As the illusion crumbled inch by inch like glass, Huo Yuhao stared blankly at the gradually transparent conch shell in his palm. The cool sea breeze penetrated his clothes, crushing the Dragon Girl's last faint smile into shimmering waves.
He instinctively pressed his hand to his chest, where the warmth of the Red Armillary Sash still Entanglement. In the distance, where the sea met the sky, the Dragon Girl's figure transformed into starlight and disappeared into the vast twilight.
He gazed with a complex expression at the spot where the Dragon Girl had disappeared. " Dragon Girl, take care." His hoarse murmur was swept away by the waves, as if echoing this lingering concern.
"What, did you fall in love in the illusion?" A cold voice came from the void, and Nezha, dressed in white robes, arrived stepping on light, lotus patterns flowing between his brows. He stared at the lingering melancholy in Huo Yuhao's eyes, Red Armillary Sash moved without wind, outlining a crimson starry river behind him.
Huo Yuhao shook his head and smiled. "If Heaven had feelings, it too would grow old; if man had no feelings, he wouldn't be man. The things inside seem like illusions, but perhaps they existed at some point..." He paused, gazing at the fading afterimage of the illusion.
Nezha smiled with relief, "Congratulations. You not only passed the test, but you also saw my true self. Your performance was outstanding."
Huo Yuhao stood amidst the shimmering waves of the Lotus Sea of Divine Soul, the spiritual mist surrounding him trembling slightly with each breath.
He gazed into the void, his eyes swirling with complex emotions, his voice seeming to drift from afar. "Having experienced this illusion, I now know what the real you is, and I also deeply understand what hate and love are."
He raised his hand to touch his neck, where the icy touch of his suicide still lingered. A bitter smile, tinged with relief, lingered. "And, the feeling at the time, what true death really is."
"Death, at that moment, seemed less terrifying. Calmness, only calmness could describe the feeling at that time: extreme indifference, despair for everything, numbness, and immutability. Perhaps you were more earth-shattering then than in this trial."
"But what I experienced was merely a trial, while what you went through back then..." His voice trailed off, his Adam's apple bobbing heavily.
Nezha looked at him calmly. "Since you understand so well, then I'll show you."
A screen appeared within the Lotus Sea of Divine Soul.
A man was seen peeling off pieces of his own flesh, one by one, until the flesh was a bloody mess, leaving only a skeleton standing on his body.
He threw down his sword, removed his ribs, and let each bone fall into the sea.
Finally, unable to stand any longer, he laughed loudly as his body collapsed and fell into the sea.
When the floodwaters receded, there was no trace of him left on the earth, and Nezha was no more in the world.
Huo Yuhao was naturally shocked upon seeing this, and murmured, "Lotus petals transform into sharp blades, dispelling my boundless hatred. Is this the real you?"
Huo Yuhao's feelings were very complicated, which made him want to learn more about Nezha, as well as about himself, about things between life and death, or beyond life and death.
Huo Yuhao continued, "Family ties are heartless, Heaven is unjust, and there is nothing left to cherish in this world. Even if I go through reincarnation, even if I vanish into nothingness, I am who I am. No one can stop me from doing what I want to do. Rather, it is a kind of rebellion, a rebellion revealed in my very bones."
At this moment, Huo Yuhao's blue pupils had already changed to gold. This time, it wasn't because of the Golden Dragon King, but because the power within him seemed to be gathering.
Rain began to fall from the sky above the Lotus Sea of Divine Soul, and he had already gained enlightenment.
The lotus flames surrounding Nezha suddenly surged, casting a cold golden light on his sharply defined face.
He gazed at the surging waves of his Sea of Divine Soul, his fists clenching unconsciously, his voice carrying a chill that hadn't dissipated for a thousand years. "Those things have long since vanished with the wind, but I still harbor resentment in my heart, resentment towards Li Jing. If it weren't for the Buddha giving him the Exquisite Pagoda, with layers upon layers of Buddhas on it, allowing me to recognize the Buddha as my father, I would have long ago cut off his head and hung it at the Southern Heavenly Gate for people to admire..."
His voice abruptly stopped, and a faint rumble of thunder came from the depths of the sky. It turned out that his anger had triggered a strange phenomenon in the Sea of Divine Soul.
He raised an eyebrow and chuckled, his eyes sparkling with the same arrogance as Nezha: "If there's ever a chance, let me help you." The aura around the young man suddenly surged, causing lotus petals to float in the air.
"With your current cultivation level?" Nezha flicked his finger, and Huo Yuhao's sword formation instantly collapsed, turning into starlight and dissipating. "Then you'd better work hard to become stronger. If you want to help me, your strength is far from sufficient."
A crimson light suddenly flew from his sleeve, condensing into Fire of Samadhi before Huo Yuhao and settling between Huo Yuhao's brows. "This is the cultivation method of Samadhi True Fire. Remember—" His voice suddenly turned icy, and the temperature of the entire Sea of Divine Soul plummeted, "The method is not to be passed on to six ears, the Dao is not to be lightly taught. If you dare to divulge even half a word..."
Huo Yuhao continued, "If you dare to reveal even a fraction of this, I will be cast into the Eighteen Levels of Hell, subjected to the most excruciating punishments, and never be reincarnated."
Nezha nodded, and another divine sword flew out from his sleeve. The moment the Demon-Slaying Sword was drawn, a dragon's roar shook the Sea of Divine Soul: "Not bad. There are some other magical treasures, Universe Ring and the Wind Fire Wheels, that you can't use yet. Only when you reach sufficient strength can you use those treasures. All I can give you right now is the Demon-Slaying Sword. As for the Fire-Tipped Spear..."
He suddenly revealed a mischievous smile, "I don't have the Fire-Tipped Spear from the illusion, so if you want it, you'll have to make it yourself. I'll give you these things then."
