Everyone and their mothers knew that Hua Qingying, the cold and aloof Sword Immortal who remained indifferent to all things, had only one person she truly cared about, her niece Hua Caili.
Hua Caili was her reverse scale. You could survive offending Hua Qingying, but death awaited anyone who dared to make Hua Caili even slightly uncomfortable.
"..." Hua Qingying stayed silent, her eyes unfocused as if she were reminiscing about something.
"Your love and protection for your niece, Hua Caili, contradict the ruthless sword path you follow," Yun Wuji continued, "So from the very beginning, you were never truly emotionless, no matter what you or anyone else claimed."
Hua Qingying stayed silent for a long time before uttering a single word, "Perhaps." Aside from Hua Caili, she had never been willing to show emotions to anyone else, which only made the world believe she had grown even more heartless.
However, the fact that, besides her love for Hua Caili, she had shown a strong interest in Yun Wuji and a deep desire to learn from him, served as further proof that she was neither emotionless nor free from desires.
Even her obsession with Hua Caili stemmed from a profound sense of guilt and an inability to forgive herself.
She still believed that if she had not refused to become the Divine Regent at that time, Hua Caili's mother, Qu Wanxin, would not have died such a miserable death, and Hua Caili would not have suffered so much either.
'Good, she has the balls to face the truth,' Yun Wuji thought. "What I believe," he said, "is that a person should face their emotions, whether it be happiness, fear, guilt, or pain. Only when you can face and accept all your emotions calmly can you truly look at the world with ease."
"Face my emotions?" Hua Qingying turned to look at him, her tone carrying a trace of uncertainty, as if she were asking both him and herself.
"In essence, cultivation is a way to temper both our inner self and our profound strength," Yun Wuji continued his nonsense, speaking as if he were delivering some great truth. "Suppressing one's emotions and desires might bring short-term success, but in the long run, it will only block true progress."
Hua Qingying listened to his words with rare seriousness. This was perhaps the first time she had ever held such a long conversation or been this close to anyone other than Hua Caili. The reason was simple, Yun Wuji truly had the credibility to speak and teach her. Was he implying that the reason he had reached such an unheard-of level, a level where he could master any sword art with just one glance, was because he followed his heart?
"Your talent may not be as great as mine, but I am willing to imprint my way of the sword onto you," Yun Wuji said calmly and seriously. "The sword intent grows from the heart, the body, and the sword. When one reaches the 'artless' realm, they can see and perceive all other sword intents with ease."
"Her talent is not bad, around one millionth of yours," Hei Xiaolian commented.
"Sword intent grows from the heart?" Hua Qingying repeated his words, lost in thought.
"Yes, this will take a long time to achieve, but I am confident you can do it," Yun Wuji said as he stood up. "Are you willing to follow my path and start all over?"
There were many things he said that were absolute bullshit, but there were also things that were true, like the fact that the 'artless' realm did exist and that he could guide her to reach it.
Hua Qingying stood up as well, staring at him for a long time without speaking. What he was proposing was for her to abandon all the hard work and the path she had devoted her heart to for over ten thousand years and start completely over. This was a decision that few people could ever make.
'Following my heart?' She reached out and touched her chest, feeling for what her heart was telling her.
"Please teach me." Finally, she spoke in a calm tone, even though she had just made a decision that could change her life entirely.
If it were anyone else, they might have been completely content with their achievements, but Hua Qingying had pursued the sword her entire life. Now that a higher level lay before her, she was willing to take the risk for the sake of her progress.
...
The world around was a gray haze stretching as far as the eye could see, as if it had been wrapped in a layer of thick, eternally undispellable fog. The sky and earth blurred into one, and it was impossible to discern the edges of a fog that barely felt like it existed.
The Endless Fog occupied 99% of the entire Abyss. In the absolute sense, the Endless Fog was the true nature of the Abyss, while the remaining 1%, the Land of Living, was the anomaly.
The deeper one traveled, the denser the Abyssal Dust became. At the center of the Endless Fog, where the Abyssal Dust reached its thickest, lay the Abyss of Death. It was said that the Abyssal Dust there was so dense and corrosive that even a True God could not withstand it. So far, there had been no record of anyone reaching it, not even the Abyssal Monarch.
"I know there are many strong beasts here, but I didn't expect there to be this many." As Yun Wuji approached the Abyss of Death, he sensed countless auras of Divine Limit Realm beasts all around. They were so numerous that walking in any random direction would almost guarantee running into one.
"If the beasts here were to suddenly leave the Endless Fog, it would be an absolute disaster for other living beings," Li Suo observed. She said this because, over the past few thousand years, instances of Abyssal Beasts appearing outside the Endless Fog had increased rapidly.
With the Endless Fog stretching to nearly a hundred times the size of the Land of Living, the number of beasts within it was thousands of times greater than the number of living beings outside. If they were to suddenly leave, their sheer numbers could overwhelm and flood the entire world.
"Yeah, even if the True Gods tried to stop them, the damage would be absolutely devastating," Yun Wuji said calmly. He waved his hand, and the beasts that had suddenly lunged at him fell to the ground immediately, like obedient little dogs.
The reason for his trip here was to uncover what lay hidden inside the Abyss of Death, a place no one had ever entered. Perhaps it held the answer to why Abyssal Beasts had always been unwilling to leave the Endless Fog and why they had begun to do so only recently.
Yun Wuji had wanted to come here much earlier, but he had been occupied with many things. First, he spent a long time upgrading his Unfettered Profound Veins. After that, he ran into Hua Qingying, Shenwu Qing, and Shenwu Youluan. Faced with a choice between women and a place he could visit later, he, of course, chose the former.
Speaking of women, after bullshitting Hua Qingying, she told him that she needed to settle some things before fully following his path. On the other hand, progress with Shenwu Youluan was stalling, though he could see that she was still hesitating.
She was hesitating over whether to ask for his help.
Seeing his overwhelming strength that had completely crushed Hua Qingying, Shenwu Youluan caught a ray of hope, a chance to free her daughter. However, she hesitated, filled with fear. She did not want to drag Yun Wuji into her troubles and risk him provoking an entire Kingdom of God, as well as a crazy True God like Shenwu Yanye.
Yun Wuji was not in a hurry to have her completely open up to him. He, of course, had countless ways to make her willingly throw herself at him, but he did none of them. He was certain that, in time, she would come to him on her own. As long as she remained in his place, it was only a matter of time.
The deeper he traveled, the denser the Abyssal Dust became. Everything around him no longer appeared gray, but dark, as dark as the Abyss itself. The density of the Abyssal Dust here was enough to kill a Divine Limit Realm profound practitioner within minutes. Even a True God would struggle to survive for long and would certainly be unable to see anything around them.
"Probably this is the closest form of the Power of Extinction," Yun Wuji said, holding a handful of Abyssal Dust in his hand. Abyssal Dust was originally the Power of Extinction, diluted many times over until it was barely survivable for living beings.
As he approached the center, he noticed that the number of Abyssal Beasts he encountered began to dwindle until eventually he could no longer sense a single one around him. It was as if all the Abyssal Beasts were unwilling or afraid to approach whatever lay at the center.
"What is inside? This makes me even more curious," Yun Wuji said, finding the situation intriguing, and subconsciously, his pace quickened.
Some time later, he finally stepped into the legendary Abyss of Death. Everything around him was darker than the thoughts you try to bury.
It was so dark that even your future would seem bright by comparison.
This darkness had no effect on Yun Wuji, since Abyssal Dust could not obstruct his senses. Focusing ahead, his pupils suddenly shrank and he exclaimed, "What is that?!"
...
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