The Truth of Evil Pool!

Outside the cave, the wind and snow howled, and the faint blue light reflected from the ice curtain fragmented Bai Ze's face.

She picked up the Ink Pine Sword that lay between the two of them; the sword no longer repelled this woman with whom she had been intimate.

She traced the dragon pattern on the Ink Pine Sword with her fingertips. "Your sword has a heavy aura of death."

You Su raised an eyebrow, knowing that the other person was referring to him for killing many people. But her calm tone was not one of criticism, but rather a kind of compassionate sympathy. She seemed to be talking about Ink Pine Sword, but she was also talking about her own hands.

"Do you know how many generations of bones are buried beneath the snowfields of the Northern Ao Continent?" she suddenly asked, her voice as soft as a falling ice crystal.

You Su paused, poking at the campfire, sparks flying onto the frost that had formed on her skirt. "Every piece of land is buried with the people who lived there. I don't understand the meaning of your question."

Bai Ze chuckled softly, the firelight reflected in his eyes flickering. "What I mean is, in other continents, the only way to find out how many generations have been buried is by checking the family genealogy. But in the Northern Ao Continent, you don't need anything. You just need to dig up their graves to count how many generations have died, and you can even see clearly what they looked like before they died."

You Su naturally knew the common sense that low temperatures could prevent things from rotting, and in the permafrost of the Northern Ao Continent, a corpse could potentially be preserved for hundreds or even thousands of years.

"I know that Northern Ao Continent is freezing cold, and I have witnessed the poverty of the people of Bei Ao. You don't need to emphasize it to me again."

Bai Ze shook his head. "Poverty is nothing to boast about, and I didn't mean to emphasize it. I wanted you to understand the real reason for our poverty—it's because this land is simply not suitable for living."

You Su was slightly taken aback upon hearing this. He looked at Bai Ze, whose face remained expressionless, and vaguely sensed that the other party would hold nothing back.

"A flower blooms, pollinates, bears fruit, withers, decomposes, and is reborn—this is its life cycle, the law of Heavenly Dao, and the same applies to all things. But in the Northern Ao Continent, this cycle is slow, even stagnant. So here, death takes a long time to become nourishment for life, but the living cannot wait, for they too will soon become dead."

The girl calmly described the root of the problem in the Northern Ao Continent, without showing any sadness or indignation. However, this calmness stemmed from her awareness of her powerlessness, which made people feel a deep sorrow.

You Su suddenly began to believe in the so-called theory of soul separation, because if the person in front of her was not one of the true Ganlong Venerable... she would not have been able to see through the ice layer of Bei Ao, let alone say such a thing.

"What is your purpose in cultivating Daoism?" the girl suddenly asked a familiar question.

You Su pursed his lips. He should have felt disgusted by this suddenly appearing stranger, but for some reason, he couldn't muster any real hostility towards her.

"Protect the people around you." You Su's answer was quite sincere.

"Isn't it for immortality?" Bai Ze chuckled upon hearing this. She gently stroked the hilt of the sword, examining the marks left by countless grips. After a long while, she finally placed the Ink Pine Sword back in its original position.

"She's just like you, but her selfishness is even greater. What she wants to protect is everyone in the entire Northern Ao Continent."

"She is...?"

"Ganlong Venerable, the other... me."

She untied her twin ponytails, which were bound together with silk threads, and as her black hair fell, it traced a star map in the air.

"This is what we drew. It depicts the geological veins of the permafrost in the Northern Ao Continent. Every silver line carries the survey data she almost risked her life to obtain. We started measuring the land of the Northern Ao Continent on foot from the Condensing Water Realm."

You Su stared at the star map in a daze. He had a vague sense of déjà vu, and then realized that it was the pattern drawn by the oil from the overturned oil pan that had flowed onto the ground.

"Let me ask you again, if you were attending a banquet alone, and there was a dish of delicacies on the table that you could enjoy all by yourself, while others were not allowed to eat it, would you feel guilty towards the many strangers you were sharing the meal with?"

