Chapter Fifty-Five: Cultivation in the Fallen God Valley (Part Three)

Yun Chuxue's true strength had now reached the peak of the Spiritual Emperor Realm, although her actual spiritual power was already at the peak of the Spiritual Sage Realm. However, it still required long-term consolidation to truly reach the peak of the Spiritual Sage Realm. Yun Chuxue looked at the pitch-black forest in front of her, lost in thought.

"No wonder Yǔshì said that even with his strength, breaking out of this Fallen God Valley would be a skin-shedding ordeal. It seems that without this restriction, no one can break out. Moreover, the spiritual energy in the inner circle is the most concentrated. It's no wonder these spiritual beasts grow so fast, but there's some evil energy mixed in with the spiritual energy here."

"That's right, but with the Qíng Yuè Breaking Sky Halberd, you don't have to fear these evil thoughts. A normal spiritual master staying here for about a year would definitely go mad." Mòxiàn explained.

Yun Chuxue walked forward slowly, noticing the strange silence here. She looked around warily and then heard Mòxiàn's urgent voice in her mind, "Stop."

Yun Chuxue immediately halted and saw a blob of white web flying towards her from the front. Suddenly, she noticed countless red eyeballs staring at her from all around.

Yun Chuxue gripped the Qíng Yuè Breaking Sky Halberd, already in a state of readiness.

"If I'm not mistaken, these are Blood Devil Spiders."

Before she could finish her sentence, the Blood Devil Spiders had already launched their attack on Yun Chuxue.

They spewed white spider webs towards Yun Chuxue, attempting to entrap her.

Yun Chuxue used her Phantom Body Technique to continuously evade the Blood Devil Spiders' web attacks.

Meanwhile, Mòxiàn exclaimed in her spiritual sea, "Wow, not bad at all. This body technique is half as good as mine."

After dodging several attacks, the Blood Devil Spiders stopped their assault and began slowly approaching Yun Chuxue.

Mòxiàn urged, "Use Heavenly Punishment to force out the Blood Devil Pearl King."

"Alright."

When the Blood Devil Spiders approached within range of Heavenly Punishment, Yun Chuxue leaped into the air, pointing her halberd skyward. With flashes of lightning and thunder, indescribable thunderbolts struck the Blood Devil Spiders, scaring them into fleeing in all directions.

Before long, the surrounding trees had turned into black charcoal, and the half-human-height Blood Devil Spiders had all died.

At this moment, a huge figure slowly appeared in the thick fog. Seeing the slow pace of the Blood Devil Spider King, Mòxiàn, impatient, reprimanded, "Worthless thing, can't you move any faster? You're driving me crazy. Yun Chuxue, let me handle this."

"What?..."

Before Yun Chuxue could react, Mòxiàn forcibly took control of Yun Chuxue's body, wielding the Qíng Yuè Breaking Sky Halberd and instantly killing the Blood Devil Spiders that had not yet emerged from the mist.

Stepping on the blood-red head of the Blood Devil Spider, she scolded, "Next time, come out quickly. Don't dawdle like a turtle."

After returning her body to Yun Chuxue, Mòxiàn complained angrily in the spiritual sea, "It really pisses me off. Just a Spiritual Emperor Realm trash beast. It thinks it's so cool."

Yun Chuxue shrugged, "Forget it, it's dead now. I'll take care of the rest of the Blood Devil Spiders."

Yun Chuxue wielded the Qíng Yuè Breaking Sky Halberd and soon dealt with the remaining Blood Devil Spiders.

Three years later.

Yun Chuxue had spent three years completely exterminating the inner circle's spiritual beasts. During these three years, she was sometimes attacked by several spiritual beast races in succession. There was one month where she didn't even get a wink of sleep, and almost every moment was spent fending off attacks from spiritual beast races.

During these three years, Yun Chuxue's strength had solidified to the peak of the Spiritual Sage Realm, and she finally breathed a sigh of relief.

She had initially intended to leave the Fallen God Valley, but she remembered that two years ago, she had discovered a house in the center of the valley, surrounded by green trees and blooming flowers, indicating human habitation.

Finding that place, Yun Chuxue walked in slowly, taking a deep breath of the fresh and comfortable air inside.

At this moment, an old man's voice was heard, "Who dares to set foot in my forbidden area?"

Yun Chuxue, somewhat apologetic, clasped her hands and said, "I entered here because the air was fresh and extraordinary. Please forgive me for trespassing, sir."

