The Celestial Demons retreated, and the remaining demons began to scatter.
Huang Miao and the other cultivators tacitly continued sweeping outward, eliminating demons in all directions.
Chu Xingchen's gaze swept over the tribulation clouds that had not yet fully dissipated. Sensing Wanban following close beside him, he hesitated not and darted directly to Bai Xuanling's side.
The system attribute line showed nothing obviously wrong at the moment.
Perhaps Bai Xuanling's attempt hadn't yet counted as a failure.
Bai Xuanling's expression hadn't changed much. She knew well enough that as long as she stood firm now, this sweeping onslaught would falter and retreat. She turned her head to look at Chu Xingchen and said calmly:
"What's that look for? I didn't know you were such an indecisive person."
Chu Xingchen reached out and grasped Bai Xuanling's arm, sending his divine sense into her, doing his best to keep his composure as he said:
"What look?"
Bai Xuanling didn't resist. She let Chu Xingchen probe away and simply said with a smile:
"Like Qinghe's wronged face after being picked on."
"I'm not Qinghe."
"That's exactly why I say you're indecisive. Normally your tongue is sharp and witty at times like this."
Chu Xingchen could feel the spiritual energy inside Bai Xuanling crashing wildly against itself, while her own dao essence was slowly dissipating.
And the rate of dissolution was extremely fast.
Chu Xingchen could also feel Bai Xuanling's spiritual energy dissipating rapidly — at an alarming speed.
He couldn't even clearly assess the situation or figure out what to do before Bai Xuanling's dao essence and spiritual energy were nearly completely scattered.
Wanban circled around Chu Xingchen, continuously transmitting a message — this final heavenly tribulation was the last targeted trial, and also the most critical procedure of ascension. It could not be blocked, nor could it be stopped.
Chu Xingchen raised his hand. Wanban transformed into a translucent white jade hairpin, and he casually tucked it into his hair.
Wanban's mind was still fairly pure. Besides, blaming an artifact spirit for everything would be going too far.
When it came down to it, this matter really had nothing to do with Wanban.
Chu Xingchen raised his gaze to meet Bai Xuanling's eyes. The red threads within her pupils glowed faintly with a subtle, hidden light, and a fierce intent seeped through those threads, laying bare Bai Xuanling's inner turmoil.
But at this moment…
Bai Xuanling's eyes were exceptionally gentle, and even the faint smile at the corner of her lips matched that warmth.
At this moment, the only thing that could still work was that method.
Chu Xingchen gripped Bai Xuanling's arm tightly and forced a smile:
"Do you remember the method I told you about?"
Bai Xuanling smiled. She reached out her other hand and gently patted Chu Xingchen's head. She rarely touched anyone's head like this. Thinking carefully, she had only ever done it to her own sister, Xie Lingyu, and Qinghe.
Now Chu Xingchen had been added to that list.
That kid truly valued loyalty and righteousness. He would naturally cherish an opportunity like this daylight ascension tremendously.
Otherwise, he would have definitely found someone else to test the situation first, and might even have demanded a high price, making even Tribulation Transcendence cultivators curry favor with him.
It was her own failure — this inner demon had dragged her down.
She also understood that perhaps Chu Xingchen hadn't been joking earlier — he truly might have a way.
It was just that…
Death or social death…
Bai Xuanling smiled and said sincerely:
"With so many people here, making me kneel and take you as my master — I'd rather just die like this."
Bai Xuanling's hand was very light. Rather than a pat, it was more like a gentle touch, briefly placed and withdrawn.
Chu Xingchen pressed his lips together. He wasn't sure if what he was about to say would make Bai Xuanling turn her still-gentle hand on his head into a skull-splitting one.
But Bai Xuanling's expression was still fairly gentle at the moment.
Interrupting her gesture now would rather ruin the mood.
Chu Xingchen felt Bai Xuanling's aura suddenly dropping, but still spoke:
"So many people have sought ascension that they'd do anything — not just kowtow and take a master, but even kill their masters. Ascension is what matters. Let's start fresh. Just call me 'Master' quietly a couple of times. Be sincere in your heart, be genuine."
Seeing the anxiety in Chu Xingchen's eyes, Bai Xuanling didn't say much. Instead, she followed his request and softly murmured:
"Master…"
Chu Xingchen lowered his eyes and waited quietly.