You Su reacted quickly, frowning as she retorted, "Are you comparing this delicacy to Mystic Qi? And those strangers sharing the feast are mortals incapable of cultivation?"

"The original intention of the Immortal Ancestor in passing down the Immortal Path was to ascend to the heavens in search of immortality. People like you are ultimately a minority." Bai Ze sighed softly, as if acknowledging that You Su would answer with remorse.

You Su hesitated, then stopped himself. He did feel guilty, but it was because Bai Ze regarded him as such a selfless person.

Is there anyone in this world who doesn't look out for themselves? Faced with this situation, he might feel a little embarrassed, but that wouldn't stop him from enjoying this delicacy that was meant for him alone. Why would he care about those who couldn't eat it?

"As I just told you, the cycle of decay and recurrence is the ultimate principle of Heavenly Dao. She believes that Mystic Qi should also follow this principle. However, high-level cultivators have long lifespans, but they take away a vast amount of Mystic Qi instead of returning it to Heaven and Earth. This will also hinder the cycle of Heavenly Dao."

As soon as he finished speaking, the firewood flickered and smoldered for a moment. You Su stared in astonishment into Bai Ze's eyes, unable to believe that the Ganlong Venerable had intended to kill him could have such an insight. This view was tantamount to saying that all high-level cultivators were just parasites that refused to die.

"Even so, didn't she still cultivate to the highest level in the mortal realm?"

"Yes, after all, who can refuse privileges? But she believes that if you accept privileges, you must make corresponding contributions. Since high-level cultivators have obtained resources that ordinary people cannot even dream of, and have even hindered the cycle of Heavenly Dao, they should help to promote it. I don't think she's right. I just want to make Northern Ao Continent better. She has more means and more ambition than me, so I trust her."

Just then, the ice crystal star map suddenly began to distort, transforming into two figures. The woman on the left, her Shark Silk fluttering, held a jade ruler and measured the snowfield; the woman on the right, her white robe stained with frost, knelt down and gently stroked the frozen wheat seedlings.

Two identical faces gazed at each other across the Milky Way, their eyes reflecting entirely different worlds.

"She is the Ganlong Venerable, Palace Lord of Dragon Seeing Palace." Bai Ze's voice was filled with the sound of wind and snow. "We share a physical body, yet we are separated like light and shadow. When she controls the body, she suppresses evil spirits with thunderous methods; when I control consciousness, I soothe the people with gentle breezes and nourishing rain."

You Su's pupils dilated slightly as he realized that the selfless and noble female immortal his Mistress had spoken of was not an illusion, but was all real.

"We are trying to climb higher, Northern Ao Continent is indeed getting better, but it seems unable to get any better. This is the limitation of this land."

After she became a celestial official of the Immortal Ancestor Temple, most of the laws she revised and treaties she promulgated were aimed at high-level cultivators. But how many fools in this world are as foolish as she is to regard privilege as responsibility? The self-cultivation she despised was merely what others saw as single-minded cultivation; what was wrong with that?

So over the past few centuries, she has changed, becoming disheartened and autocratic. Flowers as vibrant as those of the south cannot grow in frozen soil; this is the very rule of Heavenly Dao that she upholds most. But she is unwilling to stop there, so she decides—to create a new world for the Northern Ao Continent."

The star map suddenly shattered into a shower of ice shards, and a rotting Evil Demon corpse emerged from the void. Countless black roots sprouted from the cracks in its shell, and wherever they touched the frozen earth, a sea of vibrant flowers bloomed.

"That year, when the Evil Warding Department Heng Lian First Seat of the Central Yuan Continent sent over samples of Black Soil, she stroked the flower branches and said to me, 'Look, this is the vitality of the Northern Ao Continent.'"

The Palace Lord of Dragon Seeing Palace gazed at the scene on the light screen, a hint of melancholy still lingering in his eyes.

"Although the Heavenly Arts First Seat repeatedly emphasized that although the Black Soil formed from the decay of a large number of evil spirits was fertile, it was ultimately transformed from evil things and could only be used for research, not for practice, and evil things should not be widely publicized, she disagreed. She believed that those who were born in affluent places and lived in luxury could not understand the value of this Black Soil at all, and this was the key for her to change Northern Ao Continent."

