Another World
This wasn't Sang Ying's first time entering the Heart Devil Mirror, so she wasn't as uneasy as she had been last time.
She skillfully stepped into the mist, awaiting the opening of a new illusion.
But to her surprise, after she stepped into the illusion, she realized that she had actually entered a memory.
It was still the familiar Flowing Light Sword Sect, but this time Su Fuyun was not there.
The little girl, who looked no more than ten years old and had the exact same face as her, achieved a top-three ranking in the sect competition for the Qi Refining Realm cultivators.
This girl, also named "Sang Ying," was much luckier than Sang Ying herself. Because of her outstanding performance, the Immortal Venerable Yanchen, who originally wanted to take her as his disciple, immediately established a master-disciple relationship with her and declared in front of all the elders and disciples of the sect that he would only take her as his disciple in this lifetime.
Because of their achievements in the competition, no one dared to say anything. Everyone felt that the master and apprentice were a perfect match, as if it were a destiny ordained by heaven.
Sang Ying stood quietly by as an observer, watching everything unfold. In this memory, the young Sang Ying soon followed her master to Crimson Snow Peak.
The Gu Huaiwei in front of her was never the aloof Immortal Venerable Yanchen, but a guide who was like a father and brother.
He cared deeply for Xiao Sang Ying and did everything he could to give her the best of everything.
Sometimes, even when the Sang Zheng couple wanted to discipline their increasingly mischievous daughter, they were stopped by Immortal Venerable Yanchen.
As Sang Ying looked at the little girl, he felt that she didn't seem like Gu Huaiwei 'Sang Ying apprentice, but rather like Gu Huaiwei's idol. There was even a piety in his eyes when he looked at the little girl!
This Gu Huaiwei is insane; he seems to have completely regarded his disciple as the sword spirit who once saved him.
He doted on Xiao Sang Ying in every way, and if it was something she wanted, he would snatch it back from someone else, even if it Sang Ying taking it from her.
But he never asked whether Xiao Sang Ying would like what he got this way; he only cared about whether Xiao Sang Ying was happy.
As the days went by, little Sang Ying gradually grew up.
Her Swordsmanship improved day by day, and her cultivation level also increased day by day. Gu Huaiwei guarded her more closely than the eyes of his own, fearing that she would die before she could grow up.
Therefore, he forbade "Sang Ying" from going out to gain experience, nor did he allow "Sang Ying" to spar with her peers. He still gave his disciple the best things, regardless of whether the disciple needed them or not.
He steals fortuitous opportunity from others, and once he hears someone speak ill of his apprentice, he bites that person like a mad dog until that person is completely tormented and submits.
He cut off Sang Ying's communication with the outside world, turning her into a bird trapped in a gilded cage, causing Sang Ying to gradually forget the goals she set when she became a cultivator.
But Heavenly Dao seems to favor Sang Ying greatly; even though her temperament has not been tempered at all, her cultivation level continues to increase.
The people in the sect didn't realize that Gu Huaiwei's actions were problematic; they only saw Sang Ying's repeated breakthroughs.
Everyone thought that Sang Ying was the disciple in the sect most likely to ascend to immortality, after all, she was so powerful and so lucky.
But good fortune doesn't last forever. The Devil Race of the Upper Realm broke through the barrier between the two realms. With the help of a Devil Dragon, the powerful Futu broke the seal and changed his attack on the Upper Realm to invade the Lower Realm.
The Lower Realm quickly became a hunting ground for Devil Race.
The cultivators no longer cared about cultivation; they were focused solely on fighting the Devil Race and protecting their homeland.
Unfortunately, the Devil Race were too powerful, and together with that Devil Dragon, they were simply no match for them.
At the critical moment, a disciple from the Heavenly Mystery Palace calculated that only the Child of the Heavenly Dao could resolve this calamity. And that Child of the Heavenly Dao was none other than "Sang Ying".
At this moment, Sang Ying had given up hope of ascending to heaven. She wanted to save the Lower Realm and protect her family and friends.
So when she learned that she could resolve the disaster, she only thought about it for a moment before agreeing.
She used her body, that of a Child of the Heavenly Dao, to repair the gap Upper Realm and Lower Realm. However, because the Heavenly Dao had different rules for the Lower Realm, without this passage, the Devil Race's Demonic Qi gradually disappeared. For the Devil Race, losing their Demonic Qi was like drowning and being unable to breathe.
Not long after, the Devil Race was completely wiped out.
As for the Devil Dragon, after Prince Futu was also killed, the powerful beings of the Lower Realm all mobilized, captured and killed it, and even crushed the Dragon Pearl to pieces.
It was at that time that the sect leader of the Flowing Light Sword Sect realized that this Devil Dragon was actually the Blood-Robed Devil Dragon that had been sealed at the bottom of the cliff behind their Flowing Light Sword Sect!
However, no one ever knew the Devil Dragon's name.
The Devil Race disappeared, and the Devil Dragon died.
Only "Sang Ying" remained, having lost her body, and her soul was about to dissipate as well.
Gu Huaiwei used a secret technique to preserve a wisp of Sang Ying's soul. He found a way to help Sang Ying completely condense her soul by collecting the heart blood of 100,000 cultivators above the Qi Refinement within a year. Then he could refine a body for Sang Ying, allowing her to live on.
This is probably the glimmer of hope that Heavenly Dao has left for its most beloved child. As long as this glimmer of hope is seized, "Sang Ying" can wake up.
Gu Huaiwei mobilized all his connections, practically emptying his treasury and his Storage Bag. He even declared that he would grant any request to anyone willing to offer their heart's blood.
Even so, these 100,000 drops of heartfelt blood are still short by 10 drops.
With the final days Gu Huaiwei, in the last three days, finally found ten cultivators who met the requirements. He almost knelt down and begged them for a drop of his heart's blood, but was still refused.
The reason these people refused to help was that Gu Huaiwei had stolen their fortuitous opportunity from their relatives and friends in order to win Sang Ying's favor, which resulted in those relatives and friends losing their lives!
Gu Huaiwei was stunned for a moment upon hearing this. He immediately assured the ten people that he was willing to pay with his life if they could save "Sang Ying".
But the leader of the ten laughed, "We've suffered the pain of losing our loved ones; now it's your turn to experience it too."
Gu Huaiwei questioned them, asking why they were unwilling to help Sang Ying when Sang Ying had clearly saved everyone in the Lower Realm, including them.
But these people just sneered and replied, "It's not like I begged her to save me."
Three days passed in the blink of an eye, Gu Huaiwei watched as the remnant soul of "Sang Ying" disappeared before her eyes.
He realized with grief and despair that the consequences of his past mistakes had ultimately fallen on "Sang Ying." She was clearly the most innocent one; she had saved everyone, yet these people wouldn't even give her a drop of their heart's blood.
In his madness, Gu Huaiwei killed those ten people. His cultivation level was already very high; he had survived the final tribulation and had ascended to the Human Immortal.
However, the guiding light from the Upper Realm never appeared.
He continued to wander in the Lower Realm, using Lower Realm mountains, rivers, lakes, and seas as the core of the formation, creating an unprecedentedly grand array.
The moment the great formation was activated, a black hole tore open in the sky.
Gu Huaiwei resolutely went inside, and when he opened his eyes again, he found himself in a new world, a new Twin Orchid Realm...