From magical consciousness, to divine consciousness, to the three souls and six vitalities.
Bai Yuhuai crushed them one by one, slowly.
Each time he crushed one, it was like being skinned and having tendons pulled out, as if his body was being crushed inch by inch, with flesh and bones fusing together. The agonizing screams drowned out all other sounds.
But gradually, even the screams faded away.
When he was left with only one soul and one vitality, he could neither hear nor make a sound, losing all sensation. He desperately cried out, "Leave Zhuo Wu! And my name..." But only the damaged soul and vitality remained, struggling hopelessly in Bai Yuhuai's hands.
The young man's subordinates, having received no response from above for a long time, finally managed to find their way over.
They first looked at Jing Jiujiu, bowing formally and paying their respects.
But when they turned their gaze to the man from the Cloud Return Sect, they involuntarily shuddered, feeling an inexplicable fear.
"We don't know what happened earlier, but there was a very powerful force that suddenly swept across the entire mountain. We were all forced to bow down to the ground, which is why we were so late..."
"What is Mister Bai holding in his hand?"
"Where is the Immortal Lord?"
The "Immortal Lord" they referred to was the young man.
Just, terribly chuunibyou.
Bai Yuhuai slowly turned his gaze, his eyes cold and dark as a deep pool.
They involuntarily shivered and were about to speak again.
Bai Yuhuai said flatly, "He's here."
They looked up blankly, and then everyone's eyes suddenly widened. That struggling soul and vitality... that, that was... Just as the thought crossed their minds.
Assistant Zeng suddenly heard a chorus of agonized screams. The screams crossed over mountain ridges, penetrated the mist, and drilled straight into his ears.
Assistant Zeng was scared out of his wits.
What on earth was happening?
In the distance, on the mountain ridges, countless golden lights appeared.
He had to press his body even lower to the ground, but even so, he felt waves of blood and qi surging within him, as if something inside was about to be pulled out.
"Who exactly are you?"
"Spare... spare our lives..."
At this moment, on the mountaintop, countless people were kneeling on the ground, including those unscrupulous masters of the mystical arts. Their gazes were slightly dazed, as if they had just realized how formidable the Cloud Return Sect truly was.
Bai Yuhuai didn't answer their questions, but instead asked calmly, "Who else has seen the hanging painting?"
Even if they were pigs, they would have realized by now that they shouldn't respond.
"We dare not look directly at the divine, so to this day, to this day we haven't looked at it carefully." They stuttered, their gazes focused on the balls of golden light Bai Yuhuai was holding.
Those were... divine consciousness.
The divine consciousness resided in the skulls in their chests.
So Bai Yuhuai had simply extracted the divine consciousness from them.
Those who had their divine consciousness extracted naturally died, their souls perishing in an exceptionally cruel manner.
How could they not be afraid?
"Hmm." Bai Yuhuai responded flatly, turning around.
Only then did Jing Jiujiu see clearly that the bracelet on his wrist was gone. But he didn't seem to feel any different. Jing Jiujiu smacked his lips... he even felt a bit comfortable, as if some energy was seeping into his body. With a light inhale, he felt as if he was breathing in unison with the mountain forest.
Bai Yuhuai then pressed his hand against the large rock.
The rock exploded with a boom.
"Ah!"
"Quick, take cover!"
The people behind cried out in panic, accompanied by several cries of pain.
But the shattered rock fragments that could have injured people, when they approached Jing Jiujiu, fell lightly to the ground.
Jing Jiujiu wasn't surprised. He looked behind the large rock.
There was an extremely wide cave entrance.
At the entrance of the cave lay a fallen person. The person's head was bald, with a long white beard tangled with mud hanging there messily. A large box was placed crookedly by his feet.
"Master Tingyi?"
Jing Jiujiu's voice immediately roused him. Tingyi struggled to sit up, his appearance disheveled, his eyes bloodshot. As he looked up, he didn't see Jing Jiujiu at first, but instead saw Bai Yuhuai.
Tingyi instinctively retreated a bit, then composed himself and said in a low voice, "Young friend, give me a hand."
Jing Jiujiu stepped forward and supported Tingyi's arm.
Tingyi managed to stand up and glanced outside, exclaiming, "What happened?"
Jing Jiujiu said softly, "It's those people who created evil gods, attempting to create false gods again..."
At this moment, the people outside who heard this conversation painfully realized that their deity had long since turned against them and never took them seriously.
Jing Jiujiu said, "Now it's all resolved. Impressive, right?"
Ever since learning that the young man's plan was completely different from Zhuo Wu's, Jing Jiujiu's tone had become noticeably lighter.
So easy?
So fast?
These two thoughts flashed quickly through Tingyi's mind, and then he couldn't help but look at Bai Yuhuai. Bai Yuhuai stood there without speaking, but Tingyi vaguely recognized what he was holding: "...Souls? Or divine consciousness?"
"Divine consciousness," Bai Yuhuai said flatly, turning his gaze to Jing Jiujiu, "Want to eat?"
Jing Jiujiu: ?
Tingyi: !
Others: !!
Is he a demon?
Can this thing be directly fed to others? So much... so much divine consciousness...
Jing Jiujiu still remembered the last time he ate the divine consciousness left in the evil god in one gulp, he got indigestion. At that time, he didn't know there were countless divine remains as well.
Jing Jiujiu asked in a low voice, "If the divine remains are still there, and the divine consciousness is put back, can they be revived?"
Bai Yuhuai: "Yes, they can."
Tingyi couldn't help but interject: "That was Zhuo Wu's original plan. By separating the form, soul, and consciousness, the gods who had died could escape the fate of completely vanishing from this world. Then, after several years, he would recollect the divine consciousness, divine soul, and divine remains to reconstruct the gods."