"She... she's going to use this corrupted Black Soil to replace the frozen soil of the Northern Ao Continent?!"

You Su could hardly contain his shock. This was indeed a feat that dared to change the world. Regardless of whether the method was feasible, others probably wouldn't even have the courage to have such an idea.

"Indeed, after obtaining the frozen soil, she conducted repeated experiments. The flowers and plants that grew from the Black Soil thrived even in the freezing cold. She even ate them herself and detected no abnormalities in the fruits. She was very excited and couldn't wait to see the lush and verdant Northern Ao Continent she had imagined. But the most crucial step hindering her plan was that the Black Soil, formed from the corpses of evil spirits, was too scarce to possibly fill the entire North Ao Continent."

At this point, a flash of inspiration struck You Su, and all his past doubts suddenly came together, making everything clear to him.

"So she dug a tunnel to the seabed! The seabed is the lair of evil spirits, and the Black Soil there is inexhaustible!"

In that case, everything makes sense!

Since the matter was to be accomplished in secrecy, she could not openly build such a tunnel, because that would certainly provoke a lot of opposition, and she had long since looked down on that group of people, so she would not care about their opinions.

So, thirty years ago, she began a secret excavation inside the Kong Yuan Divine Mountain. She chose that location not because the Kong Yuan Divine Mountain was already possessed by evil spirits, but because she was extremely cautious. If this tunnel became a shortcut for evil spirits from the seabed to invade, the power of the mountain would be enough to suppress them!

Furthermore, in order to avoid such a situation as much as possible, she began to forge an identity and secretly transfer Divine Radiance Stone from the far north, where evil spirits were scarce, to suppress the entrance of the tunnel. This is why there are so many Divine Radiance Stone there!

"From the moment she started with the evil soil, I felt that she was somewhat eager for quick success and instant benefits. And with this idea of transporting Black Soil from the seabed, I felt that she had gone mad. In my opinion, a gradual approach and non-interference are the best solutions. If this is the way of nature, then we should do our best in accordance with it."

So when I took control of the body, I repeatedly delayed and even sabotaged her plans. This was the beginning of my struggle with her, and from then on, we used every means to fight for control of this body. The final result is what you see now."

Palace Lord of Dragon Seeing Palace casually spread her hands, her tone even carried a hint of self-mockery, as if she were a loser.

You Su had now basically figured out the whole story. The higher one's cultivation level, the more one seeks mental clarity, and therefore the stronger one's obsession with unfinished matters. Ganlong Venerable was already deeply obsessed with completing this great undertaking of transforming Northern Ao Continent, and Palace Lord of Dragon Seeing Palace was regarded as a traitor and the most likely person to ruin her grand plan, she wanted to kill 'herself'.

"If she doesn't dare kill you herself, why doesn't she hire a bodyguard to do it for her? That way, the backlash from Heavenly Dao won't affect her."

"Because she couldn't bear to kill me either. She was focused on governing Bei'ao, and her devotion to cultivation was far less than mine. The progress in that body's cultivation was basically all due to my cultivation, while she was responsible for planning and thinking. I thought we would always cooperate so seamlessly, but no one could have imagined that one day, two souls of one body would turn against each other. She hasn't fully comprehended our original Cultivation Method, so she can't unleash her full potential at the Upper Void Realm. Without the support of the Upper Void Realm, it would be difficult for her to command a hundred followers and rule the world in the Northern Ao Continent."

She sighed softly again, "Admittedly, I did use some despicable means to stop her. So after she abandoned me, she tried to make me lose my power, so that even if I woke up, I wouldn't be able to stop her. When she saw me appear on the sacred mountain, she thought I had escaped her control, so she tried to make me commit suicide, which was probably also her revenge against me. As for you, you have become a sharp sword for her to take revenge on Bai Ze."

You Su raised an eyebrow, thinking that the Palace Lord of Dragon Seeing Palace was indeed frank. Her account was fair and objective, and she did not belittle him just because he was an enemy. Ultimately, the conflict stemmed from their differing philosophies on governing Northern Ao Continent.

