snake's nature that its kind had gradually headed toward extinction.

Xie Yue quietly used Mind's Eye to sense his surroundings. He felt along the wall as he moved slowly. In a daze, he seemed to touch something icy, slimy, and sticky...