"When I first awakened sapience, I was all alone, trapped within Xuanpu Palace, enduring boundless solitude. Later, when living in the Thousand Mountains Bamboo Sea, though I crossed paths with and sheltered some demons, it was purely on whim, always done from high above.
"I felt nothing toward the word 'affection'.
"Even after gaining a human body and a new lease on life, I still considered myself a spirit born of Heaven and Earth. I cast that mortal consciousness aside like an old shoe, having no idea how to deal with that earthly tie, hoping time would simply smooth it away.
"At Yinshan Pass, through your introduction, brother, I witnessed the fraternal bond between the Tan brothers.
"One willingly walked into peril, practicing demonic arts to shield his elder brother from calamity. The other, despite his meager cultivation, persisted day after day for decades, doing everything in his power to keep his brother's faint spark of life alive.
"In that moment, I finally achieved sudden enlightenment—what affection truly was, and what it meant to be human.
"Since our souls had merged, I had to shoulder his karma and his feelings!
"He had always harbored attachments, yearning for Qingyang Temple and the disciples he loved like kin. It had long become an obsession buried deep within his heart, yet I had remained blind to it.
"A wound to the soul can be healed by spirit medicines.
"Had I failed to realize this, I could never have broken free from my shackles.
"You brought Yufu under my wing, and I accepted him as my successor, assisting his cultivation with all my might and charging him with bringing Qingyang Temple to glory once his cultivation bore fruit. Only then did the obsession finally dissolve.
"And within the demon fire, we truly became one."
As he spoke, Yunyouzi's expression shifted several times.
It moved from initial detachment and aloof pride, to confusion in the middle, and finally to tender paternal affection when mentioning Qingyang Temple and Yufu.
Just as Yunyouzi said of himself.
He had grasped 'affection' and become a true human being!
Hearing this, Qin Sang finally understood.
This was why, after Yunyouzi joined the Taiyi Dan Sect and achieved high cultivation, he had never returned to Great Sui for many years, never once visited Qingyang Temple on Mount Cuiming, and never met Daoist Priest Jixin.
Back then, Qin Sang had assumed Yunyouzi was solely devoted to pursuing the Dao, severing all mortal ties.
Yet later, he treated Li Yufu—separated from him by several generations—like his own son, dedicated himself to revitalizing Qingyang Temple, and placed extraordinary importance on the temple's lineage.
So that was the hidden truth.
Though possession existed in the cultivation world, one could not act with reckless abandon.
Every cultivator could only carry out possession once in their lifetime. Of course, perhaps there existed Daoist arts or demonic arts that were superior to possession and could break this iron rule.
Furthermore, cultivators could not possess mortals; otherwise, the mortal body would collapse under the strain.
Yunyouzi's experience was clearly different from ordinary possession.
Perhaps it was just as Yunyouzi had said: an anomaly born beneath the heavenly tribulation.
Qin Sang could not help but think of his own circumstances.
To this day, he still did not understand whether what happened to him counted as possession. When he arrived in this world, he had also been a mortal, yet he had occupied Qin Sanwa's physical body.
Regardless of whether it counted as possession or not, Qin Sang would never dare test fate again.
Moreover, there was a major difference between him and Yunyouzi.
Yunyouzi's situation was a fusion of remnant souls, whereas Qin Sang possessed a complete soul.
All he had inherited were Qin Sanwa's memories and physical body.
When his cultivation had been low and his Dao heart not yet firm, Qin Sang had once felt disoriented by the original host's memories during his return to Wang Family Village. But he had quickly recognized his true self, wiping away every trace of that influence.
He could be certain beyond doubt that he was Qin Sang.
His cultivation had suffered no hindrance as a result.
Yunyouzi had faced a far more arduous path, scouring the world for spirit herbs. Even after enduring untold hardships to obtain the Nightbloom Lily, it had provided only slight relief. Only later, after comprehending the obsession in his heart and throwing himself into the demon fire, had he resolved the latent peril.
"Senior, when I gave you the Soul-Nurturing Wood before, you told me your divine soul was completely intact and no hidden dangers remained. Why, then, did you face a dual tribulation when undergoing the Nascent Soul Tribulation?" Qin Sang asked, puzzled.