"Since you regained consciousness long ago, why didn't you tell me the truth sooner?"

Before obtaining that Tridacna pearl, I thought dying at the bottom of the sea was my destined end. Bai Ze likes you very much, and I don't want to disturb her, nor do I want you to harbor any resentment.

You Su pursed her lips, too embarrassed to respond to the 'like' in her words.

He recalled those inappropriate displays of affection, those enchanting family disciplines... the object of which wasn't necessarily a naive cat experiencing its first stirrings of love, but perhaps a female immortal revered among humans...

With this in mind, his resentment towards the Palace Lord of Dragon Seeing Palace for concealing his identity lessened considerably, and he even felt some unnecessary guilt.

"But judging from the results, she was indeed wrong. If it hadn't been stopped in time, Northern Ao Continent would not have prospered; instead, it would have perished."

You Su deeply felt the complexity of human nature. He admired Ganlong Venerable's ambition to transform Northern Ao Continent, but he did not approve of her extreme approach.

But he had barely finished speaking when he suddenly realized something was wrong. "Since Ganlong Venerable is so devoted to the Northern Ao Continent, how could he stand idly by and let this Evil Tide spread unchecked?!"

Palace Lord of Dragon Seeing Palace lightly tap her knee with her fingertips, she said, "Indeed, though she is obsessive, she wouldn't be so foolish as to allow evil spirits to slaughter the city. In these thirty years, someone must have altered her plans to something else—"

You Su's pupils contracted slightly as memories unfolded like a spiderweb. The meaningful smile of the Archimedes Venerable when he handed over the ledger, the boiling blood pool outside Changshan City, the broken statue of the Ganlong Venerable in the temple—all the fragments were suddenly linked together by some viscous malice. Someone had turned the tables and taken advantage of the Ganlong Venerable's kindness, turning a rescue into a massacre!

"So I need your help. We need to wake her up from this great dream." The Palace Lord of Dragon Seeing Palace nodded, her black hair falling down to cover half of her face.

What can I do?

In You Su's view, Bai Ze was a vessel prepared by the Palace Lord of Dragon Seeing Palace, and his strength must be only below the Void Realm. In this battle, his ability to do so would ultimately be limited.

"Bai Ze is the true master of this body; she is now the key to saving Northern Ao Continent. But she doesn't have Northern Ao Continent in her eyes; she only has you."

As soon as she finished speaking, a cold wind swirled snowflakes into the cave, and the girl's eyelashes fluttered as the fire flickered.

When those deer-like eyes opened again, the flowing icy blue had transformed into clear amber.

Bai Ze looked around blankly, and after seeing You Su's face clearly, he suddenly shrank into the corner of the rock wall, hugging his knees and curling into a small ball.

You Su knew that she was still upset about his earlier distancing himself from her.

After figuring out the situation, You Su knew it was still his silly cat sister, so he went over and coaxed her softly, "Are you still cold?"

"Don't talk to me! I don't want you anymore, meow!"

These words were more piercing than the claws of an evil spirit from the deep sea. You Su had long regarded Bai Ze as an invaluable existence. "How could I possibly not want Bai Ze...?"

"Then hug me." Bai Ze turned his head away, tears welling up in his eyes, his true intentions revealed.

You Su's hand, which he wanted to touch but froze in mid-air, reflected the flickering firelight, just like his hesitant heart.

Holding Bai Ze was something he was used to, but knowing that there was an old woman inside her body made it really hard for him to do it.

Bai Ze didn't care about anything else. He grabbed You Su's hand and wrapped it around himself, then affectionately put his arm around You Su's waist, as if afraid that he would run away again.

You Su was helpless. When she learned Palace Lord of Dragon Seeing Palace Bai Ze would fall asleep as soon as he woke up, she felt a little less uneasy and quietly hugged him tighter.

A Jiu was already fast asleep, while A Ying wrapped herself tightly in her rough linen cloak, taking in the silhouettes of the two of them.