A white-robed old man emerged from the wooden house, seeming otherworldly and detached from earthly matters. He walked slowly to the table in the courtyard and sat down. Seeing that Yun Chuxue showed no intention of leaving, he beckoned to her with a hoarse, low, and gentle voice, "Come sit here."

"Yes, sir."

After Yun Chuxue sat down, she curiously asked, "Sir, have you always lived here?"

The old man stroked his long white beard, as if trying to recall or unable to remember. "Probably... almost... for a long time. I've forgotten."

Yun Chuxue smiled faintly. The old man then asked, "What's your name, young lady?"

"Sir, I'm called Yun Chuxue."

"Yun Chuxue, hmm, good name. I see you carry a heavy aura of killing. You must have killed many people."

"Yes, those people wanted to kill me, so I had no choice."

"Haha~" The old man laughed heartily for a while. "You're very candid. But why did they want to kill you?"

Yun Chuxue pursed her lips, seeming reluctant to speak. Seeing this, the old man spoke gently, "It's alright. I haven't been out for many years, nor have I spoken to anyone for many years. Consider this a chat with an old hermit."

"Alright, since you put it that way, I'll tell you." The old man saw that Yun Chuxue agreed to tell him, and like a child, he leaned closer to listen carefully to Yun Chuxue's story.

Yun Chuxue began to recount how she offended those forces... After a long while, the old man listened to Yun Chuxue's "story" with satisfaction and said with a smile, "Young lady, I believe you did the right thing. Persisting in your own path is not wrong. In this world, there is no absolute right or wrong. Right and wrong are established on different standpoints, and those with different paths cannot plan together, right, young lady?" The old man said solemnly.

Yun Chuxue responded with a smile, and the old man continued, "Young lady, you didn't come here just to kill, did you?"

"Yes, I came here to improve my strength..."

At this point, the old man interrupted, "Strength? I want to ask you a question, young lady. What do you want to do by improving your strength?"

"Revenge, and protect the people I love," Yun Chuxue said decisively.

"Hahaha~" The old man laughed, and Yun Chuxue, puzzled, asked, "Sir, what's so funny?"

"I'm laughing at your answer."

"My answer? I don't understand, please explain, sir."

"Being on this continent, the essence of wanting to become stronger is to protect the people you love or satisfy your own desires. When your strength is enough to fulfill all your needs, what will you do then?"

The old man's question puzzled Yun Chuxue, and after thinking for a while, she shook her head and said, "Sir, I can't answer that."

Seeing Yun Chuxue unable to answer, the old man smiled and said, "Young lady, if it were an ordinary person, their answer would be to pursue higher realms or enjoy their twilight years. You should have thought of these, but you didn't answer, indicating that you're thinking of another answer, but you haven't figured it out or you don't know what you're doing, right or wrong?"

Indeed, the old man hit the mark on what Yun Chuxue was thinking.

Yun Chuxue smiled and said, "Sir, you've got it right. I don't know what I want to do."

The old man smiled satisfactorily, "Young lady, not knowing is the best answer."

Yun Chuxue was stunned, a bit surprised, and said in a tender voice, "Sir, are you teasing me to amuse yourself?"

The old man smiled and said with deep meaning, "There are causes and effects, cycles of karma. We just need to face them calmly. There are many opportunities in life. What you need to do is not to deliberately do things, but to ask yourself whether what you have done and what you are about to do are right."

Yun Chuxue pondered for a while and said to herself, "Ask myself..." Suddenly, she stood up with a bright smile, clasped her hands respectfully, and said, "Thank you, sir, for your guidance. I have determined the reason for my strength, to protect the people I love, and to do my best to help my friends."

The latter part of Yun Chuxue's statement was obviously directed at Mòxiàn, and the old man nodded approvingly.

The old man got up and said, "I'll get some wine from the room. You wait here for a moment."

Before long, the old man came out, dragging three large jars of wine with spiritual energy. He smiled and said, "Come, have a few drinks with me."

Yun Chuxue was taken aback and declined, "Forget it, sir, I don't drink."

"Hey, come on, you'll learn after drinking," the old man insisted.

Forcing Yun Chuxue to sit down, the old man saw her hesitation and encouraged her, "Come on, take it easy."

Yun Chuxue took a sip, and the spiciness made her cough. The old man patted her back and chuckled, "Haha~ take it easy."