"Master…" Bai Xuanling's gaze drifted to the distance.
Chu Xingchen noticed and raised his eyes to follow her gaze.
Bai Xuanling's eyes were calm, as if lost in remembrance: "Master…"
Chu Xingchen reached out and gripped Bai Xuanling's arm tightly.
Bai Xuanling wasn't calling him her master at all — she was calling out to her true master.
The truly vulnerable Bai Xuanling had been raised and nurtured by her master. Now that her heart was clad in thick armor, how could she so easily let someone else take that place?
"Master" had never been a simple title.
Among the disciples he had taken in, none of them had had a master. Though it was fuzzy at first, they could still properly place Chu Xingchen in that role.
But Bai Xuanling already had someone in that place, and it wasn't Chu Xingchen.
He had actually known this for a long time.
Bai Xuanling was the kind of person who valued loyalty and righteousness deeply. She truly had a master, someone who had protected her from childhood to adulthood.
How could she truly displace her own master from her heart just for the sake of ascension, just for self-preservation?
If that were the case, how could she have preserved every memory of the past in her heart, turning them into an inner demon that had haunted her for a thousand years?
But at this very moment, the only thing he could rely on — the most effective thing — was the system.
As long as he took Bai Xuanling as his disciple, given her cultivation level, the system should grant a reward to remove the black attribute line.
And that would be enough to sustain Bai Xuanling through her ascension.
Bai Xuanling lowered her gaze, looking calmly at the silent Chu Xingchen:
"See, it didn't work, did it?"
Chu Xingchen took out all his system rewards from the system space.
The system's rewards had always been stingy, and many of them were meant for his own disciples.
What he truly had on hand wasn't much.
The Mountains and Rivers Painting, the Shattered Spirit Butterfly Jade, the Shanhai Ark design, and Wanban.
Apart from Wanban, which had already expressed its inability to help, Chu Xingchen pressed all the items onto Bai Xuanling.
The design unrolled, spreading out into a long strip of paper.
The Mountains and Rivers Painting showed no reaction.
Having already been used up, the Shattered Spirit Butterfly Jade had now become what Li Yingling called it — a plate so worthless you wouldn't even trust it to hold scraps.
Bai Xuanling lowered her gaze to look at Chu Xingchen, her voice soft:
"Good child. I know you did your best. The whole world will know that I, Bai Xuanling, perished from a failed ascension — not that I died miserably in some forgotten corner where no one would ever find me."
"Then how am I supposed to explain this to Lingyu?"
"Lingyu has always been a good girl. You don't need to explain anything — she'll understand on her own."
"What about Qinghe?"
"As long as she has food, she'll be fine. Give it a few years and she'll have forgotten about me."
"I don't think so."
"I just hope she does."
Chu Xingchen said nothing. He stared at the system panel, sweeping it repeatedly with his divine sense, and roared inwardly:
[I've done so many things for you! Now that everything's settled, you'd say it's been more or less handled, right?]
[Isn't it time you gave me the main quest reward?]
[It might not be written down, but there has to be one, right? You can't just use people for free.]
[Stop playing dead!]
The system panel remained silent.
Chu Xingchen's eyes sharpened. The next moment, the heaven and earth within his body churned wildly, and without a moment's hesitation, he poured all of his own spiritual energy into Bai Xuanling.
Bai Xuanling was startled and gripped Chu Xingchen's arm in return.
This was a cultivator's origin reversal — far from an ordinary transfer of spiritual energy.
Bai Xuanling shouted angrily: "What are you doing?"
Chu Xingchen's gaze was calm. This cultivation and origin of his had all been provided by the system and replenished through his disciples' feedback.
In the future, he could replenish it through his disciples again.
But right now, he wanted the system to understand — he was no puppet to be pushed around at will.
When he wasn't satisfied, he would make a scene too.
Chu Xingchen understood a simple truth — the child who cries gets the candy.
Bai Xuanling gripped Chu Xingchen's arm tighter.
Chu Xingchen raised his eyes and looked straight at Bai Xuanling, speaking only two words:
"Trust me."
Bai Xuanling was taken aback.
Chu Xingchen's cultivation plummeted at extreme speed.
It dropped all the way to Integration before Chu Xingchen's expression turned deathly pale.
The next moment.
The system was no longer silent.
[Side Quest Unlocked]
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