Secrets Laid Bare Again and Again

The great deities of Kunlun Sacred Land are in their twilight years. Many of them have either grown old or died, or could not bear the monotonous years and chose to pass away.

The Golden Crow Great Emperor is not the first case, nor will he be the last.

Inside the brewery, the emperor and empress were enraged, the monkey snorted coldly, and the emperor, startled awake from his drunken stupor, looked around.

"You wicked woman, are you going to murder the emperor?"

The Emperor roared in anger, but only when he saw two clear tears fall from the Empress's eyes and land on the Golden Crow Great Emperor's head did he belatedly realize what had happened.

"The Golden Crow... is born a being of the Three Realms, its rise and fall are predetermined..."

After just one glance, the Emperor sighed and then fell into a murmur of chanting.

Whether it's the death the emperor and empress spoke of, or the nirvana the monkey spoke of, it all means that the Golden Crow Great Emperor has passed away peacefully and will never be able to repeat his former life.

"The Golden Crow's body, when subjected to the pull of the earth's energy, will cause chaos. Call Zhenyuan to retrieve its demonic form and bury it under the Longevity Fruit Tree!"

The chanting of scriptures was accompanied by the Emperor performing magic.

Only when a lightning bolt brand landed on the Golden Crow Great Emperor's pitch-black, stone-like demonic body did the Emperor speak with sorrow.

His first concern was his own injuries, and once he discovered that the Golden Crow Great Emperor had passed away, he never looked at himself again.

Perhaps due to the deep ties he was bound to, the Emperor's appearance showed signs of aging, and his hair had turned somewhat gray.

"The Golden Crow cannot die!" The Emperor and Empress were still somewhat incredulous. "His body has drawn upon the True Solar Fire; as long as the sun does not fall, his body will not perish. He should not have entered the Longevity Fruit Tree."

"His body is still alive, but his soul is dead," the Emperor said. "As for us... well, in the end, it makes no difference!"

The body and the soul are two different things. The physical body can achieve longevity through various means, but whether the soul can keep up is another matter entirely.

Many people grow old and become confused, unaware that their physical bodies are still alive, but in reality, the person they once were has already disappeared.

The Golden Crow Great Emperor is not the only great cultivator in the Western Kunlun Holy Land, and there will be more than just this one corpse to be buried under the Longevity Fruit Tree in the future.

Whether there will be an afterlife is unknown, but this life has already ended.

These great cultivators have lived for far too long. More than a thousand years ago, many cultivators relied on heavenly materials and earthly treasures bodies, but few nourished their souls. Once the soul entered the True Self Realm, there was no way out.

That's their limit.

Even if their bodies still have vitality, their souls have already aged.

No matter how young the face, how beautiful the body, or how soft the flesh, none of these can compare to their aged souls.

In that brief moment of wavering, even the emperor's dignified middle-aged face showed signs of aging.

"That guy..."

"Zhang Xuezhou, you come and move the Golden Crow's body to the Peach Garden!"

The brewery only housed the Emperor, the Empress, and the Monkey King. The Monkey King looked left and right, and ultimately decided that none of them were suitable to work.

He called out to Zhang Xuezhou, and seeing that Zhang Xuezhou's body did not move, but the purple Law Power light continued to flash, the monkey burrowed into Zhang Xuezhou's body.

"Unlucky!"

He burrowed into Zhang Xuezhou's body quickly and popped out just as fast, even uttering a complaint as he came out.

"There's something tangled inside you, student. I tried to crawl in, but I got kicked out!"

Mao Hou was clearly somewhat dissatisfied with Zhang Xuezhou. He didn't have the ability to control wind, rain, thunder, and lightning, but he was good at stirring up negative forces in people's minds, causing feelings of fear and dread.

Once he penetrates your heart and guides you even slightly, your most immersed state will be broken.

But the monkey didn't expect that he wasn't the first outsider to infiltrate Zhang Xuezhou's heart. There was another being entrenched in Zhang Xuezhou's heart, and he hadn't even managed to squeeze in.

In particular, Zhang Xuezhou was not the kind of person who was weak and easily defeated; his opponent could be described as a strong person.