"So both tribulations truly descended at once!" Yunyouzi sighed deeply after listening closely to Qin Sang's description of the tribulation scene.
"The Nascent Soul Tribulation and the Transformation Tribulation arriving together... the merged power of the two tribulations far exceeded my imagination.
"Although I was reborn through the fire, I remained an anomaly forged from the fused remnant souls of a human and a demon. Such an anomaly cannot be tolerated by the Heavenly Dao, so the heavenly tribulation was bound to change.
"Before the tribulation, through resonance between heaven and man, I felt a faint premonition. In recent years, I traveled everywhere, resolving various karmic ties and preparing for a rainy day.
"The Great Dao is ruthless!
"Had I crossed this tribulation, I would have been acknowledged by the Heavenly Dao, and the road ahead would have been smooth.
"Failing to cross it meant death and the end of my Dao.
"Ashes to ashes, dust to dust."
Qin Sang was deeply shaken, truly feeling how minuscule he was, even as a cultivator.
The Great Dao is ruthless!
The morning mushroom knows not the cycle of dawn and dusk; the summer cicada knows not the turning of spring and autumn.
Cultivators pursuing immortality and the Dao were like moths drawn to a flame, yet generation after generation pressed on relentlessly.
"The karma between Yufu and the Taiyi Dan Sect has been settled. After I die, let Yufu follow you, brother. There are also a few small demons in the Thousand Mountains Bamboo Sea who once shared ties with me; I have already made arrangements for them. The cultivation world is turbulent these days. Once you form your Nascent Soul, I hope you can pay a visit to the Thousand Mountains Bamboo Sea. You asked about Demon King Qianji many times before, so you must have your reasons. Alas, I can no longer accompany you. Demon King Qianji attained the Dao rather late, so I do not know much about him. However, with your identity as the Lord of the Thousand Mountains Bamboo Sea, it should not be difficult to make inquiries..."
Yunyouzi softly gave his final arrangements.
His figure grew increasingly translucent, his voice faint and drifting, on the verge of fading from the world.
Qin Sang suppressed his grief, listened until Yunyouzi finished, and promised in a deep voice, "Rest assured, Senior. I will certainly help Yufu revitalize Qingyang Temple and shelter the Thousand Mountains Bamboo Sea!"
Yunyouzi nodded with a smile, then said solemnly, "Lastly, there is one more matter that only you can do, brother."
"Please speak, Senior!" Qin Sang straightened his posture.
"Having failed the tribulation, by rights I ought to disperse my consciousness, choose corporeal dissolution, and return to samsara.
"Yet that is not my wish. I seek no afterlife—I fight only for this lifetime!
"The Great Dao numbers fifty, yet Heaven unfolds forty-nine.
"I would rather this body never enter samsara, and wage one more battle against the Heavenly Dao in this very life!"
Yunyouzi's gaze was crystal clear, his words ringing with resolve.
Though a phantom manifestation, he possessed an indomitable spirit that could prop up the heavens!
He looked toward Qin Sang.
"That piece of charred wood was once my true form as spiritual bamboo. Beneath the heavenly tribulation, my original body was reduced to cinders. This surviving piece was also ruined under the tribulation lightning, turning into charred wood.
"However, it was formed from my true body after all. Using a secret art, I infused a sliver of my primordial true spirit into the charred wood.
"If you refine it into a top-grade magic treasure, brother, it should preserve my primordial true spirit from dissipating. The treasure will also have a great chance of nurturing spirituality, perhaps even eventually birthing an artifact spirit!
"My only hope is that if you attain immortality and the Dao one day, I might be reborn through the vessel of that artifact spirit!"
...
Snap!
The jade slip shattered.
Qin Sang withdrew his divine consciousness from the jade slip, staring ahead in stunned silence.
He looked down at the piece of charred wood in his hand—it felt as heavy as a thousand jun!
Yunyouzi remained the same white-bearded old Daoist in his memories, wholly devoted to the pursuit of the Dao.
Facing an extraordinary heavenly tribulation, he held not the slightest resentment, only an unyielding heart that refused to abandon the Dao.
Amidst despair, he strove to seize that single thread of hope.
Chapter 1123