The stone chamber was silent except for the faint echo of dripping water.
The oppressive air made the walls feel as though they were closing in.
Bi Yao leaned lazily against the wall, her beautiful eyes half-narrowed as she looked at Zhang Xiaofan.
His expression was calm, but in his gaze burned an intensity that made her feel slightly uncomfortable.
"Why not?" Zhang Xiaofan asked suddenly, his voice steady but sharp, like a blade cutting through doubt.
Bi Yao blinked, tilting her head. "Why not what?"
"Why can't I become an immortal?" Zhang Xiaofan replied, his dark eyes locking onto hers with an unshakable determination.
For a moment, Bi Yao was stunned. She wasn't used to seeing this side of him....the boy who had once been so ordinary, who had grown up in obscurity in a small village, now spoke with such confidence it almost felt arrogant.
Recovering her composure, she smirked. "No one in this world has ever truly become an immortal.
How could you possibly become one? Don't indulge in such wishful thinking."
Her tone carried a mix of teasing and cold reality.
She was the Ghost King's daughter, the Holy Maiden of the Demonic Sect.
She had seen countless cultivators strive their whole lives only to perish halfway.
The path to immortality was cruel. To her, Zhang Xiaofan's words sounded like a childish fantasy.
But Zhang Xiaofan didn't back down. Instead, he laughed lightly.
"Haha. Just because no one has succeeded before doesn't mean it's impossible.
If the world says no one can become an immortal, then I'll be the one to prove them wrong.
If no one dares to walk that road, then I'll be the first."
His tone was calm, yet behind the words was a boldness that made Bi Yao's heart tremble for a brief moment.
Bi Yao pursed her lips, studying him carefully.
Finally, she stepped forward and patted him lightly on the shoulder, her posture carrying a hint of superiority.
"Young man, you have ambition." She smiled faintly, but her next words were laced with practicality.
"But let's not talk about becoming an immortal.
Even breaking through to the Taiqing Realm is already next to impossible.
In the past thousand years, only one man in your Qingyun Sect....Patriarch Qingye.....ever reached that height. Besides him, no one has touched it.
So don't set your sights on something so far beyond reach.
If fate allows you to reach Taiqing in this lifetime, that alone would be a miracle.
But immortality? That's impossible."
Her tone was matter-of-fact, but Zhang Xiaofan only shook his head slowly.
"Bi Yao, you're too short-sighted," he said. Then, mimicking her earlier gesture, he patted her shoulder in return.
"You should look further ahead. If your goal is small, your path will be small.
If your goal is great, your path will be great. I've never once considered the Taiqing Realm to be a goal.
To me, that's nothing more than a stepping stone. Becoming an immortal....that is my only goal."
Bi Yao was speechless. She stared at him for a long while, lips parted, but no words came out.
Inside, her emotions were tangled. On the one hand, she admired his ambition, his fearless daring to dream beyond what anyone else would even whisper about.
On the other hand, she felt his words were completely impractical, like chasing the clouds in the sky.
Finally, she sighed softly and decided not to continue the argument. "Forget about goals and ideals for now,"
she said, her voice returning to a more serious tone. She looked toward the sealed chamber around them.
"Let's first think about how to leave this place. My food rations are running low, and you don't have any at all.
If we stay locked in here much longer, we'll starve."
Zhang Xiaofan nodded, though his expression was unreadable.
He moved around the chamber, inspecting the walls, the floor, every corner as though searching for hidden traps.
But deep down, he knew the key to escape wasn't in the stone walls. It was with the Black-Hearted Old Man's skull.
That skull hid the mechanism, the secret to leaving the chamber. Still, it wasn't the right time to depart just yet.
Outside ..... The Abyss of Death
Far away, in the endless gloom of the Death Abyss, a cold, suffocating aura pressed down on everything.
The air was heavy with yin energy; even a small breath burned like ice in the lungs.
Lu Xueqi wandered alone through the darkness, her beautiful face pale and weary, but her eyes stubbornly searching.
Not far behind her, Qi Hao and the others had been searching too.....Zeng Shushu, Fashang, Fashan, Li Xun, and Yan Hong. After days of scouring the abyss, their spirits were waning.
Qi Hao's gaze softened as he watched Lu Xueqi moving tirelessly ahead of them.
He stepped forward, sighing, and said gently, "Junior Sister Lu, since Junior Brother Zhang disappeared, we've been searching for many days. Yet we've found no trace of him.
Now that we've reached the Blood Refining Hall, we've already drawn the attention of the Demonic Sect.
We should return to Qingyun Sect immediately and report everything to the Sect Master. That's the most important thing now."
But Lu Xueqi didn't even turn her head. Her voice was cold, distant, cutting off any argument. "You go back first. I will search for him alone."
Fashang folded his hands, chanting softly, "Amitabha.
" He couldn't bear to see her throw herself so recklessly into danger.
"Daoist Xiaofan is not someone destined for misfortune.
Heaven will surely bless him. He will find a way to escape danger."
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