Mao Hou rarely refers to the younger generation as strong, but he does acknowledge Zhang Xuezhou.

If they were already a forty-meter-long broadsword, Zhang Xuezhou's sword was at least two meters long.

This approach lacks the strength for aggressive attacks, but it is more than capable of holding its ground, and there is even a possibility of achieving a mutually destructive outcome or a comeback.

"Of course, this only applies to me!"

The monkey left dejectedly, and had to explain why his attack had failed.

He only wanted to wake Zhang Xuezhou up to work; he didn't intend to kill Zhang Xuezhou or cause a lose-lose situation, so he had no choice but to come out.

"Has he changed so much in just a few years?"

After the Emperor sobered up, he did not focus on his own injuries, nor did he pay attention to Zhang Xuezhou.

After deciding to bury the Golden Crow Great Emperor's body under the Longevity Fruit Tree, and with the monkey calling for Zhang Xuezhou and even suffering some minor losses before explaining, the Emperor finally turned his attention to Zhang Xuezhou.

Then the emperor and empress had solemn expressions.

The reason the Emperor and Empress rushed to the brewery was because Zhang Xuezhou had entered the Divine Ability Realm; the death of the Golden Crow Great Emperor was merely an accident.

This is how the primary became secondary, and once the matter was resolved, the secondary returned to the primary.

"I kicked the Golden Crow, it was my fault. I should be the one bowing and sending him off to his funeral," the Emperor and Empress said, pointing to Zhang Xuezhou. "I'll send the Golden Crow to the Longevity Fruit Tree. You all go and see him first!"

The Golden Crow Great Emperor needed to be buried, but Zhang Xuezhou was involved in the Emperor and others seeking direction. The Emperor and Empress clearly distinguished between what was important and did not mind doing things like funeral arrangements.

She rolled up the corpse of the Golden Crow Great Emperor with her long sleeves, and added a restriction to the Emperor's methods to prevent the Golden Crow Great Emperor's demonic body from changing.

The emperor and empress respectfully carried the demon's body, which was only the size of a human head, and walked step by step with their heads bowed.

Inside the brewery, the Emperor's aged face displayed a desolate yet solemn expression, revealing extremely complex emotions.

"When did he return?" the Emperor asked, pointing at Zhang Xuezhou.

"You don't need to ask me," the monkey said listlessly. "If you just paid attention, you'd know everything I've been through!"

"Um!"

The Emperor, unusually, did not argue or bicker with the monkey. He slowly closed his eyes, making up for the things he had missed when he was drunk and unconscious.

"You sure know how to talk!"

After some perception and recollection, the Emperor clearly knew everything that Mao Hou, Zhang Xuezhou, and the others had done in the brewery.

He was quite annoyed by the monkey revealing the truth.

Clearly, Mao Hou couldn't keep his mouth shut in front of Zhang Xuezhou and directly revealed the Emperor and Empress's past scheming schemes.

This certainly made the Emperor look very embarrassed.

But this was also a consequence of his own actions, and even if the Emperor could not accept it, he had to bear it.

"I'm telling the truth!" the monkey retorted indignantly. "I'll say whatever you're thinking, that's why I've revealed my true nature!"

"Living beings inherently possess both humanity and animality; everyone has two sides to their nature. You cannot demand that I be completely perfect and righteous," the Emperor said. "And sometimes, a certain degree of concealment is necessary!"

"This is a deceptive tactic!"

The monkey retorted with dissatisfaction, and the Emperor was at a loss.

This is the debate between the affirmative and the negative sides. He cannot convince himself, and therefore he cannot convince the restless mind that stems from his own physical limitations.

The Emperor's motivation stemmed from Ren Anran's Mental Strengthening Chapter, which caused his body to become distracted. He struggled to solve his own problems and lost sight of Ren Anran's coordinates.

It wasn't until he saw Zhang Xuezhou return that his dejected spirits were somewhat restored.

However, Zhang Xuezhou's cultivation level, having reached the Divine Ability Realm, also caused his mind to sink into the depths of the sea.