"As the chosen one—no, Nezha shook his head, no longer as the chosen one, but as Huo Yuhao, I believe you can defy fate, realize your heart's desires, and achieve your heart's wishes."
Huo Yuhao raised his hand and grasped the newly appeared scabbard at his waist; the unique, ancient patterns of the Demon-Slaying Sword felt slightly warm in his palm.
The clear sound of the Demon-Slaying Sword sword being sheathed still echoed in the Lotus Sea of Divine Soul. Huo Yuhao suddenly knelt on one knee, his palm pressed against the warm lotus platform. When he looked up, his eyes were full of solemnity. "Thank you, Master!" Before he finished speaking, the lotus fire around Nezha suddenly rose more than ten feet high, making the cinnabar mark between his eyebrows seem about to drip.
"How many times have I told you!" Nezha kicked away a restless lotus flower at his feet, Red Armillary Sash ) wrapped around Huo Yuhao's neck with a "whoosh," but didn't tighten at all. "Who wants to be your master, kid!"
Huo Yuhao remained unmoved, letting the crimson light flow around his neck through the Red Armillary Sash: " The Third Prince used my innate memories as a guide to impart magical treasures and secret techniques to me; he also used his personal experiences to teach me to break free from the shackles of fate, and now he bestows upon me such a precious treasure."
His voice was deep and firm, causing ripples to spread across the Sea of Divine Soul. "Although we are not master and disciple in name, we are master and disciple in reality. In my heart, the Third Prince is no different from my master."
Nezha paused, his Red Armillary Sash slipping silently off. He turned away, his golden crown trembling slightly in the lotus flames. "Get up." He paused, then added a muttered complaint, "I hate taking on disciples; all those formalities are so troublesome..."
Before he could finish speaking, he suddenly turned around, lifted Huo Yuhao's chin with his fingertips, and his eyes gleamed with interest. "However, the first person who can withstand the illusionary trial I created and dare to spout nonsense in front of me is truly remarkable."
The sea breeze ruffled the hems of their clothes, Nezha's fiery lotus robe and Huo Yuhao's spirit mist garments tangling in the wind. "You've experienced everything I've experienced, and you understand the pain I've suffered. Rather than being master and disciple, let's be madmen side by side."
Nezha suddenly grinned, revealing two tiger teeth. Two jars of fine wine appeared out of thin air in his palms, their rims still glistening with ice beads formed from seawater. "There is no one else in the entire world who can understand the hatred that drove me to the point of tearing flesh and bones apart."
Huo Yuhao took the wine jar, and the aroma of the wine filled the air as the cork popped off. "Alright! Today, we'll drink until we drop with the Third Prince..."
"Go back my ass!" Nezha tilted his head back and gulped down most of the jar of wine, the liquid dripping from the corners of his mouth and blooming into flames on the lotus platform. "Your physical body is still paralyzed in reality, while you get drunk to your heart's content in this Sea of Divine Soul. When you wake up, won't you be the one with a headache?"
He suddenly put his arm around Huo Yuhao's shoulder, and the lotus flames around him transformed into fireworks filling the sky. "Come! Today, let the heavens remember—two reckless bastards drank all the nectar of the East Sea!" (Note: This part is a bit crazy; just take it as a joke, it's just an analogy for having an enormous capacity for alcohol.)
Nezha kicked the empty wine jar away, the jar striking the lotus pillar with a clear, resonant sound. He casually wiped the wine stains from the corner of his mouth, his white robe flickering with the movement. "Just drinking isn't fun! Kid, go grill some fresh fish! The silver-scaled cod from the Sea of Divine Soul is the fattest. You can use your Red Armillary Sash... ptooey, use your Demon-Slaying Demon-Slaying Sword to grill it, it'll definitely be delicious!"
As he spoke, he slapped Huo Yuhao hard on the back, making the boy stagger half a step. But then Nezha pick up the newly opened wine jar, tilt his head back and gulp down the wine. His Adam's apple bobbed as he did so, and the spilled wine condensed into tiny flames in mid-air.
Huo Yuhao rose to his feet in response. As the Demon-Slaying Sword was drawn, a clear dragon's roar resounded, and the sword light slashed through the waves of his Sea of Divine Soul like lightning. He stepped onto the lotus platform and soared into the deep sea. Wherever the sword blade passed, schools of silver-scaled cod leaped out of the water, suspended in mid-air by invisible Soul Power.
Samadhi True Fire gathers at the fingertips, and the flames transform into delicate threads that Entanglement the fish's body. Amidst the sizzling sounds, the aroma of roasted meat mingles with the fragrance of wine, spreading throughout the lotus sea.
Nezha leaned against the curling lotus petals. Seeing Huo Yuhao return with golden, crispy fish skewers, he immediately flipped over and snatched one. The scalding hot fish made him gasp, but he still laughed indistinctly, "Good! Good! Even better than the imperial kitchen in Heavenly Court!"
Drinks and scraps of grilled fish flew everywhere as the two men went back and forth, sometimes competing to see who could drink the most, sometimes arguing about how well the fish was cooked, thoroughly enjoying themselves.
The Sun Moon in the Lotus Sea of Divine Soul circulated amidst the aroma of wine, sometimes transforming into a blazing sun, sometimes condensing into a silvery Haoyue. When the third sunrise dyed the sky red (after drinking for three whole days and three nights), empty wine jars piled up into a small mountain.
Huo Yuhao and Nezha leaned swaying against the overturned lotus platform, the Demon-Slaying Sword and the Universe Ring intertwined, enveloping the two drunken, hazy figures.
The aromas of wine, fish, and lotus intertwine, painting a free Xiaoyao scroll in this space that transcends the mundane world.