Jing Jiujiu: "Then let's put them back."
Otherwise, eating a mouthful would be like eating a person, wouldn't it? Oh no, eating a god?
Bai Yuhuai squeezed those divine consciousnesses and finally responded softly.
But Tingyi's gaze towards him still carried a hint of wariness and fear.
Tingyi said quietly to Jing Jiujiu, "I accidentally entered Zhuo Wu's Cave Dwelling and was almost killed by the restrictions inside. But I also found more things." He said, "Countless divine remains... are all in the cave."
The shock that moment brought him was indescribable.
Even though the gods were dead, the power remaining in the divine remains was enough to make people bow down and kneel. Moreover, so many divine remains gathered in one place. And on each one, there was information personally engraved by Zhuo Wu.
As Tingyi said this, he couldn't help but secretly glance at Bai Yuhuai.
Bai Yuhuai's expression remained indifferent.
Tingyi lowered his eyes, his heart filled with shock.
Jing Jiujiu let out a soft "Ah," "Then do we need to move those things out? Umm... rebuild the divine court?"
Tingyi said solemnly, "We must deal with it."
Jing Jiujiu: "Oh, then let's go in." "As for these people... let's call the police, say they were deceiving the public, trying to profit through cult methods. Hmm, they should sit in jail for a good ten years."
The group of people who heard this were about to fall apart.
You are the deity!
And you're going to report us for feudal mysticism and fraud?
Bai Yuhuai responded and sent a text message with one hand.
Soon after, the old men and women of the Cloud Return Sect arrived with the police.
Wow, this was not just suspected "cult" and fraud, but also trespassing in a national restricted area. Multiple crimes combined!
The people who came seemed to all know Bai Yuhuai. Knowing they still needed to enter the cave, they didn't say anything.
As Jing Jiujiu turned his head to walk in, his footsteps paused, and he turned back to say, "Don't forget to have Lin Zhi and Master Zhou assist them in cracking multiple cases of evil god killings across the country. Each and every case, on whose head it falls, must be clearly accounted for."
Hearing these words, that group of people completely broke down.
But how dare they resist?
They could only turn pale and collapse one by one.
Their beautiful dreams of becoming gods were shattered by the heavy blow of national law.
...
Jing Jiujiu and his group slowly entered the cave. The inside wasn't dark; on the contrary, it was like entering a paradise as described in "The Peach Blossom Spring". It seemed to lead to an otherworldly realm, with bright light all the way, coming from pearls on the cave walls and millennia-old unextinguished candle flames.
As they went further in.
The ground was paved with green jade, and spirit stones formed couches.
The cave was vast, majestic, and spacious. Countless divine remains were strung up with golden threads, suspended in mid-air. The invisible awe and power of the gods made it hard to breathe.
Even though Tingyi had seen this scene before, witnessing it again filled him with shock and even a hint of fear.
Ghosts are more powerful than humans.
Gods are more powerful than ghosts.
Gods are already beings that inspire awe in people.
Yet there was one person who had left countless divine remains here.
Tingyi's throat tightened as he turned his head and asked in a low voice, "Mr. Bai... have you regained your memories?" He paused, then added, "Did Mr. Bai really enter the cycle of reincarnation?"
Bai Yuhuai raised his eyes, gazing at him coldly without speaking.
This made Tingyi straighten his old back even more. He said, "Mr. Bai didn't even flinch when hearing about the countless divine remains in the cave. It seems you already knew about this. ... Was that first divine remain I stumbled upon a trigger left in the world by Mr. Bai? Did seeing it unlock the box of memories?"
"Who exactly is standing before me now? Is it Mr. Bai, or is it Zhuo Wu from a thousand years ago?"
Tingyi knew Bai Yuhuai.
But his knowledge of Zhuo Wu came only from rumors and the messages on these divine remains... The more he learned, the more he realized just how cruel Zhuo Wu had been.
They say the Way of Heaven is heartless, but it could barely stand shoulder to shoulder with Zhuo Wu.
If after merging the memories, Mr. Bai had become Zhuo Wu.
Then what would happen to the young friend?
Tingyi couldn't help but speak up: "...Zhuo Wu's actions are so grand in scale that even this old man feels chilled to the bone seeing them."
Bai Yuhuai's gaze slowly fell upon Jing Jiujiu.
Jing Jiujiu hadn't spoken since entering this place.
Bai Yuhuai didn't care at all how Tingyi viewed him.
He only cared about Jing Jiujiu.
Jiujiu thought Zhuo Wu wasn't a good person.
But I am Zhuo Wu, and Zhuo Wu is me.
Bai Yuhuai's eyes deepened, and suddenly a beam of light shone in the cave, so bright it dazzled the eyes. Tingyi glanced over, distracted: "Is this... the Mirror of Past Reflection from the Underworld?"
Waves of light flowed across the mirror's surface, slowly revealing a figure.
At this moment, Jing Jiujiu smacked his lips and said, "...Zhuo Wu knew how to do crafts?"
Bai Yuhuai was stunned.
Tingyi was also taken aback.
Jing Jiujiu looked at the countless divine remains: "So many... He had to string each one up with silk thread, carve words on them... and he must have hurried, working non-stop day and night. Just like an old craftsman rushing to meet a deadline."
How is that terrifying?
Tingyi: "......"
The mental image was now clear.
Indeed, it didn't seem... so scary anymore.
In an instant.
The Mirror of Past Reflection froze on one scene.
It was the content of the painting Zhuo Wu had drawn earlier.
The image trembled.
A pair of hands slowly unrolled a painting on a desk.